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

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

The Wall Street Journal [4/25/2025 6:32 PM, Michelle Hackman and Joseph Pisani, 646K] reports the Trump administration is abruptly reversing course and restoring the legal status of thousands of international students whose status was suddenly terminated without warning or explanation this month, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. Lawyers representing students in several lawsuits have also been told of the policy shift by government lawyers. “It’s already starting to happen all over the country,” said Charles Kuck, a lawyer in Atlanta who brought a lawsuit representing 133 students against the government. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which runs the student visa program, started ending the legal status of international students earlier this month without any warning or explanation, creating widespread confusion and panic on college campuses across the country. Many of the affected students filed lawsuits against Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem and the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons. Students with revoked visas had to cancel marriage plans, miss classes and worry whether they would be snatched off the streets, according to their lawsuits. “I just immediately went into hiding,” said Anjan Roy, a 23-year-old master’s student at Missouri State University in Springfield. He received an email last month saying his legal status was revoked and that he could either go back to Bangladesh, where he is from, or be potentially detained and sent to another country. Roy moved in with a nearby family member, turned his phone off, missed two weeks of classes and tried to stay indoors. Even walking the dog worried him: “Every time I saw an SUV or a tinted-window car,” he said, “I was just so freaked out that ICE was going to pick me up.” Roy, who said he doesn’t know why he was targeted, joined a class-action suit. He returned to class Thursday after a federal judge in Atlanta temporarily restored the legal status for him and more than 100 other students who were part of the lawsuit. The Washington Post [4/25/2025 6:23 PM, Ben Brasch and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, 31735K] reports that attorneys filed at least 65 lawsuits on behalf of hundreds of international students whose records were terminated from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), according to an analysis by The Washington Post. In many cases, judges ruled against the government, saying the argument for terminating the student files was meritless. Then, on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said it had paused deactivating student files and would restore the SEVIS records for now. “It hasn’t really hit me yet,” said Brian Green, the Denver-area attorney representing an American University student in a case heard Friday in U.S. District Court in D.C. Colleges and universities use SEVIS as proof of a student’s legal status to remain in the country. There were about 1.1 million international students in the U.S. during the 2023-2024 school year, according to federal data. The American Immigration Lawyers Association estimates that at least 4,700 international students have had their SEVIS records terminated since Jan. 20. The SEVIS database statuses were terminated as President Donald Trump’s administration works to deport noncitizen students who it determines to have participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests, engaged in antisemitism or supported Hamas. Last month, after immigration officers began detaining students who protested Israel’s war in Gaza, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that federal officials had already revoked many visas and would continue to do so. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said all visa revocations are still in effect. “We have not reversed course on a single visa revocation. What we did is restore SEVIS access for people who had not had their visa revoked,” she said. The AP [4/25/2025 7:21 PM, Janie Har and Kate Brumback, 48304K] reports SEVIS is the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems database that tracks international students’ compliance with their visa status. NCIC is the National Crime Information Center, a database of criminal justice information maintained by the FBI. Several colleges said Friday they noticed legal status already had been restored for some of their students, but uncertainty remained. “It is still unclear whether ICE will restore status to everyone it has targeted and whether the State Department will help students whose visas were wrongly revoked,” said Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Bloomberg Law [4/25/2025 3:38 PM, Andrew Kreighbaum, 1085K] reports that the government told some colleges and attorneys for students that ICE is developing a policy "that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations," according to communications reviewed by Bloomberg. Until then, it said records of plaintiffs and students in similar circumstances would be reactivated, according to the communique from ICE, which was also entered into court records in several cases. It’s unclear if the reinstatements are a temporary measure or not, said Steven A. Brown, a partner at Reddy Neumann Brown PC who had received that update from a government attorney. "We’re seeing good trendlines," he said. "It’s not all of them but it’s moving in the right direction.". The student reinstatements appear to be happening across the board, said Annelise M. Araujo, founding principal and owner of immigration law firm Araujio & Fisher. Araujo hasn’t filed any lawsuits on behalf of clients, but several had seen records reinstated, she said.

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FOX News [4/25/2025 2:07 PM, Kristine Parks, 46189K] reports President Donald Trump defended his administration’s crackdown on antisemitism on college campuses amid criticisms that his actions are trampling on free speech. In an interview with TIME Magazine published Friday, the president was asked about the State Department revoking at least 300 student visas of college students across the country who were allegedly involved in anti-Israel protests and whether these people were being deported simply for "engaging in speech you don’t like." Trump said there was "tremendous antisemitism" at these protests where students set up camps and took over campus buildings in 2024 to protest Israel’s war in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks. "[I] agree with free speech, but not riots all over every college in America," he added. Asked whether he was worried that his deportations would be seen as "intimidating students or chilling free speech" on college campuses and elsewhere, Trump said no. "No, they can protest, but they can’t destroy the schools like they did with Columbia and others," he said.

BorderReport [4/25/2025 6:16 PM, Julian Resendiz, 117K] Video HERE reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem took to X on Friday to tout recent arrests of migrants accused of sex assaults and violent crimes such as murder and robbery. “Every day I get a report of individuals we have arrested in this country and gotten out that have been perpetuating violence against our communities and endangering families,” Noem said. In her 50-second monologue, she made a claim that drew scrutiny. “Since President Trump has been in office – just a few short weeks – we have arrested and deported over 150,000 individuals, many of them incredibly dangerous, (so) that now communities are much safer,” Noem said. Flipping over photos of some of the offenders, she thanked President Trump for “his leadership so dirtbags like these are no longer in the United States of America.” Migrant apprehensions at the Southwest border have been falling since last June and have outright plummeted since Trump took office on Jan. 20. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported barely 7,181 migrant encounters in March, a 95 percent decrease from the 137,473 apprehended in March 2024. The previous month, February 2025, border apprehensions totaled only 8,346. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

(B) American Agenda [4/25/2025 3:28 PM, Staff] reports that every day, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem receives a report on what criminals were arrested by ICE. Noem posted the update of over 150,000 aliens, including more than 600 members of Tren de Aragua, have been arrested under President Trump.

The AP [4/25/2025 6:16 PM, Alanna Durkin Richer, Devi Shastri and Scott Bauer, 48304K] reports the FBI on Friday arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, escalating a clash between the Trump administration and local authorities over the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of escorting the man and his lawyer out of her courtroom through the jury door last week after learning that immigration authorities were seeking his arrest. The man was taken into custody outside the courthouse after agents chased him on foot. President Donald Trump’s administration has accused state and local officials of interfering with his immigration enforcement priorities. The arrest also comes amid a growing battle between the administration and the federal judiciary over the president’s executive actions over deportations and other matters. Dugan was taken into custody by the FBI on Friday morning on the courthouse grounds, according to U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson Brady McCarron. She appeared briefly in federal court in Milwaukee later Friday before being released from custody. She faces charges of “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest” and obstructing or impeding a proceeding. “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing. He declined to comment to an Associated Press reporter following her court appearance. Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, in a statement on the arrest, accused the Trump administration of repeatedly using “dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level.” “I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law,” he said. Court papers suggest Dugan was alerted to the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the courthouse by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that they appeared to be in the hallway. The FBI affidavit describes Dugan as “visibly angry” over the arrival of immigration agents in the courthouse and says that she pronounced the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. It says she and another judge later approached members of the arrest team inside the courthouse, displaying what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.” CNN [4/25/2025 4:38 PM, Hannah Rabinowitz, Michael Williams and Devan Cole, 908K] report that the Justice Department has repeatedly asserted that it will investigate any local officials who do not assist federal authorities on immigration matters. “We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on X in a post Friday morning. “Thankfully our agents chased down the perp on foot and he’s been in custody since, but the Judge’s obstruction created increased danger to the public.” In charging documents, investigators said that plainclothes federal agents went to Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 with the intention of arresting Flores-Ruiz. A Mexican immigrant, Flores-Ruiz had been removed from the United States in 2013, but immigration officials learned he was back in the country illegally because of his arrest in a local domestic abuse case. After being informed of the agents’ presence by her courtroom deputy, the judge “became visibly angry, commented that the situation was ‘absurd,’ left the bench, and entered chambers,” court documents say. Witnesses told investigators that Dugan confronted the federal agents in a public hallway, where she repeatedly demanded they leave, saying they needed a different kind of warrant to make the arrest. Dugan ordered the agents to speak with the chief judge of the courthouse. Several witnesses – including Dugan’s courtroom deputy and both the prosecutor and the Victim Witness Specialist on Flores-Ruiz’s case – allegedly recounted seeing Dugan then direct Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to leave through a “jury door,” which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse, court documents say. The Wall Street Journal [4/25/2025 5:09 PM, Sadie Gurman and Joseph De Avila, 646K] reports “No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X. “You cannot obstruct a criminal case and, really, shame on her,” Bondi said later on Fox News. “She’s protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime.” Th eNew York Post [4/25/2025 2:35 PM, Emily Crane and Samuel Chamberlain, 54903K] reports that her arraignment has been set for May 15. "Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety," her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the proceeding. According to a criminal complaint obtained by The Post, an ICE officer and a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official showed up outside Dugan’s courtroom April 18 with a warrant for Flores-Ruiz’s arrest for illegally entering the US, but were told by a security guard and a sheriff’s sergeant to wait outside until after the hearing. The complaint noted that Flores-Ruiz, 30, had been deported from the US once before in 2013. It was not immediately clear when he crossed the border again, and there is no evidence he did so legally. Flores-Ruiz was appearing before Dugan April 18 for a pre-trial conference on three misdemeanor battery charges stemming from a fight the previous month in which he was accused of punching another person 30 times after being accused of playing music too loudly, according to a police report obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The complaint states that while the team assigned to arrest Flores-Ruiz, which included FBI and DEA agents, waited for the hearing to conclude, they were photographed by a public defender, who informed Dugan’s clerk that "there appeared to be ICE agents in the hallway.". NewsMax [4/25/2025 10:56 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4998K] reports Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley emailed judges to say Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 with an arrest warrant, the Journal Sentinel reported. Sources told the newspaper that Dugan directed the ICE agents to Ashley’s office, and then allowed the defendant to leave the courtroom through a side door, down a private hallway and into a public area. The incident was at least the third time in recent months federal immigration agents came to the Milwaukee courthouse to make arrests. Two people were arrested by ICE officials in the hallways of the courthouse, one each in March and early April, the Journal Sentinel reported. On Thursday, a recently resigned New Mexico judge and his wife were arrested in a federal raid on their family home after it was revealed they harbored an accused member of Tren de Aragua, KOAT reported. Homeland Security Investigations arrested three Venezuelan nationals during a raid on former judge Joel Cano’s property in late-February. According to court documents, the men had been living in a small guest house on Cano’s property. Reuters [4/25/2025 8:09 AM, Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward, 41523K] reports that "Since President Trump was inaugurated, activist judges have tried to obstruct President Trump and the American people’s mandate to make America safe and secure our homeland," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, "but this judge’s actions to shield an accused violent criminal illegal alien from justice is shocking and shameful.".

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Daily Wire [4/25/2025 6:29 AM, Zach Jewell, 4672K]

The New York Times [4/25/2025 2:45 PM, Julie Bosman, 145325K] reports the Wisconsin judge who was arrested on Friday morning on charges of obstructing immigration enforcement spent most of her legal career working on behalf of low-income people and marginalized groups. Federal authorities arrested the judge, Hannah C. Dugan of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, on suspicion that she “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from” an immigrant being pursued by federal authorities, Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, wrote on social media. The authorities said that earlier this month, Judge Dugan directed an undocumented immigrant through a side door in her courtroom while the agents waited in a public hallway to apprehend him. A statement issued on behalf of Judge Dugan late Friday stated that she “will defend herself vigorously and looks forward to being exonerated.” She has hired a former federal prosecutor to represent her, the statement said, and “has committed herself to the rule of law and the principles of due process for her entire career as a lawyer and a judge.” Judge Dugan, widely known in progressive circles in Milwaukee, was elected by a wide margin in 2016, beating an incumbent appointee of Scott Walker, the Republican former governor of Wisconsin. Judge Dugan was unopposed for re-election in 2022. Her current term expires in 2028. In 2023, she dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Republican Party of Wisconsin that argued a get-out-the-vote effort in Milwaukee violated the law. Judge Dugan, 65, graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1987 and took a job at Legal Action of Wisconsin, a group that provides free legal services. She worked as a lawyer specializing in housing, public benefits and Social Security cases, and was the coordinator of the organization’s pro bono attorney program from 1990 to 1994, according to her LinkedIn page. She later worked as the executive director for Catholic Charities of Southeastern Wisconsin. Judge Dugan has also served on the Milwaukee County Ethics Board. As a lawyer for Legal Aid, Judge Dugan took on cases defending the indigent. In 1995, she represented people who panhandled on downtown sidewalks, arguing that banning them from doing so was unconstitutional. In 2000, she argued that a surge in tickets written for “quality-of-life” issues had resulted in intimidation. “Anecdotally, from my clients, people don’t want to go to court, much less to trial, because they’ve been particularly intimidated by officers,” she told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at the time. “We’ve seen an increase in complaints of harassment and abuse.” NBC News [4/25/2025 6:49 PM, Dareh Gregorian and Suzanne Gamboa, 44742K] reports that a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security suggested in a statement that Dugan is an "activist judge." A statement issued on the judge’s behalf following her dramatic arrest said Dugan "has committed herself to the rule of law and the principles of due process for her entire career as a lawyer and a judge.". Dugan was hit with a criminal complaint Friday alleging that on April 18, she helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his attorney exit her courtroom when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up to arrest a man they said was an undocumented immigrant. Her alleged actions were cheered by immigration advocates who rallied outside of the courthouse, with speakers leading the protesters in chants of "due process is not negotiable" and "drop the charges.". "We see nothing wrong with what she did," said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera. She said her organization knows the judge as someone who defends people in the court system. "She’s someone who acted on her conscience and was standing up for due process rights for herself and others," she said.

Washington Examiner [4/25/2025 6:48 PM, Brady Knox, 2296K] reports the illegal immigrant allegedly protected by a Wisconsin judge who was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice over the incident has been charged with a variety of violent crimes, according to the Department of Homeland Security. FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest of Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan Friday morning after she allegedly misdirected Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to help an illegal immigrant evade arrest. DHS later revealed that the immigrant she allegedly protected, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, was being charged with a "laundry list" of violent crimes, including strangulation and suffocation, battery, and domestic abuse. "Since President [Donald] Trump was inaugurated, activist judges have tried to obstruct President Trump and the American people’s mandate to make America safe and secure our homeland — but this judge’s actions to shield an accused violent criminal illegal alien from justice is shocking and shameful," Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "We are thankful for our partners at the FBI for helping remove this accused criminal from America’s streets," she added. "If you are here illegally and break the law, we will hunt you down, arrest you and lock you up. That’s a promise.".

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FOX News [4/25/2025 4:32 PM, Brie Stimson, 46189K] reports a Mexican migrant who a Wisconsin judge was arrested for allegedly helping evade arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Friday faces domestic abuse charges, according to court records. Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 30, was arrested by ICE after his pre-trial hearing before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan last Friday. Flores-Ruiz faces three counts of domestic abuse – infliction of physical pain or injury, all of which are Class A misdemeanors. He made his initial appearance in court on March 18 after the alleged incident, which occurred on March 12. Flores-Ruiz was previously deported in 2013, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He is currently being held at the Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau, Wisconsin, according to the local outlet. The FBI arrested Dugan on Friday for allegedly hiding Flores-Ruiz in her jury room to prevent his arrest. Dugan was arrested and charged with obstruction of an official proceeding after evidence came to light that she had shielded Flores-Ruiz from ICE agents, according to a criminal complaint. She was also charged with concealing an individual to prevent discovery and arrest.

Axios [4/25/2025 2:26 PM, Jason Lalljee, 13163K] reports Attorney General Pam Bondi promised on Friday prosecution for judiciary members who cross the Trump administration. It represents an escalation in the administration’s ongoing fight with courts. Bondi’s threat comes on the heels of the FBI’s Friday arrest of Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, on charges of obstruction of an immigration arrest operation. Bondi said on FOX News Channel’s America Reports that the Trump administration will target judges who oppose the president’s growing immigration crackdown. "What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me," Bondi said. "The [judges] are deranged is all I can think of. I think some of these judges think that they are beyond and above the law. They are not, and we are sending a very strong message today ... if you are harboring a fugitive… we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you. Bondi alluded to the Trump administration’s willingness to conflict with the Constitution. When Fox News anchor John Roberts said that critics might interpret such prosecutions as "expanding" the powers of Article 1 of the Constitution, Bondi said "nobody is above the law." "If you are destroying evidence, if you are obstructing justice… it will not be tolerated," Bondi said.

ABC News [4/25/2025 4:40 PM, Staff, 34586K] reports the federal government announced two separate arrests Friday of a current judge and a former judge alleged to have assisted undocumented immigrants who authorities claim were violent criminals, moves that have raised red flags among Democrats and others. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested Friday by the FBI over allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest last week. Her arrest took place hours after federal authorities arrested former New Mexico Judge Joel Cano and his wife Nancy Cano for allegedly housing a Venezuelan national with reported gang ties, Attorney General Pam Bondi said. Bondi spoke with ABC News Live’s Kyra Phillips Friday afternoon to discuss the cases and dismissed critics who accused the Trump administration of intimidating judges who oppose their crackdown on undocumented immigrants. "Nobody is above the law, not even a judge," Bondi told Philips. FBI Director Kash Patel announced Judge Dugan’s arrest earlier Friday in a social media post, which was briefly deleted and reposted. "Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week," Patel said in the new post. "We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.". Dugan was charged with two criminal counts of "obstructing and impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States" and "concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest," according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday. Federal prosecutors allege Flores-Ruiz illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico and was issued an Expedited Removal order in January 2013, according to a criminal complaint. Bondi alleged that Flores-Ruiz beat his roommate and a woman so badly that they needed to be hospitalized and that he continued to be belligerent in the hospital before his arrest. According to the complaint, Dugan allegedly sought to help Flores-Ruiz evade arrest by federal officers from an ICE task force. When Judge Dugan learned ICE officers were present in court to arrest Flores-Ruiz, she became "visibly angry" and said the situation was "absurd" before leaving the bench and entering her chambers, according to the complaint, which cited witnesses who spoke to the FBI.

