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 Washington Post [4/19/2025 7:47 PM, Ann E. Marimow, Marianne LeVine, Jeremy Roebuck and Maegan Vazquez, 31735K] reports the fate of dozens of detainees in Texas remained in limbo Saturday after an extraordinary middle-of-the-night emergency action by the Supreme Court temporarily barred their removal by the Trump administration. The court did not explain its reasoning in its unsigned emergency order issued around 1 a.m. but directed the Trump administration “not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees” from the United States until further action from the Supreme Court. Two conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., dissented. Experts said the high court appeared to be taking an aggressive step by intervening in the high-profile issue at this stage but cautioned that the order does not address major underlying questions about Trump’s legal authority to use the Alien Enemies Act to remove migrants from the United States. Georgetown Law professor Steve Vladeck called the Supreme Court’s involvement overnight “a sign that a majority of the justices have lost their patience with the procedural games being played by the Trump administration,” at least as it relates to the cases involving the Alien Enemies Act. Earlier this month, a divided Supreme Court said in a different case that the administration could continue to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to try to deport alleged gang members, but the justices were unanimous in saying that detainees must first have an opportunity to challenge their detention in the jurisdiction where they are being held. The Supreme Court’s latest order came after hours of frenzied litigation Friday, as attorneys for the detainees petitioned courts in North Texas and Washington, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit based in New Orleans, hoping one of them would step in to stop the deportations before it was too late. In its order early Saturday, the Supreme Court said it would take further action after the 5th Circuit had weighed in. It asked the solicitor general, which argues on behalf of the federal government, to respond to the ACLU’s claims after the 5th Circuit ruled on the matter. The 5th Circuit issued its own ruling around the same time, with a three-judge panel of that court denying the ACLU’s emergency request to block the deportations and chiding its lawyers for coming to them before a lower court had ruled on the issue. The Wall Street Journal [4/19/2025 6:19 PM, Michelle Hackman, Mariah Timms, and Jocob Gershman, 646K] reports that in a response to the Supreme Court on Saturday, the government argued that the plaintiffs’ claim was prematurely filed and the court should dissolve the temporary stay granted earlier. “They improperly skipped over the lower courts before asking this one for relief,” the government said. President Trump is using a novel application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to claim certain powerful gangs are equivalent to foreign governments in wartime. The administration in March designated members of Tren de Aragua as enemy aliens and moved swiftly to remove alleged gang members from the U.S. to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The plaintiffs facing a similar fate, represented by the ACLU, had mounted a fast-moving effort to halt the deportations on several fronts. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, the federal judge in Washington who is embroiled in the legal fight over the last wave of removals, held an emergency motion hearing by video Friday evening, at which he expressed doubt about having jurisdiction to intervene and declined to take any immediate action. CBS News [4/19/2025 7:16 PM, Staff, 52225K] Video HERE reports that the Supreme Court had said earlier in April that deportations could proceed only if those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given "a reasonable time" to contest their pending removals. "These men were in imminent danger of spending their lives in a horrific foreign prison without ever having had a chance to go to court," ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt told CBS News in a statement on Saturday. "We are relieved that the Supreme Court has not permitted the administration to whisk them away the way others were just last month." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Saturday responded to the Supreme Court’s order on X, claiming that the men being held were "foreign terrorists." "They were arrested in diligently planned and executed raids recently carried out by Departments of Justice and Homeland Security," Miller said. "We are confident we will ultimately prevail against the onslaught of meritless litigation brought by radical activists who care more about the rights of these terrorist aliens than those of the American people," Leavitt wrote in a separate post. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
The Hill [4/19/2025 4:10 PM, Filip Timotija, 12829K]
Breitbart [4/19/2025 6:04 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2923K]
NPR [4/19/2025 7:58 AM, Meg Anderson and Scott Simon, 29983K] Audio HERE
Reuters [4/19/2025 6:02 PM, Andrew Chung, Luc Cohen, Kristina Cooke, and Jack Queen, 48128K]
Axios [4/19/2025 11:30 AM, Lauren Floyd, 13163K]
NBC News [4/19/2025 6:36 PM, Lawrence Hurley, 44742K]
CNN [4/19/2025 6:20 PM, John Fritze, Emily R. Condon, and Tierney Sneed, 22131K]
Univision [4/19/2025 8:34 AM, Jorge Cancino, 5325K]
Daily Caller [4/19/2025 11:12 AM, Harold Hutchison, 33298K]
NewsMax [4/19/2025 10:33 AM, Jim Thomas, 4998K]
(B) The Weekend [4/19/2025 9:16 AM, Staff]

The New York Times [4/19/2025 7:41 PM, Abbie VanSickle, 153395K] reports Trump administration lawyers urged the Supreme Court in a court filing Saturday afternoon to reject an emergency request to temporarily block deportations of Venezuelans under a rarely invoked 18th-century wartime law. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the justices to “dissolve” the administrative stay they had issued early Saturday that blocked the deportations while they considered the application, and to allow lower courts to weigh in before intervening further in the case. The deportations remain paused while the justices consider the matter. In emergency applications, the Supreme Court can act at any time. In his filing, Mr. Sauer called the request by lawyers for the migrants that the justices step in “fatally premature” and argued that they had “improperly skipped over the lower courts.” He said that the government had provided advance notice to detainees subject to imminent deportation and that they “have had adequate time to file” claims challenging their removal. Mr. Sauer added that the government had agreed it would not deport any detainees with pending claims. The 17-page court filing came hours after a rare overnight ruling by the justices, who in a one-page, unsigned order had blocked the Trump administration from deporting the migrants. It was the latest twist in a fast-moving, high-stakes legal battle over the administration’s efforts to deport Venezuelan migrants accused of being members of Tren de Aragua, a violent gang. Bloomberg [4/19/2025 6:08 PM, Greg Stohr, 16228K] reports US Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the detainees’ lawyers were wrong to turn to the justices without giving lower courts time to rule on claims that the men weren’t given an adequate opportunity to contest their deportation in court. “The lower courts have not found critical facts in this case,” said Sauer, the administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer. “There has been no fact-finding about the timing, nature, and manner of notice that the government has given” the detainees. The high court intervened around 1 a.m. Saturday in Washington after detainees filed urgent requests in four courts to block their deportation from the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas. Lawyers for the men said they were being put on buses and told they would be deported as early as Friday afternoon. The detainees allegedly were given a notice, written only in English, that didn’t explain how they could contest their deportation or how much time they had to do so. The Supreme Court order for now bars the government from using a wartime law to expel alleged Venezuelan gang members. The court said the pause applies “until further order of this court,” indicating the justices will take additional action now that the Trump administration has filed its response. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, with Alito saying he will issue an opinion on the matter later. The showdown marks a fresh escalation in Trump’s campaign to circumvent the federal judiciary. Last month, Trump sent more than 200 alleged gang members to the Salvadoran prison, even as a judge verbally ordered that two planes turn around. The Supreme Court said April 7 that accused Tren de Aragua gang members must get a “reasonable time” to challenge their deportation in federal court. Many of the detainees say they aren’t gang members, and they contend Trump can’t deport them by invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a law that previously had been used only in wartime. The Supreme Court hasn’t resolved whether Trump’s use of that law is legal.

New York Times [4/19/2025 8:15 PM, Hamed Aleaziz, Alan Feuer and Annie Correal, 145325K] reports that, on Thursday evening, lawyers helping Venezuelan immigrants most at risk of being removed under an 18th-century wartime powers act received an ominous alert: U.S. immigration officials were handing out notices at a detention facility in Texas, informing migrants that they were considered enemies under the law and would be removed from the country. “I am a law enforcement officer authorized to apprehend, restrain and remove alien enemies,” read the notice, a copy of which was filed in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union. “Accordingly, under the Alien Enemies Act, you have been determined to be an alien enemy subject to apprehension, restraint and removal from the United States.” The notice said the migrant could make a phone call but did not specify to whom. The single-page notice also did not mention any way to appeal the order. The Supreme Court ruled this month that migrants must receive advance notice that they are subject to removal under the rarely invoked wartime powers law — and that they must have an opportunity to challenge their removal in court. News of the notices being handed out at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas, warning of impending deportations prompted a flurry of legal actions by the A.C.L.U. on Friday in several courts. Early Saturday, the Supreme Court stepped in with unusual speed, ruling that no flights could depart. “The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court,” the court said. It is unclear when the justices will make a ruling on whether deportation flights can continue. The lack of clear information from the government about the latest deportation operation raised new questions about whether the Trump administration was trying to sidestep the Supreme Court’s previous decision, which called for any migrant removed under the wartime law to have a chance to challenge their removal.

FOX News [4/19/2025 7:59 PM, Alexandra Koch, Bill Melugin, 46189K] reports the Trump administration on Saturday released the rap sheets and photos of alleged Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members detained in Texas who the administration is trying to deport. The suspects of the violent Venezuelan gang were going to be deported using the recently reinstated Alien Enemies Act of 1798 before the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled Saturday morning against deportations under the 18th century law. In a decision in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, the administration was barred from removing Venezuelans held in Texas’ Bluebonnet Detention Center "until further order of this court.” Following the ruling, Trump administration lawyers filed an opposition to the request to block the deportations, noting the government provided advance notice to detainees prior to removals, and they had adequate time to file habeas claims. At a minimum, attorneys argued the court should limit the administrative stay to removals. SCOTUS previously ruled the president could conduct deportations under the Alien Enemies Act as long as suspected illegal aliens were afforded due process to challenge their removal from the U.S. "These are some of the TdA gang members detained in Texas that we are trying to deport," a senior Trump administration official told Fox News. TdA, designated a foreign terrorist organization Feb. 20 by the Department of State, has thousands of members, many of whom the White House says have unlawfully infiltrated the U.S. and are "undertaking hostile actions against the United States.” Photos released by the administration of suspected TdA members who made the list show various tattoos, weapons, jewelry and money. Officials also noted each suspected member’s prior criminal convictions and current charges. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Politico [4/19/2025 6:00 PM, Ali Bianco, 2100K] reports the White House slammed the flood of lawsuits against its deportation agenda following a Supreme Court ruling that will temporarily block its efforts to deport Venezuelan nationals in Texas under the Alien Enemies Act. The rebuke of the litigation — and the Trump administration’s claims that it is following the rule of law — comes amid an onslaught of criticism from Democrats and legal experts who have blasted President Donald Trump for igniting what they have described as a growing constitutional crisis that threatens the due process of immigrants across the country. “We are confident in the lawfulness of the Administration’s actions and in ultimately prevailing against an onslaught of meritless litigation brought by radical activists who care more about the rights of terrorist aliens than those of the American people,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told POLITICO in a statement. The statement was issued more than 12 hours after a remarkable loss for the administration in front of the nation’s highest court. In an apparent 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ordered the administration to pause any plans to deport a group of Venezuelan men in north Texas, following a mad dash by the ACLU to prevent what it was calling a violation of due process for immigrants receiving notice of their “imminent” removal. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas publicly dissented.

