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.

New York Post [4/22/2025 5:08 PM, Jennie Taer, 5100K] reports the Trump administration’s mass deportation raids have nabbed more than 200 known or suspected terrorists since January — including one of India’s “most wanted,” who is accused of masterminding a grenade attack on a cop there and has ties to a US-designated terrorist organization in Pakistan. Since President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have arrested 219 known or alleged terrorists, marking a 655% increase from the same period last year when 29 such arrests were made under former President Joe Biden, according to new Homeland Security data obtained by The Post. Among the dozens of terrorists swept up in Trump’s raids was Harpreet Singh, a citizen of India who entered the US illegally on Jan. 27, 2022 by crossing from Mexico into Arizona and was swiftly released into the country by Border Patrol agents with a future court date, a DHS official said. The Biden administration is to blame for allowing Singh to roam the country for more than three years, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post. “The Biden administration not only let a wanted terrorist into our country, but after he was arrested by Border Patrol agents, they released him into the interior of our country,” she charged. “While shocking, it’s not surprising given the Biden administration routinely released unvetted terrorists and criminals into American communities,” she added. Singh is one of his home country’s “most wanted men” for providing terrorist funds, recruitment and planning of a grenade attack on an Indian Police Station and on a retired Punjab cop’s house with the intent to kill and instill fear among law enforcement officers, according to DHS. He is also wanted for multiple violent extortion and threatening operations in India.

NewsMax [4/22/2025 12:23 PM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4998K] reports that as illegal border crossings fall rapidly at the U.S.-Mexico border under President Donald Trump, a dramatic shift is also taking place at the border with Canada, according to recent data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. At the Swanton Sector, which encompasses nearly 300 miles of border in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont, illegal crossings dropped 95%, from 1,109 apprehensions reported in March 2024 to 54 this March, The Post Millennial reported Tuesday. CBP Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia posted on X that there was a "stark contrast between 1,109 apprehensions in March 2024 & this March with just 54 apprehensions across the Swanton Sector; a 95% decrease!". The Swanton Sector accounted for more than 80% of the apprehensions at the northern border in 2024. Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, told the Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI that the administration is working to make sure that both of the nation’s borders get enough resources and attention to stop illegal immigration. "Secretary [Kristi] Noem has been laser-focused on the northern border," McLaughlin said. "She visited just last month and found that Border Patrol agents lacked even the most basic tools, like snow tires. That’s changing now." Illegal crossings surged under former President Joe Biden’s administration, with more than 1,400 apprehensions in the Swanton Sector, or more than the totals of fiscal years 2021 and 2022 combined. FOX News [4/22/2025 4:27 PM, Louis Casiano, 46189K] reports that only 54 illegal immigrants were apprehended last month in the Swanton Sector, which stretches more than 300 miles, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In fiscal year 2024, 19,222 illegal immigrants were apprehended along the sector. The migrants hailed from 97 countries, sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said at the time. The apprehensions amounted to more than the past 17 years combined, authorities said. In FY 2020, the agents assigned to the sector apprehended 574 illegal immigrants, followed by 365 the next year.

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Post Millennial [4/22/2025 8:35 AM, Ari Hoffman, 703K]

NewsNation [4/22/2025 8:03 PM, Ali Bradley, 6866K] reports the Border Patrol is identifying and removing individuals with prior criminal convictions who entered via the U.S.’ northern border, the world’s largest, and gave NewsNation an exclusive look at how it is getting it done. NewsNation accompanied agents in the Spokane Sector in Whitefish, Montana, as they pursued these criminal targets early Tuesday morning. During the ride-along, an individual from Mexico was apprehended who had been encountered by Border Patrol at least four times. He has since been deported to Mexico. Four other individuals were arrested. "In the car were four other folks that happened to be illegally present in the country as well," Spokane Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Jason Liebe explained to NewsNation. "So all five are arrested and are brought here to be processed and will be ultimately turned over for removal proceedings.” Daily, border agents are working closely with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations to target individuals who are here in the U.S. illegally and have been convicted of a crime. NewsNation was also with Border Patrol agents during another arrest of a Mexican man in the country illegally. A driver from Venezuela was let go due to his temporary protected status.

Border Report [4/22/2025 6:52 PM, Julian Resendiz, 117K] reports the Department of Homeland Security says an international media blitz is succeeding in persuading foreign nationals not to come to the United States without authorization. DHS launched multilingual radio, broadcast and digital campaign in several countries last month featuring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Her overarching message is to warn those planning to cross into the U.S. illegally to not come to America and break its laws or they will be “hunted down and deported.” The media blitz is facing pushback in Mexico – the last steppingstone for most unauthorized crossers. That country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, called the ads discriminatory and had one of her agencies send a letter to broadcasters asking not to run them. But on Tuesday, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Border Report the campaign is having its desired effect and the numbers prove it. “Our ad campaign is working. The data shows the world is hearing our message,” McLaughlin said. “Border crossings have reached the lowest ever recorded. Migrants are turning back before they even reach our borders.” The latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection monthly operational report shows illegal border crossings at their lowest levels in decades. Border agents apprehended an average of 264 migrants a day in March, a 20 percent decrease over February and a 94 percent drop from the 4,488 who were stopped daily in March 2024. Newsweek [4/22/2025 11:02 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports a TV ad produced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) featuring Secretary Kristi Noem is facing growing backlash after Mexico’s president called for its removal. The video is part of a multimillion-dollar global ad campaign by the federal government designed to deter migrants from attempting to enter the United States. President Donald Trump and his administration are attempting to curb migration figures and remove millions of undocumented immigrants as part of a strategy to conduct mass deportations. The commercial, which airs on major television networks, warns against undocumented migration to the United States, with Noem delivering a message said to be from Trump. resident Claudia Sheinbaum labeled the ad "discriminatory" and promised to propose legislation to Congress that would ban the commercial at her daily news conference on Monday. "President Trump and I have a clear message to those in our country illegally: LEAVE NOW. If you do not self-deport, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and deport you. Download the FREE CBP Home app today to self-deport," Noem said in the ad. The 60-second commercial, which includes footage of migrants running across the border, a bag that seems to contain unidentified drugs, and a series of police headshots featuring Latino, Black, and Asian men, has provoked widespread outrage from Mexico’s government. The New York Times [4/22/2025 7:38 PM, Simon Romero and Paulina Villegas, 153395K] reports that for Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who has yielded to one demand after another from President Trump in a bid to avert or lessen tariffs, Ms. Noem’s appearances on Mexico’s television screens amount to a line in the sand. Ms. Sheinbaum hit back by calling Ms. Noem’s ads “discriminatory” on Monday and asking Mexican broadcasters to remove them. She went further on Tuesday, saying she will ask Mexico’s Congress to approve a measure to ban such ads from ever appearing again in Mexico. “We are going to change the law to prohibit foreign governments from carrying out political and ideological propaganda in our country,” Ms. Sheinbaum said during her daily news conference. The pushback from Ms. Sheinbaum points to the limits to what her government is willing to accept from the Trump administration as she responds to Mr. Trump’s tariffs, which are already taking a toll on Mexico’s export-driven economy, and his threats to take unilateral military action within Mexico against drug cartels. Telemundo 52 [4/22/2025 11:25 AM, Débora Montesino, 101K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced reforms this Monday to ban paid foreign advertising following the broadcast television ad featuring US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, which targeted illegal immigration. "Today or tomorrow, they will be sent to Congress so that no foreign government or entity of any foreign government can pay. The issue is that they are paying to broadcast these ads, this propaganda, which has a discriminatory message," the president stated in her morning press conference. For weeks, the commercial could be seen in Mexico on digital platforms such as YouTube, but in early April it began airing primarily on Televisa and other media outlets. "Last week, a letter was sent to Televisa asking them to stop broadcasting it; it’s against the law," said a senior official from the Ministry of the Interior who is familiar with the issue. But this Monday, at the express request of Mexican media, Sheinbaum addressed the issue and, throughout the day, garnered support from all political parties and the leaders of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate against the US propaganda campaign against illegal immigration.

FOX News [4/22/2025 10:24 AM, Preston Mizell, 46189K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced its plan to rework the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, an online database used by law enforcement to identify the noncitizen status of individuals in the U.S. DHS shared exclusive details with Fox News Digital Tuesday, which include eliminating fees for database searches, streamlining mass immigration status checks, integrating criminal records, and creating a "user-friendly interface" to "prevent non-citizens from exploiting taxpayer benefits of voting illegally." The SAVE program, established in 1987, allows local law enforcement officials and various government agencies to input biographic info as well as noncitizen documentation such as I-94 number, SEVIS ID, or Alien number, to pull up immigration information on related individuals. "Illegal aliens have exploited outdated systems to defraud Americans and taint our elections," a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "This revamped SAVE system ensures government officials can swiftly verify statuses, halting entitlement and voter fraud." DHS will work alongside the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to maximize the effectiveness and update the program. The Daily Signal [4/22/2025 4:04 PM, Virginia Allen, 495K] reports that the changes to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database are aimed at allowing officials to quickly verify the status of a noncitizen, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "Illegal aliens have exploited outdated systems to defraud Americans and taint our elections," a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. "Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, this revamped SAVE system will ensure government officials can swiftly verify legal status, halting entitlements and voter fraud." The revamped database "eliminates fees for database searches, breaks down silos for accurate results, streamlines mass status checks, and integrates criminal records, immigration timelines, and addresses," according to a DHS press release. The DHS is working with the Department of Government Efficiency and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to make the changes.

New York Times [4/22/2025 7:30 PM, Miriam Jordan, 153395K] reports in late January, Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a Venezuelan immigrant working in a delivery job in Detroit, picked up an order at a McDonald’s. He was heading to the address when he erroneously turned onto the Ambassador Bridge, which leads to Canada. It is a common mistake even for those who live in the Michigan border city. But for Mr. Prada, 32, it proved fateful. The U.S. authorities took Mr. Prada into custody when he attempted to re-enter the country; he was put in detention and ordered deported. On March 15, he told a friend in Chicago that he was among a number of detainees housed in Texas who expected to be repatriated to Venezuela. That evening, the Trump administration flew three planes carrying Venezuelan migrants from the Texas facility to El Salvador, where they have been ever since, locked up in a maximum-security prison and denied contact with the outside world. “He has simply disappeared,” said Javier, a friend in Chicago, the last person with whom Mr. Prada had contact. The friend spoke about Mr. Prada on condition that he be identified only by his middle name, out of fear that he too could be targeted by the immigration authorities. On Tuesday, after the story published, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that Mr. Prada had been sent to El Salvador on March 15. The failure to list his deportation and location on any publicly accessible records may have been a simple oversight, but the matter continues to raise alarm among immigrant advocates and legal scholars, who say Mr. Prada’s case suggests a new level of disarray in the immigration system, as officials face pressure to rapidly fulfill President Trump’s pledge of mass deportations. While hundreds of thousands of immigrants have been deported under various administrations in recent years, it is extraordinarily unusual for them to disappear without a legal record. Officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to queries from The Times about Mr. Prada’s case over the past three days. But on Tuesday, after this story published, Ms. McLaughlin at D.H.S., which oversees ICE, said that officials conducted an investigation after he attempted to re-enter the United States in Michigan.

NPR [4/22/2025 2:17 PM, Ximena Bustillo, 29983K] reports another round of firings hit immigration courts in Massachusetts, California and Louisiana, as the Trump administration continues its twin efforts of downsizing the government and increasing immigration-related arrests. At least eight immigration judges received notices that they would be put on leave and their employment would be terminated on April 22, according to two people familiar with the firings and to the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers union, which represents immigration judges. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The judges who received the notices weren’t given a reason for the terminations. They were at the end of their two-year probationary period with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, or EOIR, which is part of the Justice Department. EOIR declined to comment on personnel matters. The administration has moved to fire probationary workers at a score of other federal agencies. But getting rid of judges adds to criticism of the Trump administration for not giving migrants or noncitizens enough due process before they’re deported. Trump’s own comments this week prompted similar concerns. "We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years," Trump posted on social media on Monday. "We would need hundreds of thousands of trials for the hundreds of thousands of Illegals we are sending out of the Country. Such a thing is not possible to do.” There are about 700 immigration judges across the country’s 71 immigration courts and adjudication centers. These judges are the only ones who can revoke someone’s green card and issue a final order of removal for those who have been in the country for more than two years and are in the deportation process The latest firings comes as dozens of courts around the country are already facing vacancies after the Trump administration laid off or received resignations from over 100 court staff, including over two dozen judges. Earlier this month, EOIR posted several openings for immigration judge positions across the country, including in courts where judges were fired. Matt Biggs, president of the union representing judges, said firing judges adds to the courts’ backlog of millions of cases. "This is pure hypocrisy. We shouldn’t be firing judges, we should be hiring them," he said.

FOX News [4/22/2025 8:39 AM, Michael Dorgan Fox, 46189K] reports a federal judge in Georgia has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the legal statuses of 133 international students by 5 p.m. Tuesday after their F-1 student visas were suddenly terminated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security (DHS). The students, many of whom are in good academic standing and close to graduation, had their records terminated on Homeland Security’s SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) and they allege this was done without prior notice, proper explanation or an opportunity to respond. SEVIS is a database Homeland Security uses to monitor non-immigrant students. U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Calvert, a Biden appointee, granted temporary restraining orders on behalf of the plaintiffs and ordered ICE and DHS to reinstate student statuses retroactively to March 31, 2025. "Plaintiffs are likely to show that Defendants’ termination of the SEVIS registration exceeds the bounds of statutory and regulatory authority and is therefore unlawful," Calvert wrote. The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU and other groups in the Northern District of Georgia with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons listed as defendants in the case. The Department of Justice responses to the lawsuit are currently sealed in the court docket. The plaintiffs argue that the SERVIS terminations were used as a coercive tool rather than a lawful enforcement action and that many of the students have no criminal records and were given short notice to leave the U.S. despite maintaining valid student visas. Furthermore, several of the students are enrolled in STEM programs or work placements, suggesting they are high-achieving international students. "DHS’s act of unlawfully terminating SEVIS records appears to be designed to coerce students, including each plaintiff, into abandoning their studies and ‘self-deporting’ despite not violating their status," the plaintiffs wrote.

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NewsMax [4/22/2025 7:42 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4998K]

The New York Times [4/22/2025 9:11 PM, Benjamin Weiser and Maria Cramer, 145325K] reports New York City’s mayor and police commissioner and a top White House immigration official announced on Tuesday two indictments charging 27 people they said were linked to Tren de Aragua, a gang that the Trump administration has said poses a unique threat to America. “Tren de Aragua is not just a street gang — it is a highly structured terrorist organization that has destroyed American families with brutal violence,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a news release touting the charges, adding that the arrests “will devastate TdA’s infrastructure” in three states. Six defendants were named as members or associates of Tren, which the Trump administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The other 21 people, prosecutors said, had broken away to join a violent splinter group called anti-Tren. Still, officials argued, in displaying dozens of seized handguns and rifles, the existence of both groups showed Tren de Aragua’s singular harm. Members of the gangs had engaged in murders and assaults, sex trafficking and human smuggling, according to the indictments. At a news conference, Thomas D. Homan, whom President Trump appointed as “border czar,” said the indictments showed the necessity of his immigration policies. “New York City — you’re a sanctuary city, you’re sanctuary for criminals,” said Mr. Homan, the so-called border czar. As he spoke, Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Mayor Eric Adams looked on and did not respond. The indictments, first announced by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan on Monday, and the news conference on Tuesday, arrived as the Trump administration has been deporting people it says are members of Tren de Aragua, without affording them hearings or other forms of due process. FOX News [4/22/2025 8:25 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46189K] reports the first RICO racketeering charges against members and associates of the migrant terrorist group Tren de Aragua were filed this week in New York. A statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said that the case is part of "Operation Take Back America," which it said is a "nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Justice Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.” According to the statement, the charges filed against 27 alleged current and former Tren de Aragua (TdA) members include human smuggling, sex trafficking and murder. "Today, we have filed charges against 27 alleged members, former members, and associates of Tren de Aragua, for committing murders and shootings, forcing young women trafficked from Venezuela into commercial sex work, robbing and extorting small businesses, and selling ‘tusi,’ a pink powdery drug that has become their calling card," announced Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Podolsky said that the indictments "make clear that this Office will work tirelessly to keep the law-abiding residents of New York City safe, and hold accountable those who bring violence to our streets.” The charges were filed in two separate indictments, the first against six alleged current members of Tren de Aragua and the second against 21 alleged members and associates of a splinter gang known as "Anti-Tren," which consists of former TdA members. The Trump State Department has designated Tren de Aragua, as well as several other migrant gangs present throughout the U.S., as foreign terrorist organizations. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said that 21 of the 27 alleged gang members and associates are currently in federal custody. The statement said that 16 were already in federal criminal, immigration, or state custody and five were arrested over the last couple of days. Charges include racketeering, sex trafficking, alien importation, drug trafficking and carjacking conspiracy, robbery, illegal firearms possession and use and extortion. Among the most egregious of the charges included in the indictments are the smuggling of "multadas" – indentured sex workers – from Venezuela into Peru and the U.S. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement, both TdA and Anti-Tren operate keep the multadas trapped in a life of sex slavery by threatening to kill them and their families and by assaulting, shooting and killing them and tracking down those who attempted to flee. USA Today [4/22/2025 9:57 PM, Krystal Nurse, 75858K] reports that six people believed to be members of Tren de Aragua were charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The group, stylized as TdA, started as a prison gang in Venezuela and grew to a "transnational criminal organization" led by Hector Guerrero Flores, the Department of State said in July. The gang is believed to be active in the U.S., Chile and Peru. Under Flores’ leadership, the gang has controlled gold mines in Bolivar and drug corridors on the Caribbean coast and in border crossings between Venezuela and Colombia. New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Tren de Aragua is being charged "for the first time ever" as a criminal enterprise. "This isn’t just street crime — it’s organized racketeering, and this gang has shown zero regard for the safety of New Yorkers," Tisch said. "As alleged in the indictment, these defendants wreaked havoc in our communities, trafficking women for sexual exploitation, flooding our streets with drugs, and committing violent crimes with illegal guns.”

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Blaze [4/22/2025 4:00 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1668K]
Daily Caller [4/22/2025 10:50 AM, Jason Hopkins, 1082K]

Daily Caller [4/22/2025 5:24 PM, Jason Hopkins, 1082K] reports the Supreme Court ruled that weekends and holidays cannot be counted when foreign nationals are given deadlines to leave the United States. In a split 5-4 decision, a majority of justices on the nation’s highest court ruled in favor of Hugo Abisai Monsalvo Velazquez, a Mexican national who had been living unlawfully in the U.S. for years and ordered deported. Velazquez successfully argued that his 60-day notice to leave the country — which ended on a Saturday — should have provided more flexibility for weekends and holidays.

FOX News [4/22/2025 12:50 PM, Breanne Deppisch, 46189K] reports that Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday sided with left-leaning justices in an immigration appeals case, a narrow ruling that could portend the court’s future thinking amid a flurry of legal cases centered on immigration. The 5-4 ruling in Monsalvo Velazquez v. Bondi centered on the government’s interpretation of a 60-day "voluntary departure" deadline, which authorities can use to allow certain immigrants deemed to be of "good moral character" to depart the U.S. on their own terms within that timeframe. The Supreme Court ruled, with the backing of Roberts and Gorsuch, that any voluntary departure deadlines for immigrants under the 60-day departure time frame that fall on a weekend or on a legal holiday in the U.S. should be extended to the next business day. Writing for the majority, Gorsuch noted that this interpretation of the 60-day period aligns with long-standing administrative practices, including in immigration law. "When Congress adopts a new law against the backdrop of a ‘long-standing administrative construction,’ the Court generally presumes the new provision works in harmony with what came before," Gorsuch said.

New York Times [4/22/2025 7:18 PM, Alan Feuer, 145325K] reports that a federal judge in Maryland blasted the Trump administration on Tuesday for flouting her instructions to answer questions about what steps it had taken, and planned to take, in seeking the release of a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador last month. The sharp rebuke by the judge, Paula Xinis, contained in an eight-page order, suggested she had lost her patience with the Justice Department’s pattern of stonewalling her in the case involving the deported man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. In her order, Judge Xinis accused the department of “a willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations.” She also dismissed as “specious” its attempts to evade providing information about how Mr. Abrego Garcia ended up in a Salvadoran prison by claiming that it amounted to privileged state secrets that needed to be protected. “For weeks, defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this court’s orders,” Judge Xinis wrote, giving vent to her frustrations. “Defendants have known, at least since last week, that this court requires specific legal and factual showings to support any claim of privilege. Yet they have continued to rely on boilerplate assertions. That ends now.” On Tuesday morning, Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers wrote to Judge Xinis, accusing the government of “producing nothing of substance” in response to a list of 15 questions and 15 requests for documents that it had given to the Justice Department in an effort to determine what, if anything, the White House had done to free Mr. Abrego Garcia from Salvadoran custody.

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Univision [4/22/2025 11:06 PM, Staff, 5325K]

Wall Street Journal [4/22/2025 8:38 PM, Mariah Timms and James Fanelli, 646K] reports a trio of federal judges excoriated the Trump administration Tuesday over its immigration crackdown and threw up new legal roadblocks to the White House’s no-holds-barred approach. A Maryland judge overseeing the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, accused the administration of bad faith, falsehoods and willfully misreading a Supreme Court ruling in trying to avoid providing additional information under oath about its actions. Judges in Colorado and New York sharply questioned the legality of the administration’s use of wartime measures to speed deportations of alleged gang members and criticized the lack of legal protections for individuals who have been detained and are slated for removal. “This is not a secret court, an inquisition from medieval times. This is the United States of America,” U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said at a hearing in New York. “You gotta tell a person what he’s done.” At issue in the New York and Colorado cases is the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, bypassing normal immigration procedures. President Trump in mid-March signed a proclamation declaring the gang equivalent to a hostile foreign government in wartime and ordering government agencies to immediately remove its alleged members. Hours after the proclamation was made public, immigration officials launched planes moving more than 200 migrants, most of them Venezuelans, to a notorious prison in El Salvador. More people currently detained in U.S. facilities have gone to court in a bid to block the administration from deporting them in the same fashion.