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FOX News [4/25/2025 2:40 PM, David Rutz, 46189K]

Blaze.com [4/25/2025 3:35 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1668K] reports FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest Friday of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan on charges of obstruction for her alleged role in helping an illegal alien escape detention last week. Patel indicated that Judge Dugan helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz get away from immigration officials following his pre-trial April 18 appearance in her courtroom. Flores-Ruiz, an illegal alien from Mexico who was previously deported in 2013, faces three misdemeanor counts of battery. The battery charges reportedly include modifiers for domestic violence and reflect that he allegedly punched one individual 30 times, then brutalized the woman who attempted to intervene. Bondi noted in an interview Friday that both of Flores-Ruiz’s alleged victims had to be hospitalized. Flores-Ruiz is now listed as being in ICE custody at Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Brady McCarron, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, reportedly indicated that Dugan is being charged with two federal felony counts: obstruction and concealing an individual. Sources told the Sentinel that while ICE officials went to talk to a chief judge on the sixth floor, Dugan took the illegal alien and his attorney to a side door in the court room, directed them down a private hallway, and into a public area, reported the Sentinel.

CNN [4/25/2025 6:23 PM, Devan Cole, 908K] reports the arrest of a Wisconsin state judge for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest has opened a new front in the Trump administration’s aggressive attempt to carry out a historic deportation campaign. The decision by the Justice Department to charge Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan for obstruction and concealing the individual from arrest turned a spotlight on the administration’s decision to exercise immigration enforcement in certain places that have in the past been mostly off-limits to such federal activity, including courthouses, schools and places of worship. Her arrest Friday morning immediately drew intense criticism from legal experts and Democratic lawmakers, who widely viewed it as the Trump administration’s latest bid to strong-arm courts around the country as it pushes ahead with controversial immigration policies. "Pure intimidation – nothing more than that," said retired federal Judge Nancy Gertner. The Justice Department has repeatedly asserted that it will investigate any local officials who do not assist federal authorities on immigration matters. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump revived a policy from his first term that allows federal officials to make immigration-related arrests in courts. But as in so-called sanctuary cities around the US, court officials are not obligated to work with federal officials in such arrests if the warrant being executed is an administrative warrant and not a judicial one.

The Hill [4/25/2025 6:25 PM, Niall Stanage, 12829K] reports the Friday arrest of a Wisconsin judge has ratcheted up the stakes even higher in President Trump’s clash with the judiciary. To his liberal critics, it is the latest example of Trump’s willingness to traduce norms, demolish democratic guardrails and seek to intimidate ideological opponents. To his supporters, it is a righteous push to ensure that the immigration laws, in particular, are upheld and to choke off the leeway that liberal-leaning judges have had to impose their own will. All of this comes in a context of repeated clashes with judges, especially — but not exclusively — over immigration, and polls showing Trump’s position eroding as he nears his 100th day in office. The specific allegations against Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan are set out in a charging document that is now public. Lawyers for the judge say she will vigorously protest her innocence against the charges. The offenses alleged are obstructing or impeding a proceeding, and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest. The controversy starts with a Mexican citizen, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who appears to have initially been removed from the United States as an unauthorized migrant back in 2013. Flores-Ruiz seems to have reentered the country some time after that, again illegally. His path intersected with Dugan this month because he was charged with three counts of battery-domestic abuse. Immigration officials, becoming aware of the case, issued a warrant for Flores-Ruiz’s address the day before he was to appear in Dugan’s court on the criminal charge. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents then went to the court with the intention of arresting him. Ultimately, the judge allegedly "escorted Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of the courtroom through the ‘jury door’, which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse." A foot chase ensued that an FBI agent alleges took place "for the entire length of the courthouse," before Flores-Ruiz was eventually arrested and detained. In a Friday social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel, an ardent Trump loyalist, praised the agency for "excellent work" in arresting the judge. Patel also contended that "the Judge’s obstruction created increases danger to the public.".

NewsMax.com [4/25/2025 7:59 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4998K] reports the Department of Justice, according to a newly unsealed document, is giving people who get a notice that they are being removed from the country under the Alien Enemies Act "no less than 12 hours" to contest the order. In a sworn declaration by Carlos Cisneros, an assistant field officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the official said immigrants are given "a reasonable amount of time, and no less than 12 hours, including the ability to make a telephone call, to indicate or express an intent to file a habeas petition," reports ABC News on Friday. "If the alien does not express any such intention, then ICE may proceed with the removal," the declaration adds. "If the alien does express an intent to file a habeas petition, the alien is given a reasonable amount of time, and no less than 24 hours, to actually file that petition.” The statements were unsealed by a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas, who had issued an order temporarily blocking the U.S. government from deporting Venezuelans being held in the El Valle Detention Center in Texas earlier this month. Last month, the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport two planeloads of Venezuelans to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador sparked a legal battle. The administration argues that the immigrants were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which it says is a "hybrid criminal state" invading the United States, justifying the use of the 18th-century wartime law. Cisneros also declared that since people who are subject to the AEA for several days before being deported, "they frequently have much more time to express an intent to file a habeas petition or to actually file such a petition.” An ICE official acknowledged that many of the men who were deported in March do not have criminal records in the United States, but said the "lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose" and shows "that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.” The Supreme Court has temporarily stopped the deportation of any Venezuelan being held in Texas under the AEA after an emergency appeal filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on claims that removals were restarting without allowing those who have been detained to receive due process.

New York Times [4/25/2025 5:29 PM, Abbie VanSickle, 145325K] reports this month, the Supreme Court ordered that Venezuelans threatened with deportation under an 18th-century wartime law be given a measure of due process — a chance to challenge their removal from the country in court. On Thursday, a declaration by an immigration official that laid out the Trump administration’s process for complying was unsealed. According to the official, detainees would be told of their impending removal in notices written in English and then would get one phone call and at least 12 hours to indicate that they wished to challenge their deportation. But if they did not file in court within 24 hours after giving notice, according to the declaration, they could be sent out of the country — including to a notorious terrorism prison in El Salvador. The disclosure caused legal experts to react with astonishment and predict that judges, potentially including the Supreme Court justices, would most likely look askance. “The administration’s notion of due process is a joke,” said Michael J. Klarman, a law professor and historian at Harvard. “I cannot imagine any non-MAGA judge taking the argument seriously.” Mr. Klarman noted that the Supreme Court had previously defined due process requirements. In Goldberg v. Kelly, decided in 1970, the justices found that before revoking a person’s welfare benefits, the government must provide notice of the reason and a hearing where the person could present evidence and contest the termination. “Remember that there we were dealing with the termination of welfare benefits, and here we are dealing with the right not to be interned in a gulag in El Salvador,” Mr. Klarman said. Among the problems Mr. Klarman and others outlined with the government’s procedure: Many Spanish-speaking detainees may not understand the English-language notices; they may not be able to secure a lawyer with a single phone call or in such a limited time; there is no indication that the clock for challenging deportation is paused overnight or outside business hours; and even if a detainee finds a lawyer, the attorney may not be able to examine the case and properly prepare a legal challenge in time. The decision by a federal judge in Texas to unseal the declaration is the latest move in the administration’s push to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants it claims are members of Tren de Aragua, a violent gang. It comes as the Supreme Court is again considering an emergency application asking it to halt the Trump administration’s use of the wartime law to conduct deportations. A ruling could arrive any time. Cases are also pending in federal courthouses around country, brought by detainees who believe they could be deported under the act.

FOX News [4/25/2025 4:22 PM, Haley Chi-Sing, 46189K] reports lawyers for Venezuelan men facing deportation told the Supreme Court on Monday that the Trump administration is defying its order by failing to give proper notice, violating their due process rights under the Constitution. The Supreme Court issued a ruling in a separate case on April 7, allowing the Trump administration to continue its deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA), proving a significant victory for President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. The justices noted that the deportations could continue so long as the AEA detainees received proper notice. "More specifically, in this context, AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act," the opinion reads. "The notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs.". Due process is a constitutional principle that ensures fairness in legal and administrative proceedings, which includes giving proper notice and an opportunity to be heard in a timely manner by an impartial tribunal. The Supreme Court pointed to Reno v. Flores, a 1993 Supreme Court case, in writing, ‘"It is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law’ in the context of removal proceedings.". "So, the detainees are entitled to notice and opportunity to be heard ‘appropriate to the nature of the case,’" the Court wrote, citing another Supreme Court precedent.

NPR [4/25/2025 7:19 AM, Ximena Bustillo, 29983K] Video: HERE reports the Trump administration is moving quickly to arrest, detain and remove people from the country. But critics say such actions can violate the due process rights that all people in the U.S. deserve.

NPR [4/25/2025 5:09 PM, Ramtin Arablouei, 29983K] Audio: HERE reports Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei from NPR’s Throughline talk with Daniel Tichenor, a professor of political science at the University of Oregon, about the origins of the Alien Enemies Act.

Bloomberg Law [4/25/2025 5:54 PM, Alicia A. Caldwell, 1085K] reports federal law enforcement agents can arrest Venezuelan nationals in the US suspected of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang without judicial or administrative warrants, according to a directive from Attorney General Pam Bondi. The memo, dated March 14 and obtained through a public records request by the transparency group Property of the People, outlines procedures under the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law that President Donald Trump invoked last month to fast-track deportations of some Venezuelan migrants. The directive instructs agents on how to identify suspected gang members and confirms they may take individuals into custody without first securing a warrant. However, it advises agents to consult federal prosecutors when possible to seek criminal search or arrest warrants for related offenses, such as violations like failing to carry immigration documents or register. The Trump administration has designated Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang, as a terrorist organization. In a related April 9 email obtained as part of the public records request, the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division ordered that individuals arrested under the Alien Enemies Act be transferred to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is housing such migrants at a Texas detention facility pending deportation. Acting Assistant Director Greg Nelsen warned agents against transferring detainees to the Southern District of New York — where a federal court order currently bars deportations under the act. So far, federal authorities have arrested more than 600 alleged Tren de Aragua members, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday in a post on X.

NBC News [4/25/2025 11:41 AM, Chloe Atkins and Patrick Smith, 44742K] reports Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student who faces deportation, was detained without an arrest warrant last month, according to court documents released Thursday. Khalil, a Syrian-born legal resident and green card holder, was arrested on March 8 after returning from an Iftar meal during Ramadan. In court documents, Department of Homeland Security attorneys state that the immigration officers "had exigent circumstances to conduct the warrantless arrest" and that Khalil said he would not cooperate and intended to leave the scene. Federal immigration authorities said they "believed there was a flight risk and arrest was necessary,” according to the court documents. Video footage of the arrest shows Khalil cooperating with officers and telling them, "Yes, I’m coming with you." He remains in custody at an immigration detention facility in Louisiana. DHS argued in court documents submitted to the court on Thursday that it did not need to obtain a warrant before the arrest because immigration officers have the power to detain people where there is suspicion of “an offense against the United States.” "The HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] supervisory agent believed there was a flight risk and arrest was necessary," the DHS wrote. "The agents had reason to believe that the respondent was likely to escape before a warrant could be obtained," it continued. "We learned for the first time that the DHS agents who arrested Mahmoud lied to him: they wrote in their arrest report that the agents told him that they had an arrest warrant, but DHS has now admitted in their filing that that was a lie and that there was no warrant at all at the time of the arrest," Marc Van Der Hout, one of Khalil’s attorneys, said in a statement. The Department of Justice and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Friday in an emailed statement: "Khalil was encountered by ICE officers and identified as a removable alien. When he tried to walk away, he was arrested. An administrative arrest warrant was executed at the time of his booking as is the custom."

Reported similarly:
The Hill [4/25/2025 5:04 PM, Lexi Lonas Cochran, 12829K]
Washington Examiner [4/25/2025 4:31 PM, Jack Birle, 2296K]

FOX News [4/25/2025 8:43 AM, Michael Dorgan Fox, 46189K] reports federal immigration agents did not have a warrant when they arrested anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil last month and defended their actions in new court documents, saying the arrest was legal. Khalil, one of the ringleaders of anti-Israel protests at Columbia University last year who the Trump administration is trying to deport, was arrested about six weeks ago from his university-owned apartment in New York City with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is part of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), telling him they were revoking his green card and student visa, according to Khalil’s attorney, Amy Greer. He was then taken to a Louisiana detention center. Documents entered in a New Jersey court on Thursday reveal a lawyer for Homeland Security wrote that when agents confronted Khalil on March 8 and asked him to cooperate while they tried to verify his identity, Khalil "stated that he would not cooperate and that he was going to leave the scene," the lawyer wrote. The Homeland Security supervisory agent at that point "believed there was a flight risk and arrest was necessary," he said. Lawyers for Khalil disputed the government’s account of the situation and said Khalil’s wife went into their apartment to retrieve his Green Card only for the agents to arrest him. Khalil is a Palestinian raised in Syria and a permanent U.S. resident. Khalil’s attorneys argued that the Trump administration has shown no evidence that he refused to cooperate with agents during his arrest. Greer, who was on the phone with Khalil and the arresting agent on the night of the arrest, said Khalil remained calm and complied with orders even as agents failed to show an arrest warrant. His lawyers say video released by Khalil’s wife shows he remained cooperative. "Today, we now know why they never showed Mahmoud that warrant — they didn’t have one. This is clearly yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify its unlawful arrest and detention of human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil, who is now, by the government’s own tacit admission, a political prisoner of the United States," Greer said. The Department of Homeland Security said previously that it conducted the arrest to protect U.S. national security and claimed that Khalil "led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.". Khalil played a major role in the protests against Israel which rocked Columbia University last year, and he met with university officials on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a group of student groups urging the university to divest from Israel, according to CNN. Khalil, who acted as a spokesperson for Columbia protesters, has not been charged with a crime. An immigration judge has already ruled that Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from the U.S. due to his involvement in the protests at Columbia University, saying that the U.S. government met its burden of proof to remove him. Khalil’s attorneys are appealing that decision. Marc Van Der Hout, a lawyer for Khalil, said in a press release put out by the American Civil Liberties Union that agents told Khalil when he was taken into custody that they had an arrest warrant and his lawyers only learned this week with the new government filing that there was none. "The government’s admission is astounding, and it is completely outrageous that they tried to assert to the immigration judge — and the world — in their initial filing of the arrest report that there was an arrest warrant when there was none," Van Der Hout said. "This is egregious conduct by DHS that should require, under the law, termination of these proceedings and we hope that the immigration court will so rule.".

Los Angeles Times [4/25/2025 6:00 AM, David G. Savage, 13342K] reports President Trump has pressed for quickly deporting hundreds of Venezuelan and Salvadoran men who are said to belong to a foreign crime gang. Those deportations have been challenged as illegal — and last week, blocked by the Supreme Court — if the detained men are not given a hearing to argue they are not gang members. But Trump’s deportations are unusual and may face a legal challenge for a different reason. Most of the deported men will not be sent back to their home country but instead to a maximum security prison in El Salvador where they can be held indefinitely. Sending someone to prison “constitutes punishment,” says UCLA law professor Ahilan Arulanantham. Before imprisoning people, including noncitizens, the government is required under the Constitution to charge the defendants with a crime and to prove their guilt in a jury trial, he said. The unusual mix of civil deportation and criminal-style punishment has received relatively little attention, he said. Last week, however, he filed an appeal on behalf of a Venezuelan man held in Texas, arguing that it would be unconstitutional for the government to send his client to a brutal prison. “There should be no serious dispute that sending someone to the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, constitutes punishment,” he said in the case of Matos vs. Venegas. “CECOT is not a civil detention center, but instead a maximum security prison in El Salvador. The inhumane conditions there have been well-documented. Detainees share communal cells that can hold up to 100 men where they spend 23.5 hours per day; the cells contain no furniture beyond rows of stacked metal bunks without mattresses or pillows; the lights are always on; and detainees have no access to visits or phone calls with lawyers, family, or community. Indeed, the conditions are so harsh that El Salvador’s own justice minister has said the only way out is in a coffin.” In defense of its deportations, Trump administration lawyers have pointed to the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and said it gave the president wartime powers to quickly deport foreigners. But administration officials also described the prison as imposing punishment on criminals. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said El Salvador had agreed to “accept for deportation any illegal alien in the United States who is a criminal from any nationality.”

Los Angeles Times [4/25/2025 6:00 AM, Rachel Uranga, 13342K] reports parents and families are finding it harder to reunite with migrant children in federal custody after the Trump administration tightened security restrictions on sponsorships, according to lawyers and other advocates who work with them. The rules have put some undocumented families in a desperate situation, leaving children who crossed the border unaccompanied languishing for months in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the advocates say. Among the raft of new rules implemented since January is a requirement that families provide proof of their income source, show a U.S. identification and in many cases take a DNA test. Scheduling a test can take weeks in some states. One Guatemalan mother living in California had been told in March that she would soon be reunited with her children, ages 7 and 14, who had been detained at the border without a legal custodian in January. Then new policies required the identification. In California, the only ID undocumented immigrants can obtain is a driver’s license, and the mother had never driven. "She had to learn how to drive to apply," said Molly Chew, project director at Vecina, a nonprofit whose ReUnite project works nationwide to help expedite the process for families with detained immigrant children. "She is terrified of driving.” Chew said she is requesting an exemption, but now the Office of Refugee Resettlement is also requiring the DNA test. The mother took the test and has been waiting for the results for a month. "These families are put in an impossible bind," Chew said. They’re being asked to "submit documents they legally can’t obtain, comply with procedures that expose them to immigration enforcement and wait indefinitely while their children remain in detention. They are being systematically set up to fail.” If a sponsor can’t produce a tax return or pay stubs for the last 60 consecutive days, they are being advised to turn in a note by their employer on official company letterhead, and case managers must be able to speak with a supervisor or human resources. Neither the Office of Refugee Resettlement nor the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the office, responded to requests from The Times. In the past, the administration has said that tight security restrictions are needed to protect children. "Safe and timely release must promote public safety and ensure that sponsors are able to provide for the physical and mental well-being of children," the agency’s online policy states.

FOX News [4/25/2025 3:33 PM, Cameron Arcand, 46189K] reports the United States Department of Agriculture is demanding that states ensure illegal immigrants are not using food stamps. The department wants states to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order from February that seeks improved methods to check that those in the country illegally do not receive federal benefits, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The measure is meant to crack down on fraud and serve as a safeguard because illegal immigrants are already not allowed to use SNAP benefits. Only citizens and some legal noncitizens can do so. The USDA is asking states to cross-check Social Security numbers with a death master file and to use the free Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system provided by the Department of Homeland Security for noncitizens applying for the benefits, among other steps to verify immigration status.

