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 Wall Street Journal [4/14/2025 5:28 PM, Vera Bergengruen, Tarini Parti, and Jess Bravin, 646K] reports President Trump’s top advisers and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said Monday they didn’t have the authority to bring back to the U.S. a migrant deported in error to a Salvadoran maximum-security prison, raising the legal stakes days after the Supreme Court ordered the U.S. to facilitate his return. The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia—a man who lived with his family in Maryland and was deported in what the Trump administration acknowledged was an “administrative error”—has become a flashpoint in President Trump’s aggressive approach to mass deportation. “Of course, I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said during a Monday meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office, in response to a question about whether he would return Abrego Garcia. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.” Bukele called the question preposterous. Bukele’s sprawling mega-prison is a cornerstone of Trump’s deportation strategy. Sitting in the Oval Office, wearing a black T-shirt and no tie, Bukele said he was “very eager to help” the U.S. by continuing to take alleged gang members and other deportees into his prison system. “You have 350 million people to liberate,” he told Trump. “But to liberate 350 million people, you have to imprison some.” The 43-year-old, who mocks critics by calling himself the world’s “coolest dictator,” is Trump’s top ally in Latin America. In the same Oval Office meeting, Trump administration officials objected to a federal judge’s ruling that the U.S. should facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia, once again striking a defiant tone toward the courts. Politico [4/14/2025 12:30 PM, Myah Ward and Eli Stokols, 11599K] reports that the Supreme Court last week said the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, while leaving in place much of U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ order that specifically required his “return” to the country. The president deferred to his top administration officials Monday, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, senior adviser Stephen Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to field questions about the administration’s intentions, in what appeared to be an orchestrated effort to deliver a forceful, consistent response. Bondi, sitting near Trump, said it is up to El Salvador to decide if they want to return him. “That’s not up to us,” she said, pointing to the Supreme Court ruling. “If they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane.” Rubio also chimed in, suggesting that the ruling affirmed the power of the executive: “The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court,” he said. “And no court in the United States has a right to conduct the foreign policy of the United States.” The administration’s interpretation of the court’s ruling is unlikely to defuse the ongoing legal battle over Abrego Garcia. Xinis is scheduled to hold another hearing Tuesday to evaluate whether the administration is complying with her order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. And the Supreme Court may soon have to weigh in again to clarify precisely what steps — if any — the United States must take to try to bring him back in the face of Bukele’s insistence that he will not release him. The AP [4/14/2025 6:53 PM, Seung Min Kim and Marcos Alemán, 48304K] reports that should El Salvador want to return Abrego Garcia, the U.S. would “facilitate it, meaning provide a plane,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. But “first and foremost, he was illegally in our country, and he had been illegally in our country,” she said. “That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us.” In a court filing Monday evening, Joseph Mazzara, the acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, said it “does not have authority to forcibly extract” Abrego Garcia from El Salvador because he is “in the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation.” Mazarra also argued that Abergo Garcia is “no longer eligible for withholding of removal” because the U.S. designated MS-13 as a foreign terror organization. Abergo Garcia’s attorneys say the government has provided no evidence that he was affiliated with MS-13 or any other gang. The Hill [4/14/2025 6:34 PM, Niall Stanage, 12829K] reports Trump and Bukele have been allies for some time. But that alliance has grown even closer in recent weeks after the Trump administration struck a $6 million deal with El Salvador to house deportees from the U.S. in Salvadoran jails. When Abrego Garcia’s case came up, Trump himself said little, handing the question off to his Attorney General Pam Bondi; Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff; and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Bondi rested her defense of the deportation of Abrego Garcia on the fact that "he was illegally in our country" and that two separate immigration judges had been persuaded that he was a member of the gang MS-13. Miller, for his part, argued, "It’s very arrogant for American media to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens."

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/15/2025 1:25 AM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, 330K]
The Hill [4/14/2025 5:14 PM, Al Weaver, 12829K]
Axios [4/14/2025 4:57 PM, Sam Baker, 13163K]
CNN [4/14/2025 3:58 PM, Devan Cole, 22131K]
Blaze.com [4/14/2025 4:20 PM, Julio Rosas, 1668K]
Washington Examiner [4/14/2025 5:40 PM, Haisten Willis, 2296K]
NewsNation [4/14/2025 10:29 PM, Patrick Djordjevic, 6866K]
NewsMax.com [4/14/2025 9:15 PM, Staff, 4998K]

The Hill [4/14/2025 7:47 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12829K] reports the Trump administration declined to provide an update on the Maryland man it mistakenly deported to El Salvador, instead pointing to comments from President Nayib Bukele declining to cooperate on the matter. It was an unusual filing that came more than an hour after a deadline imposed by a judge who had asked for an update on Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s status and details on what efforts have been made to secure his return from a Salvadoran prison. "DHS does not have the authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation," Joseph Mazzara, the acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), wrote in a declaration to the court. The declaration references Monday comments from Bukele saying he would not return Abrego Garcia. "How could I return him to the United States? I smuggle him to the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous," Bukele said. The Supreme Court recently ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia’s return. But Attorney General Pam Bondi said during the meeting with Bukele that they were only required to send a plane to return Abrego Garcia if El Salvador agreed. The filing also raises a new argument — that Abrego Garcia cannot be returned as his gang ties override his 2019 protection from deportation. Mazzara wrote that even though Abrego Garcia was protected from removal, "he is no longer eligible … because of his membership in MS-13, which is now a designated foreign terrorist organization.” However, that assertion is based on a sworn declaration from the assistant director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removal division, and it’s unclear what the legal basis is for the argument. While elsewhere Evan Katz recounts immigration court decisions that review Abrego Garcia’s status in the U.S. and detail his protection from removal, the ICE official does not do so when saying his protections are not valid.

FOX News [4/14/2025 1:09 PM, Breanne Deppisch, 46189K] reports Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters Monday that it is "up to El Salvador" whether they will choose to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland resident deported in what Trump officials have acknowledged was an "administrative error," saying that if the country chooses to do so, then the U.S. would "provide a plane." Her remarks came as President Donald Trump hosted El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele at the White House on Monday for a bilateral summit focused largely on immigration – and the hundreds of migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador for detention in the country’s maximum-security prison. When asked by reporters Monday about Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was deported in error to El Salvador, Bondi said the matter was up to Bukele’s administration. "That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us," Bondi said. "The Supreme Court ruled precedent that if El Salvador wanted to return him," she continued. "This is international matters, foreign affairs." Bondi said that "if they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it – meaning to provide a plane," Bondi said.

Breitbart [4/14/2025 4:42 PM, Randy Clark, 2923K] reports U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) is requesting a meeting with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to demand the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia — a known MS-13 gang member deported to El Salvador. Abrego-Garcia, who a judge has found to be a member of the MS-13 gang, was removed as the result of an administrative error, according to ICE officials. Van Hollen has promised to travel to El Salvador if Abrego-Garcia is not returned. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the 29-year-old Salvadoran national entered the United States illegally. The U.S. Supreme Court, in an unsigned decision, has ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" the return of Abrego-Garcia. During a White House press conference on Monday, a reporter asked Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele if he would return Abrego-Garcia as required by the court. Bukele responded, "How can I do that? I can’t smuggle a terrorist into the United States." The Daily Wire [4/14/2025 12:56 PM, Daniel Chaitin, 4672K] reports that on Monday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller dismissed claims that Garcia was deported by mistake and contended that the withholding order the suspect received six years ago is no longer valid because the Trump administration has designated MS-13 as a foreign terror organization. While meeting Trump at the White House on Monday, Bukele said that he would not send Garcia back. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele said to reporters, adding, “I don’t have the power to return him.” Van Hollen also revealed on Monday that he sent a letter to El Salvador’s U.S. ambassador, Milena Mayorga, “urgently” requesting a meeting with Bukele.

Axios [4/14/2025 5:08 PM, Sareen Habeshian, 13163K] reports after El Salvador’s president called the release of a Maryland man mistakenly deported there "preposterous," Democratic lawmakers launched into action Monday — over a month after his erroneous arrest. During a meeting with President Trump on Monday, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said that he can’t return Abrego Garcia to the U.S., nor can he release him within El Salvador. Bukele’s comments add another wrinkle to Abrego Garcia’s case, as the Department of Justice has argued in court filings that it cannot bring him back to the U.S., only El Salvador can. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Monday requested a meeting with Bukele while he’s in the U.S. this week to discuss Abrego Garcia’s return. The senator said he plans to travel to El Salvador if Abrego Garcia is not returned by mid-week to check on him and discuss his release. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said Monday he’s introducing legislation dubbed the RESCUE Act, which would require the U.S. to take action if a foreign government refuses to comply with court orders demanding the return of people who have been wrongfully deported. The bill would require the U.S. to suspend diplomatic relations with that country, including by suspending foreign aid, bilateral agreements and visas for government officials in that country.

The New York Times [4/14/2025 8:19 PM, Shawn McCreesh, 145325K] reports it was Monday in Washington, and the tension was palpable. Last week, the Supreme Court had ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to a maximum-security El Salvadoran prison. The stakes were high — both for Mr. Abrego Garcia, whose wife has begged for his return, and for the question of whether the White House would comply with the courts. Now, here was the answer, delivered from the Oval Office by a chorus of the administration’s top officials, as well as El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele (who once described himself as the world’s “coolest dictator”). There was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, squished on a couch between Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Susie Wiles, the president’s chief of staff, crowded in behind them, along with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, the architect of much of the administration’s domestic policy. In the middle, center stage, was President Trump, sitting in a gold armchair. As the cameras rolled and reporters jostled, each figure jumped in to play their parts. Their lines did not always hew to the facts. “That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him,” Ms. Bondi said. “That’s not up to us.” “I don’t understand what the confusion is,” Mr. Rubio said. He added, “No court in the United States has a right to conduct a foreign policy of the United States. It’s that simple, end of story.” Mr. Miller fumed at the reporters in the room, claiming that “people like CNN” simply “want foreign terrorists in the country who kidnap women and children.” The Oval Office dramalogue is now becoming a regular set piece for the president. Mr. Trump is using the increasingly gilded room as a place to flex his executive muscle while recasting the narrative around some of his most consequential foreign policies. It’s a space in which his cabinet members lavish him with praise, and where foreign leaders quickly find out where they stand. In February, it was where he and Mr. Vance confronted President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, berating him as an ingrate for all to see. This time, there was another young foreign leader, tieless and in a dark outfit, sitting beside Mr. Trump. But this one seemed to relish his role as guest star. Certainly, he understood how to play the part. Politico [4/14/2025 6:36 PM, Kyle Cheney, Josh Gerstein, and Hassan Ali Kanu, 2100K] reports that during a White House visit Monday in which the two leaders bantered like old friends, Bukele insisted on one thing: He will not release Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a native Salvadoran who was living in Maryland until the U.S. illegally deported him last month. The upshot of that declaration: It gives Trump cover to maintain that he is powerless to implement a judge’s directive that the U.S. “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s immediate return from a brutal El Salvador prison. The Supreme Court upheld that directive last week. Trump’s “nothing I can do here” stance is unusual for a president who prides himself on strong-arming other world leaders to do his bidding. And it escalates a clash with the courts in advance of a crucial Tuesday hearing before U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who ordered Abrego Garcia’s return and is growing frustrated with the administration’s recalcitrance. Hours after Bukele’s White House visit, the Trump administration quoted some of his comments in a daily report Xinis has demanded. Also in that document, the acting general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, Joseph Mazzara, declared that “DHS does not have authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation.” The filing included no information in response to Xinis’ substantive questions.

News From The States [4/14/2025 10:42 AM, Ariana Figueroa] reports the U.S. State Department is paying El Salvador $6 million to house hundreds of immigrants deported from the United States in an immense and brutal prison there, Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, or CECOT. But a U.S. law bars State’s financial support of “units of foreign security forces” — which can include military and law enforcement staff in prisons — facing credible allegations of gross human rights violations. That has led those who wrote what’s known as the Leahy Law and enforced it for years to question the legality of the $6 million payment made as President Donald Trump carries out his campaign of mass deportation. The Trump administration on March 15 sent 261 men to CECOT, after invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to apply to Venezuelan nationals 14 and older who are suspected members of the gang Tren de Aragua. On March 30, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said another 17 nationals from El Salvador were sent to CECOT, again alleging gang ties. On Sunday, Rubio said 10 more men were sent to the prison in El Salvador, and noted how “the alliance between” the U.S. and El Salvador “has become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.” Tim Rieser, the main author of the Leahy Law while a longtime foreign policy aide to former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the $6 million payment for those migrants’ incarceration for up to a year is likely a violation of the law. “Sending migrants who have not been charged or convicted of any crime to the maximum-security terrorism prison in El Salvador, where they have no access to lawyers or their families, where they have no rights of due process, and with no idea if they will ever be released, held in cruel and shockingly degrading conditions, would certainly appear to violate the Leahy Law,” Rieser told States Newsroom. “I don’t think the Trump administration is upholding the Leahy Law or other laws that protect human rights,” he said.

FOX News [4/14/2025 12:58 PM, Cortney O’Brien, 46189K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sounded off on "fake news" which she said put an accused MS-13 gang member on a pedestal in an appearance on "Fox & Friends," Monday. Salvadoran national Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, 29, was arrested on March 12 in Baltimore and deported to his home country three days later despite having been granted "Withholding of Removal" status and having legal working papers from the Department of Homeland Security. In 2019, a judge ruled that Abrego Garcia could not be deported because it was "more likely than not that he would be persecuted by gangs," according to a complaint filed by his attorney, Fox Baltimore reported. The 29-year-old national was deported to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, El Salvador, for being an alleged MS-13 gang member, but his attorneys say he does not have any gang ties. The Trump administration acknowledged it mistakenly deported him "because of an administrative error," but said they cannot bring him back because he is in Salvadoran custody.

FOX News [4/14/2025 9:03 AM, Staff, 46189K] reports Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the Justice Department’s argument that the courts do not have authority to order the administration to return a deported Maryland man. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [4/14/2025 4:49 PM, Will Caine, 46189K] reports DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin discusses the latest developments in the case of deported Maryland resident Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia on ‘The Will Cain Show.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

News Nation [4/14/2025 5:50 PM, Chris Stirewalt, 6900K] reports the United States is paying El Salvador to house migrants deported from the country, specifically members of Tren de Aragua and MS-13. One Maryland man was wrongly deported, and the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration must facilitate his return. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, joins “The Hill” to discuss Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation. “Americans should be happy that a member of MS-13 is off of American streets,” McLaughlin said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The AP [4/14/2025 8:44 PM, Nicholas Riccardi, 48304K] reports President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated that he’d like to send U.S. citizens who commit violent crimes to prison in El Salvador, telling that country’s president, Nayib Bukele, that he’d "have to build five more places" to hold the potential new arrivals. Trump’s administration has already deported immigrants to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison CECOT, known for its harsh conditions. The president has also said his administration is trying to find "legal" ways to ship U.S. citizens there, too. Trump on Monday insisted these would just be "violent people," implying they would be those already convicted of crimes in the United States, though he’s also floated it as a punishment for those who attack Tesla dealerships to protest his administration and its patron, billionaire Elon Musk. But it would likely be a violation of the U.S. Constitution for his administration to send any native-born citizen forcibly into an overseas prison. Indeed, it would likely even violate a provision of a law Trump himself signed during his first term. Immigrants can be deported from the United States, while citizens cannot. Deportation is covered by immigration law, which does not apply to U.S. citizens. Part of being a citizen means you cannot be forcibly sent to another country. Immigrants can be removed, and that’s what’s been happening in El Salvador. The country is taking both its own citizens that the United States is sending as well as those from Venezuela and potentially other countries that will not take their own citizens back from the U.S. The Venezuelans sent there last month had no opportunity to respond to evidence against them or appear before a judge. That’s the deal the Trump administration signed with Bukele. The U.S. has sent people to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama and elsewhere even when they are not citizens of those countries. But, under international agreements, people cannot be sent to countries where they are likely to be persecuted or tortured. NBC News [4/14/2025 3:54 PM, Lawrence Hurley, 430301K] reports if an immigrant who the government claims is a gang member can be deported to El Salvador without any due process rights, then why not a U.S. citizen? That was the nightmarish scenario immigration advocates and constitutional law experts were considering on Monday after President Donald Trump again pushed a provocative plan to deport U.S. citizens who have been convicted of unspecified crimes. Trump discussed the issue in the White House with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has agreed to deposit people deported from the U.S. into a notorious prison. “We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they’re not looking, that are absolute monsters,” Trump told reporters. “I’d like to include them.” Last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was interested in deporting "heinous, violent criminals" who are U.S. citizens to El Salvador "if there’s a legal pathway to do that." It is unclear if the administration is referring only to naturalized citizens. In rare circumstances, naturalized citizens can have their citizenship revoked if, for example, they obtained it through fraudulent means. During Monday’s White House meeting, Trump said that Attorney General Pam Bondi is "studying the law." Yahoo News [4/14/2025 6:37 PM, Brian Bennett, 430301K] reports that in his opening remarks, the El Salvadoran strongman offered to assist the U.S. with what he said were its crime problems. "We know you have a crime problem and a terrorism problem we can help with," Bukele said. By the end of the ad hoc press conference 40 minutes later, Trump and his aides had taken him up on the offer by suggesting their own harsh and potentially illegal moves. First, Trump’s aides made clear they wouldn’t comply with a Supreme Court order to "facilitate" the release of a Maryland man, Kilmar Abrego García, whom the administration has admitted was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March and locked up in that country’s Terrorist Confinement Center, known as CECOT. Then Trump proposed sending U.S. citizens convicted of crimes to El Salvador, where prisoners are allegedly held incommunicado and face physical and mental abuse. It was a striking example of Trump’s approach to his second term in office: when faced with challenges to his authority, even over basic civil liberties, he has reached for even more power. Asked by a reporter whether he was open to deporting U.S. citizens to El Salvador, Trump said, "You think there’s a special category of person? They’re as bad as anybody that comes in. We have bad ones too. I’m all for it."

Daily Caller [4/14/2025 3:10 PM, Jason Hopkins, 1082K] reports the Trump administration released a list of names of just some of the foreign national criminals and alleged gangbangers it has deported to El Salvador, including men convicted of rape and other heinous criminal activities. The White House on Monday released a "tiny sample" of names of the "cold-blooded criminals" it has deported to El Salvador after reaching a deal to transfer deportees inside the Terrorism Confinement Center, a famous mega-prison the tiny Central American country built to house members of MS-13, Tren de Aragua and other major criminal syndicates. The press release came as El Salvador President Nayib Bukele met with President Donald Trump to discuss their cooperation on detaining illegal migrant criminals.

Reuters [4/14/2025 3:50 PM, Nate Raymond, 41523K] reports a federal judge in Vermont questioned on Monday whether the Trump administration would instigate a "constitutional crisis" by not releasing a Turkish student at Tufts University from immigration custody if he concluded her arrest was unlawful. U.S. District Judge William Sessions raised that prospect during a hearing in Burlington as he suggested he may order authorities to move Rumeysa Ozturk from the Louisiana detention center she has been in for nearly three weeks back to Vermont, where she was briefly held after her arrest last month. The judge heard arguments in the case after a federal judge in Massachusetts transferred the 30-year-old’s lawsuit challenging her detention to Vermont rather than dismiss it or send it to Louisiana as the U.S. Justice Department wanted. Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher argued that the case did not belong in Vermont and that the "wide amount of discretion" Congress vested in the executive branch to oversee immigration meant Sessions lacked authority to order her release. The sole basis U.S. authorities have provided for revoking Ozturk’s visa was the opinion piece she co-authored that criticized Tufts’ response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to Israel after the onset of the Gaza war and to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide." Her lawyers say that since being taken into ICE custody, Ozturk has suffered several asthma attacks. They say her health remains at risk while at the detention facility in Basile, Louisiana, which "is notorious for its inadequate medical care."

Breitbart [4/14/2025 9:39 AM, Bob Price, 2923K] reports U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) will head a new House Cartel Task Force, which will function under the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and HPSCI Chairman Rick Crawford announced the formation of the Cartel Task Force on Friday. According to a statement from HPSCI, the task force’s mission is to help House Republicans build consensus with the U.S. Senate and the Trump administration on combating the threat posed by various cartels in the Western Hemisphere. In July 2023, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tapped Crenshaw to had a new Congressional Task force focused on combating the deadly Mexican drug cartels. This year, Crenshaw asked Speaker Johnson to designate the committee as a select committee of the House. He repeatedly promoted the use of military force against Mexican cartels and pushed early on for their designation as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. "I’m glad to see Chairman Crawford build on Republicans’ promise to secure the border by establishing a new Cartel Task Force, led by Congressman Dan Crenshaw. President Biden handed operational control of our southern border to Mexican drug cartels and left Americans with the worst border catastrophe in our nation’s history. President Trump’s swift work to end the lawlessness and reestablish control has proven that strong leadership matters," said Speaker Johnson. "Now it is the responsibility of Congress to ensure this good work can continue by providing the President with the tools he needs to dismantle the drug cartels for good. No one has worked harder on this important issue than Congressman Crenshaw, and I am grateful he is willing to continue leading at this pivotal time," continued Speaker Johnson.

Federalist [4/14/2025 7:24 AM, M.D. Kittle, 1033K] reports that, while the left goes about its little "Hands Off!" temper-tantrum, their leaders have forced Americans to pick up the tab in government benefits for "paroled" illegal immigrants convicted of crimes — even suspected terrorists. The Biden administration paid out at least $1.3 million in Medicaid, student loans, tax refunds, and other federal government benefits and payments to thousands of paroled aliens with criminal or terrorist records, according to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). "Under the Biden administration, it was routine for [U.S.] Border Patrol to admit aliens into the United States with no legal status and minimal screening," the government fat trimmer said Friday in an X post. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has identified a subset of 6,300 individuals paroled into the U.S. since 2023 who were included on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center watchlist or who have criminal records, DOGE reported. "These paroles have since been terminated with immediate effect," the agency added. All of the Biden administration parolees cut off had a Social Security number, according to DOGE. 905 individuals (including 4 on the terrorist watch list) collecting $276,000 in Medicaid benefits. 409 who received net tax refunds for (2024 only) for a total of $751,000. 22 picked up a total of $280,000 in federal student loans. 41 collected Unemployment Insurance, a combined $42,000 in benefits. Several (final number to be determined) received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamp) benefits. In total, taxpayers covered nearly $1,350,000 in government payments. "It is clear that the Biden-Harris administration has intentionally used unlawful mass-parole schemes to shift hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens to ports of entry for release into the interior, often with little or no vetting," a House Homeland Security Committee report released in October asserts.