FOX News [4/22/2025 6:46 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46189K] reports speaking at the White House Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump blasted courts standing in the way of his administration’s immigration agenda of deporting "some very bad people," who he said include "killers, murderers, drug dealers.” The president touted his administration’s progress in shutting down the border and cracking down on illegal immigration, saying, "Honestly, it’s one of the great successes; we have virtually nobody coming in illegally.” He noted, however, that certain rulings against his deportations pose a threat to his efforts to secure the country. "I hope we get cooperation from the courts, because, you know, we have thousands of people that are ready to go out, and you can’t have a trial for all of these people," he said. "It wasn’t meant–the system wasn’t meant–and we don’t think there’s anything that says that.” Since Trump’s return to the Oval Office in January, his administration has faced hundreds of lawsuits targeting his executive orders and actions, some of which have resulted in nationwide injunctions. The Supreme Court is set to hear a case on May 15 about three federal judges who issued separate nationwide injunctions blocking an executive order by Trump ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants. On Mar. 15, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a ruling temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport criminal illegal alien gang members to El Salvador. Trump said that court rulings slowing down his deportation agenda could lead to a "very dangerous country.” "We were having hundreds of thousands of people a month come in under Biden, and they came in from prisons. They came in from mental institutions. They came in from gangs in Venezuela and other countries all over the world, not just South America. They were emptying their prisons into the United States, Venezuela emptied its prisons out, but many countries emptied their prisons into the Congo as an example, in Africa, emptied their prisons into the United States," he said.

CBS Austin [4/22/2025 10:14 AM, Jessica James, 602K] reports that the attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia have filed a request for a conference hearing at 1 p.m. on Tuesday to address what they call the U.S. government’s "failure to comply" with a recent court order. That court order called for the government to produce documents and respond to the attorney’s "expedited interrogatories" which laid out a list of instructions for the government to take in the case of Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to an El Salvador prison. These are some of the expedited interrogatories that the government was given: Describe with particularity each action you have already taken, and when, to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador. Describe with particularity each action you have already taken, and when, to Facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States. Identify and describe the role of each individual who has been involved, or whom you anticipate will become involved, in any of the actions responsive to some of the interrogatories. Describe with particularity each Communication you have had with anyone in the government of El Salvador or at CECOT. The government objected to a number of the instructions and provided responses but claimed they "have made a diligent and good faith effort to obtain information that is responsive to the Expedited Interrogatories," according to the court documents.

CBS News [4/22/2025 6:44 PM, Jacob Rosen, 51661K] reports attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador, say the government has failed to provide appropriate responses to a judge’s order for expedited discovery and to her questions about facilitating his return to the U.S. In a letter addressed to U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers requested a hearing to be scheduled Wednesday "to address the government’s failure to comply" with Xinis’ order for expedited discovery in the case. Xinis ordered a speedy fact-finding process after the Trump administration refused to comply with three different court orders, including an order from the Supreme Court, to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. so he can receive due process regarding the Trump administration’s claim that he is an MS-13 gang member. One detail of Abrego Garcia’s detention in El Salvador may prompt Xinis to seek more information about what the Trump administration knew — and when — about his transfer from CECOT, the country’s notorious supermax prison, to another detention center.

Politico [4/22/2025 7:16 PM, Kyle Cheney, Josh Gerstein and Hassan Ali Kanu, 430301K] reports a federal judge accused the Trump administration Tuesday of intentionally flouting her order to provide details about the illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said the administration is attempting to "obstruct" efforts to unearth details about Abrego Garcia’s improper deportation to El Salvador and had provided "vague" and "evasive" answers to court-ordered inquiries as part of an ongoing lawsuit. The White House has refused to answer questions about how it concluded that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang or which officials were involved in his deportation and continued imprisonment, Xinis wrote in an eight-page order Tuesday. The government has also refused to answer questions about its contract with the Salvadoran government, and which Salvadoran officials U.S. officials have been communicating with about Abrego Garcia’s return, the judge wrote. The administration’s refusal to provide information comes after Xinis last week ordered an "intense" two-week inquiry into the Trump administration’s efforts. She initiated the discovery period after finding unsatisfactory the administration’s initial responses to her requests for updates in Abrego Garcia’s case. "Defendants have failed to respond in good faith, and their refusal to do so can only be viewed as willful and intentional noncompliance," Xinis wrote in her new order. Xinis also accused the administration of mischaracterizing the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month requiring the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from El Salvador’s custody. "That Order made clear that this Court ‘properly required the Government to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador,’" Xinis wrote. "The State Department has engaged in appropriate diplomatic discussions with El Salvador regarding Abrego Garcia," Justice Department lawyers wrote. "However, disclosing the details of any diplomatic discussions regarding Mr. Abrego Garcia at this time could negatively impact any outcome.” The acting general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, Joseph Mazzara, was set to be deposed Tuesday morning, with at least one other deposition set for Wednesday, according to a report filed with Xinis early Tuesday.

Reported similarly:
CNN [4/22/2025 6:17 PM, Devan Cole, 22131K]

Washington Times [4/22/2025 6:47 PM, Stephen Dinan, 1814K] reports a federal judge scolded the Trump administration Tuesday for more defiance in the case involving deported MS-13 gang suspect Kilmar Abrego Garcia, saying the government has shown "willful and intentional noncompliance.” Judge Paula Xinis said the government continues to hide information from Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers even though she ordered them to be forthcoming in the legal discovery process that began last week. She ordered answers to be forthcoming on most issues. The judge also said that in some instances, where the administration tried to claim information couldn’t be released because of privileges, such as that between a lawyer and client, the government has made only the barest assertions and offered no proof for why the privilege should apply. "Defendants’ objection reflects a willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations," Judge Xinis said. Mr. Abrego Garcia’s family has challenged his March 15 deportation. Judge Xinis has ordered that the government try to undo the deportation so he can go through "due process" of challenging his deportation order again. The administration has resisted, and Judge Xinis has said she wants to see if there are legitimate reasons. That’s what the current legal discovery process is supposed to uncover. But the judge said the administration is refusing to answer questions she said should have been easy ones. She said much of the objection comes down to the administration disagreeing over the scope of her order, which the Supreme Court upheld, to "facilitate" Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return.

The Hill [4/22/2025 6:00 AM, Emily Brooks, 12829K] reports the White House and Republicans are not shying away from battling with Democrats over the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Their view: It doesn’t hurt President Trump — and may even help him and the party. "Of course it’s a winning issue. Americans support enforcing the law. Common sense tells you this and polls confirm it. If Democrats want to talk about MS-13 gang members, we’re happy to oblige them," a senior White House official told me about the messaging in the Abrego Garcia case. (Abrego Garcia’s attorneys and family have disputed allegations he is in MS-13.). The National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm, went as far as to offer to pay for House Democrats’ trips to El Salvador as they demanded Abrego Garcia’s release — on the condition they "livestream the whole thing" and "snap plenty of selfies with your MS-13 buddies.” "We’ll pay for the plane tickets, they just can’t forget to smile for the camera while they sell out their constituents," NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement on Monday, coming after a group of House Democrats announced travel to the country. That is exactly what some Democrats have been worrying about as their colleagues sound the alarm about what they see as the underlying issue: the Trump administration appearing to ignore the Supreme Court’s order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said on CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday that the White House "picked out this case and this man because it’s about a subject that they want to keep in the news." And California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), asked to comment on the case last week, said it was "the distraction of the day," adding: "This is the debate they want. This is their 80/20 issue.” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who traveled to El Salvador an met with Abrego Garcia last week, shot back at Newsom on NBC’s "Meet the Press" on Sunday, saying: "I don’t think it’s ever wrong to stand up for the constitution" and that "Americans are tired of elected officials or politicians who are all finger to the wind, what’s blowing this way, what’s blowing that way."

The Hill [4/22/2025 5:46 PM, Mychael Schnell and Al Weaver, 12829K] reports a divide is developing among Democrats over the handling of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case, with some openly questioning whether leaning into the explosive issue is a winning strategy as Republicans go on offense. Four House progressives arrived in El Salvador on Monday to push for Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., following Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who made the trek to the Central American country last week and met with the mistakenly deported man. The group has framed the effort as pushing back on a threat to basic constitutional rights. Few Democratic lawmakers have publicly disputed that premise as they slam President Trump’s defiance of a Supreme Court ruling ordering the White House to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia’s return. But some describe the administration’s focus on the issue as a deliberate distraction from other news, including the dwindling stock market, rising price of groceries and widespread confusion over Trump’s tariff policies.

Washington Post [4/22/2025 6:56 PM, Steve Thompson, 31735K] reports the disclosure was part of a legal battle that has showed few signs of tempering, as lawyers for Abrego García accuse the Trump administration of "producing nothing of substance" so far after Judge Paula Xinis said it must turn over information about Abrego García’s detention and the administrations efforts, or lack thereof, to free him.

New York Post [4/22/2025 1:37 PM, Rich Lowry, 54903K] reports that Kilmar Abrego Garcia shouldn’t be in a prison in El Salvador, but he also never should have been in the United States — or given relief from deportation. The White House is trying to make the alleged MS-13 gang member a symbol of illegal-immigrant crime, while President Trump’s opposition is seeking to make "the Maryland man" a symbol of the administration’s disregard for due process. What has gotten less attention is that his case is an example of the self-defeating absurdities of our immigration system and, in particular, how it hands out "humanitarian protection." When Abrego Garcia avoided deportation back in 2019, he didn’t take advantage of asylum — which has been a key driver of the immigration crisis — but something called "withholding of removal." To avoid getting removed, Abrego Garcia made an asylum claim, sought relief under the Convention against Torture, and applied for a withholding of removal. An immigration judge didn’t grant him asylum (he hadn’t applied, as required, within his first year of coming here) and ruled that Abrego Garcia hadn’t established that he’d be tortured upon return to El Salvador. The judge did, however, grant the withholding of removal, on unconvincing grounds. Abrego Garcia claimed that his mother had run a pupusa business — a national dish in El Salvador — out of the family’s home and that a gang, Barrio 18, began extorting and threatening the family. The threats included a warning that the gang would take Kilmar, then around 12 years old, if the payments didn’t continue. Assuming that this is true, it’s awful — but it wasn’t a good reason to prohibit Abrego Garcia from being removed to El Salvador years later.

Washington Post [4/22/2025 6:00 AM, María Luisa Paúl, 31735K] reports the wife of Kilmar Abrego García, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration, has been moved to a safe house by supporters after U.S. officials posted a court document on social media that included the family’s address. Jennifer Vasquez Sura said in an interview with Washington Post that she began fearing for her safety and that of their three children — two of whom are autistic — after verbal attacks on her husband by President Donald Trump himself, as well as taunts on social media by administration officials and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. The couple’s home was usually filled by the sounds of a burgeoning family, including pans clattering while her husband cooked, the three kids tumbling through the day, the TV humming in the background. Now, she is on her own with the children — one nonverbal and another prone to seizures — and their new home is uncomfortably silent. Vasquez Sura is also overwhelmed by the glaring spotlight of the legal battle over her husband’s case, which has become a lightning rod for the president’s broader effort to deport millions who have entered the United States illegally — regardless of whether, like Abrego Garcia, they later obtained protections barring deportation. She nevertheless has become her husband’s fiercest advocate. “I didn’t even think it would become this big — it just happened,” Vasquez Sura said in an interview with The Post. “But if God threw me in this, I know he’s going to take me out of it. So this is God’s battle. And I’m going to fight it — for Kilmar and for everyone.” The laughter that used to fill the family’s home has been replaced by muffled crying — or the quiet murmur of her youngest son cuddling with the neon construction vest her husband left behind. The texts Vasquez Sura and her children still send to Abrego García go unanswered, marked only by a single gray check mark. “Honestly,” Vasquez Sura said, with tears pooling in her eyes, “I just want my husband back, my best friend back, my kids’ father back. I want our life back.”

San Diego Union Tribune [4/22/2025 12:59 PM, Antonio Maria Delgado, 1682K] reports that a flurry of recent federal court rulings have stalled, for the moment, the Trump administration’s efforts to deport as many as one million undocumented migrants this year, as judges increasingly determine that individuals cannot be removed from the country without due process. Some of the most significant decisions have centered on the administration’s move to suspend benefits provided under Temporary Protected Status and a Biden-era humanitarian parole program, both of which have allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants, primarily from Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela, to temporarily live and work in the United States. Also under legal scrutiny is the administration’s invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used wartime law that President Donald Trump has employed to fast-track the deportation of Venezuelans suspected of being affiliated with the feared Tren de Aragua gang. While the rulings issued in recent weeks are not final, they have effectively limited the administration’s ability to proceed with its aggressive deportation agenda — at least for now. Here is a look at the key court decisions and what’s next: The U.S. Ninth Circuit of Appeals affirmed U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen’s decision to maintain a block on the Department of Homeland Security’s revocation order. Chen had previously determined that deporting Venezuelan TPS holders without further review could result in "irreparable injury." Chen also ruled that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to rescind work permits and deportation protections for the Venezuelans was based on "broad generalizations and stereotypes."

Breitbart [4/22/2025 12:42 PM, Neil Munro, 2923K] reports that Democrats are trying to prevent immigration enforcement via "an extraordinary amount of individualized adjudication" at a level that "no American citizen" receives, President Donald Trump’s top aide Stephen Miller said. "This isn’t due process — this is called ‘infinity process’ to keep you here forever!" Miller told Newsmax on April 21. Miller’s "Infinity Process" comments echoed President Trump’s message: How can Biden let Millions of Criminals into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted, with no Legal authority to do so, yet I, in order to make up for this assault to our Nation, am expected to go through a lengthy Legal process, separately, for each and every Criminal Alien. The Democrats’ strategy is a threat to the nation, he added: "As usual, TWO DIFFERENT STANDARDS, only leading to the Complete and Total Destruction of the U.S.A. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Miller’s "Infinity Process" term spotlights his effort to change the terms of national debate away from elite concerns and towards the concerns of ordinary people. For example, he recently suggested that ordinary Americans are entitled to reparations for civic harm caused by the elites’ preference for mass migration. The "Infinity Process" strategy is spotlighted by the Democrats’ response to the court-ordered deportation of Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was ordered deported in 2019. Trump’s deputies are also showcasing the evidence that Abrego Garcia subsequently allegedly beat his wife, served as a street hustler in Maryland for the MS-13 gang, and helped smuggle more illegal migrants into the jobs and housing needed by Van Hollen’s constituents.

FOX News [4/22/2025 5:10 PM, Breanne Deppisch, 46189K] reports U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday hosted Cabinet officials from across the Trump administration for the first meeting of a new interagency task force aimed at eradicating "anti-Christian bias" within the federal government. During Tuesday’s meeting, Bondi described the task force as one aimed at remedying the "abuse" under the Biden-led Justice Department and at other federal agencies prior to Trump’s second presidential term. Bondi was joined Tuesday by a long list of senior Cabinet officials from across the federal government, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Other senior agency officials were also present. NewsMax [4/22/2025 4:32 PM, Michael Katz, 4998K] reports President Donald Trump appointed Bondi to lead the task force after establishing it through a February executive order. The order directs the task force to "identify any unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices, or conduct" and recommend agency heads to end them. The task force, which will conclude in two years, is also required submit three reports to Trump: after 120 days of its creation, after one year, and after it completes its work. Many top Cabinet members attended the closed-door meeting, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

FOX News [4/22/2025 12:26 PM, Peter D’Abrosca, 46189K] reports that after nabbing three of the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted criminals in the infancy of his second term, President Donald Trump and his Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are honing in on their next high-value target. The FBI reminded the public on Monday that a $5 million bounty is still available to anyone who assists the federal government in capturing Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías, one of the most brutal MS-13 gangsters in the world. Archaga Carías also known as "Alexander Mendoza" and "Porky," 43, is said to be the Honduran kingpin of the ultra-violent Central American gang. The Trump administration has made its MS-13 crackdown one of its top priorities, and has designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization. "This terrorist leader can no longer be allowed to live free as MS-13’s evil devastates communities in America and throughout the western hemisphere," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. "If you can contribute information leading to his arrest – come forward now." Archaga Carías is already on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list for a litany of alleged crimes, including drug trafficking, gunrunning, money laundering, murder and ordering the killings of rival gang members.

New York Times [4/22/2025 11:46 AM, Stephanie Saul, 153395K] reports a day after Harvard sued the Trump administration over its decision to freeze billions in federal funds to the school, more than 220 higher education leaders from around the country signed a joint statement on Tuesday condemning the administration’s efforts to control universities. The government’s “political interference” and “overreach” is “now endangering higher education in America,” they wrote. The signers come from a variety of colleges and universities from across the country, as well as higher education associations, illustrating the breadth of the threat they say President Trump poses to academia. Joining in the statement were officials from large public research universities like the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and smaller private colleges such as Amherst and Kenyon. The statement, circulated by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and signed by a total of 224 people as of Tuesday afternoon, focuses on concerns that the Trump administration is attacking academic freedom. “We must oppose undue government intrusion into the lives of those who learn, live and work on our campuses,” the statement said.

AP [4/22/2025 1:08 PM, Staff, 34586K] reports that a Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University and was recently arrested during an interview about finalizing his U.S. citizenship says he’s "in good hands" at the Vermont prison where he is being held. Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident, was arrested April 14 in Colchester, Vermont. He met Monday with U.S. Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, a Democrat, who posted it on X. "I’m staying positive by reassuring myself in the ability of justice and the deep belief of democracy," Madawi said in Welch’s video. "This is the reason I wanted to become a citizen of this country, because I believe in the principles of this country." Welch’s office said Mahdawi was being detained at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, Vermont. His case is scheduled for a status conference Wednesday. His lawyers have called for his release. The U.S. Justice Department has not said why he’s being detained. The New York Times reported April 15 that Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote a memo that says Mahdawi’s activities could "potentially undermine" the Middle East peace process. A message seeking comment on the memo was emailed to the State Department on Tuesday. Rubio has cited a rarely used statute to justify the deportation of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil. It gives Rubio power to deport those who pose "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."

Free Beacon [4/22/2025 6:00 PM, Alana Goodman and Jessica Schwalb, 475K] reports Sen. Peter Welch (D., Vt.) visited detained Columbia University activist Mohsen Mahdawi on Monday, calling him a "friend" and praising his work with "Jewish brothers and sisters" on Columbia’s campus. In the wake of Oct. 7, Mahdawi said he could "empathize" with Hamas’s decision to launch the attack and used a siren to drown out pro-Israel students protesting for the release of Israeli child hostages. Mahdawi, who, like fellow Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil, saw the Trump administration revoke his green card, is at an immigration facility in Vermont as he fights his deportation. Welch released a video of their Monday meeting at the facility, during which he described Mahdawi as a "friend from the Upper Valley," commended him for "staying so positive despite your circumstances," and asked him to describe how he has "worked with some of your Jewish brothers and sisters at Columbia.” "Most of my partners at Columbia’s campus and beyond are Jews and Israelis," Mahdawi said. "My work has been centered on peacemaking, and all what I am doing, I am being a human.” Some Columbia students, who spoke on background to describe Mahdawi’s campus activism candidly, told a different story. They told the Washington Free Beacon that Mahdawi was friendly with some Jewish students—including pro-Israel ones—a few years ago through his involvement with a campus Buddhist club. But those relationships soured after Oct. 7, the students said, when Mahdawi became focused on denouncing Israel and showed a reluctance to condemn Hamas. When pro-Israel activists on campus called for the terror organization to release the child hostages it took during the attack, for example, Mahdawi blared a loud alarm that drowned out the speakers. He has also criticized Columbia for allowing Israeli students who served in the military to attend and called on the school to boycott the Jewish state. Mahdawi praised three terrorist leaders in the Al Qassam Martyrs’ Brigade who were killed, including his "cousin," a prominent field commander whom he called a "fierce resistance fighter," the Free Beacon reported. "Here is Mesra who offers his soul as a sacrifice for the homeland and for the blood of the martyrs as a gift for the victory of Gaza and in defense of the dignity of his homeland and his people against the vicious Israeli occupation in the West Bank," wrote Mahdawi in an Instagram post. On Tuesday, 68 members of Congress sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem calling the deportation efforts against Mahdawi "immoral, inhumane, and illegal.”

The Washington Post [4/22/2025 3:02 AM, Victoria Bisset, 31735K] reports detained Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil missed the birth of his first child after immigration officials denied a request for temporary release to attend, his wife said. Noor Abdalla said in a statement that she gave birth to a baby boy on Monday without her husband by her side, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined a request to grant Khalil temporary release from the Louisiana detention center where he is being held, so he could travel to New York for the birth. ICE did not immediately respond to overnight requests for comment. “This was a purposeful decision by ICE to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer,” Abdalla said, adding that her husband, a legal U.S. permanent resident, “remains unjustly detained.” “ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom,” she said. Detained Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil missed the birth of his first child after immigration officials denied a request for temporary release to attend, his wife said. Noor Abdalla said in a statement that she gave birth to a baby boy on Monday without her husband by her side, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined a request to grant Khalil temporary release from the Louisiana detention center where he is being held, so he could travel to New York for the birth. ICE did not immediately respond to overnight requests for comment. “This was a purposeful decision by ICE to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer,” Abdalla said, adding that her husband, a legal U.S. permanent resident, “remains unjustly detained.” “ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom,” she said. Earlier this month, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil was eligible for deportation, saying that he was a threat to U.S. foreign policy due to his involvement in pro-Palestinian activism. His lawyers said at the time they would appeal if the judge ordered his deportation and that they are pursuing other legal avenues that could keep him in the United States. Immigration judges are separate from the federal court system and are under the supervision of the Justice Department. Khalil has filed a federal lawsuit in New Jersey, where he was briefly detained before being sent to Louisiana, arguing that his arrest was unconstitutional; Khalil’s legal team says that if that case is successful, his deportation could be blocked. USA Today [4/22/2025 6:07 PM, Eduardo Cuevas, 75858K] reports that lawyers requested a two-week furlough for Khalil that "would be both reasonable and humane so that both parents can be present for the birth of their first child," an email read. They offered a GPS ankle monitor and scheduled check-ins during this time. Less than an hour later, Mellissa Harper, ICE’s field office director in New Orleans, responded and said that after consideration of information and reviewing the client’s case, the request was denied. In response to questions about requests for his temporary release, Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement, “It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America.” The privilege should be revoked and people should not be in this country, McLaughlin said, if “you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, and harass Jews, take over buildings and deface property.” Khalil’s lawyers have called such allegations baseless.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [4/22/2025 12:16 PM, Renee Anderson, 51661K]

Univision [4/22/2025 5:27 PM, Staff, 5325K] reports migrant children, including a 4-year-old girl, are attending deportation hearings in New York courts without legal representation, Gothamist reports. During a recent hearing conducted via videoconference, approximately a dozen unaccompanied minors appeared before Judge Ubaid ul-Haq without the presence of lawyers or parents, assisted only by shelter workers. This situation intensified after the Trump administration canceled a $200 million federal contract for legal services for unaccompanied minors on March 21. The contract funded legal representation for 26,000 children across the country. In New York, the number of minors without legal representation in court hearings has increased from 30-40% to 50-60%, according to data provided by Sierra Kraft, executive director of the ICARE Coalition. Statistics from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse indicate that 96% of unrepresented individuals in New York immigration courts receive deportation orders, compared to 23% of those with attorneys.