Blaze.com [4/25/2025 10:30 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1668K] reports the Trump administration is working to eliminate the monetary incentive for foreign nationals to steal into the country and to pressure noncitizens presently exploiting citizen supports to wean off or get packing. Pursuant to President Donald Trump’s Feb. 19 executive order "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders," the U.S. Department of Agriculture is now taking steps to ensure that illegal aliens cannot get their hands on food stamps. "President Trump has made it clear that American taxpayers will no longer subsidize illegal aliens," USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a Thursday statement. "We are stewards of taxpayer dollars, and it is our duty to ensure states confirm the identity and verify the immigration status of SNAP applicants," continued Rollins. "USDA’s nutrition programs are intended to support the most vulnerable Americans. To allow those who broke our laws by entering the United States illegally to receive these benefits is outrageous.". The USDA issued guidance on Thursday to state SNAP agencies nationwide setting out the minimum expectations for eligibility verification to prevent "ineligible aliens" from participating in the program. Only American citizens and certain lawfully present noncitizens, including individuals granted asylum, are eligible for SNAP benefits. However, the U.S Government Accountability Office noted in a September 2024 report that an estimated 11.7% or $10.5 billion of SNAP benefits paid out by the USDA in fiscal year 2023 "were the wrong amount or otherwise should not have been made.". The report indicated that "states made improper payments related to SNAP mainly because they did not verify recipients’ eligibility for program benefits." States apparently often failed to verify whether recipients were citizens or lawfully present noncitizens. The Center for Immigration Studies revealed in a December 2023 report that 48% of "illegal-headed households" used food welfare programs. ‘Taxpayer-funded benefits should be only for eligible taxpayers.’. As of 2022, American taxpayers were on the hook for at least $182 billion annually to provide services and benefits to illegal aliens and their dependents, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform. The new USDA guidance requires state agencies to: verify the identity of the applicant, ideally before confirming their immigration status; collect and verify Social Security numbers for all household members applying for SNAP benefits; compare SSNs to the Social Security Agency’s Death Master File database and ensure the SSN belongs to the applicant; and check alien applications against the Department of Homeland Security Systematic Alien Verification System for Entitlements — which DHS Secretary Kristi Noem advised governors last week is now available to states for free — to ensure eligibility.

FOX News [4/25/2025 12:57 PM, Rachel Wolf, Alec Schemmel, 46189K] reports a federal judge in Washington, D.C., blocked a portion of President Donald Trump’s executive order on election integrity that is popular among Americans, according to a Gallup poll. The portion of the order that Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down included provisions related to requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. Less than two weeks before the 2024 election, Gallup found that 84% of U.S. adults were in favor of requiring voters to show identification and 83% supported requiring proof of citizenship when registering for the first time. When broken down by party, 67% of Democrats, 84% of Independents and 98% of Republicans were in favor of mandating voter ID. The party breakdown over proof of citizenship was similar, with 66% of Democrats, 84% of Independents and 96% of Republicans supporting the idea. Kollar-Kotelly, however, argued that Trump did not have the authority to issue such an order, as the Constitution delegates control of election regulations to Congress and states. "Consistent with that allocation of power, Congress is currently debating legislation that would affect many of the changes the President purports to order," Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton appointee, wrote in her order. "No statutory delegation of authority to the Executive Branch permits the President to short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order." Earlier this month, the House passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require states to obtain proof of citizenship for those registering to vote in a federal election. Additionally, the act mandates that all non-citizens be removed from voter rolls. The Senate still needs to pass the measure before it can reach Trump’s desk. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who sponsored the bill in the House, wrote, "In order to preserve this republic, we must uphold what it means to be able to vote in a U.S. election. I am grateful that my colleagues answered the call and passed the SAVE Act, as this serves as a critical first step to ensure that we maintain election integrity throughout our country."

CNN [4/25/2025 2:32 PM, Priscilla Alvarez, 22131K] reports staffers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency are building a master database to speed-up immigration enforcement and deportations by combining sensitive data from across the federal government, multiple sources familiar with the plans tell CNN. The goal is to create a massive repository of data pulled from various agencies, according to sources familiar with the project who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to talk about it. The administration has previously sought to centralize information from a number of agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration and Health and Human Services, among others. Palantir, a Silicon Valley data-analytics company co-founded by a Musk ally that has been used by immigration officials before for criminal investigations, is involved in building out the database. The company has long been ingesting and processing data from multiple ICE and DHS sources. The latest endeavor, however, is expected to go further by identifying people with civil immigration violations. "If they are designing a deportation machine, they will be able to do that," a former senior IRS employee with knowledge of the plans told CNN. Allowing streamlined access to highly protected information – for immigration enforcement purposes – has been the subject of ongoing legal challenges. Democratic lawmakers have slammed the plan, with one claiming DOGE is "rapidly, haphazardly, and unlawfully" exploiting Americans’ personal data. Trump officials see the project as a way to overcome a major hurdle: quickly building "targeting lists" that Immigration and Customs Enforcement can use to find, detain and deport migrants in the US. It’s part of a concerted effort, under pressure from the White House, to ramp up enforcement and increase deportations. CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, Palantir and DOGE for comment. It’s unclear when the master database will be operational. Palantir is already a well-known government contractor, including at the IRS, so it would be a "logical choice" for the DOGE teams to utilize it, a senior IRS official said, adding that, "it would be easy to change the scope of existing contracts and pay Palantir to do this stuff.". The DHS contract with Palantir includes "streamlining selection and apprehension operations of illegal aliens," and self-deportation tracking, according to public records on a federal contracting site. ICE currently uses Palantir’s software for Homeland Security investigations.

AP [4/25/2025 7:21 AM, Jill Colvin, 48304K] reports alleged gang members without criminal records wrongly sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador. International students detained by masked federal agents for writing opinion columns or attending campus demonstrations. American citizens, visa holders and visitors stopped at airports, detained for days or facing deportation for minor infractions. Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him. But unlike in his first term, Trump’s efforts have not sparked the kind of widespread condemnation or protests that led him to retreat from some unpopular positions. Instead, immigration has emerged as one of Trump’s strongest issues in public polling, reflecting both his grip on the Republican base and a broader shift in public sentiment that is driven in part, interviews suggest, by anger at the policies of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden. The White House has seized on this shift, mocking critics and egging on Democrats to engage on an issue that Trump’s team sees as a win. “America’s changed,” said pollster Frank Luntz, a longtime ally of Republicans who has been holding focus groups with voters to discuss immigration. “This is the one area where Donald Trump still has significant and widespread public support.” A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that immigration is a relative high point for Trump compared with other issues, including his approach to the economy, foreign policy and trade negotiations. Slightly fewer than half of U.S. adults, 46%, say they approve of Trump’s handling of the issue, compared with his overall job approval rating of 39%, according to the survey. The poll was conducted April 17-21, a period that included a trip by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., to El Salvador to demand that Kilmar Abrego Garcia be released from prison after the U.S. government admitted he was wrongly deported. In the 2020 election, few voters considered immigration the most important issue facing the country, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of registered voters in all 50 states. Four years later, after Republicans and conservative media had hammered Biden for his policies and often cast migrant U.S.-Mexico border crossings as an invasion, immigration had risen above health care, abortion and crime. It was second only to the economy. Under Biden, migrant apprehensions spiked to more than 2 million two years in a row. Republican governors in border states bused migrants by the tens of thousands to cities across the country, including to New York, where migrants were placed in shelters and hotels, straining budgets. Luntz said voters dismayed by the historically large influx of migrants under Biden are now “prepared to accept a more extreme approach.” “Make no mistake,” he added. “The public may not embrace it, but they definitely support it. And this is actually his strongest area as he approaches his 100th day (in office).”

NewsNation [4/25/2025 5:56 PM, Jeff Arnold, 6866K] reports Donald Trump made securing the U.S.-Mexico border a hallmark of his presidential campaign, pledging to stop the flow of immigrants and narcotics into the United States illegally. Since beginning his second White House stint, Trump has trumpeted a border crackdown that has led to the lowest number of migrant apprehensions in five decades. Federal agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, insist they have more support from the White House, a change, officials said, from what they had under the previous administration. Yet, despite controversy over how the administration has handled some deportations, most notably Salvadorian national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, White House border czar Tom Homan told NewsNation that in Trump’s first 100 days in the office, officials have "done things by the book."

Reuters [4/25/2025 6:49 AM, Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke, 41523K] reports that, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Taras Atamanchuk found safety for his family near Houston, Texas. The 32-year-old moved to the U.S. with his wife and daughter in 2023 through former President Joe Biden’s “parole” program for Ukrainians with U.S. sponsors, landing a job as a software engineer with an annual salary of $120,000. In February he tried to renew his two-year work permit, but President Donald Trump’s administration had quietly stopped processing renewals or applications by Ukrainians. He now worries about how he will support his family, which includes a son born last year. "I can’t work and there’s no place to go," he said. In his first hundred days in office, Trump has taken dramatic steps to strip legal immigration status from hundreds of thousands of people, increasing the pool of those who can potentially be deported as he tries to ramp up removals to historic levels. The Republican president has moved to end humanitarian legal entry programs launched by his Democratic predecessor and revoked visas of thousands of students who took part in protests or had minor criminal charges, including traffic offenses. The breadth of the crackdown has stunned immigrants who lost their legal status. Some Democrats have criticized Trump’s strong-arm tactics as plainclothes and masked immigration officers have descended on homes, workplaces and university campuses. Americans are split on Trump’s immigration approach but he has a 45% approval rating on immigration, better than other major issues, a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-April found. “The message that his campaign gave is, ‘We’re going to go after the criminals,’ but what he is doing is a much, much broader effort,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigrant advocacy group.

Reuters [4/25/2025 7:34 AM, Andrew Hay and Nate Raymond, 41523K] reports that, from warnings not to leave the country to guidance on how to complete degrees, U.S. universities are advising foreign students how to withstand President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. First immigration agents arrested students involved in pro-Palestinian protests. Then thousands of foreign students were targeted for deportation over minor offenses and arrests. Now, some university advisers are quietly telling students from abroad to hire a lawyer and keep attending classes while legal appeals play out, according to over two dozen students, immigration attorneys and university officials Reuters spoke to. University faculty have gone to court to question the constitutionality of arrests. With a record 1.1 million foreign students in the country, at stake is the $44 billion they contributed to the U.S. economy last year, according to the Association of American Universities, a higher education advocacy group. It’s not just the money. MIT President Sally Kornbluth pointed to global talent, saying hers "is an American university, proudly so – but we would be gravely diminished without the students and scholars who join us from other nations.” Over half of foreign students in the United States are from India and China, according to the Institute of International Education advocacy group. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deleted more than 4,700 names from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems database of visa holders, often citing criminal activity, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Of those, almost half are Indian students, many of them graduates in work experience known as Optional Practical Training, based on an AILA study of 327 cases. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin urged students whose SEVIS status had been revoked to leave. "If you are in our country illegally, we will arrest, we will deport you, and you will never return," McLaughlin said in a statement. University officials are telling full-time students to hire a lawyer. Those who contest being deleted from SEVIS would be allowed to continue studying, said an official who advises foreign students at one major university, asking to remain anonymous in order to speak about the situation.

The Hill [4/25/2025 6:00 AM, Lexi Lonas Cochran, 12829K] reports faculty and classmates are stepping up to protect the close to 1,400 foreign students who have had their names taken off the international tracking system by the Trump administration, including new safety measures on campus as well as coordinated legal efforts. Campus communities have created buddy systems for international students, started GoFundMe pages for those arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and held seminars so students know their rights and what to do if approached by federal officials. Americans "are concerned about the attacks on immigrant students and non-citizen students," said Zainab Chaudry, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations office in Maryland. "And so, there has been a very real desire to want to try to take whatever efforts are possible to protect those students from being targeted.” Multiple faculty groups, including at Cornell University and the University of Maryland, have initiated GoFundMe campaigns for students who need help paying for legal services after being targeted by ICE. The Association of International Educators, or NAFSA, said that as of April 18 the number of foreign students whose records have been terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) has grown to 1,400, jumping from 800 recorded on April 10. SEVIS termination does not automatically affect legal status, but removal from it has often preceded visa revocations under the Trump administration. NAFSA says there is no clear pattern, with students from more than 40 countries seeing their SEVIS record terminated. The five countries with the greatest number of terminations are also the top five with the most foreign students sent to the United States: China, India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Nigeria. "It’s just the overall environment in society right now that’s giving that tense feeling, and you can kind of see that in the lives of students, especially international students," said Steven Mendell, a student at American University.

NBC News [4/25/2025 6:59 PM, Deon J. Hampton, 44742K] reports Universities are continuing to warn international students about traveling abroad this summer as the Trump administration said Friday it would restore legal status to those who’d had it revoked. The University of California, Berkeley, reiterated hours after the announcement that overseas travel by international students remains a high risk because immigration policies can change rapidly. Many universities nationwide have cautioned international students about traveling abroad this summer, fearing many will not be allowed to return. "Due to the increased risks involved in re-entering into the United States, we are advising members of the Duke international community to avoid international travel unless essential," the university wrote last week in a memo to students and faculty. "A valid visa does not guarantee entry to the U.S.". The administration’s change in policy came after thousands of international college students had already had their visas, legal statuses and immigration records terminated. But that does not change the imperative to exercise caution when deciding whether to travel abroad, said Jeff Joseph, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "Traveling outside of the country can be risky," he said, adding that international students should consult with a lawyer. "The fact is the Department of State has unilateral authority to revoke visas for any or no reason.". It was unclear how many campuses had issued warnings about leaving the United States, but at least five campuses, including Duke University and UC Berkeley, sent notices this month to their international communities.

Washington Post [4/25/2025 7:00 AM, Jeff Stein and Marianne LeVine, 31735K] reports the White House ousted a top customs official earlier this week primarily because of his alleged connections to the author of a 2018 opinion piece critical of President Donald Trump, according to an administration official and two other people familiar with the matter. George E. Bogden, who was appointed executive director of the Office of Trade Relations at Customs and Border Protection this year, was asked to step down, surprising fellow administration officials. It wasn’t immediately clear how the administration connected Bogden to Miles Taylor, who had been an appointee at the Department of Homeland Security when he wrote an anonymous opinion piece in New York Times describing internal resistance to Trump during his first term. Bogden attended Taylor’s 2019 wedding, according to a Facebook photo recently circulated among Trump officials. Taylor was married in Jamaica in 2019 — a year before he publicly revealed himself as the author of the anonymous op-ed. The two people familiar with Bogden’s dismissal said that few Trump allies, including Bogden, were aware of Taylor’s role in writing the piece at the time it was published or by the time of the wedding, and that the two men have not been close. The administration official confirmed Bogden was asked to resign over his ties to Taylor. All three people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Trump has remained fixated on the op-ed, and this month he directed the Justice Department to investigate Taylor as well as former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director Christopher Krebs. Trump also revoked the security clearances of Bogden and Taylor and of “individuals at entities associated with Taylor.” Bogden’s apparent ousting over his past connection to Taylor highlights the extent to which the White House has sought to target anyone with links to those perceived as enemies of the administration. He appears to be the first Trump administration official terminated over ties to Taylor or Krebs.

New York Times [4/25/2025 1:53 AM, Mattathias Schwartz and Emily Bazelon, 145325K] reports that, on March 11, about 50 judges gathered in Washington for the biannual meeting of the Judicial Conference, which oversees the administration of the federal courts. It was the first time the conference met since President Trump retook the White House. In the midst of discussions of staffing levels and long-range planning, the judges’ conversations were focused, to an unusual degree, on rising threats against judges and their security, said several people who attended the gathering. Behind closed doors at one session, Judge Richard J. Sullivan, the chairman of the conference’s Committee on Judicial Security, raised a scenario that weeks before would have sounded like dystopian fiction, according to three officials familiar with the remarks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations: What if the White House were to withdraw the protections it provides to judges? The U.S. Marshals Service, which by law oversees security for the judiciary, is part of the Justice Department, which Mr. Trump is directly controlling in a way that no president has since the Watergate scandal. Judge Sullivan noted that Mr. Trump had stripped security protections from Mike Pompeo, his former secretary of state, and John Bolton, his former national security adviser. Could the federal judiciary, also a recent target of Mr. Trump’s ire, be next? Judge Sullivan, who was nominated by President George W. Bush and then elevated to an appellate judgeship by Mr. Trump, referred questions about his closed-door remarks to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which stated its “complete confidence in those responsible for judicial security.” There is no evidence that Mr. Trump has contemplated revoking security from judges. But Judge Sullivan’s remarks were an extraordinary sign of the extent of judges’ anxiety over the threats facing the federal bench. And they highlight a growing discomfort from judges that their security is handled by an agency that, through the attorney general, ultimately answers to the president, and whose funding, in their view, has not kept pace with rising threats. “Cutting all the security from one judge or one courthouse — stuff like that hasn’t happened, and I don’t expect it to,” said Jeremy Fogel, a retired federal judge who directs the Berkeley Judicial Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and is in frequent contact with current judges. “But, you never know. Because it’s fair to say that limits are being tested everywhere. Judges worry that it could happen.”

ABC News [4/25/2025 6:38 PM, Katherine Faulders and Alexander Mallin, 34586K] reports the Justice Department has rescinded a policy implemented during the Biden administration that restricted prosecutors from seizing reporters’ records in criminal investigations, according to an internal memo obtained by ABC News. The move could signal a broader effort by Trump-appointed leadership to more aggressively pursue leaks coming from within the administration and directly target journalists for their reporting. It was not immediately clear whether the impending policy change was prompted by any current ongoing investigation being pursued by the Trump Justice Department. But in her memo rescinding the policy, Attorney General Pam Bondi pointed to recent alleged leaks of potentially classified information to New York Times. "Federal government employees intentionally leaking sensitive information to the media undermines the ability of the Department of Justice to uphold the rule of law, protect civil rights, and keep America safe. This conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop," Bondi said. "Therefore, I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind (former Attorney General) Merrick Garland’s policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks.". Bondi added she has directed the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy to publish new language that reflects the department "will continue to employ procedural protections to limit the use of compulsory legal process to obtain information from or records of members of the news media, which include enhanced approval and advance-notice procedures.". "These procedural protections recognize that investigative techniques relating to newsgathering are an extraordinary measure to be deployed as a last resort when essential to a successful investigation or prosecution," Bondi said. The 2022 Biden-era policy was formalized following extensive negotiations between news outlets and Justice Department leadership under Garland. It restricted prosecutors from using "compulsory process" such as subpoenas, search warrants or other court orders to seize reporters’ records with very limited exceptions. Last month, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the opening of a criminal investigation into the leak of an intelligence document reported by New York Times related to the Tren de Aragua gang that he described as "inaccurate, but nevertheless classified.". Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also said her department and the FBI are pursing criminal charges against officials who she said have leaked details about pending deportation operations to members of the media.

