Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

The AP [4/13/2025 10:50 PM, Staff, 48304K] reports the United States sent to El Salvador another group of ten deportees, among them alleged members of the Venezuelan organization Tren de Aragua and the Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), who were immediately interned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum security prison. Last night (Saturday) another 10 criminals from the foreign terrorist organizations MS-13 and Tren de Aragua arrived in El Salvador. The alliance between President Donald Trump and President Nayib Bukele has become an example of security and prosperity in our hemisphere," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported on Sunday on his social network account X, formerly Twitter. The transfer of this group of Venezuelans and Salvadorans comes at a time when President Bukele is in Washington to meet on Monday at the White House with President Trump. This is the third transfer of suspected criminals by the United States. The first three flights arrived on Saturday night, March 15, with 238 Venezuelans, among them 101 deported for irregular migration status and another group of alleged members of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua, as well as two members of the Mara Salvatrucha. Then 17 were transferred and with the 10 on Saturday, the total is now 288, including Venezuelans and Salvadorans. All of them, including Kilmar Abrego García, who was allegedly transported by mistake, have been interned in the CECOT, and there is no information on their situation. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego García to U.S. territory. Recently, a group of national and international journalists, including the Associated Press, visited the CECOT, but access to the area where the Venezuelans are interned was not authorized. The Hill [4/13/2025 6:14 PM, Tara Suter, 12829K] reports "Last night, another 10 criminals from the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua Foreign Terrorist Organizations arrived in El Salvador. The alliance between @POTUS and President @nayibbukele has become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere," Rubio said in a post on the social platform X. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is going to the White House on Monday for an "official working visit," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously said. In the first few months of the second Trump presidency, the United States has sent deported migrants they have said are gang members to a large prison in El Salvador. "Looking forward to seeing President Bukele, of El Salvador, on Monday! Our Nations are working closely together to eradicate terrorist organizations, and build a future of Prosperity. President Bukele has graciously accepted into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, in particular, the United States," President Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday. "These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future is up to President B and his Government. They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!" the president added. The New York Times [4/13/2025 2:32 PM, Eric Schmitt and Annie Correal, 145325K] reports that the Trump administration has sent hundreds of Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador at the invitation of Mr. Bukele, who is positioning himself as a crucial regional ally to Mr. Trump and is scheduled to meet with the president in Washington on Monday. The administration has portrayed those deportees as violent criminals or terrorists, but court papers have shown that the evidence on which the government acted was often little more than whether they had tattoos or had worn clothing associated with the criminal organization. Mr. Bukele has become Latin America’s most popular leader for his takedown of gangs, even as he has suspended civil liberties and been accused by U.S. prosecutors of secretly negotiating with the same gangs. A spokeswoman for Mr. Bukele, Wendy Ramos, did not immediately respond to a request for information on the 10 deportees Mr. Rubio referred to. In early February, Mr. Rubio announced a possible deal with Mr. Bukele, under which the Salvadoran government would hold convicted criminals in its prison system, for a fee. The administration began sending groups of detainees to El Salvador in mid-March, and has so far sent at least five flights carrying Venezuelan and Salvadoran deportees to El Salvador. The Salvadoran government has released videos and photos showing deportees being removed from planes and marched into a prison outside the capital, San Salvador, called the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT. Reuters [4/13/2025 5:35 PM, Doina Chiacu, 24727K] reports that the Trump administration has deported hundreds of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Lawyers and relatives of the migrants held in El Salvador say they are not gang members and had no opportunity to contest the U.S. government assertion that they were. The Trump administration says it vetted migrants to ensure they belonged to Tren de Aragua, which it labels a terrorist organization. The deportations have been challenged in federal court. The U.S. Supreme Court said the U.S. government must give sufficient notice to immigrant detainees to allow them to contest their deportations. It did not say how those already in El Salvador could seek judicial review of their removals.

Reported similarly:
Univision [4/13/2025 1:39 PM, Staff, 5325K]
Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 3:03 PM, Josh Marcus, 430301K]

The Washington Examiner [4/13/2025 9:33 AM, Annabella Rosciglione, 2296K] reports El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele arrived in Washington, D.C., on Sunday ahead of his Monday meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House. The meeting comes as the White House has been ordered to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man they "mistakenly" deported to El Salvador. Bukele has agreed to accept alleged gang member migrants deported from the U.S., having so far locked up more than 250 in a notorious Salvadoran prison. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that, on Saturday, ten more MS-13 and Tren de Aragua "criminals" were brought to El Salvador to be imprisoned there. He touted the relationship between the U.S. and Bukele’s country. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that the U.S. and El Salvador are "working closely together to eradicate terrorist organizations, and build a future of Prosperity.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump and Bukele "will discuss El Salvador’s partnership on using their supermax prison for Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gang members and how El Salvador’s cooperation with the United States has become a model for others to work with this administration.” Telemundo [4/13/2025 10:25 PM, Staff, 2454K] reports that the CECOT prison has been denounced by international organizations for human rights violations, with allegations of torture and unclarified deaths of people behind bars. The transfer of people, mostly Venezuelan, to that prison has triggered lawsuits in U.S. courts. Among them, the lawsuit by the family of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who U.S. authorities have admitted was deported by "administrative error" since he had an order protecting him against possible deportation dating back to 2019. The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Republican Trump Administration to work to return Abrego Garcia to his family - his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura is a citizen, as is their 5-year-old daughter - but so far the Administration has only reported that it is aware that Abrego Garcia is still "alive," without clarifying what actions it intends to take to comply with the court order. Abrego Garcia was accused by the Trump administration of being a gang member, with no evidence offered to support that allegation so far; in previous years Abrego Garcia had denied this accusation and a judge had ruled in his favor, justly granting the order against deportation that the man’s lawyers say authorities disregarded. Despite the lawsuits, the Trump administration announced Sunday morning that it had transferred 10 more deportees from the United States to CECOT. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Saturday night transfer was a sign that the alliance "between Trump and Nayib Bukele has become an example of security and prosperity for our hemisphere. Salvadoran Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro later told local media that the 10 Venezuelans transferred on Saturday had been sent from Guantánamo, the US prison on Cuban soil that the Trump administration first contemplated using to hold migrants it accuses, without evidence, of being gang members. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [4/13/2025 11:01 AM, Ryan King, 54903K] reports the Maryland man erroneously deported to a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador last month in defiance of a court order is still alive, the Trump administration confirmed Saturday. Kimar Abrego Garcia remains in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) for now, amid a Supreme Court order directing the Trump administration to "facilitate" his return, a State Department official attested in a court filing. "He is alive and secure in that facility. He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador," Michael Kozak, a top State Department official, attested in a court filing. Meanwhile, despite saying that he intends to adhere to the Supreme Court’s order last Thursday to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, President Trump emphasized late Saturday that El Salvador has "sole custody" of the migrants sent there. "These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future is up to President B and his Government," Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday, referring to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. "They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!". Trump is set to meet with Bukele on Monday. Abrego Garcia was among the nearly 260 individuals the Trump administration flew to El Salvador last month, whom it alleged had ties to international gangs like Tren de Aragua. The president tapped into to powers in the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to send those migrants to El Salvador expeditiously and bypass the traditional channels for deportation. But in 2019, an immigration judge restricted the government from deporting Abrego Garcia back to El Salvador due to fears that he could face persecution from groups like the Barrio 18 gang. Officials have since admitted that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was due to an "administrative error" and a "clerical error.” The Trump administration continues to allege that Abrego Garcia is "confirmed to be a ranking member of the MS-13 gang by a proven and reliable source," something his relatives vehemently deny. The administration also alleges Abrego Garcia illegally entered the country in 2011. Despite acknowledging the 2019 court order, Trump’s team had battled against demands to bring Abrego Garcia back to the US, with Solicitor General John Sauer arguing that the US "does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal judge’s bidding.” A federal judge had given the Trump administration a deadline of last Monday to bring Abrego Garcia back home. Ultimately, the Supreme Court intervened, initially blocking that ruling and then unanimously scrapping the fast deadline the federal judge had set.

Reported similarly:
UPI [4/13/2025 4:09 PM, Mark Moran, 1500K]

Axios [4/13/2025 9:25 AM, Avery Lotz, 13163K] reports attorneys arguing for the return of a Maryland resident whom the Trump administration erroneously deported to El Salvador highlighted in a Saturday court filing President Trump’s comments that he would "bring somebody back" if directed to by the Supreme Court. The high court essentially ordered the administration to do just that, ruling on Thursday that officials must take steps to facilitate Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers characterized the president’s statement as an acknowledgment that the U.S. "has the power to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from prison and return to the United States" in a Saturday motion for additional relief from the judge overseeing the case. They’re asking the court to order the government to take specific steps by the end of the day on Monday to comply with the injunction in the case and order expedited discovery of the government’s actions to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. They further asked the court to order the administration show cause by Monday morning as to why it should not be held in contempt. Abrego Garcia is "alive and secure" in El Salvador’s notorious Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) prison, the government confirmed in a Saturday filing to comply with U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ order requiring the administration to give daily updates in the case.

Washington Post [4/13/2025 8:08 PM, Olivia George and Marianne LeVine, 31735K] reports the Trump administration said Sunday that it is not required to engage El Salvador’s government in efforts to facilitate the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison there, striking a defiant tone in responding to a federal judge’s order that plans be made to bring him back to the United States. Federal officials said Sunday that the high court’s ruling required only that the administration allow Kilmar Abrego García to return should he be released by the government of El Salvador. The administration also argued, in filings Sunday evening in U.S. District Court in Maryland, that Abrego García “is no longer eligible” for the protection from deportation that should have prevented him from being sent to El Salvador in the first place. The contentions set the stage for another test of the ability of the federal judiciary to rein in an administration that has moved to aggressively expand its executive power in ways courts have deemed illegal and unconstitutional. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers had no immediate comment on the court filings. But the lawyers have repeatedly said he is danger of being tortured and killed in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, a mega-prison where dozens of inmates share a cell. On Saturday, they argued that the government should face contempt of court for failing to lay out efforts to repatriate Abrego García after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the administration must facilitate his return. The Trump administration said Sunday that it had “no updates” on those efforts, according to a letter to the court Sunday evening. While noting that the president of El Salvador “is currently in the United States and will be meeting with President Donald Trump,” Justice Department officials wrote, “the federal courts have no authority to direct the Executive Branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner.” Any further order from the court would “interfere with ongoing diplomatic discussions” and result in the release of “classified documents,” the officials argued, describing Abrego Garcia’s lawyers’ request for more detailed information as “micromanaging” U.S. foreign relations. Moreover, the government argued that “facilitate” means only “allowing an alien to enter the United States” by “taking all available steps to remove any domestic obstacles that would otherwise impede the alien’s ability to return here,” not removing him from the custody of another country. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis initially ruled that the Trump administration must “effectuate” Abrego García’s return; the Supreme Court said that part of her order was “unclear” and might overstep the judiciary’s power.