Washington Post [4/19/2025 6:53 PM, Dan Lamothe and Marianne LeVine, 31735K] reports the Trump administration stands on the precipice of a monumental decision, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem due to make a recommendation soon on whether President Donald Trump should invoke the Insurrection Act to further crack down on immigration. The assignment came in the form of a Jan. 20 executive order in which Trump declared a national emergency at the border and ordered the deployment of additional U.S. troops, surveillance capabilities and border barriers. Following that Day 1 edict, the president gave Hegseth and Noem 90 days to submit a “joint report to the President about the conditions at the southern border of the United States and any recommendations regarding additional actions that may be necessary to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807.” The law allows the president to use active-duty forces trained for combat overseas or federalized National Guard troops to suppress a “rebellion,” temporarily suspending the Posse Comitatus Act, which typically restricts the use of military involvement in domestic law enforcement. Its potential invocation now, with border security robust and encounters of migrants at historically low numbers, has already alarmed both constitutional law experts and those who study how the military and civilians interact with one another. Thousands of active-duty troops have been dispatched to the southern U.S. border in the last few months, some with 20-ton Stryker combat vehicles. More recently, the administration also has approved a plan to have the Defense Department take control of a 60-foot strip of land that spans much of the southern border, effectively turning it into a satellite military installation and allowing troops to take a more active role in searching for illegal border crossers.

Washington Examiner [4/19/2025 7:00 AM, Kaelan Deese, 2296K] reports on Thursday, the justices agreed to hear expedited arguments on May 15 in Trump’s appeal of three lower court rulings that blocked his order. While Trump ultimately seeks to uphold his birthright citizenship order, the major question before the justices centers on whether lower court holds against his plan can be narrowed to apply only to the plaintiff beneficiaries, rather than the current "universal" or national block on the policy. The trio of cases, consolidated together for one hour of oral arguments in the middle of May, offers the justices a direct opportunity to address growing concerns over judicial overreach. It also places Trump’s immigration crackdown squarely before a court that has been historically reluctant to limit its own power but now faces pressure from both sides of the political aisle. The Supreme Court’s ruling is expected this summer. At a minimum, it could clarify how far district courts can go in blocking certain presidential actions.

UPI [4/19/2025 9:09 PM, Mike Heuer, 430301K] reports El Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia was an MS-13 member who likely engaged in human trafficking while in the United States, a Department of Homeland Security report says. The DHS Combined Intelligence Unit investigated the facts in Garcia’s case after Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported him to El Salvador on March 15, where he is being held in a maximum security prison. "Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a MS-13 gang member, illegal alien from El Salvador, and suspected human trafficker," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin Friday said in a news release. "The facts reveal he was pulled over with eight individuals in a car on an admitted three-day journey from Texas to Maryland with no luggage," McLaughlin said. "The facts speak for themselves, and they reek of human trafficking," she added. "The media’s sympathetic narrative about this criminal [and] illegal gang member has completely fallen apart.” Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., speaks with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant living in Maryland and deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Thursday. Photo by President Nayib Bukele/UPI. The report says a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer stopped a vehicle driven by Garcia, 29, and carrying eight other passengers on Dec. 1, 2022. Garcia was speeding, could not maintain lane integrity and had an expired temporary driving permit issued in Maryland. Garcia told the officer he was traveling from Houston to Temple Hills, Md., via St. Louis to bring in people to do construction work and had been on the road for three days, according to the report. The officer said the vehicle had no luggage and every person in the vehicle cited the same address provided by Garcia for his home address as their home addresses, which led him to believe Garcia was engaged in human trafficking. "During the interview, [Garcia] pretended to speak less English than he was capable of and attempted to put [the] encountering officer off-track by responding to questions with questions," the report says. Garcia told the officer he was employed by the vehicle’s owner, worked in construction, and the eight passengers were going to work for his employer. "Encountering officer gathered names of other occupants in [the] vehicle, but could not read their handwriting," the report says. The officer did not cite Garcia for the traffic violations and did not pass on the names, ages and IDs of Garcia’s eight passengers.

Telemundo [4/19/2025 5:52 PM, Tania Luviano-Hurwitz, 2454K] reports that, on April 11, Aldo Martinez received an email from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordering him to leave the country or face deportation. “You are currently here because the Department of Homeland Security granted you parole to enter the United States for a limited period. DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole . Unless it expires sooner, your parole will end seven days from the date of this notice. If you do not leave the United States immediately, you will be subject to possible law enforcement action resulting in removal,” the message read. “I was born in National City, California,” Martinez said. “I was never granted parole , I was never admitted to this country, I don’t have any kind of parole ,” he insisted. Although he was born in the United States, he said he’s still worried, as he’s been helping the undocumented community for years. He’s an accredited representative with the Department of Justice to provide immigration legal services and was part of the organization Al Otro Lado , giving workshops to teach immigrants how to represent themselves in immigration court and helping them fill out asylum applications. Four years ago, he was also part of several lawsuits against President Donald Trump’s first administration, he said. "Suits to stop the restrictions they were placing on immigrants seeking asylum in the United States." In a March 22 memo, Trump said he would seek sanctions against attorneys for what he called “misconduct” in immigration cases: “Accountability is especially important when misconduct by attorneys and law firms threatens our national security, public safety, or the integrity of elections.” On April 11, Nicole Micheroni, a Massachusetts resident and U.S. citizen, received a similar email from the federal government telling her to leave the country. She was distraught. “At first I thought it was for a client, but I looked closely and the only name that appeared in the email was mine,” Micheroni said.

Telemundo52 [4/19/2025 12:00 PM, Staff, 101K] reports President Donald Trump has doubled down on his attack on Kilmar Abrego García, the Salvadoran man wrongly expelled from the U.S., citing an inconclusive investigation into the man and a murder case unrelated to him. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen’s meeting Thursday in El Salvador with Ábrego García, who was deported from the U.S. on March 15 despite having legal status and sent to a maximum-security prison. Trump insisted Friday that the man was an "illegal alien" and a member of the MS-13 gang, after which White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt handed him a sheet of paper with his alleged criminal record, which the president claimed came "from the State Department and very legitimate sources." He also alluded to the 2021 complaint of gender-based violence filed by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, who has advocated for his return. And, without establishing a thread in his statements, Trump went on to talk, as he did this week, about Rachel Morin, a woman murdered by a Salvadoran migrant in 2023. Following Trump’s remarks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an investigative report on Abrego García, calling him a "suspected trafficker." In that same report, DHS says that in 2019, the Prince George’s County (Maryland) Police gang unit "validated" him as a member of MS-13 because a "source" identified him as such.

USA Today [4/19/2025 8:28 PM, Bart Jansen, 75858K] reports a federal judge in Massachusetts has ordered the State Department to issue passports to six transgender and nonbinary individuals while litigation continues challenging President Donald Trump’s policy recognizing people only by their sex assigned at birth.Trump’s order signed on his first day returning to office Jan. 20 directed the government to recognize only two sexes, male and female. The State Department changed its policies to issue passports that “accurately reflect the holder’s sex” assigned at birth, as directed in Trump’s order. The change reversed more than 30 years of State Department policy allowing people to fill out passport applications based on gender identity. In 2022, the Biden administration allowed applicants to choose X as a neutral marker on applications, in addition to M for male or F for female. U.S. District Judge Julia Sobick ruled April 18 that a half dozen transgender and nonbinary litigants were likely to win their court fight by arguing the policy is “arbitrary and capricious” under the Fifth Amendment. Sobick also found the plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm if they couldn’t obtain passports under their self-designated sex while the case works its way through the courts. “The plaintiffs have also demonstrated a likelihood of success on their separate argument that, under any standard of review, the Executive Order and Passport Policy are based on irrational prejudice toward transgender Americans and therefore offend our Nation’s constitutional commitment to equal protection for all Americans,” Sobick wrote.

Breitbart [4/19/2025 6:34 PM, Neil Munro, 2923K] reports ordinary Americans deserve reparations for the establishment’s hugely destructive and decades-long immigration policy, presidential adviser Stephen Miller told a TV interviewer on Saturday. "We all deserve reparations for what has been stolen from us," Miller told Newsmax TV. "It is a tragedy that defies our ability to even describe it.” Miller explained the case after he was told that Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse had suggested that Americans pay reparations to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the deported illegal migrant from El Salvador who is credibly charged with being a wife-beating, human trafficking member of the murderous MS-13 gang. "Where are the damages for Americans? " he responded, adding: Where do I even begin? Where do I even start? We used to have a functioning public school system in this country. Then we had open borders. Now our schools are in chaos and disarray. We need hundreds of translators. Nobody’s learning how to read or write. We had an entire generation of Americans — multiple generations, in fact — robbed of educational opportunities. Look at Los Angeles. Once a paradise of safety, security, and prosperity, entire neighborhoods are occupied and controlled by foreign gangs. Where do all the residents who’ve been displaced, who’ve been forced from Los Angeles – where do they go to get their reparations? And then, what about the victims of fentanyl poisoning brought in by Democrats’ open border, [the] hundreds of thousands of moms and dads whose kids are dead and buried in the ground. Where do they go to get their reparations from the government? And then all the women who have been raped, who been beaten, who have been murdered, all the dads who have been shot dead and aren’t home, all the police officers who have been slain by illegal aliens in ambush attacks in the line of duty. Where do any of these people go? Where do any of their families go to get reparations? There aren’t enough volumes that could fit into a library to calculate the carnage that has been inflicted by the Democrat party’s policy of open borders. We can spend the rest of our lives trying to document those harms.