CNN [4/22/2025 3:46 PM, John Miller, Josh Campbell and Kit Maher, 22131K] reports the man who allegedly stole a Gucci bag loaded with cash from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was sitting at the table next to hers, according to video of Sunday’s incident reviewed by Secret Service investigators. The surveillance footage of the incident at The Capital Burger restaurant in Washington, DC, showed the suspect purposefully moving close to Noem as he zeroed in on her Gucci bag near her feet, a law enforcement source said. The thief, dressed in dark clothing, sat down at an empty table next to Noem with his back facing her and used his left foot to slide the bag away, the source said. He surveyed the restaurant before eventually picking up the bag, covering it with his jacket and leaving. Items inside the Gucci bag included a Louis Vuitton Clemence wallet, Noem’s driver’s license, medication, apartment keys, passport, DHS access badge, makeup bag, blank checks, and about $3,000 in cash. It remains unclear whether the thief knew Noem’s identity or whether she was a random target. The Secret Service, which is leading the investigation, is working to trace any use of Noem’s financial instruments, sources said. The Secret Service was inside the restaurant with Noem, who was dining at a table with her family, according to a source familiar. The source didn’t specify how many agents accompanied Noem or where they were inside the restaurant.

NBC 4 Washington, DC [4/22/2025 5:30 PM, Ted Oberg, 1400K] reports the U.S. Secret Service released a photo to law enforcement agencies of the man suspected of stealing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse from a D.C. restaurant on Easter. But they aren’t releasing the image to the public. Noem was dining at Capital Burger, in the Mount Vernon Square area, with her kids and grandkids when sources tell News4 a man wearing an N95 mask stole her purse from under her table. She had nearly $3,000 in cash, credit cards, keys, her DHS identification card and more in the bag. Her Secret Service detail was also inside the restaurant and was less than 20 feet away. Sources say investigators have looked at surveillance footage from inside and outside the restaurant, including from nearby traffic cameras. The Secret Service sent a photo of the suspect to all police agencies in the D.C. area on Monday night. While they try to find the suspect, they also are working to learn if the theft was random or if Noem was specifically targeted. DHS did not respond to News4’s request for a copy of the suspect’s photo.

NBC News [4/22/2025 8:43 PM, Laura Strickler and Ted Oberg, 44742K] reports three days before Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s handbag was stolen while she dined out at a Washington restaurant, another woman eating with her own family at a nearby eatery had her purse taken in a similar manner, records show. NBC News discovered the similarities in the two incidents after it requested reports of thefts in the neighborhood from Washington police. It’s not clear whether the two incidents are connected, but the victim in the first purse snatching believes they are. “I’m shocked at the similarity of the crime,” she told NBC News when she described how her purse was stolen Thursday at a restaurant in the downtown Westin Hotel. A thief stole Noem’s bag, which contained $3,000 in cash, Sunday at Capital Burger, which is two blocks from the Westin, said a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson and sources familiar with the matter. The thief was a white male wearing dark clothing, a dark baseball hat and a white N95 mask, according to two sources familiar with security video viewed by law enforcement.

CBS News [4/22/2025 8:18 PM, Caitlin Yilek, 51661K] reports Democratic members of Congress on Tuesday traveled to Louisiana to meet with Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, who remain in custody at Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers as they face deportation. Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University, and Öztürk, a Tufts University graduate student, were separately taken into custody in March by federal authorities amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on students with visas and green cards who participated in pro-Palestinian activities. Neither has been charged with a crime, and the lawmakers demanded their immediate release. "Both of these individuals are political prisoners. They don’t belong here," said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. The congressional delegation also included Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Rep. Ayana Pressley of Massachusetts and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, all Democrats. "They’re frightened. They’re concerned. They want to go home," Carter said. The Trump administration has argued that Khalil should be stripped of his green card and deported due to his links to protests on Columbia’s campus against the war in Gaza last year. It also alleged Öztürk, a Turkish national, had "engaged in activities in support of Hamas." Her attorneys argue she was detained for writing an opinion piece that called on the school to divest from Israel and "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.” In many of the student visa cases the Trump administration has invoked a rarely used provision of immigration law that allows the government to seek the deportation of noncitizens whose "presence or activities" are determined to "have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” The Trump administration has argued it has the right to revoke students’ visas. "When you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS News’ "Face the Nation.” Both Khalil and Öztürk are challenging their detentions. Khalil, who is married to a U.S. citizen, was denied his request for temporary release for the birth of his first child on Monday. "That’s cruelty," McGovern said. Markey noted that Öztürk has suffered multiple asthma attacks while in detention. Öztürk said in a court filing she has received limited medical attention, though a senior Department of Homeland Security official said she has gotten "prompt medical care and services.” "Notwithstanding that, Rümeysa continues to have a spirit. She continues to have a sense of right that fuels her very being," Markey said. The visit follows recent trips by other congressional Democrats to El Salvador to press for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported last month by the Trump administration. Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, also met Monday with Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident detained in Vermont. Mahdawi, who led protests against the Israel-Hamas war at Columbia University, was taken into custody earlier this month during a U.S. citizenship interview. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/22/2025 9:47 PM, Michael Gold, 145325K]
New York Post [4/22/2025 10:21 PM, David Propper, 54903K]
The Hill [4/22/2025 10:04 PM, Lauren Irwin, 12829K]
NPR [4/23/2025 4:11 AM, Steve Inskeep, 29983K]
CNN [4/22/2025 4:49 PM, Gloria Pazmino, 22131K]

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 11:15 PM, Staff, 59943K] reports that in a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and ICE acting Director Todd Lyons, the lawmakers demanded answers and raised questions about the fairness of the immigration enforcement system, suggesting ICE did not transfer Ozturk to Louisiana due to a lack of bed space in New England — as the federal government has claimed — but instead to hand-pick the courts that will decide her case. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [4/22/2025 7:42 PM, Marianne LeVine and Shayna Jacobs, 31735K] reports two federal courts on Tuesday temporarily restrained the Trump administration from deporting individuals in their districts under the Alien Enemies Act, with one judge comparing the government’s deportation tactics to barbaric events in European history and the other requiring a specific time frame for the government to provide deportation notices. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is presiding over a lawsuit in New York, extended by two weeks an order that required immigration officials to give individuals targeted for removal both notice and an opportunity for a hearing. He will also decide whether to impose more long-term restrictions on the administration’s use of the wartime law. While hearing arguments Tuesday, Hellerstein accused the administration of drastic and un-American deportation methods. “This is not the Inquisition, it’s not medieval times,” he said. “This is the United States of America.” In Colorado, U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney granted the American Civil Liberties Union’s request to temporarily block removals from her district and required that the government provide a 21-day notice to individuals deemed removable under the act. In her opinion, Sweeney said that the notice “must be written in a language the individual understands” and inform the person of their right to judicial review and to consult their lawyer about the government’s plan to force them from the country. The Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to speed deportations has been at the heart of a weeks-long legal fight. The Supreme Court blocked the administration early Saturday morning from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members. In its filings in multiple courts Friday, the ACLU had noted that Venezuelan men at a detention center in North Texas received notices in English saying they had been “determined to be an Alien Enemy” and would be deported. The notices, copies of which were included in the court filings, told recipients that they could “make a phone call” but did not inform them that they were entitled to contest their removal or provide details on how they might do so, the ACLU said.

Bloomberg [4/22/2025 6:55 PM, Erik Larson, 1085K] reports that a federal judge in Colorado temporarily blocked the Trump administration from removing suspected Venezuelan gang members from the state under an emergency wartime law, adding to a spate of rulings hindering the government’s deportation initiative. The temporary restraining order issued Tuesday also requires the US give a 21-day notice to anyone currently in custody in Colorado who the government intends to remove under the Alien Enemies Act. The order is set to remain in effect until May 6, though the plaintiffs in the case are expected to seek a longer-lasting injunction. The Trump administration said it would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, if necessary. It’s the latest development in a legal fight playing out across the US as President Donald Trump seeks to unilaterally deport accused members of the Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua gang to a notorious El Salvador mega prison. The US Supreme Court ruled in a related case earlier this month that accused gang members must be given a chance to dispute the claims against them before being removed, and on Saturday temporarily blocked deportations from Texas. Judge Charlotte Sweeney said in her ruling that the plaintiffs and others in similar circumstances will face "irreparable harm" if they are removed without due process. She also disputed some elements of Trump’s March proclamation that prompted the deportations, which argues that the gang’s activity in the US amounts to an "invasion" or "predatory incursion" under the AEA. "These words, fundamentally, demand military and wartime action," said Sweeney, a Biden appointee. "The proclamation makes no finding that satisfies these definitional demands. Thus, to the extent the proclamation relies on the Act’s ‘invasion’ and ‘incursion’ provisions to justify its removal powers, it does so improperly.” In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the Trump administration "will fight this all the way up to the Supreme Court, if necessary." It said the nation’s highest court "has already said that our Commander-in-Chief Donald J. Trump has the power to stop the invasion of our country by terrorists using war time powers. One lone, unelected activist judge cannot stop the will of the American people for a safe and secure homeland.” The judge said that the notice required under her order must include detailed information about how accused gang members can challenge their removal and must be supplied in a language the detainees can understand. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said detainees were being given instructions only in English. CBS News [4/22/2025 6:49 PM, Anna Alejo, 51661K] reports that lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network argued during a hearing on Monday that two men from Venezuela were in imminent danger of being deported to a prison in El Salvador. Further, the lawyers for the migrants said that 11 men from Colorado have already been sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT — among the hundreds of migrants sent to the supermax prison by the Trump administration. The terms of the Colorado restraining order expire on May 6. The high court’s order did not indicate the terms of "reasonable" notice, so it was debated in court on Monday. In her order, Judge Charlotte Sweeney wrote that individuals subject to deportation under the AEA must receive 21 days’ notice, be informed of the right to judicial review, and consult with an attorney. Such notice must also be written in a language the individual understands.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [4/22/2025 6:51 PM, Luc Cohen and Tom Hals, 44742K]
Axios [4/22/2025 4:45 PM, Alayna Alvarez, 13163K]

CBS Austin [4/22/2025 1:41 PM, Jackson Walker, 602K] reports that a Democratic New Mexico judge who resigned his post last month was found harboring an illegal migrant in his home, according to court documents obtained by The National News Desk. Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano announced his resignation in March, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The publication acknowledged he was a Democrat and former police officer. Through his letter did not give a reason for the resignation, it came shortly after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents found Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, an illegal migrant and Tren de Aragua member. Ortega-Lopez became the subject of a DHS investigation in January after a tipster alleged he had entered the U.S. from Venezuela. There were firearms at his residence, the documents alleged. DHS officials discovered Ortega-Lopez had entered the U.S. in December 2023. He was released by Border Patrol officials due to "overcrowding" at his border facility with removal proceedings pending against him. Ortega-Lopez, according to the documents, began posting images on Facebook which "displayed clear indicators of his association with Tren de Aragua." The lawsuit went on the describe the migrant as "both a flight risk and a danger.” DHS agents then executed a search warrant on a house belonging to Cano, which they believed Ortega-Lopez was staying in. They found four firearms there in violation of immigration law.

Axios [4/22/2025 9:45 AM, Kim Bojórquez, 13163K] reports that the ACLU of Utah filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, accusing the agency of violating the rights of international students when it revoked their visas without explanation this month. Why it matters: The sudden visa revocations could not only force students out of school and work but also expose them to arrest, detention and deportation, the lawsuit alleges. State of play: The ACLU filed the complaint on behalf of eight anonymous international students — from China, Japan, Mexico and Nigeria — attending Utah schools, including BYU-Idaho. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons were named as defendants. The big picture: More than 1,000 foreign students across the U.S. have had their visas or statuses voided by the Trump administration, CNN reports, and many are challenging the revocations in court. The Trump administration has claimed that some students lost their status because they were linked to pro-Palestinian protests. Others have had their visas taken away for past crimes, traffic violations, and unknown reasons. What they’re saying: "It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America," DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "When you break our laws and advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked."

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 11:59 PM, Mitchell Roland, 430301K] reports militias from other states, districts or territories are now restricted from entering Washington state for duty in most instances without approval from either the governor or president. "State autonomy is the foundation of our federalist system," Gov. Bob Ferguson said as he signed the legislation Monday. "This bill is a simple, but very important, expression of that system.” Under legislation adopted this session, state military forces, such as the National Guard, are prohibited from conducting military duty in Washington without approval from the governor, unless "such force has been called into active service of the United States" and is acting under the duty of the president. Ferguson said Monday that the bill will not affect disaster response through mutual aid agreements. The legislation included an emergency clause, which means it took effect immediately upon signing. During debate on the floor of the House of Representatives, bill sponsor Rep. Sharlett Mena, D-Tacoma, said the bill is meant as a "protective measure.” "Hopefully, we won’t need it," Mena said. "But I think that it’s time that we implement it, we catch up, we align ourselves with other states and protect Washington’s autonomy.” While the governor did not cite a specific case when it may occur, Ferguson said Monday that "we just cannot allow, as a state, to have armed forces come into our home and enforce policies that are against our core values.” In recent years, at least 15 states have sent National Guard troops to the southern border to aid in immigration enforcement. Last year, former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem sent 60 National Guard troops to the southern border, the fifth deployment since 2021. In a statement, Rep. Sharlett Mena, D-Tacoma, said the bill "ensures that Washington — not other states — decides what happens in our communities.” Mena added: "It protects us from unauthorized and unaccountable military actions.” The legislation has been an area of focus for Ferguson, who referenced it during his inaugural address. During the speech, the governor said the bill would prohibit National Guard members from other states from "coming into Washington to advance any president’s agenda without our permission.” At least seven other states have similar laws, including Kansas and North Dakota. According to Ferguson, the legislation he signed Monday is modeled after similar legislation in Idaho. "We welcome collaboration with national guard forces when warranted, but only with our permission," Ferguson said. The bill received pushback from Republicans, who argued it was unnecessary and repetitive. During the Senate floor debate, Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, said federal law already prohibits the National Guard from entering a state without permission. In the House, Republicans unsuccessfully proposed amendments that would have allowed a military force to enter the state without permission if the force was engaged in "interstate narcotics interdiction." In response, Mena said such activities are already permitted under existing compacts.

AP [4/22/2025 6:28 PM, Julie Watson, 48304K] reports the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that Mexico must stop the flow of billions of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals from Tijuana that has polluted the Pacific Ocean off neighboring Southern California, closing beaches and sickening Navy SEALs who train in the water. Zeldin said that in the next day or so, his agency will present Mexico a to-do list of projects to resolve the decades-long environmental crisis, but he stopped short of specifying how the Trump administration would hold Mexico accountable if it does not act. The pollution has sickened not only swimmers, surfers and lifeguards but also schoolchildren, Border Patrol agents and others who do not even go in the water. Scientists say the sewage is vaporized when it foams up and enters the air people breathe.

New York Times [4/22/2025 5:07 PM, Emiliano Rodríguez Mega, 145325K] reports Costa Rican authorities this week said they would make it possible for dozens of migrants deported from the United States to legally stay in the country — or leave if they so choose to. Omer Badilla, the head of Costa Rica’s migration authority, said that starting on Monday, officials were returning passports and other personal documents to people who since February had been detained in a remote facility hours from the capital He also said that a resolution passed by the government on Monday would open up a path so that the deportees could stay and integrate into Costa Rican society. In February, 200 migrants from countries including China, Iran, Russia and Afghanistan arrived in Costa Rica from the United States as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans. They were then bused to a detention center, a former pencil factory, near the border with Panama. Mr. Badilla, the immigration official, said the government was also working with other countries, including Canada, to see if they would accept some of the migrants. But he added they could all apply for asylum in Costa Rica at any moment — giving them a legal pathway toward employment.

NewsMax [4/22/2025 7:21 AM, Staff, 4998K] reports a delegation of Democrat lawmakers visited El Salvador on Monday in a new push to secure the release of a wrongly deported U.S. resident at the center of a mounting political row. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was sent back to his country and remains imprisoned there despite the U.S. Supreme Court ordering President Donald Trump’s administration to facilitate his return to the United States. "There is no reason for me to believe that our administration, the Trump administration, is doing anything to facilitate his safe return home, and that is simply unacceptable," Rep. Yassamin Ansari told reporters after meeting U.S. embassy officials. "It isn’t just about Kilmar. It is the fact that our government is relentlessly going after any immigrant that’s trying to come to the United States or is in the United States without any regard for due process," the Arizona representative said. Ansari was accompanied by fellow House Democrats Robert Garcia, Maxwell Frost, and Maxine Dexter. Frost said there was "zero indication" that the Trump administration was trying to bring Abrego Garcia back. "But we’ve got to be clear — this isn’t just about him. This is also about every single person in the United States. The constitution applies to all people in our country. Due process applies to all people in our country," the Florida representative added. Frost said that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s administration had denied a request for the group of U.S. lawmakers to meet with the deported man. The visit comes days after Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the state where Abrego Garcia has lived for years with his wife and child, arrived in the Central American country. Van Hollen eventually managed to meet with Abrego Garcia after multiple efforts.

Washington Examiner [4/22/2025 1:42 PM, Rachel Schilke, 2296K] reports that Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is the latest Republican to announce she is visiting El Salvador to meet with its president as the country takes center stage in American politics with President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Luna said she received a "personal invitation" from Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to travel to the country. "Thank you, President Bukele, for standing firm against organized crime. I look forward to seeing you," Luna said. In the last few weeks, several Republicans have traveled to El Salvador to meet with Bukele or other officials. Some, such as Reps. Jason Smith (R-MO) and Riley Moore (R-WV), shared photos of themselves visiting the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, a megaprison in Tecoluca where Trump sent thousands of illegal immigrants after little to no due process. Luna blasted Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the first Democrat to travel to the country to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant living in Maryland who was deported by the Trump administration. "Unlike Senator Van Hollen, who drank margaritas with a cartel member, I’ll be focused on strengthening the partnership between our nations, advancing shared commitments to safety, freedom, and national pride as well as discussing our commitments to continuing to fight for human rights," Luna wrote in a post.

CBS News [4/22/2025 7:10 PM, Chelsea Hylton, 51661K] reports in a Tuesday news conference, California Rep. Robert Garcia detailed his visit to El Salvador with other Democratic lawmakers to demand the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the 29-year-old Maryland man who was imprisoned in the country following his removal from the United States. Garcia was joined on the trip Monday by Democratic Reps. Maxwell Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Maxine Dexter of Oregon. The congressman said the group decided to travel to El Salvador after they were denied an official congressional trip by House Republicans. Garcia said that when the group arrived in El Salvador, they met with U.S. Embassy officials, the ambassador, Abrego Garcia’s family, attorney and human rights advocates. The delegation demanded to see Abrego Garcia but were denied, Garcia said. Abrego Garcia was initially held in El Salvador’s notorious Terrorist Confinement Center mega-prison, or CECOT, though he was later transferred to another facility, according to Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who met with Abrego Garcia last week. Garcia said Tuesday that he believed the Trump administration was defying a recent Supreme Court ruling requiring the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return after he was mistakenly deported in March. "What I think is really important in this moment that people understand is that this is a new line that [President] Donald Trump is crossing that is about due process, our Constitution and our democracy," Garcia said.

Breitbart [4/22/2025 6:21 PM, Olivia Rondeau, 2923K] reports El Salvador President Nayib Bukele took to social media to roast Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), one of the Democrat lawmakers who has taken time off his job to travel to El Salvador to advocate for the release of deported illegal migrants. Bukele, who recently entered a historic deal with the United States to house suspected members of criminal terrorist gangs Tren de Aragua (TdA) and MS-13 that have been deported from the U.S. in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), posted a suspicious comment that Frost made on X in 2016 on Tuesday. Frost, a far-left anti-gun activist who became the first Generation Z member of Congress in 2023, traveled to El Salvador with Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Maxine Dexter (D-OR), and Roberto Garcia (D-CA) on Monday to "pressure the Trump administration" to retrieve Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a deported suspected MS-13 gang member. Despite the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) corroborating decisions by two different immigration judges that Abrego Garcia is a member of the violent Salvadoran gang — and the fact that his American citizen wife accused him of viciously beating her — Frost and his colleagues have demanded his release from CECOT. Unfortunately for Frost, Bukele exposed a post that Frost made before he entered office — "fuckin wit my gang gon get u spilled": In a quote post, the Latin American leader responded with a "shrugging" emoji to highlight the congressman’s apparent past of appearing to be gang-affiliated on social media. The context of Frost’s 2016 post is unclear, as the original post he replied to has since been removed.