New York Times [4/13/2025 7:25 PM, Alan Feuer, 145325K] reports the Trump administration on Sunday evening doubled down on its assertion that a federal judge cannot force it to bring back to the United States a Maryland man who was unlawfully deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador last month. In a brief legal filing, the Justice Department reiterated its view that courts lack the ability to dictate steps that the White House should take in seeking to return the man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to U.S. soil, because the president alone has broad powers to handle foreign policy. “The federal courts have no authority to direct the executive branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner,” lawyers for the department wrote. “That is the ‘exclusive power of the president as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations.’” The position taken by Trump officials was not the first time they had tried to defy efforts compelling them to seek Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador. Still, their continued recalcitrance meant that Mr. Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old father of three, would for now remain at the CECOT prison in El Salvador, where he was sent with scores of other migrants on March 15. The administration’s stubbornness was also likely to heighten tensions between the White House and the judge overseeing the case, Paula Xinis. Judge Xinis has scheduled a hearing to discuss next steps in the matter on Tuesday in Federal District Court in Maryland. The conflict has persisted even though the Supreme Court last week unanimously ordered the administration to “facilitate” Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release from Salvadoran custody. Trump officials have in fact already admitted that they made an “administrative error” when they put Mr. Abrego Garcia on the plane to El Salvador in the first place.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [4/13/2025 8:01 PM, David Voreacos and Carmeli Argana, 1085K]

CNN [4/13/2025 11:08 PM, Devan Cole, 22131K] reports the Trump administration insisted Sunday that it is not required to work with officials in El Salvador to secure the return of a man mistakenly deported to the country, days after the Supreme Court endorsed a federal judge’s directive that US officials must "facilitate" bringing him back stateside. The argument has the potential of setting up another high-profile showdown between the administration and the federal judiciary over how much power courts have in resolving disputes concerning immigration, particularly ones involving foreign governments. The assertion, made in court papers by Justice Department lawyers, comes after US District Judge Paula Xinis on Friday ordered the administration to "take all available steps to facilitate" the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison last month. "The federal courts have no authority to direct the Executive Branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner," the DOJ attorneys wrote in the seven-page filing, arguing officials have a duty only to "remove any domestic obstacles" that may stand in the way of Abrego Garcia returning to the US. In a separate court filing Sunday, a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said in a sworn statement that Abrego Garcia "is no longer eligible for withholding of removal" because of the administration’s claim that he’s a member of the MS-13 gang, which the Trump administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Abrego Garcia was granted protected status by an immigration judge in 2019 that prohibited the federal government from sending him to El Salvador. His attorneys say he fled gang violence in El Salvador more than a decade ago. Under the 2019 order, he was still considered removable; it just couldn’t be to El Salvador. But the assertion by Evan Katz, an official with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, means that if Abrego Garcia were brought back to the US, the government would work quickly to deport him.

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Reuters [4/13/2025 10:23 PM, Julia Harte, 41523K]

Wall Street Journal [4/13/2025 5:30 AM, Jess Bravin, 646K] reports a cascade of Trump administration cases is flooding the Supreme Court, putting the justices on the spot over the administration’s aggressive moves to eliminate federal programs, abolish independent agencies and recast immigration law without congressional approval. In past years, almost any one of the cases could have been a potential milestone, with briefings and arguments over months leading to a landmark opinion on the bounds of executive power. Now, however, the number and speed of the administration’s moves are pressuring the Supreme Court in ways rarely seen. In less than two months, the Trump administration already has filed emergency requests with the Supreme Court 10 times. Last week alone, the court has grappled with four of them: two on deportations, one on the firing of federal workers, and one on the removal of independent agency officials. “I think what we’ve seen in the last 2½ months is just how mismatched in the modern world these two institutions—the executive and judicial branches—are,” said Vikram Amar, a law professor at the University of California, Davis. The executive branch can act quickly in several areas at once, while the courts are “ponderous. They are process-oriented, they need time for reflection,” he said. “And the Supreme Court is at its worst when it’s operating under time pressure,” he added. The White House expected federal judges to hit pause on some policies that push presidential powers to the limit. That is particularly so because challengers, including individuals, interest groups and states that say they are being harmed by executive overreach, filed most lawsuits in courts where Democratic appointees predominate.

Reuters [4/13/2025 9:59 PM, Andrew Goudsward and Ted Hesson, 48128K] reports as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on immigration, its officials have repeatedly publicly identified detainees as gang leaders or even terrorists, without attempting to back those inflammatory claims up in court. After an FBI SWAT team on March 27 raided the home of a 24-year-old Salvadoran man living illegally in Virginia, Attorney General Pam Bondi, standing alongside FBI Director Kash Patel in a morning press conference, alleged the man was one of the top three U.S. leaders of the violent MS-13 street gang and called him a terrorist. Less than two weeks later, the Justice Department moved to drop the only charge it had brought against him -- illegal possession of a firearm by an alien -- and Bondi said he would face deportation instead. In another arrest two weeks earlier, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers pulled over a Salvadoran man in Maryland and handcuffed him while his 5-year-old son, who is autistic and non-verbal, sat in the backseat, according to a legal complaint. ICE called the man’s wife and told her she had 10 minutes to pick up her son before they contacted child protective services, she said in a court filing. After the Trump administration erroneously deported the man - Kilmar Abrego Garcia - to El Salvador, the White House claimed he was involved in human trafficking. But the allegation has not appeared in court records related to his deportation. In a response to Reuters, U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed that Venezuelans deported to El Salvador without U.S. criminal records "are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more" but did not present evidence of the accusations. "We are putting the American people first by removing illegal aliens who pose a threat to our communities," McLaughlin said.

Axios [4/13/2025 7:53 AM, Emily Peck, 13163K] reports the agency responsible for managing the country’s retirement system is now in the immigration enforcement business. President Trump’s aggressive deportation push is fast becoming a whole-of-government campaign. There are hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. with "temporary parole" status — granted through various Biden-era programs. They received Social Security numbers in order to work. A White House official tells Axios the Department of Homeland Security identified more than 6,300 of these folks who, they say, are on the FBI terrorist watch list, or with FBI criminal records. The Social Security agency moved their names into its "Death Master File," a database of dead people. They have since renamed the file the "Ineligible Master File." Inside the Social Security Administration, officials worry that people will be mistakenly added to the list, upending their lives. The idea is to force people out of the country. The Internal Revenue Service reached an agreement last Monday with the Department of Homeland Security to share the tax information of undocumented immigrants with immigration authorities. Univision [4/13/2025 5:08 PM, Staff, 5325K] reports that the White House argues that "by removing the monetary incentive for illegal aliens to come and stay we will encourage them to ‘self-deport.’" However, the affected individuals who have recently been added to what the Social Security Administration (SSA) calls its ‘Death Master File’ or ‘Death Master File’ are in the country legally. Here’s what we know about the government’s plan to classify some immigrants as dead in Social Security records. This after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified them as aliens with temporary parole on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) terrorist watch list or with criminal records, and the government has not provided evidence of this claim. The government has not provided evidence of this claim. A government official told the AP that, on April 8, Customs and Border Patrol terminated the parole benefit for the individuals whose names it placed on the ‘Master Death File’ and that it notified them in writing. The SSA is in charge of maintaining the most comprehensive federal database of people who have died in that ‘Death Master File’, which has more than 142 million records since 1899. In this recent maneuver, the White House has for the first time referred to that file as the ‘ineligible master file’, in an apparently imprecise mix of an immigration issue with Social Security processes. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [4/13/2025 11:16 AM, Staff, 5325K] reports family remittances in Central America rose by around 20% in the first quarter of 2025, according to official data, and experts attribute this to migrants’ fear of deportations by the US government of Donald Trump. Millions of Central Americans living in the United States, hundreds of thousands irregularly, send remittances to their families that account for nearly a quarter of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. In Guatemala, the central bank recorded the arrival of 5,642.7 million dollars in family remittances in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 20.5% compared to the same period last year. Honduras received 2,620.4 million dollars, a 24% increase compared to the first quarter of 2024, according to its central bank. In that country, 454,733 households have at least one immigrant family member, according to the 2023 National Survey of Migration and Remittances of the International Organization for Migration. El Salvador and Nicaragua do not yet have complete data for the first quarter, but in January and February remittances increased 14.2% and 22.6%, respectively, compared to the first two months of 2024. El Salvador received US$1,406.3 million and Nicaragua US$909.1 million in the first two months of 2025, according to their central banks. In Nicaragua the figure not only includes remittances from the United States, but also from Costa Rica, with US$68.2 million and Spain, US$48.6 million. While in Costa Rica and Panama there is no massive migration and the remittances they receive have no impact on their economies. Local authorities and experts in Central America have their theories as to what has motivated this increase in remittances. "Our compatriots in the United States of America are increasing the sending of remittances in fear of being deported, in the context of the Trump administration," said the president of Guatemala’s central bank, Alvaro Gonzalez, at a business forum. Guatemalan economic analyst Erick Coyoy agrees. "It is an anticipated reaction by migrants to the perceived risk of deportation and this could explain the notable increase in remittances in the first quarter of 2025," he told online media outlet Soy502. However, it is unclear whether they sent more money home to ensure that, if they were deported, they could access their savings or whether it was to help their relatives benefit from their situation in the United States while they could. Trump returned to the White House in January and launched a battle against irregular immigration, a campaign promise. Fearing deportation, many migrants desisted from traveling to the United States and others began returning home. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [4/12/2025 9:32 AM, Nick Koutsobinas, 4998K] reports that, on Friday evening, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that a digital ID that would log one’s facial biomarkers in a federal database, known as a Real ID, would be required by May 7 to fly and enter federal buildings. "Starting May 7, you will need a Real ID to travel by air or to visit federal buildings in the United States," Noem said in a video posted to X. "These IDs keep our country safe because they help prevent fraud and they enhance security." After Noem’s post, a wave of backlash ensued. "Why not delay it like past administrations did so you can hear from the people on it? Americans don’t want a big government surveillance state," the popular conservative account, the Hodgetwins, asked. "Real ID is unconstitutional. What the heck are y’all doing?" cofounder of The Leading Report, Patrick Webb, exclaimed. By Saturday, Noem’s announcement prompted a response from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. "Real ID isn’t needed and won’t stop terrorists from hijacking planes," Massie wrote. "Most of the 9/11 hijackers held Saudi, UAE, Egyptian, or Lebanese passports. Real ID is a national standard and database of IDs that is primarily a tool for control of Americans. Trump shouldn’t enforce it." Appending Noem’s announcement, the TSA wrote on Friday it would "no longer accept state-issued identifications that are not REAL ID compliant at TSA security checkpoints. All airline passengers 18 years and older, including TSA PreCheck® members, must present REAL ID-compliant identification or another acceptable ID, such as a passport, at TSA security checkpoints. Noncitizens illegally present in the U.S. who are voluntarily self-deporting on international flights will not be denied boarding under this requirement."

NewsMax [4/12/2025 11:28 AM, Jim Mishler, 4998K] reports U.S. Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin told Newsmax that Mexico is "getting better" in the area of border control methods with the U.S. McLaughlin told "America Right Now," "I think we are seeing some progress. They’re sending in their National Guard to the southern border to make sure it’s more secure. But we would like to see them actually guarding their own southern border with Guatemala so that we see less migration moving up to the U.S. through that route. That has been a problem where we like to see further cooperation." McLaughlin said the big picture on cooperative border control measures with Mexico, however, is improving. "I think that we’re seeing much better cooperation than we were just four months ago." On the larger question of how to manage millions of people allowed to enter the U.S. illegally, McLaughlin said they have an easy choice to make, like using the app offered by Customs and Border Control, "Which gives illegal immigrants a tool to leave now and self-deport and potentially come back to live the American dream." McLaughlin said failure to comply means arrest, deportation, and hefty fines. "We are going to start fining illegal immigrants a thousand dollars a day if they remain in the country."