NPR [4/15/2025 5:00 AM, Jenna McLaughlin, 29983K] reports that, in the first days of March, a team of advisers from President Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency initiative arrived at the Southeast Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Labor Relations Board. The small, independent federal agency investigates and adjudicates complaints about unfair labor practices. It stores reams of potentially sensitive data, from confidential information about employees who want to form unions to proprietary business information. The DOGE employees, who are effectively led by White House adviser and billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, appeared to have their sights set on accessing the NLRB’s internal systems. They’ve said their unit’s overall mission is to review agency data for compliance with the new administration’s policies and to cut costs and maximize efficiency. But according to an official whistleblower disclosure shared with Congress and other federal overseers that was obtained by NPR, subsequent interviews with the whistleblower and records of internal communications, technical staff members were alarmed about what DOGE engineers did when they were granted access, particularly when those staffers noticed a spike in data leaving the agency. It’s possible that the data included sensitive information on unions, ongoing legal cases and corporate secrets — data that four labor law experts tell NPR should almost never leave the NLRB and that has nothing to do with making the government more efficient or cutting spending. Meanwhile, according to the disclosure and records of internal communications, members of the DOGE team asked that their activities not be logged on the system and then appeared to try to cover their tracks behind them, turning off monitoring tools and manually deleting records of their access — evasive behavior that several cybersecurity experts interviewed by NPR compared to what criminal or state-sponsored hackers might do. The employees grew concerned that the NLRB’s confidential data could be exposed, particularly after they started detecting suspicious log-in attempts from an IP address in Russia, according to the disclosure. Eventually, the disclosure continued, the IT department launched a formal review of what it deemed a serious, ongoing security breach or potentially illegal removal of personally identifiable information. The whistleblower believes that the suspicious activity warrants further investigation by agencies with more resources, like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or the FBI. The labor law experts interviewed by NPR fear that if the data gets out, it could be abused, including by private companies with cases before the agency that might get insights into damaging testimony, union leadership, legal strategies and internal data on competitors — Musk’s SpaceX among them. It could also intimidate whistleblowers who might speak up about unfair labor practices, and it could sow distrust in the NLRB’s independence, they said.

NBC News [4/15/2025 5:00 AM, Julia Ainsley, 44742K] reports Trump administration officials are ramping up pressure on immigrants to leave the United States of their own volition, or "self deport," as the number of people the government is deporting from the interior of the country remains stagnant, far below the vision for mass deportations promised by President Donald Trump and his top officials. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported just over 12,300 immigrants from March 1 to March 28, slightly under the 12,700 people it deported during the same period last year, according to ICE data obtained by NBC News. ICE deported around 11,000 people in February. A major factor in the deportation numbers’ being lower than they were during the Biden administration is the drastic drop in border crossings since Trump took office and effectively ended any pathway for people crossing the border to claim asylum. Last month, the latest month for which data is publicly available, Customs and Border Protection had just over 11,000 encounters with undocumented migrants at the southern border, compared with nearly 190,000 in March 2024. It is easier and faster for the government to deport people detained near the border than to find them after they disperse across the United States. The Trump administration still faces major funding and logistical obstacles to drastically ramping up deportations in the way Trump promised on the campaign trail, where he talked about the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history, and in his inaugural address, when he promised to deport "millions and millions." That pace would most likely be achievable only with a massive cash influx to ICE from Congress, according to the sources familiar with the discussions. The funding bill that recently passed Congress increased ICE’s annual budget only by a little more than 5%, from $9 billion to $9.5 billion. While it waits on more money to be allocated, three sources familiar with the discussions told NBC News that the relatively slow pace of deportations has led the Department of Homeland Security, which ICE is part of, to push self-deportation. "There’s an acknowledgment they can’t get the numbers up if they have to find, arrest, detain and fly all of these people home. So they have to push for self-deportation," said one of the sources familiar with the discussions. Asked for comment, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: "Deportations have already exceeded 117,000 in just the first 70 days. This is just the beginning. We are unleashing DHS law enforcement that has had its hands tied behind its back for four years under [former President Joe] Biden and [former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas. "These deportations don’t even include the number of illegal aliens who have self-deported. Illegal aliens are hearing Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s message loud and clear: leave now or face the consequences. This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order, arrest, detainment and deportation.”

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CubaHeadlines [4/14/2025 4:57 PM, Samantha Mendoza]

News Nation [4/14/2025 7:14 PM, Jeff Arnold, 6900K] reports more than 6,300 migrants who are authorized to work in the United States have been moved to a Social Security Administration list of people who have died after officials deemed them to pose security threats or as wanted by federal law enforcement agencies. A White House official confirmed to NewsNation that the immigrants who were transferred to the SSA’s Ineligible Master File (previously known as the Death Master File) were found by the Department of Homeland Security to be on the terrorist watch list or to have FBI criminal records. All of those moved to the list entered the United States illegally during the Biden administration, the official stated. As of April 8, those on the list lost their temporary parole from Customs and Border Protection, making them ineligible to obtain work authorization or receive benefits such as unemployment payments, college loans or Medicaid, the official said. The Trump administration has praised the actions. “President Trump promised mass deportations and by removing the monetary incentive for illegal aliens to come and stay, we will encourage them to self-deport,” White House spokesperson Elizabeth Huston said in a statement provided to NewsNation. “He is delivering on his promise he made to the American people.”

Wall Street Journal [4/14/2025 8:00 PM, Michelle Hackman, 646K] reports just days after Kristi Noem took office as President Trump’s head of Homeland Security, she accompanied U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on a predawn raid of several neighborhoods in New York City. “Live this AM from NYC. I’m on it,” she posted on Jan. 28 at 4:43 a.m. on X, with a photo of herself sporting an ICE baseball cap and getting into a car. The problem: The raid was still ongoing when Noem posted about it, undercutting the element of surprise, according to people familiar with the operation. Noem’s handling of that early raid was emblematic of the made-for-TV style she has brought to Homeland Security, an approach that often places her at center stage as the face of the president’s push to get tough on illegal border crossers, deport millions and scare more migrants from coming to America. The administration’s strategy is yielding some early successes: Illegal border crossings are at the lowest point in decades. Before Trump took office, crossings had returned to the levels of his first administration, and they have fallen even lower since then. But Noem’s approach is rankling ICE officials, who grumble that her desire for publicity interfered with the operations of the agency she is in charge of running. Though the New York raid went ahead, it resulted in fewer arrests than officials had hoped for, the people familiar with the operation said. Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security’s top spokeswoman, said the raid was near its end when Noem’s post went up.

The AP [4/14/2025 11:09 PM, Patrick Whittle and Holly Ramer, 48304K] reports a Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University was arrested Monday at a Vermont immigration office where he expected to be interviewed about finalizing his U.S. citizenship, his attorneys said. Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident who has held a green card since 2015, was detained at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Colchester by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, his lawyers said. The attorneys said they do not know where he is. They filed a petition in federal court seeking an order barring the government from removing him from the state or country. "The Trump administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian. His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional," attorney Luna Droubi said in an email. According to the court filing, Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. He recently completed coursework at Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before beginning a master’s degree program there in the fall. The petition describes him as a committed Buddhist who believes in "non-violence and empathy as a central tenet of his religion.". Christopher Helali, a friend of Mahdawi who lives near him in Vermont, was present outside the immigration office when Mahdawi was detained and recorded a video of Mahdawi being led away by authorities. In the video, which Helali released on social media Monday, Mahdawi is shown giving a peace sign with his hands and being led away to a car. The Washington Post [4/15/2025 3:45 AM, Niha Masih and Brianna Tucker, 31735K] reports [Mahdawi’s] lawyers said his detention was in retaliation for his advocacy. “He was clearly eligible for naturalization. He met all the requirements for citizenship, and he had applied for it last year, and he was scheduled for an interview, and he should have been naturalized,” Cyrus Mehta, one of the attorneys representing Mahdawi, told Washington Post. “There’s no need to detain a lawful permanent resident incommunicado.” Lawyers representing Mahdawi immediately filed a writ of habeas corpus and petition for a temporary restraining order, noting “the government’s retaliatory and targeted detention and attempted removal of Mr. Mahdawi for his constitutionally protected speech.” A district judge in Vermont on Monday temporarily ordered that Mahdawi not be deported from the United States or moved out of the state. A spokesperson for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reason for his arrest or where he is being held. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The New York Times [4/14/2025 8:10 PM, Sharon Otterman and Ana Ley, 145325K] reports [Mahdawi’s] lawyers requested a temporary restraining order to prevent federal officials from transferring him to a more conservative jurisdiction — a tactic used in the detention and attempted deportation of at least four other college demonstrators. A Vermont federal judge, William K. Sessions III, swiftly granted that request, ordering that Mr. Mahdawi, an outspoken critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, not be removed from the United States or transferred out of Vermont until he orders otherwise. His lawyers said that as of Monday afternoon, they had confirmed that he was still in Vermont. “This is their M.O.,” Mr. Mahdawi’s lawyer, Luna Droubi, said. “They just continue to hide the individual to the point where their attorneys can’t quite understand or identify where to file. And so, you know, we’re operating blind, and they have all the information, and yet we’re tasked with attempting to file in the right jurisdiction.” A green card holder for the past 10 years, Mr. Mahdawi is the latest Palestinian student to be caught in the Trump administration dragnet that has been targeting foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian organizing on U.S. college campuses. Mr. Mahdawi has not been accused of a crime. According to his lawyers, the Trump administration appears to be seeking his removal from the country under the same legal provision that it is using to detain another recent Columbia student and Palestinian, Mahmoud Khalil, contending that his presence is a threat to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States. Immigration officials have argued that pro-Palestinian demonstrators have enabled the spread of antisemitism, but they have not offered evidence to substantiate the claim. NBC News [4/14/2025 8:07 PM, Tim Stelloh, Fallon Gallagher and Amita Kelly, 430301K] reports that in a joint statement, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., called Mahdawi’s detention "immoral, inhumane and illegal." "Earlier today, Mohsen Mahdawi of White River Junction, Vermont, walked into an immigration office for what was supposed to be the final step in his citizenship process," they said. "Instead, he was arrested and removed in handcuffs by plainclothes, armed, individuals with their faces covered. These individuals refused to provide any information as to where he was being taken or what would happen to him." "Mr. Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from detention," they added. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security referred NBC News to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Boston 25 News [4/14/2025 3:05 PM, Maria Papadopoulos] reports U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem blasted Boston’s mayor about sanctuary city policies after ICE arrested an accused child rapist from Ecuador in Lawrence who is charged with more than 20 sex crimes against a Massachusetts child. Her post came after federal officers arrested Gilberto Avila-Jara, 64, of Ecuador, who is in the United States illegally, in Lawrence, more than four years after a local court released him on bail despite authorities lodging an immigration detainer, federal officials said. Avila-Jara was arrested in Lawrence on April 1, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said in a statement on Friday. Officers with ICE Boston and agents from DEA New England and ATF Boston made the arrest.

CBS News [4/14/2025 10:13 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51661K] reports the Trump administration can’t immediately revoke the deportation protections and work permits of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who entered the U.S. legally under a Biden-era program, a federal judge ruled Monday. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with its plan to terminate the legal status of those migrants on April 24. The administration had warned those affected by its announcement that they would need to self deport by that date or face arrest and deportation by federal immigration agents. But Talwani suspended the deportation warnings the government had sent and prohibited officials from revoking the legal protection, known as immigration parole, that the Biden administration granted to more than half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. Talwani said those mass parole terminations could not happen without each case being reviewed. The "early termination, without any case-by-case justification, of legal status for noncitizens who have complied with DHS programs and entered the country lawfully undermines the rule of law," wrote Talwani, who sits on the federal district court in Boston. Monday’s ruling is a significant reprieve for those who arrived under a policy the Biden administration argued promoted legal immigration and dissuaded migrants from crossing the southern border unlawfully. Under that program, known as CHNV, a total of 532,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela were allowed to fly to the U.S. after securing a sponsorship from U.S.-based individuals. Upon entry, they were granted immigration parole and allowed to work in the U.S. lawfully for two years. FOX News [4/14/2025 9:48 PM, Louis Casiano and Bill Melugin, 46189K] reports that in her order, Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, wrote that each migrant needs to have an individualized, case-by-case review. "The Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, 90 Fed. Reg. 13611 (Mar. 25, 2025), is hereby STAYED pending further court order insofar as it revokes, without case-by-case review, the previously granted parole and work authorization issued to noncitizens paroled into the UnitedStates pursuant to parole programs for noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (the "CHNV parole programs") prior to the noncitizen’s originally stated parole end date," she wrote. Biden created the CHNV program in 2023 via his executive parole authority. The program was launched in 2022 and initially first applied to Venezuelans before it was expanded to additional countries. The Biden administration argued that CHNV would help reduce illegal crossings at the southern border and allow better vetting of people entering the country amid an influx of migrants. The program was temporarily paused after widespread fraud was found. Several recipients were also arrested for high-profile crimes, including multiple child rapes. The Hill [4/14/2025 10:58 PM, Filip Timotija, 12829K] reports that "If their parole status is allowed to lapse, Plaintiffs will be faced with two unfavorable options: continue following the law and leave the country on their own, or await removal proceedings. If Plaintiffs leave the country on their own, they will face dangers in their native countries, as set forth in their affidavits," Talwani wrote in her 41-page ruling. "For some Plaintiffs, leaving will also cause family separation. Leaving may also mean Plaintiffs will have forfeited any opportunity to obtain a remedy based on their APA claims, as leaving may moot those claims," the justice wrote. "This ruling is a significant step toward justice for not only the hundreds of thousands of people who entered the U.S. through this important process, but for the American sponsors who welcomed them to their homes and communities. With this decision, so many people throughout the country will be able to breathe a huge sigh of relief," said Karen Tumlin, the founder and director of Justice Action Center, an immigrant advocacy group. Last week, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended protections from deportations for migrants from Cameroon and Afghanistan who were shielded by Temporary Protected Status since 2022.

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The Hill [4/14/2025 9:36 PM, Filip Timotija, 12829K] reports President Trump’s administration said it will freeze around $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contracts to Harvard University after the Ivy League institution rejected the government’s demands earlier Monday. "Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws," the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said in a statement Monday evening. The response from the administration came just hours after Harvard’s leadership said that it would not comply with the demands from the federal government, including instituting changes around protesting and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in order to keep their funding. "No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue," Harvard’s President Alan Garber said Monday. He said the school is already working on several initiatives to fight antisemitism and it will continue to do so in the future, but the administration’s requests are a step too far. Combating antisemitism "will not be achieved by assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and to dictate how we operate. The work of addressing our shortcomings, fulfilling our commitments, and embodying our values is ours to define and undertake as a community," Garber said. Last week, the federal government asked the Ivy League school to also reform its admission and hiring practices, make leadership changes, probe departments for antisemitism and ban face masks, among other demands, in order to keep the funding.

Washington Post [4/14/2025 8:47 PM, Dan Morse, 31735K] reports a fugitive from El Salvador was convicted Monday in the 2023 rape and murder of a Maryland woman in a case held up during the 2024 presidential election by Donald Trump as an example of what he called the nation’s failed immigration policies. Victor Martinez-Hernandez, 24, who authorities say unlawfully entered the U.S. multiple times, faces up to life without the possibility of parole in the Maryland prison system. Authorities said he attacked Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, two years ago on a hiking trail in Harford County, about 20 miles northeast of Baltimore. “Shortly after entering the trail, Rachel was brutally attacked by Victor Martinez-Hernandez, who was waiting in the woods,” Harford County State Attorney Alison Healey said in a news conference after the verdict. “Rachel fought for her life as she was pulled 150 feet from the main trail into the woods.” “Evidence presented in trial proved that once concealed in a drainage culvert, she was viciously beaten, raped, and ultimately murdered at the hands of a defendant,” Healey added.After a seven-day trial, and only 46 minutes of deliberations, the jury convicted Martinez-Hernandez of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, kidnapping and third-degree sex offense. Investigators earlier said they linked DNA at the scene with DNA left by Martinez-Hernandez at a burglary in Los Angeles. Martinez-Hernandez had crossed into the United States unlawfully after killing a young woman in his home country, according to authorities. The victim in El Salvador, they said, was killed after she had left a bar with him. As for Martinez-Hernandez’s specific border crossings, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said last year that he unlawfully entered the United States and was sent back across the U.S.-Mexico border three times in January and February of 2023. He was known to have spent time in Maryland, Virginia, Los Angeles and Tulsa. Speaking after the verdict Monday, Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler touched on Martinez-Hernandez’s border crossing history. “The failure here is the immigration system that allowed this person to enter our country illegally and remain in our country and commit crimes in Los Angeles and here in Harford County,” Gahler said, calling on government officials to “work together, and take the politics out of it, and fix the immigration system in this country.”

Breitbart [4/14/2025 3:30 PM, John Binder, 2923K] reports an illegal alien from China who was sentenced last year for setting fire to a historic Alabama church in 2021 is now accused of escaping the federal prison where she was serving her sentence. On September 30, 2021, 31-year-old Xiaoquin Yan of China set four fires in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama. Yan caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage to the church, which was founded in 1829; its existing sanctuary has been around since 1916. After her conviction, Yan was sentenced to serve 102 months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, in March of last year. Yan first arrived in the United States on an F-1 student visa but overstayed her visa and had been living as an illegal alien. This month, a federal grand jury in New Haven, Connecticut, indicted Yan for allegedly escaping the federal prison. According to the indictment, Yan fled the prison on Dec. 10, 2024, but was arrested by agents later that day. If convicted, Yan faces up to five years in federal prison.

USA Today [4/14/2025 5:45 PM, Saleen Martin, 75858K] reports a Cuban woman was sentenced to 7½ years in prison for her role in an immigrant smuggling ring that led to the drowning deaths of 16 people, including children. Yaquelin Dominguez-Nieves of Sebring, Florida pleaded guilty in late January in Miami’s federal court to conspiring to smuggle undocumented immigrants into the U.S., the attorney’s office said. She was facing up to life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, according to prosecutors. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced the sentencing on April 11.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 6:22 PM, Ryan Gillespie, 430301K] reports Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier threatened "there will be consequences" for Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer if the city continues to carry out its policy of barring employees and cops from inquiring about a law-abiding person’s immigration status. In a letter to Dyer, posted to X, formerly Twitter, Monday evening, Uthmeier cited the so-called Trust Act enacted by the city in 2018, as "unlawful and, as of 2019 void." He claimed the policy is a "sanctuary policy" and illegal under Florida law. "This letter serves as notice that this office will take legal action against the City of Orlando and any city employee or agent thereof that violates chapter 908 of the Florida statutes," says the letter, which refers to an April 7 city council meeting in which city officials including Dyer vowed to uphold the act. In his post that included the letter, which tagged Dyer’s account, he said "there will be consequences" if the policy is followed, including possible "removal from office.". Dyer could not immediately be reached Monday for comment on Uthmeier’s letter — though a city spokesperson said they are reviewing the letter. The city’s Trust Act dates back to 2018, and was approved amid fears that residents would be hesitant to report crimes or serve as witnesses in investigations if they feared being deported. At the time, Commissioner Tony Ortiz, who led efforts to pass the policy, said he also feared undocumented immigrants being preyed upon by criminals who knew crimes wouldn’t be reported. Ortiz, a Republican and retired Orlando Police Department officer, said Monday that the Trust Act isn’t a sanctuary policy, and doesn’t defy state and federal law. "There’s nothing in no way shape or form that is meant to be rebellious against the federal government," he said. "We’re not a sanctuary city.". He said he worked on the policy seven years ago as a way to help with a problem he faced in his law enforcement career. "One of the issues we had to deal with is there was a lot of violence committed against immigrants around the city and none of them would speak," he said. "We were trying to get a path of communication from those who came here to work … for them to feel comfortable talking with law enforcement.". State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said she disagrees with Uthmeier that the policy violated state law, and said Uthmeier and the city should have a conversation to get "clarity.".

Chicago Tribune [4/14/2025 6:27 PM, Olivia Olander, 5269K] reports Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday signaled he was open to testifying before a Republican-led congressional committee on the state’s so-called sanctuary policies for protecting immigrants, but hadn’t yet decided whether to accept the panel’s invitation. The House Oversight Committee, led by Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, on Thursday sent a letter to Pritzker asking him to testify about state sanctuary policies. Also invited to testify were former vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. The committee has called a number of state and local politicians to Washington in recent months to discuss immigration policies, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who sparred for hours with Republican lawmakers on the panel in March. The governor declined to say when he’d make a decision about attending the hearing scheduled for May 15.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 4:33 PM, Dave Burge, 430301K] reports an El Paso nonprofit that helps migrants with legal services was notified by the federal government that it needs to terminate two of its programs, starting Tuesday, April 15. Estrella del Paso said they were notified by the U.S. Department of Justice that it needs to terminate two programs that provide legal access to immigrants facing deportation — the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) and the Immigration Court Helpdesk (ICH). "These programs help individuals who are facing deportation understand their rights and how their cases will proceed before the El Paso immigration court," Estrella del Paso said in a statement. The Justice Department issued a stop work order for both programs on Jan. 22, the organization said. Estrella del Paso joined partner organizations across the U.S. in filing a federal lawsuit against the government on January 31. That litigation is still pending in the courts despite an announcement from the DOJ on February 2, that rescinded the stop-work order and restored funding to the critical programs, Estrella del Paso said.