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 10:10 AM, Christopher Wiggins, 430301K] reports that the last time anyone spoke to Andry Hernández Romero, he thought he was being put on a plane back to Venezuela. Instead, the 31-year-old gay Venezuelan makeup artist, who came to the United States seeking asylum from political persecution and anti-LGBTQ+ violence, according to his attorney, was forcibly disappeared into one of the world’s toughest prisons. Hernández Romero is now believed to be held inside El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, better known as CECOT — a sprawling, brutalist mega-prison that has been compared to a modern gulag or concentration camp. Constructed by President Nayib Bukele to house alleged gang members, CECOT holds tens of thousands of men in isolation, most without trial. Many have not been convicted of any crimes. There is no phone access. No mail. No visits. No light. No end. "This is one of the most shocking things I could ever imagine happening to a client," said Lindsay Toczylowski, a 15-year immigration attorney and executive director of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, in an interview with The Advocate. Toczylowski is representing Hernández Romero in court. "He never left ICE custody," she said. "He had no criminal history. And yet they secretly shipped him off to a hellhole, like his life meant nothing.” ICE has refused to confirm anything to his attorneys. There is no removal order and no legal paperwork. The Department of Homeland Security and the White House did not respond to The Advocate’s requests for comment.

AP [4/22/2025 4:02 PM, Megan Janetsky, 48304K] reports that Costa Rica announced Tuesday it will allow some of the approximately 200 migrants deported from the United States and held in detention in the Central American country to stay and move about freely for three months. The move comes just days after human rights lawyers sued Costa Rica, alleging the government violated the rights of 81 migrant children by detaining them in a rural camp without any legal recourse, access to education or psychological services. There was no immediate word how many migrants — who are mostly from Afghanistan, Russia, China, Pakistan, India and other countries — would be given the permits but the children are expected to be among those allowed to stay. The government said the permits would be given “for humanitarian reasons” and would last for three months while the migrants seek asylum in Costa Rica or look for ways to leave the country. The migrants were deported to Panama and Costa Rica this year as the Trump administration sought to ramp up deportations. What was once said to be a temporary stay in Central America stretched on for months, fueling criticisms by rights groups as many of the deportees expressed fear over returning to their own countries.

Opinion – Editorials

USA Today [4/23/2025 5:05 AM, Nicole Russell, 75858K] reports I’m puzzled by Democratic politicians’ decision to turn Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant and alleged member of a violent gang who’s been deported from Maryland to El Salvador, into their latest cause célèbre. Four Democratic House members landed in the capital city of San Salvador on April 21 to appeal for his return to the United Sates: Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California. Just days earlier, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland made the same journey to meet with Abrego Garcia, who is being held in a Salvadoran prison. The Supreme Court has ruled that the deportation was illegal, and the Trump administration was instructed to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. But the Justice Department contends that it doesn’t have jurisdiction because he’s being held by a foreign government. The Trump administration was wrong to deport Abrego Garcia without the benefit of due process, but the fervor with which Democrats have embraced this case is bizarre. Trump is working to fix America’s broken immigration system. The message being sent to Americans is that President Donald Trump is busy trying to fix our nation’s broken immigration system while Democrats champion someone who took advantage of the broken system to enter the United States illegally in 2011 and to stay in the country for more than a decade. The circumstances that led up to his deportation also matter. Police in Maryland arrested Abrego Garcia in 2019, accusing him of being a member of MS-13, a Salvadoran gang that the United States has classified as a terrorist organization. Abrego Garcia denies he’s a member of MS-13, but the judge who heard his 2019 case ruled that there was enough evidence to indicate that he was a member of the gang and that his release would "pose a danger to property or persons.” The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed that decision, but Abrego Garcia was released under a protective custody order in 2019. In fact, Abrego Garcia’s legal argument for why he should not have been deported back to El Salvador is that he fears he will be targeted by Barrio 18, a rival gang of MS-13. Should it be Americans’ job to provide a permanent safe zone for illegal immigrants who fear violent gangs in their home countries? Still, Democrats have seized on Abrego Garcia’s case as a symbol of innocence, despite the damning optics. But for Democrats, the issue really isn’t Abrego Garcia’s guilt or innocence. It’s about trying to capitalize on Trump’s mistake in deporting an illegal immigrant without due process. Rather than admit to the mistake, the Trump administration has doubled down. This is unfortunate. An admission of errors in this case could help turn down the heat.

Washington Examiner [4/22/2025 10:36 AM, Christopher Tremoglie, 2296K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security has demonstrated its priority is safeguarding citizens from criminal illegal immigrants. Whereas the Biden administration and current Democrats in Congress essentially provided big welcome mats for dangerous illegal immigrants, such as those who murdered Laken Riley and Rachel Morin, the DHS under the Trump administration is making protecting the public a priority again. Democrats have shown they don’t care about innocent women in this country being murdered by illegal immigrants. People who have objected to policies that led to Abrego Garcia’s judge-approved deportation (albeit not to El Salvador) said absolutely nothing about the left-wing, Democrat-supported immigration policies that continuously allowed murderers to enter the country illegally. They are silent when women get brutally attacked and murdered, but make a federal case out of an illegal immigrant with suspected gang ties being deported. Time and time again, Democrats have made their priorities clear, and their priorities are not the people, especially not women going on morning jogs. For example, compare the difference in public appearances and statements by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) regarding Rachel Morin’s death and Abrego Garcia’s deportation. Moreover, if actions speak louder than words, then Democrats have a distinguished track record of being quite vociferous regarding their support of women compared to their support of criminal illegal immigrants. It’s time to fully admit that Democrats are the problem in the discourse surrounding the country’s immigration policies. They created situations that allowed innocent women such as Riley and Morin to be murdered.

Top News (Sunday Talk Shows)

Daily Caller [4/22/2025 3:10 PM, Staff, 33298K] reports Leavitt defended the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement by underscoring their determination to deport illegal criminals "at record speed" despite acknowledging the temporary legal hurdle of the U.S. Supreme Court order Saturday pausing deportations of Tren de Aragua members under the Alien Enemies Act. Leavitt said the administration remains "confident" that the nation’s highest court will ultimately rule that the president has the executive authority to remove foreign nationals deemed threats to national security. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data from March obtained by NBC News revealed that deportations slightly decreased compared to the same period last year. From March 1 to March 28, ICE deported a little over 12,300 people, down from around 12,700 in the same timeframe last year. Approximately 11,000 people were deported from the U.S. in February. The Trump administration has emphasized self-deportations as a means of reducing the number of illegal immigrants in the country, rather than having to forcibly deport them all. The administration launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign featuring DHS Secretary Kristi Noem warning of consequences for those who overstay deportation orders. Additionally, the CBP One App has been replaced by CBP Home, allowing immigrants to inform authorities of their plans to self-deport, according to a screenshot from DHS obtained by the DCNF.

Breitbart [4/22/2025 11:02 AM, Warner Todd Huston, 2923K] reports that President Donald Trump’s deputies are expanding detention space for illegal migrants as incoming detainees fill up housing facilities left by the Biden administration. The administration is closing in on 200,000 deportees, but is running out of places to put the ones waiting their turn while their deportation process is carried out. Federal data shows that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) now has about 48,000 illegal aliens in custody, but current federal funding maintains only 41,500 beds. The number of detainees is not about to go down any time soon, either. Trump is still pressuring his agencies to ramp up the apprehensions, according to the Washington Post. Mike Alvarez, an ICE spokesman, told the paper that his department is working to ease the overcrowding and "promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody" by moving some detainees to facilities with fewer occupants. "ICE is diligently working to decompress these detention facilities while maintaining compliance with federal standards and commitment to humane treatment," Alvarez told the Post. The administration is already making use of about 142 facilities, up from the 115 in use when Trump came to office. Alvarez says that the detention space is ramping up to 59,916 beds, though he did not specify where all the facilities are. There are plans to increase holding capacity to 100,000 beds, but those plans will take time to implement.

Los Angeles Times [4/22/2025 6:00 AM, Melissa Gomez, 13342K] reports a growing number of Southeast Asian immigrants in Los Angeles and Orange counties whose deportation orders have been on indefinite hold for years are being detained, and in some cases, deported after showing up for routine check-ins at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices, according to immigrant attorneys and advocacy groups. In recent months, a number of Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese immigrants have been told that deportation orders that had been stayed — in some cases for decades — are now being enforced as the Trump administration seeks to increase the number of deportations. The immigrants being targeted are generally people who were convicted of a crime after arriving in the U.S., making them eligible for deportation after their release from jail or prison. In most cases, ICE never followed through with the deportations because the immigrants had lived in the U.S. long enough that their home countries no longer recognized them as citizens, or as is the case with Laos, the home country does not readily issue repatriation documents. Instead, under longstanding policies, these immigrants have been allowed to remain in the U.S. with the condition that they checked in with ICE agents regularly to show they were working and staying out of trouble. The check-ins generally start out monthly, but over time become an annual visit. According to the Asian Law Caucus, as of 2024 there were roughly 15,100 Cambodians, Laotians and Vietnamese nationals living in this situation across the U.S. "People are very worried about their check-ins. They are dedicated to complying with their reporting requirements and want to continue to comply as they have been doing for years, but they are also afraid to report based on what they have seen on the news," said Lee Ann Felder-Heim, a staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus. Connie Chung Joe, the chief executive of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, said that in the last month her organization has been made aware of at least 17 community members in Los Angeles and Orange counties who have gone in for scheduled check-ins, only to be detained or deported.

San Diego Union Tribune [4/22/2025 1:30 PM, Amanda Hernandez, 1682K] reports that the Trump administration is moving quickly to dramatically expand the nation’s capacity for detaining immigrants who do not have legal authorization to be in the United States. The administration has largely turned to the for-profit, private prison industry to reopen or repurpose shuttered and aging facilities — many of which have been previously criticized for poor conditions and inadequate care. In February, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced it will reopen Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. The detention facility, owned by private prison company GEO Group, has the capacity to hold about 1,000 people. It will become the largest ICE processing and detention center on the East Coast. The 15-year contract is valued at $1 billion. Private prison operator CoreCivic also announced it will reopen the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The family detention site can house up to 2,400 ICE detainees, including children. The new contract will run through at least March 2030. Private immigration detention is growing fast — again. The Trump administration is rapidly expanding immigration detention through billion-dollar contracts with private prison companies, including GEO Group and CoreCivic. Dozens of facilities may reopen across at least eight states, including places with long histories of abuse. But while some communities and states are concerned about oversight and are pushing back, others see economic opportunity.

New York Times [4/22/2025 9:46 AM, Miriam Jordan, 145325K] reports that, in late January, Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a Venezuelan immigrant working in a delivery job in Detroit, picked up an order at a McDonald’s. He was heading to the address when he erroneously turned onto the Ambassador Bridge, which leads to Canada. It is a common mistake even for those who live in the Michigan border city. But for Mr. Prada, 32, it proved fateful. The U.S. authorities took Mr. Prada into custody when he attempted to re-enter the country; he was put in detention and ordered deported. On March 15, he told a friend in Chicago that he was among a number of detainees housed in Texas who expected to be repatriated to Venezuela. That evening, the Trump administration flew three planes carrying Venezuelan migrants from the Texas facility to El Salvador, where they have been ever since, locked up in a maximum-security prison and denied contact with the outside world. But Mr. Prada has not been heard from or seen. He is not on the list of 238 people who were deported to El Salvador that day. He does not appear in the photos and videos released by the authorities of shackled men with shaved heads. “He has simply disappeared,” said Javier, a friend in Chicago, the last person with whom Mr. Prada had contact. The friend spoke about Mr. Prada on condition that he be identified only by his middle name, out of fear that he too could be targeted by the immigration authorities. Mr. Prada’s brother, Hugo Prada, who is living in Venezuela, has also been trying to learn what happened. “We know nothing, nothing,” he said. Mr. Prada’s disappearance has created concerns that more immigrants have been deported to El Salvador than previously known. It also raises the question of whether some deportees may have been sent to other countries with no record of it. The U.S. authorities have confirmed that he was removed from the United States. But to where? “Ricardo’s story by itself is incredibly tragic — and we don’t know how many Ricardos there are,” said Ben Levey, a staff attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center who tried to locate Mr. Prada. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials ultimately confirmed that he had been deported but did not divulge his destination. The matter may be a simple oversight, but it has raised alarm among immigrant advocates and legal scholars, who say Mr. Prada’s case suggests a new level of disarray in the immigration system, as officials face pressure to rapidly fulfill President Trump’s pledge of mass deportations. While hundreds of thousands of immigrants have been deported under various administrations in recent years, it is extraordinarily unusual for them to disappear without a legal record.

NBC News [4/22/2025 10:17 PM, Kimmy Yam, 44742K] reports the federal government is fighting a judge’s ruling that Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk, who wrote an essay about Israel and the war in Gaza and is fighting deportation, must be transferred back to an immigration facility in Vermont from Louisiana. The Justice Department filed an appeal of the judge’s order Tuesday. U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III ruled Friday that Öztürk, who is being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Louisiana, must be transferred to Vermont, where her habeas corpus petition was filed. She would be allowed to remain there as the petition, which challenges her detainment, plays out in court. The ruling also removes her case in Louisiana immigration court. Sessions gave the government four days to respond. Department of Homeland Security agents grabbed Öztürk, a doctoral student who was in the United States on a student visa, off the street in late March. DHS accused her of engaging "in activities in support of Hamas.” Last year, Öztürk co-wrote an op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper that called on the school to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide" and divest from companies with ties to Israel. The school said in a statement that the essay did not violate its policies. Öztürk was moved to three separate locations, including Vermont, before she ended up in Louisiana, despite an order from a district court that said she could not be moved out of Massachusetts without notice. "For nearly 24 hours, Ms. Öztürk’s attorney was unable to locate her," the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing her in part, said in a news release. "More than 16 hours after a federal court ordered that Ms. Öztürk not be moved out of Massachusetts in order to ‘preserve the status quo,’ her counsel was kept in the dark about Ms. Öztürk’s whereabouts.” Court documents show that ICE officials said she was transferred there because "there was no available bedspace" in the New England facilities. Immigration advocates and experts say that facilities in rural Louisiana have been the subject of major human rights criticisms and that the Trump administration has sent students to a jurisdiction that is aligned with its immigration goals. The detentions of Öztürk and other student activists across the country have prompted widespread criticism of the federal government and its role in protecting free speech.

CBS New York [4/22/2025 9:59 AM, Renee Anderson, 51661K] reports a judge ordered New York City officials to halt their plan to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to establish an office at the Rikers Island jail complex. In a written order Monday, the judge temporarily barred the city from "taking any steps toward negotiating, signing, or implementing any Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government" before a hearing can be held Friday on a lawsuit challenging the plan. The New York City Council filed the suit last week, saying First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro’s executive order to establish the office was "unlawful" and "tainted by the conflict of interest created by the corrupt bargain the mayor entered into" with Trump administration officials. Critics have accused Mayor Eric Adams of agreeing to help the White House with its immigration crackdown in exchange for his federal corruption case being dismissed, which he has repeatedly denied. A spokesperson for City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is running to replace the mayor, said in a statement she appreciates the judge’s ruling and looks forward to the hearing on April 25. "Allowing ICE to operate an office on Rikers Island and carry out Trump’s destabilizing and extremist mass deportation agenda would make everyone in our city less safe. The Council stands firm in our efforts to protect the rights and safety of all New Yorkers against attacks by the Trump administration and its agents," the statement read. "We look forward to [Friday’s] hearing and will continue outlining why this executive order is unlawful and bad for public safety in our city.” A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said they will comply with the judge’s order ahead of the hearing. ICE previously had a presence at Rikers, but was effectively banned in 2014 under the laws that limit cooperation with immigration enforcement. Adams has said ICE and other federal agencies would assist with gang and drug-related investigations, but would not take part in civilian immigration enforcement.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [4/22/2025 11:02 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12829K]

Politico [4/22/2025 7:10 PM, Cris Seda Chabrier, 2100K] reports New York City Mayor Eric Adams and President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan ratcheted up their case Tuesday for cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials when they announced the indictment of 27 alleged Tren de Aragua members and associates on racketeering, narcotics, sex trafficking and robbery charges. Their announcements came after Adams moved to open a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on Rikers Island. “We have taken them down and we will continue to fight violent transnational crimes with the full force of the law,” Adams said during a press briefing at a federal office building in Manhattan. “It’s good to have partners in the federal agencies who are joining us in this priority on how important it is to keep our city safe.” A judge blocked ICE from setting up on Rikers after the City Council sued Mayor Adams, alleging that the mayor adopted Trump’s hard-line immigration policies as a “quid pro quo” in return for moving to drop criminal bribery charges against him. If the judge continues blocking the ICE office, Homan warned that not opening it could put other immigrants in jeopardy of arrests. “When ICE officers … have to go into the community to arrest the bad guy, a public safety threat, a national security threat, that means more officers in your neighborhood, that means more collateral arrests,” said Homan. “Give us access to the person that you locked in the jail cell.” Homan wouldn’t say if the alleged gang members would face deportation or stand trial, leaving it up to the prosecutors in the case, and he added that the federal government did not make any mistakes in its handling of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’ case.

Reported similarly:
AP [4/22/2025 10:05 PM, Philip Marcelo, 1682K]

Breitbart [4/22/2025 3:26 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2923K] reports Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin appeared on Fox News Tuesday to tout his relationship with federal immigration officials to crack down on dangerous migrant gangs. When MacCallum noted that Virginia has teamed up with the feds to grab up criminal gang members, Youngkin replied that his state is involved in an "unprecedented collaboration between the federal government agencies and state resources in order to go get bad guys."
The governor said that more than 200 federal officers are working with state officials to "unwind" criminal networks operating in the Commonwealth. So far, he noted, 521 violent illegals have been apprehended, of which about 132 are identified members of "international terrorist gangs."

WCBD [4/22/2025 3:46 PM, Sophie Brams] reports an international graduate student at the University of South Carolina, who claimed his legal status was recently stripped by the Trump administration, can continue his studies and research while legal proceedings play out, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Jacquelyn Austin temporarily blocked the government on April 18 from arresting or deporting Matthew Ariwoola, a Nigerian citizen, for two weeks while his case is being reviewed. Ariwoola, a fourth-year PhD student studying chemistry, is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Kristi Noem, and Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons. The complaint, filed April 18 by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Ariwoola, claims that the Trump administration "suddenly and unilaterally" terminated his legal status by deleting his records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) — an online database used to monitor the nonimmigrant status of international students.

FOX News [4/22/2025 7:37 PM, Louis Casiano, 46189K] reportsa Florida woman posed as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and briefly kidnapped her ex-boyfriend’s wife from her job, authorities said. Wearing a black shirt with ICE printed on the front, Latrance Battle, 52, went to the woman’s workplace at a hotel chain on April 10 wearing a black shirt with ICE printed on the front, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Battle, who had a hand-held radio with her, flashed a sheriff’s office business card and told the woman she had to leave with her, the BCSO said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the sheriff’s office. "Due to being in fear, the victim got in the vehicle and went willingly with Latrance," a sheriff’s office statement said. "The victim confirmed that she genuinely felt as if Latrance was an ICE agent at the time and she is in the process of becoming a legal United States resident.” As Battle drove, she spoke into her hand-held radio, which furthered the victim’s belief that she was being taken by an ICE agent, the kidnapped woman told authorities, according to the Miami Herald. During the ride, the woman tried calling her husband and her lawyer before Battle "forcefully snatched" the phone from her hand, deputies wrote. The woman became suspicious when they arrived at the Bridge Plaza apartment complex where Battle said additional ICE agents would be present, the newspaper reported. "The victim suspected something was wrong because Latrance told the victim they were going to the Sheriff’s Office," the sheriff’s office said. "As Latrance went inside the apartment, the victim fled and called law enforcement.” The woman told deputies that she hid behind a neighbor’s car. When Battle came out of her apartment, she saw the neighbor and asked him if he had seen a woman running, the neighbor told deputies. Battle told the neighbor she took the woman’s phone because "she knows what she did," investigators said. The neighbor let the kidnapped woman into his apartment until law enforcement arrived, where she called her husband and described the fake ICE agent, authorities said.

NBC News [4/22/2025 6:33 PM, Jean Lee, 44742K] reports an immigration judge has found the U.S. government’s initial deportation case against Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born Harvard scientist held in ICE detention, to be legally deficient, her attorney said, raising questions about whether the case can move forward. The preliminary immigration hearing, held in Jena, Louisiana, included three trial attorneys and a deputy chief counsel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Petrova’s attorney Greg Romanovsky described their presence as unusual for an early-stage proceeding. "In my 25 years of practice, I’ve never seen anything like it," he said. The judge determined that the Notice to Appear — the official document initiating deportation proceedings — did not meet legal standards, Romanovsky said. ICE has been given one week to file additional documentation to support its charge that Petrova is deportable. A follow-up hearing has been scheduled for July 22 to determine whether the case can proceed. If the judge rules that the deportability charge is valid, a final hearing on Petrova’s asylum application will be scheduled. Until then, a resolution in the case is likely to be months away, Romanovsky said. Petrova, 30, remains in ICE custody at Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana, where she has been held for about two months. She was a leading scientist at Harvard’s renowned Kirschner Lab until she was arrested at a Boston airport in mid-February. She is fighting possible deportation to Russia, where she said she fears persecution and jail time over her protests against the war in Ukraine. Her lawyer is now focused on securing her release, arguing that she should not remain in detention while her case remains in procedural uncertainty. The push for her release centers on a separate federal case Petrova’s attorney has filed in U.S. District Court in Vermont, where she is suing the Department of Homeland Security over what she alleges was an unlawful visa cancellation and her subsequent detention. A hearing in that case is scheduled for May 14 in Burlington, Vermont. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement X that Petrova was "lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.” "A subsequent K9 inspection uncovered undeclared petri dishes, containers of unknown substances, and loose vials of embryonic frog cells, all without proper permits," DHS said in the post. "Messages found on her phone revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them.” Petrova described the incident differently. "They asked if I have any biological samples in my luggage. I said yes," she previously told NBC News from detention in Louisiana. She described confusion over the customs procedures and a lengthy interrogation by Customs and Border Protection officers.

FOX News [4/22/2025 4:07 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46189K] reports while many state and local leaders have doubled down on their support for undocumented migrants and pledged to resist the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, Zuchowski has gone in the exact opposite direction. Zuchowski has entered his northeastern Ohio sheriff’s office into what is called a 287(g) agreement with ICE, which will allow several of his deputies to be "dual commissioned" to enforce immigration law in addition to their regular law enforcement duties. Portage County joins just two other counties in Ohio — Butler and Seneca — that have agreed to assist with immigration enforcement by signing onto the 287(g) program. According to Zuchowski, the agreement allows his deputies to make immigration arrests and to more efficiently coordinate with ICE to get criminal illegal aliens off the streets.