The Hill [4/13/2025 1:00 PM, Lucia Martel Dow, 12829K] reports the Trump administration is wasting no time making American citizenship harder to access and easier to deny. Just weeks into the new term, the Trump administration has proposed alarming changes to multiple immigration forms, including the naturalization application. These changes include requiring immigrants to disclose all of their social media usernames and provide personal information about family members, even if those relatives are undocumented and the information is irrelevant to the merit of a naturalization application. The government is also forcing permanent residents to choose between disclosing personal information about people they care about, possibly risking their deportation, and accessing naturalization. In another blow, the Department of Homeland Security terminated the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program. These essential grants, started in 2009, have enjoyed bipartisan support and allowed trusted local organizations to help lawful permanent residents become U.S. citizens. Community-based nonprofits with long and successful track records have relied on this support to provide legal assistance and civic and English instruction. The decision to cancel the grants — which are funded through congressional appropriations — cuts off critical infrastructure and undermines efforts that have helped thousands of immigrants learn English and complete the naturalization process. When the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, an organization in Seattle that provides naturalization services, learned that their DHS grant had been terminated, they shared that the grant “constitutes 27 percent of the total annual funding for our citizenship program, so this cut will have a significant impact on our community, our programming, and our team.

Wall Street Journal [4/13/2025 4:07 PM, Staff, 646K] reports tariffs are advertised in the name of helping American workers, but what do you know? They turn out to favor the powerful and politically connected. That’s the main message of President Trump’s decision to exempt smartphones and assorted electronic goods from his most onerous tariffs. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) late Friday issued a notice listing products that will be exempt from Mr. Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs that can run as high as 145% on goods from China. The exclusions apply to smartphones, laptop computers, hard drives, computer processors, servers, memory chips, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and other electronics. The CBP notice takes the tariff rate on these products down considerably. Barron’s calculates that the exceptions cover $385 billion in 2024 imports. That includes $100 billion from China, or 23% of U.S. imports from that country. The tariff rate falls to 20% on the newly exempted Chinese exports. These exemptions are good news for consumers who were facing much higher prices for smartphones that are a staple of modern life. How would you like a $2,400 iPhone? But the big winners are the giant companies that assemble these products abroad and now get a reprieve, at least for as long as they remain in Mr. Trump’s good political graces.

San Diego Union Tribune [4/13/2025 10:03 AM, Agustina Vergara Cid, 1682K] reports hundreds of student visas revoked. Peaceful, long-time residents being deported. People being detained with no criminal charges. We’ve all heard these stories in the last few weeks, as the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration (legal and illegal) picks up steam. Judging by how this crackdown is being reported by the media, one would assume everything the Trump administration is doing on immigration is blatantly illegal and unprecedented. But the truth is that many aspects of this crackdown are exactly what the U.S. immigration system allows the government to do. It is true that some of the administration’s recent actions on immigration are unprecedented and, as many legal scholars have argued, most likely unconstitutional—such as invoking the Alien Enemies Act during peacetime to ship Venezuelans to a maximum security prison in El Salvador without due process (set that extreme aside for now—it deserves its own article). But several of the administration’s actions are well within the confines of the law. It’s just that the administration is enforcing existing regulations to their maximum extent now. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has gloated about the fact that the State Department has revoked hundreds of student visas in recent days, and some universities are claiming that the revocations were carried out with no explanation. In some cases, the State Department has said that the students were supportive of Hamas in some way, including by participating in campus protests. At least one student whose visa was revoked, Rumeysa Ozturk, was detained by masked ICE agents, and the footage of the arrest sent chills across the backs of many Americans. While revoking visas en masse without apparent explanation and detaining and deporting students may seem to be outside of the boundaries of the law, it is not. The Immigration and Nationality Act does not require criminal conduct to revoke a visa or place individuals in removal proceedings thereafter. Congress has given the Secretary of State the discretion to revoke visas unilaterally. Per Secretary Rubio, he’s revoking visas for people who engage in activities that “are counter … to our foreign policy,” without adding much detail as to what those activities are, or how these students may impact U.S. foreign policy.

FOX News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo [4/13/2025 12:33 PM, Staff] reports Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks with Maria Bartiromo about national security priorities. Hegseth highlights a new Panama Canal deal ensuring U.S. military transit rights, countering Chinese influence. “We just signed a historic deal with Panama to ensure military transit rights through the canal,” he says, emphasizing its role in securing global trade routes. He frames this within a broader strategy against China’s growing presence, noting upgrades to U.S. military command in Japan to deter aggression in the South China Sea. Hegseth stresses a “peace through strength” approach, focusing on modernizing forces. On military readiness, Hegseth discusses reforms to prioritize lethality over social policies. “Our military’s job is to deter enemies and, if needed, destroy them—not to be a social experiment,” he asserts, detailing unified combat standards for all troops. He also addresses reinstating soldiers discharged over vaccine mandates, aiming to restore trust with full benefits and back pay. Regarding Ukraine, Hegseth clarifies no pullback but pushes for negotiations, prioritizing U.S. interests. “America’s not abandoning anyone, but we’re not writing blank checks either,” he notes. In the Middle East, he describes aggressive moves against Iran’s proxies, like the Houthis, with increased regional assets. Hegseth dismisses controversy over a Signal chat leak as a distraction, insisting no classified information was shared and reaffirming his focus on America’s safety.

CBS’ Face The Nation [4/13/2025 11:48 AM, Staff, 4871K] reports U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer speaks with Margaret Brennan about trade tensions, focusing on tariffs and negotiations. Greer indicates no immediate plans for talks between President Trump and China’s Xi, with discussions now at the leaders’ level. “Right now we don’t have any plans on that,” he states, noting prior engagements with Chinese counterparts before April 2. Addressing China’s $1.5 trillion in U.S. assets, Greer clarifies that forcing asset sales isn’t the objective, emphasizing Trump’s global strategy to reshore manufacturing and tackle trade deficits. He attributes China’s position to their decision to retaliate, unlike other nations opting for negotiation. “The only reason we’re in this position right now is because China chose to retaliate,” he asserts. Regarding tariff exemptions for electronics like smartphones and semiconductors, Greer explains they fall under a national security tariff study, not a permanent exclusion, but a shift in framework. “It’s shifting from one bucket of tariffs to a different bucket,” he says. Greer also confirms upcoming discussions with Japan on trade barriers, including currency manipulation, to promote fair competition. He underscores ongoing talks with multiple countries, aiming for meaningful deals within 90 days, reflecting Trump’s push for reciprocal trade agreements to strengthen U.S. economic resilience.

Breitbart [4/13/2025 1:13 PM, Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby, 2923K] reports federal agents deported a Mexican politician who spent years on the run before spending many years in a U.S. prison on money laundering charges tied to embezzled funds and cartel bribes. This week, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent former Tamaulipas Governor Tomas de Jesus Yarrington Ruvalcaba to Mexico. Mexican authorities took him into custody as he awaits trial on federal corruption and embezzlement charges. The deportation came after he completed his sentence in the United States. Since a different political party currently controls Mexico than Yarrington’s, he does not have the government protection he previously enjoyed. According to information released by ICE, Yarrington was in the U.S. serving a prison sentence of 108 months following his guilty plea on money laundering charges on March 25, 2021. At the time of the guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed the more serious charges that named Yarrington as an ally of Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, who allowed them to operate in his state with complete impunity. Without government protection, Yarrington fled to Italy, where he continued living a life of luxury under an alias until his capture by agents from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations. After Yarrington’s arrest by HSI agents, Mexico’s government tried to take credit for the capture and tried to have him extradited to Mexico first as a way to protect him.

Breitbart [4/13/2025 5:36 PM, Neil Munro, 1900K] reports President Donald Trump’s deputies are hoping to deport one million people in his first year, partly by signing up many countries to serve as landing pads for migrants from China and other countries that refuse to accept their deported citizens, according to the Washington Post. “That’s their goal,” one former government official told the newspaper. “They say it jokingly: ‘We’ve got to get a million removals.’” “The administration is negotiating with as many as 30 countries [dubbed ‘Safe Third Countries’] to take deportees who are not their citizens,” the newspaper said, adding: Officials have already begun deporting people to countries where they are not citizens, including Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama. At least one immigrant was sent to Rwanda this month, though that was after extensive negotiations between his lawyers and the Biden administration. Officials have already signed Safe Third Country deals with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Panama. One million deportations is a very ambitious goal, even though it is only a small share of the illegal migrant population in Americans’ homeland. Trump’s top immigration aide, Stephen Miller, says deputies working for President Joe Biden admitted more than 15 million illegals to compete for work and housing against roughly 320 million Americans. Kristin Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, estimated the overall illegal-migrant population is 21 million.

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Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 5:50 PM, Akhtar Makoii, 430301K]

Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 12:07 PM, Beck Wehner, 430301K] reports an illegally present Ecuadoran man was arrested in Lawrence at the beginning of April by members of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over 20 charges of child sexual assault and rape. ICE Boston said that they worked alongside federal partners from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to arrest 64-year-old Gilberto Avila-Jara. Charging documents stated that Avila illegally entered the U.S. on February 10, 1996, near San Ysidro, California. He was caught by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials on March 2, 1996, at the Los Angeles International Airport. On March 11 during the same year, an immigration judge ordered that Avila be sent back to Ecuador. On July 2, 1996, the INS returned Avila from the U.S. to Ecuador. He illegally reentered the U.S. on an unknown date and from an unknown location. On April 1, 2025, ICE Boston, DEA New England agents, and ATF Boston arrested Avila in Lawrence. “There are no appropriate words to describe the amount of damage Gilberto Avila-Jara has allegedly done to our Massachusetts community,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “Children are the most precious and most vulnerable members of our communities, and we will do everything in our power to protect them from illegal sex offenders. ICE Boston remains committed to prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing alien sexual predators from New England.”

Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 9:40 PM, Daniel Coates, 430301K] reports a Boston-based immigration attorney received an email from the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, demanding she self-deport within 7 days. Nicole Micheroni, though, was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Sharon. “I’ve never really seen anything like this before,” she told Boston 25 Sunday. She is a partner at Cameron, Micheroni, Silvia LLC in downtown Boston. Friday at the office, she received an email from DHS, which is common for her work. She explained, “This one turned out to be a little different... The email said my parole status had been revoked, and I had 7 days to leave the United States.” The no-reply email from DHS said they would take legal action if she did not self-deport. Micheroni said she’s been in touch with federal authorities, who claim the email is legitimate, but ended up being sent to someone it wasn’t supposed to. She added, “There was a mix of confusion, a little bit of laughter, and then a little bit of concern.” The email ended: “Again, DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States - the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.” Micheroni said Sunday, “They have to be careful about who they’re sending messages to... They’re spreading a lot of misinformation and fear.” Boston 25 reached out to DHS and ICE Sunday night but has not heard back.