New York Times [4/19/2025 5:08 PM, Tim Balk, 145325K] reports that, in the 36 days since President Trump invoked a powerful wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants accused of gang membership, a complex and high-risk legal battle has played out in the federal courts. The Supreme Court has weighed in twice, issuing orders limiting the government’s use of the law, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The court’s latest order, which came around 1 a.m. on Saturday, blocked the deportations of Venezuelans held in Texas hours after the American Civil Liberties Union said the Trump administration was preparing to expel them without due process. At times, the Trump administration has been accused of disregarding judicial orders as it proceeds with its immigration policies and deportation efforts, deepening legal scholars’ concern that the country could be facing a constitutional crisis.

Wall Street Journal [4/19/2025 8:07 AM, Sadie Gurman, Aaron Zitner, and Meridith McGraw, 646K] reports in moving to accumulate unprecedented power, President Trump has bulldozed his way through the traditional constraints of presidential authority with such force that institutions including universities, law firms and parts of Congress have been left reeling. This week, some started fighting back. Harvard University refused to comply with the Trump administration’s demands for changes to address alleged bias. Columbia University, facing criticism for acquiescing in negotiations over federal funding, took a tougher tone. Federal courts raised the prospect of holding Trump officials in contempt. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has resisted calls to pre-emptively lower interest rates to cushion any economic fallout from Trump’s trade war. Former cybersecurity official Chris Krebs, targeted with a federal investigation for not going along with Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, quit his private-sector job so he could more freely battle the White House. Voters are more loudly voicing opposition to some Trump policies, criticizing Republican lawmakers during town-hall meetings. “The embers are alive, and there are even some flames of resistance growing,” said Peter Wehner, a Trump critic who served in three earlier Republican administrations. So far, the president and his top advisers are unbowed. They say the pushback presents an opportunity to paint Democrats, courts and universities as out of touch with voters who sent Trump to the White House a second time.

Yahoo News [4/19/2025 7:17 PM, Kelly Rissman and Io Dodds, 430301K] reports demonstrators from Alaska to New Hampshire flooded the streets in protest of President Donald Trump’s second term to mark a "National Day of Action.” Americans in all 50 states on Saturday participated in 900 events, which were largely organized by the decentralized 50501 movement. The demonstrations took different forms — some were marches, others were food drives, and others still were voter registration events — but all focused on the same purpose: to rise against what organizers call "authoritarian threats, political overreach, and the erosion of democracy.” It’s not immediately clear how many people participated in Saturday’s protests but photos captured swaths of Americans’ discontent with the administration’s dismantling of government agencies, treatment of immigrants, and attitude toward the rule of law. A day earlier, demonstrations across the country cropped up near Tesla dealerships in a statement about the involvement of Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and Trump’s senior adviser. The tech billionaire has been tasked with slashing government contracts, shrinking the federal workforce, and reducing the federal government’s real estate footprint. Saturday’s protests come just two weeks after the nationwide "Hands Off" protests when millions took to the streets to denounce the efforts of Trump and Musk. The AP [4/19/2025 8:47 PM, Philip Marcelo, 2923K] reports opponents of President Donald Trump’s administration took to the streets of communities large and small across the U.S. on Saturday, decrying what they see as threats to the nation’s democratic ideals. The disparate events ranged from a march through midtown Manhattan and a rally in front of the White House to a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of "the shot heard ‘round the world" on April 19, 1775, marking the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago. Thomas Bassford was among the demonstrators at the reenactment of the Battles of Lexington and Concord outside Boston. The 80-year-old retired mason from Maine said he believes Americans are under attack from their own government and need to stand up against it. "This is a very perilous time in America for liberty," said Bassford, who was with his partner, daughter and two grandsons. "I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.” In Denver, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Colorado State Capitol with banners expressing solidarity with immigrants and telling the Trump administration: "Hands Off!" People waved U.S. flags, some of them held upside down to signal distress. Thousands of people also marched through downtown Portland, Oregon, while in San Francisco, hundreds spelled out the words "Impeach & Remove" on a sandy beach along the Pacific Ocean, also with an inverted U.S. flag. People walked through downtown Anchorage, Alaska, with handmade signs listing reasons why they were demonstrating, including one that one that read: "No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!". Elsewhere protests were planned outside Tesla car dealerships against billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and his role in downsizing the federal government. Others organized more community service-oriented events such as food drives, teach-ins and volunteering at local shelters. The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations. Organizers say they oppose what they call Trump’s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shuttering entire agencies. Some of the events drew on the spirit of the Revolutionary War, calling for "no kings" and resistance to tyranny. Yahoo News [4/19/2025 5:56 PM, Staff, 52900K] reports that in New York, people gathered outside the city’s main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans like "No Kings in America" and "Resist Tyranny." Many took aim at Trump’s deportations of undocumented migrants, chanting "No ICE, no fear, immigrants are welcome here," a reference to the role of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in rounding up migrants. In Washington, protesters voiced concern that Trump was threatening long-respected constitutional norms, including the right to due process. The administration is carrying out "a direct assault on the idea of the rule of law and the idea that the government should be restrained from abusing the people who live here in the United States," Benjamin Douglas, 41, told AFP outside the White House.

NBC News [4/19/2025 8:36 PM, Nnamdi Egwuonwu and Julia Jester, 430301K] reports a large number of people gathered near the White House on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump’s agenda, building on a widespread effort by anti-Trump organizers to galvanize voters concerned with the administration’s policies and significant use of executive authority. Attendees of the protest, which took place at Lafayette Square Park in Washington, D.C., told NBC News that the treatment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the Trump administration says was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, was among the issues that led them to participate in the demonstration. "Everyone should have due process. No one should be just taken away and locked up. I don’t care if he is a murderer, he still should get due process," protester Susie Stern of Ohio said. "That’s what this country is based on. Laws.” The White House alleges that Abrego Garcia is a gang member, and the administration has said that if he re-enters the country he will be deported again. Court records indicate that Abrego Garcia has never been criminally charged in the U.S. or El Salvador, and his wife and lawyers deny he is a gang member. Other protesters took issue with what they described as the administration’s disregard for federal court rulings, including a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court ordering Trump to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States. "What’s happening is very concerning as far as due process of law and how democracy is supposed to work," first-time protester Samantha Echols of Silver Spring, Maryland, told NBC News. "You shouldn’t just be able to decide what the laws are, to disappear people, to punish people for disagreeing with you. That’s things that dictators do, and I don’t want to see our country to slide in that direction.” Concerns over Abrego Garcia’s case were at the center of a similar protest in midtown New York, where thousands of people gathered in front of the New York Public Library to protest Trump’s immigration policies, according to NBC New York. One protester said the policies are creating a chilling effect throughout the city. "People are scared to go to church. People are scared to go to work. People are scared to take their kids to school," said Amanda Harvey, a resident of Brooklyn, New York.

FOX News [4/19/2025 6:27 PM, Jasmine Baehr, 46189K] reports that, as families gathered for Easter egg hunts Saturday, thousands of protesters took to the streets in what organizers called "A National Day of Action.” From Anchorage to Atlanta, demonstrators rallied in all 50 states and U.S. territories, targeting President Donald Trump’s policies. The protests by the "50501" movement — 50 states, one capital — were loud, sprawling and carefully choreographed, complete with Google Maps for local events and printable posters. More than 700 events were held nationwide, one of the largest single-day protest efforts since President Trump returned to office in January, Washington Post reported. In Washington, D.C., demonstrators marched and gathered just steps from the White House, waving handmade signs and chanting slogans under the watchful eyes of the Secret Service. Some held placards that said "Hands Off Our Rights" and "Stop the Power Grab," echoing concerns over the administration’s recent use of executive orders and agency-level cuts. One group even distributed pocket-size copies of the Constitution, urging passersby to "read what we’re fighting for." Many participants pledged to keep returning "as long as it takes.” The protests were timed not just for impact, but for symbolism because April 19 also marked the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the dawn of the American Revolution. Protesters in Massachusetts didn’t miss the parallel. "This is a very perilous time in America for liberty," 80-year-old Thomas Bassford, who attended a reenactment with his grandsons, told The Associated Press. "I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.” The goal? Push back on what organizers say are sweeping civil rights rollbacks, growing executive power and mass deportations, like the controversial removal of alleged MS-13 member and human trafficker Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

New York Times [4/19/2025 2:59 PM, Michael S. Schmidt and Michael C. Bender, 153395K] reports Harvard University received an emailed letter from the Trump administration last Friday that included a series of demands about hiring, admissions and curriculum so onerous that school officials decided they had no choice but to take on the White House. The university announced its intentions on Monday, setting off a tectonic battle between one of the country’s most prestigious universities and a U.S. president. Then, almost immediately, came a frantic call from a Trump official. The April 11 letter from the White House’s task force on antisemitism, this official told Harvard, should not have been sent and was “unauthorized,” two people familiar with the matter said. The letter was sent by the acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services, Sean Keveney, according to three other people, who were briefed on the matter. Mr. Keveney is a member of the antisemitism task force. It is unclear what prompted the letter to be sent last Friday. Its content was authentic, the three people said, but there were differing accounts inside the administration of how it had been mishandled. Some people at the White House believed it had been sent prematurely, according to the three people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions. Others in the administration thought it had been meant to be circulated among the task force members rather than sent to Harvard.

Yahoo News [4/19/2025 10:24 PM, Staff, 430301K] reports protestors in southeast Kansas take part in a national stand against the Trump administration’s deportation policies. The "Bring Them Home Rally" hosted by the Crawford County Democrats started at the Pritchett Pavilion in Pittsburg’s Immigrant Park. Rallygoers displayed signs advocating for people U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported to El Salvador, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29. From the sidewalks along Broadway Street, protestors led chants calling for due process. "There’s not a whole lot we can do other than express our opinions and try to encourage other people to do the same thing," said Dick and Delma Thompson, "Bring Them Home" rally goers. "They care about the community. They care about their fellow Americans, and when they get out and protest. And so I think it’s a good sign. Hopefully, we get more. I want to see more people get involved and more people speak out," said Jackson Bertoncino, Crawford County Democratic Party Vice Chair. Bertoncino says the Crawford County Democrats plan to host another rally at the end of the month.