Washington Examiner [4/14/2025 9:45 PM, Brady Knox, 2296K] reports Salvadoran illegal immigrant Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty on Monday of murdering Maryland mother Rachel Morin. Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty on all four counts by a Maryland jury — first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sexual offense, and kidnapping. The Salvadoran ambushed the mother of five while she was on a jog in a Baltimore suburb in August 2023, beating, raping, then strangling her to death. The case became a cause celebre of problems associated with illegal immigration, with Morin’s murder featuring prominently on the 2024 campaign trail. During the nine-day trial, the defense presented for only ten minutes and called a single witness. The jury deliberated for less than an hour. "This has been an emotionally grueling experience for Rachel’s family, but they remain steadfast in their pursuit of justice," Randolph Rice, the family’s attorney, said before the ruling in a Friday statement. President Donald Trump celebrated the decision in a post on Truth Social. "Moments ago, the Illegal Criminal, who was allowed into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden, was convicted of the heinous murder of Rachel Morin. Rachel was a beautiful mother of five from Maryland, and her life was taken at the hands of a monster who should have NEVER been here in the first place," he wrote. "The Fake News should be focusing on the beautiful life and tragic death of this Maryland Mother, rather than the so-called "Maryland Father," who is actually an MS-13 Gang Member and Foreign Terrorist from El Salvador. We will never forget Rachel Morin, and are committed to protecting women like her across our Country. We will deport Illegal Murderers, Rapists, and Criminals. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump added, alluding to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. After the guilty verdict was announced, Harford County, Maryland, Sheriff Jeff Gahler criticized the U.S. immigration system for allowing the murder to happen. "The failure here, again, is the immigration system that allowed this person to enter our country illegally and remain in our country and commit crimes in Los Angeles and then here in Harford County," Gahler said, according to Fox News. Martinez-Hernandez was tracked down through DNA found at the crime scene, ultimately being arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

San Francisco Chronicle [4/14/2025 7:39 PM, Staff, 5046K] reports two hundred Venezuelan migrants stranded in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas held a protest on Monday to demand that the governments of Venezuela and Mexico activate humanitarian flights to return them to their home countries. After months of waiting, migrants, desperate over the precarious living conditions and the delays Mexican authorities have imposed on them, decided to escalate their demands and held a demonstration outside the Siglo XXI immigration station in the border city of Tapachula, Chiapas state, considered the largest migrant detention center in Latin America. Foreigners have been stranded in that region of Mexico since President Donald Trump’s administration eliminated entry into the United States through the CBP One app and initiated mass deportations of migrants.

New York Post [4/14/2025 8:56 AM, Jennie Taer and Emily Crane, 54903K] reports ten more violent illegal migrants, including five Tren de Aragua gangbangers, were booted from the US and deported to El Salvador over the weekend, The Post has learned — as President Trump was set to host Salvadoran President Nayib Bukeleat at the White House on Monday. At least five of the deported migrants were kicked out Sunday over their alleged ties to the Venezuelan prison gang, a senior administration official said. The five others all had prior busts for heinous crimes, ranging from rape and making terrorist threats to assaults and robberies, according to the official. All 10 hailed from either El Salvador or Venezuela. The latest deportations came as Trump was preparing to host Bukele at the White House later Monday. The Trump administration has already deported more than 200 suspected gangbangers to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison in recent weeks as the Central American nation becomes a critical ally in the US’ mass deportation crackdown. Asked whether he has any concerns about the hellhole prison where the deportees are being held, Trump told reporters Sunday that Bukele was doing a “fantastic job.” “He’s taking care of a lot of problems that we have that we really wouldn’t be able to take care of from cost standpoint,” Trump said. “And he’s doing really, he’s been amazing. We have some very bad people in that prison. People that should have never been allowed into our country.”

Chicago Tribune [4/14/2025 6:00 AM, Staff, 5269K] reports if Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem can berate immigrants in a blatantly political TV ad paid for by American taxpayers, staged in front of a maximum-security prison, then President Donald Trump’s administration can certainly utilize some of the same strongarm tactics on the El Salvador government that it used to lawlessly snatch an individual who had a legal right to be in the U.S. Who will be next? You? Members of the legitimate press? Is this morally corrupt crowd determined to ignore constitutional obligations rather than ever admit a mistake? A U.S. District judge’s order demanding immediate return of the individual was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but even that process begs the question: How can any executive branch malfeasance be punished when its criminal enforcement apparatus consists of loyalists, not patriots? Didn’t we get rid of loyalists in the Revolutionary War? This appears to be a fatal flaw in American democracy that is only now being exploited by a president. Two Saturdays ago, citizens and immigrants across the country gathered and marched — including tens of thousands in downtown Chicago and the suburbs. The Tribune published a news report on Page 2 of Sunday’s paper ("Thousands rally, march for national ‘Hands Off!’ protest") — no doubt written quickly to meet a looming print deadline. And the Illinois Republican Party — true to its abdication of democratic principles — dismissed the participants as a "tantrum" by "paid actors" in a statement. Both would do well to note some of the heartfelt emotion emerging on "Hands Off!" signs these people crafted individually. They were responding to overt threats by the administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency henchmen against unions, courts, the Constitution, media, public lands, wealth (decimated by thimble-brained tariffs), free speech, voting rights and federal personnel cuts that are severely handicapping responsiveness at the Social Security Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Weather Service, Internal Revenue Service, Food and Drug Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and agencies that pay farmers for food, handle Medicaid payments and process veterans’ health claims.

San Francisco Chronicle [4/14/2025 7:00 AM, John S.W. Park, 5046K] reports that, in the 2024 election, millions of my fellow Americans voted for the person who promised "mass deportations." That promise may, in fact, have been the primary reason they voted for him. Now that he’s in office, President Donald Trump’s rabid desire to remove people has extended to college campuses. Federal agents have seized and searched for students in New York and Massachusetts who were legally in the United States; they have cancelled visas for international students here in California, and they have detained and transported students to immigration detention facilities far from their families. These alarming developments have caused many of my colleagues across the country to wonder what we might do if immigration agents showed up on our college campuses. I teach at UC Santa Barbara. Just like at every other public college and university in California, permanent residents, international students and students who are out of status have been a part of our community for many years. When federal agents come for them, when they have lawful warrants, what will we do? These circumstances remind me of other moments when Americans chose to break the law to protect the members of their communities. I’d like to remind all Americans that in the fullness of time, we rather admire those who broke the law, not so much the people enforcing it. When slavery was legal, for example, and when slaves ran away, their white owners wanted their "property" back. The U.S. Constitution, via the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and then the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, reinforced their view of this problem. American law clearly protected slavery, and runaway slaves were thus the "illegal migrants" of that era. Many Northerners, however, believed slavery to be immoral, and so they refused to comply with the law. In 1858, dozens of students and professors at Oberlin College in Ohio heard that a marshal and slave catchers were in their town to take John Price back into slavery. Outraged, they hid Price in the home of Professor James Fairchild and then helped Price reach Canada, away from slavery forever. Thirty-seven of the rescuers were arrested and booked, and two, including John Mercer Langston, an African American student, were convicted and given prison sentences. If these convictions were meant to chasten these radicals, they didn’t work. Students and professors at Oberlin continued to harbor fugitive slaves until the Civil War. Fairchild went on to serve as president of Oberlin.

FOX News [4/14/2025 6:00 AM, Sen. Maggie Hassan, 46189K] reports the Trump administration recently released an intelligence report declaring that illicit fentanyl ranks among the top threats to our security. I agree. And that’s why I’m alarmed that the Trump administration is poised to ignore its own report and surrender one of our strongest weapons in the fight against fentanyl: Medicaid. My home state of New Hampshire and communities all across our country have been hit hard by the fentanyl crisis. Despite my many strong disagreements with President Trump, we were able to come together during his first term on a bipartisan basis to go after fentanyl traffickers. We developed a multipronged strategy which included strengthening border security to choke off the flow of drugs, giving local law enforcement the tools that they need to protect our communities, and making it easier for more people who struggle with addiction to get treatment. That last part is especially important because the more people who get into and stay in recovery, the lower the demand is for fentanyl. What many people may not realize is that every day people nationwide get access to addiction treatment thanks to Medicaid coverage, especially coverage offered under what is known as Medicaid Expansion. Prior to Medicaid Expansion, many people who suffered from addiction couldn’t get health insurance, let alone coverage for addiction treatment. But today they can. Yet President Trump and congressional Republicans plan to slash Medicaid – and gut Medicaid Expansion – in order to pay for tax giveaways to billionaires and corporate special interests. This will make it harder for people to get treatment and move into treatment and will only strengthen the power of the drug cartels. When I served as governor of New Hampshire, law enforcement officers were key supporters in our effort to strengthen Medicaid, because they knew first-hand that getting people into recovery – often thanks to medication-assisted treatment for addiction, the gold standard of care – was a key way to cut off the demand for deadly drugs. One of my roles in the Senate is serving as the ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, which recently published a new report detailing the importance of Medicaid in the fight against addiction and fentanyl. Our analysis finds that roughly one million people nationwide receive medication-assisted treatment for addiction through Medicaid. And this treatment is working: the most recent data available shows an approximately 25 percent drop in overdose deaths nationwide in 2024 compared to 2023, the largest drop in years. We are finally identifying the most effective tactics in the fight against fentanyl and, at long last, seeing a glimmer of light in this dreadfully dark tunnel. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Wall Street Journal [4/14/2025 4:20 PM, Mary Anastasia O’Grady, 646K] reports this little country—with its annual per capita gross domestic product of less than $6,000—has been “ripping off” the U.S. for years with duty-free exports of bananas, coffee and T-shirts. So goes President Trump’s trade narrative. He pledges to put an end to it. From now on Guatemalan growers and sewing factories—which under the Central American Free Trade Agreement must use U.S. cotton and yarn—will pay a 10% tariff to sell their goods in the U.S. Lest suppliers think they can go around Guatemala, the U.S. is putting the same rate on exports from Honduras and El Salvador. There is a theory that the U.S. should use trade as a foreign policy tool to strengthen alliances and weaken bad actors. China’s intellectual-property theft and military expansionism deserve a response. But the U.S. benefits from bringing frail democracies closer to democratic capitalism by giving them access to its market. Trade, not aid, as the saying goes. In Central America distinctions are in order. Washington spent much of the 20th century trying to keep the region from falling into the hands of Moscow and Havana. That effort failed in Nicaragua, in a large part because Daniel Ortega used his popularity to consolidate power and destroy his political opponents. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele is taking his country down the Nicaraguan path. In 2021 he fired the Supreme Court and replaced it with loyalists in violation of the constitution. Then he began sweeping suspected gang members off the streets. The legislature, which he controls, made it legal to convict alleged gangsters in trials of hundreds at a time. He locked up criminals but also thousands of innocents. Despite Mr. Bukele’s antidemocratic practices, migration policies that destabilized the border, and alliances with China and Turkey, the Trump administration is outsourcing prison services to El Salvador and treating Mr. Bukele as a hero. On Monday Mr. Trump will greet the Salvadoran at the White House.

New York Times [4/15/2025 3:25 AM, Miriam Jordan, Jazmine Ulloa, and Hamed Aleaziz, 153395K] reports tens of thousands of immigrants who had been allowed to temporarily live and work in the United States under the Biden administration have received a seemingly unequivocal message in recent days from the Department of Homeland Security. Leave “immediately.” The termination notices, which started being delivered electronically last week, were more indication that migrants who followed the rules set by the last administration may be among the most vulnerable now as President Trump seeks to make good on his campaign promise of mass deportations. Many migrants who entered the country using the CBP One app — introduced in 2023 to bring order to the chaotic influx at the southwestern border — have been told their legal status would end seven days after the date on their notice. If they failed to depart voluntarily, they would be targeted for enforcement and deported, the notices said. “They believed they were following the right path by using the government-provided app,” said Joy Tucker, board chairwoman of Kaleidoscope Humanitarian Aid, a nonprofit organization in Tucson, Ariz. In a twist, at least 10 immigration lawyers, most of whom are U.S. citizens, said that they, too, had received the notices urging them to depart the country, possibly because of a glitch linking their email addresses to the immigration documents of their clients. Despite a few high-profile roundups of undocumented immigrants by federal law enforcement, the new wave of notices indicates that the bulk of “removals” by the administration is likely to come from the revocation of immigrants’ legal status, not, as Mr. Trump promised, the large-scale deportation of criminal migrants. On Monday, ahead of Mr. Trump’s meeting with the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, the White House singled out about two dozen deportees by name that officials said were criminal gang members.

New York Times [4/14/2025 12:12 PM, Paul Mozur, Adam Satariano, and Aaron Krolik, 153395K] reports after a Honduran immigrant arrived in the United States in 2022, officials ordered him to use a government-issued app as part of an immigration surveillance program. At least once a week, the immigrant, a former police officer in Honduras who was living in Louisiana, would take a selfie through the facial-recognition powered app to confirm his identity and location. By trading some of his privacy, he avoided being put in a detention center and obtained a work permit. In February, he received a message: report to an immigration office so the tracking technology could be updated. When he arrived, federal agents were waiting. They handcuffed him and put him on a vehicle bound for a detention center, where he has been ever since, according to an account from his wife and Jacinta González, the head of programs for the advocacy group MediaJustice who is working with the detained immigrant. He and his wife declined to be named for fear of harming his legal proceedings. The maker of the app he had used was Geo Group, the largest private prison operator in the United States. Over the past decade, the company has also built a lucrative side business of digital tools — including ankle monitors, smart watches and tracking apps — to surveil immigrants on behalf of the federal government. Those products are now aiding President Trump’s deportation efforts by providing the whereabouts of unauthorized immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to legal aid groups and immigration organizations. No figures have been released about the number of arrests made from the digital monitoring program, but legal aid groups estimated it was at least in the hundreds. More than 30,000 immigrants were arrested in Mr. Trump’s first 50 days in office, according to the Department of Homeland Security. “These are the people who are precisely being monitored,” said Laura Rodriguez, a lawyer with American Friends Service Committee, a legal aid organization in New Jersey with several clients in the monitoring program who were detained. “It’s just easy pickings.”

Telemundo [4/14/2025 6:21 PM, Arly Alfaro, 171K] reports it has been almost a month since a man of Cuban origin and with Spanish citizenship was arrested by federal agents outside his home. After being held in Krome he was transferred to Torrance in New Mexico and now his family says he has applied for deportation. The Cuban tried to adjust his status for years, his wife, who is an American citizen, says he is desperate and now wants to be deported. It has been 25 days since Eduardo Núñez González, 60, was arrested outside his house when he went to the garbage warehouse. The moment was recorded by surveillance cameras outside his home. A home that is almost empty today as his wife is preparing to return to Spain because her husband has applied for deportation. Vilma Pérez reveals what we want is for him to deport him, self-deportation voluntarily, we take care of the procedure but that’s not even so, they get him out of there. This is what Núñez said in a call from where he is being held. I want to self-deport and nothing else. The Cuban couple have Spanish citizenship. They arrived in the United States 10 years ago and she is an American citizen but her husband didn’t make it. "He was delayed the first time to answer," reveals Vilma, who is concerned about her husband after seeing images of the conditions in which Krome’s detainees are in when he was there.

Reuters [4/14/2025 8:02 PM, Luc Cohen, 41523K] reports a Venezuelan man currently in immigration detention was arrested in February inside a New Hampshire courthouse by federal agents who tackled him and knocked over a bystander, surveillance footage showed. Arnuel Marquez Colmenarez is in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Texas, ICE records show. Marquez Colmenarez had arrived at a courthouse in Nashua, New Hampshire, on February 20 to be arraigned on misdemeanor charges, the Boston Globe reported. Marquez Colmenarez was then approached by two men who identified themselves as federal agents, who then tackled him as he tried to flee, according to the Globe. New Hampshire Public Radio reported that Marquez Colmenarez faced charges stemming from an arrest for driving under the influence. Reuters could not immediately confirm the charges he faced. The police departments in Nashua and neighboring Hudson, New Hampshire, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Surveillance video provided by the New Hampshire Judicial Branch to Reuters showed a man wearing a sweatshirt bearing the letters "ATF" tapping Marquez Colmenarez on the shoulder as he prepared to exit an elevator. ATF stands for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The man in the ATF sweatshirt and another agent then attempted to grab Marquez Colmenarez, and chased him into a lobby, the footage showed. An older man walking with a cane fell to the ground as the two agents tackled Marquez Colmenarez while arresting him, the video showed. In response to a Reuters inquiry about the incident, an ICE spokesperson provided a general statement saying the agency is "focusing all its law enforcement personnel on mitigating public safety threats and preserving the integrity of our immigration laws."

Reported similarly:
CBS News [4/14/2025 2:57 PM, Staff, 51661K]

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 8:26 AM, Kelly Sullivan, 430301K] reports a hearing is set in the case of the Tufts University graduate student who is currently in custody of ICE. Rumeysa Ozturk is currently being held in Louisiana—but before she was moved there, she was in a holding facility in Vermont. Her lawyers are arguing since they petitioned for her release while she was there—a Vermont judge can make the decision. Ozturk was put in handcuffs three weeks ago in Somerville. Homeland Security said she had her student visa revoked because officials claimed she showed support for Hamas. Her lawyers argue she’s being targeted because she co-authored an op-ed piece in a student paper about the war in Gaza. So why was she moved from Vermont to Louisiana? Legal expert Peter Elikann says a lot of immigrants detained by ice have been sent to Louisiana – where the judges may be more sympathetic to the views of the Trump administration. "If the Vermont judge were to say, we’re keeping jurisdiction and I’m going to grant her bail, so I’m ordering her release from the Louisiana ICE facility are the government lawyers going to argue against that and appeal that to the next level?" said Boston 25 Legal Analyst Peter Elikann. In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo). Washington Post is reporting that days before Ozturk was detained, the State Department determined the Trump administration had not produced any evidence showing Ozturk engaged in antisemitic activities or publicly supported Hamas. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suggested Ozturk’s infractions go beyond writing the op-ed in the Tufts student paper—but hasn’t specified. Her hearing begins at 9:30 am in Burlington, Vermont.

Reuters [4/14/2025 3:50 PM, Nate Raymond, 41523K] reports that a federal judge in Vermont questioned on Monday whether the Trump administration would instigate a "constitutional crisis" by not releasing a Turkish student at Tufts University from immigration custody if he concluded her arrest was unlawful. U.S. District Judge William Sessions raised that prospect during a hearing in Burlington as he suggested he may order authorities to move Rumeysa Ozturk from the Louisiana detention center she has been in for nearly three weeks back to Vermont, where she was briefly held after her arrest last month. The judge heard arguments in the case after a federal judge in Massachusetts transferred the 30-year-old’s lawsuit challenging her detention to Vermont rather than dismiss it or send it to Louisiana as the U.S. Justice Department wanted. Ozturk’s arrest by masked agents on a street in the Boston suburb of Somerville was captured in a viral video that has turned her case into a high-profile example of Republican President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian activists on U.S. campuses who have spoken out against Israel’s war in Gaza. Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher argued that the case did not belong in Vermont and that the "wide amount of discretion" Congress vested in the executive branch to oversee immigration meant Sessions lacked authority to order her release. Sessions, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, acknowledged the case involved a "confusing area of law." But he said Drescher’s argument raised a fundamental question about what the administration would do if he ruled for Ozturk. "If the government then says, ‘oh, no, she can’t be released because we have a detention order in immigration, which is inviolate, and she’s not going to be released,’ then we’re in a constitutional crisis," Sessions said. Drescher responded he did not "want to be perceived in any way suggesting that we’re not going to abide by an order of the court." But he said the law was clear Ozturk needed to pursue her bail request before an immigration judge, not Sessions. "It’s not me who is saying this, it’s Congress who said this," Drescher said. The sole basis U.S. authorities have provided for revoking Ozturk’s visa was the opinion piece she co-authored that criticized Tufts’ response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to Israel after the onset of the Gaza war and to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.".

USA Today [4/14/2025 7:21 PM, Fernando Cervantes Jr, 75858K] reports a doctoral student studying at Tufts University in Massachusetts says conditions inside a Louisiana immigration detention facility where she’s being held are "inhumane" and "unsafe," according to a court filing obtained by USA TODAY on April 14. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 30-year-old Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, who was in the country on a valid F-1 visa, near her home as she was on her way to meet friends to break her Ramadan fast on March 25, her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, previously told USA TODAY. Three weeks later, Ozturk says that she has limited access to food, has to wait hours for toilet paper and isn’t getting proper treatment for her asthma at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, according to court records obtained by USA TODAY. "The conditions in the facility are very unsanitary, unsafe, and inhumane," she said, according to the records. "There is a mouse in our cell. The boxes they provide for our clothing are very dirty and they don’t give us adequate hygiene supplies.". Ozturk also accused a nurse in the ICE facility of forcing her to remove her hijab without her permission. "She said, ‘You need to take that thing off your head’ and took off my hijab without asking my permission," Ozturk said. "They did nothing to treat my asthma and gave me a few ibuprofen.".

Breitbart [4/14/2025 11:03 AM, Randy Clark, 2923K] reports as part of President Trump’s Operation Take Back America, a team of federal agents arrested an accused child sex offender. The Ecuadorian national, illegally present in the United States, was charged with more than 20 counts of sex crimes against a minor before being released back onto the streets by a Lawrence Massachusetts District Court. Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with federal partners from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, arrested 64-year-old Gilberto Avila-Jara in Lawrence in early April. According to ICE, Avila entered the United States illegally near San Ysidro, California, in February of 1996. In March of that year, Avila-Jara was arrested by immigration authorities at the Los Angeles International Airport and, within weeks, was ordered deported to Ecuador by a U.S. Department of Justice Immigration Judge. Avila-Jara was removed from the United States in July of 1996 but re-entered the United States at an unknown time and place sometime afterward. The Lawrence District Court in Massachusetts arraigned Avila-Jara on Dec. 18, 2020, charging him with more than 20 criminal offenses, including indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, rape of a child with force, and aggravated statutory rape of a child. Later that day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents lodged an immigration detainer against Avila-Jara with the Lawrence Police Department, requesting notification before his release. According to ICE, the Lawrence District Court judge refused to honor the detainer despite filing a detainer requesting Avila-Jara be held and turned over to ICE in the event of his release. Avila-Jara was released on bail in March 2021 and was free to roam the streets. Avila-Jara remained at large until his arrest on April 1, 2025. Avila-Jara remains in federal custody, according to authorities. Speaking about the arrest of Avila-Jara, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde emphasized the dangers posed to the local community, saying, "There are no appropriate words to describe the amount of damage Gilberto Avila-Jara has allegedly done to our Massachusetts community. 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.".