ABC News [4/25/2025 5:18 PM, Laura Romero, 34586K] reports a Russian researcher at Harvard Medical School who is being held in a Louisiana detention center for failing to declare frog embryos while passing through customs in Boston says it was shocking when authorities detained her. Petrova, a Harvard medical researcher who is in the U.S. on an exchange visitor visa, was detained at an airport in Boston after a Customs and Border Protection officer found "noninfectious and non-toxic frog embryos in her luggage," a complaint filed by her attorney said. After the samples were discovered, Petrova said she was pressed for "some time" by immigration officials, after which her phone was confiscated and she was sent to a jail in Vermont. She told ABC News that she wasn’t allowed to contact anybody, and that shortly thereafter she was transferred to a detention center in Louisiana. In a post to X, Tricia McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said that Petrova "lied to federal officers about carrying substances into the country." Petrova has a habeas hearing in U.S. District Court in Vermont, scheduled for May 14.

AP [4/25/2025 5:03 PM, Carolyn Thompson, 48304K] reports the Trump administration is suing the city of Rochester, New York, over its policies as a "sanctuary city," saying they violate the Constitution by deliberately impeding immigration enforcement. The lawsuit comes after Rochester elected leaders said local police officers had violated city policy prohibiting their involvement in immigration activities when they assisted Border Patrol at a traffic stop last month and helped handcuff the vehicle’s occupants. The April 24 filing in U.S. District Court seeks to have the upstate New York city’s policies declared invalid. The lawsuit was filed on the same day that a federal judge in California barred the Trump administration from denying federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions.

New York Post [4/25/2025 7:31 AM, Emily Crane, 54903K] reports six people were arrested after anti-Israel protesters clashed with Hasidic Jewish locals outside a prominent Brooklyn synagogue where Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was making an appearance late Thursday, police said. The demonstration kicked off at the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Crown Heights just before 9.30 p.m. as protesters rallied against Ben-Gvir’s appearance. Footage from the scene showed at least one keffiyeh-wearing protester being escorted away with blood on her face. Others were spotted being hauled away in cuffs by scores of NYPD officers. At least one man, Oscar Vidal, 28, of Bayonne, NJ, was arrested and hit with a slew of charges, including assault, criminal mischief and harassment. Five others were given summonses and later released, police said. The violence broke out as the Israeli official was inside addressing Hasidic followers. At one point, an anti-Israel protester stormed into the room and chanted "Free Palestine" before he was thrown out by security, 7 Israel National News reported. Ben-Gvir apparently smirked as the demonstrator called him a Nazi. The chaos came a day after hundreds of demonstrators staged a protest in New Haven, Conn. after the national security minister was invited to speak at an event near Yale University’s campus. Several hurled water bottles at Ben-Gvir as he left.

Bloomberg [4/25/2025 10:27 AM, Beth Wang, 1085K] reports Rochester, NY’s sanctuary city policy is illegal and violates the supremacy clause of the US Constitution, the Trump administration alleged in a federal lawsuit. Federal efforts to address the "crisis of illegal immigration" are being "hindered by Sanctuary Cities such as the City of Rochester, who refuse to cooperate or share information, even when requested, with federal immigration authorities," says the lawsuit filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Western District of New York. The suit comes amid President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on undocumented immigration, including taking action against sanctuary cities. A San Francisco federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s funding freeze for a group of local governments with sanctuary city policies. Central to the lawsuit is a resolution passed by Rochester in February 2017 that affirmed its status as a sanctuary city. In March of that same year, the Rochester Police Department issued a general order prohibiting local cooperation with the federal immigration enforcement officials. The complaint says both the resolution and order "run directly afoul" of US law. The government claims Rochester’s sanctuary city policies, first adopted in 1986, interfere with US Customs and Border Protection’s work enforcing the immigration laws at international ports of entry, including the Rochester International Airport. The complaint also notes that Rochester is less than 10 miles from Lake Ontario, which separates the US from Canada. The complaint "is an exercise in political theater, not legal practice," Rochester Mayor Malik Evans (D) and City Council President Miguel Meléndez said in a statement, noting that they have not yet been served. "On its face, the The City’s Sanctuary City policy is legally sound and always has been—including during the entirety of the Trump Administration’s first term," they added. The case is U.S. v. City of Rochester, W.D.N.Y., No. 6:25-cv-06226, complaint filed 4/24/25.

New York Times [4/25/2025 7:42 PM, Shawn McCreesh, 153395K] reports it is the mystery that has gripped Washington. On Sunday night, Kristi Noem, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, was dining downtown at Capital Burger with her family when a thief snatched her purse out from under her chair. The culprit scored, big time: The bag contained Ms. Noem’s driver’s license, medication, apartment keys, blank checks, department badge, passport and $3,000 in cash. The Capital Burger caper made for capital farce — the top official charged with patrolling the nation’s borders and protecting it from terrorist threats, burgled in plain view of her security detail. That it happened to Ms. Noem, of all cabinet officials, only added to the drama. In an administration full of ready-for-TV characters, Ms. Noem stands out. Last year, she drew attention for writing in her autobiography about shooting her dog who proved “untrainable” and “dangerous.” The theft was common knowledge among the lunchtime crowd this week at Capital Burger, a pub that sits in the shadow of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. It’s the kind of place with a giant pretzel and “kung pao” brussels sprouts on the menu. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that Ms. Noem had withdrawn the cash to spend while her family was in town on vacation. “I don’t really think someone who lives in D.C. is going to have great insight into why a rancher is carrying physical money versus a credit card,” Ms. McLaughlin told a New York Times reporter, referring to Ms. Noem’s South Dakota background. She declined to explain further.

FOX News [4/25/2025 1:46 PM, Greg Norman, 46189K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem revealed in a podcast this week how her purse was snatched at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., describing it as "professionally done." The purse was taken Sunday by a White man wearing a mask, and the bag contained $3,000 in cash as well as personal documents including her passport, keys, driver’s license and a DHS badge, an agency spokesperson confirmed. "It was kind of shocking, actually, because it was sitting right by my feet. I actually felt my purse, he hooked it with his foot and drug it a few steps away and dropped a coat over it and took it," Noem said on the "VINCE Show." "I felt it, but I thought it was my grandkids kicking me in the legs. But it was very professionally done, and it tells that this happens all the time to people and that they live in communities where this is a danger and it reaffirms why I am here," she added. "My job is to make sure that I do everything, every day I can to make our communities safer and President Trump recognizes that families shouldn’t have to live with any kind of violence in their lives." A Homeland Security spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that Noem’s "entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren — she was using the withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts." Noem said during the podcast interview that she isn’t sure why she was targeted, but an investigation is ongoing.

FOX News [4/25/2025 4:58 PM, Peter D’Abrosca, 46189K] reports U.S. Customs and Immigration (ICE) Denver announced Friday afternoon that it has captured a member of an ultra-violent Venezuelan gang who had a final deportation order. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital earlier Friday that President Donald Trump’s crackdown on gang crime, which included labeling Tren de Aragua (TdA) as a terrorist organization, has resulted in the arrests of more than 600 TdA members during his first 100 days in office.

Daily Wire [4/25/2025 6:08 AM, Staff, 4672K] reports federal agents arrested a former New Mexico Democrat judge and his wife on Thursday after they were accused of harboring a suspected member of Tren de Aragua at their home. Former Dona Ana County Magistrate Judge Jose "Joel" Cano and his wife, Nancy, were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at their home in Las Cruces, KFOX14 reported. Both the 67-year-old former judge and his wife are charged with tampering with evidence. The couple is currently in custody at the Dona Ana County Jail, awaiting their appearance in federal court. They were arrested as part of a probe by Homeland Security Investigations into their association with 23-year-old Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, who authorities say is linked to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration. Ortega-Lopez was arrested at the Canos’ home in February. "Under President Trump, we have arrested over 150,000 aliens-including more than 600 members of the vicious Tren de Aragua gang," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, commenting on the arrest. "If you are here illegally and break the law, we will hunt you down, arrest you and lock you up. That’s a promise." Cano resigned from his judgeship earlier this week and was banned by the New Mexico Supreme Court from holding any judicial office again. The court ordered that Cano "shall never again hold, become a candidate for, run for, or stand for election to any New Mexico judicial office in the future." Ortega-Lopez, originally from Venezuela, was accused of illegal entry to the United States near Eagle Pass, Texas. He spent three days in Border Patrol custody before he was released because of overcrowded facilities at the Border Patrol’s South Laredo, Texas, processing center, according to court records, the Albuquerque Journal reported. He met Nancy in El Paso, where he was working as a construction worker and handyman, and she offered for him to stay in a small house behind their home. Ortega-Lopez has been charged with being an unlawful alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and is seen in court documents holding guns. Cano has denied any knowledge of the suspected ties between Ortega-Lopez and Tren De Aragua. Investigators have said that they have text messages and voice mail messages that confirm the links to the notorious gang. "Let me be as crystal clear as possible," Cano told the New Mexico Supreme Court. "The very first time I ever heard that the boys could possibly have any association with Tren de Aragua was when I was informed of that by [the] agents on the day of the raid."

New York Post [4/25/2025 8:22 AM, Emily Crane, 54903K] reports new video captured the moment a recently retired New Mexico judge and his wife were hauled away in cuffs by the feds for allegedly sheltering a suspected Tren de Aragua gangbanger at their home. The footage, shot by KFOX14 News, showed ex-Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Jose "Joel" Cano and his wife, Nancy Cano, being taken into custody following the federal raid at their Las Cruces home on Thursday. At one point, the seemingly calm Democratic judge could be seen with his hands clasped behind his back as he spoke to a heavily armed FBI agent on the sidewalk. His wife was spotted being escorted away in handcuffs by a female Homeland Security Investigation officer. The judge was subsequently hit with a tampering with evidence charge, while his spouse was charged with conspiracy to tamper. The raid came soon after it was revealed Cano had quietly tendered his resignation last month after the couple were accused of harboring Cristhian Ortega-Lopez — an accused illegal migrant who the feds say is a member of the violent Venezuelan gang. Immigration authorities had nabbed the 23-year-old alleged gang member at the couple’s home on Feb. 28. In a separate raid at the home of the couple’s daughter, ICE recovered four firearms — some of which allegedly belong to Ortega-Lopez, investigators said. Cano, who had served as a judge since 2011, made no mention of the migrant’s arrest in his resignation letter. Ortega-Lopez had allegedly been living in the couple’s guesthouse after he was initially hired by Nancy to work as a handyman, according to court documents. The feds have alleged Ortega-Lopez has known TdA tattoos, as well as clothing and social media posts linking him to the gang. Social media photos show Ortega-Lopez posing for Christmas photos with the Cano family. He allegedly entered the US unlawfully in 2023 — crossing the border near Eagle Pass, Texas, on Dec. 15. He was released just days after with a notice to appear before a federal immigration judge. He is now being held on federal charges for being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

FOX News [4/25/2025 10:57 AM, Peter D’Abrosca, 46189K] reports an illegal immigrant from Guatemala will serve two consecutive life sentences for stabbing to death a Las Vegas showgirl and a Canadian tourist in 2022. Yoni Barrios murdered Brent Allan Hallett, 47, and Maris Mareen DiGiovanni, 30, during a stabbing spree on the Las Vegas strip in October of that year. He also injured six in the attack. He was initially deemed incompetent to stand trial and spent nearly two years in a hospital before pleading guilty to the crime in January, according to local reports. He was sentenced Tuesday. Barrios reportedly flew into a rage when a group of showgirls refused to take a photo with him, and pulled out a long-bladed kitchen knife which he used in the attack. He was captured outside the Wynn Hotel minutes later. According to criminal records, Barrios had prior run-ins with the law in California, but was not removed from the country. California is a "sanctuary state" for illegal immigrants, and does not typically cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Washington Examiner [4/25/2025 12:05 PM, Elaine Mallon, 2296K] reports Mexico is calling on broadcasters to ban a series of Department of Homeland Security ads that feature Secretary Kristi Noem dissuading migrants from illegally crossing the border into the United States. The ads, which aired during a Mexican soccer game, showed men being put in handcuffs and placed in police cars and migrants crossing the dangerous Rio Grande and scaling the border wall. "If you are considering entering America illegally, don’t even think about it," Noem said in the ad. "If you come to our country and you break our laws, we will hunt you down. Criminals are not welcome." Following the ad’s airing, a Mexican government agency released a statement urging broadcasters to stop showing the ad, KTLA 5 reported. "We have found in our analysis that the TV spot has a discriminatory message that places human dignity in jeopardy and could encourage rejection and violence against migrants," agency officials wrote in a letter. "We invite you to remove the spot so we can continue to construct a society free of discrimination, as our constitution mandates.". Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has been working with President Donald Trump in combating the fentanyl trade, called the advertisement during a Monday news conference "propaganda.". "We don’t want any foreign government or entity to pay, because they are paying, to promote these ads, this propaganda that has a discriminatory message," Sheinbaum said.

The Hill [4/25/2025 6:00 AM, Emily Brooks and Rebecca Beitsch, 12829K] reports when former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was getting to know Nayib Bukele, the young Salvadoran president foreshadowed an offer that has since become central to the Trump presidency: “When you need security, call the experts,” the lawmaker recalled him saying with a wry smile. The country is now holding in one of its most notorious prisons more than 200 men deported by the Trump administration, with the White House fighting in court to send even more. El Salvador’s emergence as a political stage for American politicians amid tension over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s mistaken deportation — with lawmakers from both parties visiting the country in recent weeks — comes after years of Republicans steadily strengthening ties with the Central American nation under Bukele. As Republicans embrace El Salvador and its crackdown on gangs with little due process, they denied congressional Democrats access to funding for trips to the country related to the Abrego Garcia case and teased them for wanting to go. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) made headlines for flying to El Salvador and meeting with Abrego Garcia last week, while a group of House Democrats visited earlier this week on their own dime. Yet a series of Republicans made the trek to El Salvador even before the Abrego Garcia case leaped into public attention or even before Trump returned to the White House. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March filmed a video in El Salvador’s most notorious prison, its Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT as it is known by its Spanish acronym. She warned migrants not to come to the U.S. illegally “or this is one of the consequences you could face,” showing men in the prison crowded into a cell with three-tiered cement bunk beds.

New York Post [4/25/2025 6:38 PM, Staff, 54903K] reports "The Supreme Court says illegal aliens" deserve due process "before they are spirited away to their countries of origin," and "liberal activists are celebrating a fundamental right," grumbles the Washington Times’ editorial board. But liberals’ goals seem more about "perpetuating lawlessness at the border" than justice. Meanwhile, a federal judge ruled "President Trump couldn’t reverse President Biden’s unilateral decision" to "parole" over 500,000 illegal immigrants "from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela" into the US. The judge insists "that what Mr. Biden accomplished with a stroke of his autopen can’t be undone by Mr. Trump without ‘case-by-case review’ " — which "would take 350 years" to complete. Yet the law that lets the administration set parole policy "is unambiguous." The Supreme Court must "apply common sense and curb these judicial interventions.".

The Hill [4/25/2025 1:00 PM, Nolan Rappaport, 12829K] reports four years ago, the Biden administration announced a dedicated docket program for newly arriving families apprehended after making an illegal border crossing. The goal of the program was to "decide cases expeditiously" — within 300 days of initial master calendar hearings — without compromising due process or fairness. I expressed my view of this program at the time, referring to it as a "re-tread of old policies that didn’t work.". By that time, both the Obama administration and the previous Trump administration had established dedicated dockets to adjudicate cases of newly arriving unaccompanied children and families more quickly. Human Rights First claims that these programs were counterproductive, impaired due process, undermined the right to counsel, and led to high rates of in absentia (in their absence) removal proceedings. In May 2024, the Biden administration announced another dedicated docket program. This one was for single adults apprehended making an illegal border crossing. For my part, I don’t understand why special programs were set up to benefit newly arriving illegal border-crossers in the first place. Alejandro N. Mayorkas, then secretary of Homeland Security, said that "Families who have recently arrived should not languish in a multi-year backlog." I agree, but shouldn’t that apply also to millions of aliens who have been waiting up to 10 years for a hearing? But the Biden administration released those favored groups into the interior of the country under its Alternatives to Detention program, which gave them an opportunity to disappear instead of appearing for their hearings. And many of them did fail to appear. Access to counsel was another problem, but the need for legal representation isn’t limited to dedicated dockets — it is a problem for the regular docket, too. Even so, illegal immigrants do not have a right to counsel in removal proceedings. The Immigration and Nationality Act just provides that they "have the privilege of being represented, at no expense to the government.". The dedicated dockets were established in cities with pro bono networks that could provide legal services. But there were 143,532 unrepresented individuals with pending removal cases in these cities when the dockets were established. According to the National Immigration Forum, "In the first seven full months of the new dedicated docket, only 15.5 percent of participating immigrants (11,225 out of 72,289) had secured legal representation.".

Washington Post [4/25/2025 6:00 AM, Mary B. McCord, 31735K] reports that, critically, on the fundamental point, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. did not dissent. When Americans are so profoundly divided about so much, it appears there’s still one thing we agree on: Before the government deprives someone of “life, liberty, or property,” it must provide what the Fifth Amendment requires: due process of law. That’s what all nine Supreme Court justices agreed on when they ruled on April 7 that Venezuelans detained under the president’s Alien Enemies Act proclamation may not be flown out of the country to a foreign prison without the government first giving them notice "within a reasonable time and in such a manner" that they can challenge their removal in court. It’s why the court issued an emergency ruling in the middle of the night last week — after the American Civil Liberties Union petitioned the court to intervene as Venezuelans detained in Texas were being bussed by federal agents to the airport — directing the government not to remove them "until further order of this Court.” And it’s why Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas in dissenting from that April 19 decision, nevertheless agreed that "the Executive must proceed under the terms of our order" from April 7. That is, the Trump administration must provide due process of law. Or, as J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, put it in a related ruling: Residents of this country should not be "stash[ed] away ... in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.” Wilkinson, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, was writing on April 17 for the appellate panel that upheld a district court’s order requiring U.S. officials to answer written questions, provide documents and testify under oath to determine what the government is doing to comply with the Supreme Court’s April 10 directive to "facilitate" Kilmar Abrego García’s release from custody in El Salvador. The high court also told the Trump Justice Department to ensure that Abrego García’s case is handled "as it would have been" had he not been improperly deported. When the justices spoke of handling his case "as it would have been," they were referring to providing Abrego García with the due process he deserved. With its origins in the Magna Carta of 1215, due process is core to the rule of law in the United States. It requires not only notice and an opportunity to adjudicate rights and responsibilities before competent, independent judges, but also that the government (as well as judges) act in accordance with the law, not in violation of it. In this way, there is stability, predictability and, most of all, fairness. Or as Alito put it: "Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law.”