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 8:41 PM, Daniel Bice, Chris Ramirez, Vanessa Swales and Mary Spicuzza,, 430301K] reports the FBI is looking into whether veteran Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest when that person was scheduled to appear in her courtroom last week, sources told the Journal Sentinel. In an email to judges, Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley said agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement came to the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 with an arrest warrant. But his note made no mention of Dugan or a federal investigation into her conduct. ICE spokesperson Alethea Smock declined to comment. "We have no information to provide at this point," Smock said in an email. FBI officials did not respond to calls or emails. The Journal Sentinel reached out to Dugan by phone, at her courtroom and via email in recent days. In an April 22 email, Dugan said, "Nearly every fact regarding the ‘tips’ in your email is inaccurate.” Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, shown during a candidate forum in 2016. Last week’s incident marks at least the third time in recent months that federal immigration agents have come to the courthouse to make arrests. In March and early April, two people were arrested by ICE officials in the hallways of the courthouse. Conservative talk show host Dan O’Donnell was the first to report on the most recent incident. According to Ashley’s April 18 email, ICE agents showed up at the courthouse in the morning and identified themselves to security. They then went to the sixth floor, where Dugan’s courtroom is located. "They were asked whether they had a warrant, and the agents presented the warrant as well as their identification," Ashley’s email says. "They were asked to go to Chief Judge’s office. They complied. … They presented a warrant, which we copied.” Ashley said the ICE agents were asked to wait until the court hearing had concluded. All of the agents’ actions, he said, "were consistent with our draft policies, but we’re still in the process of conferring on the draft.” Earlier this month, Ashley said the ICE arrests at the courthouse were not unprecedented. He then assured county officials that he was working on a policy that is both legally strong and permits access to the courthouse complex. As of last week, a draft copy of the policy was circulated among judicial system partners and was to be released soon, according to Ashley. Ashley’s April 18 email does not mention the name of the defendant or whether the individual was ultimately arrested. Court records list only one case on Dugan’s calendar for that date, but it was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., not when ICE arrived in the morning. Early on April 21, Dugan wrote a one-sentence response to Ashley’s email. "As a point of clarification below, a warrant was not presented in the hallway on the 6th floor," Dugan wrote.

NBC News [4/23/2025 12:04 AM, Suzanne Gamboa, 44742K] reports it was March 13 when Nedizon Alejandro Leon Rengel called his brother Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel to wish him a happy birthday. Alejandro never heard back from him. Federal agents detained Adrián on his way to his job at a Dallas barbershop. For the next five weeks, Alejandro has searched for Adrián, trying to learn where he was: deported to another country? Held in an immigration facility in the United States? He and Adrián’s live-in girlfriend called Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas, getting shifted from office to office with different responses. Sometimes they were told Adrián was still in detention. Another time they were told that he had been deported back to "his country of origin," El Salvador, even though Adrián is Venezuelan. (Alejandro provided NBC News with audio recordings of the calls.). Their mother went to a detention center in Caracas, Venezuela, where deportees are held when they arrive from the United States, Alejandro said, but she was told no one by her son’s name was there. They enlisted the help of advocacy groups. Cristosal, a nonprofit organization in El Salvador working with families of presumed deportees to get answers from the U.S. and Salvadoran governments, had no answers. Same with the League of United Latin American Citizens, known as LULAC. Alejandro’s 6-year-old niece asked him almost every day: When will her dad call her? "For 40 days, his family has been waiting to hear his fate," LULAC CEO Juan Proaño said. Finally, on Tuesday, an answer. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to NBC News that Adrián had, in fact, been deported — to El Salvador. The news "saddens me a lot" and "shattered me," Alejandro said after he heard about his brother’s whereabouts from NBC News. DHS didn’t respond when it was asked whether Adrián was sent to CECOT, the mega-prison in El Salvador. But Alejandro fears that’s the case, given the many Venezuelans who were sent to CECOT from Texas a few days after he was detained. The administration has prioritized deporting men alleged to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which it has designated as a foreign terrorist organization under the 1700s-era wartime Alien Enemies Act. "Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel, entered our country illegally in 2023 from Venezuela and is an associate of Tren De Aragua," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told NBC News by email. "Tren de Aragua is vicious gang that rapes, maims, and murders for sport. President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem will not allow foreign terrorist enemies to operate in our country and endanger Americans. They will always put the safety of the American people first.” Asked for details and documents supporting DHS’ allegations of criminality, McLaughlin responded: "We aren’t going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one. That would be insane.”

FOX News [4/22/2025 10:57 AM, Brooke Taylor, 46189K] reports Fox News got exclusive access to a rare tour of an ICE detention facility in Texas, where approximately 400 to 500 illegal migrants are processed weekly. The Montgomery Processing Center is an ICE detention facility in Conroe, Texas, just north of Houston. It is one of the 134 detention facilities ICE operates across the United States. According to ICE data, there are 47,928 aliens in ICE custody nationwide. Of those in custody, approximately 25,679 or 54% have been charged or convicted of at least one criminal offense. As President Donald Trump advances his promises of increased deportation efforts, many of these facilities are coming under scrutiny for their living conditions. "What we hope to accomplish, more than anything, is to dispel the false narratives out there," Randy Tate, the facility manager, said. Currently, there are 1,240 detainees at the Montgomery Processing Center, which can hold up to roughly 1,300. The facility manager calls it a one-stop shop with everything needed inside the facility, removing the need to transport detainees. There is medical on site and also a full-fledged courthouse with 5 federal immigration courtrooms. "We have been told it’s one of the most active courts in the nation," Tate said. "This place is unique because it’s one of the few in the country that were designed and built for ICE and immigration. It was designed for this purpose.” Bret Bradford, the Field Office Director, said these detention facilities are not punitive; they are strictly for the purposes of removal. "The only reason we detain folks is to ensure their appearance in immigration court and to ensure their appearance for removal," Bradford said.

CBS Austin [4/22/2025 4:46 PM, Kristine Frazao, 602K] reports at first glance, the videos and photos tell a story of a family that loved guns. But, who they shared those guns and their home with is raising questions about the homeowner, Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano. Cano resigned last month in what appeared at the time to be a retirement. Though his letter did not give a reason for the resignation, it came shortly after a raid at his home in which Department of Homeland Security agents found Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, an illegal migrant and Tren de Aragua member living there. On Feb. 28, Ortega-Lopez was arrested and charged with being in the country illegally and possessing a firearm. In an interview with The National News Desk on Tuesday, former ICE field office director John Fabbricatore said, "This judge’s daughter is allowing this illegal alien to have access to firearms, which is unlawful under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). It is a felony for this illegal alien to be in possession of firearms.” Last year, an operation in New Mexico named "Operation Disruption" led to the rescue of 91 migrants being held in stash houses, many in Doña Ana County. Fabbricatore spent time working in Doña Ana County, which he said is one of many border towns that are a draw for transnational gang members. "The United States is a gold pot for them to be able to come into the United States, set up criminal networks, make money, transfer that money back down to Venezuela or transfer throughout the gang.” Court documents reveal he entered the country unlawfully in Dec. 2023, and a few months later had been hired by the judge’s wife, Nancy, who later offered him a place to stay in the residence she shared with her husband. But most shocking, Homeland Security Investigators said he "displayed clear indicators of his association with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.”

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 12:11 PM, Madeline Sherratt, 59943K] reports a 19-year-old US Citizen was arrested close to the southern border and held for 10 days by the Department of Homeland Security, the agency has confirmed. Jose Hermosillo, a New Mexico resident, was in Tucson to visit relatives when he was taken into custody on April 8, his girlfriend told Arizona Public Media. Officials have maintained that the father-of-one’s arrest “was the direct result of Hermosillo’s own actions and statements.” The DHS said that Hermosillo’s arrest “was the direct result of [his] own actions and statements.” The agency also noted that when an officer confronted him, Hermosillo was “without the proper immigration documents.” Documents in the case allege that Hermosillo “admitted to illegally entering the United States of America from Mexico on or about April 7, 2025.” The agency also said that Hermosillo was arrested close to Border Patrol headquarters in Nogales, Arizona, on the US-Mexico border, some 70 miles from Tucson. His girlfriend’s aunt, Grace Leyva, told AZPM that Hermosillo was held at Florence Correctional Center, 60 miles north of Tucson. In total, he spent 10 days in custody. He was released after relatives presented his birth certificate and social security card to the authorities. Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, described Hermosillo’s “narrative” about the events as “false” in a post on X. McLaughlin said that Hermosillo approached a CBP officer in Nogales and told him that he was a Mexican citizen and that he wanted to turn himself in. “He was processed and appeared in court on April 11. Afterward, he was held by the U.S. Marshals in Florence, AZ. A few days later, his family presented documents showing U.S. citizenship. The charges were dismissed, and he was released to his family.” The charges against Hermosillo were dropped without prejudice on Thursday.

Blaze [4/22/2025 10:15 AM, Julio Rosas, 1668K] reports that a recent case of a U.S. citizen being arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in Nogales, Arizona, and then held for 10 days before being released caused another outcry among leftists who claim it’s another example of racial profiling under the Trump administration. However, the I-213 document from the Department of Homeland Security shows that Border Patrol had many reasons to believe 19-year Jose Hermosillo was not a citizen of the U.S. and had crossed the southern border illegally. Hermosillo did not have identification on him when he was arrested, and according to the document, he stated he was not a U.S. citizen and was in the country illegally. AZPM reported that Hermosillo was visiting Tucson and "was lost and walking" near Nogales, which is an hour’s drive from Tucson, when he was arrested by Border Patrol on April 8. His girlfriend’s aunt Grace Layva said the family called numerous places looking for him, eventually discovering he had been placed in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Once his family provided a birth certificate and Social Security card, Hermosillo was released, and the case against him was dropped on Thursday. "He did say he was a U.S. citizen, but they didn’t believe him," Layva said. "I think they would have kept him. I think they would have if they would have not got that information yesterday in the court and gave that to ICE and the Border Patrol. He probably would have been deported already to Mexico."

Los Angeles Times [4/22/2025 11:41 PM, Clara Harter, 13342K] reports laborers who arrived at a Home Depot in Pomona on Tuesday morning in hopes of earning a day’s wage were met with uniformed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who reportedly began rounding up workers in the parking lot. L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said her office was told by community members that around 15 to 20 people were detained. "In response, I immediately directed the Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs to connect with the Pomona Day Labor Center to ensure those impacted receive the support and resources they need," she said in a statement. "While this remains a developing situation, I want to reaffirm my unwavering commitment to ensuring that all residents, regardless of their immigration status, are aware of and can exercise their constitutional rights.” One of the day laborers, who avoided being detained, spoke to ABC7 News about the traumatic effect of the raid. "I arrived here, and when I started seeing the scene, I started crying. The tears started leaving," the man said in Spanish. "We are here. We are human beings. We’re only here to support ourselves and maintain our families.” Immigrant rights groups were quick to condemn the action. The raid occurred about 8:30 a.m. and involved both marked and unmarked vans, according to the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, a nonprofit day labor organization. "We won’t stay quiet. Seeking employment is not a crime. Providing for those you love is not a crime," the center said in a statement on social media. "Please stay vigilant and spread power, not fear.” The organization urged community members to report immigration enforcement to the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice’s rapid response hotline at (909) 361-4588. In the wake of President Trump’s vows to crackdown on illegal immigration, community groups have been setting up tip lines across California to help track and disseminate information about ICE activity. ICE did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment. It issued a statement to ABC7 saying that it is not able to provide specific information on routine daily operations due to the tempo of the agency’s work and high volume of requests it receives. The Pomona Police Department confirmed that an immigration action took place Tuesday, but said it had no prior knowledge of or involvement in the raid. "As a reminder, the Pomona Police Department does not conduct immigration enforcement, which is a function of federal law enforcement," the department said in a statement. "Pomona PD was not involved in the detainment of individuals near Home Depot today and did not collaborate with any federal agencies on their operation.”

CBS Austin [4/22/2025 2:43 PM, Ryan Minnaugh, 602K] reports a federal judge has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to restore the legal status of 133 students who had their F-1 visas revoked. The students, who are now facing deportation, claim their visas were revoked without any notice or proper explanation. Judge Victoria M. Calvert of Georgia’s Northern District issued a temporary restraining order, effective for 14 days, mandating ICE to reinstate the students’ visas by 5 p.m. Tuesday. Many of the affected students are nearing graduation and had their records terminated on the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, a database used to monitor non-immigrant students. The Trump administration has defended the revocations, arguing they were valid under existing laws and regulations.

Miami Herald [4/22/2025 10:54 AM, Editorial Board; Miami Herald, 16K] reports that for now, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living legally in the U.S. and South Florida have gotten a reprieve after the courts put on hold the decision by the Department of Homeland Security to revoke their Temporary Protected Status. More importantly, the courts so far have rebuked the Trump administration’s claims that allowing those migrants to remain in the U.S. “imposes irreparable injury” to the executive branch and the public. President Donald Trump has spent his political career demonizing foreigners and relying on generalizations that programs like TPS — which provides legal status to people from countries like Venezuela facing oppressive regimes or turmoil — give the green light for an invasion of Latin American gang members into the U.S. Last month, U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen stopped the TPS revocation while a lawsuit filed by seven Venezuelans who have TPS goes through the courts. On Friday, a San Francisco appeals court backed Chen’s decision, ruling that Trump administration officials “have not demonstrated that they will suffer irreparable harm” if the lawsuit moves forward, the Herald reported. TPS recipients This is good news for the 350,000 Venezuelan TPS holders who would have lost deportation protections on April 7. Of course, their fates could change as the lawsuit plays out. The Trump administration’s lawyers have argued that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has the exclusive power to revoke the Biden administration’s decision to expand TPS for Venezuelans.

AP [4/22/2025 7:22 PM, Rebecca Santana, 24727K] reports the H-1B visa has long been a highly coveted employment visa for foreign citizens with specialized skills to live and work in the U.S., and recent requests from the Trump administration have put greater attention on the program. The requests for more information from people applying for or renewing H-1B visas come amid heightened tensions over immigration as President Donald Trump seeks to make good on his vow of mass deportations of people in the country illegally. Much of Trump’s agenda has been focused on arresting people in the country illegally or reversing Biden-era temporary deportation protections. There has been less attention on employment-based visas or other parts of the legal immigration system — though more than 1,000 international students have had their visas or legal status revoked. The requests for information come as the H-1B visa program is already a source of division within Trump’s Republican Party. The H-1B was created as part of the 1990 Immigration Act. It is a type of nonimmigrant visa, meaning it allows for a temporary stay in the U.S. and is not intended for people who want to immigrate permanently. Some eventually do, but only after transitioning to different immigration statuses. An H-1B allows employers to hire foreign workers who have specialized skills and a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. The idea behind the H-1B visa is that it allows employers to hire from abroad for jobs that they haven’t been able to fill in the U.S. Proponents say the visa is a critical tool for hard-to-fill positions. But critics on both sides of the aisle have said that it undercuts U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated. And earlier this year, Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, wrote a scathing open letter saying the program’s real purpose was to "replace American workers with lower-paid workers from abroad who often live as indentured servants.” A spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, said in an emailed statement that they are increasing screening and vetting of all foreign citizens filing for immigration benefits as part of the Trump administration’s "commitment to restoring integrity to our immigration system" and said those efforts had "lapsed" under the previous administration. "Collecting beneficiary information and biometric data is a necessary part of USCIS’s efforts to promote national security and public safety and to mitigate fraud by conducting screening and vetting in all immigration programs and the agency is proud to be returning to this important work," agency spokesman Matthew Tragesser said.

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 2:31 PM, Adam Bass, 430301K] reports that two students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute are part of a group suing the federal government for revoking their student visas earlier this month. Five international students — represented by four American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in New England and law firm Shaheen & Gordon — filed a federal class action lawsuit last week in New Hampshire federal court that aims to represent more than 100 students in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico who had their F-1 student immigration status revoked by President Donald Trump’s administration. Of the four students who are plaintiffs, two of them — Hangrui Zhang and Haoyang An, both of China — are students at WPI in Worcester, according to the lawsuit. The revocations at WPI took place on April 9, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit states that both students’ goals to complete their Ph.D programs are now in jeopardy. The other students are Linkhith Babu Gorrela, Thanuj Kumar Gummadavelli and Manikanta Pasula, all of India and students at Rivier University in New Hampshire. The defendants in the case are the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS); U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Boston Field Office; the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Manchester Sub-Field Office; DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit asks the court to reinstate their F-1 student status, which would allow them to continue their studies, according to a press release issued Friday from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo News [4/22/2025 2:18 PM, Sheetal Banchariya and Thomas Tracy, 430301K]

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 11:37 AM, Allison Bruhl, 430301K] reports that Congressman Cleo Fields (D-La.) is demanding answers from federal officials after eight international students at Southern University had their visas revoked without clear explanation. In a letter sent Tuesday, Fields called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons to provide transparency over the visa terminations and consider reinstating the students’ legal status pending a full investigation. "The sudden termination of these students’ legal status without clear justification not only threatens their academic careers but also undermines our nation’s reputation as a welcoming place for global scholarship," Fields said in a statement. "Such decisions demand immediate review and full transparency." Fields urged immigration officials to confirm whether any alleged violations occurred and to ensure that immigration actions reflect due process and American values. Southern University, a historically Black university, has not publicly commented on the revocations. Fields emphasized the university’s tradition of fostering cultural exchange and international collaboration. The situation in Louisiana comes amid a broader immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. Nationwide, more than 1,000 international students at over 160 colleges have had their legal status terminated in recent weeks, according to an Associated Press review. Students say they’ve received little to no explanation, prompting panic and lawsuits across multiple states.

Iowa Capital Dispatch [4/22/2025 3:36 PM, Clark Kauffman] reports four University of Iowa students and graduates from China and India, one of whom works for the state as an epidemiologist, are suing the federal government for revoking their status as students. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, was filed by a UI College of Law professor on behalf of the four plaintiffs, identified in court records only as John Doe No. 1 through 4. Named as defendants are Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, of which Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is a part. Also named as a defendant is Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons. According to the lawsuit, each of the plaintiffs was admitted to the United States on an F-1 student visa. The plaintiffs claim the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has violated their due process rights by terminating their student status earlier this month without legal justification or explanation. The Department of Homeland Security has yet to file a response to the lawsuit and, in response to a request for comment, provided only a statement "on background."

Axios [4/22/2025 8:20 AM, Kim Bojórquez, 13163K] reports the ACLU of Utah filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, accusing the agency of violating the rights of international students when it revoked their visas without explanation this month. The sudden visa revocations could not only force students out of school and work but also expose them to arrest, detention and deportation, the lawsuit alleges. The ACLU filed the complaint on behalf of eight anonymous international students — from China, Japan, Mexico and Nigeria — attending Utah schools, including BYU-Idaho. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons were named as defendants. More than 1,000 foreign students across the U.S. have had their visas or statuses voided by the Trump administration, CNN reports, and many are challenging the revocations in court. The Trump administration has claimed that some students lost their status because they were linked to pro-Palestinian protests. Others have had their visas taken away for past crimes, traffic violations, and unknown reasons. As of April 11, 22 students at the University of Utah have had their visas canceled, according to university officials. Over 50 students have been impacted statewide. "A few university students’ changes in status have not been connected to a clear, specific interaction with law enforcement, and they face an uncertain path to restoring their right to study in the U.S.," University of Utah president Taylor Randall said a statement this month. "It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America," DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "When you break our laws and advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked." During his monthly news conference last Thursday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told reporters he had reached out to the Trump administration to gather more information about the revoked visas. "We’ve asked them to give us a little bit of a heads-up when these things are happening," Cox said, adding that some students were found to have criminal backgrounds, while others were not. Here are four takeaways from the Utah lawsuit: 1. DHS revoked the F-1 visas of international students for "unknown and unspecified reasons," per the lawsuit. Attorneys argue the students had no criminal history that gave the defendants a legal basis for terminating their visas. 2. Students were not given the chance to contest the terminations, according to the complaint. Attorneys argue DHS violated the students’ due process rights under the Fifth Amendment. 3. Attorneys are seeking a temporary restraining order to reinstate the students’ records from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS), a database that tracks their compliance to maintain their visa status. The lawsuit alleges Immigrations and Customs Enforcement illegally deleted the students’ records from the registry. 4. Students can apply for reinstatement through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but the lawsuit alleges the defendants have informed multiple schools that they will deny those applications. International students in most major Utah universities and colleges have been affected.

Blaze [4/22/2025 2:30 PM, Staff, 1668K] reports that the Trump administration dismantled a media narrative reporting on the supposed maltreatment of German teens denied entry while trying to visit the U.S. The teens said they were interrogated and falsely accused of violating immigration laws while visiting during a global backpacking trip. A New York Post story claimed they were given a deportation order. On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement on social media justifying its actions. The statement was in response to a New York Post headline about the story. "Another false narrative. These travelers weren’t deported—they were denied entry after attempting to enter the U.S. under false pretenses," the department said. "One used a Visitor visa, the other the Visa Waiver Program," they added. "Both claimed they were touring California but later admitted they intended to work—something strictly prohibited under U.S. immigration laws for these visas.” The Post deleted its post on social media after the DHS statement, but its article kept the reporting on the claims from the teenagers. Eighteen-year-old Maria Lepere and 19-year-old Charlotte Pohl had arrived in Hawaii on March 18 and intended to eventually go on to Los Angeles and Costa Rica. Instead, they were interrogated by U.S. officials and detained before denied entry. Pohl told a German news outlet that officials distorted their words in the official report. Pohl said Customs and Border Protection were suspicious because the teens didn’t have hotel accommodations for their five-week stay in Hawaii.