FOX News [4/19/2025 9:18 AM, Michael Dorgan, 46189K] reports a Democratic congresswoman from Oregon is the latest lawmaker to announce she will travel to El Salvador to advocate for the release of deported illegal migrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. Rep. Maxine Dexter, said late Friday she would jet to the Central American country following Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s, D-Md., highly publicized visit there this week when he met with Abrego Garcia, who was deported to the country’s "Terrorism Confinement Center" (CECOT) megaprison with other suspected illegal migrant gang members last month. "A legal U.S. resident has had his due process rights ripped away and is now being held indefinitely in a foreign prison," Dexter said in a statement. "This is not just one family’s nightmare; it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us. I will travel to El Salvador to confront this crisis head on. Our constitutional rights are on the line."  Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 and was issued with a deportation order in 2019. Two previous judges found he was likely affiliated with MS-13. Trump administration officials acknowledged in court that his deportation had been an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say he was correctly removed and contend he’s a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. One immigration judge in 2019 found that Garcia had not sufficiently refuted evidence of MS-13 affiliation and was thus removable to anywhere other than El Salvador because of a threat from a rival gang. This is called a withholding order. The Supreme Court acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a 2019 withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador and that the removal to El Salvador was "therefore illegal." The Court stressed that the government must facilitate his release from custody in El Salvador and treat his case as if he were never deported. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Monday said that when Trump declared the violent gang a terrorist organization, Abrego Garcia was no longer eligible for any form of immigration relief in the United States.

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CBS Austin [4/19/2025 8:17 PM, Staff, 602K]
Washington Examiner [4/19/2025 11:11 AM, Jack Birle, 2296K]

Yahoo News [4/19/2025 5:17 PM, Allen Cone, 430301K] reports the Republican House Oversight Committee chairman has denied requests by two Democrats to check on a Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador, though the GOP has sent their own delegations to tour the notorious prison he is at. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky sent letters to two House members telling them they can "spend your own money" to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported March 15. Reps. Robert Garcia of California and Maxwell Frost of Florida wrote to Comer on Tuesday "requesting authorization" for an official trip. They said also want to check on others held there and invited Republicans to make the trip to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca. The congressmen sought Congressional Member Delegations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention site. The Democrats noted official trips afford them more oversight and security resources. "If you also wish to meet with him, you can spend your own money," Comer wrote Friday in a letter obtained by Axios. "But I will not approve a single dime of taxpayer funds for use on the excursion you have requested.” James Comer, the Republican House Oversight Committee chairman, has denied requests by two Democrats to check on a Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador though the GOP has sent their own delegations to tour a notorious prison. File photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI. Comer accused Abrego Garcia of being an MS-13 gang member, though the government has not given proof of his membership. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration must "facilitate" his return to Maryland because he wasn’t given due process before being deported. U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., also plans to travel to El Salvador to demand the release of him. Dexter, a member of committees on land resources and Veterans Affairs, didn’t disclose whether she was paying for the trip. Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, speaks Thursday with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant living in Maryland and deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration. Photo courtesy President Nayib Bukele/UPI. "A legal U.S. resident has had his due process rights ripped away and is now being held indefinitely in a foreign prison," Dexter said in a news release Friday. "This is not just one family’s nightmare; it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us. I will travel to El Salvador to confront this crisis head on. Our constitutional rights are on the line.” Earlier, House Homeland Security Committee chairman Mark Green of Tennessee refused a similar request from Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois. Republicans sent their own delegation to El Salvador earlier this week, led by Rep. Jason Smith, of Missouri, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on March 26 also toured the Terrorism Confinement Center, where the Trump administration is paying El Salvador to house deportees. In the letter, Comer wrote that Garcia and Frost "displayed active hostility for over two years toward the committee’s oversight of the Biden Border Crisis and the consequences of millions of illegal aliens entering the country, yet now, you are seeking travel at committee expense to meet with foreign gang members.” U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., made his own trip to El Salvador this week. After initially being denied by the President Nayib Bukele on Thursday, he met with his constituent at a hotel. Van Hollen said he was informed by Abrego Garcia he had been moved nine days earlier to another prison about 39 miles away in Santa Ana. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.Y., also has said that he wants to go to El Salvador.

Politico [4/19/2025 7:00 AM, Achy Obejas, 11599K] reports “Mami, I’m scared.” It was my 7-year-old, leaning forward from the back seat of the car, scanning the broad sidewalk in front of his elementary school. It should have been an ordinary morning: a hint of rain, high-pitched laughter and the jerky stop and go of cars dropping kids off for another day of learning. “What are you scared of?” I asked, twisting in the driver’s seat so I could make eye contact. “What if I get deported?” my American-born child asked. I wasn’t entirely surprised by the question. Earlier in the week, after hearing how ICE arrests and deportation are impacting people where we live in the Bay Area, his 13-year-old brother asked if I was at risk of being arrested by ICE. They both know I was born in Cuba, and though neither could tell you about the Cuban Adjustment Act or any of the myriad laws that have smoothed my privileged immigration story, they’d both heard enough about the current deportations to think my American life — our American lives — could be imperiled. I explained to them that I’m a U.S. citizen, not likely to be kicked out of the country. But President Donald Trump’s escalation from targeting deportable immigrants to immigrants with visas and green cards doesn’t exactly encourage trust. I can’t tell my children what I no longer believe: that citizenship is an unbreakable shield. Not when the president openly acknowledges that his administration is looking for legal ways to “deport” its own citizens. Not when a 10-year-old U.S. citizen had her cancer treatment interrupted last month when her undocumented parents were ordered back to Mexico, forcing them to choose between relocating their entire family or separating from their daughter so she could continue her treatment in the U.S. Not when law enforcement officers mislead people like Federico Arellano, a U.S. citizen whose wife was in the process of legalizing her status. She was still recovering from birthing twins when she was called to the U.S. Immigration and Enforcement offices in Houston to discuss her case, only to be immediately deported to Mexico — with all four of their children, including the three who are U.S. citizens. Not when recent history tells us over and over that the state doesn’t always play by the rules, even when it admits an error, as in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego García, the Maryland man trapped in a Salvadoran mega-prison whom the Trump administration is refusing to return, notwithstanding the Supreme Court.

Blaze [4/19/2025 9:00 AM, Brian Lonergan, 1668K] reports President Donald Trump has moved faster than anyone expected to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. His latest action — deploying the U.S. military to the Roosevelt Reservation, a 60-foot-wide strip of federal land spanning the border in California, Arizona, and New Mexico — is a necessary step to defend American sovereignty. A White House memorandum issued April 11 authorizes the military to take temporary control of the corridor, detain individuals attempting illegal entry, and support key security operations, including barrier construction and surveillance. With drug cartels, human traffickers, and other criminal threats exploiting the southern border, this deployment offers a direct, long-overdue response to a crisis the political class has allowed to fester for years. The military brings what civilian authorities can’t: logistical power, surveillance, and manpower. By designating the strip as a "National Defense Area," Trump has empowered the military to act decisively within a clearly defined legal perimeter.

USA Today [4/20/2025 4:30 AM, Chris Brennan, 75858K] reports Donald Trump has bragged every month since returning to the presidency in January that his administration has drastically curtailed illegal entry to our country at the southern border. He often claims – falsely, of course – to have set some kind of record there. Now we find out if Trump, on April 20, will invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deal with what he called on his first day in office "a national emergency at the southern border." Trump has already invoked archaic federal laws to curb immigration while also having the military take over land along the border. Call that the Trump triple play – he declares an emergency, then proclaims to have remedied the emergency, and then demands expansive powers to deal with the emergency that he claims to have already resolved. Trump couldn’t care less about logical disconnects. His sole focus is on expanding the power of his presidency. He’d never let facts – or his own proclamations – block that path. Trump desperately wants to have an emergency at the border. In his Jan. 20 executive order declaring an emergency at the southern border, Trump set a 90-day deadline for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit a joint report on conditions at the border, "including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807.” CNN on April 18, citing government sources, reported that Noem and Hegseth are expected to not recommend invoking the Insurrection Act for now, because border crossings are decreasing. We’ll see about that. While we wait, it’s worth considering that Noem and Hegseth would never, under any circumstances, tell Trump something he does not want to hear. They’ve never shown us that kind of strength of character. Don’t expect it now. Elizabeth Goitein, the Brennan Center for Justice’s senior director for liberty and national security, told me Trump has wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act since the 2020 protests during his first term, after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Mark Esper, then Defense secretary, dared to tell Trump no then. He could teach Hegseth and Noem plenty, if they had the capacity to learn a lesson in integrity. Spoiler alert: They don’t. Invoking the Insurrection Act would allow Trump to deploy active-duty military members for law enforcement in this country, while also federalizing National Guard units from states to join that effort. That could mean soldiers rolling into cities in armored vehicles, stopping people on the streets while demanding identification, and going door to door to search houses. "We don’t know until we see it," Goitein said, "but that is the kind of thing that, in theory, could be permitted under the Insurrection Act.”

New York Post [4/19/2025 1:38 PM, Staff, 54903K] reports an issue for the new Trump appointees to the Homeland Security Advisory Council: deep-sixing the Transportation Security Administration’s airport-screening work. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently ended collective bargaining with the union representing TSA agents after DHS found that more TSA employees are busy doing "full-time union work" than actually screening passengers on any given day, while 60% of "poor performers" don’t get fired. America needs something less intrusive and less onerous — more efficient, competent and pleasant.

Chicago Tribune [4/20/2025 6:00 AM, Clarence Page, 5269K] reports Kafkaesque. One hears that word a lot in discussions of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Or, for lowbrows like me, "The Twilight Zone" might be the pertinent reference. Abrego Garcia is the Maryland man who was wrongly deported and has been detained without trial in a grim prison in El Salvador. In March, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped Abrego Garcia while he was out with his young son. Within days, he was on a plane to the notorious terrorist confinement center called CECOT in El Salvador, where it is clear that U.S. officials were content to leave him to an uncertain fate. His wife sued the United States over the deportation in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The process revealed a sordid reality in the administration of President Donald Trump that brings to mind the scene in Lewis Carroll’s children’s tale "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland," when the Queen of Hearts impatiently declares during the trial of the Knave of Hearts: "Sentence first — verdict afterwards.” In essence, that’s the shaky case against Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration no longer disputes that he was mistakenly deported. And, indeed, the Supreme Court ruled the government must obey a lower court’s direction to "facilitate" the prisoner’s return to the United States. However, Trump, who shows little patience for anyone or anything that gets in the way of his agenda, curiously deferred to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has rebuffed calls for Abrego Garcia to be returned to U.S. custody. And Trump and his minions continue to accuse Abrego Garcia, without credible evidence, of being a member of the notorious international gang MS-13, whereas in fact he had escaped to the U.S. and was granted "withholding of removal" status in 2019, on the strength of his testimony that the gang had threatened his family in his native El Salvador. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said on Thursday night that he had an unexpected meeting at a hotel in San Salvador with Abrego Garcia, hours after he had been denied a meeting. But Bukele insisted that Abrego Garcia would remain in El Salvador. For Democrats like Van Hollen, the issue has been a defense of fundamental principles of human rights, legal access and equal protection under the Constitution. For Republicans like Team Trump, equal rights for Abrego Garcia is a misguided gesture of sympathy for a man who, as the White House notes repeatedly, entered the U.S. illegally. "It’s appalling and sad that Sen. Van Hollen and the Democrats applauding his trip to El Salvador today are incapable of having any shred of common sense or empathy for their own constituents," Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said at a Wednesday afternoon briefing, displaying her rather typical role as a gruff, judgmental megaphone for the president’s views and prejudgments.