Reported similarly:
FOX News [4/14/2025 9:12 PM, Louis Casiano, 46189K]

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 6:32 PM, Julia Rock, 430301K] reports residents of Sackets Harbor, a small Northern New York town that looks at Canada across Lake Ontario, have been reeling since federal immigration enforcement agents raided a dairy farm there last month. Agents detained three students enrolled in the town’s 400-student K-12 school — a third grader, 10th grader and 11th grader — along with their mother. The raid "shocked" Jaime Cook, the school principal. Cook grew up in California’s agriculture-heavy Central Valley, where many workers are immigrants and circumstances like this were more familiar, she said. "It’s so shocking that it happened here," she told New York Focus. "We’re not an immigration hub.". Sackets Harbor may not be an immigration hub, but it is in farm country — and more specifically, dairy country. More than half of the workers on New York’s dairies are foreign-born, some experts estimate. The dairy industry is responsible for about half of the state’s agricultural output. Nearly 3,000 farms produce more than 16 billion pounds of milk a year — more than most other states. The industry is largely concentrated in Central, Western, and Northern New York, where it’s a major economic force in rural communities. The raid there has foregrounded a fragile reality, which is that employers in some of the region’s key industries consider immigrant workers essential to their operations, but many are not legally authorized to work. While immigration enforcement has always loomed large over the industry, some farmers are anticipating a heightened threat to their workforces — and therefore to their businesses. President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised "mass deportations" of immigrants. His administration has said it will resume immigration raids on workplaces, which were largely halted under the Biden administration, and it has ramped up immigration enforcement in upstate New York in recent weeks.

FOX News [4/14/2025 5:15 PM, Stepheny Price, 46189K] reports a fugitive wanted in connection with a murder has been captured by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, after escaping custody twice in the Caribbean. On April 4, Orville Andrew Pernell, a 32-year-old Jamaican citizen, was apprehended by ICE Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agents in Savannah, Georgia, following an extensive investigation and multinational manhunt. ICE officials said Pernell is accused of committing a "brutal murder" in St Lucia in 2020 and had been a fugitive for several years. Pernell escaped from custody in St. Lucia during his murder trial and fled to Jamaica, officials said. Additionally, officials said Pernell was arrested in Jamaica in 2021 and escaped from custody there as well. U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered Pernell on Dec. 7, 2022, near San Ysidro, California, after he attempted to enter the United States using a fake identity, authorities said. He was paroled into the country and given a notice to appear. Pernell was arrested by the Clayton County Sheriff in Clayton County, Georgia for the possession of a stolen motorcycle and attempting to evade arrest in July 2023. Police also found a stolen 9mm handgun in Pernell’s possession during the arrest. Pernell was located by agents from multiple agencies and arrested in the Savannah area, where he was taken into custody without incident. Officials said Pernell faces charges of being an alien in possession of a weapon, and will stand trial for murder after he is extradited back to St. Lucia.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 4:38 PM, Drew Taylor, 430301K] reports a judge is requesting more information before deciding whether or not to grant bond to an Alabama student from Iran who could potentially face deportation after being picked up by immigration officials in Tuscaloosa last month. Alireza Doroudi was set to have a bond hearing Monday afternoon at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana, where he has been held for over two weeks after ICE agents came to his apartment near the University of Alabama and detained him. At the time, Doroudi was studying for his doctorate degree in mechanical engineering. According to attorney David Rozas, Judge Maithe Gonzalez requested that both he and the U.S. government provide more information before making a decision on bond. Gonzalez subsequently set another hearing for Thursday afternoon. Rozas said Doroudi’s visa was inexplicably revoked not long after he arrived in the U.S. from Iran in 2023. Rozas claimed, however, that Doroudi SEVIS (student and exchange visitor program) permit was valid, and he was applying for permanent residency at the time of his detainment. Despite the U.S. Department of Homeland Security claiming that Doroudi posed "significant national security concerns," no details have been given on why the 32-year-old doctoral student was a security risk. Outside of a speeding ticket in 2023, Doroudi does not have a criminal record, and his lawyers claim he has no record of supporting terrorist groups or expressing anti-American sentiment. "With the words of his fiancé, he is a nerd," Rozas told The Associated Press shortly after Doroudi’s detention. "All he does is study and is literally trying to fulfill his dream, the American dream, of becoming a researcher and professor of mechanical engineering.".

Axios [4/14/2025 4:41 PM, Martin Vassolo, 13163K] reports the Doral City Council will decide Wednesday whether to empower its police department to help enforce federal immigration laws. President Trump’s immigration crackdown has heightened deportation fears in Doral, where 40% of the city is of Venezuelan descent and council members have advocated for legal protections for Temporary Protected Status holders. The resolution, proposed by the police department, would authorize the city manager to enter a 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Doral’s would be the latest South Florida police agency to sign up in recent months, amid a push from the DeSantis administration for local law enforcement to partner with ICE. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and police departments in Coral Gables, Hialeah, Sweetwater and Miami Springs have signed agreements with ICE to allow officers to interrogate suspected undocumented immigrants and make arrests. If a city refuses to partner with ICE — as Fort Myers did, before reversing course — the DeSantis administration has threatened to remove elected officials from office.

FOX News [4/14/2025 4:14 PM, Stepheny Price, 46189K] reports a man has been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for being an alleged agent of Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior and being in the U.S. illegally. According to a news release from ICE, Daniel Morejon Garcia, a 57-year-old Cuban national, was arrested at his home in Miami and taken into custody by ICE, the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Officials said the investigation centered on fraudulent claims he allegedly made when entering the country. During the investigation, officials said law enforcement agents obtained official Cuban government documents and "credible source information" indicating that Morejon Garcia had failed to disclose his affiliations. Morejon Garcia also allegedly omitted being an agent of Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior in his immigration applications, according to ICE officials. Additionally, officials said the investigation revealed that Morejon Garcia allegedly served as the President of the National Defense Council in the Artemisa region of Cuba and was a member of the Rapid Response Brigades. Morejon Garcia remains in ICE custody as he awaits his removal from the U.S., officials said.

Reported similarly:
South Florida Sun Sentinel [4/14/2025 3:36 PM, Angie DiMichele]

Telemundo51.com [4/14/2025 6:31 PM, Staff, 171K] reports the city with the largest population of Venezuelan migrants in the nation is on the verge of entering into an agreement to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through a program known as 287(g). The agreement would allow Doral police officers to perform limited immigration enforcement functions, such as questioning, detaining, and prosecuting individuals suspected of violating immigration laws. Approval is on the agenda for this week’s meeting, and they say they will opt to follow the state’s law against illegal immigration. The mayor says that in practice, it’s training for officers to cooperate with immigration authorities in certain cases. Doral will join several cities in the county that have already entered into these agreements, including Coral Gables, Hialeah, Miami Springs, West Miami, Key West, and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Breitbart [4/14/2025 6:22 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2923K] reports event organizers for Chicago’s Cinco de Mayo parade have canceled this year’s festivities over fears Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers might attend and round up attendees for deportation. The planners placed the blame squarely on President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, which they claim have created trepidation in the migrant community despite their popularity among U.S. voters. "Our people are scared. It’s not much to celebrate," Hector Escobar — president of the Casa Puebla & Cermak Road Chamber of Commerce, which was helping to organize the Mexican parade — told ABC 7 Chicago. Escobar said that some people in his community do not even want to go to work because they worry that they might encounter ICE officers. He admitted that he was fearful of creating an opportunity for ICE actions through the gathering, adding, "We don’t want to have any confrontation or having people taken away from the festival, from the parade to custody.". Escobar noted that half of the event’s sponsors had already signaled their reluctance to participate this year before planners decided to cancel the cultural celebration. "We could have done it with the 50% of the sponsorship, which is great, but it’s not, again, about money. It’s just more about the safety," he said. Escobar added that he and fellow community leaders are operating on the assumption that the gathering will return next year but are not 100 percent sure that it will.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 9:20 PM, Joshua Peguero, 430301K] reports an immigration advocacy group expects increased activity in Las Vegas from federal agents enforcing immigration laws. In a news conference held on Monday, the Nevada Immigration Coalition said a hundred Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be in the Las Vegas valley until Easter Sunday. "Due to our operational tempo and the increased interest in our agency, we are not able to research and respond to rumors or specifics of routine daily operations for ICE, an ICE spokesman said. Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto was in Las Vegas Monday, and she addressed the ICE deportations with 8 News Now. "The administration should follow the law. They’re not above the law. They’ve acted with lawlessness, unfortunately," Cortez Masto said. She also added that it’s important people know their rights. "They are hardworking individuals, whether you’re a dreamer, you’re a [Temporary Protective Status] recipient. You’re not committing crimes in this community, and it is important that they have every due process," Cortez Masto said. President Donald Trump spoke at the Oval Office on Monday sitting next to El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele. The Trump Administration has sent people that ICE agents have arrested to El Salvador’s prison. "We have millions of people that should not be in this country that are dangerous," Trump said. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in the Oval Office only people who love our country should be here. "Mr. President, you wanted people to know that there was consequences if you harm people and endanger families and this is a clear consequence for the worst of the worst, that we have somewhere to put them," Noem said. According to the Nevada Immigration Coalition, ICE agents arrested 8 men last Friday at a worksite near Eastern and Ogden avenues. They were described as construction workers. At Monday’s news conference, Laura Martin with the Nevada Immigration Coalition said it has seen an increase in plain clothes ICE agents in Southern Nevada.

(B) CBS Mornings [4/14/2025 11:25 AM, Staff] reports that several eastern Washington sheriffs went to Washington, DC, to testify in Congress about sanctuary state and city police policies that impact law enforcement. The sheriffs met with several leaders across Congress, ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Justice. In a Facebook post, Sheriff Wagner wrote the conversations were productive and well-received.

The New York Post [4/14/2025 4:55 PM, Jennie Taer, 54903K] reports principals at two Los Angeles elementary schools blocked Homeland Security agents from their campuses over fears that they were doing immigration enforcement — but the Department of Homeland Security says agents were just making "welfare checks" on migrants kids who crossed the border alone. Several Homeland Security agents showed up to Lillian Street Elementary and Russell Elementary in South LA on April 7 to speak with two students and were quickly turned away, according to ABC7. But Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on X Sunday that the agents were there only "conducting wellness checks" on the kids "to ensure that they are safe and not being exploited, abused and sex trafficked" and were not there to carry out "immigration enforcement." “Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families,” said McLaughlin. The Trump administration has so far reunited roughly 5,000 unaccompanied migrant children with family members or “safe guardians” after tens of thousands went missing under the Biden admin, according to McLaughlin. The Los Angeles Times [4/14/2025 4:30 PM, Andrea Castillo, 13342K] reports Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) and other House Democrats are demanding that Department of Homeland Security officials justify their attempts last week to speak with students at two Los Angeles elementary schools. Garcia and 17 other Democrats signed a letter sent Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, requesting a briefing about the operation. Federal agents showed up last Monday unannounced and without a judicial warrant at Russell Elementary and at Lillian Street Elementary in the Florence-Graham neighborhood of South Los Angeles. They asked to speak with five students collectively, ranging from first-graders to sixth-graders. But school principals denied access. According to L.A. Unified Supt. Alberto Carvalho, the agents said they were there to perform wellness checks and falsely claimed the students’ families had given permission for the contact. The agents identified themselves as being with Homeland Security Investigations, an arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but were not in uniform and were reluctant to show official identification, Carvalho said. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told The Times that the agents were checking on the well-being of children who arrived unaccompanied at the border. NewsMax [4/14/2025 7:03 PM, Mark Swanson, 4998K] reports "If your agents attempted to conceal their identities, attempted to enter school facilities on false pretenses, or attempted to lie to LAUSD staff, you undermine public safety. If you falsely claim to be conducting welfare checks while actually targeting children for deportation, you undermine willingness to cooperate with law enforcement, provoke fear, and undermine public trust," the Democrats wrote to Noem. A DHS spokesperson confirmed that the agents were doing wellness checks. "DHS is leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure that they are safe and not being exploited, abused, and sex trafficked," Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of homeland security, told the Times.

Reported similarly:

Newsmax [4/14/2025 7:03 PM, Mark Swanson, 5000K]

Washington Examiner [4/14/2025 8:00 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 2296K] reports President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown on foreign students in the United States is expected to have a chilling effect on enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities this fall, according to higher education analysts. School experts worry foreign enrollment at U.S. schools could take a nose dive as the Trump administration continues its immigration enforcement initiative that has targeted students who support the terrorist organization, Hamas, and federal immigration officers raid dorm rooms in search of student visa recipients who refuse to leave despite their status being revoked. Dr. William Brustein, special assistant to the president for global affairs and a distinguished history professor at West Virginia University, said arrests and visa revocations in recent weeks will hurt America’s ability to attract international students to institutions. "I am fairly confident that the Trump’s administration’s crackdown on student visa recipients who it alleges engaged in pro-Hamas protests in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre of Israelis will indeed have a chilling effect on foreign student enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities this fall," Brustein wrote in an email. But a sharp decline in international students may serve the Trump administration’s ultimate agenda after it warned schools in March to cut the anti-Israel protests or face retribution. House Education and Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) said the Trump administration was valid in pursuing changes in who is admitted to U.S. colleges and universities. "While I support an individual’s ability to come to our country to pursue an education, we must ensure that schools are not enticed to choose foreign revenue streams over national security or safety for American students," Walberg said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. "For too long our universities have thrown caution to the wind while chasing foreign funds, and I support President Trump’s efforts to make sure our higher education system truly promotes American interests.". Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, Trump called for the Biden administration to rescind visas for any foreign nationals who praised the incident. On his first day in office this year, Trump took executive action to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses, including by going after foreign students who led or participated in pro-Palestinian rallies at certain public and private universities in 2024. The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs was reported in early March to be using artificial intelligence to screen visa recipients’ social media pages for pro-Hamas comments. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during Trump’s Cabinet meeting Thursday that no foreign student was above the law. "The press covers student visas like they’re some sort of birthright," Rubio said. "No, a student visa is like me inviting you into my home. If you come into my home and put all kinds of crap on my couch, I’m going to kick you out of my house.".

NPR [4/15/2025 5:15 AM, Ximena Bustillo, 29983K] reports two senators are mounting a rare bipartisan attack against the Trump administration’s approach to due process for migrants. Sen. Lisa Murkowsi, R-Alaska, joined Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., in a letter criticizing the end of a federal contract that provides legal representation to 26,000 children who are in the U.S. without a parent or guardian. The decision to end the contract in late March "puts children directly at risk of trafficking and exploitation, and harms any hope of a fair legal process for thousands of vulnerable children," they wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday. The letter, which was obtained by NPR, marks rare bipartisan condemnation from Capitol Hill of the administration’s immigration policy; so far, Democrats have sent most of the letters raising questions or concerns. The administration last month ended a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice, which provided legal services to unaccompanied migrant children under the age of 18, including in-court representation and clinics. "Terminating legal representation for these children means that toddlers will now face a courtroom and judge with no adult to advocate on their behalf," Ossoff and Murkowski wrote. "Children will be asked to make decisions about their legal rights well beyond their comprehension, with life-altering consequences.” The Office of Refugee Resettlement is part of HHS and manages programs related to unaccompanied migrant children. HHS did not respond to a request for comment. In court filings, it has argued that federal agencies have discretion on whether to keep funding such legal services. Ossoff and Murkowski raised concerns that ending the legal funding under the contract would violate the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. The act requires "HHS to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that all unaccompanied children have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings," Ossoff and Murkowski wrote.

Springfield Republican [4/14/2025 9:15 AM, Adam Bass, 11K] reports U.S. Rep Jim McGovern, D-2nd District, sent a letter to Trump Administration officials demanding answers as to why the visas of international students attending schools in his district were revoked. The congressman sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Friday asking them to provide a reason as to why the visas of international students at Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and The University of Massachusetts Amherst were revoked. Top Colorado Information Operations Post Sacked by Navy.

Breitbart [4/14/2025 9:53 PM, Neil Munro, 2923K] reports pro-immigration lawyers are trying to block President Donald Trump’s policy of canceling education visas held by more than 1,000 migrants, including many who sign tuition checks to get work permits for the jobs needed by American graduates. The "terminations are terrible, and we believe quite illegal," Charles Kuck, an Atlanta-based immigration lawyer, wrote on X. We have filed our Complaint and Motion for a TRO [temporary restraining order]/Preliminary Injunction last evening in the Northern District of Georgia for our first 17 plaintiffs. We will be amending our complaint with likely two hundred more plaintiffs, by Tuesday. There has to be several thousand students affected by this outrageous action by the administration, judging by the number of inquiries we have received. "At least three #TROs granted yesterday in 3 different courts," Banias Law, a pro-immigration law firm based in Charleston, South Carolina, posted on X on April 12. Some of the immigrants who have recently lost their F-1 student visas are foreign graduates and current students of U.S. colleges who stayed to get jobs via the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. There has been little American media coverage of the visa withdrawals aside from the media’s focus on the impending deportation of a few showcase "scholars," such as Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Hamas immigrant who studied at Columbia University. But Democrats are rushing to protest the visa revocations, even though many of the visas are being used to take jobs from younger Democrat voters. However, Indian media outlets have been spotlighting the growing number of Indian nationals being pushed homewards. "These sudden revocations have left many students in shock, facing the grim reality of deportation and the invalidation of their legal stay, Form I-20, and Employment Authorization Documents (EAD)," said GG2.net, a news site based in Gujarat province.

Univision [4/14/2025 3:18 PM, Staff, 5325K] reports a U.S. citizen living in Massachusetts received an email from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday informing her that “It is time for you to leave the United States.” Nicole Micheroni, a 40-year-old immigration attorney from Boston, posted the full email on her Bluesky account, informing her that DHS “had exercised its discretion to terminate her parole.” The email did not include information about which parole program was being canceled, stating only that it would end "7 days after the date of this notice."

Axios [4/14/2025 6:20 AM, Steph Solis, Isaac Avilucea, Avery Lotz, 13163K] reports federal immigration authorities have revoked the visas of at least four international students at Philadelphia universities. They’re among the roughly 400 international students nationwide who’ve had their visas revoked by the Trump administration in the last few weeks, igniting concerns about First Amendment and immigration rights. The Trump administration has claimed that some of those impacted lost their status because they were affiliated with pro-Palestinian protests. For some, revocation was attributed to a crime or traffic offense and for others the reason is unknown. At least three international students at the University of Pennsylvania had their visas revoked, as did a student at Temple University, WHYY reports. UPenn said in a statement that the revocations appear to be related to "immigration status violations" and "not connected to the 2024 campus protests." The Temple student who had their visa revoked by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio chose to leave the country voluntarily. Schools across the country learned that some students abruptly had their visas revoked without explanation. This comes weeks after the Trump administration made international headlines for detaining Columbia University graduates and Tufts University student Rumeysa Öztürk over pro-Palestinian activism. UPenn is monitoring students’ visa statutes daily. Katharine Strunk, the dean of Penn’s Graduate School of Education, warned in an email that the first round of revocations "may not be the last." Pennsylvania State Rep. Tarik Khan, a UPenn alumnus, told the Daily Pennsylvanian it was "despicable to watch the attack on our freedoms by this regime, including at Penn — these assaults are radical and un-American." International applicants who are accepted into U.S. colleges must obtain a visa and follow strict rules to study here, Mona Zafar Khan, a Boston-area immigration attorney, told Axios. Their visas can be revoked if they violate those rules — working off campus without permission or failing to maintain a full class load — or if they’re charged with a crime.

Georgia Recorder [4/14/2025 6:09 PM, Ross Williams, 33K] reports five international college students and two recent graduates studying in Georgia have filed suit against the administration of President Donald Trump after attorneys say the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unlawfully terminated the immigration records allowing them to keep studying in the United States. Many of the students believe the actions were taken against them because of past run-ins with law enforcement, mostly over traffic citations, some of which were ultimately dropped, according to the lawsuit. Unless the U.S. District Court of North Georgia puts a temporary block on the government while the case moves forward, the students could be subject to arrest, detention and deportation in addition to loss of academic standing and degrees. The termination of the students’ SEVIS, or Student and Exchange Visitor Program, records comes as the Trump administration cracks down on immigration, targeting student visa holders in the country legally for “self-deportation.” “Over the past week, visa revocations and SEVIS terminations have shaken campuses across the country and Georgia,” the lawsuit reads. “ICE has created chaos as schools have attempted to understand what is happening and do their best to inform and advise students.” The lawsuit names Attorney General Pam Bondi, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons as defendants.

Reported similarly:
ABC 2 Atlanta [4/14/2025 8:20 PM, Scott Flynn, 2300K]

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 6:25 PM, Staff, 430301K] reports two graduate students at Montana State University are asking a federal court to stop the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from terminating their foreign student status, which could allow officials to immediately deport them. Montana University System officials last week announced that four foreign students had their F-1 visas revoked and their F-1 statuses cancelled, meaning they could be subject to immediate deportation. Their cases mirrored hundreds of other cases across the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana filed the motion in court on Monday on behalf of two of the four students. Lawyers said that both students were sent identical form letters which said their status had been revoked because of criminal status, although neither has been convicted or charged with any crime, leading to confusion and panic. The identity and status of the other two students mentioned by MSU are not publicly known. The Department of Homeland Security has not just revoked the F-1 visa, which is a document that allows a student entry into the United States, it has apparently wiped out their F-1 status, which allows a student to remain lawfully and allows them to be employed in certain jobs, like teaching assistant positions or research. By cancelling the status, the lawsuit argues, the Trump administration has made it impossible for the students to keep employment or be paid. The lawsuit also points out that cancelling a F-1 visa is not necessarily cause to revoke the student’s entire status. The ACLU of Montana says the actions of the Trump administration violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of due process, which extends to residents who are not U.S. citizens, but still lawfully in the country, like the students. According to court documents, neither student has been convicted of a crime, and neither student has participated in protests or demonstrations.