Breitbart [4/22/2025 12:11 PM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2923K] reports that far-left President of Colombia Gustavo Petro claimed on Monday the administration of President Donald Trump revoked his U.S. visa but stressed he is at peace with the move as he has "already seen Donald Duck several times." Petro levied the claim during the latest meeting of his council of ministers. Petro changed the national policy to mandate the broadcast of these meetings live on Colombian television and over the internet, resulting in an embarrassing debut in February in which the ministers openly attacked each other while Petro mused about ancient Greek eroticism. Petro asserted during the Monday evening meeting that he can no longer visit the United States because, he claimed, "I think they took away my visa.” His Finance Minister Germán Ávila is presently in Washington to participate in spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. "Here we have to prepare ourselves for things, minister of finance, who is here replacing Germán Ávila, who is precisely in the United States. I can no longer go because I think they took away my visa. I had no need for a visa, but well, I have already seen Donald Duck several times," Petro said, without disclosing further details. Neither the U.S. Department of State nor any other U.S. government officials has publicly commented on Petro’s claims at press time. Colombia’s Radio Caracol reported on Tuesday morning that it was able to verify with the Colombian Foreign Ministry that Petro does have a U.S. visa but "without being very clear about what is really going on with his visa status."

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New York Post [4/22/2025 6:44 PM, Victor Nava, 54903K]

Houston Chronicle [4/22/2025 7:00 AM, Jeremy Wallace, 1769K] reports border crossings have plummeted in Texas, but that isn’t stopping Gov. Greg Abbott from building more border walls, even in areas that have traditionally resisted past efforts. Earlier this month, the Laredo City Council voted 6-2 to let Abbott and the state lease about 1,600 feet of city easements in an area northwest of the city to help the state build another three miles of border barrier. The state has targeted an area around Colombia Bridge — an international bridge about 25 miles from the city’s downtown. The vote has set off a cascade of criticism from locals who successfully blocked President Donald Trump from building border walls there during his first term in office. "This is a shocking move by our city leaders," said Tannya Benavides, a local community organizer. "The state came in and bullied their way into city hall with threats and scare tactics, falsely making it seem like we had no options. It was very manipulative and shows how they see us: just some small town that can be pushed around. It’s a huge sign of disrespect shown to our border community.” But city officials are defending the move, saying they are trying to maintain a working relationship with state officials to make sure they have input on barrier projects in more critical areas. City manager Joseph Neeb said that by giving the state access to a less populated area for a wall, it should give the city more influence over how the state approaches "more important, sensitive areas.” "I think the people who are impassioned in this don’t understand that side of it because they would rather have a ‘hell no, we don’t want it at all,’" he said, according to the Laredo Morning Times.

Houston Chronicle [4/22/2025 5:21 PM, Tanya Babbar, 1769K] reports a search of a U.S citizen’s luggage after returning from a cruise turned up over 70 grams of heroin mixed with fentanyl and THC vape oil at the Galveston Cruise Port, U.S Customs and Border officials announced Tuesday. The passenger, who was returning from a cruise to Mexico on Easter Sunday was found to have multiple vape pens with an illegal amount of THC by Galveston CBP officials. The passenger was arrested Sunday by local authorities and also found to have prescription pill bottles — two of which, had powdery substances that tested positive for fentanyl and heroin, according to Galveston CBP officials.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [4/22/2025 3:43 PM, Staff, 11K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the El Paso Port of Entry recently seized a shipment of counterfeit designer jewelry with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $9.2 million, if the products had been genuine. The shipment was intercepted on April 9, originating in China and destined for a residence in El Paso. The package contained 1,708 items of jewelry, including rings, bracelets, earrings, and necklaces, resembling the well-known luxury brand "Alhambra line" by Van Cleef & Arpels. CBP worked with the trademark owner to confirm the products were not legitimate, and the seizure was authorized on April 21. CBP officers seized the shipment, which was found to contain accessories and bracelets valued at $15,480. The investigation is ongoing.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [4/22/2025 6:02 PM, Staff, 11K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Paso del Norte International Crossing in El Paso seized 12.1 pounds of fentanyl and 0.3 pounds of cocaine on April 21. The drugs were concealed on a motorcycle driven by an 18-year-old U.S. citizen. The seizure occurred at 8 p.m. when members of CBP’s Mobile Customs Enforcement Team noticed abnormalities in the appearance of a red, single-rider motorcycle arriving from Mexico. CBP officers selected the vehicle for secondary examination. A CBP drug-sniffing dog searched the vehicle and alerted to the motorcycle. A non-intrusive Z-Portal scan of the vehicle also indicated abnormalities in the battery compartment. CBP officers continued their examination and removed seven packages from the compartment. One package contained cocaine, two fentanyl pills, and the remaining four packages were filled with powdered fentanyl. CBP officers arrested the driver. She was handed over to Homeland Security Investigations special agents to face federal charges related to the failed smuggling attempt.

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 6:21 PM, Gabriella Meza, 430301K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted a smuggling attempt on Monday after a motor scooter carrying more than 12 pounds of fentanyl and a small amount of cocaine tried to cross the border from Mexico into Texas. The incident occurred around 8 p.m. on Monday, April 21, at the Paso Del Norte international bridge in El Paso. According to CBP, officers with the Mobile Enforcement Team noticed suspicious characteristics on a red motor scooter driven by an 18-year-old U.S. citizen. The scooter and its lone rider were referred for a secondary inspection. Scooter that was hiding drugs. Drug bundles in battery compartment. During the inspection, a CBP drug-sniffing dog alerted officers to the vehicle. A non-intrusive Z-Portal scan further revealed irregularities in the scooter’s battery compartment. Upon further investigation, officers discovered seven drug bundles hidden inside the compartment. One bundle tested positive for cocaine, two contained fentanyl pills, and four others were filled with powdered fentanyl. In total, the seizure included approximately 12.14 pounds of fentanyl and 0.3 pounds of cocaine. "Smugglers will use any means possible in their attempts to introduce drugs into our communities," said Ray Provencio, CBP El Paso Port Director. "CBP officers remain vigilant because any one of the thousands of arriving vehicles we encounter daily could be transporting drugs.” The driver was taken into custody and turned over to special agents with Homeland Security Investigations. She is now facing federal charges related to the smuggling attempt. CBP has not released the suspect’s name at this time.

CBS News [4/22/2025 1:54 PM, Kerry Breen, 51661K] reports police in Texas found multiple packages of cocaine on the shores of Jamaica Beach, a small city on the Gulf of Mexico, on Easter Sunday, local officials said. Jamaica Beach officials said on social media that local officers and members of the Galveston Police Department had discovered the packages on the shore. Galveston borders Jamaica Beach. Police did not say how much cocaine was found on the shoreline or what its approximate value was. "It seems there was a raid on a ship offshore and the crew started dumping large amounts overboard, and it’s washing up on the coast line," the city of Jamaica Beach said in a statement on social media. On photo show a package of cocaine, labeled "7-P," tangled in algae on the shore. Another image shows two officers on the beach, one holding a brick of the drugs. Anyone who spots further packages should contact the Jamaica Beach Police Department, the city said. It’s not the first time illicit drugs have washed up on U.S. beaches. The Florida Keys have been a particular hotspot.

The Hill [4/22/2025 11:39 AM, Ellen Mitchell, 12829K] reports that American troops now have the authority to detain and search immigrants lacking certain documentation in New Mexico, a role service members have not held before at the southern border, U.S. Northern Command (Northcom) said Monday. Northcom said troops “have been delegated the authority” to conduct security support operations in the New Mexico National Defense Area, a zone that runs along the U.S.-Mexico border now considered part of the Army’s Fort Huachuca in Arizona. The authorization means service members can now temporarily detain and search trespassers, provide medical assistance and implement crowd control on the military-controlled land until appropriate law enforcement can take custody of an individual, according to a statement from Northcom, the command leading military efforts in the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Service members also may assist with setting up temporary barriers, signage and fencing if requested, Northcom said. “Through these enhanced authorities, U.S. Northern Command will ensure those who illegally trespass in the New Mexico National Defense Area are handed over to Customs and Border Protection or our other law enforcement partners,” Northcom Commander Gen. Gregory Guillot said in a statement. He added that Joint Task Force-Southern Border, the military task force charged with supporting border security, “will conduct enhanced detection and monitoring, which will include vehicle and foot patrols, rotary wing, and fixed surveillance site operations.”

New York Times [4/22/2025 8:26 AM, Eric Schmitt, 145325K] reports Gen. Dan Caine, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made an unannounced visit to the southwestern border over the weekend for a firsthand look at the military’s growing role in helping to stem migrant crossings, a top priority for President Trump. That General Caine made his first official trip to the border as chairman underscores the importance of the mission to the White House, and the Pentagon, even as crossings have dropped precipitously during the Trump administration. General Caine, a former Air Force F-16 fighter pilot, visited the military headquarters for the operation at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., on Saturday. He then took a 30-minute Blackhawk helicopter ride to a Border Patrol station at Douglas, Ariz., where he received briefings, said two military officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. The Pentagon has dispatched nearly 7,000 active-duty troops along the border from California to Texas, including armed infantry and support troops from the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson in Colorado. The military is also flying surveillance drones and other reconnaissance aircraft and has ordered two Navy ships to conduct patrols along the Pacific and Gulf coasts. General Caine’s visit came after Mr. Trump this month announced a plan to turn a narrow strip along the Mexican border in California, Arizona and New Mexico into a military installation as part of his effort to curtail illegal crossings. The plan, set out in a White House memo, calls for transferring authority over the 60-foot-wide strip of federal land, known as the Roosevelt Reservation, to the Defense Department from other cabinet agencies. Military forces patrolling that area could then temporarily detain migrants passing through for trespassing on a military reservation, the Pentagon’s Northern Command said in a statement on Monday. Dispatching large numbers of frontline combat forces underscores how Mr. Trump is breaking with past presidents’ recent practice of mostly limiting deployments along the U.S.-Mexico border to small numbers of active-duty soldiers and reservists.

USA Today [4/22/2025 3:39 PM, Saleen Martin, 75858K] reports a Texas man will spend months in prison after pleading guilty to trafficking six endangered spider monkeys, according to federal prosecutors. Sarmad Ghaled Dafar, 33, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced on April 18 to four months in federal prison and ordered to pay $23,501.70 in restitution to cover the cost of quarantining three of the trafficked monkeys in California, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a news release. The crime was discovered on Aug. 14, 2023, when Dafar’s co-conspirator tried to smuggle the three undeclared monkeys into the U.S. at the Calexico West port of entry, the charging document says. Investigators also found evidence that it wasn’t the first time Dafar had arranged the smuggling of Mexican spider monkeys. He had previously smuggled three of them into the U.S. in June 2022 and July 2023, although authorities do not know what happened to the monkeys during those incidents, the court document says.

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 6:52 PM, Sharon Song, 430301K] reports almost 7,600 pieces of counterfeit stuffed toys were seized at the Port of San Francisco by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, the agency announced on Monday. The Hello Kitty and Pokémon plush dolls had a total retail value exceeding $156K, according to the CBP. They were confiscated because of unauthorized use of trademark, agency officials said. A CBP spokesperson told KTVU the items were first flagged in February when officers inspected a shipment of almost 100 bags of plush toys. "While conducting the examination the officers discovered 30 bags of Pokémon and Hello Kitty plush toys in the shipment," the spokesperson said. An investigation was launched into intellectual property rights records involving Pokémon producer Nintendo of America Inc. and Hello Kitty creator Sanrio Company, Ltd. "It was determined that the products are unauthorized based on both copyright and trademark infringement," according to the CBP spokesperson. The agency said the toys were officially seized last Wednesday, noting that it’s a time-consuming process to verify counterfeit or pirated goods. CBP officials said no one was arrested in the case. "But the smugglers incurred in a significant loss by getting their fake products seized by the U.S. government," the spokesperson said, adding, "This enforcement action serves as a deterrent for future illegal activity.”

FOX News [4/22/2025 6:40 PM, Charles Creitz, 46189K] reports with President Donald Trump back in the White House and the final rollout of federal REAL ID requirements set to take effect in May, many of the loudest privacy advocates in Washington have been largely silent. While privacy-minded lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have spent years blasting the Patriot Act, among other measures, few are raising alarms over the Trump administration’s looming implementation of the REAL ID Act — a law passed in 2005 that critics describe as a national identification system. Some of the privacy-hawk lawmakers remaining silent on REAL ID were very vocal when another expansion of the national security surveillance apparatus came about – the Patriot Act of 2001 – but not so when the U.S. is only days away from REAL ID implementation. Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., were all in Congress when the Patriot Act faced ultimately-successful renewal in 2010s and when the 2020 bill amending and reauthorizing the related Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court came up for a vote. "Congress has a duty to safeguard Americans’ privacy, but the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act fails to adequately limit the types of information that the government can collect about Americans, and it fails to adequately limit how long the government can keep the information it collects about us," Markey said in a 2020 statement objecting to the FISA renewal. "I am unwilling to grant any president surveillance tools that pose such a high risk to Americans’ civil liberties," he said. In 2011, Merkley was one of eight senators who voted to prevent the Patriot Act renewal from even coming to the floor for debate, according to Oregon Live. His Beaver State colleague, Wyden, ultimately voted to allow debate, but said on the Senate floor during such discourse that it needs to be potentially reconsidered. "The Patriot Act was passed a decade ago during a period of understandable fear," Wyden said at the time. "Now is the time to revisit this… and ensure that a better job is done of striking that balance between fighting terror and protecting individual liberty.” Merkley expressed concern at the time about the Patriot Act’s ability to let law enforcement collect many types of personal data like emails and phone records. In a statement to Fox News Digital on privacy concerns with REAL ID, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said REAL IDs rightly "make identification harder to forge, thwarting criminals and terrorists.”

CNN [4/22/2025 10:40 AM, Staff, 22131K] reports if you’ve been to the airport recently, you might have noticed something different while going through security: a TSA agent taking your photo. Face scans can speed up the security process, but according to Dr. Joy Buolamwini, this technology comes with big picture risks. She explains what’s going on with these face scans — and how to opt out. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

CNN [4/22/2025 7:09 PM, Alexandra Skores, 22131K] reports security camera videos show the woman accused of sneaking past airport security and onto a Delta Air Lines plane headed to France. Svetlana Dali boarded Delta Flight 264 from New York’s JFK International Airport to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport on November 26 without a ticket, prosecutors say. In one of the videos, obtained by CNN from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, Dali can be seen proceeding through the security checkpoint’s body scanner, and getting a pat down while wearing a tan shirt over a grey hoodie and jeans. Dali first bypassed an airport employee in charge of a crewmember checkpoint and skipped stations where her ID and boarding pass would have been checked, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration told CNN. At the gate, she placed herself in the middle of what appeared to be a family traveling together. The second video shows Dali, now wearing a jacket and backpack with the grey hoodie pulled over her head, accompanying the group of passengers onto the jet bridge. At the time of the incident Delta Air Lines said it found "deviation from standard procedures is the root cause of this event.” Dali was returned to the United States and arrested but was released shortly after being charged. In December, prosecutors say, she cut off her ankle monitor and tried to flee to Canada. She was arrested again and has been in jail in New York ever since.

CNN [4/22/2025 11:49 AM, Gabe Cohen and Annie Grayer, 908K] reports that at a time when critical funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has slowed to a crawl, some states — with Republican governors — have been luckier than others in prying money loose. The Trump administration directed FEMA to prioritize payments to GOP-led Missouri and Virginia in recent weeks, while some other states’ requests weren’t being filled, according to multiple sources and internal communications obtained by CNN. The situation has raised concerns at FEMA that the White House is playing politics with critical emergency management funds. President Donald Trump and his allies have criticized FEMA for months as partisan, ineffective and unnecessary. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said she will "eliminate FEMA" altogether. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, denied any special treatment for red states, saying "the Secretary reviews every grant based on need — not discrimination based on state." Brian Hughes, a spokesman for Trump’s National Security Council, told CNN: "The only criteria for critical relief is ensuring we deploy all available resources to those impacted in the most efficient way to help all Americans. The premise of this inquiry and complaints of unnamed ‘sources’ are categorically false."

CNN [4/22/2025 12:47 AM, Taylor Romine and Taylor Ward, 22131K] reports a fast-moving wildfire in New Jersey expanded to 8,500 acres Tuesday afternoon, causing over 3,000 evacuations and threatening more than 1,300 structures while also closing a portion of the Garden State Parkway in the southern portion of the state. The fire started in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area of Ocean County Tuesday morning and 10% of the fire has been contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. The cause is under investigation. No injuries have been reported, but several businesses in an industrial park in Lacey Township have burned, Ocean County Undersheriff Jon Lombardi told CNN. It doesn’t appear any homes have suffered major damage, he said. The fire is already having impacts on the state, with over 26,000 customers impacted by power outages in Ocean County, according to PowerOutage.US. A nearby chunk of the Garden State Parkway, a main artery in the state, is closed as well, New Jersey State Police said. Thick, black clouds filled the sky, prompting a public health advisory in the county as air quality worsened. Some buildings appear to have already been burnt as firefighters work to protect structures, aerials from CNN affiliate WPVI show. The smoke wasn’t too bad at first, Giana Nicholas told CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey, but it quickly escalated and forced her family to evacuate. "Eventually as the night went on, smoke flooded the streets," she said. The fire comes as New Jersey is under an official drought warning, with "well-below average precipitation throughout the winter," the state said in a news release last month. Approximately 7,000 acres of New Jersey’s forests are burnt each year, with Tuesday’s fire surpassing the yearly average. While wildfires aren’t as common as in other areas of the country, the region is no stranger to the phenomenon. The Jennings Creek Fire burned several thousand acres in New Jersey and New York in November, prompting heavy response from both states. Winds Tuesday afternoon consistently gusted between 15 and 25 mph, but are expected to decrease later tonight. Dry weather is expected for the remainder of the week, but winds are expected to be much weaker, at only 5 to 10 mph. The Washington Post [4/23/2025 1:15 AM, Kelly Kasulis Cho and Ben Noll, 31735K] reports that the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Authorities have issued mandatory evacuations for several areas, including in the area of Route 9 in Lacey Township and in the areas surrounding several roads of Ocean Township. Those evacuating the fire are being directed to two shelters in the towns of Manahawkin and Manchester. The Lacey Township police said “evacuations will remain in place until forward progress and control is obtained” in fighting the fires. “New Jersey state forest fire personnel and local fire companies are on location actively suppressing the wildfire,” Lacey police said, adding that they expected increased smoke and decreased visibility in the area. The police also warned that residents should be prepared for the possibility of an extended power outage. More than 26,000 people were without power in Ocean County as of 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to the tracking platform Poweroutage.us. The region has been experiencing abnormally dry conditions that have developed since last fall, and no rain is forecast until Saturday. Winds in the fire area Tuesday gusted as high as 40 mph from the northwest and were expected to blow most of the smoke offshore. Early Wednesday, the winds were forecast to shift, potentially causing some of the smoke to blow toward other areas on land if the fire persists. “Don’t put wet clothing or bandannas over your mouth or nose,” the New Jersey Red Cross advised on social media. “Moist air causes more damage to airways than dry air at the same temperature.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/22/2025 9:13 PM, Ed Shanahan and Tracey Tully, 145325K]

CBS Philadelphia [4/22/2025 5:26 PM, Staff, 51661K] Video: HERE reports the Garden State Parkway is now shut down in both directions in Barnegat Township, as this large wildfire continues to burn out of control in Ocean County, New Jersey. It has now grown to 1,200 acres. Fire crews continue to battle the blaze from the ground and from the air with helicopters. Mandatory evacuation orders remain in place for people living on Wells Mills Road from Bryant Road to the parkway.

USA Today [4/22/2025 8:36 AM, Julia Gomez, 75858K] reports a wildfire in Pennsylvania has burned hundreds of acres and is moving closer to people’s homes as firefighters work to contain it. The Packerton Fire, which is also known as the Jim Thorpe Fire or Bear Mountain Fire, set 426 acres ablaze and is 15% contained, according to USA TODAY’s wildfire data. The fire is burning near Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, in Carbon County, which is around 82 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The fire was discovered on Sunday, according to USA TODAY’s data. The cause is still undetermined. USA TODAY contacted the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for more information.

CNN [4/22/2025 6:00 AM, Brenda Goodman, 22131K] reports Hurricane Helene tore through the Swannanoa River Valley of western North Carolina almost seven months ago, but many of the scars it left are still fresh. Flooding and landslides toppled trees and demolished homes and businesses. Debris still sits in piles dotting the landscape, and in some areas, people who lost their homes live in tents and RVs. In the county where it’s located, 43 people were killed. President Donald Trump traveled here in January, just four days after the start of his second term, and pledged more federal help. "We’ll be at your side through every step of the rebuilding," he said. On April 1, a small team from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s disaster epidemiology unit was preparing to make good on Trump’s promise. The CDC epidemiologists were set to join more than 40 state and local volunteers as well as 11 other CDC public health trainees in the Asheville area. Instead, the CDC team received notifications that they were being fired. The CDC team was intended to lead an intensive door-to-door effort to survey more than 210 households in Buncombe County over two days to learn about residents’ most pressing recovery needs. It’s called a CASPER, for Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response, and the CDC team that led them is the only one of its kind in the federal government. "We were all packed. My car was packed. I went to Costco and bought $50 worth of candy for the team," said a former CDC staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were afraid of retribution. CDC safety officers had already checked local routes to make sure the workers could get to the rural areas they were trying to target. The cuts torpedoed months of preparation and left the hard-hit region without a way to gauge how residents are doing nearly seven months after the storm. Instead, the CDC team had to call the health departments that had requested their help to share the difficult news. " ‘Hi. We all just got fired,’ " the staffer described. The county health department was at a loss. "They said, ‘Well, we can’t do this without you,’ " the former staffer said. The firings – part of a wave of deep cuts at federal health agencies in early April. In an op-ed published in the New York Post this month, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was making the cuts to streamline the sprawling agency. "Many of these offices contain duplicative and redundant functions, in many cases as the result of pet projects or crises that may have happened 20, 30 or even 40 years ago. We are not focusing on the right problems, and we are not coordinating our resources in an effective way," Kennedy wrote.

