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

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

The Washington Post [8/19/2025 3:04 AM, Frances Vinall, 29079K] reports the Trump administration has revoked thousands of international student visas for breaking the law, overstaying and “support for terrorism,” the State Department said Monday, as its immigration crackdown continues. A department spokesperson said in an email that it has revoked more than 6,000 student visas, of which about 4,000 were for crimes including assault, driving under the influence and burglary. The story was first reported by Fox News. Between 200 and 300 student visas were revoked because of “support for terrorism,” the official said, without elaborating. Trump administration officials have accused students of supporting terrorism by participating in pro-Palestinian activism in several high-profile cases this year. It was not immediately clear whether the students whose visas were revoked because of alleged law violations had been convicted of any crimes. The State Department told Fox News that students whose visas were revoked because of assault, for example, “either faced arrest or charges” over the allegations. CNN [8/18/2025 3:23 PM, Jennifer Hansler] reports that the visas were revoked because people had stayed after their visas expired or broken the law, the official said, noting that the "vast majority" of those legal violations were for cases of assault, driving under the influence, burglary, and "support for terrorism." According to the official, approximately 4,000 of the 6,000 visas were revoked because the visa holders "broke the law." Approximately 200 to 300 of those visas were yanked for alleged terrorism under part of the Immigration and Nationality Act that says that foreign nationals may be inadmissible to the US "due to terrorist related activities." Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vigorously defended the Trump administration’s policies on student visa revocation. FOX News [8/18/2025 9:59 AM, Diana Stancy, 40019K] Video: HERE reports that the crackdown on student visas aligns with several executive orders President Donald Trump signed in January, aimed at safeguarding the U.S. from foreign terrorists and other national security threats, along with combating antisemitism. One of the executive orders instructed the State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security, attorney general and director of national intelligence, to "vet and screen to the maximum degree possible all aliens who intend to be admitted, enter, or are already inside the United States, particularly those aliens coming from regions or nations with identified security risks." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Reuters [8/18/2025 2:58 PM, Humeyra Pamuk, 45746K]
NewsMax [8/18/2025 4:33 PM, Solange Reyner, 4779K]
Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 1:43 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 1563K]

FOX News [8/18/2025 10:32 AM, Pilar Arias and Bill Melugin, 40019K] Video: HERE reports the Indian illegal immigrant truck driver accused of causing a crash that killed three people in Florida crossed into the U.S. through California in 2018, and was arrested by Border Patrol two days later. Harjinder Singh, 28, faces deportation and three counts of homicide – negligent manslaughter/vehicle following the incident on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce on Tuesday. Following his arrest on Sept. 20, 2018, near San Ysidro, California, "he has been pending immigrant proceedings since," a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement to Fox News said. While operating a commercial semi-truck with a trailer, Singh allegedly attempted an illegal U-turn while driving on the highway. This resulted in the trailer jackknifing and colliding with a minivan — leaving all three of the minivan’s passengers dead, according to officials. "Three innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License—this state of governance is asinine," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. "How many more innocent people have to die before Gavin Newsom stops playing games with the safety of the American public? We pray for the victims and their families. Secretary Noem and DHS are working around the clock to protect the public and get these criminal illegal aliens out of America," the statement concluded. DHS said that Singh had initially been processed for expedited removal in 2018, but after claiming fear of returning to his home country – a fear that was affirmed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, he was released on a $5,000 immigration bond. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The AP [8/18/2025 7:24 PM, Staff, 37974K] reports Homeland Security said Singh obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, which is one of 19 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that issue licenses regardless of immigration status, according to the National Immigration Law Center. Supporters of such policies say driver’s licenses provide a lifeline for people to work, pick up children from school, visit doctors and travel safely. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Homeland Security, said issuing a commercial license to someone in the country illegally is “asinine.” The Daily Caller [8/18/2025 4:40 PM, Jason Hopkins, 985K] reports Florida State Troopers obtained a criminal arrest warrant for Singh on three counts of vehicular homicide, according to a press release from the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The full circumstances around how Singh obtained a Commercial Driver’s License is not immediately clear. An ICE detainer request has since been lodged for the Indian national, DHS confirmed. The deadly accident has sparked further debate on illegal immigration and how to effectively manage those who unlawfully cross into the U.S. The Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 12:52 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1563K] reports that "During the course of this criminal investigation and with the assistance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), State Troopers determined that Harjinder Singh entered the United States illegally, having crossed the Mexico border in 2018," the agency said in a press release over the weekend. "The Defendant then obtained a Commercial Driver’s License in the state of California.” Photos obtained by the Washington Examiner from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office show the scene where a minivan crashed into the semi-truck after the commercial vehicle apparently tried to make a U-turn through the median despite a road sign that stated U-turns were illegal at this particular spot. The crash occurred on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce. A White House spokeswoman lambasted California’s policies as having caused what was a "preventable" tragedy. "This is a devastating tragedy made even worse by the fact that it was totally preventable. Illegal aliens that have no legal right to be in our country certainly should not be granted commercial driver’s licenses," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner on Monday. "Gavin Newscum’s pro-illegal alien policies have deadly consequences. Yet he continues to double down and put illegals over American citizens."