Los Angeles Times [4/14/2025 6:00 AM, Terry Castleman, 13342K] reports that, for nearly two decades, more Asians have immigrated to California than Latin Americans. This trend, which takes into account documented and undocumented arrivals, has reshaped the immigrant experience in California in dramatic ways that are now coming into view. In the workforce, California data are showing more high-skilled immigrants coming from Asia and fewer lower-skilled workers coming from Latin America. The changing migration patterns are hitting regions in different ways: In Silicon Valley, 42% of Santa Clara County residents are now immigrants, with most coming from China and India. By contrast, Los Angeles County is about one-third immigrant with most still coming from Latin America. “Most Californians have a kind of daily reality of living in a diverse state with people from a lot of different backgrounds,” Hans Johnson, a demographer at the Public Policy Institute of California, said of the shift in immigration sources. “These changes are slow.” The big question now is how President Trump’s border policies will affect these trends. While Asian immigrants now outnumber Latino arrivals to California, that is not the case for the rest of the U.S., where Latinos from Mexico and South America still represent the largest immigrant group entering the country. Demographic experts say Trump’s radical and controversial policies — if carried out — could accelerate the trend by further limiting immigration from the southern border while companies continue to use visas to get skilled workers from other countries. Trump has promised the largest deportation of people here illegally in U.S. history, but it has yet to materialize. There are an estimated 11 million to 15 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., including more than 2 million in California. The Trump administration has also shut down a phone application used by migrants to legally enter the U.S. at the southern border. As for the H-1B visa program, some Trump supporters have called on him to make changes, claiming the program gives high-skilled jobs to foreign-born workers and deprives Americans of those posts. The visas allow foreign-born computer scientists, engineers and other highly skilled workers to migrate to the United States, and tech titans close to Trump back H-1B. So far, the president appears to be siding with them. But the futures of student and employment visas are uncertain, as the Trump administration presses colleges to reshape their policies and imposes widespread tariffs. “If we go into an economic downturn,” tech jobs could dry up, and “it stands to reason that flows would go down,” Johnson said.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 11:44 PM, Corinne Smith, 430301K] reports the federal government has revoked the visas of four international students at the University of Alaska Anchorage, without explanation or prior notice to students or the university, university officials said on Monday. "This week, we learned that the federal government has revoked visas for four individuals affiliated with UAA — one current student and three recent graduates in post-graduation training — without prior notice," said UA President Pat Pitney in a university wide email on Monday. No students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks or University of Alaska Southeast have been affected to date, Pitney said. She said university staff are monitoring immigration records daily, and working to support students. She urged affected students to contact international student services offices of their campus for support. "These immigration issues do not impact a student’s academic standing at UA," Pitney added. "Our international students and scholars are vital members of our community, and we remain fully committed to supporting their success.” The federal government did not provide the student or university a specific reason for the visa cancelations, according to Jonathon Taylor, university director of public affairs. When asked if any of the students were detained by the Alaska Department of Corrections, a spokesperson said they were not able to immediately respond by Monday afternoon. Students can generally stay in the U.S. but can no longer leave and re-enter without applying for another visa. If there are changes to a student’s immigration status, then the government is required to provide a reason, said Nicholas Olano, an Anchorage-based immigration attorney with Nations Law Group. "The question is, are the regulations being followed here? And that is what needs to be looked at carefully. Are these people giving proper notice?" he said. Olano said usually an individual must be convicted of a crime for immigration status to be affected, but under the Trump administration it can be for simply an arrest, or allegations of misconduct. "What is happening now is by all means extreme," he said. Over 1,000 international students have had visas revoked at over 180 colleges and universities, according to a national tracking project by Inside Higher Ed, a news site. Several students have filed lawsuits arguing the government has failed to justify canceling visas or terminating immigration status, and denied them due process. Many cases are related to protests or statements in connection with the Israel-Hamas war.

FOX News [4/14/2025 8:31 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46189K] reports a new report by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed that there were fewer apprehensions at the southern border in the entire month of March than there were in the first two days of the month in 2024 under the Biden administration. The agency said in an X post that the latest report reveals continued "record low numbers" of illegal crossings at the southern border. The report said that, aided by support from the Department of Defense, CBP has "dramatically increased active patrols of our international borders.” This comes after CBP recorded the lowest southwest border crossings in history in March, which the agency said marked a "pivotal achievement in our nation’s border security efforts" and evidence that "operational control [of the border] is becoming a reality.” "Aliens are receiving the [Trump] administration’s message: if you cross the border illegally, you will be deported," CBP said in its latest report. According to the report, this is the second consecutive month in which U.S. Border Patrol averaged its lowest daily nationwide apprehensions in history. Border Patrol apprehended a total of 7,181 illegal aliens attempting to cross the southern border between ports of entry in March. This constitutes a 14% decrease from February when Border Patrol apprehended 8,346 aliens, and more dramatically, a 95% decrease from the 137,473 aliens apprehended under the Biden administration in the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, CBP’s Office of Field Operations, which manages immigration enforcement at the country’s 328 ports of entry, reported that nationwide encounters averaged approximately 673 per day in March. This is 3% lower than the office’s 693 daily average encounters in February and 81% lower than the 3,464 per day average from March 2024.

AP [4/14/2025 5:45 PM, Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor, 5269K] reports a long sliver of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border that President Donald Trump is turning over to the Department of Defense would be controlled by the Army as part of a base, which could allow troops to detain any trespassers, including migrants, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The transfer of that border zone to military control — and making it part of an Army installation — is an attempt by the Trump administration to get around a federal law that prohibits U.S. troops from being used in domestic law enforcement on American soil. But if the troops are providing security for land that is part of an Army base, they can perform that function. However, at least one presidential powers expert said the move is likely to be challenged in the courts. The officials said the issue is still under review in the Pentagon, but even as any legal review goes on, the administration’s intent is to have troops detain migrants at the border. The National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment. The land transfer is the furthest the Trump administration has gone yet to use the military for border security. Up until now, the military’s involvement has been limited largely to helping build or fortify sections of the border wall and operating deportation flights to send migrants back to their home countries or, in some cases, to the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The military also has assisted U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents by conducting surveillance or performing backup administrative tasks. The corridor, known as the Roosevelt Reservation, is a 60-foot-wide federal buffer zone that ribbons along the border from New Mexico to California, except where it encounters tribal or privately owned land. It had been run by the Interior Department until Trump directed control be transferred to the Defense Department in a presidential memo released Friday night. For the next 45 days, the Defense Department will test taking control of a section of the Roosevelt Reservation in New Mexico, east of Fort Huachuca, which is an Army installation in Arizona, one of the U.S. officials said. During that period, the Army will put up additional fencing and signs warning people not to trespass. People not authorized to be in that area could be arrested by the Army’s security forces, the officials said, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public. Any migrants in the country illegally who are detained by military personnel on those lands would be turned over to local civilian law enforcement agencies, the officials said.

The National News Desk [4/14/2025 9:51 AM, Staff, 416K] reports President Donald Trump has issued a new directive authorizing U.S. military troops to take control of a portion of federal land at the U.S.-Mexico border, marking what is expected to be the broadest use of active duty troops at the southern border to date. The directive instructs the Department of Defense to assume jurisdiction over the Roosevelt Reservation, a stretch of federal land spanning California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, "We’ll keep them there until that border is completely secure, and we see all-time record lows of encounters." The order allows U.S. troops to detain migrants for trespassing on military property, a new development in the Trump administration’s efforts to curb illegal crossings. President Trump stated, "The complexity of the current situation requires that our military take a more direct role in securing our southern border than in the recent past." He also remarked aboard Air Force One, "We now have the best border we’ve had, ever." Despite criticism of politicizing the military, the administration has not indicated that this measure is a temporary or short-term fix. President Trump noted, "At any time, the Secretary of Defense may extend activities under this memorandum to additional Federal lands along the southern border."

Reported similarly:
Blaze [4/14/2025 1:30 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1668K]

US News & World Report [4/13/2025 8:00 PM, Elliott Davis Jr., 24727K] reports the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border has become the center of a political quagmire in recent years, with immigration regularly tracking as one of the most polarizing subjects in American discourse. President Donald Trump and his policies sit squarely at the center of these tensions: Illegal immigration has been one of the president’s favorite subjects to talk about since the start of his first successful White House campaign in 2015, and has become entwined with his approach to areas including crime, trade and foreign policy. Upon his return to the Oval Office in January, Trump took a number of actions aimed at stopping what he’s often called an “invasion” at the southern border, after attempted crossings rose to very high levels under former President Joe Biden. U.S. Customs and Border Protection describes these crossing attempts as “encounters,” essentially meaning recorded events involving migrants and agency officials. Within that broad designation are two currently applicable categories: Inadmissibles – referring to a person who requests admission to the country at a port of entry but is deemed ineligible by the Office of Field Operations. Apprehensions – referring to someone who is apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol between ports of entry. Apprehensions don’t always lead to an arrest, as noted by USAFacts, and could involve an asylum claim where migrants have the right to ask for protection due to fear of persecution or harm in their home country. Trump, however, effectively halted asylum access on Day One of his second term. Border Patrol apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border fell by 14% from February to March. The number of tracked illegal crossings at the southern border in March – 7,181 – marked the lowest total since Border Patrol started releasing monthly statistics in 2000, according to Reuters. The previous nadir was in February. Before the final March numbers were released on April 14, Pete Flores, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said in an April 1 news release that his “agents are empowered like never before to shut down unlawful entry and protect American lives.”

FOX News [4/14/2025 3:38 PM, Alec Schemmel, 46189K] reports President Donald Trump told reporters Monday afternoon that he was "looking" into potential part-specific tariff exemptions for carmakers, underscoring Trump’s stance that it is important to be "flexible" amid the current trade negotiations. A notice published by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Friday indicated that smartphones, computers and other electronics would be spared from Trump’s 145% import tariffs on Chinese goods. However, the electronics will still be subject to semiconductor tariffs and tariffs related to fentanyl, per the administration and the president. The president’s signal that more relief could be on the way for carmakers comes after he already provided the industry with a one-month reprieve from the 25% tariffs imposed on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico, implemented March 4, after speaking with executives with three of the country’s largest auto dealers.

Breitbart [4/15/2025 1:34 AM, John Binder, 2923K] reports an illegal alien, accused of rape in Alabama, was caught at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in an alleged attempt to flee the United States and escape such charges. Artemio Garcia Perez, a 20-year-old illegal alien from Guatemala, was arrested late last week by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Garcia Perez had been wanted by the Opelika Police Department in Alabama on first-degree rape charges. Details around the rape charge are still unknown. His brother, illegal alien Jose Luis Maldonado Perez of Guatemala, had already been arrested for first-degree hindering prosecution in the case against Garcia Perez. Garcia Perez has been extradited to Lee County, Alabama, so he can be prosecuted on the rape charge. Both brothers have had Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers lodged against them.

CiberCuba [4/14/2025 3:48 PM, Staff, 770K] reports a Cuban citizen was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after being found guilty of human trafficking by a federal district judge in Miami. Rafael Rodríguez Hernández, 35 years old, was arrested on September 29, 2024, after being caught by officers from the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) while transporting 27 people in his vessel from the Bahamas to U.S. territory, the Department of Justice reported on Friday in a statement on its website. During the operation, CBP agents confirmed that all individuals, except for Hernández, were unauthorized foreign nationals attempting to enter the U.S., and five of them were Ecuadorian citizens who had been previously deported. Coast Guard (USCG) officials transported Hernández and the five Ecuadorians to shore to face criminal charges, while the other 22 foreigners were returned to the Bahamas. In January of this year, Hernández admitted his guilt before a court for human trafficking.

Caribbean National Weekly [4/14/2025 12:09 PM, Sheri-kae McLeod, 161K] reports South Florida is seeing a marked rise in human smuggling cases, with Cuban nationals increasingly at the center of federal prosecutions involving unlawful maritime migration from the Caribbean. In recent weeks, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida has reported multiple convictions in high-risk smuggling ventures involving not only Cubans, but also migrants from other Caribbean and Latin American countries—especially Ecuador. While Cuban nationals continue to make up a significant portion of those involved in both human smuggling and migration attempts, the increasing presence of Ecuadorians and other Latin American migrants suggests a broader regional trend. Federal officials say these operations are often coordinated by loosely organized smuggling networks operating across the Caribbean basin, exploiting vulnerable migrants in search of better opportunities. Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, CBP, and the U.S. Coast Guard, have increased patrols and coordination with Caribbean partners in response to the spike.

Telemundo [4/14/2025 6:24 PM, Staff, 11K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seized a shipment of 119.3 pounds of methamphetamine on the Ysleta International Bridge on April 11. The seizure occurred just before one o’clock in the afternoon, after an initial inspection of a model 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee van, which was driven by a 32-year-old Mexican man, threw abnormal readings. Subsequently, a CBP drug detection dog searched the car and alerted about the possible presence of narcotics in the back of the van. CBP officers searched the vehicle and located 110 colorful packages in the refection rim compartment. The contents of the packages tested positive for methamphetamine. CBP agents arrested the driver, who was handed over to special agents from the Office of National Security Investigations to face charges of importing controlled substances.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [4/14/2025 4:46 PM, Staff, 11K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents working at the Paso del Norte International Crossing in El Paso on April 13 detained a 33-year-old U.S. citizen attempting to enter the country with fentanyl and methamphetamine. According to authorities, the woman hid the drug inside her rectum and vagina. CBP announced that this was not an isolated case. Over the weekend, CBP officers working at the Paso Del Norte and Ysleta border crossings arrested nine individuals attempting to transport fentanyl and methamphetamine from Mexico to the United States. A sniffer dog that passed by the woman alerted CBP officers to the possible presence of narcotics. Following the alert, border agents selected the woman for a secondary examination and discovered she had hidden objects inside her body cavities after performing a CT scan. In total, the woman removed three packages from her body. One package contained a crystal substance that tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 27.86 g. A second package contained blue pills that tested positive for fentanyl and weighed 52.12 g. Finally, a third package contained a powder that also tested positive for fentanyl and weighed 37.32 g. The woman and the drugs were turned over to the Texas Department of Public Safety for processing.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo News [4/14/2025 7:36 PM, Allen Cone, 430301K]

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 4:29 PM, Melissa Luna, 430301K] reports a reputed member of the Paisas gang was arrested last Tuesday, April 8 after Border Patrol agents discovered he was illegally present in the U.S., according to U.S. Border Patrol. U.S. Border Patrol says on Tuesday, April 8, agents assigned to the El Paso sector identified Mexican national Ramon Aguirre-Gueta, who was illegally present in the U.S. Record checks revealed that Aguirre-Gueta has an extensive criminal history, including multiple felony convictions for illegal re-entry, a 2008 conviction for bank robbery which resulted in a 64-month prison sentence, and several probation violations, Border Patrol said. During processing, Aguirre-Gueta also identified himself as a Paisas gang member, Border Patrol said. Aguirre-Gueta was transferred for further processing and legal proceedings and is currently facing prosecution for felony illegal re-entry.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 5:58 PM, Leah Romero, 430301K] reports U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-New Mexico) on Monday called militarizing the U.S.-Mexico border "misguided and wasteful," following President Donald Trump’s direction late last week authorizing a military buffer zone stretching from California to New Mexico. Creating that zone would mean migrants crossing the border into the U.S. would be trespassing on a military base and could then be held by military personnel and transferred into the custody of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. However, members of the military having direct contact with migrants could be a violation of federal law. "Deploying military assets to the border, during a record time of low crossing numbers, is a misguided and wasteful use of military resources and taxpayer dollars," Vasquez, who represents border towns in New Mexico’s 2nd congressional district, told Source NM in a written statement. "As a lifelong border resident who has spent years working with border stakeholders, I can tell you that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work—and in some places, including parts of New Mexico’s Bootheel, this kind of made-for-TV stunt does little to nothing to solve our nation’s broken immigration system.". The strip of land Trump directed the military to occupy is known as the Roosevelt Reservation and stretches from the southwestern edge of California through southern Arizona and ends at New Mexico’s border with Mexico and Texas, near El Paso. The zone also stretches 60 feet north of the border. Vasquez told Source that investments in border security should be "strategic" and beneficial to border communities, the economy and the country as a whole. "Militarizing the Roosevelt Reservation won’t solve the humanitarian crisis or improve public safety, it will take warfighters away from real national security threats like Russia and China," Vasquez wrote. Vasquez was among 48 members of Congress who last week signed onto a letter by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) calling for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to reinstate several immigration oversight offices that were closed in late March. The offices include the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman; the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; and the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, all of which are required by Congress and advocate for the humane treatment of migrants in federal custody.

Breitbart [4/14/2025 6:23 PM, John Hayward, 2923K] reports Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Saturday quoted reports from Chinese exporters and port officials who said traffic is visibly slowing down at China’s big port cities of Shanghai and Guangdong, while some factory production has virtually "ground to a halt.". RFA saw considerable visual evidence to back up these accounts of China’s titanic export machine grinding to a halt, including warehouses stuffed with unshipped goods and stacks of shipping containers that were never loaded onto cargo vessels. Chinese media reported two of Shanghai’s biggest shipping terminals "came to an abrupt halt" on Thursday after teeming with business 24 hours earlier. Exporters said China’s other major terminals have become comparably quiet. The frenzy of activity in the middle of last week came after U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced freight that was in transit before April 9 would not be subject to the huge new 145% tariff imposed by President Trump. Once that last-chance date passed, activity at China’s major ports slowed dramatically. Analysts said those ports would probably run at half capacity or less until the tariff war ends. Peripheral industries in China’s port cities froze up as well. RFA quoted dejected Chinese businessmen who sensed "helplessness among the general public" and saw "signs of economic depression" as shops and restaurants in the port cities closed down.

International Airport Review [4/14/2025 7:07 AM, Gabriel Higgins, 56K] reports starting 7 May 2025, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will enforce the REAL ID Act, requiring all airline passengers aged 18 and over to present a REAL ID-compliant form of identification or an acceptable alternative, such as a passport, at TSA security checkpoints. This measure aims to enhance security by making fraudulent IDs harder to forge, thereby thwarting criminals and terrorists. Passengers without compliant identification may face delays, additional screening, or be denied entry through security checkpoints.​ “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 minimise operational disruptions at airports.”

Ripon Advance [4/14/2025 12:06 PM, Staff, 2K] reports U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) recently opposed action by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to cancel the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program as well as all applications from fiscal years 2020-2023. “This decision is detrimental to my constituents, and I strongly urge you to reverse this decision,” wrote Rep. Bresnahan in an April 9 letter sent to Cameron Hamilton, senior official performing the duties of FEMA administrator. The congressman noted that the BRIC program — which supports state, local, and territorial governments and tribal nations in reducing their hazard risk — is “a hand-up, not a hand-out,” to at-risk communities that have suffered catastrophic weather events. This includes his Eighth Congressional District and northeastern Pennsylvania, where floods on Sept. 9, 2023 caused nearly $25 million in damage and destroyed 459 residences, according to his letter.

Spectrum News 1 [4/14/2025 7:27 PM, Michael White, 889K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency has rejected Gov. Josh Stein’s request for extended help with Hurricane Helene debris removal. Stein in February submitted a 48-page request to President Donald Trump and Congress for billions of dollars of additional funding for a wide range of recovery efforts in western North Carolina. As part of that, Stein asked to extend a 100% federal cost-sharing arrangement for debris removal and emergency protective measures that had been in effect since the storm devastated the state’s mountain region in September. FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton last week denied Stein’s request. “Based on our review of all the information available, it has been determined that the increased level of funding you have requested for major disaster FEMA-4827-DR is not warranted,” Hamilton wrote in a letter dated April 11, using the agency’s designation for Hurricane Helene. Stein on Friday expressed his disappointment and urged Trump to reconsider.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 4:40 PM, Jillian Fellows, 430301K] reports in a Monday, April 14 update, Great Lakes Energy (GLE) and Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-Op (PIE&G) reported they have restored power to nearly all of their members who lost power during the destructive March 29-30 ice storms. GLE reported that 98% of its members now have power, while PIE&G reported that 88% of its members have had service restored. The two utility companies said the small amount of outages that remain are mostly due to extensive damage in the area, including inaccessible properties, at seasonal residences, or are due to specific individual property concerns, which could require on-site work by an electrician and an electrical inspection before power can be restored. "We are close to restoring power to all our members who lost power during the unprecedented ice storm, and we will continue this unprecedented rebuild effort until the job is complete," said Shaun Lamp, president and CEO of GLE, in the update. "I am proud of the hard work and dedication of crew members, volunteers and employees to get to this milestone in our rebuilding and restoration effort.".

Nebraska Examiner [4/14/2025 3:37 PM, Zach Wendling] reports Gov. Jim Pillen has requested a major federal disaster declaration for 27 Nebraska counties related to a March winter storm that disaster response officials estimate did more than $64.9 million in damage. Pillen sent the request to President Donald Trump for the March 18-19 storms, during which the state’s public utilities suffered the most eligible damage, the most significant of which was to power poles and electrical lines. More than 1,700 poles were downed or destroyed. In his letter to Trump, Pillen described the March storm as "one of the most destructive winter weather events to impact Nebraska in recent history" and wrote that "emergency services were pushed to their limits." This is Pillen’s first federal disaster declaration request for 2025. A disaster declaration would open up federal funding to help cover costs in the following counties: Boone, Burt, Butler, Cass, Clay, Colfax, Cuming, Dodge, Douglas, Fillmore, Hamilton, Jefferson, Johnson, Lancaster, Nuckolls, Otoe, Platte, Polk, Saline, Sarpy, Saunders, Seward, Thayer, Thurston, Washington, Webster and York.