The Hill [4/25/2025 2:00 PM, Marc L. Busch, 12829K] reports on April 1, the Trump administration launched an investigation of whether imports of pharmaceuticals pose a national security risk. Given the relatively short period for public comments, it appears the answer is a foregone conclusion. Tariffs are expected by mid-May. These duties won’t just be economically wasteful: They’ll pummel the U.S. health care system. Unlike the “reciprocal” tariffs announced on Apr. 2, moreover, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says these “sectoral” tariffs will not be on the negotiating table in bilateral trade talks. The plan seems to be to make them long-term, including by issuing them under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, versus under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which would leave them more open to a legal challenge. In addition to pharmaceuticals, Trump has also called for Section 232 investigations of semiconductors and critical minerals. He insists the U.S. is overly dependent on imports of all three and is betting that sectoral tariffs can turn things around. Like in semiconductors and critical minerals, this won’t happen any time soon in medicines, if at all. And it will be tremendously costly. Perhaps prohibitively so.

USA Today [4/25/2025 6:04 AM, Trevor Hughes, 75858K] reports the Trump administration is preparing to dramatically escalate the number of private contractors it uses to help track, manage, detain and deport people living illegally in the United States, with an eye-popping potential price tag of more than $45 billion over the next several years. The White House has set a goal of removing 1 million people annually, making good on President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to conduct the largest deportation operation in history. "If we don’t get these criminals out of our country, we are not going to have a country any longer," Trump posted on social media April 21. Among the newest moves are a $72 million no-bid deal to hire a team stacked with former federal officials to fingerprint, DNA test and retina-scan detainees, help manage intake paperwork and track down high-priority targets, freeing up Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct more arrests. ICE officials said they don’t have the time to hire federal agents fast enough, and will be able to redeploy more than 650 existing agents once the private contractors come aboard. ICE has 6,000 agents, plus additional support staff. Estimates put the number of people living here illegally at anywhere between 10 million and 16.8 million. Trump has regularly criticized former President Joe Biden for permitting millions of people to enter the United States under parole or an asylum claim after the border was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Trump faces several challenges to his mass deportation plans, including insufficient detention capacity. He first tried to detain people at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba, but appears to have backed off that plan over litigation and the significantly higher costs of building a large-scale detention facility offshore. He has also paid El Salvador $6 million to house other detainees. While ICE has long used private contractors to supplement its work, Trump’s new approach reflects a massive expansion in both staff and facilities. ICE’s current budget is $9.6 billion, with about 41,000 detention beds. ICE reported holding nearly 48,000 people in detention in mid-April. ICE plans to add up to 60,000 new detention beds in facilities across the country this year, according to contracting details viewed by USA TODAY. Congress is considering a funding bill to pay for the contracting, after approving a temporary $430 million increase in March. Trump has halted most federal hiring, but exempted public safety agencies, including ICE.

(B) NBC News Daily [4/25/2025 12:26 PM, Staff] reports that the fight to bring the Tufts student detained by ICE to Vermont for her deportation hearing continues. Yesterday, a judge denied the Justice Department’s appeal to keep Rümeysa Öztürk at the ICE facility in Louisiana. That same judge ruled the federal government is now obligated to move the PhD student to Vermont by May 1.

ABC 9 Manchester [4/25/2025 10:33 PM, Maria Wilson, 875K] reports the federal government is restoring legal status for thousands of international students whose records were taken out of a database without warning weeks ago. The move affected more than 1,200 students nationwide, including a Dartmouth College doctoral student. Judges across the country have already issued orders temporarily restoring the students’ records, but on Friday, a lawyer for the government said in federal court in Massachusetts that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was manually restoring the statuses. The change in student statuses was often made by ICE without the students or schools being notified. At Dartmouth College, a doctoral student from China filed a lawsuit after the college told hm that according to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System database, his visa had been revoked. Earlier this month, a judge ruled that the student can stay at Dartmouth while the issue played out in the courts. On Friday, his attorney, Ron Abramson, said the latest move is a victory for every international student who is affected. "We’re pleased that the government seems to be seeing the light in these cases after repeated defeats in court," Abramson said. "So far, as far as we know, not one court had upheld the government’s practice of canceling these student records, leaving their visa status in limbo, which has really been at the heart of most of these cases, including the individual and class case that we filed in New Hampshire." Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, told News 9 in a statement: "We have not reversed course on a single visa revocation. What we did is restore SEVIS access for people who had not had their visa revoked." SEVIS is the Student and Exchange and Visitor Program.

Reported similarly:
New Hampshire Public Radio [4/25/2025 7:47 PM, Lau Guzmán, 173K]

NBC 10 Boston [4/25/2025 6:55 PM, Kaitlin McKinley Becker, and Mercedes París, 1100K] reports three months after federal agents were seen going door to door in East Boston, it appears ICE is coming back to Boston for another sweep. The acting director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the Boston Herald Thursday that the arrests of some criminal illegal immigrants in January only scratched the surface. “The last operation showed ICE needs to be in the Commonwealth," Todd Lyons said. "The numbers are staggering." Lyons told the Herald he has worked closely with Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley and other federal partners like the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI on preparing for a second "surge" that will reportedly have more of a focus on fentanyl traffickers. “The drug is a weapon of mass destruction that’s found from Wellesley to Dorchester,” Lyons said. “It’s causing a huge public safety concern. Why would you not want to take that threat out of the community?” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she didn’t have any information about upcoming ICE operations in the area and that she’s staying in contact with immigrant advocacy groups. “It’s important to protect each member of our city," Wu said.

Federalist [4/25/2025 9:48 AM, Beth Brelje, 1033K] reports that the New York Times has a new description for Nascimento Blair, a convicted drug dealer, kidnapper, and illegal alien; he is a “Jamaican transplant.” At least, they say, he was until he was sent back to Jamaica in February. The NYT never calls him what he was, an illegal alien. Blair had been in the United States after coming on a nonimmigrant work visa in March 2004. He was here 21 years— so long that he has developed a “slightly Americanized accent,” and Jamaica does not feel like home anymore, according to New York Times Writer Luis Ferré-Sadurní and photographer Todd Heisler, who traveled to Kingston, Jamaica, to interview Blair. New York Times wants you to feel badly for Blair, and others like him — people in the U.S. illegally with a criminal history who are being sent back to their home country. “It was his criminal past that had gotten him deported from the United States, where he had been rebuilding his life and seeking redemption,” their piece says. “He had earned two college degrees, started a trucking business, mentored people released from prison, cared for a fiancée with breast cancer, taken classes at Columbia University.” Put another way, it was his illegal marijuana sales operation, and a 2006 conviction for kidnapping a teenager who allegedly stole marijuana from him in a case where Blair was accused of tying up the teen in an apartment, pistol whipping him, and seeking a $5,000 ransom from the victim’s family, and the resulting 2006 deportation order, that got him deported. Also, he writes poetry. In a tumultuous 2006 trial, Blair was found guilty of the kidnapping charge, but before deportation, he was to sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to the NYT piece, Blair assumed ICE would pick him up and deport him when he was released in 2020. It is unclear why that didn’t happen, but New York is a sanctuary state which has been uncooperative with ICE, and it was during the COVID outbreak, when travel was limited. Blair was sent back to Jamaica in February 2025 as ICE actively removes people who should have already left. “Nascimento Blair is an illegal alien, convicted kidnapper, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 2008 he was issued a final order of removal,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin told The Federalist in a text. “Because of the previous administration’s open border policies, this criminal, illegal alien, was released into the streets of New York. Thanks to President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem, this kidnapper was arrested and is now out of our country. He was arrested on Feb. 3, 2025 and deported on Feb. 27, 2025. President Trump and Secretary Noem have made it clear that we are prioritizing arresting and deporting the worst of the worst. That includes convicted kidnappers. We are restoring common sense to our immigration system. Why does New York Times continue to pedal sob stories about criminal, illegal aliens and ignore their victims?”

CBS Pittsburgh [4/25/2025 4:34 PM, Madeline Bartos, 51661K] reports eight people were taken into custody after an immigration enforcement raid at 1942 Tacos & Tequila, a popular Mexican restaurant in Beaver County, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed on Friday. Multiple federal agencies, including ICE, the FBI and ATF, executed a search warrant at the restaurant in Rochester on Wednesday. Photos showed federal agents and a white van with blacked-out windows outside the establishment. An ICE spokesperson said the search was part of "an ongoing criminal investigation into hiring and employment" of people who are in the country illegally. ICE said eight people were taken into custody for violating U.S. immigration law. The restaurant was closed on Wednesday but back open on Thursday. While details had been limited until ICE released its statement on Friday, customers said they were surprised by the news. "If they were personally really illegally here, then I don’t have a problem with them going. But they were amazing. We were just in there, there’s no same people in there, it’s all new people," said customer Donna Bentler. Congressman Chris Deluzio’s office told KDKA-TV that it first heard about the raid from concerned community members. His office said it was working to get answers from federal agencies.

Miami Herald [4/25/2025 3:28 PM, Verónica Egui Brito and Syra Ortiz Blanes, 3973K] reports as the Trump administration ramps up its mass deportation efforts, immigration authorities have erected a plexiglass tent at the Krome Detention Center in South Florida, a facility that has recently been so overcrowded that detainees have been sleeping on the floor. After a tour of Krome on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson said that a two-story plexiglass tent had been recently constructed and could house detainees as soon as Friday. She said the structure was built in just 14 days and estimated it could hold as many as 400 detainees, though the Miami Herald could not independently confirm its official capacity. Former detainees, their families and their lawyers have told the Herald in recent weeks that Krome has become overcrowded and unhygienic, with little to no access to medical or mental health care — despite ICE policies that are supposed to uphold stringent standards of treatment in detention facilities. They described a facility stretched to its limits, with detainees living in a state of desperation.

New York Post [4/25/2025 10:17 AM, Zoe Hussain, 54903K] reports a Democratic congresswoman urged Americans to hit the streets, flood Republican lawmakers with "threatening" calls, and cause an "uprising" over the conditions at a Florida ICE detention center — all while clad in a full pink suit and flower-adorned cowboy hat. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) toured Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Krome Detention Center in Miami on Thursday before holding a news conference on Instagram Live to tell reporters that federal authorities were planning to erect a "tent city" to expand the number of detainees at the facility. Wilson said she blamed the Laken Riley Act, the bill signed by President Trump in January that required the detention of illegal immigrants charged with certain crimes — including burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting — for the crackdown. "The Laken Riley Act has caused an increase in detainees, and these are people who have … you could have been here forever," Wilson said. She said illegal immigrants can be arrested for "walking across the street, jaywalking, or shoplifting, they will detain you and bring you right here.". "So I’ve been giving out the phone numbers to the House of Representatives and to the Senate," she said. "It’s one number that number you call and you threaten it, and you say, ‘This is wrong. This is not America. This is not what we stand for. We need a change.’ You have to do that. It’s going to take the people. We’ve done it," Wilson said. "We need the people. We needed an uprising where people are taking to the streets and the phones, and writing letters. That’s what we need," she told reporters. During her visit, the Dem lawmaker and fervent opponent of President Trump said she expected to see criminals "tattooed with gold teeth.". Instead, Wilson, 82, said she was met with "hardworking men" and not "dangerous people.". Wilson also alleged federal immigration authorities pulled a cover-up to hide the true conditions at the facility. "I am positive that they took people out today, so I wouldn’t see [the overcrowding]," Wilson said, without providing evidence. "It was like somebody went in there yesterday and put on a whole new coat of fresh paint … you could even smell the paint," she added. She described the alleged "tent city" being built at the detention center and slammed authorities for detaining those without criminal records. "They [prison officials] did admit they are building a tent city," she said. "It’s actually like a Plexiglas or Styrofoam with big pipes of air conditioning coming in," Wilson added. "Most of the people are not criminals," she said. The Laken Riley Act is named after nursing student Laken Riley, who was attacked, viciously strangled and beaten to death in February 2024 by illegal immigrant José Antonio Ibarra after he waylaid her as she jogged across the University of Georgia campus. The measure also enables state attorneys general to file lawsuits against the Homeland Security secretary if the government fails to enforce immigration laws, particularly in instances where "the state or its residents experience harm, including financial harm in excess of $100.". A violent Tren de Aragua gangbanger, Ibarra had entered the country via the southern border into El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 8, 2022, but was released due to insufficient detention space, according to immigration officials. Prior to Riley’s death, Ibarra had multiple run-ins with the law. In December 2023, an arrest warrant was issued for him over his failure to make a court appearance for a shoplifting case in Georgia. Previously, he had been arrested for child endangerment after blitzing through the streets of Queens on a moped with his wife’s child holding on for dear life, authorities told The Post. ICE later disclosed that Ibarra was not held after his arrest in the Empire State because he was released before officials could get a detainer. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Miami Herald [4/25/2025 10:41 PM, Clara-Sophia Daly, 4000K] reports on Friday, the federal government reversed the abrupt terminations of foreign students’ visa registrations, ending weeks of confusion among international students and university administrators. The reversal came after more than 100 lawsuits were filed against Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Todd Lyons asking judges to grant students the ability to keep working and studying, the majority of which were successful. Immigration lawyers in many of the cases say the visa revocations appear to have been triggered by an automated system going through student records and terminating the status of any international student with any reported encounter with law enforcement. For two foreign students in Florida who took their cases to court, that is exactly what happened. Both had minor brushes with the law and lost their status, which triggered job loss. Then both students had to hire attorneys to get a temporary restraining order, only to have the Trump administration walk back its policy of visa revocations days later. The Justice Department, in its Friday reversal on student visas, said that immigration officials are already working on a new system for reviewing and terminating visas for international students, the New York Times reported. And for now students whose visas were canceled have a momentary reprieve. But for Dempsey and Badawi’s clients, and many other foreign students across the country, the financial and emotional damage is done.

USA Today [4/25/2025 2:26 PM, Dylan Gentile, 75858K] reports a Florida woman was arrested and accused of impersonating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer to kidnap her ex-boyfriend’s wife. Authorities arrested Latrance Battle and charged her with kidnapping, falsely impersonating an officer while committing a felony and robbery, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in an April 21 news release. The victim, who is in the process of obtaining legal residence in the United States, told investigators she went with Battle because she believed Battle was a real immigration agent, but grew suspicious and frightened. Battle also showed the victim a "Sheriff’s Office" card that identified her as an ICE agent and told the victim she had to go with her, the sheriff’s office said. The victim did not want to get in trouble or cause more "ICE agents" to show up, so she let her boss know what was happening and then willingly left with Battle in the back seat of Battle’s car, according to the court document.

FOX News [4/25/2025 6:11 PM, Alexandra Koch, 46189K] reports a federal judge on Friday ruled the Trump administration must reinstate the legal status of an Ohio State University graduate student who was arrested at a 2024 anti-Israel protest. Ahwar Sultan, of India, filed a civil lawsuit in D.C. District Court on April 15, alleging his F-1 student visa was "abruptly and unlawfully terminated" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his participation in protests against Israel’s military action in Gaza, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. While Sultan was arrested at an April 25, 2024, protest on campus, his attorneys allege his charges were dismissed and subsequently expunged from his record. One week after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the State Department revoked the visas of hundreds of foreign students, Sultan was told by OSU administrators he no longer had active legal status. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must immediately return Sultan’s visa, and that they cannot modify his record solely based on his arrest at the protest, according to court documents. The suit, brought by Sultan and the Students for Justice in Palestine at OSU, names President Donald Trump, Rubio, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and ICE Director Todd Lyons. Sultan joins at least a dozen other Ohio State students whose visas were recently revoked.

Breitbart [4/25/2025 10:57 AM, Warner Todd Huston, 2923K] reports a Chinese-owned and operated factory complex in Ohio illegally imported workers from China, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. Last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio released a statement saying that federal officials had seized $126 million in assets related to an investigation into illegal staffing and money laundering. "It is alleged that many of the workers were illegally smuggled into the United States, primarily through Mexico, and encouraged to travel to the Dayton area to be employed by one of the target entities and serve as a workforce at the various factories," the office stated. "Most of the workers are of Chinese or Hispanic nationality. Workers allegedly lived at ‘family style hotels’ (boarding houses) owned by the target entities and were driven to and from work in transportation provided by the target entities," federal officials added. With their investigation, officials say "roughly 40 entities" were created to facilitate the harboring of illegal workers. "The suspects used these target entities to augment the workforces of several factories with individuals who illegally entered the United States, who are unlawfully present in the United States and/or who are working without required employment authorizations," the press release said. One of the companies raided included Fuyao Glass America, the company that appeared in the Obama’s prize-winning 2019 documentary, American Factory. The company, bought by Chinese industrialist Cao Dewang, employs about 2,200 workers, 200 of whom are Chinese migrants, the Associated Press reported when the documentary was released. The federal complaint in the case mentioned the Ohio factory favored by the Obamas.