FOX News [4/19/2025 8:10 AM, Rachel Wolf, 46189K] reports a Guatemalan national residing in the U.S. illegally has been indicted for his alleged role in smuggling a 14-year-old girl into the country. Juan Tiul Xi, 26, was indicted on Thursday for allegedly coaxing a 14-year-old girl into illegally entering the U.S., according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) statement. Tiul Xi is also accused of submitting a sponsorship application containing false statements to gain custody of the teen. Tiul Xi allegedly entered the U.S. illegally under the Biden administration in 2023. The DOJ alleges that after entering the country illegally, Tiul Xi encouraged the teen to say she was his sister. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) then reportedly relied on Tiul Xi’s false statements to release the teenager into his custody on Sept. 5, 2023. The DOJ says Tiul Xi is charged with one count of encouraging or inducing illegal entry for financial gain, one count of making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement, and one count of aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison for encouraging illegal entry, up to 5 years for the false statement, and 2 years for the identity theft charge, according to the DOJ. "This case is a testament to ICE’s commitment to hold predators accountable for the harm they inflict on children," said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons. The case is part of the DOJ’s Operation Take Back America, which the DOJ says aims to combat "the ongoing threats and risks that the American people elected President Trump to address."

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Breitbart [4/19/2025 1:17 PM, Amy Furr, 2923K]

New York Post [4/19/2025 10:08 PM, Shane Galvin, 54903K] reports Mayor Eric Adams appeared on a Fox News show hosted by President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara, where he defended ICE, spoke of the troubling toll the migrant crisis had on the city and called all-out resistance to the Trump agenda "foolish.” Hizzoner went on "My View with Lara Trump" in his new capacity as an Independent candidate, touting his decision to return Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to Rikers Island prison — a move that garnered a lawsuit from the City Council. "One of the big mistakes that’s being made in some parts of the far left philosophy is that ICE is a criminal organization. They are not. They are part of our law enforcement community.," he said adding, "We have to get bad, dangerous people off our streets. "People want to turn this into a political agenda. I’m focused on New Yorkers. 80% of New Yorkers are stating those who commit dangerous acts, that are undocumented, after they are convicted and serve their time, they should be deported," Adams continued. The mayor further told Laura Trump, the former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, about the billion-dollar financial burden felt by the city due to the Biden administration’s immigration policies. "That $7.5 billion that I spent, $200 million could have gone to our children who are chronically absent. It could have went to my seniors. It could’ve went to building more housing. That should not have been our problem. And it was," Adams said. "It was extremely difficult to deal with, but we did. And it’s gonna have a long-term impact on our city.” When pressed about New York’s Sanctuary City policy, Adams emphasized the responsibility of the federal government to control immigration, but also the need for migrants in the city to feel safe when accessing city services. "I don’t control the borders," he said. "But when someone is in the city, we have to make sure it is safer.” "I need children in school. If they’re not in school they’re in harm’s way. I nee people who feel if they are the victim of a crime they feel comfortable going to police," Adams said. Adams said he would continue to work with the Trump administration because it was "common sense" — and further stated he was compelled by a sense of patriotism. "You don’t all of a sudden become anti-American because the person you wanted to be president is not president," the mayor said.

CBS News [4/19/2025 9:49 AM, Staff, 51661K] reports a U.S. citizen was arrested in Florida for allegedly being in the country illegally and held for pickup by immigration authorities even after his mother showed a judge her son’s birth certificate and the judge dismissed charges. Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, 20, was in a car that was stopped just past the Georgia state line by the Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday, said Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson at the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Gomez and others in the car were arrested under a new Florida law, which is on hold, making it a crime for people who are in the country illegally to enter the state. It is unclear if Lopez Gomez showed documents proving he is a citizen to the arresting officers. He was held at Leon County Jail and released after his case received widespread media coverage. The charge of illegal entry into Florida was dropped Thursday after his mother showed the judge his state identification card, birth certificate and Social Security card, said Kennedy, who attended the hearing. Court records show Judge Lashawn Riggans found no basis for the charge. Lopez Gomez briefly remained in custody after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requested he remain there for 48 hours, a common practice when the agency wants to take custody of someone. ICE did not respond to a request for comment. The case drew widespread attention because ICE is not supposed to take custody of U.S.-born citizens. While the immigration agency can occasionally get involved in cases of naturalized citizens who committed offenses such as lying on immigration forms, it has no authority over people born in the U.S. Adding to the confusion is a federal judge’s ruling to put a hold on the enforcement of the Florida law against people who are in the country illegally entering the state, which meant it should not have been enforced. "No one should be arrested under that law, let alone a U.S. citizen," said Alana Greer, an immigration attorney from the Florida Immigrant Coalition. "They saw this person, he didn’t speak English particularly well, and so they arrested him and charged him with this law that no one [should] be charged with." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [4/19/2025 1:33 PM, Katherine Donlevy, 54903K] reports a "violent" Tren de Aragua gangbanger broke down in hysterics after he and his buddies were busted for robbing a string of Florida liquor stores, cops said. Carpintero-Luna was allegedly part of a four-person gang that had been pillaging more than three dozen liquor stores across central Florida — a violent scheme that raked in upwards of $30,000. Samuel Oglis David Anthony Charle, 25, and Alexis Jose Rodriguez-Benavides, 27, are known Tren De Argua gang members, while Carpintero-Luna, Ildemaro Miguel Escalona Mendoza, 26, and Darwins Smith Vasquez Leon, 28, are considered associates, cops said. Because they are all illegal immigrants, they have been placed in ICE detainers. They all face first-degree felony charges of robbery due to their gang status, though Judd expects additional charges to come later. The suspects have criminal histories including immigration violations, thefts, robbery, drug possession, resisting arrest, fraudulent use of and possession of personal identification, false reports to law enforcement, robbery with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence (listed as armed and dangerous), and driver’s license offenses, cops said.

NBC News [4/19/2025 9:00 AM, Carmen Sesin] reports after Florida International University’s police department entered into an agreement with the federal government to carry out immigration enforcement on campus, some students say they are terrified. FIU is one of a number of universities in Florida that have signed agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the 287(g) program, which trains local law enforcement officers to interrogate immigrants and detain them for potential deportation. In addition to FIU, the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida State University in Tallahassee, the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, and the University of South Florida in Tampa have in place agreements with ICE. Florida is the state with the most local agencies signing 287(g) agreements, including all of Florida’s 67 county sheriffs. Dozens of cities have signed on, including some with large immigrant populations like Hialeah, Miami Springs and West Miami. It’s part of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ sweeping immigration measures, which are aligned with President Donald Trump’s pledge to carry out the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. At FIU, where over 63% of the student population is Hispanic or Latino, the cooperation has alarmed many. Early in the week, many FIU students on campus seemed unaware of the new collaboration with ICE, but among those at risk of deportation, the fear is palpable.

KTAL/KMSS [4/19/2025 10:45 AM, Marlo Lacen] reports more than two dozen people are in ICE detention after immigration enforcement operations across Louisiana. The FBI New Orleans and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel arrested 31 individuals through operations directed by Executive Order and the United States Attorney General between April 14 and 18, 2025. The arrests were made in Shreveport, Lafayette, New Iberia, St. Mary Parish, Crowley, Covington, Gretna, Harvey, and Kenner. An FBI news release said three of the people arrested in the Greater New Orleans area included three suspected members of Tren de Aragua or TdA, a transnational criminal organization based in Venezuela. All detainees were taken into custody without incident or threat to the public and are in custody of ICE awaiting further processing.

Los Angeles Times [4/19/2025 3:24 PM, Jacques Billeaud, 13342K] reports Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on Friday vetoed a Republican-backed bill intended to support the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown by requiring local and state officials to cooperate with federal enforcement efforts. Under the proposal, local and state officials couldn’t prohibit or restrict cooperation with federal immigration efforts or block the use of federal databases and grant funds related to immigration enforcement. It also would force cooperation on immigration detainers — requests from the federal government to hold onto people already in state custody until immigration authorities could pick them up. "I will continue to work with the federal government on true border security, but we should not force state and local officials to take marching orders from Washington," Hobbs said in her veto letter. Supporters say the measure is needed to ensure federal authorities can safely and more easily take custody of immigrants, rather than having to track them down later after they have been released from state prisons or county jails. Opponents say that the state should leave immigration enforcement to the federal government and that the cooperation required in the bill would be expensive for local governments to carry out and would harm the cooperation local police get from people in immigrant communities. They also point out that immigration laws passed by the Arizona Legislature in the past have led to legal problems, such as a 2013 racial-profiling verdict against then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office for his traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican from Gilbert, said his proposal aims to ensure that Arizona is a "partner and not an obstacle" where President Trump’s immigration efforts are concerned. Under the bill, state prisons and county jails would be required to enter agreements with Washington to temporarily house people with detainers. Local agencies would be required to comply with detainers and tell judges who are determining bail when a given individual has an immigration detainer. The bill would also require Arizona’s attorney general to investigate alleged violations of the cooperation rules and let the attorney general sue to bring an agency into compliance. Supporters say state-shared revenues to local government could be withheld until compliance is reached.