The AP [4/14/2025 6:49 PM, Lisa Baumann, 48304K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied Washington state’s request for emergency relief funds to help repair an estimated $34 million in damage from a deadly bomb cyclone storm system in November, according to Gov. Bob Ferguson. Ferguson said in a news release on Monday that the state’s January application for assistance was denied in a letter he received on Friday. The state’s application had met all of the criteria necessary to qualify, he said. "This is another troubling example of the federal government withholding funding," Ferguson, a Democrat, said. "Washington communities have been waiting for months for the resources they need to fully recover from last winter’s devastating storms, and this decision will cause further delay. We will appeal.". The November storm system battered the state with strong winds and rain that caused widespread damage and power outages, and toppled trees that killed at least two people. It was considered a " bomb cyclone," which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly. Bomb cyclones have been associated with major weather events across the country including hurricanes in recent years. After Washington’s storms, then-Gov. Jay Inslee issued a disaster declaration in 11 counties — including where Seattle is located — and filed the application for disaster relief with FEMA to repair damage to public highways, public utilities and electrical power systems. FEMA’s letter denying the application didn’t give an explanation and said the assistance was "not warranted." The state has 30 days to appeal. The denial comes as FEMA’s future is in question. President Donald Trump has questioned whether to disband it entirely and give money directly to states to handle disasters. Trump has created a council to study what to do with FEMA and whether to get rid of it. KIRO [4/14/2025 3:24 PM, Shawn Garrett] reports Washington submitted its disaster declaration request on Jan. 14, asking for federal help to repair widespread storm damage to highways, public utilities, and electrical systems. On Friday, nearly three months later, FEMA denied the request in a letter to former Governor Jay Inslee, offering no explanation beyond stating that supplemental assistance "is not warranted." The letter, signed by Cameron Hamilton, a senior FEMA official, noted that while the major disaster declaration was denied, FEMA Region X would coordinate with the state to explore other federal or volunteer assistance options. FEMA also offered to work with the state to gather additional damage information that could support an appeal. The state now has 30 days from the date of the letter to submit that appeal. The Washington State Standard [4/14/2025 4:40 PM, Jake Goldstein-Street] reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s one-page letter doesn’t explain the reasoning for the denial, other than to say federal aid "is not warranted." Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, plans to appeal the decision. In a statement Monday, he said "this is another troubling example of the federal government withholding funding." The state has 30 days to appeal. After the intense November storm that damaged hundreds of homes and businesses, caused widespread power outages and killed two people, then-Gov. Jay Inslee declared a disaster in a number of counties. In January, Inslee asked for federal aid from FEMA to repair damage to highways, public utilities and more. His request focused on Grays Harbor, King, Pacific, Snohomish, Wahkiakum and Walla Walla counties.

Reported similarly:
Newsweek [4/14/2025 9:30 PM, Sonam Sheth, 52200K]

AP [4/14/2025 5:10 PM, Julie Watson, 48304K] reports a 5.2-magnitude earthquake shook Southern California on Monday morning, sending boulders tumbling onto rural roadways outside San Diego, items rattling off shelves and elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park scrambling to encircle their young. Officials reported no injuries or major damage. The quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, struck at 10:08 a.m. local time, and was centered in San Diego County only a couple miles from Julian, a mountain town of about 1,500 people that is known for its apple pie shops. It was felt as far north as Los Angeles County, about 120 miles away. The quake was followed by several aftershocks. "I thought the single-pane windows were going to crack because they were shaking pretty good, but they didn’t," said Paul Nelson, owner of a former gold mine that operated in the 1870s in Julian. He said some picture frames on the counter at the gift shop fell over at the Eagle Mining Co., but the tunnels that tourists can explore suffered no damage. On Sunday, Nelson said a smaller quake hit when about two dozen visitors were touring the defunct mine but everyone stayed calm. No one was inside the old mine when Monday’s temblor rocked the ground for a longer time. Transportation officials warned motorists to watch out for rocks that tumbled down hillsides and onto roads and highways, including State Route 76 northwest of Julian. Crews were assessing roadways for potential damage, the California Department of Transportation in San Diego County said. At the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, a herd of African elephants was caught on video running over to protect their young by encircling them during the quake. Elephants have the ability to feel sound through their feet, and the behavior is known as an "alert circle." The herd consisting of Ndlula, Umngani, Khosi, and youngsters Zuli and Mkhaya, appeared to relax after several minutes, the park said.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo News [4/14/2025 4:38 PM, Anna Ashcraft, 430301K]

New York Times [4/14/2025 5:02 PM, Nick Corasaniti, 145325K] reports the scorched rooms inside the official residence of Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania were the work of an arsonist who the authorities say admitted “harboring hatred” for Mr. Shapiro. Officials say the suspect revealed that if he found the governor, he planned to beat him with a hammer. The attack on Mr. Shapiro and his family was only the latest prominent attempt on the life of an American elected official. A string of violent outbursts in recent years has raised alarms about the threats lawmakers are confronting and the country’s often poisonous political environment. Yet while the attacks on top officials have rattled Americans in both parties, research shows that political violence overall is not necessarily on the rise. Large-scale eruptions — with the notable exception of the Trump-inspired riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — have not become more frequent. Support among Americans for acts of political violence like murder or arson remains exceedingly low, according to a weekly study conducted by the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College. But the relative rarity of political violence has done little to settle an American public increasingly on edge, and threats continue to flood the inboxes of elected officials, election workers and journalists.

CNN [4/15/2025 4:00 AM, Zoe Sottile, Josh Campbell and Danny Freeman, 22131K] reports a break-in and arson at the residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has cast scrutiny on security measures, as authorities work to understand how a suspect was able to enter the home and escape without being apprehended – even as officers searched for him. Shapiro and his family were safely evacuated from the Harrisburg home, but the early Sunday fire resulted in a "significant amount of damage" to the residence: Photos show pieces of furniture destroyed and the floor covered with ash. The suspect, 38-year-old Cody Balmer, told police he was "harboring hatred" for Shapiro and would have beaten the governor with a hammer, an arrest affidavit says. Balmer, who turned himself in to police hours after the incident, has been charged with attempted homicide, aggravated arson, terrorism and other charges. An attorney representing Balmer in a separate case declined to comment. The break-in "tells me that security needs to be enhanced significantly" at the governor’s mansion, Jonathan Wackrow, a former US Secret Service agent and security consultant, said Monday in an interview with CNN. "This individual was able to easily defeat multiple layers of defense," he said. "First, starting with the perimeter fencing, then the electronic surveillance and detection system, gaining access into the residence and then launching the attack – all while the state police that was providing the protective resource there was unable to locate him.” Similarly, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe told CNN: "The scope of the security failure here is just hard to get your hands around.” "So many things happened, and each one of those things should never have happened if there was an adequate security plan and surveillance and technology in place," McCabe said. The governor’s residence has 24/7 security, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN. Troopers in the Pennsylvania State Police’s Executive Services Office are tasked with protecting the governor, according to a 2017 legislative committee report, which then counted 23 troopers among their ranks. When asked several questions about security and the incident, State Police told CNN on Monday afternoon it could not offer additional information, citing "operational security concerns.”

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 9:30 PM, Shaun Chornobroff, 430301K] reports U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace told Republicans at a county convention Monday that she was among the targets of a Pennsylvania man charged last week with threatening to kill President Donald Trump and other officials. The 1st District congresswoman said U.S. Capitol Police called her while she was on her way to Greenville to inform her that Shawn Monper threatened to kill her too in an online post in January. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace spoke at the Greenville County GOP convention at the Greenville Convention Center on Monday April 14, 2025. "He wanted to put a bullet in my head. No way!" she told about 1,000 people gathered for the Greenville County GOP convention. Monper, 32, of Butler, Pennsylvania, was arrested last Wednesday and accused of threatening to kill Trump, Elon Musk, immigration agents, and others, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday. According to the release, threats from a self-identified "Mr. Satan" were posted on YouTube between Jan. 15 and April 5. They included a Feb. 17 threat to kill Trump, Musk, all of Trump’s appointed directors and "anyone who stands in the way.” Mace told the crowd she was the only known member of Congress named in the threats. Fox News was first to report Monday evening that Mace was a target of the threats. Mace then told reporters from the Gazette and other outlets at the convention before taking the stage to address the crowd as a guest speaker. "I will not back down to the threats," Mace told reporters. "I will not back down to the intimidation. I will not back down to anyone who is threatening to put a bullet in my head.” U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night about Mace’s claims. Friday’s release from the Department of Justice did not include any specific threat against Mace. Asked for additional details, a Mace spokeswoman referred only to the Fox News report, which cited an unnamed source. According to the Department of Justice, the FBI was alerted to the threats April 8, and the internet activity of "Mr. Satan" came from Monper’s home. The statements included claims of stocking up on guns and ammunition to "do a mass shooting.” Trump survived a pair of assassination attempts last year, the first at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, when the gunman’s bullets killed one attendee, seriously injured two others, and hit Trump’s ear before Secret Service agents killed him.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 7:53 PM, Sheri Walsh, 430301K] reports the Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Georgia man after he was accused of sending threatening text messages to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and her family, the Justice Department announced Monday. Aliakbar Mohammad Amin, 25, was charged April 11, and is currently being held on a federal charge of transmitting interstate threats. "Bottom line, the FBI does not tolerate threats and will hold offenders fully accountable," FBI-Atlanta wrote in a post on Facebook, adding that President Donald Trump and the White House were also targeted with "threatening communications.” According to court documents, Amin is accused of writing, "You and your family are going to die soon" and "I will personally do the job if necessary.” Another text read, "Death to America means death to America literally, Tulsi is living on borrowed time.” "Prepare to die, you, Tulsi, and everyone you hold dear. America will burn," Amin added. Federal agents said social media posts by Amin, between March 29 and April 1, also included images of a firearm pointed at a photograph of Gabbard. Agents said they found a firearm when they searched Amin’s home. "The FBI sees all threatening communications as a serious federal offense. We will employ every investigative tool and resource available to identify those responsible and ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI-Atlanta. "Let this arrest serve as a clear warning: if you engage in this kind of criminal behavior, you will be caught and you will go to prison," Brown added, as Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr. vowed to "vigorously prosecute.” "Threatening to harm public officials is a criminal act that cannot be excused as political discourse.”

NPR [4/15/2025 5:00 AM, Greg Allen, 29983K] reports the man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump when he was running for President last year will be in court Tuesday. Prosecutors say a Secret Service agent spotted Ryan Routh holding a rifle and fired on him while Trump was golfing at his West Palm Beach club in September. Routh faces five federal charges. The hearing will focus on the semi-automatic, SKS-style rifle authorities say Routh planned to use in the assassination attempt. Law enforcement authorities found the rifle in what they described as a "sniper’s nest" near the fence just outside of Trump’s golf club. Routh has pleaded not guilty. The federal agent who was part of Trump’s security detail says he saw a gun barrel poking out from the tree line a few holes ahead of where the then-Presidential candidate was golfing. The agent fired at the person holding the gun. A man, later identified as Routh, fled the scene and was arrested a short time later driving north on Interstate 95. Routh’s federal public defenders are asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to give them access to the rifle. They want a defense expert to examine and test-fire the weapon. The rifle left behind at the scene had a scope attached to it in a makeshift matter using electrical tape. Routh’s lawyers want their own experts to testify how well or whether it would have worked if fired at Trump that day. Prosecutors say there’s no question that the gun worked. An FBI weapons expert test-fired the rifle when it was seized and processed as evidence. But they say the question of how well it worked is not relevant. More importantly, they say, is Routh’s alleged intent to attempt to kill then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump. If there was poor planning, problems with the gun, or other things that prevented the attack from happening, they say those details can’t be used as a defense. Routh’s lawyers say if they aren’t granted access to the gun, they’d like all expert testimony about it excluded at trial. These are issues Judge Cannon will consider at Tuesday’s hearing.

Daily Caller [4/14/2025 4:00 PM, Hudson Crozier, 1082K] reports the Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed in an affidavit that an assassination plot against President Donald Trump is tied to eastern Europe through alleged accomplices located in Russia and Ukraine. Wisconsin teenager Nikita Casap coordinated with overseas contacts to discuss weapons and other logistics for his alleged plans, marking the second reported plot against Trump linked to Ukraine, according to court documents. Casap was arrested Feb. 28 in connection to the murder of his parents that the DOJ says stemmed from a “nihilistic” ideology he embraced. Casap allegedly shot and killed his mother and stepfather in early February and then lived with their corpses for two weeks before his Feb. 28 arrest, WTMJ reported. Wisconsin police said they found a video Casap recorded of his stepfather’s corpse with candles around the room where it lay. The teenager now faces state charges for the murder of his parents, which the FBI says he committed “to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carrying out” Trump’s killing.

FOX 44 [4/14/2025 3:18 PM, Roland Richter] reports a 38-year-old woman set to go on trial for the 2023 stabbing death of a Lacy Lakeview man has pled guilty and has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. Leah Breuer has remained in the McLennan County Jail since being booked in after her arrest in the death of 44-year-old David Peeler. His body was found in a bloody scene in a unit of the Village Square Apartments in the 3500 block of Meyers Lane in Lacy Lakeview in April 2023. McLennan County District Attorney Josh Tetens confirmed the plea and sentence. A second woman, Joann Arey Cometsevah, was also charged in the case. She is Leah Breuer’s sister. She was arrested in California some time after Breuer was arrested and indicted in the case. The affidavit detailed how detectives tracked a message found received on a cell phone in the apartment. The Secret Service assisted in opening the phone and tracking the calls which aided in identifying a suspect and opening up a series of text messages indicating an argument between the suspect and the victim.

FOX News [4/14/2025 12:00 PM, Diana Stancy, 46189K] reports the Trump administration is overhauling the Coast Guard in an attempt to crack down on illegal migrant crossings and drug interdictions. This month, the Coast Guard unveiled its new Force Design 2028 plan to overhaul its organizational structure, personnel, acquisitions, contracting and technology—fulfilling directives from President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The proposal seeks to bolster the Coast Guard’s force, which currently consists of roughly 43,000 active-duty personnel, and assess which specialties need reinforcement to expand training, responding to Trump administration calls to ramp up efforts against illegal immigration and drug smuggling, according to a Department of Homeland Security official familiar with the plan. "This is focusing our efforts on where do we need to make investments in our current training centers and even look at opening new training centers to support growth in the service," the official told Fox News Digital on Thursday. The Coast Guard is the only military service that falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security. However, the blueprint’s restructuring plans seek to adapt certain standards for the Coast Guard to better align with the military branches that fall under the Department of Defense.

The Latin Times [4/14/2025 11:21 AM, Pedro Camacho, 1500K] reports the U.S. Navy deployed a guided-missile destroyer to patrol the southern border region on Friday as it beefs up military assets in the area. The USS Stockdale (DDG-106) departed Naval Base San Diego with a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment onboard, becoming the second such deployment in less than a month after the USS Gravely in mid-March. The patrol is part of a broader strategy led by U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) to integrate military capabilities into border security operations. An official Navy statement said Stockdale will operate as part of a "coordinated, multi-domain strategy" intended to "protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security." Admiral Daryl Caudle, Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, explained that such missions would involve monitoring key maritime corridors between the U.S. and Mexico, particularly near San Diego and the Gulf of Mexico.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 6:18 PM, Riley Ceder, Zita Fletcher and J.D. Simkins, 430301K] reports President Donald Trump on April 9 signed into law a new policy aimed at revitalizing an American shipbuilding industry that has fallen well behind production levels of its rivals from the People’s Republic of China. Language in the executive order, which cites the need to strengthen a "commercial shipbuilding capacity and maritime workforce," mirrors many concerns expressed among the industry’s defense counterparts. In an April 8 hearing of Navy leadership before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, service officials voiced concerns regarding stagnant shipbuilding and what that could mean for success in great power conflicts. Navy officials in March 2024 stated the service’s goal of growing its fleet of battle force ships to 381 over the next 30 years, a plan that would require investing at least $40 billion each year over the duration of the effort, according to the Congressional Budget Office. There are currently fewer than 300 battle force ships in the fleet — and that number is expected to drop. Current projections indicate the Navy will retire close to a dozen more ships through 2027 than it expects to commission. In a policy statement in February, officials from the nonprofit Navy League echoed the need to expand the service’s fleet while calling on Congress to increase funding for public shipyards and Coast Guard ice breakers. An estimated 250,000 skilled or well-compensated workers must be hired over the next decade to accomplish shipbuilding and vessel maintenance goals, according to Matthew Sermon, the direct reporting program manager for the Navy’s maritime industrial base program. Sermon, who spoke at the April 9 hearing, added the Navy is looking to expand supply chain capacity, partner with government and private organizations and address workforce challenges in what he described as an "all-hands-on-deck effort that will attract, train and retain American manufacturing and engineering workers.". "Simply put, we need more ships delivered on time and on budget, and we are challenged in both of these arenas," Dr. Brett Seidle, acting assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month. "Costs are rising faster than inflation and schedules on multiple programs are delayed one to three years.".

DVIDS [4/14/2025 3:00 PM, Staff, 777K] reports the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Spencer (WMEC 905) returned to their home port in Portsmouth, Friday, following a 92-day deployment in support of alien interdiction operations in the Florida Straits. Deployed in support of Homeland Security Task Force – Southeast (HSTF-SE) and Operation Vigilant Sentry (OVS) in the Seventh Coast Guard District’s area of responsibility, Spencer’s crew conducted search and rescue, and maritime border security operations to support the ongoing U.S. mission to protect the maritime borders of America. Spencer is a 270-foot, Famous-class medium endurance cutter. The cutter’s primary missions are alien interdiction, counter-drug operations, enforcement of federal fishery laws, and search and rescue in support of U.S. Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.

DVIDS [4/14/2025 3:16 PM, Staff, 777K] reports the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Spencer (WMEC 905) returned to their home port in Portsmouth, Friday, following a 92-day deployment in support of alien interdiction operations in the Florida Straits. Deployed in support of Homeland Security Task Force – Southeast (HSTF-SE) and Operation Vigilant Sentry (OVS) in the Seventh Coast Guard District’s area of responsibility, Spencer’s crew conducted search and rescue, and maritime border security operations to support the ongoing U.S. mission to protect the maritime borders of America. On April 6, Spencer’s crew rescued a mariner from a capsized vessel approximately 35 miles northeast of Boynton Beach, Florida. Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell’s crew embarked the survivor who was transferred to the Royal Bahamas Defense Force in good condition. Prior to the patrol, Spencer was part of the service life extension program (SLEP) for two years getting upgrades at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore. “Although our time in Baltimore was challenging, the officers and crew of Spencer were motivated to get the ship ready for operations and embark on our inaugural post-SLEP patrol,” said Cmdr. Justin Strock, commanding officer of Spencer. “In support Homeland Security Task Force - Southeast, we provided a clear visible deterrent to anyone considering illegal entry into the country.”

DVIDS [4/14/2025 12:54 PM, Staff, 777K] reports the crew of Coast Guard Cutter James (WMSL 754) returned to their home port in North Charleston, Saturday, following a 112-day, multi-phase deployment, where crew members conducted counter-narcotic operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and participated in joint exercises with the U.S. Navy in the Atlantic Ocean. James’ crew spent their first two months underway in support of Joint Interagency Task Force – South (JIATF-S) while on patrol in the Coast Guard Eleventh District’s area of operations. Working alongside additional Coast Guard units and multiagency partners, the crew of James interdicted drug smuggling operations in the vast ocean off the Pacific Coast of Mexico, Central and South America. Crew member efforts significantly disrupted illegal narcotics trafficking with 11 interdictions at sea, seizing more than 48,000 pounds of illicit drugs valued at $510 million and apprehending 34 suspected drug smugglers. Of note, crew members interdicted three go-fast vessels in a single day, seizing more than 13,000 pounds of cocaine and capturing nine suspected narco-traffickers.

CBS 3 Norfolk [4/14/2025 2:37 PM, Staff, 286k] reports the Coast Guard says no one was aboard the 19-foot Aquasport that was found capsized in the Chesapeake Bay Sunday. Officials had previously asked for the public’s help in identifying the boat’s owner and were conducting a search in the Bay Monday. However, later on Monday, the owner contacted a command center to say that the boat had gone missing and nobody was on it, the Coast Guard says. The boat was located Sunday near the fourth island along the CBBT — the island closest to the Eastern Shore — after drivers on the bridge reported it around 4:20 p.m.