Bloomberg [4/22/2025 8:09 AM, Brian K Sullivan and Mary Hui, 16228K] reports that, at the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans last week, state and local emergency managers from across the US gathered to discuss how to meet the threat of nature’s most powerful storms. But in contrast to past years, almost no one from federal agencies was there. That’s because the Trump administration has clamped down on what it deems nonessential travel for government workers. While few attendees at the event — held for nearly 50 years — spoke publicly about the lack of federal participation, it cast a shadow across the confab. “It’s been a disservice not to have them at these kinds of conferences,” said Julie Roberts, who was deputy chief of staff for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during Trump’s first term and has since founded the Private Sector Emergency Management Association. “We are here, we are talking about hurricane seasons and preparing.” The Federal Emergency Management Agency is usually a major participant at the conference, meeting with state and local emergency managers and running courses. While FEMA’s involvement was pared back this year, the agency’s interim head, Cameron Hamilton, spoke at the event, saying the Trump administration was working to reform FEMA. “I believe very deeply in the uniqueness of the FEMA mission,” Hamilton said. Though there was time for questions after his remarks, no one in the auditorium raised a hand. The National Hurricane Conference, run by a Florida nonprofit, is about getting the public out of harm’s way and picking up the pieces after a storm has roared through. Attendees includes companies such as construction firms and portable toilet providers. Many of these companies rely on FEMA contracts or payments during the six-month Atlantic hurricane season that begins June 1. Now, the question is who is going to pay for these services. A key program, FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants, has already been cut. Bear Afkhami of emergency management consultant MPact Strategic Consulting said there’s a growing bipartisan push to get money flowing again to the program, which provided help to state and local agencies trying to meet natural and human-caused threats.

CBS Colorado [4/22/2025 9:00 PM, Jennifer McRae, 51661K] reports mandatory evacuations have been lifted for people living in the 4300 block of West County Road 54G in LaPorte, according to the Larimer Office of Emergency Management. The mandatory evacuations were ordered at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and lifted by 1:45 p.m. Voluntary evacuations had been ordered for the LaPorte area from the Cache La Poudre River area from Rawhide Drive to the new Highway 287 bypass and north of the 287 bypass, those voluntary evacuations were lifted at 1:35 p.m. Poudre Fire Authority posted on social media that they are working to extinguish a second-alarm wildland fire northwest of Fort Collins and LaPorte. They said several crews are working to create a fire line. PFA posted on X a short time later that "no structures at risk and no injuries are reported.” As part of the wildfire investigation, one citation was issued. LaPorte is located about 68 miles northwest of Denver.

Univision [4/22/2025 8:45 PM, Staff, 5325K] reports the electricity crisis in Puerto Rico remains unresolved. Following the massive blackout that affected the island last week, Governor Jenniffer González Colón announced the creation of two subcommittees to urgently address the system’s problems. The blackout was caused by a fault in a transmission line, which generated great discontent among the population, which was already accustomed to power outages. During the sixth meeting of the Multisectoral Committee on Energy Issues, held alongside Energy Czar Josué Colón, the Puerto Rican leader detailed the formation of the subcommittees that will work to resolve the deficiencies of the electricity system and ensure the island’s future stability. Puerto Rico has suffered recurring blackouts since Hurricane Maria devastated the energy infrastructure in 2017, and the situation has not substantially improved in recent years.

FOX News [4/22/2025 12:59 PM, Staff, 46189K] reports the ‘Outnumbered’ panel discussed looming security concerns after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was targeted in a robbery at a D.C. restaurant over Easter weekend. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 11:13 AM, Scott Yoshonis, 430301K] reports that a Lake Charles man has been arrested and charged with drug crimes and having hundreds of dollars in counterfeit money, authorities said. Jason S. Thibodeaux, Jr., 28, of Lake Charles, is charged with monetary instrument abuse, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Unit detectives assigned to the U.S. Secret Service Task Force were notified April 15 of Thibodeaux possibly passing counterfeit money in the Calcasieu area. CPSO detectives, with the assistance of the Secret Service Special Agent in Baton Rouge, were able to locate Thibodeaux April 17 at a restaurant in Lake Charles. Thibodeaux, who had an active warrant for contempt of court, was taken into custody. Officials said detectives located over $600 in counterfeit money on his person, and a search of the vehicle used by Thibodeaux revealed additional counterfeit money as well as suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Detectives said Thibodeaux confirmed he used counterfeit money on multiple occasions, with the intent to obtain real money as change. He was arrested and booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center on $82,000 bond. [Editorial note: consult video at source link for video]

Federal News Network [4/22/2025 1:58 PM, Michele Sandiford, 1089K] reports that the Coast Guard has digitized 40% of its paper health records as of February. In a new update on the initiative, the Coast Guard said the goal is to completely digitize all paper health records by the third quarter of fiscal 2027. The service began the effort to digitize 45,000 paper health records in November 2022. Digitized records can be viewed on the MHS Genesis portal and are also accessible to the Department of Veterans Affairs for benefits delivery. Two top leaders are resigning from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Bob Lord and Lauren Zaiberek separately announced this week that they will be stepping down from CISA. Both Lord and Zaiberek are senior advisors at CISA who have spearheaded the agency’s Secure by Design initiative in recent years. Their announcements come after the Department of Homeland Security opened up a second round of deferred resignations to CISA employees earlier this month. DHS leaders are reportedly looking to make large workforce cuts at CISA. [Editorial note: consult video at source link for video]

CyberScoop [4/22/2025 6:05 AM, Jeff E] reports U.S. ports are vital to the flow of imports and exports; however, the entire maritime transportation system’s cybersecurity is exceedingly vulnerable. The August 2024 ransomware attack at the Port of Seattle resulted in significant cargo delays and a data breach of 90,000 individuals. Such a wide-scale incursion could have resulted in a longer loss of communications, further security breaches, and accidents with fatalities. Amid rising national security concerns and urgent economic challenges posed by malicious cyber-enabled activities, the Trump administration faces an increasingly porous maritime border. In collaboration with Congress, state and local leaders, and the private sector, the administration must properly support and modernize the U.S. Coast Guard, invest in advanced technologies and security measures, better equip state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments, and take action to revitalize American shipping. The Biden administration took some steps to bolster maritime cybersecurity. The Coast Guard gained authority to lead on cybersecurity threats and directed the Commandant to develop minimum cybersecurity standards for the system. The Coast Guard’s track record as the sector risk management agency has fallen short. In a July 2024 audit report, the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General found that the organization lacked sufficient cyber expertise, capacity, and the necessary credibility to partner with private-sector port operators. The Government Accountability Office’s February 2025 Report also concluded that the Coast Guard lacked meaningful visibility into the true scale of cybersecurity incidents in maritime transportation systems, and the necessary personnel to respond effectively. Under this backdrop, the Coast Guard’s cyber mission seemed destined to fail. With emboldened adversaries, such as China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea, the Trump Administration must chart a new course that steers our maritime cybersecurity away from half-measures and wishful thinking.

DVIDS [4/22/2025 3:11 PM, Staff, 777K] reports the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Seneca (WMEC 906) returned to their home port in Portsmouth, April 11, following a 54-day maritime border security patrol in the Windward Passage. Seneca deployed in support of Homeland Security Task Force – Southeast (HSTF-SE) and Operation Vigilant Sentry (OVS) while underway in the Seventh Coast Guard District’s area of responsibility. Crew members directly contributed to safeguarding America by patrolling U.S. maritime borders and conducting alien interdiction operations. While underway in the Windward Passage, Seneca’s crew interdicted an unsafe and illegal voyage with 99 aliens on board. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Air and Marine Operations aircrew initially detected the vessel. Seneca crew members launched a small boat, interdicting the voyage and transferring the aliens aboard Seneca before their repatriation to Haiti. During the deployment, Seneca’s crew worked with many partners to include Coast Guard Cutters James (WMSL 754), Vigilant (WMEC 617), Valiant (WMEC 621), Tampa (WMEC 902), the Coast Guard Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron and the Royal Netherlands Navy. Their joint efforts included counter-drug operations and advanced shipborne helicopter training, increasing joint interoperability between interagency and international partners. “The integrity of our maritime borders is vital to national security, and I am proud of our crew’s hard work and determination throughout this deployment. Their dedicated commitment to deterrence of alien maritime migration saved lives from dangerous ventures at sea while safeguarding our borders,” said Cmdr. Lee Jones, commanding officer of Seneca. “Together with our partner agencies, we were able to effectively enforce United States customs and immigration laws against illegal entry.”

Yahoo News [4/22/2025 1:40 PM, Zita Fletcher, 430301K] reports that two alleged drug smuggling operations were brought to a swift halt this month by the Freedom-class littoral combat ship Minneapolis-Saint Paul within a 72-hour span, resulting in the seizure of an estimated $12 million in illicit drugs during the ship’s maiden deployment. The ship set sail on March 26 from its homeport of Naval Station Mayport, Florida, and steamed for the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations. Just weeks into the deployment, the crew intercepted 580 kilograms of cocaine and 2,480 pounds of marijuana through combined air-surface operations. "We train diligently and stand ready to execute interdiction missions at moment’s notice," Cmdr. Steven Fresse, commanding officer of the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, said in a release. "To be able to make an immediate impact so early on during our maiden deployment is a testament to the hard work and skills of the ship’s crew." As an LCS, the vessel, which deployed in support of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command, is designed for speed and operating in near-shore environments. The ship is currently assigned to Commander, Task Force 45, the surface task force of 4th Fleet responsible for carrying out combined operations, strengthening partnerships with Latin American and Caribbean nations and supporting law enforcement in counter-drug trafficking operations. The U.S. Navy regularly partners with LEDET teams to prevent illegal drugs from reaching the United States through maritime routes. Drug interdictions in the Caribbean are executed by the Coast Guard under the authority of the Seventh Coast Guard District based in Miami.

(B) CBS Mornings [4/22/2025 9:26 AM, Staff] reports that the City of Corpus Christi has been designated as a Coast Guard City. The city earned the honor through the community’s dedication and support for the men and women of the United States Coast Guard. Corpus Christi is the first Coast Guard City in Texas to join the 34 other cities nationwide for this honor. The COast Guard City designation lasts for five years with the possibility of recertification.

91.3 FM Tacoma [4/22/2025 9:46 AM, Staff] reports the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest said a boat crashed into rocks near San Jaun Island with two people on board. The boat took on water and broke apart. Coast Guard crews eventually located the boat. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

NBC 21 Bend [4/22/2025 9:52 PM, Barney Lerten, 564K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard rescued an ill crew member from a cruise ship about 15 miles west of Coos Bay on Easter Sunday. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River watchstanders received a report from the M/V National Geographic Venture at 6:38 a.m. Sunday that a 30-year-old male crew member was suffering from excessive vomiting and shortness of breath. Watchstanders consulted with the Coast Guard duty flight surgeon, who recommended a medevac via helicopter. At 8 a.m. Sunday, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station North Bend rendezvoused with the National Geographic Venture west of Coos Bay and successfully hoisted the patient to the helicopter. He was transported to Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay in stable condition. "Safe and efficient medical evacuations of mariners are only possible through closely coordinated efforts from start to finish," said Lt. Christopher Saylor, Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator, Sector Columbia River. “The expert coordination between the flight crews, vessel master, and watchstanders resulted in a successful outcome for the patient.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
CBS 13 Eugene [4/22/2025 3:56 PM, Staff]

ABC 3 Palm Springs [4/22/2025 7:21 PM, Staff, 232K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a cabin cruiser involved in an apparent human-smuggling attempt gone awry off the coast of Oceanside today, taking 19 suspected undocumented immigrants into custody. Crew members of the USCG cutter David Duren boarded the 25-foot private boat about 25 miles offshore from northern San Diego County at about 2:15 a.m., the federal maritime agency reported. All of the occupants of the boat -- 18 men and a woman -- claimed Mexican nationality, according to USCG public affairs. Though they reported that they had not had food or water for two days, preliminary medical evaluations uncovered no "major medical concerns’’ among members of the traveling group, Coast Guard officials stated. The crew of the cutter brought the detainees to Oceanside, where they were transferred to the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol.

USA Today [4/22/2025 7:55 PM, Terry Collins, 75858K] reports another dead whale was discovered in the waters of the San Francisco Bay, the fifth creature found in the area in less than a month, officials said. The female gray whale drifted overnight on April 20 and was spotted by the U.S. Coast Guard near the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, California, the next day, Giancarlo Rulli, a spokesperson for the Marin County, California-based Marine Mammal Center, told USA TODAY. The whale marks the fourth dead gray whale and fifth whale overall to wash up in the San Francisco Bay this year, according to the Mammal Center and the California Academy of Sciences. The latest whale death also comes about two weeks after a rare minke whale was discovered in the bay and later euthanized, officials said. The minke whale was found offshore near the city of Emeryville on April 7 in poor health, with skin peeling and a reddish hue across its back due to severe sunburn. It also struggled to breathe as it tried to navigate the waters, the Mammal Center said. It was euthanized on April 8. Necropsies show that two of the three gray whales discovered before the latest deaths were in good condition, but one whale had six fractured vertebrae, likely due to being struck by a passing vessel. The fourth dead gray whale was privately towed on April 22 to Angel Island State Park, where a necropsy will be performed, Nulli said. Meanwhile, officials are still looking into other causes for the other whales’ deaths, including malnutrition, according to Rulli. The previous gray whale strandings in the bay this year occurred between March 30 and April 4. "While the number of gray whale strandings has surpassed last year’s totals in the Bay Area, they are in line with what we saw at the tail end of the mortality event in 2022 and 2023 at this point in the year," Rulli said.

Axios [4/22/2025 12:49 PM, Sam Sabin, 13163K] reports that encrypted workplace communications services have seen a spike in user interest in the weeks since the now-infamous "Signalgate" started, executives at these companies tell Axios. Why it matters: No one wants to be the next Mike Waltz or Pete Hegseth by sharing classified materials with someone they shouldn’t. Some of these platforms have extra layers of security to limit who can receive and save messages. Driving the news: Defense Secretary Hegseth texted details about the March 15 military strike in Yemen in a second Signal chat, according to a New York Times report on Sunday. That chat, which Hegseth created and accessed using his personal device, included his wife, brother and personal lawyer. The Pentagon and Hegseth have denied the report. The big picture: Trump administration officials aren’t the only ones using Signal for confidential communications. Local police departments and C-suite executives are constantly conducting business via the publicly available encrypted messaging platform. Daily active users for Signal grew 13% last month, year over year, according to app data analysis firm Sensor Tower. "‘Signalgate’ laid that bare: The world moves off of group chats," Ari Andersen, founder and CEO of encrypted chat platform Kibu, told Axios. Between the lines: Signal isn’t to blame for the federal government’s operational security failures. But two encrypted communications companies told Axios they’ve had more customer calls and downloads since The Atlantic’s first story about military strike leaks over Signal.

CBS Baltimore [4/22/2025 7:36 PM, Christian Olaniran, 51661K] Video: HERE reports Baltimore City Public Schools is ramping up cybersecurity measures after a data breach, the district said Tuesday. The attack compromised the personal information of some current and former employees, volunteers, contractors, and a small percentage of students. City schools said in a news release that the attack may have resulted in "unauthorized acquisition" of certain files, folders and records. "The files may have contained one or more of the following elements: social security number, driver’s license number, or passport number. Information belonging to less than 1.5% of the current student population was also identified in acquired files," BCPS said. The compromised student files may have contained data such as student records, call logs, absenteeism records, or maternity status, according to the district. School officials said the breach was contained quickly, preventing it from significantly disrupting school operations. Those impacted by the data breach were contacted by mail on April 22, according to BCPS. BCPS said it notified law enforcement immediately after discovering the breach and worked with cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident. The school system is also offering complimentary credit monitoring services for 24 months to help mitigate potential harm. In February, the Anne Arundel County government said it was still recovering from a cyber incident that impacted public service and government buildings. The county took precautionary measures after the attack, including limiting internet access and closing some buildings while investigators determined the full scope of the incident. Then, Markus Rauschecker, Executive Director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Health and Homeland Security, told WJZ there’s been an uptick in cyber incidents targeting institutions, such as local municipalities and healthcare systems.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo News [4/22/2025 1:09 PM, Racquel Bazos, 430301K]

AP [4/22/2025 6:04 AM, Staff, 48304K] reports the Anti-Defamation League says the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States reached a record high last year and notes that 58% of the 9,354 incidents related to Israel, notably chants, speeches and signs at rallies protesting Israeli policies. In a report released Tuesday, the ADL, which has produced annual tallies for 46 years, said it’s the first time Israel-related incidents - 5,422 of them in 2024 - comprised more than half the total. A key reason is the widespread opposition to Israel’s military response in Gaza after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The ADL’s findings add grist to an intense, divisive debate among American Jews - and others - over the extent to which vehement criticism of Israeli policies and of Zionism should be considered antisemitic. The debate has broadened as President Donald Trump’s administration makes punitive moves against universities it considers too lax in combating antisemitism and seeks to deport some pro-Palestinian campus activists. The upshot, for numerous Jewish leaders, is a balancing act: Decrying flagrant acts of antisemitism as well as what they consider to be the administration’s exploitation of the issue to target individuals and institutions it dislikes. "The fears of antisemitism are legitimate and real - and we don’t want to see those real fears exploited to undermine democracy," said Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. "I feel that a majority of American Jews can believe that two things are true at the same time." The ADL said in its new report it is "careful to not conflate general criticism of Israel or anti-Israel activism with antisemitism." But there are gray areas. For example, the ADL contends that vilification of Zionism - the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel - is a form of antisemitism, yet some Jews are among the critics of Zionism and of the ADL itself. Incidents at anti-Israel rallies that counted as antisemitism in the new ADL tally include "justification or glorification of antisemitic violence, promotion of classic antisemitic tropes ... and signage equating Judaism or Zionism with Nazism." Also counted were celebrations of the Hamas attack on Israel and "unapologetic support for terrorism." "In 2024, hatred toward Israel was a driving force behind antisemitism across the U.S.," said Oren Segal, who leads the ADL’s efforts to combat extremism and terrorism. The report depicted university campuses as common venues for antisemitic incidents, saying many Jewish students "face hostility, exclusion and sometimes physical danger because of their identity or their beliefs." The experience of those students was evoked by Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism - an umbrella group for more than 800 Reform congregations in North America - as he discussed the complexities arising from current antisemitism-related developments. "We have an obligation to our students on campus," Jacobs said. "Can they go to Seder? Can they feel safe wearing a yarmulke?" "At the same time, this current administration has weaponized the fight against antisemitism by weakening core democratic institutions," Jacobs added.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [4/22/2025 10:19 AM, Rebecca Beitsch, 430301K]
FOX News [4/22/2025 5:00 AM, Rachel Wolf, 46189K]

New York Post [4/23/2025 1:50 AM, Victor Nava, 54903K] reports Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro revealed Tuesday that President Trump called him over the weekend to ask how his family was doing after the arson attack on the governor’s residence earlier this month. "I appreciated that the president called me," Shapiro told reporters at the annual Easter Egg Hunt in Harrisburg – the first public event held at the governor’s mansion since the April 13 blaze destroyed the historic state-owned building’s dining room. "I actually didn’t take his call because it came from his cellphone and I didn’t have that number in my phone, so I didn’t know who it was," the governor said. "As soon as I heard his message, I called him right back.” Shapiro said he spoke with Trump for more than 15 minutes, and the two discussed several topics, including the arson attack that forced the governor, his family, guests and pets to rush out of the building in the wee hours of the morning. "He was very gracious," Shapiro said of Trump, noting that the president asked about his wife, Lori, and their four children — who had all been asleep when Molotov cocktails were tossed into the building, igniting a huge blaze. "He asked how Lori and the kids were doing. [We] talked for a couple minutes about what transpired at the residence, and then we talked about for maybe the next 15 minutes or so about a whole host of other topics," Shapiro said. The governor refused to go into details about the other topics that were discussed. "Obviously, I’m not going to get into our private conversation," he said. "But he’s attuned to the issues that are important to me. I, of course, know the issues that are important to him, and we agreed to stay in touch going forward.” Cody Balmer — the alleged antisemitic madman accused of scaling a fence, smashing a window with a hammer and then hurling Molotov cocktails into the governor’s residence as Shapiro and his family slept — has been charged with arson, attempted murder, terrorism and other offenses. Balmer, 38, allegedly referenced Shapiro’s supposed "plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people" during a 911 call admitting to the attack, according to a police warrant. Authorities are investigating whether Balmer was driven to carry out the attack by antisemitism and prosecutors are weighing tacking on hate crime charges to the alleged firebug’s rap. Shapiro is Jewish.

Daily Wire [4/22/2025 4:53 AM, Hank Berrien, 4672K] reports that a Minnesota state fiscal policy analyst who reportedly admitted to vandalizing six Teslas, causing a reputed $21,000 in damages, will not be charged with criminal conduct by the local Democrat county attorney. Dylan Bryan Adams, 33, who describes himself as a fiscal policy analyst for the state Department of Human Services on social media, was caught on video keying different Teslas in the Minneapolis area. One owner of a victimized Tesla told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the marks on her car appeared to be a failed attempt to carve a swastika. "Our main priorities are to secure restitution for the victims and hold Mr. Adams accountable," Hennepin County Attorney’s Office spokesman Daniel Borgertpoepping stated. "As a result, we will file for pre-charge diversion to best facilitate both of those goals. This is an approach taken in many property crime cases and helps to ensure the individual keeps their job and can pay restitution, as well as reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses. Criminal prosecution remains a possibility should unlawful behavior continue." "Participants in the county attorney’s diversion program are expected to sign a contract which could include conditions like community service and restitution payments," the Star Tribune noted. "The Minneapolis Police Department did its job," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara reacted.