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NewsNation [8/18/2025 8:49 AM, Sophia Fanning, 6811K]

Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 5:57 PM, Asher Notheis, 1563K] reports the Department of Homeland Security connected Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to a car crash in Florida, in which an illegal immigrant killed three people on a highway. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles identified the immigrant as Harjinder Singh. On Aug. 12, a minivan crashed into Singh as he tried to make an illegal U-turn in a semitruck, killing three people in the smaller vehicle. The department said in a press release that Singh entered the United States illegally through the Mexico border in 2018 and obtained a Commercial Driver’s License in California. He is in custody on state vehicular homicide charges and immigration violations. Noem said she is working with her DHS team and the Department of Transportation to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining licenses from "sanctuary jurisdictions." DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also connected Newsom and California’s DMV to the car crash on X, calling the state’s governance "asinine." DHS’s account also posted McLaughlin’s statement on X. In a separate post on X, McLaughlin said Singh’s work authorization was rejected by Trump’s first administration in September 2020. However, it was approved under the Biden administration nine months later.

Daily Wire [8/18/2025 2:37 PM, Virginia Kruta, 3184K] reports Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) press office attempted to bait President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security over a case involving an illegal immigrant who is accused of killing three American citizens while making an illegal u-turn on a Florida highway. Harjinder Singh, who entered the United States illegally in 2018, was granted a commercial driver’s license in California. He made the illegal turn from the outside lane at a spot marked “Official Use Only,” and his truck crushed a minivan that had been driving in the inside lane. Singh has since been arrested for vehicular homicide and was slapped with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer. As reports circulated about his illegal entry into the U.S. — and the fact that he’d obtained a driver’s license in California — DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin pointed to the sanctuary policies in the state of California under Newsom, arguing that those three people would still be alive otherwise. Newsom’s press office responded with a graphic aimed at McLaughlin, laying out a timeline of the events and saying, “Hey, genius: the federal government (TRUMP ADMIN) already confirmed that this guy meets federal and state immigration requirements — YOU issued him a work permit (EAD). As usual, the Trump Administration is either lying or clueless. p.s. @grok, who was President in 2018?” McLaughlin fired right back, however, noting that Singh had applied for a work authorization while Trump was president the first time — and that it had been denied. It was not until President Joe Biden was in office that he was able to obtain the legal status necessary to get his license in the state of California. “False. Harjinder Singh is in the United States illegally and his work authorization was rejected under the Trump Administration on September 14, 2020. It was later approved under the Biden Administration June 9, 2021. The state of California issues Commercial Drivers Licenses. There is no national CDL,” McLaughlin wrote, concluding her post, “Sincerely, Genius.”

FOX News [8/18/2025 7:57 PM, Louis Casiano, 40019K] reports the illegal immigrant truck driver accused of causing a crash that killed three people in Florida was given a work permit under the Biden administration, officials said Monday. Harjinder Singh, who was arrested on Saturday in Stockton, California, on three counts of vehicle homicide, entered the United States illegally and his work authorization was rejected under the Trump administration on Sept. 14, 2020, said Tricia McLaughlin, the Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs. McLaughlin noted Singh’s work approval in response to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said the first Trump administration "confirmed that this guy meets federal and state immigration requirements -- YOU issued him a work permit (EAD).” "As usual, the Trump Administration is either lying or clueless," Newsom’s press office wrote on X. McLaughlin noted that the federal government doesn’t issue commercial driver’s licenses. "False. Harjinder Singh is in the United States illegally and his work authorization was rejected under the Trump Administration on September 14, 2020," she wrote. "It was later approved under the Biden Administration June 9, 2021. The state of California issues Commercial Drivers Licenses. There is no national CDL. Sincerely, Genius.” Singh, who officials believe crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018, obtained his commercial driver’s license in California despite his illegal status in the U.S. He remains in custody on both state vehicular homicide charges as well as immigration violations. Singh was driving a commercial truck with a trailer on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce when he allegedly attempted a U-turn in an unauthorized area. The move resulted in the trailer jackknifing and colliding with a minivan — leaving all three of the minivan’s passengers dead, according to officials. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the three deaths could have been avoided if California had followed federal immigration laws. "3 innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License," she wrote Monday on X. "This gut wrenching tragedy should have never happened. My team at @DHSgov will work with @USDOT to root out and prevent illegal aliens from obtaining these licenses from sanctuary jurisdictions that put American drivers and passengers in danger." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
New York Post [8/18/2025 4:55 PM, Jennie Taer, 43962K]