The AP [4/14/2025 2:55 PM, Staff, 48304K] reports that the search has been suspended for five people missing after a boat capsized during a “failed suspected smuggling venture” off of Florida’s Atlantic Coast, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday. On Sunday, Coast Guard crews rescued four people from the ocean some 29 miles (25 nautical miles) off of St. Lucie Inlet, which is 46 miles (74 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach. They also recovered the body of one person. After the rescue, a survivor reported the vessel departed Bimini with nine people on Friday, and it capsized early Saturday morning, the Coast Guard said. Another boater contacted the Coast Guard on Sunday about the capsized boat. Crews searched for about seven hours, and covered more than 1,240 square miles (3,212 square kilometers). “The decision to suspend a search is always difficult and never taken lightly,” said Chief Warrant Officer Edgardo Insignares, a Coast Guard Sector Miami search and rescue mission coordinator. “Smugglers routinely exploit vulnerable aliens for profit while putting their lives at risk aboard overloaded and unseaworthy vessels. These dangerous and illegal voyages must not be attempted. Safe, legal and orderly migration saves lives. Don’t take to the sea.”  Martin County Fire Rescue officials told news outlets on Sunday that three of the four rescued from the water had injuries that were not life-threatening. The Miami Herald [4/14/2025 5:45 PM, David Goodhue, 3973K] reports five people aboard a suspected migrant smuggling boat are presumed dead after the vessel capsized off South Florida over the weekend, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The agency called off its search for the people Sunday night after covering more than 1,240 miles of ocean looking for them throughout the weekend. Early Saturday morning, the 25-foot boat went down about 29 miles off St. Lucie Inlet. The vessel left Bimini in the Bahamas the day before with nine people on board, according to the Coast Guard. A boater saw the capsized boat with people clinging to the hull and reported the sighting to the Coast Guard. A Coast Guard MH-60 Dolphin helicopter crew based at Air Station Miami rescued four of the passengers Sunday morning, the agency said. Footage released by the Coast Guard shows a rescue diver in the ocean and loading the people one-by-one into a basket, which was hoisted up to the helicopter. The missing are: Two woman from Haiti, one Jamaican woman, a man from the Dominican Republic and a man from the Bahamas, said Nestor Yglesias, spokesman for Homeland Security Investigations, the agency investigating the smuggling operation. The people rescued are two men from the Dominican Republic and a man and woman from Haiti, Yglesias said.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/14/2025 5:49 PM, Remy Tumin, 145325K]
New York Post [4/14/2025 6:56 AM, Elizabeth Pritchett, 54903K]
ABC News [4/14/2025 5:31 PM, T. Michelle Murphy and Megan Forrester, 34586K] r
CNN [4/14/2025 3:59 PM, Lex Harvey and Chris Boyette]
FOX News [4/14/2025 6:19 AM, Elizabeth Pritchett, 46189K]

FOX 13 Tampa [4/14/2025 10:23 PM, Staff, 1500K] reports it’s not every day that you see a beached shrimp boat in Flagler Beach. U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer First Class Brendan Blackwell says that the boat lost power. Blackwell says the Coast Guard rescued the two people onboard. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Oregonian [4/14/2025 7:09 PM, Lillian Mongeau Hughes, 3900K] reports the search for the missing kayaker who was seen struggling above Willamette Falls late Saturday night continued Monday, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office has not released the man’s name, but say the missing kayaker was 20 years old and from California. His hard shell blue kayak was recovered early Sunday near Elk Rock Island on the Willamette River, about 7.5 miles downstream of the falls. Multiple people called 911 to report seeing a kayaker struggling on the Willamette River near Oregon City just above Willamette Falls at 11:52 p.m. Saturday. Witnesses said the man went over the 42-foot falls and did not resurface, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported over the weekend. The man has not been found despite a massive late-night search effort, including help from an U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft from the Portland Police Bureau.

Stars and Stripes [4/14/2025 7:00 PM, Gary Warner, 803K] reports the commander of Coast Guard Sector San Diego has been fired more than five months after service leaders temporarily removed the officer from his post amid an investigation into “unfair treatment of individuals” under his command. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Joseph Buzzella on Oct. 24 temporarily removed Capt. James Spitler and Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Dioquino, the sector’s top enlisted leader, citing “a loss of confidence due to failures in leadership, judgment, and integrity.” Buzzella has now permanently dismissed Spitler and Dioquino from their posts. Spitler’s removal was made permanent on April 8. Dioquino was fired in January, the service said. “We will not tolerate behavior that goes against our core values of honor, respect and devotion to duty,” Buzzella said in October. Sector San Diego is part of the Eleventh Coast Guard District, which includes thousands of miles of coastal and ocean waters from California to South America and operations in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. The district is based in Alameda, Calif., on the east side of San Francisco Bay. Capt. Patrick Dill, chief of incident management for the service’s District Eleven, has been acting commander of the San Diego sector, the service said. The Coast Guard has said it would release no additional information on what led to the dismissal of Spitler and Dioquino. Coast Guard records show no charges have been filed against either man.

DVIDS [4/15/2025 12:01 AM, Chief Warrant Officer Sara Muir, 777K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard, alongside Guam Fire Rescue, the U.S. Navy, and local partners, continue the search on April 15, 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. Lt. Chelsea Garcia, the current search and rescue mission coordinator, shared, "The volume of effort poured into finding Mr. Jeffery Hattori reflects the dedication of our team and our partners—Guam Fire Rescue, the U.S. Navy, and locals. We’re deeply grateful to those who’ve called in with information that our watch is using to refine our searches. As we continue, we ask mariners and the public to remain vigilant, to keep a sharp eye on the water and shorelines for any sign of the Lady G or Mr. Hattori, and to report it immediately to help bring him home. "Hattori departed Hagåtña Boat Basin at 5:30 a.m. local time on April 12 and was expected back by 4 p.m. that day. All crew searched throughout April 14, with Oliver Henry and Station Apra Harbor crews searching overnight. These efforts continue. A U.S. Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules airplane from Air Station Barbers Point will join searches on April 16 and 17, bolstering aerial support. Ground crews are scouting beaches and marinas to search for anything that may have washed ashore.

Politico [4/14/2025 10:00 AM, Dana Nickel, 2100K] reports Unpopular Changes Afoot — Today marks the last day for personnel at CISA and other Department of Homeland Security agencies to decide whether to leave voluntarily or potentially be forced out as the department faces significant cuts to its workforce, which could include significant dismissals at CISA. One person familiar with decision-making at CISA told Maggie that Karen Evans, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, is one of the key decision-makers behind the changes there. As Maggie reported last week, the potential layoffs being targeted at CISA are likely to be in non-Cybersecurity Directorate offices, but could be anywhere between one-third and 90 percent of the staff. “Karen is taking a hatchet to CISA,” the individual said. The work at CISA “can’t come back if these cuts go through,” the person said. The workforce shakeups come just a week after Gen. Timothy Haugh was removed as the dual hat leader of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency. Evans is currently the only political appointee at CISA, which is officially being run by Executive Director Bridget Bean. President Donald Trump has nominated Sean Plankey, a former top Energy Department and National Security Council official, to serve as director of CISA, but his nomination is currently blocked by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) until CISA makes public a report on telecoms systems vulnerabilities allegedly dating back to 2022.

Reuters [4/14/2025 9:02 AM, Bhanvi Satija, 41523K] reports DaVita (DVA.N), said on Monday it had become aware of a ransomware incident that has encrypted some elements of its network, prompting the dialysis firm to implement measures to limit the effect of the breach. The company discovered the cyberattack on Saturday, but added it "cannot estimate the duration or extent of the disruption at this time", DaVita said in a regulatory filing. The dialysis firm did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request seeking details about its containment measures and how many systems have been isolated so far.

The Wall Street Journal [4/14/2025 2:34 PM, Alyssa Lukpat, 646K] reports the man accused of setting fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion was charged with terrorism, arson and attempted murder, according to state court records. Cody Balmer, 38, broke into the Harrisburg, Pa., residence early Sunday with a hammer and Molotov cocktails and lit several fires, according to court records. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, and his family were asleep upstairs and didn’t encounter Balmer, authorities said. Balmer told investigators he would have beaten Shapiro with a hammer if he had found the governor. “Balmer admitted to harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro,” Pennsylvania State Police wrote in a criminal complaint released Monday. Shapiro appeared shaken at a news briefing on Sunday. “We experienced an attack not just on our family but on the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he said. He said a state trooper banged on the door and told his family to evacuate. The flames were brought under control after around 20 minutes. No one was injured. Politicians on all sides condemned the attempted attack on the governor. Some denounced the country’s rising political violence. “Thanks be to God that Governor Shapiro and his family were unharmed in this attack. Really disgusting violence,” Vice President JD Vance said on social media. Democratic leaders shared similar messages. “Political violence of any kind is never acceptable and it is especially unconscionable to attack a Jewish family during the first night of Passover,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) said. The Washington Post [4/14/2025 8:41 AM, Annabelle Timsit and Praveena Somasundaram, 31735K] reports the man charged with setting fire to the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) told authorities he walked more than an hour from his home, carrying beer bottles filled with gasoline, before scaling a fence, breaking into the mansion and setting a room ablaze. Police have accused 38-year-old Cody Balmer, of Harrisburg, of seeking to harm Shapiro — he allegedly told police he planned to beat the governor with a hammer if he encountered him — and his family as they slept upstairs. He was denied bail at an arraignment Monday and did not enter a plea. The attack is the most recent on an elected U.S. official since last year’s apparent assassination attempts on now-President Donald Trump while he campaigned. There have been several instances of attempted violence against politicians of both parties in recent years, including a kidnapping plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), a hammer attack on the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and an attempted assault of Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-New York). Shapiro on Sunday called the attack on his home, which came hours after he and his family held a Passover seder, “targeted.” The incident marks a disturbing escalation in the country’s tense political climate, said Sean Westwood, a professor of government at Dartmouth College who has studied political violence. The attack left unanswered questions about why Balmer may have sought to harm Shapiro — a high-profile governor who was in contention last year to be the Democratic vice-presidential nominee — and how Balmer might have carried out a security breach that people familiar with the residence said must have been tactically difficult and physically challenging. Sometime after being taken into custody, Balmer was hospitalized because of a “medical event” that had no connection to the fire or his arrest, Pennsylvania State Police said. He was later released and arraigned on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, terrorism, loitering and two counts of aggravated assault. On Monday, details about Balmer’s background began to emerge: From 2004 to 2012, he repaired construction equipment in the Army Reserve and had no deployments, according to U.S. Army spokeswoman Heather Hagan. Reuters [4/14/2025 8:56 AM, Brendan O’Brien, 41523K] reports that in a probable cause affidavit filed on Sunday, authorities said Balmer filled beer bottles with gasoline at his home in Harrisburg and walked about an hour to reach the governor’s residence. Once he arrived, he scaled a fence, broke two windows and threw the Molotov cocktails inside and fled. The fire burned in two rooms that were not close to the where Shapiro and members of his family were sleeping. Hours later, Balmer turned himself in to police. He told them that he "harbored hate" toward the governor and he planned to beat the governor with a hammer if he encountered him, authorities said in the affidavit. Shapiro, a Democrat seen as a potential candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2028, said at a press conference that FBI Director Kash Patel had spoken to him a few hours earlier and promised "all the resources of the federal government" in investigating the attack. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that she was "deeply relieved" the governor and his family were safe and applauded the rapid arrest of Balmer. The residence was set on fire hours after Shapiro posted, a picture of his family’s "seder" table as they celebrated the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which is about going "from slavery into freedom," according to Shapiro. "I refuse to be trapped by the bondage that someone attempts to put on me by attacking us as they did here last night," he said on Sunday, vowing to continue his work for Pennsylvania without fear. Shapiro added that his family still planned to hold a second seder on Sunday night. When asked whether the attack could have been a hate-motivated crime, Shapiro said he would defer to the findings from federal authorities and Pennsylvania’s district attorney. Authorities will conduct a "multifaceted review in terms of security measures and the exact timeline of how it happened," said Lieutenant Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police.

AP [4/14/2025 7:04 PM, Marc Levy and Mark Scolforo, 4998K] reports a man who allegedly scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion was denied bail Monday as he faced charges including attempted homicide, terrorism and arson. Cody Balmer spoke with a public defender at times as he appeared in court late Monday afternoon after being released from a hospital, where he had been taken after an unrelated medical event. Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, told police he planned to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a small sledgehammer if he encountered him after breaking into the building, according to court documents. A motive for the attack, including whether it had anything to do with Shapiro’s politics or religious beliefs, wasn’t immediately clear. Balmer’s mother told The Associated Press on Monday that she had made calls in recent days about his mental health issues, but “nobody would help.” Christie Balmer said her son was not taking his medicine. However, in court, Balmer politely told a judge he did not suffer from any mental illness. “That’s the rumor, but no, ma’am,” he said. He said he was an unemployed welder with no income or savings and “a lot of children.” He did not enter a plea to the charges, which include aggravated assault. The fire caused significant damage and forced Shapiro, his family and guests, including other relatives, to evacuate the building early Sunday. The residence, built in 1968, did not have sprinklers, Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline said. He estimated the damage could be in the millions of dollars.

AP [4/14/2025 9:22 AM, Marc Levy, 48304K] reports a man who authorities said scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion where he set a fire had planned to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a hammer if he found him, according to court documents released Monday. The fire left significant damage and forced Shapiro, his family and guests to evacuate the building early Sunday. The man, who was arrested later in the day, faces charges including attempted homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault, authorities said. During a police interview, authorities said Cody Balmer told them after he was taken into custody that he would have beaten Shapiro with a small sledgehammer if he had found him, the documents say. Balmer had walked an hour from his home to the governor’s residence, and during the police interview, “Balmer admitted to harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro,” according to a police affidavit, but it didn’t explain why. Shapiro said he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family had celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover at the residence on Saturday and were awakened by state troopers pounding on their doors at about 2 a.m. Sunday. They fled and firefighters extinguished the fire, officials said. No one was injured. At a Sunday evening news conference in front of the badly damaged south wing of the governor’s residence, Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris identified the man in custody as Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg. Authorities said Balmer was transported to Dauphin County Prison, but did not say whether he has a lawyer. Calls to people believed to be relatives went unanswered or unreturned Sunday. One recent listed residence in Harrisburg was condemned in 2022. One recent listed residence in Harrisburg was condemned in 2022.

AP [4/15/2025 12:02 AM, Mark Scolforo and Marc Levy, 48304K] reports investigators worked Tuesday to uncover the motive behind an arson fire over the weekend at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion, the latest act of political violence in the U.S. They dug into Cody Balmer’s background after, authorities say, he scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion. Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg was denied bail Monday as he faced charges including attempted homicide, terrorism and arson. He did not enter a plea to the charges. He had told police he planned to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a small sledgehammer if he encountered him after breaking into the building, according to court documents. A motive for the attack, including whether it had anything to do with Shapiro’s politics or religious beliefs, wasn’t immediately clear. Balmer’s mother told The Associated Press on Monday that she had made calls in recent days about his mental health issues, but "nobody would help." Christie Balmer said her son was not taking his medicine. However, in court, Balmer politely told a judge he did not suffer from any mental illness. The fire caused significant damage and forced Shapiro, his family and guests, including other relatives, to evacuate the building early Sunday. The residence, built in 1968, did not have sprinklers, and the damage could be in the millions of dollars, Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline said. Balmer turned himself in at state police headquarters after confessing to his former partner and asking her to call police, which she did, the affidavit said. Authorities did not say whether he has a lawyer. Balmer, who said he was an unemployed welder with no income or savings, had been due in court later this week in an assault case in which he was accused of punching two relatives and stepping on a child’s already broken leg in 2023. In court Monday, he told the judge he did not have any drug or alcohol problems, but acknowledged missing a few court dates in the past.

Daily Wire [4/14/2025 9:03 AM, Leif Le Mahieu, 4672K] reports the man suspected of setting the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion on fire over the weekend planned on attacking Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, according to police. Police documents reveal that 38-year-old Cody Balmer admitted that he harbored “hatred towards” Shapiro and planned on beating him with a hammer if he encountered the governor as he allegedly threw two Molotov cocktails into Shapiro’s residence. Balmer has been charged with attempted homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, terrorism, and multiple counts of aggravated assault. Shapiro and his family were inside the home during the attack, which did significant damage. They were awoken by Pennsylvania State Police around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday and were escorted out of the residence. Balmer turned himself in to the police shortly after he called an “ex-paramour” to confess to her and ask her to alert law enforcement, according to a police affidavit. The same affidavit says that Balmer admitted to the attack and told police that he knew people could be harmed because of his actions. “He advised on the date in question he removed gasoline from a lawn mower and poured it into Heineken Bottles he found at his residence,” the police affidavit says. “Balmer advised he walked for approximately one hour from his residence to the Governor’s Residence with the intention of throwing his homemade Molotov cocktails into the residence.” He reportedly told police that he climbed the perimeter fence of the governor’s mansion, broke two windows with a hammer, and then threw the Molotov cocktails into the home. “Balmer was asked specifically what he would have done if Governor Shapiro found him inside of his residence, to which he advised he would have beaten him with his hammer,” the affidavit says.

Reported similarly:

New York Post [4/14/2025 7:39 AM, Isabel Keane and Jack Morphet, 54903K]

(B) CNN News Central [4/14/2025 1:20 PM, Staff] reports that significant damage was left behind after an arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor’s residence. The fire erupted early Sunday morning as the governor and his family slept. 38-year-old Cody Balmer admitted to breaking into the home and then igniting Molotov cocktails. He is facing attempted murder, aggravated arson, terrorism, and other charges. The Pennsylvania State Police are conducting a security review now.

FOX News [4/14/2025 10:08 PM, Andrea Margolis, Kitty Le Claire and Alexis McAdams, 46189K] reports the suspect accused of setting fire to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion over the weekend was out on bail when he allegedly committed the crime, Fox News has learned. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, resident Cody Balmer, 38, made bail and was due in court later this week over a 2023 simple assault charge, according to court records. A source told Fox News that the case was related to a domestic dispute. Balmer was arraigned on Monday in connection with the arson attack, where he stuck his tongue out at reporters trying to ask him questions. Speaking to Judge Dale Klein, Balmer identified himself as a former welder who is not currently employed, and stated that he had no savings or income. Balmer also said that he had no history of substance or alcohol abuse, and said that he had taken medication for mental health in the past, but that the pills "lead [him] to different types of behavior." The judge later denied Balmer’s bail request on the grounds that his behavior endangered the community. Earlier on Monday, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) said that Balmer was "currently receiving treatment" at a hospital for a "medical event not connected to this incident or his arrest." The suspect was charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism, and other related offenses after allegedly setting the fire at around 2 a.m. on Sunday morning.

CNN [4/14/2025 3:30 PM, Casey Tolan, Curt Devine and Majlie de Puy Kamp, 22131K] reports the man charged with setting fire to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence Sunday was an auto mechanic who faced personal and financial turmoil in recent years – including allegations that he assaulted his wife and young children amid a suicide attempt. Cody Balmer, 38, was due to appear in court later this week on charges stemming from that case – the most serious incident in an escalating pattern of court troubles including a custody fight and foreclosure proceedings, according to records reviewed by CNN. Now, Balmer faces charges of attempted homicide, aggravated arson, terrorism and other crimes after police say he climbed over a fence, broke into the governor’s mansion and set the fire with a homemade Molotov cocktail in the early hours of Sunday morning. Authorities are still working to figure out the motive behind the brazen attack. Balmer shared Facebook posts critical of former President Joe Biden, but doesn’t appear to have mentioned Shapiro, also a Democrat. In an interview with police, he admitted to "harboring hatred" toward Shapiro, and said he would have beaten the governor with a hammer, the arrest affidavit said.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/14/2025 8:46 PM, Billy Witz and Campbell Robertson, 145325K]

Breitbart [4/14/2025 9:07 AM, Awr Hawkins, 2923K] reports legislation passed in Tennessee on April 10, 2025, requires autopsies for mass shooters for the purposes of identifying links to psychiatric drugs. The bill, HB 1349, and companion bill SB 1146, require "the medical examiner’s office to ascertain and document current drug use, including psychotropic drugs, by a deceased individual who committed a mass shooting; directs the University of Tennessee’s health science center to study drug interactions between the psychotropic drugs and any other drugs present in the deceased individual’s system; requires the department of health to disclose the psychotropic drug use of the individual to the public upon request.". WBIR noted that HB 1349 passed in the Tennessee House on a vote of 76-20. The companion bill, SB 1146, passed in the Tennessee Senate on a vote of 27-5. The autopsies required by the legislation would be conducted "at one of the five regional forensic centers in Tennessee." And once the examiner has tested the mass shooter’s body for drugs the results are to be "[shared]…with the University of Tennessee’s Health Science Center College of Pharmacy and the Department of Health.". A report from the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department released earlier this month, highlights the mental condition of the 28-year-old transgender woman who shot and killed six people at a Nashville Christian school in March 2023. In describing the time-frame of 2018, the report said, "Despite the ongoing therapy and medication regimens, [the transgender woman’s] anxiety, depression, and rage only escalated. She commented how she felt she was being swallowed by despair and even created drawings documented how her assorted mental health conditions were affecting her mind.".

The AP [4/14/2025 6:04 PM, Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker, 48304K] reports the Justice Department has charged a man with vandalizing a Tesla dealership in New Mexico and setting fire to the headquarters of the state Republican Party, according to court records unsealed Monday. A criminal complaint charges Jamison R. Wagner, 40, with federal arson -related crimes in the fire last month and the vandalism in February at a Tesla dealership in Bernalillo, where authorities found two Tesla Model Y vehicles ablaze as well as swastika symbols on windshields and spray-painted graffiti messages including "Die Elon" and "Die Tesla Nazi." The arrest is part of a federal crackdown on what Attorney General Pam Bondi has described as a wave of domestic terrorism against property carrying the logo of Musk’s electric-car company. Bondi previewed the arrest Thursday during a Cabinet meeting to highlight federal law enforcements’ efforts to go after vandals in recent weeks who have been targeting Tesla. Wagner is also charged in connection with a fire last month at the Albuquerque headquarters of the New Mexico Republican Party. The fire badly burned the entrance and caused extensive smoke damage throughout the office, authorities said. Republican representatives also found spray paint on the side of the building about 50 feet (15 meters) from the entrance, saying "ICE=KKK," according to New Mexico Republican Party Chair Amy Barela. Breitbart.com [4/14/2025 4:52 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 2923K] reports Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed on Monday that an arrest has been made in connection to a firebombing of a New Mexico Tesla dealership and a subsequent attack on the New Mexico Republican Party headquarters. The Department of Justice provided further details on the arrest and federal charges slapped against Albuquerque resident Jamison Wagner, 40. According to the press release, investigators linked Wagner "to both incidents through surveillance footage and scene evidence." FBI Director Kash Patel said the arrest is part of his federal agency’s "aggressive efforts to investigate and hold accountable those who have targeted Tesla facilities in various states across the country." The attack on the headquarters of the Republican Party of New Mexico followed the attack on the Tesla dealership the month prior. The entryway of the headquarters was damaged in the attack, which also resulted in interior smoke damage. CBS News [4/14/2025 3:42 PM, Kiki Intarasuwan, 51661K] reports Wagner was charged with two counts of malicious damage or destruction of property by fire or explosives, according to the complaint. He will remain in custody pending a detention hearing, the Department of Justice said. If convicted, Wagner faces between five and 20 years in prison for each count.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/14/2025 8:40 PM, Neil Vigdor, 145325K]
Wall Street Journal [4/14/2025 8:06 PM, Jennifer Calfas, 646K]

CNN [4/14/2025 5:37 PM, Michelle Watson, 22131K]
FOX News [4/14/2025 3:54 PM, Louis Casiano, 46189K]
Free Beacon [4/14/2025 5:30 PM, Chuck Ross, 475K]
Yahoo News [4/14/2025 5:20 PM, Patrick Lohmann, 430301K]

New York Times [4/15/2025 3:25 AM, Ana Swanson and Tony Romm, 330K] reports the Trump administration took steps on Monday that appear likely to result in new tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceutical products, adding to the levies President Trump has put on imports globally. Federal notices put online Monday afternoon said the administration had initiated national security investigations into imports of chips and pharmaceuticals. Mr. Trump has suggested that those investigations could result in tariffs. The investigations will also cover the machinery used to make semiconductors, products that contain chips and pharmaceutical ingredients. In a statement confirming the move, Kush Desai, a White House spokesman, said the president “has long been clear about the importance of reshoring manufacturing that is critical to our country’s national and economic security.” The new semiconductor and pharmaceutical tariffs would be issued under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the president to impose tariffs to protect U.S. national security. Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump hinted that he would soon impose new tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, as he looked to shore up more domestic production. “The higher the tariff, the faster they come in,” Mr. Trump told reporters at a White House appearance, citing import taxes he has imposed on steel, aluminum and cars. Semiconductors are used to power electronics, cars, toys and other goods. The United States is heavily dependent on chips imported from Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia, a reliance that Democrats and Republicans alike have described as a major risk to national security. As for pharmaceuticals, Mr. Trump argued that too many vital medicines were imported. “We don’t make our own drugs anymore,” he said.