CBS News [4/22/2025 11:18 AM, Julia Falcon, 51661K] reports that the alleged teen gunman in a 2024 shooting at Dallas ISD’s Wilmer-Hutchins High School will appear in court on May 6. Ja’Kerian Rhodes-Ewing, who was 17 years old at the time of the shooting on April 12, 2024, was initially set to appear in a Dallas County courtroom on Tuesday for a plea hearing. About two hours after the hearing was supposed to take place, it was rescheduled for May 6. He allegedly shot another student in the leg with a Pink Lady 38 revolver inside a Wilmer-Hutchins High School classroom after a dispute. A witness quoted in the affidavit told Rhodes-Ewing to leave the classroom and the building "to prevent further harm to the victim and others." No other injuries were reported from the shooting. Rhodes-Ewing fled from the campus and was later found on Langdon Rd., near Wilmer-Hutchins Athletic Stadium. Police found the revolver hidden in a semi-wooded area nearby. The now 18-year-old remains in the Dallas County Jail with one charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlicensed carrying a weapon in prohibited places. His bond is set at $200,000. Dallas ISD said it had strengthened security measures since the shooting. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [4/22/2025 2:08 PM, Elizabeth Crisp, 12829K] reports that President Trump on Tuesday called the deadly attack on tourists at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir "deeply disturbing" and expressed his sympathy for those affected, in a post on Truth Social. "Deeply disturbing news out of Kashmir. The United States stands strong with India against Terrorism," Trump wrote in the post. "We pray for the souls of those lost, and for the recovery of the injured. [Indian] Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi, and the incredible people of India, have our full support and deepest sympathies. Our hearts are with you all!". Vice President Vance, who is in India with his family on a diplomatic trip this week and met with Modi on Monday, also expressed his sympathies in a post online. "Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people," he wrote social platform X. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack.” Authorities have said at least 20 tourists were killed when gunmen opened fire on people strolling through a popular meadow in Pahalgam, a site of religious significance to Hindus. According to The Associated Press, dozens more tourists were injured.

FOX News [4/22/2025 2:27 PM, Danielle Wallace, 46189K] reports that President Donald Trump extended his "deepest sympathies" on Tuesday after gunmen reportedly killed at least 20 people in India’s Kashmir region. "Deeply disturbing news out of Kashmir," Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. "The United States stands strong with India against Terrorism. We pray for the souls of those lost, and for the recovery of the injured. Prime Minister Modi, and the incredible people of India, have our full support and deepest sympathies. Our hearts are with you all!" White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump had been briefed by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz on the matter. Trump will speak with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "as soon as he possibly can to express his heartfelt condolences for those lost," Leavitt said at Tuesday’s White House briefing. "And our prayers are with those injured in our nation’s support for our ally, India. These types of horrific events by terrorists are why those of us who work for peace and stability in the world continue our mission. So we’ll give you a readout of that call later this afternoon." Leavitt said the press may hear from Trump directly later Tuesday afternoon. The shooting coincided with Vice President JD Vance and his family’s visit to India. Vance met with Modi on Monday and delivered a speech on strengthening the economic partnership between their two nations in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur earlier Tuesday. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [4/22/2025 1:52 PM, Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler, 908K] reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday rolled out the first stage of a major plan to reorganize the US State Department with changes that will eliminate 132 domestic offices, cut around 700 positions in Washington, DC, and close offices focused on war crimes and global conflict, according to a senior State Department official and documents obtained by CNN. The State Department argued the changes are necessary to maintain its efficacy and relevance, with a senior State Department official calling the current department organization chart "bloated" and arguing it has had a "deleterious effect on foreign policy and relevance of the Department." The senior State Department official said the changes wouldn’t result in immediate layoffs, but signaled that officials will lose their jobs. As part of the reorganization, 700 positions within the Washington headquarters are expected to be eliminated, the official said. An internal State Department fact sheet obtained by CNN said that "as part of the plan, the Under Secretaries will also submit a path to reducing staff in domestic offices by 15 percent, consistent with the President’s Workforce Optimization Initiative.” The long-anticipated reorganization proposal revealed Tuesday does not go into granular detail. The senior State Department official instead described it as a "roadmap." Undersecretaries of state have been tasked to develop plans within 30 days for leadership to implement the changes by July 1, according to a memo that Deputy Secretary of State Christoper Landau sent to the workforce Tuesday.

Free Beacon [4/22/2025 12:25 PM, Jon Levine, 475K] reports that the National Security Council categorically rejected claims surfaced in a news report that a senior staffer previously worked for the Israeli government before subsequent calls from anti-Semitic groups, like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), emerged for that staffer’s dismissal. Merav Ceren, now helping to steer White House policy for Israel and Iran, is a "patriotic American," Brian Hughes, a deputy national security adviser, said in a statement provided to the Washington Free Beacon. He was responding to assertions first leveled by Ryan Grim and Saagar Enjeti on the Substack site, Drop Site News, that Ceren had "formerly worked for the Israeli Ministry of Defense." She had not, Hughes said. "Merav was never employed by the Israeli Defense Ministry, let alone was she an Israeli official. She did a policy fellowship studying resource management in the West Bank, which is overseen by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, which required her to liaison with them for her research," Hughes said. "She is a patriotic American committed to implementing President Trump’s agenda, and these lies are efforts to undermine the President’s agenda." Ceren is a longtime Republican policy hand in Washington, D.C., and has previously worked for Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.).

AP [4/22/2025 5:14 PM, Tara Copp, 24727K] reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is defending himself against a second assertion that he shared classified material through an unapproved and unsecured network — this time taking airstrike information from a military communications channel and sharing it in a chat with his wife, his brother and others. Hegseth pulled the information he posted in the Signal chat from a secure communications channel used by U.S. Central Command. NBC News first reported that the launch times and bomb drop times of U.S. warplanes about to strike Houthi targets in Yemen — details multiple officials have said are highly classified — came from the secure channel. A person familiar with the chat confirmed that to The Associated Press. Hegseth has not directly acknowledged that he set up the second chat, which had more than a dozen people on it, including his wife, his lawyer and his brother Phil Hegseth, who was hired as a senior liaison to the Pentagon for the Department of Homeland Security. Instead, the secretary blamed the disclosure of the second Signal chat on leaks from disgruntled former staff. Hegseth has aggressively denied that the information he posted was classified. Regardless of that, Signal is a commercially available app that is encrypted but is not a government network and not authorized to carry classified information. Hegseth confirmed Tuesday that chief of staff Joe Kasper would be transitioning to a new position. Former Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell is also temporarily shifting to a more direct support role for Hegseth, and former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot announced he was resigning last week, unrelated to the leaks. The Pentagon said, however, that Ullyot was asked to resign.

NBC News [4/22/2025 9:01 AM, Courtney Kube and Gordon Lubold, 44742K] reports that, minutes before U.S. fighter jets took off to begin strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last month, Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, used a secure U.S. government system to send detailed information about the operation to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The material Kurilla sent included details about when U.S. fighters would take off and when they would hit their targets — details that could, if they fell into the wrong hands, put the pilots of those fighters in grave danger. But he was doing exactly what he was supposed to: providing Hegseth, his superior, with information he needed to know and using a system specifically designed to safely transmit sensitive and classified information. But then Hegseth used his personal phone to send some of the same information Kurilla had given him to at least two group text chats on the Signal messaging app, three U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the exchanges told NBC News. The sequence of events, which has not previously been reported, could raise new questions about Hegseth’s handling of the information, which he and the government have denied was classified. In all, according to the two sources, less than 10 minutes elapsed between Kurilla’s giving Hegseth the information and Hegseth’s sending it to the two group chats, one of which included other Cabinet-level officials and their designees — and, inadvertently, the editor of The Atlantic magazine. One of them was composed of Hegseth’s wife, brother and attorney and some of his aides. Hegseth shared the information on Signal even though, NBC News has reported, an aide warned him in the days beforehand to be careful not to share sensitive information on an unsecure communications system before the Yemen strikes, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

Rolling Stone [4/22/2025 10:53 AM, Nikki McCann Ramirez, 430301K] reports that embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Fox News interview on Tuesday morning that he has been sharing military attack plans on Signal "for media coordination and other things," claiming the plans were "informal." On Sunday, The New York Times reported on the existence of a second Signal chat — titled "Defense | Team Huddle" — in which Hegseth shared highly sensitive air strike plans against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The chat included his brother and Department of Homeland Security Adviser Phil Hegseth, his personal lawyer, and his wife Jennifer Rauchet, a Fox News producer with no official government position. The revelation comes weeks after Hegseth shared those same plans in another chat into which Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg had inadvertently been added, leading to a firestorm of controversy around Hegseth’s recklessness. Hegseth told Fox & Friends on Monday that this was all "old stuff," claiming that "no one is texting war plans." While Hegseth may be relying heavily on the technical definition of "war" to excuse himself, he went on to discuss sharing the strike plans. "I’m in the bowels of the Pentagon every single day. Just 10 minutes ago, I was looking at actual war plans — of things that were ongoing or pending to happen," Hegseth said. "What was shared over Signal, then and now, however you characterize it, was informal unclassified coordinations for media coordination and other things."

Wall Street Journal [4/22/2025 6:45 PM, Vera Bergengruen and Nancy A. Youssef, 646K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at former aides he called leakers during a Fox News interview, amid deepening turmoil at the Pentagon and controversy over his use of Signal group chats to share sensitive military information. “Those folks who are leaking, who have been pushed out of the building, are now attempting to leak and sabotage the president’s agenda,” Hegseth said. “They’ve come after me from day one.” Hegseth, a former Fox News host, is under investigation by the Pentagon’s inspector general over two group chats in the Signal messaging app—one with senior officials that inadvertently included a journalist, and another that included his wife, brother and personal attorney. Hegseth sent details about a planned Yemen strike minutes after the commander in charge of the military campaign shared them, a U.S. defense official said. NBC News first reported that Hegseth received data that made it to a Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer. Hegseth denied again on Tuesday that he had shared classified information or war plans, characterizing the chat that included his family as “informal, unclassified coordinations for media coordination and other things.” Hegseth on Tuesday said the people responsible could be prosecuted by the Justice Department. “Once a leaker, always a leaker,” he said. President Trump said on Monday that he stood by Hegseth, saying he was doing “a great job” and calling the disclosures of the second Signal chat “just fake news,” attributing the controversy to internal resistance to Hegseth’s agenda.

Reuters [4/22/2025 12:19 PM, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali, 41523K] reports that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Tuesday of possible prosecutions of former senior advisors who were fired during a probe into leaks of Pentagon information to the media, saying evidence would be handed over to the Department of Justice once the investigation is completed. Dan Caldwell, who was one of Hegseth’s top advisors, and two other senior officials were fired on Friday after being escorted out of the Pentagon. But they have denied any wrongdoing and said they have been told nothing about any alleged crimes. Hegseth, who has come under fire for using unclassified messaging system Signal to discuss plans to attack Yemen’s Houthi group, left open the possibility that individuals could be exonerated during the investigation but played down those chances. "If those people are exonerated, fantastic. We don’t think -- based on what we understand -- that it’s going to be a good day for a number of those individuals because of what was found in the investigation," Hegseth told Fox News. Hegseth said there had been a number of leaks that triggered the investigation, including about military options to ensure U.S. access to the Panama Canal and Elon Musk’s visit to the Pentagon.

Washington Examiner [4/22/2025 7:40 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 2296K] reports that, after speaking by phone to President Donald Trump Sunday night, embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth employed his textbook, "admit nothing, deny everything, attack the media," defense at the White House Easter egg roll as the latest allegations that he used the Signal app on a second occasion to share sensitive operational details with unauthorized parties, including his wife. In his two-minute harangue on the White House lawn, Hegseth railed against what he called "slash and burn Democrats" and "fake news" media "hoaxsters that peddle anonymous sources from leakers with axes to grind," without ever addressing whether he did what he’s accused of doing. "This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me," he said to reporters. "What a big surprise that a bunch of few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax that won’t give back their Pulitzers," he said. For now, President Trump seems willing to endorse Hegseth’s narrative that he’s a victim of a smear campaign by insiders opposed to the radical change he’s bringing to the Pentagon. "You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people. And that’s what he’s doing. So, you don’t always have friends when you do that," Trump said. "There’s no dysfunction … There is none. Pete’s doing a great job. Just fake news. They just bring up stories. I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees." In an appearance on Fox News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also blamed fifth columnists at the Pentagon. "This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change that you are trying to implement," she told Fox’s Brian Kilmeade. "Unfortunately, there have been people at that building who don’t like the change the secretary is trying to bring. So, they are leaking, and they are lying to the mainstream media." So far, Hegseth has lost five members of his inner circle, all die-hard Trump supporters and former friends and colleagues. Even as three senior staffers have been left in the dark about their dismissals, they have refrained from blaming Hegseth or publicly questioning his policies. Senior adviser Dan Caldwell, who was fired Friday along with Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy secretary, went on Tucker Carlson’s show to deny he ever leaked anything to anyone. None of the three have been told why they were fired or even if there was any leak investigation. "I don’t even know if that’s what I’m really being investigated for again if there’s a real investigation," Caldwell said, noting he was never given a polygraph test, nor was his personal phone checked for texts or other messages. "There’s a lot of evidence that there is not a real investigation."

NBC News [4/22/2025 1:25 PM, Natasha Korecki, 44742K] reports that in 2016, a Fox News host expressed outrage that Hillary Clinton had sent government emails over a private server while serving as secretary of state. This host said her behavior damaged the nation’s credibility. He said it warranted being fired "on the spot." And he said someone who did "even 1/1000th" of what Clinton had done would be jailed. "The fact that she wouldn’t be held accountable for this, I think, blows the mind of anyone who’s held our nation’s secrets dear," he said on Fox News at the time, adding that those with top-secret clearances "know that even one hiccup causes a problem." That Fox News host, Pete Hegseth, is now the defense secretary, and is facing his own controversy on mishandling sensitive information after he texted to a group chat — which included a journalist from The Atlantic — details of a planned strike in Yemen before it was carried out. National security adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for creating the group and the accidental leak. The conversation happened on a smartphone app called Signal, which uses end-to-end encryption but is not a government service. Using it to discuss sensitive military matters is not standard protocol. Hegseth did this again in a second instance, sharing similar intelligence details on a separate Signal chat on his personal phone with 13 people, including his wife, his brother and his personal lawyer, according to two people familiar with the matter. The New York Times first reported on the second Signal conversation Sunday. Hegseth’s attitude over his own handling of sensitive information? A giant shrug. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [4/22/2025 1:29 PM, Filip Timotija, 12829K] reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a recent interview that his chief of staff Joe Kasper is moving to a new role within the Pentagon amid the ongoing tumult at the Department of Defense (DOD), as three of his top aides were terminated last week. "Joe is a great guy, great American. He has done a fantastic job for us at the Defense Department, securing the southwest border, getting a beachhead here at the Pentagon," Hegseth said during a Tuesday morning appearance on "Fox & Friends." "He’s staying with us. Going to be in a slightly different role, but he’s not going anywhere, certainly not fired," he told host Brian Kilmeade. "You make changes over time, and we’re grateful for everything Joe’s done." A senior U.S. defense official told The Hill on Tuesday that Kasper will continue serving as a special government employee "handling special projects" at the DOD. "Secretary Hegseth is thankful for his continued leadership and work to advance the America First agenda," the official added. Kasper’s forthcoming departure from the role was first reported by Politico. Kasper’s shift marks another change at the department, where a handful of top advisers have already been terminated. On Friday, the Pentagon fired senior aides Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick, all of whom initially were placed on paid administrative leave days earlier and escorted out of the building.

Breitbart [4/22/2025 12:48 PM, Lucas Nolan, 2923K] reports that the remedies trial to address Google’s search monopoly verdict began Monday in Washington, D.C., with the company arguing that a breakup proposed by the DOJ would put the United States at a disadvantage in the global race for technological supremacy, particularly against China. CNBC reports that as Google faces the consequences of an August ruling that found the company held an illegal monopoly in its core market of internet search, the tech giant is pushing back against the DOJ’s proposed remedies. In a blog post, Google Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland stated that the DOJ’s proposal to divest the company’s Chrome browser unit and open its search data to rivals would "hamstring how we develop AI, and have a government-appointed committee regulate the design and development of our products." Google’s main argument is that such measures would hinder American innovation at a critical juncture, as the United States competes with China for leadership in the next generation of technology. Mulholland specifically named China’s DeepSeek as an emerging AI competitor, emphasizing the importance of Google’s continued efforts in making scientific and technological breakthroughs. The three-week remedies trial, which began Monday in Washington, D.C., will determine the consequences of the guilty verdict from August. Judge Amit Mehta is expected to make his ruling in August, at which point Google plans to file an appeal. The company plans to argue that the DOJ’s proposals go far beyond the court’s decision and would ultimately harm consumers, the economy, and the country’s technological leadership.

The Hill [4/22/2025 12:17 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 12829K] reports that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to visit Denmark amid U.S. tensions with the nation and its territory Greenland, he announced Tuesday. Jeffries said lawmakers will discuss "the continued importance of the NATO alliance and the geopolitical status of Greenland.” Reps. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), and Del. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa) will join Jeffries on the trip. The group is also scheduled to stop for talks in the United Kingdom and Middle East during a time of "global uncertainty." President Trump has expressed a desire to annex Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, calling it an "absolute necessity" for national security to combat the presence of China and Russia in the region. Leaders in Greenland and Denmark have sharply pushed back. Jeffries in January also criticized what he characterized as Trump’s "obsession" with the idea of the U.S. taking over Greenland. "For far too long, the size of the middle class in this country has gone down, but the cost of living has gone up. That’s a problem," Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol. Greenland and Denmark have been adamant about insisting the U.S. will not take control of Greenland.

Reuters [4/22/2025 5:25 AM, Lucy Papachristou, 41523K] reports a Russian court on Tuesday ordered that the jail sentence of a U.S. citizen convicted of drug trafficking be reduced to 9-1/2 years from 12-1/2, the man’s lawyer told Reuters. Robert Woodland was found guilty in July 2024 of attempting to sell drugs after he was arrested while transporting about 50 grams of mephedrone, a stimulant drug in the same class as amphetamine, to a safe cache in Moscow, prosecutors said. His lawyer, Stanislav Kshevitsky, previously told Reuters that Woodland had partially admitted guilt. It was not immediately clear why his sentence was lowered. Born in Russia in 1991 and adopted as a toddler by American parents, Woodland returned to his birth country as an adult to meet his biological mother, he told a Russian newspaper in 2020. Woodland is one of at least 10 Americans remaining behind bars in Russia following a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington earlier this month. That exchange saw the freeing of Ksenia Karelina, a dual Russian-U.S. citizen and Los Angeles spa worker serving a treason sentence, for Arthur Petrov, a German-Russian citizen accused by Washington of exporting sensitive microelectronics from the U.S. to Russia. Earlier this month, a different Russian court slightly reduced the sentence of U.S. soldier Gordon Black, who was jailed last year for stealing $113 from his girlfriend and threatening to kill her.

US News & World Report [4/22/2025 8:02 AM, Satoshi Sugiyama and John Geddie, 24727K] reports Chinese Premier Li Qiang has sent a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba calling for a coordinated response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff measures, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday. The letter, sent via the Chinese embassy in Japan, stressed the need to "fight protectionism together", Kyodo said, citing multiple Japanese government officials. The foreign ministries of both countries did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing warned countries on Monday against striking a broader economic deal with the United States at its expense, ratcheting up its rhetoric in a spiralling trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Japan, one of Washington’s closest allies, was among dozens of countries targeted by Trump’s sweeping tariffs earlier this month and has begun negotiations with the United States to try and resolve the issue. Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have been strained in recent years by a range of issues from territorial disputes to trade tensions.

Bloomberg [4/22/2025 9:05 PM, Staff, 16228K] reports President Trump pledges to “be very good to China.” Responding to reporters in the White House, Trump says he did not anticipate a “hardball” negotiation with Beijing. Trump predicts the final tariff on China would not be “anywhere near” the 145% level he has set. Separately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the tariff standoff cannot be sustained, and that both Beijing and Washington will have to find ways to de-escalate in the very near future.

USA Today [4/22/2025 7:32 PM, Joey Garrison, 75858K] reports President Donald Trump said the 145% tariffs he imposed on Chinese imports will eventually "come down substantially" as he expressed optimism about future talks to reach a U.S.-China trade deal. Trump’s remarks Tuesday to reporters in the Oval Office came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier in the day said in a closed-door speech that the trade standoff between the United States and China is not sustainable. "We’re going to be very nice, they’re going to be very nice, and we’ll see what happens," Trump told reporters when asked whether he planned to play "hardball" with Beijing and bring up with origins of the COVID-19 virus. "But ultimately," he added, "they have to make a deal because otherwise they’re not going to be able to deal in the United States. So we want them involved, but they have to ‒ and other countries have to ‒ make a deal, and if they don’t make a deal, we’ll set the deal.” Trump’s multiple rounds of tariffs on Chinese imports add up to a rate of 145%, prompting China to hit back with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports totaling 125%. The Trump administration exempted smartphones, computers, semiconductors and other electronics from 125% "reciprocal" tariffs, leaving only its blanket 20% tariff on Chinese goods imposed in response to China being a source of fentanyl, but they have said the move is only temporary. Trump said the current tariff rate on China won’t stay at the current level. "145% is very high, and it won’t be that high," Trump said. "No, it won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero ‒ used to be zero. We were just destroyed. China was taking us for a ride.” Formal trade negotiations between the U.S. and China are not underway.

Wall Street Journal [4/22/2025 11:00 PM, Shen Lu, 646K] reports on March 28, FBI agents raided two homes belonging to Xiaofeng Wang, a computer-science professor at Indiana University Bloomington. Hours later, the university fired him without explanation. Those events deepened a mystery around Wang, a well-known expert in cybersecurity who had worked at the university for two decades. His faculty page had suddenly gone missing from the university’s website weeks earlier. It later emerged that the university had been investigating Wang over undisclosed alleged China collaborations, though the connection with a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry remained unclear. The university declined to comment on Wang’s firing. It said it was recently made aware of a federal investigation of a faculty member but declined to say more “at the direction of the FBI.” In addition, Wang’s wife, Nianli Ma, lost her job as an Indiana University library analyst without being given a reason. Wang and Ma are Chinese citizens with permanent residency in the U.S. Jason Covert, a lawyer representing Wang and his wife, said that neither has been charged with a crime and that they aren’t in police custody. Wang’s story has sent a familiar chill through the community of Chinese scientists in the U.S. Many of them fear a renewal of the government suspicion, political pressure and criminal prosecution they faced under the first Trump administration, in the midst of escalating tensions between the government and universities.

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