Washington Post [4/13/2025 8:20 PM, John Hudson, 31735K] reports that, days before masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk to deport her, the State Department determined that the Trump administration had not produced any evidence showing that she engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization, as the government has alleged. The finding, contained in a March memo that was described to Washington Post, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not have sufficient grounds for revoking Ozturk’s visa under an authority empowering the top U.S. diplomat to safeguard the foreign policy interests of the United States. The memo, written by an office within the State Department, raises doubts about the public accusations made by the Trump administration as it has sought to justify Ozturk’s deportation. The Department of Homeland Security has said Ozturk engaged in activities “in support of Hamas,” a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, but neither that agency nor U.S. prosecutors have provided evidence for that claim. The revocation of Ozturk’s visa is part of an expanding crackdown on international students and scholars by the Trump administration including hundreds of visa revocation cases. She was taken into custody Match 25. Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student from Turkey, was targeted by the government for co-writing an op-ed last year in the Tufts student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to the Israel-Gaza war. A hearing in Ozturk’s case is scheduled for Monday in federal court in Vermont. Her lawyers say her possible deportation would violate the United States’ founding principles of freedom of speech. When asked about the memo, the State Department said “we do not comment on ongoing or pending litigation.” DHS did not respond to a request for comment.

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NewsMax [4/13/2025 10:16 PM, Mark Swanson, 4998K]

CNN [4/14/2025 5:00 AM, Dalia Faheid, 908K] reports a federal judge in Vermont will hear arguments Monday on the legality of Rümeysa Öztürk’s detention at a Louisiana facility the Tufts University student described as "unsanitary, unsafe, and inhumane.” The hearing comes as Washington Post reports that a State Department office failed to find evidence tying Öztürk to antisemitism or terrorism just days before she was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Washington Post report, which does not name the State Department office purportedly involved, says the finding was detailed in a memo last month. Besides pointing to the lack of evidence against Öztürk, the memo noted her name was not associated with any terrorism-related information during a search of US government databases, according to the Post, citing government officials briefed on the memo. The 30-year-old PhD student, who’s originally from Turkey but has been in the US on an F-1 student visa, was detained nearly three weeks ago by masked officers near her apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts. The government has accused her of being "engaged in activities in support of Hamas," though they have not specified what those alleged activities were. Her lawyers say she is unfairly being punished for speaking out in favor of Palestinian rights. The Department of Homeland Security originally asked the State Department to cancel Öztürk’s visa under a legal authority meant to safeguard US foreign policy interests, according to the Post, but the State Department memo said Secretary of State Marco Rubio lacked the grounds to do that. The State Department said the visa could still be revoked without using that particular legal authority because the Immigration and Nationality Act gives the secretary of state complete discretion to do so. After her arrest, Öztürk was shuttled through multiple states and suffered an asthma attack before ending up at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana – more than 1,500 miles away from home. In Monday’s hearing, her attorneys are asking Vermont District Judge William K. Sessions III to rule that the Vermont district court is the appropriate venue to hear the case since it’s the last place she was taken before a final transfer to Louisiana. They have also asked for Öztürk to be immediately released, saying she is not a flight risk or danger to the community, and she lacked access to asthma medicine in detention. Öztürk had four asthma attacks while in custody, according to her written declaration filed Thursday.

Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 1:14 PM, Cheryl McCloud, 430301K] reports low-cost airline Avelo has signed an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The airline, which also operates out of 10 Florida airports, Including Palm Beach International Airport, will carry out deportation flights under a charter agreement with Homeland Security. All the deportation flights will be out of Arizona. Avelo Airlines to carry out deportation flights for ICE. The agreement with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement means Avelo will carry out deportation flights.

Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 1:09 PM, Staff, 430301K] reports at least seven Ohio State University students have had their F-1 visas revoked, according to our media partner, WBNS-10 TV. An F-1 visa is what students who wish to travel to the United States to study must have, according to a previous News Center 7 report. University president Walter "Ted" Carter Jr. released a statement to students, staff and faculty. In part, Carter said the university did not receive a formal notice of the federal government’s actions. The university was also not told why these students had their visas revoked, according to Carter. Carter said the university has been in contact with the affected students to offer support and resources. WBNS-10 TV’s Doug Petcash talked to U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno about international college students in Ohio losing their visas. Moreno said he didn’t know the specific circumstances, but he has "full faith and confidence" in the Department of Homeland Security, according to WBNS-10. He added that Carter has not reached out with concerns. "If he had concerns, I would certainly take his phone call and see if we made a mistake..." Moreno said. Moreno would like the university to reach out to his office with any concerns so they can investigate.

Houston Chronicle [4/13/2025 7:00 AM, Matt deGrood, 1769K] reports a woman last month flagged down a Houston police officer to tell them about a car crash on Washington Avenue. The officer responded by calling federal immigration authorities on her. While ICE agents didn’t respond and detain her, as they have in some similar instances, her story is one of at least 22 such cases, including calling agents on a woman stranded with her child at Hobby Airport, according to records obtained by the Chronicle. Experts say the reports reveal a growing sense of cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials and could disincentivize people reporting crimes in the future. The Houston Police Department’s current policy on the administrative warrants instructs officers to call ICE and tell them about the warrant and then wait a reasonable amount of time for an agent to arrive on scene.

NPR [4/13/2025 4:35 PM, Staff, 29983K] Audio: HERE reports the Trump administration admitted that it wrongfully deported a man named Kilmar Abrego Garcia. It had also been arguing that courts cannot compel the U.S. government to return him to this country. The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously determined the government must "facilitate" his release from the El Salvador prison where he is being held, but the Department of Justice has so far only confirmed his presence at that prison. If he is not returned to this country to face due process, people following this case point out a troubling implication: The government could potentially send anyone to a foreign prison – regardless of citizenship – with no legal recourse. Harvard University emeritus professor of constitutional law Laurence Tribe explains his argument.

Telemundo [4/13/2025 2:47 PM, Marian Marval, 171K] reports people living in the U.S. without legal status must now register on a government page where they will leave their biometric information and personal data, something that has already created confusion and fear in the immigrant community. The measure went into effect on Friday, April 11, after a federal judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration for all individuals without legal status in the country to register with the Department of Homeland Security. But how does this registration work and who must do it? Also, how is it affecting the undocumented in the Chicago area? According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, registrants must complete the following steps: Create an online account with USCIS Complete and submit the online Form G-325R USCIS review of Form G-325R. "If you are deemed to have already complied with the registration requirements in some other way and do not need to file Form G-325R, USCIS will notify you that you have already complied with that requirement. If you have already registered as required by INA 262, USCIS will not schedule an appointment for biometric services or provide you with evidence of registration," according to the USCIS page. If USCIS deems that you must appear for biometric services, then it will schedule an appointment. Attend the appointment to provide your biometric data. Receive registration documentation. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, registrants must complete the following steps: Create an online account with USCIS Complete and submit the online Form G-325R USCIS review of Form G-325R. "If you are deemed to have already complied with the registration requirements in some other way and do not need to file Form G-325R, USCIS will notify you that you have already complied with that requirement. If you have already registered as required by INA 262, USCIS will not schedule an appointment for biometric services or provide you with evidence of registration," according to the USCIS page. If USCIS deems that you must appear for biometric services, then it will schedule an appointment. Attend the appointment to provide your biometric data. Receive registration documentation.

Caribbean National Weekly [4/13/2025 9:39 PM, Jovani Davis] reports the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that as of April 9th, it will now scrutinize the social media activity of foreign nationals applying for immigration benefits, with a specific focus on antisemitic content. Under new guidance issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), posts expressing support for antisemitic violence or terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or the Houthis (Ansar Allah) could lead to visa denials or the loss of immigration eligibility. The policy, which takes effect immediately, will apply to foreign students, lawful permanent resident applicants, and others affiliated with educational institutions tied to antisemitic activity. It stems from a broader Trump administration push to combat antisemitism and block entry to individuals deemed national security threats. “There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. “Sec. Noem has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for anti-Semitic violence and terrorism – think again. You are not welcome here.” The directive follows multiple executive orders signed by President Trump, including Combatting Anti-Semitism and Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists. Under the new USCIS guidance, online expressions of support for antisemitic terrorism, ideologies, or organizations will be treated as a serious red flag in any immigration review.

Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 6:50 PM, Paul Feely, 430301K] reports Southern New Hampshire University confirmed late Friday several international students had their student visas terminated by federal officials. Officials at the University of New Hampshire also said they know of three former students whose Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records have been terminated by officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. According to the U.S. Department of Education, SEVIS records are terminated under a five-month rule, which applies to students who have been away from classes or not considered active students for five months. Siobhan Lopez, Director of Media Relations for Southern NH University (SNHU), said over the past week SNHU officials learned “some of our campus-based international students and graduates had their visas revoked and student status terminated by the federal government.” “We are working with the impacted students to connect them with resources,” Lopez wrote in an email. “Our international students are a vital part of our university who bring diverse perspectives, rich cultural experiences, and unique academic strengths that enhance our entire campus.” Lopez said SNHU was not notified by federal authorities of the changes. ‘We did not work with federal agencies to proactively supply any student information related to these status revocations,” Lopez wrote. “SNHU only learned about them through proactive monitoring of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database.” Lopez said SNHU will comply with “lawfully issued warrants, subpoenas, and record requests” in accordance with FERPA and other applicable laws “while protecting the legal rights of the university and our community members.” “Our students and employees are our top priority, and we will continue to focus on supporting them,” Lopez wrote.

Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 3:19 PM, Bob Mercer, 430301K] reports several hundreds of the women and men who have served in the South Dakota Legislature came together in the state Capitol on Saturday for a ceremony formally commemorating 100 regular sessions. Among the speakers were South Dakota’s new governor, Larry Rhoden, a Meade County rancher who served 16 years as a state lawmaker. "I walked in today and I saw the group on the stairway and as I walked through the crowds you know it just brought back a thousand memories, and every legislator I met I thought of another story," he said. Rhoden has been touring the state the past several weeks as the new governor. As lieutenant governor, he succeeded the previous governor, Kristi Noem, after she was confirmed as the new federal Homeland Security security. "It’s just brought home to me just how fortunate we are and how much we take for granted in South Dakota," Rhoden said. "We have a thriving economy, we have the lowest unemployment in the nation, and it’s not because of government, it’s because of the fabric of the people we represent, and the people that we come from. They understand where their values , where their rights, liberties and freedoms come from, and it’s not by government, and they understand that the counter-balance – personal rights, liberties and freedoms – is personal responsibility and we live in a state where the government allows people to exercise those rights and their sense of responsibility.” Another speaker was Democratic former lawmaker Bernie Hunhoff of Yankton "I think this gathering and the Legislature reflects South Dakota," he said. The part-time citizen-driven process is different than what’s found in the other 49 states, according to Hunhoff. "It’s a marathon town hall meeting where they hash out how we’re going to live for the next year.”