Reported similarly:
AP [4/15/2025 1:55 AM, Elaine Kurtenbach, 24727K]

CNN [4/14/2025 7:33 PM, Patrick Wingrove and David Lawder, 908K] reports the Trump administration is proceeding with probes into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as part of a bid to impose tariffs on both sectors on grounds that extensive reliance on foreign production of medicine and chips is a national security threat, Federal Register filings on Monday showed. The filings announce 21-day public comment periods and mark President Donald Trump’s latest use of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 as justification for so-called sectoral tariffs aimed at boosting domestic production of goods he says are critical to national security. Using the 232 provision, the Trump administration has started investigations into imports of copper and lumber, and probes completed during Trump’s first term formed the basis for 25% tariffs rolled out since his return to the White House in January on steel and aluminum and on the auto industry. The filings, which indicate the administration began the investigations on April 1, follow exclusions unveiled over the weekend for smartphones, computers and other electronics imported largely from China from Trump’s steep 125% reciprocal duties. Trump officials had said those products would soon be subject to Section 232 tariffs. Section 232 probes need to be completed within 270 days of their initiation.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [4/14/2025 6:50 PM, Nathaniel Weixel, et al., 12829K]

Wall Street Journal [4/14/2025 5:55 PM, Brian Schwartz and Gavin Bade, 646K] reports Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is prioritizing the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, India and Japan as among his top targets for new trade deals after President Trump announced a wave of tariffs including on those countries, according to people familiar with the matter. Bessent has told allies that those countries are among his top targets and he’s been in touch with officials from each of the nations, these people explained. Japanese economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa will be in Washington starting on Wednesday for meetings with Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, according to a person with knowledge of the plans, who said the meetings are expected to be preliminary and may not yield an immediate deal. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday cautioned his nation would not make concessions for the sake of concluding talks quickly. Bessent’s move to quickly engage with officials from countries that have been hit with at least a 10% tariff comes after he’s become a crucial adviser to the president on trade and a lead U.S. negotiator. A spokesperson for the Treasury Department didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Daily Caller [4/14/2025 8:00 AM, Philip Lenczycki, 1082K] reports Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu’s 2021 campaign received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a fundraiser who is listed by a Chinese intelligence agency as an official, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered. Gary Yu, the founder of Boston International Media Consulting, helped raise over $300,000 for Wu with the help of a Chinese civic association he leads. However, Yu — whose Chinese name is Yu Guoliang — is listed as an official by an agency of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence and intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD), and also operates as a recruiter for the Chinese government, according to reports from the CCP, Chinese state media and civic associations led by Yu. "The Communist Party’s UFWD never rests," author and China expert Gordon Chang told the DCNF. "There is no ethnic Chinese official in America who is not targeted. It’s time for law enforcement to investigate the CCP’s ties to Gary Yu and Yu’s ties to Mayor Michelle Wu.". Wu has risen to national prominence as a central figure in the Democratic resistance to Trump’s border and deportation policies. Wu recently defended her city’s refusal to cooperate with immigration officials during her March 19, 2025 "State of the City" address, during which she criticized "presidents who think they are kings," prompting the White House to fire back the next day with a press release labeling Wu a "radical mayor" who "puts violent criminal illegal aliens first.". "Wu’s ultra-leftism makes her the perfect candidate for CCP recruitment and capture," Chang said. "Or do we have it backward? Is her ultra-leftism the result of CCP recruitment and capture? More than just the people of Boston would like to know.". Wu’s office, Yu, and Boston International Media Consulting did not respond to multiple requests for comment. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon, Energy Dept. Nuclear Research Projects Tapped Sanctioned Chinese Communist Party Supercomputers). Yu has repeatedly met with high-ranking CCP intelligence leaders in China and is listed as an official by two regional branches of a UFWD arm, according to Chinese government announcements, state media reports and records from Chinese civic associations led by Yu. The UFWD’s operations are a "unique blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations that the [CCP] uses to shape its political environment, including to influence other countries’ policy toward the [People’s Republic of China] and to gain access to advanced foreign technology," according to the House Select Committee on the CCP. Yu is identified as an "overseas committee member" by the Hangzhou municipal All-China Federation Of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC) branch in Zhejiang province and has met with their officials in China multiple times, according to the website of the North American Hangzhou Association (NAHAUS), where Yu serves as chairman.

NewsMax.com [4/14/2025 6:36 AM, Staff, 4998K] reports President Donald Trump on Sunday said he does not think a foreign company should control U.S. Steel, repeating comments made last week that dimmed hopes for the $15 billion bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel to buy the U.S. firm. Trump said 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.

New York Times [4/15/2025 3:25 AM, Frances Robles, 330K] reports that, as a newly minted U.S. citizen, Ramona Matos, once a doctor in Cuba, did not hesitate when deciding whom to vote for last year. She chose Donald J. Trump, the candidate who promised to be tough on Cuba’s communist government. She hoped he would help free the Cuban people and, in particular, put an end to a tool the government in Havana has used to soften its image around the world — one that Ms. Matos found particularly repugnant for personal reasons. For decades, the Cuban government has sent thousands of health professionals to work in remote villages and cities in dozens of countries, where they get just a fraction of what the countries pay Cuba for their services. “Those doctors are slaves to the Cuban dictatorship,” said Ms. Matos, 63, who, after posts at Cuban medical missions in Bolivia and Brazil, is a factory worker in South Florida. Beginning on his first day in office, Mr. Trump has started tightening the screws on Cuba, including on its global medical program. With a Cuban American secretary of state and an envoy to Latin America known as a longtime hawk on Cuba policy, the Trump administration quickly imposed tougher measures. It was the latest twist in the back-and-forth approach toward Cuba, which shifts from aggression to softening, depending on who occupies the White House. The Trump administration reversed moves made by the Biden administration, returning Cuba to the list of state sponsors of terrorism, which limits its ability to do business around the world, and restoring the right of Americans to sue over property confiscated on the island decades ago. Cuban officials have had their visas yanked and the administration has prohibited business transactions with companies controlled by Cuba’s military, intelligence and security services, which manage vital interests such as tourism and imports.

Bloomberg [4/14/2025 4:57 PM, Mohamed Sheikh Nor and Mohamed Omar Ahmed, 16228K] reports the US sanctioned 15 members of al-Shabaab operating in Somalia for fundraising and supporting the terrorist group. The targets that include leaders, operatives, and financial facilitators were also involved in the proliferation of improvised explosive devices, the US Treasury Department said in a statement Monday. The move made jointly with the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center seeks to prevent the al-Qaeda linked group from gaining access to “financial networks to secure funding, coordinate attacks, and enable its violent activities,” the Treasury’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Anna Morris said in the statement. “Al-Shabaab continues to terrorize and extort the Somali people, forcing farmers to turn over livestock as ‘donations’ and kidnapping civilians, while it destabilizes the wider region through its campaign of violence,” she said. Bloomberg wasn’t immediately able to reach an al-Shabaab spokesperson for comment.

Yahoo News [4/14/2025 6:01 PM, Howard Altman, 430301K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday chided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to purchase Patriot air defense systems. Zelensky made that statement during an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News’ 60 Minutes program. "He’s always looking to purchase missiles," Trump said when asked about Zelensky’s offer. "Listen, when you start a war, you got to know that you can win the war, right? You don’t start a war against somebody that’s 20 times your size, and then hope that people give you some missiles.". The comments from Trump, made during a press conference with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, are the latest manifestation of a rocky relationship between the two leaders. That discontent reached its peak in February during a disastrous Oval Office meeting. The Biden administration provided Ukraine with three Patriot batteries and an unspecified number of missiles, according to the Pentagon. Faced with ongoing Russian airstrikes and a growing lack of air defense systems and munitions, Zelensky told the network that he wants to buy an additional 10 Patriot air defense systems from the United States, valued at about $1.5 billion a piece. He also called on European partners to help finance the deal. In all, Zelensky wants to purchase a $50B package of arms from the United States. "There is a Patriot system, and you have a lot of them, and you have production," Zelensky said he told Trump. "There are several steps to protect Ukraine. Step number one: one system that costs one and a half billion dollars; we are ready to buy at least 10 systems to cover some cities, only civilians, and city centers where people are crowded… We will find this money, and we will pay everything.". While Zelensky seems to be asking for the purchase of new Patriot systems, as we previously pointed out, the U.S. is facing extreme demand for its own existing ones. Concerns about what this means for the prospect of adequately defending U.S. forces deployed overseas, as well as the U.S. homeland, is something senior U.S. military leaders, as well as The War Zone, have been drawing attention to for some time.

The Hill [4/14/2025 6:41 PM, Ellen Mitchell, 12829K] reports "The War between Russia and Ukraine is Biden’s war, not mine. I just got here, and for four years during my term, had no problem in preventing it from happening," Trump posted on Truth Social. "[Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin, and everyone else, respected your President!". Trump also blamed President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for "allowing this travesty to begin.". "There were so many ways of preventing it from ever starting. But that is the past. Now we have to get it to STOP, AND FAST," Trump wrote. In comments to reporters in the Oval Office late Monday morning, Trump added Putin to the list of those he views at fault could have stopped it, and Zelensky could have stopped it, and should have never started it," Trump told reporters. "Everybody’s to blame.". Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after massing troops on the border. Trump’s post on Truth Social came after Zelensky appeared on "60 Minutes" Sunday night. Zelensky pushed back on some of the Trump administration’s assertions about the conflict, and he urged Trump to come visit war-torn Ukraine before making any final decisions. During the 2024 campaign, Trump made repeated lofty promises to end the war in Ukraine quickly. During a debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump said he would get the war settled "before I even become president.". But it has proven more difficult than Trump expected to bring the fighting to a stop. He has met with Zelensky and spoken with Putin. Trump’s envoy for Middle East affairs, Steve Witkoff, met in person with Putin in recent days.

New York Times [4/15/2025 3:25 AM, Constant Méheut, 330K] reports President Trump has said Russia’s deadly missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy was “a mistake,” calling it a “horrible thing” even as members of his administration went further with condemnation that served as a rare critique of Moscow while the White House is pushing for a cease-fire. Two ballistic missiles killed at least 35 people and injured more than 100 in Sumy on Sunday morning. The attack was the second in just over a week to inflict heavy civilian casualties in Ukraine, which Kyiv has said shows that Moscow is not truly interested in a truce. “I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it’s a horrible thing,” Mr. Trump said about the Sumy attack when he was aboard Air Force One on Sunday. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, told the Kommersant newspaper on Monday that Moscow had targeted “a get-together of Ukrainian military chiefs with their Western counterparts” in Sumy. He declined to comment on the civilian deaths. Ukraine’s military did not say whether any service members were killed in the attack, and several videos of the aftermath showed only casualties in civilian clothes. But Ukrainian news media, citing local military officials, reported that Col. Yuriy Yula, a commander in the 27th Brigade, had died in Sumy. It was not immediately clear what Mr. Trump meant when he said he had been “told” Russia “made a mistake” — a formulation that could also be interpreted as an attempt to make excuses for Moscow. Mr. Trump has generally avoided criticizing President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia since taking office in January. Some top officials in the Trump administration were more explicit. Keith Kellogg, a retired U.S. general and Mr. Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, said that Russian forces had crossed “any line of decency” by targeting civilians in Sumy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned what he described as a “horrifying Russian missile attack on Sumy.” “This is a tragic reminder of why President Trump and his Administration are putting so much time and effort into trying to end this war and achieve durable peace,” Mr. Rubio wrote on social media.

Reuters [4/13/2025 5:34 PM, Staff, 41523K] reports a Russian court on Monday ruled a U.S. citizen not criminally responsible for his actions in connection with the assault of a police officer and committed him for treatment in a Russian hospital, the Moscow City Court Service said. The service, in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app, said Joseph Tater has been absolved of responsibility in connection with the incident. He had been in detention since last August. The court ordered him to undergo "obligatory medical measures in a medical institution providing psychiatric help". An earlier court ruling declared Tater diagnosed with a mental disorder requiring hospital treatment. Tater was first detained and jailed for 15 days for petty hooliganism after being accused of abusing staff at a Moscow hotel, an allegation he denied. According to news agency accounts of court proceedings, Tater subsequently assaulted a police officer, leading to a fresh criminal case. According to those accounts, Tater had entered Russia intending to seek political asylum, said he did not consider himself a U.S. citizen and had faced persecution in the United States and asked diplomats attending the proceedings to leave. Tater is one of several American nationals in detention in Russia on a variety of charges.

The AP [4/14/2025 9:11 AM, Maria Grazia Murru and Jon Gambrell, 48304K] reports talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program appeared ready Monday to leave the Middle East, as an Italian source said the next round of negotiations would take place in Rome. Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog separately confirmed he would be taking a trip to Iran later in the week, possibly to discuss ways to improve access for his inspectors to Tehran’s program. The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. A source in the Italian government confirmed that the next round would take place in Rome on Saturday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The person’s comments came as Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani separately told journalists in Osaka, Japan, that the Italian government has given its OK to host the talks. “We received the request from the interested parties, from Oman, which plays the role of mediator and we gave a positive response,” Tajani said. “We are ready to welcome, as always, meetings that can bring positive results, in this case on the nuclear issue.” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, speaking at a meeting in Luxembourg, also said the coming talks would be in Rome. Both Iranian and U.S. officials did not immediately acknowledge the venue of the second round of negotiations. However, it’s likely that Oman, which hosted the first round of talks on Saturday in Muscat, would continue to mediate between the two sides. “The next round of talks will probably be held somewhere other than Oman,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told journalists on Monday in Tehran. “It’s not an important matter.” Reuters [4/14/2025 6:42 AM, Staff, 41523K] reports Iran and the U.S. said they held "positive" and "constructive" talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene this week. "We received a request from the interested parties and from Oman, which is playing the role of mediator, and we have given a positive response," Tajani was quoted by ANSA as saying at the world Expo exhibition in the Japanese city of Osaka. Rome has often hosted these type of talks, Tajani said, and is "prepared to do everything it takes to support all negotiations that can lead to a resolution of the nuclear issue, and to building peace". Earlier, U.S. news agency Axios, citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter, reported that the second round of the U.S.-Iranian talks would be held in Rome on Saturday. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened military action if no deal is reached on halting Iran’s nuclear program, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that he met with advisers on Iran and expected a quick decision. He gave no further details. The previous day he had told reporters that the Iran situation was "going pretty good, I think.".

Wall Street Journal [4/14/2025 4:18 PM, John F. Kerry and Thomas S. Kaplan, 646K] reports as nuclear negotiations with Iran begin in earnest, President Trump has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strike a bargain that could make the region—and the world—safer. That is, if Tehran agrees to it. We had profound disagreements about the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but we agree today that there exists a short window for the improbable to happen. Iran, often a master of miscalculation and geopolitical malpractice, has backed itself into a corner, and that paradoxically boosts the odds for a peace initiative. Ten years after the last nuclear agreement with Iran, the balance of forces has changed dramatically. The coalition that defined the opportunities and challenges of negotiation in 2015 is no more. Europe has relations with Tehran. The multilateral nuclear sanctions the world imposed to bring Iran to the negotiating table are long gone and not coming back. Relationships with Moscow and Beijing have been reshaped by disagreements over Ukraine and trade. In short, this leaves two parties—not eight—to strike a new agreement. Most important, the past 18 months have established a new regional dynamic that should motivate Iran to see its interests differently. Tehran’s vaunted imperial project—portrayed as its raison d’être since the 1979 revolution—is in tatters. The tips of the regime’s proxy spears, Hamas and Hezbollah, have been thoroughly degraded. Its client state, Bashar al-Assad’s Syria, has been dismantled. Following its ill-conceived missile attacks on Israel, Iran’s airspace has been rendered defenseless against the Jewish state. The Iranian people’s privations, justified by the government as the necessary price of decades of revolutionary interventionism, are now under scrutiny at home. In the eyes of the average Iranian, the regime’s claims to an effective “mandate of heaven” must appear visibly shattered among the debris of proxy adventurism gone wrong.

AP [4/15/2025 12:27 AM, Maria Grazia Murru, Jon Gambrell and Chris Megerian, 34586K] reports talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program appeared ready to leave the Middle East on Monday, as an Italian source and others said the next round of negotiations would take place in Rome. But early Tuesday, Iran insisted the next round would again be held in Oman. It wasn’t immediately clear where the negotiations would be held after Tehran’s overnight announcement. American officials have not said where the talks would be held. President Donald Trump separately complained Monday about the pace of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran as the two countries start a new round of pivotal negotiations. “I think they’re tapping us along,” he said in the Oval Office during a meeting with El Salvador’s president. The next meeting had been expected to take place on Saturday in Rome, according to a source in the Italian government who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also signaled the talks would take place there. “We received the request from the interested parties, from Oman, which plays the role of mediator and we gave a positive response,” Tajani told reporters during a trip to Osaka, Japan. “We are ready to welcome, as always, meetings that can bring positive results, in this case on the nuclear issue.” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, speaking at a meeting in Luxembourg, also said the coming talks would be in Rome. And Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly said Monday the talks would happen in Rome while speaking to his Iraqi counterpart on Monday, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency. The first round of talks over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program took place over the past weekend in Oman. The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Then early Tuesday, the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei as saying the talks would be back in Oman, without elaborating on the reason. Easter Sunday will be this coming weekend, a major holiday in Rome, which surrounds Vatican City, the home of the Roman Catholic church.

Wall Street Journal [4/14/2025 9:00 PM, Benoit Faucon, Nancy A. Youssef, and Saleh al-Batati, 646K] reports Yemeni militias are planning a ground offensive against the Houthis in an attempt to take advantage of a U.S. bombing campaign that has degraded the militant group’s capabilities, Yemeni and U.S. officials say. The Yemeni factions are sensing an opportunity to oust the Houthis from at least parts of the Red Sea coast they have controlled in the decade since they took power over much of the country’s northwest, the officials said. Private American security contractors provided advice to the Yemeni factions on a potential ground operation, people involved in the planning said. The United Arab Emirates, which supports these factions, raised the plan with American officials in recent weeks, the U.S. and Yemeni officials said. The U.S. is open to supporting a ground operation by local forces, the U.S. officials said, while noting that a decision on whether to back the effort hasn’t been made yet. The U.S. isn’t leading the talks for a ground operation, the officials added. The discussion involves empowering the local factions allied with the internationally recognized government in Yemen to take charge of the country’s security, they said. “Ultimately, security in the Red Sea is the responsibility of our partners in the region, and we’re working closely with them to ensure shipping in those waterways remains safe and open far into the future,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told The Wall Street Journal last week.

Bloomberg [4/14/2025 7:00 AM, Malcolm Scott, 16228K] reports Trump’s tariff exemption on consumer electronics and semiconductors suggests US-China trade tensions may have peaked. “This is a small step by the US toward correcting its wrongful action of unilateral ‘reciprocal tariffs,’” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement posted on its official WeChat account on Sunday. The ministry urged the US to “take a big stride in completely abolishing the wrongful action.” While Trump on Sunday downplayed the reprieve, saying “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook,’” the move was welcomed by economists after weeks in which his tariff threats against China seemed to be ratcheting ever higher — to a whopping 145%. The reprieve announced Friday covered $100 billion of goods — more than a fifth of total US imports from China last year — according to Citigroup economists including Xiangrong Yu. Analysts noted it was a reprieve for Apple too. The exemptions suggest Beijing’s tit-for-tat strategy is “beginning to yield results,” according to Tommy Xie, head of Asia macro research at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, who noted China’s initial measured and restrained approach was met with “little acknowledgment” from the US. Ahead of the tariff onslaught, China’s export engines have been running hot. Exports in dollar terms far exceeded forecasts and soared 12.4% in March from a year earlier, the customs authority said Monday, reversing a decline of 3% in February. Imports shrank 4.3%, leaving a trade surplus of $103 billion last month. The latest figures suggest companies are diverting shipments to countries across Southeast Asia, with China’s exports to the region reaching the second-highest ever. Exports to Vietnam and Thailand soared to records, while sales to the US grew more than 44% from February to exceed $40 billion last month. China’s President Xi Jinping is heading to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia from Monday, seeking to present China as a more stable partner than the US under Trump. His visit highlights the tricky position Southeast Asian nations face — they’ve become key routes for Chinese exports to reach the US since Trump’s tariffs in his first term.

(B) Good Day Orlando at 9am on FOX 35 [4/14/2025 9:07 AM, Staff] reports that the Trump administration is granting exemptions on products including phones, computers, and other electronics which are largely imported from China. Yesterday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the exclusions could be temporary and a special type of tariff on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals is set to come in about a month or two. The president is expected to say he would explain more later today as well with some specific details.

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