NewsNation [4/25/2025 6:22 AM, Regan Porter, 6866K] reports a Pittsburg, Kansas, family is fighting to get their mom home after they say Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers took her away. Carina Moran said her mother walked in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Field Office in Kansas City for an appointment and was instead detained by ICE officers. "It feels like she’s been stripped away from me, and I feel like I’m never going to see her again," Moran said. "I’ve been with my mom my entire life. I don’t know what it’s like to not have her. [I] have to tell my younger brothers that they’re not going to get to see their mom. It makes me feel awful to see my dad struggling the way he is.” Moran said her dad, Nixon, became a U.S. citizen in March. That’s also when he filed a form repetitioning for his wife, Rosmery Alvarado, to potentially get a green card. "He got a notification three weeks later saying, ‘Hey you’ve gotten approved. We want you to come down for an interview.’ She says they also received a letter last week that said, "You are notified to appear before a USCIS officer regarding the application.” Moran said, on Wednesday her mom, dad and lawyer walked into the USCIS office for the appointment. About an hour later, Moran’s dad walked out the front door without her. "The last time that I saw her, I was walking her up to that building thinking they were going into a routine interview, but from the moment we got that letter they were being lied to," Moran said. "She really holds our household together and to not see her here and to not hear her voice really hurt.” Moran’s father said that during the appointment officers said the paperwork looked good, then separated her Nixon and Alvarado — and that’s when ICE officers took Alvarado away. "As soon as he stepped out, ICE came in through the back part of the office and two officers detained my mom, didn’t say anything to her," Moran said. "They took her out the back, put her in a white van that was untagged, and they just drove off with her.” Moran said Alvarado is now being held at a detention center in Chase County, about two hours away. Their lawyer told Moran that Alvarado had a deportation order. She said it stems from failing to appear in court when Alvarado was a minor. "We thought we had all of our defenses, we had the evidence, we had everything we were prepared, everyone in my family is a citizen," Moran said. "I thought that would protect her.” NewsNation affiliate WDAF reached out to ICE and USCIS. ICE acknowledged our request, but said they needed more personal information about Alvarado before they could comment. Moran said their attorney filed a deportation stop, and they’re waiting to see if it gets approved. If it’s denied, she said her mom will be sent to Guatemala three days after denial. Moran said her mom has diabetes. She created a GoFundMe for Rosmery Alvarado, intended to help cover medical expenses, legal assistance and "internationally mail [Alvarado’s] belongings" if necessary.

NewsNation [4/25/2025 4:52 PM, Heather Willard, 6866K] reports the American Civil Liberties Union is making Colorado a battleground state against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as it sues to access what the nonprofit says should be publicly requestable documents. According to the ACLU and the ACLU of Colorado, it all stems from attempts by ICE to expand immigration detention in Colorado and Wyoming. NewsNation affiliate KDVR learned during an exclusive ride-along with ICE Denver agents earlier this week that there are plans to double the number of available beds for immigration arrests in the Denver area. KDVR was told the new facility will have at least as many beds as the more than 1,500 beds in the existing Aurora ICE Contract Facility, and said the new facility would likely be located in Hudson and open by the end of the year to handle a planned increase in arrests. However, the ACLU has not been given such information, according to its lawsuit. The lawsuit states that on Feb. 14, ICE issued a request for information on Sam.gov, searching for possible immigration detention facilities, including in areas covered by ICE’s Denver Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office.

Univision [4/25/2025 3:35 PM, Staff, 5325K] reports Martín Majín, a 58-year-old immigrant father, was released on Wednesday, April 23, after spending more than 30 hours in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following his arrest by federal agents on Monday, April 22. According to witnesses and security video footage from outside his business, at least eight armed officers surrounded Majín as he exited his car, without warning or presenting a warrant. His family reported not knowing his whereabouts for more than a day. Majín was urgently hospitalized during his detention because he suffers from chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes. He was eventually released after being interviewed by an immigration judge and is now awaiting a hearing scheduled for next month. The charge against him is linked to an immigration violation that occurred more than 20 years ago. The Pomona raid didn’t just affect Majín; DHS reported that nine other people were arrested that same day, some with criminal records. Majín’s case has garnered the most attention due to the apparent disproportionate nature of the operation and its profile.

Politico [4/25/2025 2:00 PM, Jake Traylor and Myah Ward, 2100K] reports Trump administration officials have discussed allowing some Afghan refugees to remain in the United States, days after a group of potentially vulnerable migrants from the war-torn country received emails from Customs and Border Protection revoking their humanitarian parole status, according to two administration officials familiar with the conversations. The policy discussions come as prominent Christian leaders and nonprofit organizations have pressed the White House to protect what they say is a group of hundreds of at-risk Christian Afghan refugees — still a fraction of the thousands potentially facing deportation in the months ahead. The leaders argued they could face persecution if returned to Afghanistan, which has reverted to Taliban control after the U.S. withdrawal in 2021 — agreed to by President Donald Trump in his first term and executed by President Joe Biden. Allowing even a fraction of those refugees to stay would mark a rare turnabout for an administration that has focused its efforts on removing temporary legal status for refugees from around the world as part of its deportation agenda. The push is unlikely to help Muslim Afghans, including those who helped American troops and civilians, who could also face dire consequences if they return to the country. The Trump administration sent emails on April 11 to some Afghans who entered the United States after the Taliban takeover in 2021 and were granted temporary legal protections, revoking their parole and ordering them to leave the United States in seven days. But it’s unclear how many Afghans were affected by the directive — and the Department of Homeland Security would not confirm how many Afghans received the notice, or whether any of the emails were sent in error. Administration officials have discussed ways the parole revocations could be modified to allow certain people to remain in the United States, according to one of the officials, granted anonymity to discuss the talks. Officials also floated an “exemption list” that identified people who may be most at risk if sent back to Afghanistan, the official said. It is still unclear if any specific policy change or reversal will take effect.

(B) CNN News Central [4/25/2025 3:29 PM, Staff] reports that the Georgia Secretary of State has sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asking the Trump administration to reconsider deporting Afghan Christian refugees. In the letter, he asks DHS to hear the refugees’ asylum claims, stating many of these Afghan Christians had risked their lives for religious freedom and democratic values in service of American forces in the country. Since the end of the war in Afghanistan in August of 2021, more than 180,000 Afghans have resettled in the US.

The Daily Caller [4/25/2025 1:30 PM, Jason Hopkins, 1100K] reports the Trump administration dismantled a major marriage fraud operation that raked in millions of dollars attempting to give immigration benefits to illegal migrants. Federal immigration authorities uncovered a “sophisticated network of individuals” who recruited, enticed and groomed American citizens into bogus marriages with foreign nationals in order for them to illegally obtain immigration benefits, according to a Friday press announcement by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The major bust marked the Trump administration’s latest efforts to stop illegal migrants from taking advantage of the U.S. immigration system. “Some marriages are made in heaven. Some are just made up,” USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Our work with ICE in this investigation dismantled a major marriage fraud ring where U.S. citizens were paid to marry illegal aliens,” Tragesser said to the DCNF. “These fraudsters are now walking out in handcuffs, reaffirming President Trump and [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s] commitment to restoring integrity in our immigration system.” Dubbed “Operation Bargain Bride,” federal law enforcement officials in March charged four individuals tied to the large-scale conspiracy in the Maryland area, according to USCIS. The individuals allegedly charged non-citizen clients anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 per marriage union, generating an estimated $4 million in illicit proceeds. “These arrests marked a critical milestone in our broader effort to dismantle a criminal network undermining our nation’s immigration laws,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy said during the Friday press conference.

Chicago Tribune [4/25/2025 6:42 PM, Zareen Syed, Rebecca Johnson and Carolyn Stein, 5269K] reports academics across the country expressed a mix of relief and skepticism Friday after the Trump administration reinstated the legal status of more than 1,000 international students who had their records terminated in recent weeks. The announcement came after scores of international students around the U.S. filed court challenges against the Trump administration crackdown, government lawyers said Friday. Immigration officials said they are developing a new framework for reviewing and terminating visas for international students and agencies would not make additional changes or further revoke visas in the meantime, government lawyers said. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement to the Tribune late Friday afternoon that the department "did not reverse course on a single visa revocation," but instead restored SEVIS access for people who had not had their visas revoked. In the last several weeks, more than 1,200 students nationwide, including several dozen across Illinois, suddenly lost their legal status or had visas revoked, leaving them at risk for deportation. Many said they had only minor infractions on their record or did not know why they were targeted. Some left the country while others have gone into hiding or stopped going to class. Illinois universities including the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University said some of their students’ visas were revoked, as a growing number of students’ records in SEVIS, an online system maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, were being terminated. After Friday’s reversal, a Northwestern spokesperson said the university is "encouraged by this development and its impact on our current and former international students.".

Newsweek [4/25/2025 6:26 PM, Mandy Taheri, 52200K] reports Rosmery Alvarado, a Guatemalan immigrant married to a recently naturalized U.S. citizen, was detained Wednesday after arriving at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) field office for what she believed was the first step in her residency process, her daughter, Carina Moran told Newsweek. Moran told Newsweek that her mother is "currently held with a deportation order." Newsweek has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and USCIS via email on Friday. Newsweek has also filed an online contact form with Alvarado’s attorney. Alvarado’s detention comes amid an immigration crackdown under the Trump administration, during which some people with valid documentation—including green cards or visas—have been detained and face legal jeopardy. Her family maintains that Alvarado was seeking to stay in the U.S. through legal pathways, with her husband becoming a naturalized citizen in March. Alvarado is being held at an ICE facility several hours away in Chase County Detention Center, Moran told Newsweek. Newsweek has been unable to confirm Alvarado’s location in the ICE detainee database. "We were told she will be sent back to her country within 2-3 days," she wrote in her social media post. Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously told Newsweek: "The Trump administration is enforcing immigration laws—something the previous administration failed to do. Those who violate these laws will be processed, detained and removed as required." It is unclear what the next steps in her immigration case are. The family’s attorney has filed a deportation stop which is awaiting approval.

Reuters [4/25/2025 6:21 PM, Staff, 41523K] reports Migrants deterred by U.S. President Donald Trump’s border crackdown are making their way back to their home countries as crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border continue to fall. In the Honduran town of Danli, near the border with Nicaragua, dozens of migrants are waiting for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency, to fly them back to Venezuela and other countries. Betzabeth Bencomo said that after she gave up on her hopes of entering the United States and left Mexico, she thought she’d have to travel once again across the lawless jungle that separates Colombia and Panama in order to reach her native Venezuela. But upon arriving in Honduras, she learned that the IOM was offering repatriation flights for migrants looking to return home. "We’ve been waiting for two and a half months," she said. "God willing, soon we will be home.". Venessa Contreras, also from Venezuela, feels safer now that she knows she will be able to fly home - even if she has to wait. She said that the journey home has gotten even more deadly since Panama took steps to block off parts of the jungle, pushing some migrants to resort to traveling by sea on small boats that occasionally capsize on the reverse migration route. Interest in IOM’s assisted voluntary return program has soared since Trump’s crackdown began.

AP [4/25/2025 4:44 PM, Anne M. Peterson] reports Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon has asked top Trump administration officials to reconsider policies that are impacting travelers arriving in the United States, citing upcoming sporting events like the 2026 World Cup. Wyden, top Democrat on the finance committee, wrote Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday to air his concerns over recent reports of international travelers being detained and other travel issues. International travelers appear increasingly wary of the administration’s immigration and border policies. Several countries have updated travel guidelines for their citizens planning on visiting the United States.

Blaze.com [4/25/2025 8:32 AM, Rebeka Zeljko, 1668K] reports that, Ron Vitiello, a longtime immigration enforcement official, reflected on the significant failures that took place under former President Joe Biden’s administration during an exclusive interview with Blaze News senior politics editor Christopher Bedford on Thursday. Vitiello has spent decades dedicated to protecting America’s borders, most recently serving as acting director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during President Donald Trump’s first term and now as a senior adviser to Customs and Border Protection during his second term. Witnessing the contrast in immigration policy across different administrations, Vitiello tells Bedford that having Trump back in office after Biden is like night and day. "It’s clear that during the Biden administration, uncontrolled border was their goal, right?" Vitiello told Bedford. "We had an invasion unlike we’ve seen before.".

CBS San Francisco [4/25/2025 6:47 PM, Cecilio Padilla and Richard Ramos, 51661K] reports a truckload of cocaine was seized by law enforcement officers in Tracy this week, authorities say. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office says, on Tuesday, agencies from across the region intercepted a semi-truck that had been tracked from the Mexican border to Tracy. Inside the truck, authorities found, was a shipment of 189 kilos – or more than 415 pounds – of cocaine. Authorities let the truck pull up to a residence off Koster Road. Agents then closed in, leading to two suspects eventually being taken into custody. More than 200 pounds of marijuana were also found inside the residence, the sheriff’s office said. Luis Gomez-Valencia and Julio Vega-Hernandez were arraigned Friday on several drug trafficking charges, authorities said. Bail for each man was set at $5 million, and they each face up to 34 years in state prison. Both men are expected to appear in San Joaquin County court again on May 12. "This was an extraordinary seizure that dealt a significant blow to a major drug trafficking operation, and my message to other traffickers is this: if you traffic dangerous narcotics into our communities, we will find you, we will dismantle your operation, and we will hold you fully accountable," San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said in the arraignment announcement. "The magnitude of this seizure reflects not only the threat posed by transnational drug trafficking, but also the strength of our partnerships in shutting it down before it could destroy lives.".

SFGate [4/25/2025 6:16 PM, Olivia Hebert, 12335K] reports a longtime Santa Cruz resident is facing deportation after U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained her at San Francisco International Airport earlier this month over a decades-old, reportedly expunged conviction. Cliona Ward, a 54-year-old green-card holder, was returning from Ireland after escorting her stepmother overseas to reunite with her father, who has dementia, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched by her sister, Orla Holladay. "My sister was escorting our step-mother to Ireland so that she could be with our father who is at the end of his life and fighting dementia. When Cliona attempted to return she was detained by customs," Holladay wrote on the fundraiser page, which is titled "Cliona’s Hope: A Mother’s Fight for Freedom.". "She [has] lived in Sacramento, attended UCSC and and has built a life here. She has a son who is chronically ill who depends on her for care-giving," Holladay wrote, noting that after her sister followed all of the instructions given to her by CBP for a "supposed administrative meeting," she was detained. Holladay called it "an effort to take her into custody.". Ward, who has been a U.S. green-card holder for about 30 years, was reportedly called in "to present documents" tied to a conviction that was expunged 20 years ago, Holladay wrote in the GoFundMe. According to the page, Ward has been steadily employed, paid taxes and raised her family in California without further legal trouble. An update posted on the fundraiser page Thursday said Ward has been transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Seattle and has a court date set for May 7. Holladay noted the family is urgently seeking criminal immigration attorneys in the area to represent her. Ward’s detention has drawn sharp criticism from U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, who called the CBP’s decision to use an expunged incident as justification for potential deportation as "unimaginable" in a statement shared with SFGATE.

NewsMax [4/25/2025 6:37 PM, Jim Mishler, 4998K] reports administrators in the Federal Emergency Management Agency are reportedly considering denying any snowstorm-related disaster aid requests from states. CNN reported it obtained a copy of a memo on the subject that is being reviewed by senior agency officials. Along with proposing the refusal to accept snowstorm disaster aid requests, the memo reportedly outlines a general four-fold increase over the current level of required qualifying damages that must be proven by a state to receive disaster help from Washington. Along with some specific coverage areas, the memo covers the general proposed course of action to "identify short-term actions to rebalance FEMA’s role in disasters before the start of the 2025 hurricane season," according to CNN. In other words, how to spend less to help states recover from natural disasters. FEMA has been a regular target of negative comments from Trump administration leaders, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. FEMA became a part of the Homeland Security Department in 2003. Noem said in late March that she was preparing to "eliminate" FEMA. The Arkansas Advocate has reported that, "emergency support from the federal government is no longer a given." The outlet listed a series of disaster aid requests from several states that recently have been denied, including one from Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders after more than a dozen tornadoes ripped up a section of the state in mid-March.

Axios [4/25/2025 6:08 PM, Kim Bojórquez, 13163K] reports FEMA lifted a hold this week on $38 million in grants meant to help community radio stations upgrade their equipment, including one in Salt Lake City, after a federal lawsuit was filed over the freeze. A nearly $500,000 grant was awarded to KRCL in November that would have allowed it to get reimbursed for enhance its emergency alert system. CPB sued FEMA in March over the freeze "to protect public media stations from financial harm," Kathy Merritt, a representative for the group, said in a statement, per the AP. The award was part of the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) grant program.

Axios [4/25/2025 6:20 AM, Sommer Brugal, 13163K] reports that, with a little more than a month to go before the start of hurricane season, FEMA employees are warning of disaster inside the nation’s primary disaster-response agency. Why it matters: The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to have "above-normal" activity, with 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes. Many residents in Florida and the Carolinas are still recovering from Helene and Milton. Driving the news: FEMA employees told Wired they’re facing the "rapid erosion of tools, partnerships and practices," along with staff cuts. "We are being set up," one employee told the outlet, "for a really, really bad situation." Flashback: Right after taking office, President Trump said he’d consider "getting rid of" FEMA, claiming that its work had been biased against Republicans. He then signed an executive order aimed at revamping the agency. Zoom in: In February, around 200 probationary FEMA employees — about 1% of the agency’s total employees — were laid off, Wired reported. In March, supervisors were required to submit extension requests for other employee positions. If those are denied, the agency could make additional cuts, per the outlet. Meanwhile, funding for basic emergency management needs is in limbo. The Trump administration is in the process of reviewing whether that funding aligns with its priorities. The money being scrutinized supports offseason tasks, such as planning for future events and recovery from previous ones. It also funds tools that help predict where evacuations may be more difficult, among other things, Wired reported. "Unlike the previous administration’s unprepared [responses], the Trump administration is committed to ensuring Americans effected [sic] by emergencies will get the help they need in a quick and efficient manner," Geoff Harbaugh, FEMA’s associate administrator of the Office of External Affairs, told Wired. All operations will be managed without interruption and in close coordination with local and state officials, he wrote.

CBS New York [4/25/2025 7:04 PM, Christine Sloan, 51661K] Video: HERE reports New Jersey firefighters are confident the wildfire burning for days in Ocean County will be fully contained over the weekend, and it looks like the weather will be on their side. The Jones Road Wildfire, which authorities ruled was arson, was 60% contained Friday evening after more than 15,000 acres have burned. The Ocean County Prosecutor charged 19-year-old Joseph Kling, saying he started a bonfire off Jones Road in Waretown and left it unattended. He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Acting Governor Tahesha Way said Friday that FEMA had approved federal funding for the state. Smoky conditions persisted Friday in parts of the Lacey Township pine barrens, where thousands had to be evacuated when the fire started. But residents’ fears are subsiding. "When I left, I thought this was going to be it. I really did. I thought it was going to be gone," said Lou Veltre. For now, they’re keeping their windows closed and trying to stay safe.