Breitbart [4/13/2025 10:05 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2923K] reports Arizona counties have started a process to work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding verifying voters’ citizenship and removing non-citizens from voter lists. This comes after America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit against Arizona’s 15 counties "on behalf of EZAZ.org," and Yvonne Cahill, a registered voter and naturalized citizen, according to Fox News. In the lawsuit, AFL argued that "the counties had not been following a state law" requiring people to prove their citizenship in order to vote in state and local elections. Per the outlet, "while a 2013 Supreme Court ruling prohibits states from imposing registration requirements beyond the federal requirement that registrants must check a box affirming their U.S. citizenship," voters in the state have to show proof they are a United States citizen to vote in local and state elections: While a 2013 Supreme Court ruling prohibits states from imposing voter registration requirements beyond the federal requirement that registrants must check a box affirming their U.S. citizenship, Arizona residents are still required to provide proof of citizenship to vote in state and local elections. The Arizona law also requires that county recorders perform a monthly list maintenance to confirm the U.S. citizenship of so-called "federal-only voters," a list of nearly 50,000 individuals who failed to provide proof of U.S. citizenship and were not allowed to vote in state or local elections. AFL’s lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in August 2024, was "terminated on April 9 after the parties agreed to a stipulation of dismissal," according to Newsweek.

New York Times [4/13/2025 8:00 AM, Tripp Mickle and Ana Swanson, 330K] reports that, after more than a week of ratcheting up tariffs on products imported from China, the Trump administration issued a rule late Friday that spared smartphones, computers, semiconductors and other electronics from some of the fees, in a significant break for tech companies like Apple and Dell and the prices of iPhones and other consumer electronics. A message posted late Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection included a long list of products that would not face the reciprocal tariffs President Trump imposed in recent days on Chinese goods as part of a worsening trade war. The exclusions would also apply to modems, routers, flash drives and other technology goods, which are largely not made in the United States. The exemptions are not a full reprieve. Other tariffs will still apply to electronics and smartphones. The Trump administration had applied a tariff of 20 percent on Chinese goods earlier this year for what the administration said was the country’s role in the fentanyl trade. And the administration could still end up increasing tariffs for semiconductors, a vital component of smartphones and other electronics. The moves were the first major exemptions for Chinese goods, which would have wide-ranging implications for the U.S. economy if they persist. Tech giants such as Apple and Nvidia would largely sidestep punitive taxes that could slash their profits. Consumers — some of whom rushed to buy iPhones this past week — would avoid major potential price increases on smartphones, computers and other gadgets. And the exemptions could dampen additional inflation and calm the turmoil that many economists feared might lead to a recession.

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Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 12:35 PM, Noi Mahoney, 430301K]

Washington Post [4/13/2025 4:41 PM, Nitasha Tiku, Aaron Gregg, Mariana Alfaro, and Jeff Stein 31735K] reports U.S. levies on semiconductor chips, smartphones and laptops — which the White House exempted late Friday from a slew of “reciprocal” tariffs — are in fact still in the works, and will be determined in a month or two, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other top Trump administration officials asserted Sunday. Lutnick said tariffs on those electronic goods will ultimately be decided through an industry-specific tariff model focused on the semiconductor supply chain and imposed via Section 232, which governs national security-related tariffs and requires a lengthy process for study and comment. The Trump administration has previously cited 232 as a potential avenue for semiconductor tariffs. And President Donald Trump issued his own clarification Sunday, stating that no such exemptions to tariffs had been made Friday. “These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’ The Fake News knows this, but refuses to report it,” Trump posted on Truth Social, adding: “We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations. What has been exposed is that we need to make products in the United States, and that we will not be held hostage by other Countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China.”

New York Times [4/13/2025 8:29 PM, Tony Romm, Ana Swanson, and Tripp Mickle, 153395K] reports President Trump signaled on Sunday that he would pursue new tariffs on the powerful computer chips inside smartphones and other technologies, just two days after his administration excluded a variety of electronics from the steep import taxes recently applied on goods arriving from China. The push came as Mr. Trump’s top economic advisers scrambled to explain their shifting strategy, after having insisted for weeks that they would shield no company or industry from any of the fees they have levied in a bid to reset U.S. trade relationships. The reprieve for technology companies arrived in the form of a Customs and Border Protection rule issued late Friday that spared high-tech imports from Mr. Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, including those on China. While the president paused a set of punishing levies on nearly 60 countries last week, his administration has forged ahead with a new 145 percent tax on Chinese exports, announcing it after Beijing retaliated against the United States. The exclusions in the C.B.P. rule covered a wide slate of products, such as computers, smartphones, modems and flash drives, and it represented a major victory for Apple, and other U.S. technology giants, which rely on Chinese factories to help manufacture important components and popular devices. Apple executives had even been in contact with Trump administration officials about the Chinese tariffs in recent days, according to two people with knowledge of the company’s efforts. The company declined to comment.

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NewsMax [4/13/2025 5:52 PM, Mark Swanson, 4998K]

The Hill [4/13/2025 11:23 AM, Brett Samuels, 12829K] reports the Trump administration’s move to exempt smartphones, computers and other electronics from sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs is only a temporary measure, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday, indicating those devices would be covered by upcoming sector-based tariffs. “This is not like a permanent sort of exemption. [Trump’s] just clarifying that these are not available to be negotiated away by countries. These are things that are national security, that we need to be made in America,” Lutnick told ABC’s “This Week.” Customs and Border Protection, which handles the collection of tariffs, posted a notice late Friday that certain electronics would be exempted from “reciprocal” tariffs imposed on other nations, including China. But Lutnick told ABC News that the excluded devices, such as smartphones, computers, routers and other electronics, will likely be covered under tariffs President Trump is set to impose on semiconductors. “So, what he’s doing is he’s saying they’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two,” Lutnick said. “So, these are coming soon. You shouldn’t think this is really outside of it. Really think of it as being included in the semiconductor space.”

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Breitbart [4/13/2025 11:15 AM, Pam Key, 2923K]
Breitbart [4/13/2025 9:37 AM, AFP, 2923K]
ABC News [4/13/2025 11:17 AM, Quinn Scanlan, 34586K]
Axios [4/13/2025 11:18 AM, Avery Lotz, 13163K]
Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 12:47 PM, John Bowden, 430301K]

Washington Examiner [4/13/2025 4:47 PM, Zach LaChance, 2296K] reports President Donald Trump clarified that no products are exempt from his new increased tariffs on China even after Customs and Border Protection announced exemptions for various tech products just last week. In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said those tech products — which include smartphones, various electronic parts, and computer monitors — have merely moved to a "different Tariff ‘bucket’" and are still subject to the 20% tariff on China related to fentanyl. "NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst! There was no Tariff ‘exception’ announced on Friday. These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’ The Fake News knows this, but refuses to report it," the president said. Trump, however, went on to say that semiconductors and the "whole electronics supply chain" will be reevaluated in "upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations," while stressing the importance of making products in the United States.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [4/13/2025 4:26 PM, Ryan King, 54903K]

Reuters [4/13/2025 9:54 PM, Jeff Mason, 41523K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said he would be announcing the tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week, adding that there would be flexibility on some companies in the sector. Trump spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled back to Washington from his estate in West Palm Beach.

Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 7:00 PM, Gabe Chavez, 430301K] reports a new order from President Trump is establishing a military buffer zone at the southern border. This initiative follows the Trump Administration’s decision to send troops to the border in New Mexico. In an effort to secure the southern border, President Trump issued a memo that allows the military to operate in the Roosevelt Reservation, a 60-foot-wide strip of land that stretches from California to New Mexico. According to the memo from the White House, this order excludes “federal Indian reservations.” The directive also authorizes the use of this land for “border-barrier construction and the installation of detection and monitoring equipment.” Earlier this year, shortly after taking office, the president declared a state of emergency at the border, which led to the deployment of military personnel to assist with border patrol efforts. In March, the Department of Defense sent a Stryker brigade to the New Mexico border to aid in surveillance. The Department of Defense has 45 days to review the first phase of the memo and its implementation.

FOXBusiness [4/13/2025 1:59 PM, Bonny Chu, Pilar Arias, 10702K] reports nearly 300 Delta Air Lines passengers experienced a night of chaos and delays last week after poor weather forced two international flights to divert to a regional airport without customs – forcing the passengers to spend the night in their planes on the tarmac. The two Delta flights, which departed from Mexico for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport last Thursday, did not reach their destination until the following day, according to the airline. Instead, Flight 1828 from Cabo San Lucas and Flight 599 from Mexico City landed at Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama as a diversion point around 9:30 p.m., a Delta spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Business. Because the regional airport lacks U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities, the travelers were unable to disembark the aircraft and were left stranded on the planes overnight. While other airports with CBP facilities were nearby, they were also not within reach due to the weather. Passengers sat in their planes until the morning around 5:30 a.m. when special CBP arrangements arrived. The travelers were allowed to enter the airport before finally departing for Atlanta around noon.

USA Today [4/13/2025 12:52 PM, Daniel Gonzalez, 75858K] reports the 38-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan was getting ready for his 4 a.m. shift as a wheelchair assistant at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport when he checked his email. He found a notification from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "It is time for you to leave the United States," the first sentence of the notification said. The notification, which had arrived at 10:49 p.m. the night before, said that under the discretion of the Department of Homeland Security, the man’s parole allowing him to live in the U.S. was being terminated in seven days and he should leave the country. "If you do not depart the United Stated immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States — unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here," the notification warned. Work permits obtained through parole status also would be terminated, the notification said. The man, whose name is Hekmatullah Quvanch, said he was terrified by the notification. "I am worried, scared and confused," Quvanch said through an interpreter. Quvanch is one of scores, and perhaps hundreds, of asylum seekers living in Arizona who received similar notifications from the Department of Homeland Security on April 10 and 11 after being paroled into the U.S. through the CBP One app during the Biden administration, according to immigration lawyers and refugee resettlement groups.

NewsMax [4/13/2025 11:20 AM, Eric Mack, 4998K] reports the House’s Northern Border Security Caucus, made up of 24 House GOP members, are warning that while illegal border crossings from Canada have dropped precipitously, enforcement has, too, because of the repurposing of assets to secure the southern border. It makes the U.S.-Canada border an exploitable "opportunity for terrorists," according to caucus co-founder and co-chair Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa. "They had to shift manpower to the southwest border which opened up an even greater opportunity for terrorists to come through our northern border," Kelly warned in an interview with the New York Post published Sunday morning. "The numbers aren’t as big as the southern border — I get that — but the most dangerous people are coming through the northern border." With the northern border’s declining resources leaving the crossings largely unchecked more now, Kelly warns "most dangerous people are coming through" from Canada and not Mexico. The 5,525-mile border between the U.S. and Canada is the longest international border in the world, making it a target-rich environment for terrorists. "That border is so easy to access and to get through, all you have to do is go from one piece of grass to the next piece of grass," Kelly said. "You just step over a line to get to the United States." The latest Customs and Border Protection data showed a 66% drop in illegal crossings from November (12,085) to February (4,098), and a 78% drop from the August 2024 peak of 18,944, the Post reported.