Yahoo News [4/19/2025 6:40 PM, David Millward, 430301K] reports American universities fear the Trump administration’s purge of foreign students could trigger a cash crisis. More than 1,000 students, from an estimated 160 colleges, have had their visas or legal status revoked, in some cases because of their views on Gaza, according to the latest figures. But in others they are facing deportation for minor criminal offences and even traffic violations. While many of the cases are being fought in the courts, colleges fear that applications could plummet from overseas. According to NAFSA: Association of International Educators 1.1 million international students at US colleges and universities contributed $43.8billion (£33billion) to the American economy during the 2023-2024 academic year. They also supported more than 378,000 jobs. But the landscape is vastly different now. Given the hatchet the administration is taking to university spending, a dramatic fall in applications from well-heeled foreign students is the last thing American colleges need.
With the administration demanding Harvard hands over a list of foreign students, there is a sense that they are no longer welcome in the US, especially if other colleges are made to fall into line. "You’re making it incredibly hostile for them to come here," Prof Galdieri added. "You’re making their existence precarious because, as we’ve seen from this administration you know having a visa is no guarantee like if you have a visa when you get up in the morning there’s no guarantee you’re still going to have that visa come lunchtime.” Harvard is in an especially invidious position. While Columbia University bowed to pressure from the Trump administration, Harvard did not. Already its $2billion federal funding has been frozen, and its charitable status is under threat. The administration has told America’s oldest university to disclose its sources of foreign funding. Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security - Ken Cedeno/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock. Last week Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded it provided information about the "illegal and violent activities" of its foreign students by the end of the month. If it fails to comply, Ms Noem threatened to halt visas for its foreign students, who account for about 27 per cent of the total graduate and undergraduate population. Other universities have also warned of the consequences of driving away foreign students.

FOX News [4/19/2025 9:00 AM, Rachel del Guidice, 46189K] reports President Donald Trump’s first administration tried to sabotage singer-songwriter Neil Young’s U.S. citizenship, according to Young’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah. "They tried every trick in the book to mess him up, and made him keep coming back to be re-interviewed and re-interviewed," Hannah said in a recent interview with BBC. "It’s ridiculous [because] he’s been living in America and paying taxes here since he was in his 20s.” Young was born in Toronto, Canada, on November 12, 1945. He entered the United States without a visa in 1966. In 1970, the singer acquired a green card to stay in the U.S. A January 22, 2020 Instagram post from @neilyoungarchives read, "I’m happy to report I’m in," referring to Young officially becoming a U.S. citizen. The post included a photo of him next to an American flag and a "Democrats register to vote here" sign. Young said his journey to becoming a citizen was delayed due to his use of marijuana. "I was asked many questions," Young reportedly said on his website in November 2019. "I answered them truthfully and passed. Recently, however, I have been told that I must do another test, due to my use of marijuana and how some people who smoke it have exhibited a problem.” Young, who is planning to tour Europe in June and July, has said that he is afraid he might not be able to return to the U.S. "When I go to play music in Europe, if I talk about Donald J Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminium blanket," Young wrote on his website, Neil Young Archives. "That is happening all the time now. Countries have new advice for those returning to America.” Hannah, who married Young in 2018, said she hopes he will not face any problems because he is an American citizen. "They’ve been detaining people who have green cards or visas — which is hideous and horrifying — but they have not, so far, been refusing to let American citizens back in the country, so I don’t think that’s going to happen," Hannah said.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [4/20/2025 2:24 AM, Shane Galvin, 54903K]

Wall Street Journal [4/19/2025 9:00 PM, Kejal Vyas, Elizabeth Findell, and Santiago Pérez, 646K] reports in this border city, large groups of migrants marching toward the U.S. have all but halted. Migrant encampments are disappearing, and few people are trying to sneak across remote desert areas to start new lives in the U.S. “The door is closed,” said Yorman Briceño, a Venezuelan migrant staying at a church-run shelter in Ciudad Juárez, just across from the border from El Paso, Texas. He had been waiting about six months for his Jan. 23 appointment to request asylum in the U.S. under a Biden-era program, until it was scrapped by President Trump on Jan. 20. Now, after watching how others have been rounded up in immigration sweeps and extradited by the U.S. to a notorious prison in El Salvador, he said he wasn’t even sure he wanted to go anymore. “There’s no more hope for entering legally as long as Donald Trump is there, and anyone telling you otherwise is lying,” said Briceño. During the presidential campaign, Trump promised to shut the U.S. border to illegal immigration after surreptitious crossings reached record levels under the Biden administration. As the issue featured prominently in the campaign, migrant encounters tallied by U.S. authorities fell precipitously in the months leading to the election. Since taking office, Trump has delivered on his pledge as encounters have since fallen further to their lowest levels since the 1960s.

San Diego Union Tribune [4/19/2025 9:03 AM, Caleb Lunetta, 1682K] reports a 33-year-old Texas man was sentenced in San Diego federal court Friday for coordinating the smuggling of at least six protected baby Mexican spider monkeys through the Calexico Port of Entry, prosecutors said. U.S. District Judge Robert Huie ordered Sarmad Ghaled Dafar, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, to serve four months in custody and 180 days of home confinement. He was also ordered to pay about $23,500 in restitution for the cost of quarantining three of the monkeys at the San Diego Zoo. According to investigators, Dafar helped coordinate the purchase and smuggling of the monkeys across the border on three occasions between June 2022 and August 2023. The crime was first discovered by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials when they stopped one of Dafar’s co-conspirators attempting to get three baby monkeys across the U.S.-Mexico border into the U.S., prosecutors said.

New York Post [4/19/2025 11:01 AM, Gabrielle Fahmy, 5100K] reports thousands of migrants scared of deportation by President Trump are fleeing to the Great White North, leading to a surge in asylum seekers to Canada not seen in years. At least 1,411 migrants attempted to cross the border in upstate New York alone in the first two weeks of April, according to data from the Canadian Border Services Agency. That’s more than the entire month of March, when 1,356 people made the journey, which was already double the average of the previous months. And this is just the number of people turning themselves into Canadian authorities to claim asylum — the actual number of border-crossers is likely higher, with many trying to illegally penetrate the largely unguarded border. But unlike during the first Trump administration – when former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed migrants with open arms — this time around, Canada’s saying no thanks. “There are limits,” Mark Carney, Trudeau’s successor, said at a leader’s debate in Montreal this week. “We have to be human – but realistic. Canada can’t accept everyone.” So far this year, 1,130 asylum-seekers were sent back to the US by Canadian authorities. The surge follows Trump’s threats to go after some 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, who had been granted legal status during the Biden era. The Department of Homeland Security said it was terminating the scheme – known as the CHNV parole program, arguing there were no urgent humanitarian reasons warranting their continued presence in the US, like Biden had claimed. A Boston federal judge issued a preliminary injunction this week to block the termination of the CHNV program, but the administration is not having it. “While this ruling delays justice and undermines the integrity of our immigration system, Secretary Noem will use every legal option at the Department’s disposal to end this chaos, prioritizing the safety of Americans,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post, calling the Biden-era program “an unlawful scheme to unleash . . . poorly vetted aliens into America.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX Weather [4/19/2025 8:58 AM, Scott Sistek] reports a multi-day severe weather pattern that has already brought tornadoes and blistering hail to the Mississippi Valley over the past two days continues to threaten tens of millions into Easter Weekend, with perhaps the most dangerous day of thunderstorms still yet to come on Sunday. Saturday will see the severe storm threat area shift only a bit as the cold front slowly sinks to the south and east. Scattered severe storms are possible along the front from the Ohio Valley through the Mid-South into the Southern Plains on Saturday afternoon and evening, according to the FOX Forecast Center. However, some severe weather had already got a head start in Arkansas early Saturday morning. A tornado-warned left a trail of damage in Springdale, with power lines knocked askew, some damaged cars, and metal streetlights bent in half. Farther north, a severe thunderstorm blew through Indianapolis with a peak gust of 84 mph, leaving over 20,000 in the dark, according to FindEnergy.com. Storms will reenergize Saturday afternoon and evening across parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley and into the Southern Plains.

NBC News [4/19/2025 12:17 PM, Mirna Alsharif and Christine Rapp, 44742K] reports severe storms pummeling an area stretching from the South to the Northeast could put a damper on many people’s Easter weekend travel plans. On Friday, this same weather system brought severe weather to the South and Midwest, with more than 70 reports of baseball-sized hail in southern Wisconsin. Around 14 million people are at risk of severe weather from Texas to Ohio Saturday, including in Dallas and Cincinnati. The main threats Saturday are large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes. Flight cancelations and delays have already started Saturday morning in Texas’ Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, with 47 cancelations and 263 delays, according to FlightAware.com. Rounds of heavy rain caused flooding Friday, and the risk of more flooding is expected Saturday, with a moderate risk of flash flooding extending from north-central Texas to Missouri. On Easter Sunday, 11 million people are at risk for thunderstorms from east Texas to Illinois, including in St. Louis; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Shreveport, Louisiana. Tornado activity is possible, with the greatest risk for tornadoes and damaging winds over Missouri and into western Illinois.

CNN [4/20/2025 6:49 AM, Diego Mendoza Diaz and Matthew Rehbein, 22131K] reports a woman and a 12-year-old boy died overnight Saturday after floodwaters swept their vehicle off the road in central Oklahoma, according to police. Police in Moore, about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, reported "dozens of high-water incidents" as of early Sunday morning, describing the severe storms as "a historical weather event.” The vehicle the woman and the boy were in was washed into a creek and later wedged against a drainage pipe, police told CNN affiliate KOCO. The vehicle was believed to be carrying a family of three, police said. A third person was able to escape and was taken to the hospital in serious condition. The woman and child were missing when rescuers reached the vehicle. They were found after an extensive search by Moore police and neighboring agencies. A father and son in a separate vehicle that was swept away around the same time also managed to escape, police told KOCO. Their vehicle briefly ended up on top of the family of three’s vehicle, according to KOCO. Earlier Saturday night, Moore police said they were responding to more than a dozen calls for help from residents whose vehicles were trapped in high water. Water levels were "significantly higher than we’ve seen in recent years," police told KOCO. Flooding in the area has receded, but police warned of large debris remaining on roads. The flooding is part of severe weather that struck multiple states in the South late Saturday and into Sunday. Tornado and flood warnings were issued for several counties in Texas and Oklahoma overnight. There were 16 tornado reports as of early Sunday morning, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Sunday could pose a potentially greater tornado threat as the storms move east. More than 20 million people from Illinois to Louisiana, including those in St. Louis, Memphis, Tennessee, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Shreveport, Louisiana, could experience severe storms. The deadly flood threat will continue into Easter Sunday. Millions of people are under flood watches through Sunday evening across parts of six states, from Texas to Arkansas and up to Illinois. The weekend rain is expected to total 2 to 3 inches across affected areas, with more than 5 inches possible in isolated locations. The area under flood threat is west of the hardest-hit regions along the Mississippi River from two weeks ago. However, the ground remains waterlogged in many of these places from earlier storms this month, so it won’t take much to cause flooding.