Washington Post [4/25/2025 1:30 PM, Daniel Wu, 31735K] reports Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R), who rose to prominence as White House press secretary in President Donald Trump’s first term, has not been shy about advertising her access to her former boss and how that helps her state. Her relationship with Trump is now being tested after devastating storms swept through Arkansas in March, damaging hundreds of homes. The state badly needs aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recover, Sanders has said. FEMA denied a request for emergency aid after the March tornadoes, which Sanders appealed last week. On Monday, Arkansas’s congressional delegation joined her in lobbying the White House for assistance, a rare instance of pushback against the president from Republican officials who are typically staunch supporters. Trump, who is authorized to make final decisions on FEMA disaster declarations that authorize the disbursement of federal aid, has spoken about dismantling the agency that’s housed in the Department of Homeland Security and previously threatened to withhold disaster aid from California because of political disputes with the Democratic-led state. But Arkansas, a red state headed by a vocal Trump ally, has no such quarrels with the president. In March, shortly after tornadoes hit Arkansas, Sanders wrote on X that Trump had personally promised his support to her in a phone call between the two. “He said to tell the people of Arkansas he loves them and he and his administration are here to help with whatever we need following last night’s tornadoes,” Sanders wrote. “Thank you, Mr. President!” Sam Dubke, a spokesperson for Sanders’s office, said in a statement that the governor “has been in close contact with the Trump Administration and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi L.] Noem as the State provides additional information to appeal its Major Disaster Declaration request and help Arkansans recover from these storms.”

(B) NBC News Daily [4/25/2025 12:09 PM, Staff] reports that in Vatican City, thousands of mourners are saying their final goodbyes to Pope Francis. A ceremony is set to seal the casket this afternoon. As security is ramping up for the pope’s funeral tomorrow, authorities say they are expecting half a million people to be in Rome for the Services. Leaders from around the world are heading there. Vatican City Police and Rome Police are already working with the Secret Service. At least 4,000 law enforcement officials are on the ground with helicopters for aerial surveillance and anti-drone teams set up.

Bangor Daily News [4/25/2025 8:20 PM, Ethan Andrews, 719K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard has proposed to remove navigation aids from up and down the East Coast, including more than 100 in Maine waters. A notice issued on April 15 listing the locations of buoys that would be discontinued, includes more than 40 in Penobscot Bay and a dozen from around Mount Desert Island. The buoys targeted for removal mark harbor entrances, ledges, and other routes and hazards. Some are lighted, while others have gongs, bells or whistles, according to detailed descriptions in the notice. According to the Coast Guard, most, if not all would be removed to modernize a constellation of navigation aids “whose designs mostly predate global navigation satellite systems, electronic navigation charts, and electronic charting systems.” The intention, the Coast Guard says, is to “support the navigational needs of the 21st century prudent mariner … Deliver effective, economical service — manage vessel transit risk to acceptable levels at acceptable cost.”

FOX 25 Boston [4/26/2025 2:29 AM, Keenan Bassma, 976K] reports two people aboard a fishing vessel are facing life-threatening injuries after being rescued off the coast of Massachusetts. According to the Coast Guard, they received a distress call around 3:55 p.m., reporting that a snapped rope had struck two crewmembers aboard the fishing vessel “25 TO LIFE”. One of the victims sustained a concussion and broken ribs, while the other had suffered a suspected broken neck and was intermittently unresponsive. The Coast Guard launched a helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod and small boats from their stations in Gloucester and Allerton for rescue. A 45-foot response boat from Allerton transported both crewmembers to a pier in Gloucester to be picked up by EMS and transported to Beverly Hospital. There is no word on the status of the victims.

Reported similarly:
NBC 10 Boston [4/25/2025 9:57 PM, Mike Pescaro, 1100K]

Waterways Journal [4/25/2025 1:04 PM, Frank McCormack, 9K] reports rising water on the Lower Mississippi River has triggered the New Orleans Engineer District to activate its Phase II flood fight, with the Carrollton Gage in New Orleans reading 15.6 feet as of April 24 and forecast to reach 16.9 feet by May 1. The New Orleans District activates Phase I flood fight when the Carrollton Gage passes 11 feet. Phase II occurs when the river rises above 15 feet. Phase II means daily patrols of both banks of the river levee between Baton Rouge, La., and Venice, La. When the river is above 15 feet at the Carrollton Gage, all subsurface construction within 1,500 feet of the levee is suspended. On April 21, officials from the New Orleans District conducted an operational exercise of the Bonnet Carré Spillway, the lowermost flood control structure on the Mississippi River, located in Norco, La. Bonnet Carré is designed to divert a portion of the Mississippi River’s flow into Lake Pontchartrain, 6 miles to the north. The levees in the vicinity of New Orleans protect the city up to a river stage of around 20 feet, but the trigger point for operating the Bonnet Carré Spillway is a discharge of 1.25 million cubic feet per second, which has historically corresponded to about 17 feet at the Carrollton Gage. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans sent out an MSIB (Marine Safety Information Bulletin) April 24 alerting vessel operators of guidelines in place when the Mississippi River passes 16 feet on the Carrollton Gage. Towing vessels are advised to not transit between two anchored ships. Towing vessels less than 79 feet long should maintain a minimum freeboard of 1 foot at their lowest point. The Coast Guard also sets a minimum barge-to-horsepower ratio in high water on the Lower Mississippi River of 300 hp. per standard barge and 700 hp. per oversized barge for southbound tows.

StateScoop [4/25/2025 12:11 PM, Sophia Fox-Sowell, 29K] reports Abilene, Texas, on Thursday posted a public notice that temporarily suspends the requirements of the state’s public information law from April 22-28. The suspension, signed by the City Secretary Shawna Atkinson, comes after the city last week suffered a cyberattack that forced officials to take several servers offline. According to a public notice issued by the City on Apr. 21, officials received reports of unresponsive servers within the city’s network and began disconnecting impacted systems, as outlined in an incident response plan, and launched an investigation into the attack. “Our IT Department has worked around the clock to successfully restore our services to minimize downtime and the impact on our operations. Our investigation is ongoing, and we continue to closely monitor our systems for any unusual activity” the notice read. Texas’ Public Information Act requires government bodies to release information in response to formal requests. However, Texas Government Code allows a temporary pause for governments if they’re affected by a catastrophe.

Oregonian [4/25/2025 5:18 PM, Quinton Prudhomme, 3861K] reports rescuers with the U.S. Coast Guard lifted a man to safety from a cruise ship Sunday after he reported extreme seasickness. The man, a crew member with the ship, reported that he was experiencing shortness of breath and "excessive vomiting," according to the Coast Guard. A MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station in North Bend flew to the ship and dropped a basket to the man. They then hoisted him to the helicopter and flew him to Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay, where he was in stable condition.

SeaPower Magazine [4/25/2025 10:25 PM, Staff, 23K] reports the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball (WMSL 756) offloaded approximately 18,898 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated value of more than $214.3 million, on Thursday in San Diego. The offload is a result of six separate suspected drug smuggling vessel interdictions or events off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America by the Coast Guard Cutter Kimball and Coast Guard Cutter Forward during the months of February through April.  Multiple U.S. agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security, collaborate in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, all play a role in counter-narcotic operations.

Reported similarly:
ABC 7 San Diego [4/25/2025 3:49 PM, Staff, 22K]

(B) Today [4/25/2025 10:56 AM, Staff] reports that a local Coast Guard crew just reported a successful mission as part of the fight against illegal drugs. Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Kimball retrieved nearly 19,000 pounds of pure cocaine with a street value of more than $214 million. This was the result of six separate Coast Guard busts off Mexico and Central and South America. They took place during a two-month joint mission with Coast Guard Cutter Forward.

Yahoo News [4/25/2025 8:34 PM, Anna Ashcraft, 59943K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard in San Diego has announced crews in San Diego intercepted a large boat carrying undocumented migrants off the coast of Sunset Cliffs in San Diego. Coast Guard San Diego crews on Thursday tracked a 16-foot boat for over two hours as it headed north from Mexico before stopping it at 2:24 p.m. just one mile west of Sunset Cliffs, between Mission Bay and Point Loma, the agency reported. The boat was carrying five adult men who claimed Mexican nationality, and one adult man who claimed Salvadoran nationality. The Coast Guard transferred the migrants to Border Patrol custody in Imperial Beach.

CyberSecurity Dive [4/25/2025 11:27 AM, Eric Geller, 72K] reports Gottumukkala’s selection, which CISA confirmed to Cybersecurity Dive, makes him one of the few political appointees at CISA as the agency wrestles with what its mission should be under the Trump administration’s vision of leaner government. Gottumukkala’s background as a state CIO could be particularly helpful as CISA considers reducing its financial and technical support to local governments. For years, CISA has offered free services and consultations to states and municipalities that struggle to hire their own IT and cyber experts. But Trump’s layoffs are expected to decimate the two wings of CISA that primarily handle this work, the Integrated Operations Division and the Stakeholder Engagement Division. If CISA’s support recedes and local officials complain, it could fall to Gottumukkala to assuage their worries and help them chart individual paths forward without as much federal help. Unlike his two predecessors as deputy CISA director, Gottumukkala does not have a cybersecurity or homeland-security background; his expertise is in software engineering. Under the first Trump administration and the Biden administration, CISA’s deputy director brought expertise in physical security and emergency management to complement the director’s experience in cybersecurity.

New York Times [4/25/2025 2:29 PM, Colin Moynihan, 145325K] reports Haji Najibullah once commanded more than a thousand Taliban militants who waged a ruthless insurgency against U.S. and Afghan enemies. In summer 2008, federal prosecutors say, some of those fighters attacked a U.S. military convoy, killing three American soldiers and their Afghan interpreter. Three months later, Mr. Najibullah’s men destroyed an Afghan border patrol outpost, an indictment said. A month after that, Mr. Najibullah’s forces shot down a U.S. military helicopter, the indictment said. And then Mr. Najibullah took part in the kidnapping of an American journalist and two Afghan men and demanded millions of dollars and the freeing of Taliban prisoners as their ransom. On Friday, Mr. Najibullah entered a courtroom in Manhattan wearing tan prison garb and a dark-colored skullcap, with his wrists and ankles shackled. He then pleaded guilty to hostage-taking and providing material support for terrorism. Mr. Najibullah, who told the judge he was “about 49,” could finish his life in prison. He is to be sentenced in October. His appearance, before Judge Katherine Polk Failla, of Federal District Court, came nearly 20 years after the actions described in an indictment. It came nearly five years after Mr. Najibullah was brought to the United States from Ukraine and arrested in the kidnapping of the American reporter, David Rohde, then of The New York Times, and nearly four years after he was charged with four counts of murder and other crimes for the 2008 attack. Addressing Judge Failla, Mr. Najibullah acknowledged that U.S. soldiers were killed as a result of his actions as a Taliban leader between 2007 and 2009, and that those soldiers and their allies had been targeted by suicide attackers and improvised explosive devices. “I also participated in the hostage-taking of David Rohde and his companions,” Mr. Najibullah said, adding that those hostages were then “forced to convey the Taliban’s demands.” The case, stemming from America’s yearslong war in Afghanistan, was heard in a civilian court thousands of miles away. Mr. Najibullah’s lawyers had filed a motion arguing that he should not be prosecuted in such a setting for the 2008 killings and related acts under the Geneva Conventions, a set of rules that outlines treatment of combatants and prisoners. Judge Failla denied the motion.

Reported similarly:
AP [4/25/2025 3:11 PM, Larry Neumeister, 48304K]
FOX News [4/25/2025 5:37 PM, Staff, 46189K]

CBS News [4/25/2025 5:56 PM, Elijah Westbrook, Ali Bauman, Renee Anderson, 51661K] reports Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City at his arraignment today in Manhattan federal court. The murder charge is eligible for the death penalty, which Attorney General Pam Bondi said prosecutors will seek in the federal trial. Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty in NYC federal murder case. Federal prosecutors indicted Mangione last week on two counts of stalking, a firearm offense and murder through the use of a firearm in Thompson’s 2024 shooting death. Mangione, 26, stood with his lawyers as he entered his plea Friday. He leaned forward to a microphone as U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett asked him if understood the indictment and the charges against him. Mangione said, "yes." When asked how he wished to plead, he said, "not guilty" and sat down. The pleas were not unexpected, since Mangione also pleaded not guilty to state charges he’s facing in New York and Pennsylvania. The judge overseeing the case said she hopes to set a trial date during the next federal court conference on Dec. 5. Pam Bondi, DOJ seeking death penalty against Mangione. Mangione’s arraignment came a day after the U.S. Department of Justice formally told the court it intends to seek the death penalty in the case. Federal prosecutors say Mangione poses a future danger, alleging in the latest court filing that he intended to "target an entire industry and rally opposition to that industry by engaging in lethal violence.". They also say he took steps to dodge law enforcement, flee New York City after the murder and cross state lines while armed with a privately manufactured gun and silencer. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi previously said prosecutors would seek the death penalty, marking the first time since President Trump vowed to resume federal executions when he took office in January. Mangione’s attorneys have filed motions asking for the death penalty option to be removed, saying the government "intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt.". Civil and criminal attorney Donte Mills explained the challenges in a death penalty case. "You have an additional burden, you have to prove intent. Intent that he intended to rile up the community or make people act as he did, make people commit murders against people in the healthcare industry. You have to prove that he intended this to be more than the killing of one person, and it’s really hard to prove what was in someone’s mind," Mills said. The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing Thompson, a husband and father of two, outside a midtown hotel on Dec. 4, 2024. Investigators said Thompson was on his way to an investors conference when he was shot in the back on the sidewalk. The manhunt for his killer led police through Central Park to a hostel on the Upper West Side and eventually to a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state murder and terrorism charges in New York, as well as forgery and weapons charges in Pennsylvania. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

reported similarly:
NPR [4/25/2025 3:17 PM, Juliana Kim, 29983K]

FOX News [4/25/2025 11:37 AM, Marc Tamasco, 46189K] reports Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told "Fox & Friends" on Friday that she has referred the intelligence community members who allegedly leaked classified information to the media, to the FBI and the Department of Justice for official criminal investigations. "We conducted our own internal investigation. We have referred them now to the Department of Justice and the FBI for an official criminal investigation, because these are crimes and people need to be held accountable to put a stop to this," Gabbard said. The intelligence chief noted that "one of the reasons why the American people voted resoundingly for President Trump was to root out the kind of politicization and weaponization of intelligence that has really undermined the trust the American people have in the intelligence community and the national security state.". Gabbard asserted that she would not allow this abuse of trust to continue under her watch, and offered insight into how the leaks were leveraged against the president’s agenda. "When we look at the examples that I’ve seen, just in the short time that I’ve been in this position, what they consist of is essentially very selective leaks to their friends in the propaganda media that, twisted, manipulated intelligence directly to undermine the president’s policies and his aggressive work to keep the American people safe," she explained. Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade asked Gabbard whether the third intelligence community member, who is also suspected of being involved with the leaks, knows that they’re also being criminally investigated. "I don’t know if they know, but these are the first three investigations we are referring to the Department of Justice," Gabbard told Kilmeade. "There are more… investigations are continuing.".

Wall Street Journal [4/25/2025 7:06 PM, Michael R. Gordon, 646K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has discharged members of Pentagon advisory boards on defense policy and military technology, adding to the upheaval during his time at the Pentagon, current and former officials said. In a memo explaining the dismissals at the Defense Policy Board, the Defense Science Board and other advisory panels, Hegseth wrote that the Pentagon requires “fresh thinking to drive bold changes.” It isn’t unusual for a new administration to change the membership of the advisory panels. But Hegseth is directing the wholesale dismissals of board members at several panels. The panels are made up of former officials, industry executives, academics, scientists and engineers, and have long provided independent and bipartisan analysis and advice to the Defense Department. “We were thanked for our service,” Michael O’Hanlon, a Brookings Institution defense expert who served on the Defense Policy Board until he was discharged this past week. Several panel members have sent Hegseth a memo on defense issues but haven’t received a response, he said. A Pentagon spokesman said that Hegseth wasn’t abolishing the boards themselves and that new members would eventually be appointed.

NewsMax [4/25/2025 6:51 PM, Michael Katz, 4998K] reports a public interest law firm has filed a federal lawsuit against the participants in a Signal chat group discussion last month that included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other White House officials regarding an imminent airstrike on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen. The lawsuit filed by the National Security Counselors requests that the participants turn over all conversations they had on the encrypted app over the past three months, The Hill reported Friday. Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are named in the suit, which is seeking the totality of messages in their accounts "regardless of sender or recipient.". "When news first broke about Signal-gate, the first question on a lot of national security people’s minds wasn’t, How did this happen? We knew how it happened. Our question was, ‘How often did this happen?’" Kel McClanahan, executive director of National Security Counselors, told The Hill. It is the first legal action since Hegseth reportedly discussed the same strike in a Signal chat with his wife, brother, and personal attorney. Hegseth reportedly said Tuesday that only "informal, unclassified coordination’s" were shared in the chat.

Los Angeles Times [4/25/2025 6:27 PM, Sonja Sharp, 13342K] reports the Trump administration accused UC Berkeley of failing to disclose millions of dollars in foreign funding on Friday, touting muscular new enforcement of an obscure federal rule amid ongoing efforts to bridle America’s top research institutions. The University of California flagship is the second top school to come under investigation this month for alleged violations of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which requires disclosure of "foreign source gifts and contracts" worth more than $250,000. A similar investigation into Harvard was announced last week. On Wednesday, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Education to ramp up enforcement of the rule. The department "will begin by thoroughly examining UC Berkeley’s apparent failure to fully and accurately disclose significant funding received from foreign sources," U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement. Dan Mogulof, assistant vice chancellor of the UC Berkeley communications and public affairs office, issued a statement that said the school has already been in contact with federal authorities about the issue. "Over the course of the last two years, UC Berkeley has been cooperating with federal inquiries regarding [Section] 117 reporting issues, and will continue to do so," Mogulof said. The audits are the latest in a barrage of administrative actions against elite universities around the country.

NPR [4/25/2025 4:50 PM, Staff, 29983K] Audio: HERE reports NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about U.S. involvement in major international conflicts under the Trump administration.

Wall Street Journal [4/25/2025 5:04 PM, Alexander Ward and Nancy A. Youssef, 646K] reports top Pentagon aides were developing a briefing for Elon Musk last month on more than two dozen highly classified weapons programs for fighting China until the department’s top lawyer intervened, people familiar with the plan said. Acting Pentagon General Counsel Charles Young learned that a memo being drafted to show Musk contained information on 29 China-related “special access programs,” a designation for the military’s most sensitive secrets, the people said. Young contacted a senior aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was traveling in Japan, to ask if the secretary had approved revealing China plans to the billionaire businessman. “The memo is on hold until you guys can get back and discuss,” Young wrote in a text reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Musk never received the briefing. Defense officials had been raising ethics concerns about presenting the information to President Trump’s ally in part because of his extensive commercial interests in China. But the internal confusion about whether Musk would be told about the programs highlights disarray at the top levels of the Pentagon early in Hegseth’s tenure. It also is at odds with assertions by Hegseth and Trump that there were no plans to share China-related sensitive information with Musk. The plans to inform Musk about special access programs were formulated around his visit to the Pentagon on March 21 to meet with Hegseth and senior military officials. It is unclear if the memo was being prepared for that meeting. The plan to give him a top-secret briefing on China that day was scrapped after Trump learned about it in the media. Neither the Pentagon nor a representative for Musk responded to requests for comment. CNN earlier reported on the China memo for Musk. Pentagon officials said at the time that no classified meeting on China for Musk was ever planned. Some officials believed Hegseth had directed staff to compile the document on special access programs for Musk. But others said aides in Deputy Secretary Stephen Feinberg’s office misunderstood a Hegseth directive and were preparing the briefing until Young effectively shut it down.