West Orlando News [4/13/2025 11:47 AM, Staff, 27K] reports the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced the imminent implementation of its REAL ID enforcement measures at TSA checkpoints nationwide. On May 7th, TSA will no longer accept state-issued identifications that are not REAL ID compliant at TSA security checkpoints. All airline passengers 18 years and older, including TSA PreCheck® members, must present REAL ID-compliant identification or another acceptable ID, such as a passport, at TSA security checkpoints. Noncitizens illegally present in the U.S. who are voluntarily self-deporting on international flights will not be denied boarding under this requirement, according to officials. “Secretary Noem and the Trump administration are enforcing the 2005 REAL ID Act and regulations on May 7, as directed by Congress and the American people,” said Adam Stahl, TSA Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator. “The Real ID requirement bolsters safety by making fraudulent IDs harder to forge, thwarting criminals and terrorists. TSA will implement REAL ID effectively and efficiently, continuing to ensure the safety and security of passengers while also working to minimize operational disruptions at airports.” Passengers who present a state-issued identification that is not REAL ID compliant and who do not have another acceptable alternative (e.g., passport) can expect to face delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint. Currently, 81% of travelers at checkpoints present an acceptable identification including a state-issued REAL ID. The Transportation Security Administration expects the number of passengers obtaining REAL IDs to steadily increase and will continue with additional screening measures for those without a REAL ID until it is no longer considered a security vulnerability.

Newsmax [4/13/2025 9:32 AM, Nick Koutsobinas, 5000K] reports on Friday evening, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that a digital ID known as a Real ID, which requires a high resolution digital facial image, would be required by May 7 to fly and enter federal buildings. "Starting May 7, you will need a Real ID to travel by air or to visit federal buildings in the United States," Noem said in a video posted to X. "These IDs keep our country safe because they help prevent fraud and they enhance security." After Noem’s post, a wave of backlash ensued. Appending Noem’s announcement, the TSA wrote on Friday it would "no longer accept state-issued identifications that are not REAL ID compliant at TSA security checkpoints. All airline passengers 18 years and older, including TSA PreCheck® members, must present REAL ID-compliant identification or another acceptable ID, such as a passport, at TSA security checkpoints. Noncitizens illegally present in the U.S. who are voluntarily self-deporting on international flights will not be denied boarding under this requirement." In light of the thousands of criticisms Noem’s post received, according to the American Policy Center, "the Real ID Act has many tentacles that are each very egregious. The law, Public Law 109-13, The Real ID Act 2005 is not a terribly long law, but it does have hundreds of pages that were published as part of the Rulemaking process."

NBC News [4/13/2025 12:56 PM, Christine Rapp and Mirna Alsharif, 44742K] reports around 10 million people remain under fire alerts in an area stretching from South Dakota down to Texas and Arizona on Sunday afternoon. Wind gusts as high as 30-40 mph, combined with warm temperatures, dry vegetation and relative humidity values as low as 5%, are expected to create hazardous conditions for the development of new fires. San Antonio, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Tucson, Arizona, are among the areas at risk.

The New York Times [4/14/2025 1:28 AM, Livia Albeck-Ripka, 145325K] reports a Wisconsin teenager has been charged in the killing of his mother and stepfather in what the federal authorities described as an attempt to obtain the money and autonomy he believed was necessary for a plot to kill President Trump and overthrow the government. The teenager, Nikita Casap, 17, was arrested last month in the deaths of his mother, Tatiana Casap, 35, and stepfather, Donald Mayer, 51, according to the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff’s deputies found the bodies at the family’s home in Waukesha, about 17 miles southwest of Milwaukee, after receiving a call on Feb. 28 requesting a welfare check, the department said. According to federal documents unsealed on Friday, the fatal shootings were part of a plan by Mr. Casap, who identified with a right-wing terrorist network known as the Order of Nine Angles, to assassinate President Trump in what he believed would “foment a political revolution in the United States,” federal investigators said. Mr. Casap also paid, at least in part, for a drone and explosives that he planned to use in an attack, according to the documents, which were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Mr. Casap’s lawyers could not be immediately reached on Sunday for comment. A self-described “manifesto,” found on Mr. Casap’s phone and detailed in the federal documents, contained images and praise of Adolf Hitler, as well as instructions to others to make bombs. “By getting rid of the president and perhaps the vice president, that is guaranteed to bring in some chaos,” Mr. Casap wrote. According to the federal documents, sheriff’s deputies found the body of Ms. Casap covered in blankets on Feb. 28 while responding to a call from Mr. Mayer’s mother, who said that she had been unable to contact the family, and that Mr. Casap had not been at school in two weeks. During a secondary search of the residence, deputies found Mr. Mayer’s body also covered in blankets, according to the documents. They also located a receipt for a .357 Magnum handgun, which was not in the home. The Washington Examiner [4/13/2025 2:29 PM, Annabella Rosciglione, 2296K] reports that the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant and found material on Casap’s phone related to the "The Order of Nine Angles," which is an extremist neo-Nazi group, according to court documents. Law enforcement in Waukesha also said they found photos and communications referencing a self-described manifesto regarding assassinating Trump, making bombs, and terrorist attacks. The FBI additionally said it found a three-page document in which Casap called for Trump’s assassination to create a political revolution in the U.S. and "save the white race" from "Jewish controlled politicians.” Casap also paid for, at least in part, a drone and explosives to be used as a weapon of mass destruction to commit an attack, the document added. It said killing his parents "appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carrying out his plan.”

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [4/13/2025 2:30 PM, AWR Hawkins, 2923K]
NBC News [4/13/2025 5:00 PM, Insiya Gandhi and Mirna Alsharif, 44742K]
Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 5:33 PM, Madeline Halpert, 430301K]

Marine Link [4/13/2025 7:52 AM, Andrew R. Lee and Ilsa H. Luther, 94K] reports the $5.4 trillion global maritime industry faces a perfect storm of cyber vulnerabilities, and a new government regulation aims to be the lighthouse guiding stakeholders to safer digital harbors. On January 17, 2025, the US Coast Guard (USCG) published a final rule titled "Cybersecurity in the Marine Transportation System," aiming to bolster the cybersecurity posture of the nation’s marine transportation system (MTS). This rule introduces mandatory cybersecurity measures for US-flagged vessels, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) facilities, and certain facilities regulated under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA). The integration of digital technologies and interconnected systems within the MTS has heightened vulnerability to cyber threats. Recognizing these risks, the USCG’s rule sets a baseline for cybersecurity standards, ensuring entities within the MTS can effectively detect, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents.

Maritime Executive [4/13/2025 3:27 PM, Staff, 325K] reports the U.S. Navy has deployed another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to patrol waters around the U.S. southern border, the third announced in a month. The previously-deployed destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) will return to port. USS Stockdale, a veteran of the Red Sea maritime security campaign, departed San Diego on Friday to perform duties in support of border security. President Donald Trump has ordered a surge of military and civilian assets to support border enforcement and deportation operations, drawing on personnel and equipment from the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army and Navy, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Stockdale and other Navy vessels with law-enforcement missions ship out with embarked Coast Guard boarding teams (LEDETs), with personnel who have the training and legal authority to perform routine arrests.

NewsNation [4/13/2025 11:03 PM, Staff, 6866K] reports a major ocean catch, the U.S. Coast Guard netting a whopping 25 tons of narcotics, mostly cocaine worth more than half a billion dollars. The U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi calling this a major win for the U.S., alongside FBI Director Kash Patel. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

ABC News [4/13/2025 10:24 PM, T. Michelle Murphy, 34586K] reports the United States Coast Guard is searching for five missing people after a boat capsized near St. Lucie Inlet in Florida on Sunday. Four individuals were rescued from the scene, while another person was found deceased, the Coast Guard said. One of the passengers said that the boat capsized on Friday, according to the Coast Guard’s statement on X. As of Sunday afternoon, the officials reported that crews were still searching for the overturned vessel’s missing passengers. The Coast Guard also stated in its post that the search began after a "good Samaritan reported the incident," which took place some 29 miles off the coast of St. Lucie Inlet in Florida. Martin County Fire Rescue shared in a post on X that the Coast Guard was on the scene just before 10 a.m. on Sunday. "5 occupants were located, 1 of whom was deceased. 4 were transported for further evaluation," Martin County Fire Rescue wrote. "Our units received those four patients via helicopter at the Stuart Airport.” In another post, Martin County Fire Rescue said that one of the individuals had "serious injuries" while the other three presented non-life-threatening injuries, and they were all brought to Cleveland Clinic’s Martin South Hospital in Martin County. "A search continues for another five people reported missing," the Coast Guard said on Sunday afternoon.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 2:52 PM, Abigail Lafferty, 430301K]
Treasure Coast Newspapers [4/13/2025 4:10 PM, Staff, 523K]

Oregonian [4/13/2025 3:04 PM, Staff, 3861K] reports search teams scouring the Willamette River near Willamette Falls on Sunday reported finding an empty kayak after reports a kayaker went over the falls late Saturday and did not resurface. A massive search and rescue effort began about 11 p.m. Saturday after 911 calls came in about a kayaker “in distress” near Willamette Falls, which has a 42-foot drop and is 1,500 feet wide, the length of four football fields. The search resumed Sunday morning with members of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, Clackamas Fire District, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Lake Oswego Fire Department. The falls is at Oregon City, 26 miles upriver from the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. A little after 7 a.m. Sunday, the Coast Guard located a blue hard-shell kayak, which matched the description of the kayak the missing boater was using. The kayak was recovered by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit. The boater remained missing, and his name was not released. “The family has respectfully requested privacy,” the Clackamas County Sheriff’s office said Sunday afternoon. Search efforts remained under way with help on the river and via aerial drone.

Reported similarly:
Oregonian [4/13/2025 2:41 PM, Staff, 3861K]
CBS 6 Portland [4/13/2025 12:04 PM, Jenna Deml, 1300K]

BigIslandNow [4/13/2025 4:40 PM, Staff, 94K] reports the search continues for a local fisherman who was reported missing late last week from the South Point area in the Ka’ū District. The U.S. Coast Guard has a helicopter stationed off the Big Island, with crews taking shifts searching the water by air for the whereabouts of 42-year-old Earl Kekuanaoa Hind. The agency also has boats searching by water. The search for Hind, a Kona resident, began the afternoon of April 10. It was reported he launched his vessel, "Makalapua Onalani," a 21-foot Force with a 2-foot extension, white hull, light blue cabin and powered by twin outboard motors, on April 7 from a spot in South Point. Hind and his vessel’s current whereabouts are unknown. His truck and boat trailer were parked near the South Point boat ramp area. Coast Guard officials say the search will continue till at least Tuesday. Along with the Coast Guard, the Hawai’i Fire Department and the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources continue to assist in the search.