ABC News [4/20/2025 2:06 AM, Tristan Maglunog and Michael O’Keefe, 34586K] reports two people were killed after two vehicles were swept off the road due to flooding caused by heavy rainfall in Moore, Oklahoma, police said. Following a search, the bodies of two people, an adult female and a 12-year-old child, were found outside one of the vehicles that were swept away, Moore Police spokesperson Clint Byley told ABC News. First responders said earlier they were searching for two people who had been in a Jeep, after three other people were declared safe. One of those who were rescued had also been in the Jeep, police said. Two others who were rescued were in a truck. The flooding comes as more than 30 million Americans are on alert for severe weather this Easter weekend, as several states in the Heartland have already been slammed with tornadoes, hail and damaging winds. The two vehicles went off the road near Southeast 12th Street and S Eastern Avenue, the Moore Police Department told ABC News affiliate KOCO. Both vehicles were submerged in the water after being washed off a bridge, police said. "This was a historical weather event that impacted roads & caused dozens of high-water incidents across the city," police said on social media. "We would like to extend a thank you to our neighboring agencies who assisted in rescue efforts. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family & friends of the victims." Police had earlier said they were working to assist "more than a dozen" motorists whose vehicles were stuck in high water. "Multiple roads and neighborhoods have water over the curbs," the department said on social media late on Saturday. "Stay home if at all possible." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [4/19/2025 10:56 PM, Staff, 46189K] reports U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran tells ‘My View with Lara Trump’ how his experience protecting President Donald Trump has prepared him for his leadership role in the administration and shares his perspective on recruitment. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [4/19/2025 10:56 PM, Staff, 46189K] reports U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran takes Fox News host Lara Trump through the agency’s tactical village training facility on ‘My View with Lara Trump.’[Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Moneywise [4/19/2025 8:15 AM, Emma Caplan-Fisher] reports the U.S. Secret Service in New York has seized a second web domain tied to a growing type of cryptocurrency scam known as "pig butchering," in which scammers build trust with their victims before financially gutting them through fake crypto investment platforms. The Secret Service reports that from November 2023 to March 2024, the domain NFT-UNI.com was used in a scheme that defrauded a New York State victim out of $172,405.61. Other victims of the same site reportedly lost more than $4.5 million combined. This follows the seizure of another domain, OKEX-NFT.net, in May 2024. Both sites were part of a larger operation designed to lure victims into fake crypto investments that vanished without a trace once the funds were transferred.

CNN [4/19/2025 1:03 PM, Monica Haider, 22131K] reports on the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, former President Bill Clinton shares a story about a member of his Secret Service detail, Alan Whicher, who lost his life in the attack. Clinton was the sitting president when the bombing occurred on April 19, 1995. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The Washington Post [4/19/2025 11:49 AM, Holly Bailey, 31735K] reports Clinton’s remarks came as he and state and local officials gathered alongside scores of survivors and family members of those killed for the annual ceremony to mourn the dead and celebrate the resilience of Oklahoma City, which seized on the 1995 tragedy as a force for transformation and good. But in the days leading to this anniversary, many in Oklahoma City have questioned whether the country is heeding the lessons of what led a former soldier with anti-government views to bomb a federal building in what remains the deadliest act of homegrown terrorism in U.S. history. Some worry that Americans don’t remember or know anything about the attack, which they regard as painful evidence of where political vitriol and extremist views can lead. HSToday [4/19/2025 9:00 AM, Kristina Tanasichuk, 38K] report that in response to the attack, the ISC was established by executive order in October 1995 to enhance the security of civilian federal facilities nationwide. Over three decades, the Committee has grown into a powerful coalition of 66 federal departments and agencies, setting and enforcing security policies through rigorous standards, training, compliance, and interagency coordination. The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum has unveiled a powerful new exhibit titled Are We Safer Today?—a thought-provoking journey through the events of the Oklahoma City bombing and the steps our nation has taken since to prevent such tragedies. This exhibit serves as a vital reminder of the importance of vigilance, education, and collective memory. For younger generations who may not remember—or weren’t yet born when these attacks occurred—this exhibit is an opportunity to learn, reflect, and understand the ongoing efforts to safeguard our country.

Marine Insight [4/19/2025 6:23 AM, Staff, 227K] reports the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21) recently stopped two drug smuggling operations in the Caribbean Sea within a span of 72 hours, during its maiden deployment. This led to the seizure of 1200 pounds of cocaine worth approximately 9.5 million dollars and 2400 pounds of marijuana worth 2.8 million dollars, per a Navy press release. The ship was supported by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 50, Detachment Three which made it possible to make the two busts in the Caribbean through combined air and surface operations. Rear Adam. Carlos Sardiello, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet, said that the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul executed their duties to safeguard the homeland from illicit maritime trafficking. He added that they look forward to seeing a measurable impact delivered by the talented crew members of the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul across the region.

Yahoo News [4/19/2025 10:33 PM, John Ross Ferrara, 430301K] reports the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, Marin Search and Rescue Team, the National Park Service and other agencies are searching for a 37-year-old man who is thought to have gone missing in the Marin Headlands on April 14. An abandoned car belonging to Wen Wu of Rohnert Park was found parked in the Battery Rathbone parking lot Tuesday. Authorities continue to search for Wu in the area. "Marin [Search and Rescue] has provided 120 searchers between the two days," Marin County Search and Rescue shared on social media Friday. "Today we are working closely with the National Park Service, US Coast Guard, Stinson Beach Lifeguards, Sheriff’s investigators and others.” Wu is described as an Asian man with black hair and brown eyes. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs approximately 175 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark blue T-shirt, dark blue pants and a gray jacket. Anyone with information about Wu’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Marin County Sheriff’s Office or the National Park Service.

Yahoo News [4/19/2025 4:33 PM, Rhian Lubin, 430301K] reports a student could face "decades behind bars" after being accused of firebombing a Tesla dealership in Missouri. Owen McIntire is accused of setting fire to two Tesla Cybertrucks worth more than $100,000 each and damaging two charging stations worth $550 each on March 17 at around 11:16 p.m. in Kansas City, the Department of Justice said. "Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us," Attorney General Pam Bondi said. "You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.” McIntire, a 19-year-old student at Boston’s University of Massachusetts, appeared in federal court Friday and has been charged with one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and one count of malicious damage by fire of any property used in interstate commerce. Prosecutors allege that McIntire used a Molotov cocktail to start the fire. A Kansas City police officer in the area spotted smoke coming from one of the Cybertrucks in the dealership’s parking lots and also discovered a burnt rag next to the Molotov cocktail, according to an affidavit. The officer attempted to extinguish the flames but was unsuccessful and a second vehicle caught fire. Fire fighters arrived at the scene and put out the blaze, the affidavit said. McIntire was home for spring break at the time of the incident, according to the DOJ. Three witnesses gave descriptions that matched what McIntire was wearing that night, according to the affidavit. "The individual was wearing dark flowy clothing and a large, white-colored hat and carrying a light-colored bag," the affidavit said. The hat was later found in the backyard of a witness the day after the fire.

AP [4/20/2025 12:03 AM, Jamie Stengle, 54903K] reports the long-running criminal case against a Texas gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack targeting Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in El Paso in 2019 is on the verge of coming to a close. Patrick Crusius, 26, is expected to plead guilty Monday to capital murder and receive a sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole for the massacre near the US-Mexico border. El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya said last month he was offering Crusius a plea deal and that he wouldn’t face the death penalty on the state charge. Crusius has already been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in federal court after pleading guilty in 2023 to hate crime and weapons charges. Under the Biden administration, federal prosecutors also took the death penalty off the table. Crusius is expected to serve his time in a state prison. Crusius initially was arrested by local authorities and will enter the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice if he is sentenced on the state charges, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. Crusius was 21 years old when authorities say he drove for more than 10 hours from his home in suburban Dallas to El Paso and opened fire at the Walmart, which is popular with shoppers from Mexico and the US. Prosecutors have said Crusius was wearing earmuffs that muted the sound of gunfire when he began shooting people in the parking lot. He then moved inside the store and continued firing an AK-style rifle, cornering shoppers at a bank near the entrance where nine were killed before shooting at the checkout area and people in aisles. Exiting Walmart, he fired on a passing car, killing an elderly man and wounding his wife. Crusius was apprehended shortly after and confessed to officers who stopped him at an intersection, according to police. In a posting to an online message board just before the massacre, Crusius, a white, community-college dropout, said the shooting was "in response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” He said Hispanics were going to take over the government and economy.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [4/20/2025 4:23 AM, Landon Mion, 46189K]
Telemundo52 [4/19/2025 8:22 PM, Kamie Stengle, 101K]

AP [4/19/2025 8:06 PM, Tara Copp, 24727K] reports three former senior advisers to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth decried on Saturday what they called "baseless attacks" after each was escorted from the Pentagon in an expanding probe on information leaks. Dan Caldwell, a Hegseth aide; Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg; and Darin Selnick, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff were among four officials in Hegseth’s inner circle who were ousted this past week. While the three initially had been placed on leave pending the investigation, a joint statement shared by Caldwell on X said the three were "incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended. Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door.” "At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks’ to begin with," the post said. Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot also announced he was resigning this week. The Pentagon said, however, that Ullyot was asked to resign. The upheaval comes less than 100 days into the Trump administration where the Pentagon has found itself frequently in the epicenter of controversial moves — from firings of senior military and civilian staff to broad edicts to purge content that promoted diversity, equity or inclusion. That led to images or other online content of heroes like the Tuskegee Airmen and Jackie Robinson being temporarily removed from the military’s websites, causing public uproar. Last month, Hegseth announced that the Pentagon’s intelligence and law enforcement arms were investigating what it says are leaks of national security information following reports that Elon Musk was set to receive a classified briefing on potential war plans with China. In the announcement by Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, the office warned that Defense Department personnel could face polygraphs in the probe. The departures also follow the firings of senior military officers, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown; Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti; National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command director Gen. Tim Haugh; and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [4/19/2025 7:53 PM, Dan Lamothe, 31735K]
The Hill [4/19/2025 7:47 PM, Elvia Limon, 430301K]
Yahoo News [4/20/2025 12:13 AM, Kelly Rissman, 430301K]

Yahoo News [4/19/2025 9:17 PM, Jorge Ventura, 430301K] reports the Trump administration is now targeting the leaders of La Nueva Familia Michoacana Cartel, the Hurtado Olascoaga brothers. The U.S. Treasury has announced economic sanctions against the cartel’s two leaders, Johnny and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga, as well as their siblings, Adita and Ubaldo. The State Department is offering up to $8 million in rewards for information leading to their capture and conviction — $5 million for Johnny, $3 million for Jose Alfredo. The brothers are currently fugitives and are believed to be hiding in Mexico, according to federal officials. "Now these brothers were charged by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia with various crimes related to the manufacture, distribution, and importation of massive quantities of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States," said Michael Herskowitz, chief of the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia. La Nueva Familia Michoacana has deep roots in central Mexico and is notorious for combining brutal tactics with modern technology, like weaponized drones. This comes after the U.S. designated the cartel a foreign terrorist organization in February in a rare move that allows for expanded federal tools to dismantle the cartel and its international drug trafficking network. The cartel leaders’ sister, Adita Hurtado Olascoaga, is also facing charges and is accused of laundering money through used clothing stores in the Rio Grande Valley.