CNN [4/25/2025 8:00 AM, David Goldman 22131K] reports President Donald Trump said today aboard Air Force One that he probably would not grant another pause on his steep so-called reciprocal tariffs on dozens of nations. That means those countries have 90 days to strike a deal with the United States or face steep tariffs of up to 50%. Trump said another delay to those tariffs, which are not technically reciprocal, was “unlikely.” The timeframe for higher tariffs remains unclear. Trump in a Time interview published today said countries would have three or four weeks to negotiate before facing higher tariffs. In the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said the timeframe for a deal was two to three weeks before the United States would set a tariff on countries. It’s unclear whether those new tariffs would be temporary until the reciprocal tariffs are un-paused in July or if they would be permanent replacements for the reciprocal tariffs.

CBS News [4/26/2025 5:19 AM, Aaron Navarro, 51661K] reports President Trump and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy met privately ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis and "had a very productive discussion," the White House said Saturday. A spokesman for Ukraine’s government called the meeting "constructive" and said the two leaders were working to arrange another. Ukraine’s presidential press service released images of the meeting, as well as an image of a meeting between Mr. Trump, Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Mr. Trump is trying to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, after first sending troops into eastern Ukraine in 2014. Mr. Trump on Saturday was among more than 50 heads of state and other dignitaries attending the funeral of Pope Francis, where he was personally paying his respects to the Roman Catholic leader who pointedly disagreed with him on a variety of issues. He also briefly met Britain’s Prince William, CBS News partner network BBC News reported. Trump arrived at the Vatican with his wife, first lady Melania Trump. When Zelenskyy arrived for the ceremony, the gathered crowd broke out in applause. Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday as he flew to Rome that he was going to the funeral "out of respect" for the pontiff, who died Monday after suffering a stroke at the age of 88. Mr. Trump had said on a couple of occasions before leaving Washington that he would have "a lot" of meetings with counterparts on the sidelines of the funeral. But he seemed to back away from that as he flew to Rome. "Frankly, it’s a little disrespectful to have meetings when you’re at the funeral of a pope," the president told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One. Nonetheless, Mr. Trump said, "I’ll be talking to people. I’ll be seeing a lot of people.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [4/26/2025 6:27 AM, David E. Sanger, 145325K]

Daily Wire [4/25/2025 1:14 PM, Leif Le Mahieu, 4672K] reports President Donald Trump said Friday that Russia and Ukraine were "very close" to a peace deal, and called for top leadership of the countries to "finish it off.". Trump made the comments on Truth Social as he landed in Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Friday to speak with President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials and push for a peace deal. "Just landed in Rome," Trump posted on Truth Social. "A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off.’ Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!". That post came just hours after he called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to sign a mineral deal with the United States, saying that he was "at least three weeks late.". "Ukraine, headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not signed the final papers on the very important Rare Earths Deal with the United States," he posted. "It is at least three weeks late. Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY. Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future!". The deal over rare earth minerals was supposed to be signed months ago, but came to a standstill in February after Zelensky was asked to leave the White House following a contentious meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Last week, several Ukrainian officials signaled that the country was coming close to finalizing the agreement.

The Hill [4/25/2025 7:56 AM, Alex Gangitano, 12829K] reports President Trump blamed Ukraine for initiating the war with Russia by eying a NATO membership, adding that he thinks Crimea will stay under Moscow’s control as part of a deal to end the war. In an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, Trump expressed optimism that Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a peace deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. When asked if Ukraine should give up any hope of ever joining NATO, Trump criticized the war-torn country for talking about the security alliance. "I don’t think they’ll ever be able to join NATO. I think that’s been—from day one, I think that’s been, that’s I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO. If that weren’t brought up, there would have been a much better chance that it wouldn’t have started," Trump said. And, when asked if it would be an acceptable deal to him if Crimea and the four other regions that Moscow has taken from Ukraine would be folded into Russia under a final accommodation, the president said Crimea would stay with Russia. "If Crimea will stay with Russia—we have to only talk about Crimea because that’s the one that always gets mentioned. Crimea will stay with Russia," he said. "And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time. It’s been with them long before Trump came along.” Trump said on Thursday that Russia would be making a concession toward peace if it agrees not to take over Ukraine. He has also said that Zelensky has been harder to work with than Putin. Ukraine has agreed to Trump’s 30-day ceasefire proposal and Putin has demanded various conditions for a deal. Trump officials have previously suggested Ukraine should expect to cede some land to Russia in exchange for peace, as well as agreeing not to join NATO, as the administration has struggled to negotiate even a limited ceasefire deal between Moscow and Kyiv. Trump on Thursday also demanded Putin stop attacks on Ukraine following a major assault against Kyiv Wednesday night. "Let me put it this way, things will happen," Trump said. "We’re putting a lot of pressure on Russia, and Russia knows that, and people that are close to it now, or he wouldn’t be talking right now.”

Bloomberg [4/25/2025 8:37 AM, Hadriana Lowenkron and Magan Crane, 16228K] reports US President Donald Trump said that he did not envision Ukraine joining NATO in the future, reiterating his administration’s stance that Kyiv relinquish its hopes of joining the military alliance. “I don’t think they’ll ever be able to join NATO,” Trump said in an interview with Time Magazine published on Friday, blaming Kyiv’s aspirations for Russia’s invasion. “I think that’s been — from day one, I think that’s been, that’s I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO. If that weren’t brought up, there would have been a much better chance that it wouldn’t have started,” Trump said. Trump’s comments come as he has been ratcheting up pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to accept a peace deal which critics say favors Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a bid to deliver on a 2024 campaign promise to end the war quickly. The US president’s claims Russia started the war because of Ukraine’s plan to join NATO echoes the Kremlin’s justification for its invasion. But Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO was rejected in 2008 when a summit of the alliance in Bucharest, Romania, declined to provide the country with a membership action plan. During the campaign Trump repeatedly said that he would be able to broker a deal at the start of his term, citing his relationship with Putin. “I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, because to make a point,” Trump said when asked about his claims that he could end the war on Day One. “Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended.” Trump has said he is willing to abandon peace talks altogether if there is no sign of progress. At a meeting in Paris last week, the US presented Ukrainian and European officials with a proposal to end the war that effectively would freeze the conflict along existing battle lines. The US is also willing to recognize Russia’s control over Crimea as part of a deal, Bloomberg previously reported.

CNN [4/26/2025 6:51 AM, Svitlana Vlasova, 22131K] reports Russia has regained control of Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year, President Vladimir Putin said. "The Kyiv regime’s adventure has completely failed," Putin said. This is a developing story and will be updated.

Reuters [4/25/2025 2:28 PM, Staff, 41523K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow food and medicine into the devastated Gaza Strip. No aid has been delivered to the Palestinian enclave since March 2. Israel has said it would not allow the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza until Palestinian militant group Hamas releases all remaining hostages. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked whether concerns about humanitarian aid access came up in his phone call with Netanyahu earlier this week. "Gaza came up and I said, ‘We’ve got to be good to Gaza ... Those people are suffering,’" Trump said. When asked whether he raised the issue of opening up access points for aid into Gaza, Trump replied "We are." "We’re going to take care of that. There’s a very big need for medicine, food and medicine, and we’re taking care of it," he said. Asked how Netanyahu responded, Trump said: "Felt well about it."

FOX News [4/26/2025 5:55 AM, Landon Mion, 46189K] reports Iran and the U.S. began negotiations in Oman on Saturday over Tehran’s advancing nuclear program, and the talks will likely depend on the Islamic Republic’s enrichment of uranium. According to Iranian state media, the talks began on Saturday in Oman’s capital of Muscat. But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff offered no immediate details on the talks. Araghchi arrived on Friday in Oman and met with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who had mediated the two earlier rounds of talks in Muscat and Rome. Araghchi was seen heading to the talks late Saturday morning. Witkoff arrived on Saturday for the talks that were expected to begin in the coming hours. The negotiations seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the U.S. lifting some economic sanctions it has imposed on the Islamic Republic. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to launch airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal is not reached. Iranian officials warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Iran’s nuclear deal in 2015 with foreign nations limited Tehran’s program before Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, leading to years of conflict and tensions. Trump reiterated that he hoped negotiations would lead to a new nuclear deal, although he still suggested the possibility of a military strike if a deal was not reached. "The Iran situation is coming out very well," Trump said on Air Force One as he traveled to Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral. "We’ve had a lot of talks with them and I think we’re going to have a deal. I’d much rather have a deal than the other alternative. That would be good for humanity.” "There are some people that want to make a different kind of a deal — a much nastier deal — and I don’t want that to happen to Iran if we can avoid it," he added.

Washington Post [4/25/2025 6:20 AM, Christian Shepherd, Vic Chiang and Katrina Northrop, 31735K] reports China has quietly exempted from tariffs some semiconductors made in the United States, in an attempt to protect its leading technology companies from a bitter trade showdown with President Donald Trump. Levies on at least eight classifications of U.S.-made microchips have been dropped to zero, instead of the 125 percent retaliatory tariff rate Beijing has imposed on all other U.S. goods, Caijing, a Chinese financial media outlet, reported Friday. The article was later deleted. But two importers who spoke to Washington Post confirmed that certain semiconductors are exempted from tariffs. One company in Shenzhen listed the exemptions on social media app WeChat and posted screenshots of zero-percent tariff rates from a customs database. Beijing has remained defiant in response to Trump’s more conciliatory tone this week. The two sides have struggled to agree even on whether talks are taking place, let alone on the steps necessary to climb down from levies so high that they essentially amount to a trade embargo. Chinese officials declared Trump’s claims of ongoing negotiations to reduce triple-digit tariffs "fake news" Thursday. Trump shot back with a claim that a meeting had taken place that morning, without giving details. Chinese officials on Friday denied, again, that talks are happening. While Beijing has consistently said it is open to talks, Chinese officials have struggled to understand the Trump administration’s demands, making them reluctant to enter formal negotiations. That lack of clarity has made it almost impossible for Chinese leader Xi Jinping to engage directly with Trump, Chinese political experts have said. Instead, Xi appears to be betting that he can outlast Trump by rallying the nation with a mixture of patriotic fervor, strengthened domestic demand and state support for key industries. But with massive tariffs threatening to bring trade between the world’s largest economies to a standstill, the Chinese leadership is also hoping to prevent layoffs and factory closures from dragging down a slowing economy.

CBS Austin [4/25/2025 3:33 PM, Austin Denean, 602K] reports Beijing has remained defiant in the face of a bitter trade war with the U.S. that saw tariffs between the two countries quickly skyrocket above 100% on both sides as the Trump administration offers hints at looming discussions that China has vehemently denied are happening. After an aggressive start from Washington to a trade war with the world’s second-largest economy, President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have suggested that the triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods could come down and that talks are underway. Tariffs on China currently sit at 145%, higher than any other country in Trump’s expansive attempt to remake global trade, which has been met with a 125% levy on American goods in a trade war that threatens to put trade between the world’s two biggest economies into a standstill and has raised fears of a global recession. The International Monetary Fund has cut growth forecasts for the U.S., China and a host of other countries because of the trade war. Analysts and business executives have also warned of potential shortages of some goods if things don’t start moving in a more positive direction. Companies that have developed global and interconnected supply chains over the years are also in a holding pattern with tremendous uncertainty about what the future will hold and how tariff policy could change after mixed messaging and whiplash from back-and-forth additions to the tariffs. Trump declined to comment on Friday when reporters asked him when the last time he spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Earlier this week, the president said that things were going "fine with China" and the final tariff rate would come down "substantially.". But China has denied those conversations are happening at every turn and continued vows to fight as long as necessary in a refusal to give into pressure from the White House that has accused the country of ripping off American companies and violating trade agreements. "China and the U.S. have not engaged in any consultations or negotiations regarding tariffs, let alone reached an agreement," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. After a trade war during the first Trump administration, China had been preparing for another in a second term and has not moved to rush into negotiations like other countries after being hit with tariffs.

CBS News [4/25/2025 11:10 AM, Kathryn Watson, 51661K] reports President Trump said he’s spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid tariff tensions with China, as China denies any talks are taking place between Beijing and Washington. In an interview with Time magazine published Friday, Mr. Trump said Xi has called him, although the president didn’t reveal when the two spoke or what Xi said. The U.S. has imposed tariff rates as high as 145% on imports from China, and China has retaliated with 125% tariffs on U.S. imports. "At present, there are absolutely no negotiations on the economy and trade between China and the U.S.," Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong told reporters Thursday in Mandarin, as translated by CNBC. Asked by Time if he would call the Chinese leader if Xi doesn’t call him, Mr. Trump said he would not. But when he was asked if Xi had called him, he responded, "Yep.". "He’s called," Mr. Trump said. "And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf.". On Friday morning, as the president departed the White House for the Vatican to attend Pope Francis’ funeral, he was asked by reporters about his remarks to Time, in particular whether he had spoken to Xi since China imposed its tariffs on the U.S. He said, "I don’t want to comment on that, but I’ve spoken to him many times, yeah.". Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said recently that no one thinks the current status quo with China is sustainable. The president was asked by Time if he agrees with that sentiment. "Oh I agree," Mr. Trump responded. He said China "won’t do any business here, because at 145%, it’s going to be very rare that you see business.". The president claimed the U.S. has reached 200 deals on trade with other countries since he announced his worldwide tariffs earlier this month, but he declined to name any of the countries.

Reuters [4/25/2025 3:23 PM, Staff, 41523K] reports China’s central bank governor on Friday criticized the U.S. for threatening global financial stability with its "recent abuse" of tariffs, in the wake of recent moves seen by both sides as efforts to de-escalate their trade war. "The recent abuse of tariffs by the United States has severely violated the legitimate rights and interests of other countries, seriously undermined the rules-based multilateral governance system, dealt a heavy blow to the global economic order, and hurt the long-term stability and growth of the global economy," People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said in a statement at the conclusion of the International Monetary Fund’s steering committee meeting. "It has also triggered sharp fluctuations in global financial markets," which has threatened global financial stability and posed challenges to emerging and developing nations, he said. Pan added that there was an urgent need for countries to strengthen policy coordination and promote trade liberalization. China exempted some U.S. imports from its steep tariffs in a sign the trade war between the world’s top two economies could be easing, though Beijing quickly knocked down U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that negotiations were under way. In the statement, Pan also said China’s central bank will lower the reserve requirement ratio and policy rate "as warranted by economic and financial developments at home and abroad, as well as financial market performance.". "We will adopt a policy mix to keep liquidity abundant, lower the liability cost of banks, and persistently bring down the overall financing costs for the real economy," he said.

Washington Times [4/25/2025 3:03 PM, Mallory Wilson, 1814K] reports China appears to have rolled back the 125% tariffs on some imports from the U.S., a move that could mark the start of de-escalating the trade war between the two countries. The exemptions apply to integrated circuits, or microchips and semiconductors, according to details given to CNN by three import agencies in Shenzhen. One manager said she found out Thursday that tariffs on eight kinds of integrated circuits have been dropped to zero. They had no idea until a routine custom clearance. China has been the staunchest fighter of the retaliatory tariffs that President Trump had placed on a whole list of countries. Once the Trump tariffs were placed, China was quick to impose retaliatory tariffs of its own. Mr. Trump increased tariffs on most Chinese goods to 145%, with exceptions for electronics. The Chinese business magazine Caijing reported the exceptions Friday, but the article was removed just hours after it was put up. Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday that his ultimate goal is to "open" China to U.S. products, but Beijing doesn’t want it. Even if it were to happen, Mr. Trump said, the media wouldn’t give him credit for it. "The problem is, no matter how big the win is, the press will not give me credit for it," the president said. Mr. Trump has said that trade negotiations are ongoing between the U.S. and China, despite Beijing saying that it wasn’t true. "They had a meeting this morning," Mr. Trump said Thursday during a White House meeting with Norwegian leaders. Just hours earlier Chinese officials said it wasn’t true. "For all I know, China and the U.S. are not having any consultation or negotiation on tariffs, still less reaching a deal," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said. "China’s position is consistent and clear: We will fight — if fight we must. Our doors are open, if the U.S. wants to talk. Dialogue and negotiation must be based on equality, respect and mutual benefit.".

Wall Street Journal [4/26/2025 12:00 AM, Brian Spegele, 646K] reports as U.S. officials tracked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they found an alarming connection to China: a company, closely linked to the Chinese military and backed by government funding, was providing high-resolution battlefield images to Russian fighters. Today, the company is popping up again, this time accused by the U.S. of helping Houthi rebels in Yemen as they target U.S. warships in the Red Sea. That may just scratch the surface of Chang Guang Satellite Technology’s capabilities. As the firm builds out a network of hundreds of satellites, it is spurring alarm in Washington for its vast reach and, American officials say, its support of U.S. adversaries. Chang Guang’s satellites can peer into every corner of the U.S., with some users in China claiming to have tapped the network’s capabilities to capture images of the U.S.’s latest stealth bomber, parked at an air base in California’s Mojave Desert. Chang Guang’s growth and the increased scrutiny it is attracting from the U.S. reflect Beijing’s efforts to tap its vibrant civilian technology sector to enhance its defense industry. It also highlights how China uses commercial firms to advance its strategic interests. The U.S. State Department last week said Chang Guang was “directly supporting” attacks by the Houthis against U.S. interests. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on Chang Guang in 2023 after its satellites were suspected of helping the Wagner paramilitary group in Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Their actions and Beijing’s support of the company, even after our private engagements with them, is yet another example of China’s empty claims to support peace,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said last week. She didn’t say what specific support the U.S. suspects it provided to the Houthis or how the U.S. has raised the issue with Beijing. Chang Guang didn’t respond to a request for comment. Responding to the latest U.S. accusation, the company told Chinese media it doesn’t have any business dealings with the Houthis or their backers in Iran, calling the State Department’s accusation a fabrication.

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