DVIDS [4/14/2023 12:01 AM, Chief Warrant Officer Sara Muir, 777K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard, in collaboration with Guam Fire Rescue, the U.S. Navy, and local partners, continues the search on April 14, 2025, for Jeffery Hattori, a 58-year-old boater whose 14-foot skiff, Lady G (GU 325 PU, blue bimini top), remains missing west of Guam. Mr. Hattori departed Hagåtña Boat Basin at 5:30 a.m. local time on April 12 and was expected back by 4 p.m. the same day. Watchstanders at U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam’s Joint Rescue Sub-Center (JRSC) refined the search area after Mr. Hattori’s cellular provider confirmed his phone’s last connection was via a tower near NCTAMS on Guam’s northwestern coast. This information indicated a fishing area likely to be in the northwest. Responders used the Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System (SAROPS) to reassess probable search zones. A U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 (HSC-25) Knighthawk crew spotted a life ring in the search area, initially thought to be from Lady G. Recovery by a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium (RB-M) crew from U.S. Coast Guard Station Apra Harbor revealed it belonged to the tank vessel Morning Ibis, redirecting efforts to focus on the skiff’s probable drift. Searches through the afternoon and night involved crews aboard a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon fixed-wing aircraft from Commander Task Force 72 (CTF-72) out of Misawa, Japan, an HSC-25 Knighthawk, a visiting squadron HSC-21 Seahawk and the U.S. Coast Guard RB-M. USCGC Oliver Henry (WPC 1140) joined the effort after recalling their crew and departing Apra Harbor at 8:28 p.m. local time on April 13.

The New York Times [4/14/2025 3:23 AM, Edgar Sandoval, and Jeremy W. Peters, 153395K] reports Pennsylvania state authorities have arrested and charged a Harrisburg man they said set fire to the governor’s mansion while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept, forcing them to evacuate early Sunday before the blaze severely damaged part of the building. The man, identified as Cody Balmer, 38, jumped a fence and managed to evade state troopers after he broke into the building, the authorities said. He fled the scene and was arrested after turning himself into police on Sunday afternoon, officials said at a news conference. Mr. Balmer was charged with attempted murder, arson and terrorism, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office said early Monday. CNN [4/14/2025 1:36 AM, Zoe Sottile and Ali Main, 908K] reports Harrisburg Bureau of Fire responded to the fire around 2 a.m. and extinguished it, but the building was left with “a significant amount of damage,” according to Pennsylvania State Police. Gov. Josh Shapiro said that he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family were safely evacuated. Cody Balmer of Harrisburg was arrested Sunday, Col. Christopher Paris, state police commissioner, said at an afternoon news conference. CNN has reached out to an attorney representing Balmer in another case. Balmer hasn’t been charged, but Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said he plans to charge him with attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault against an enumerated person. The suspect could also face federal charges, Chardo said. Balmer also had some “homemade incendiary devices,” Bivens said. The attack was “targeted,” but a specific motive is still unknown, Shapiro added. Balmer’s arrest comes days before he is expected in court for a plea hearing in a separate case stemming from a 2023 simple assault charge, according to state court records. In another case, Balmer pleaded guilty in 2016 to forgery and theft by deception charges, court documents show. CNN has reached out to the attorney representing Balmer in the simple assault case. FOX News [4/13/2025 5:44 PM, Stephen Sorace, Andrea Margolis, 46189K] reports "While [police] were searching is when he attacked at the residence, [and] broke in and set the fires.” "So that was all playing out over a period of several minutes. It was a very quick event that occurred, and, and again, troopers were actively searching for him at the time," Bivens added. The fire broke out overnight after Shapiro, considered a potential presidential contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, and his family celebrated the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover. At the Sunday press conference, Shapiro denounced the arson in a set of emotional remarks. "This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society," the politician said. "And I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another. It is not okay and it has to stop. We have to be better than this.” Earlier on Sunday, Shapiro posted on X that he and his family awoke at about 2 a.m. to police banging on their door after "an arsonist set fire" to the governor’s residence. "Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished," Shapiro wrote. "Every day, we stand with the law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger to protect our communities. Last night, they did so for our family – and Lori and I are eternally grateful to them for keeping us safe.” No one was injured, and the fire was extinguished, police said, adding that the fire caused significant damage to a portion of the residence. "While the investigation is ongoing, the State Police is prepared to say at this time that this was an act of arson," police said.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [4/13/2025 9:06 PM, Praveena Somasundaram, 31735K]
New York Post [4/13/2025 5:47 PM, Caitlin McCormack, 54903K]
The Hill [4/13/2025 7:16 PM, Tara Suter, 12829K]

New York Times [4/14/2025 3:23 AM, Edgar Sandoval, and Jeremy W. Peters, 153395K] reports Pennsylvania state authorities have arrested and charged a Harrisburg man they said set fire to the governor’s mansion while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept, forcing them to evacuate early Sunday before the blaze severely damaged part of the building. The man, identified as Cody Balmer, 38, jumped a fence and managed to evade state troopers after he broke into the building, the authorities said. He fled the scene and was arrested after turning himself into police on Sunday afternoon, officials said at a news conference. Mr. Balmer was charged with attempted murder, arson and terrorism, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office said early Monday. During a news briefing on Sunday outside the fire-scarred mansion, Governor Shapiro, a Democrat who gained national prominence last year when he was on the short list of possible running mates for Kamala Harris, said that the F.B.I. was assisting in the investigation. The smell of smoke lingered in the air as he spoke, with the blackened, broken windows where the arsonist had struck visible behind him. While police did not disclose a motive, they detailed the attack in an affidavit filed with the charges against Mr. Balmer early on Monday. Mr. Balmer illegally entered the grounds of the governor’s residence early Sunday and broke a window with a hammer and threw an object inside that started a fire, according to the district attorney’s office. He then entered the building and started at least one more fire. Investigators recovered two broken glass beer bottles of Heineken that had been filled with gasoline. When Pennsylvania state troopers interviewed Mr. Balmer later on Sunday, he admitted to starting the fires.

The Hill [4/13/2025 11:02 PM, Tara Suter, 12829K] reports Vice President JD Vance on Sunday responded to a fire at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D) residence, calling it "really disgusting violence.” "Thanks be to God that Governor Shapiro and his family were unharmed in this attack," Vance said in a post on X. "Really disgusting violence, and I hope whoever did it is brought swiftly to justice," he added. Officials said Sunday that 38-year-old Cody Balmer was in custody over the suspected arson at the governor’s residence, which did significant damage to part of the mansion. Shapiro said that around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, "my family and I woke up to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg.” "Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished," he added. Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo said during a press conference that charges against Balmer "will include attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault against an enumerated person.” "These are all very serious charges, as with any charges, the defendant is presumed innocent," Chardo added. "We will file those charges within the next several hours". Vance wasn’t the only member of the Trump administration to weigh in on the fire, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying she was "deeply relieved that Governor Shapiro and his family are safe, thankful for the first responders who arrived on the scene, and applaud the police work that resulted in an arrest just hours ago.”

AP [4/13/2025 2:42 PM, Staff, 48304K] reports a Pennsylvania man remained jailed on Sunday after being accused by authorities of planning a mass school shooting for later this month that would have coincided with the anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. Police allege Braeden Phillips, 20, had planned to commit a mass shooting at State College High School in Central Pennsylvania on April 21, one day after the 26th anniversary of the deadly Columbine High School shooting, according to a criminal complaint. Police allege Phillips had compiled a "hit list" and that the shooting would have taken place at around 8:40 a.m. — a high traffic time for students and staff — near the school’s main staircase. Officials cited in the complaint allege that Phillips planned to place bombs in the school bathrooms. Phillips has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was being held without bond at the Centre County Correctional Facility because he was deemed an "extreme danger to the community," according to court records. Police were trying to determine if anyone else was involved in the plan. Authorities allege Phillips said a juvenile friend of his also was going to take part in the shooting. Phillips was set to have a preliminary court hearing on Wednesday. Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 11:42 AM, Bill Shannon, 430301K] reports that according to State College Police, they were made aware of a plot to plan an attack on the high school for a later date this month. They said they investigated the accusations with the school district and determined there was a legitimate threat. A search warrant was executed at Phillips’ home Friday, April 11. While further details are limited at this time, police said they are continuing to investigate to determine if anyone else was involved. The US Department of Homeland Security, Pennsylvania State Police and the Centre County District Attorney’s Office also assisted.

Washington Examiner [4/13/2025 7:00 AM, Mike Brest, 2296K] reports President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have reshaped the senior military ranks during their first few months in office. While they have not provided detailed explanations behind why the senior leaders were relieved of their duties, many of them had publicly supported the Biden administration’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, which both Trump and Hegseth have said need to be removed. Trump and Hegseth have railed against such efforts, with the secretary saying early in his tenure, "I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength.’" Simultaneously, they have repeatedly spoken about redeveloping the military as a meritocracy. Fagan, the first woman to lead a branch of the U.S. armed forces, was relieved of duty just 24 hours into the second Trump administration. Former acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman relieved Fagan for "leadership deficiencies, operational failures, and [an] inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard," a senior DHS official told the Washington Examiner at the time. Huffman has since been replaced by Kristi Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, whom the Senate confirmed. Adm. Kevin Lunday remains the acting Coast Guard Commandant.

Politico [4/13/2025 12:13 PM, Ari Hawkins, 2100K] reports President Donald Trump is preparing to instruct the Commerce Department to launch an investigation that could lead to new tariffs on semiconductor technology in order to protect national security, a White House official confirmed to POLITICO. The action sets the stage for more friction between the U.S. and major economies in East Asia, where the U.S. gets most of its chips, such as Taiwan, and would have sweeping implications for major U.S. technology companies that rely on chip imports. South Korea, Malaysia and Japan are also key players in the semiconductor supply chain, including in chip assembly, testing and production. China is the world’s largest semiconductor market in terms of consumption. The investigation will be launched under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the president to restrict imports deemed a threat to national security, the official said, who was granted anonymity to discuss developing plans. The official added that the purpose of the investigation is to “revive U.S. manufacturing in critical technologies.”

Daily Wire [4/13/2025 6:54 AM, Daniel Chaitin, 4672K] reports the number of countries that have made contact with the United States over trade since President Donald Trump unveiled his "Liberation Day" tariffs has more than doubled over the past week, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett revealed on Sunday. Hassett and Trump administration officials stated last weekend that more than 50 nations had reached out. That number increased to nearly 70 nations, leading up until Wednesday, when Trump announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs for most countries, reverting to a 10% rate, while increasing levies on China to more than 100%. Hassett described a bifurcated trade negotiation system in which talks with China are "very, very nascent, if at all," while discussions are progressing "very quickly" with other countries such as Japan, Korea, and India. Some pacts are nearly finalized, and the Trump administration was considering announcing a "deal in principle even this week," Hassett said, "but then we were making so much progress so rapidly that the president decided to instead, instead of having one or two things right now, just go for the 10% pause. And I think it was the right answer, given the massive amount of momentum that we have been seeing."

FOX News [4/13/2025 7:12 PM, Greg Wehner, 46189K] reports President Donald Trump vowed on Sunday that nobody was getting "off the hook" for unfair trade balances and tariff barriers, which other countries have used against the U.S. The Trump administration announced Friday that it was exempting imported smartphones, laptops and other electronics from reciprocal tariffs, but the president wanted to clear a few things up. "There was no Tariff ‘exception’ announced on Friday," Trump said in a post on X on Sunday. "These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’ The Fake News knows this, but refuses to report it. We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations. "What has been exposed is that we need to make products in the United States, and that we will not be held hostage by other Countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China, which will do everything within its power to disrespect the American People," he continued. "We also cannot let them continue to abuse us on Trade, like they have for decades, THOSE DAYS ARE OVER!" Trump closed out his post by saying the Golden Age of America will mean "more and better paying jobs" as well as making products in the U.S. and treating other countries as they have treated America. "The bottom line is that our Country will be bigger, better, and stronger than ever before," he said. "We will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Customs and Border Protection issued new guidance on reciprocal tariff negotiations late Friday, noting the exemption of those goods from Trump’s April 2 executive order that declared a national emergency due to non-reciprocal trade practices and structural imbalances in the global trading system. Subsequent executive orders ramped up tariffs on China to 125%. The updated guidance, which cites a presidential memorandum issued Friday, excluded the products from Trump’s 125% China tariff and his baseline 10% global tariff on some countries. They apply to goods that left a warehouse as of April 5. The new move will likely ease the blow for consumers while giving a boost to electronics giants such as Apple, Samsung and Dell.