FOX News [4/19/2025 2:17 PM, Preston Mizell, 46189K] reports United States Senator Tim Sheehy, R-Montana, called out Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum in a scathing letter addressing the large amount of raw sewage and waste the neighboring country has dumped in the Tijuana River. The letter outlines Sheehy’s concern not only for the health and safety of local residents, but also points out that the toxic leak could potentially be jeopardizing U.S. national security. "This continuous discharge is sickening thousands of Americans annually, including U.S. Navy SEALs and Marine special forces who train in the affected waters," the letter to the president of Mexico reads. "In February 2025, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General concluded that, absent action, Navy Special Warfare Command would be advised to cancel or relocate up to 75 percent of water training exercises at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado due to elevated bacterial contamination levels.” Last week, the International Boundary and Water Commission stated that Mexico is dumping 5 million gallons of sewage a day into the Tijuana rRver. The toxic waste then flows up into the United States, and can even make its way into the Pacific Ocean. "For decades, Mexico has been dumping toxic waste into the water where our most elite servicemen train, causing serious health issues and harming our readiness," Sheehy told Fox News Digital. "The problem is only getting worse, and their failure to do anything about it is harming our troops and our national security. Mexico needs to put a stop to this toxic tide immediately.” While Sheehy is sounding the alarm from Congress, local leaders have also confirmed that the Mexican government’s intentional waste dump has left residents with dangerous and harmful environmental conditions. "This sewage isn’t just disgusting — it’s dangerous. It contains E. coli, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, arsenic and other toxic chemicals," San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond explained in a recent Fox News op-ed. "Our water is contaminated. Our air is polluted with aerosolized waste. Residents are reporting everything from skin infections to viral pharyngitis — and even family pets have gotten sick after exposure.”

Reuters [4/19/2025 5:40 PM, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, 41523K] reports fighting continued in Russia’s border regions of Kursk and Belgorod despite President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of a Eastern ceasefire, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. "Kursk and Belgorod regions - Putin’s Easter statements did not spread to this territory," Zelenskiy said in a social media post, referring to two Russian border regions where Ukrainian forces have made incursions. "Fighting continues, Russian strikes continue.” Zelenskiy did not provide evidence and Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Yahoo News [4/20/2025 5:30 AM, Staff, 430301K] reports that, this week, British Typhoon fighter jets were deployed on two occasions after Russian aircraft approached NATO borders, triggering an alert. The interceptions will be used by the UK government as further evidence of the growing Russian threat in an effort to persuade the United States not to scale back its military presence in Europe. This is the first instance of RAF involvement under Operation Chessman – a new NATO mission aimed at strengthening Europe’s air defence. On Tuesday 15 April, two Typhoon fighters stationed at the Malbork airbase in Poland were scrambled to intercept a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea. Less than 48 hours later, another pair of jets was deployed to intercept an unidentified aircraft that had taken off from Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast, between Poland and Lithuania. UK Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard told The Telegraph that the United Kingdom remains steadfast in its commitment to NATO. "With Russian aggression growing and security threats on the rise, we are stepping up to reassure our allies, deter adversaries and protect our national security through our plan for change," he said. The aircraft, part of a six-jet fleet, were deployed to Poland just three weeks ago as part of a joint defence operation with the Swedish Air Force. They are usually stationed at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, and around 200 British military personnel are supporting the mission. When the jets were deployed to Poland, Wing Commander Christopher Jacob stated that their mission was to "defend and deter, standing ready to protect against any threat". In late February, French Rafale fighters intercepted two Russian aircraft off the coast of Latvia. Between 10 and 16 March, NATO fighter jets carried out three sorties to detect and escort Russian aircraft violating flight rules over the Baltic states. On 28 March, German Air Force fighter jets intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft in NATO airspace and escorted it until it turned back towards Kaliningrad.

Reuters [4/19/2025 7:25 PM, Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Jaidaa Taha and Alexander Cornwell, 41523K] reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday he had instructed the military to intensify pressure on Hamas after the Palestinian militant group this week rejected an Israeli proposal for another temporary truce, instead demanding a deal to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages. In a late-night televised address, Netanyahu said that while war came with a heavy price, Israel had "no choice but to continue fighting for our very existence, until victory." Egyptian mediators have been working to restore the ceasefire, which Israel abandoned last month after seeking to extend a temporary truce that had seen 38 hostages released. Hamas, whose militants carried out the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, has said it would only free the remaining hostages under a deal that ends the war. Earlier on Saturday, Hamas said that it had recovered the body of a guard killed in an Israeli air strike this week and who was holding Edan Alexander, an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last American citizen held alive in Gaza. The fate of Alexander was unknown, Hamas said. Netanyahu did not mention Alexander in his remarks. Israel has pounded Gaza with air strikes since the ceasefire collapsed. Palestinian health authorities said at least 50 Palestinians had been killed in strikes on Saturday. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, was a "top priority". His release was at the centre of talks held between Hamas leaders and U.S. negotiator Adam Boehler last month. Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. Fifty-nine hostages are still held in Gaza, fewer than half of them are believed to be still alive. A U.S. State Department spokesperson had no comment on the status of Alexander, but reiterated that Hamas must immediately release him and all remaining hostages, and that the militant group "bears sole responsibility for the war, and for the resumption of hostilities."

Washington Post [4/19/2025 4:47 PM, Susannah George, 31735K] reports U.S. officials reported “very good progress” in the second round of talks with Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program, and Iran’s foreign minister called the session Saturday “a good one.” President Donald Trump has said he will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons through diplomacy if possible but by force if necessary. Iran wants relief from sanctions. The current meetings, while preliminary, have been the highest-level contact between Washington and Tehran in a decade. The countries severed diplomatic relations in 1980; Iran has been on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1984. “Today, in Rome over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions,” a senior Trump administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the administration, said in a statement. “Following the previous session, I can say this sitting was also a good one,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state television. “I can say the talks are moving forward. We succeeded to reach a better agreement this time about principles and targets.” The sides sat in separate rooms at the Omani Embassy in Rome on Saturday as Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi passed messages between them, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry accounts. Technical negotiations are to begin on Wednesday in Oman, Araghchi said, and the sides will meet for a third time April 26. The technical negotiations will allow the sides to provide more “details,” he said, as they design a framework for the talks. “We are going to meet next Saturday to study the result of their work and see how close it is to a deal,” he said. The Trump administration has come under increasing pressure to abandon diplomacy with Iran for military force, pressure that’s likely to build if negotiations do not show progress quickly. Convoys of black sedans with tinted windows ferried the negotiating teams into the embassy compound in Rome’s Camilluccia neighborhood. Real estate magnate Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, led the U.S. side; Araghchi led the Iranian side. The sides, which met for the first time in Oman last week, were expected to present their negotiating positions in more detail in Rome. Iranian officials said they were hoping to get greater clarity on the U.S. position after a debate within the Trump administration on Iran policy appeared to surface last week. “Given the contradictory positions we have heard from various American officials over the past few days, we expect the American side to first clear up the serious ambiguities that have arisen regarding its intentions,” said Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Marine Insight [4/19/2025 8:55 AM, Staff, 227K] reports the United States is planning to introduce steep tariffs up to 100% on ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and cargo handling equipment that are made in China or built using Chinese parts. The decision is made to reduce the country’s reliance on Chinese-made maritime infrastructure and tackle growing national security concerns. This announcement comes alongside a newly finalised port fee targeting ships that are built in China or operated by Chinese companies. The proposal follows a detailed Section 301 investigation led by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). It revealed serious vulnerabilities in the U.S. maritime supply chain, mainly due to China’s overwhelming dominance in key components. According to the USTR report, China currently produces 95% of the world’s shipping containers and controls 86% of the global supply of intermodal chassis. These figures have raised serious concerns about China’s ability to manipulate the flow of essential maritime equipment and materials, and put U.S. ports and supply chains at risk.

Wall Street Journal [4/19/2025 11:44 AM, Christopher M. Matthews, 646K] reports the Trump administration further embraced the theory that the deadly Covid-19 pandemic emanated from a lab in China, updating the government’s main websites about the virus to detail that argument. The White House revamped the primary websites for information about Covid and for ordering virus tests, Covid.gov and Covidtests.gov, to lay out its contention that the virus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. Under a banner titled “Lab Leak” that features an image of President Trump, the new page says that prior statements by government officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, that the virus emerged from a wild-animal market in China are false. The page says that Wuhan is home to China’s foremost research lab on the SARS virus and has “inadequate biosafety levels.” Researchers there had Covid-like symptoms before the virus was discovered at a wet market, it says. “ ‘The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2’ publication—which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory—was prompted by Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated in nature,” the website says. Trump has repeatedly endorsed the lab leak theory and attacked Fauci, who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until 2022 and became the face of the government’s Covid response. Covid-19 emerged in Wuhan in late 2019 and then spread rapidly through the world in 2020 and 2021 before the development of vaccines helped limit deaths. It marked one of the worst pandemics in modern history. The origin of the virus still divides the U.S. intelligence community, in large part because the Chinese government hasn’t cooperated with international investigations. Four U.S. intelligence agencies have favored, with low confidence, the animal transmission theory. So has the National Intelligence Council, a body of senior intelligence officers that reports to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that the pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, lending credibility to that view. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Energy Department have also identified a laboratory mishap in Wuhan as the probable source of the Covid virus, which killed more than 1.2 million Americans and more than seven million people worldwide.

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