Reuters [4/14/2025 1:57 AM, Jeff Mason, 41523K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said he doesn’t think a foreign company should control U.S. Steel (X.N), repeating comments made last week that dimmed hopes for the $15 billion bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel (5401.T), to buy the U.S. firm. Trump said on Wednesday he did not want to see U.S. Steel "go to Japan," sending its shares down 7%. The two companies later said they were working closely with the Trump administration to "secure a significant investment." Trump spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from his estate in Florida. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba discussed the deal during their meeting in February, the latter said on Monday in a parliament session in Tokyo. "The difference between acquisition and investment must be carefully examined in light of the U.S. law, but there must surely be a point where it (U.S. Steel) remains as an American company, and where Japanese interests can also be realized," Ishiba said. The original deal for Nippon to buy U.S. Steel, which was announced in December 2023, has faced headwinds from the start. Both former President Joe Biden and Trump last year asserted that U.S. Steel should remain American-owned as they sought to win over voters in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where the company is headquartered, during a hotly contested election. In January 2025, Biden blocked the transaction on national security grounds. But the parties quickly sued, alleging they were denied a fair national security review, because Biden had prejudiced the process with his public opposition to the deal in a bid to win reelection.

Wall Street Journal [4/13/2025 10:58 PM, Ryan Dubé, 646K] reports Ecuadoreans re-elected President Daniel Noboa to a four-year term Sunday, giving him another chance to carry out a crackdown on transnational gangs waging a war for control of cocaine routes to the U.S. With over 85% of the votes counted, Noboa, a Miami-born businessman who has worked to build ties to the Trump administration, took 56% of the vote, beating Luisa González, a protégé of leftist former President Rafael Correa. Noboa’s approach to local drug gangs tied to Colombian, Mexican and Albanian crime syndicates has drawn comparisons with that of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has carried out massive sweeps and jailed thousands of gang members. That has dramatically lowered homicides in the tiny Central American country by over 90% since 2015. But Noboa, a 37-year-old center-right scion of a banana magnate who was first elected in October 2023 to finish out the term of a president who had resigned, has struggled to bring control in a country that went from one of Latin America’s most peaceful to one of the world’s most violent. Law-enforcement officials and security experts say Ecuador faces a far tougher battle than El Salvador, where local street gangs centered on extorting business carried out much of the violence. The gangs in Ecuador, by comparison, are transnational in nature, allied with powerful cartels from Mexico and Colombia and moving billions of dollars a year in cocaine to the U.S. and Europe, providing them with the kind of funding Salvadoran gangs could only dream of. The Ecuadorean gangs have also increasingly fragmented, opening up new rivalries and battles.

FOX News [4/13/2025 9:17 PM, Greg Wehner, 46189K] reports President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to the Houthis by saying it was time for them to hide now that he has removed "dangerous red tape" from the Biden administration, allowing U.S. troops to protect Somalia against terrorists. "Time for the terrorists to hide, but it won’t do them any good. Our Warfighters, the Greatest the World has ever seen, will find them, and bring them to a swift Justice," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "I just got rid of Joe Biden’s dangerous red tape, and empowered our Warfighters, once again, just like I did against our fight with ISIS, who were completely obliterated in three weeks under General Daniel Caine, our new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "We will support the Somali People, who should not allow the Houthis to embed (which they are trying to do!), to end terrorism, and bring prosperity to their Country," the president added. Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department on the matter and is waiting to hear back. For years, the U.S. has helped Somali forces with airstrikes and other support against the al-Shabab extremist group and an affiliate of the Islamic State, or ISIS. Last month, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud drafted a letter to Trump offering the U.S. exclusive access to air bases and seaports, which reignited tensions between the government of Somalia and the breakaway region of Somaliland, the Associated Press reported. In the letter, Somalia offered "exclusive operational control" over the Berbera and Baledogle air bases and the ports of Berbera and Bosaso to "bolster American engagement in the region.”

Reuters [4/13/2025 10:44 PM, Jeff Mason, 24727K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he expected to make a decision on Iran very quickly, after both countries said they held "positive" and "constructive" talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene this week. Trump, who has threatened military action if no deal is reached on halting Iran’s nuclear program, told reporters aboard Air Force One that he met with advisers on Iran and expected a quick decision. He gave no further details. "We’ll be making a decision on Iran very quickly," he said. Axios cited two sources with knowledge of the issue as saying that a second round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran would take place next Saturday in Rome. The talks held in Oman on Saturday were the first between Iran and a Trump administration, including the U.S. president’s 2017-2021 first term. Officials said they took place in a "productive, calm and positive atmosphere." On Saturday, Trump told reporters the U.S.-Iran talks were going "okay," adding, "Nothing matters until you get it done, so I don’t like talking about it, but it’s going okay. The Iran situation is going pretty good, I think."

Yahoo! News [4/13/2025 12:52 PM, Akhtar Makoii, 430301K] reports Iran has hit back at speculation that it will hold direct talks with the United States. Tehran has said it wants to continue negotiations through Oman and other mediators, and not speak directly as Donald Trump, the US president, has demanded. Mr Trump is seeking an agreement to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb and has warned of a military strike if an agreement is not forthcoming. Iran wants a release of sanctions that have crippled its economy. Iran’s response comes after hardliners criticised a brief chat between Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, and Abbas Araghchi, Tehran’s foreign minister, inside a hotel in Oman on Saturday and feared two sides might engage in direct talks. "It was very normal," said Mr Araghchi. "When we were leaving, the two groups ran into each other and we spoke for a few minutes – it’s a very accepted issue and we have always respected the diplomatic politeness while encountering American diplomats.”

FOX News [4/13/2025 5:41 PM, Benjamin Weinthal, 46189K] reports the daughter of a German-American journalist who died in the custody of Iran and whose body was returned mutilated and missing body parts urged the Trump administration on Sunday to pull the plug on nuclear talks with the Islamic Republic. Jamshid "Jimmy" Sharmahd, 69, a California resident who was kidnapped while on a business trip in the United Arab Emirates in 2020 and taken to Tehran, was executed in October. His daughter, Gazelle Sharmahd, told Fox News Digital his body was returned bearing horrific signs of torture. "I traveled to Berlin with my family not to embrace my freed father after five years of torture by these terrorists, but to receive his mutilated body in a box," she said. "The regime did not only torture my father physically and mentally for more than 1,500 days as the U.S. Biden administration and Germany was watching idly, even after killing my father they cut out his organs." Gazelle Sharmahd said an autopsy report showed her father’s tongue, larynx, thyroid and heart were missing, and he only had two teeth. The daughter, who fruitlessly lobbied the Biden administration to free her father, said the U.S. and Germany should not negotiate with a nation capable of such atrocities. "On the day that a German-American patriot and hostage was returned in pieces in a casket, with his tongue and heart cut out, barely recognizable to my family and me, Germany and the U.S. consider sitting down with the killers of their dual national hostage," she said. The Trump administration started indirect talks with Iran’s clerical regime on Saturday in Oman, a Mideast country, where Jimmy was taken after he was kidnapped in the UAE and later moved to Iran. Sharmahd, who was a sharp critic of the regime in Tehran, was considered an American national under the Levinson Act, according to the family’s lawyer, Jason Poblete, who is an expert on victims kidnapped by totalitarian regimes. The Levinson Act defines a "United States national" as a "lawful permanent resident with significant ties to the United States." According to the State Department, the definition applies to non-U.S. citizens. The act was named after Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent and private investigator who disappeared from an Iranian island in 2007. Levinson was held hostage and was declared dead in 2020 when he was said to have died in Iranian custody. His family blamed the Iranian regime for his capture and imprisonment.

Reuters [4/13/2025 6:47 PM, Doina Chiacu, Nathan Layne and Jeff Mason, 24727K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday bore down on his administration’s latest message that the exclusion of smartphones and computers from his reciprocal tariffs on China will be short-lived, pledging a national security trade investigation into the semiconductor sector. Those electronics "are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket,’" Trump said in a social media post. "We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations." The White House had announced the exclusions from steep reciprocal tariffs on Friday. Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, earlier on Sunday said that critical technology products from China would face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months. The exclusions announced on Friday were seen as a big break for technology firms such as Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and Dell Technologies (DELL.N), opens new tab that rely on imports from China. Trump’s back-and-forth on tariffs last week triggered the wildest swings on Wall Street since the COVID pandemic of 2020. The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index (.SPX), opens new tab is down more than 10% since Trump took office on January 20. Lutnick said Trump would enact "a special focus-type of tariff" on smartphones, computers and other electronics products in a month or two, alongside sectoral tariffs targeting semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. The new duties would fall outside Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, under which levies on Chinese imports climbed to 125% last week, he said. "He’s saying they’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two," Lutnick said in an interview on ABC’s "This Week," predicting that the levies would bring production of those products to the United States. "These are things that are national security, that we need to be made in America." Beijing increased its own tariffs on U.S. imports to 125% on Friday in response. On Sunday, before Lutnick’s comments, China said it was evaluating the impact of the exclusions for the technology products implemented late on Friday.

New York Times [4/13/2025 1:29 PM, Keith Bradsher, 145325K] reports China has suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, threatening to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. Shipments of the magnets, essential for assembling everything from cars and drones to robots and missiles, have been halted at many Chinese ports while the Chinese government drafts a new regulatory system. Once in place, the new system could permanently prevent supplies from reaching certain companies, including American military contractors. The official crackdown is part of China’s retaliation for President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs that started on April 2. On April 4, the Chinese government ordered restrictions on the export of six heavy rare earth metals, which are refined entirely in China, as well as rare earth magnets, 90 percent of which are produced in China. The metals, and special magnets made with them, can now be shipped out of China only with special export licenses. But China has barely started setting up a system for issuing the licenses. That has caused consternation among industry executives that the process could drag on and that current supplies of minerals and products outside of China could run low. If factories in Detroit and elsewhere run out of powerful rare earth magnets, that could prevent them from assembling cars and other products with electric motors that require these magnets. Companies vary widely in the size of their emergency stockpiles for such contingencies, so the timing of production disruptions is hard to predict. The so-called heavy rare earth metals covered by the export suspension are used in magnets essential for many kinds of electric motors. These motors are crucial components of electric cars, drones, robots, missiles and spacecraft. Gasoline-powered cars also use electric motors with rare earth magnets for critical tasks like steering.

Breitbart [4/13/2025 10:51 AM, Pam Key, 2923K] reports Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday on ABC’s "This Week" that China had been attacking the United States with unfair business tactics.

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