Breitbart [8/18/2025 3:03 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 2608K] reports Florida leaders are promising accountability for the illegal alien truck driver — given a license by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California — whose U-turn resulted in the loss of three lives. First responders on August 12 responded to a crash on Florida’s Turnpike occurring in St. Lucie County, involving a semi truck and minivan. Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said in a press release that an initial investigation found that the driver of the semi truck "recklessly, and without regard for the safety of others, attempted to execute a U-Turn utilizing an unauthorized location." State Troopers obtained a criminal arrest warrant for the driver, Harjinder Singh, for three (3) counts of vehicular homicide. During the course of this criminal investigation and with the assistance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), State Troopers determined that Harjinder Singh entered the United States illegally, having crossed the Mexico border in 2018. The Defendant then obtained a Commercial Driver’s License in the state of California. Under the federal authority delegated by ICE to FHP State Troopers through the 287 (g) program, State Troopers issued an ICE detainer. Other officials have weighed in as well, including Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin as well as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

San Francisco Chronicle [8/18/2025 10:15 PM, Sophia Bollag and Sara DiNatale, Staff Writers, 3790K] reports the White House on Monday blamed California’s "sanctuary" policies for a fatal crash in Florida allegedly caused by an undocumented semitruck driver, even though the Trump administration acknowledged the driver had a federal work permit. And while it’s true that California enabled immigrants without legal status to obtain driver’s licenses more than a decade ago, that law did not extend to commercial trucking licenses. The accusation prompted a new round of fighting between President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and became the latest tragedy to stand in for the broader debate about immigration. It appeared that once again the White House had gotten key facts wrong as it attempted to seize on a devastating accident to harness public sympathy for its efforts to swiftly remove thousands of immigrants from the country. "The illegal alien is an Indian national who was granted a commercial driver’s license by the so-called ‘sanctuary state’ of California, whose reckless policies put the lives of American citizens at risk every single day," White House staff wrote in a news release Monday morning. "But instead of acknowledging the tragedy, criminal illegal alien sympathizer Gavin Newsom callously doubled down, claiming that giving driver’s licenses to illegals ‘improves public safety.’" Singh, however, was granted a federal work permit and appears to have an ongoing asylum claim allowing him to legally remain in the country while it makes its way through court. A copy of Singh’s most recent federal work permit obtained by the Chronicle shows it was issued April 9 and will expire in 2030. The document also shows Singh had an ongoing asylum case when it was issued. The California Department of Motor Vehicles granted Singh a commercial driver’s license in compliance with "all federal and state laws" after confirming his legal status in the United States, DMV spokesperson Jonathan Groveman said. Singh provided the required documents, which the DMV confirmed through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system. Groveman also noted that Singh’s commercial license is a REAL ID, further evidence that the federal government had confirmed his legal status. Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for Newsom, confirmed that Singh had a commercial driver’s license, but blamed the Trump administration for granting Singh a work permit, which allowed him to obtain the license. Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security official, said on X, however, that the Trump administration rejected a work permit for Singh in 2020. The permit was later approved under the Biden administration in 2021, she said. The document obtained by the Chronicle shows Singh’s work permit was renewed in April, under Trump.

FOX News [8/18/2025 6:59 AM, Staff, 40019K] reports Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier reacts after an illegal migrant truck driver licensed in the state of California caused a fatal crash on the Florida Turnpike that left three people dead. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [8/18/2025 9:59 PM, Staff, 40019K] reports DHS Secretary Kristie Noem reveals her encounter with doxxing and discusses the work President Donald Trump and his administration are doing to make America safer on ‘Hannity.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [8/18/2025 10:38 AM, Brian Freeman, 4779K] reports "There’s no longer going to be a revolving door of justice in Washington, D.C., not on President Donald Trump’s watch," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, told Newsmax on Monday. McLaughlin said on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America" that "you are hearing people happy that the federal government has stepped in under President Donald Trump to actually make D.C. streets safer," referring to the president flooding the city with 1,000 National Guardsmen and federalizing its police force in response to what he has described as rampant lawlessness. In less than 10 days since Trump’s decision, more than 300 dangerous criminal have reportedly been arrested, with McLaughlin stressing that "we are truly getting the worst of the worst off of Washington, D.C.’s streets. The DHS assistant secretary added that "there really is a vibe shift as far as the safety that people living here feel." McLaughlin also commented on the report that 1.6 million illegal migrants have left the United States since the start of the Trump administration.

CBS News [8/18/2025 5:44 PM, Joe Walsh, 45245K] reports twenty states and the District of Columbia sued the Justice Department on Monday for adding a new immigration enforcement rule to federal grants that assist victims of crime — arguing it’s part of the Trump administration’s crackdown against "sanctuary states." The lawsuit focuses on the Office for Victims of Crime, a 42-year-old division of the Justice Department that hands out more than $1 billion per year to all 50 states to compensate crime victims and fund programs like local crisis counseling centers, emergency shelters, domestic abuse hotlines and victim advocacy services. The Trump-era Justice Department added a new condition to those grants that denies funding to any program that "violates (or promotes or facilitates the violation of) federal immigration law." That includes failing to "give access to [Department of Homeland Security] agents, or honor DHS requests." But the states that joined Monday’s lawsuit argue that the rule is illegal, since the Reagan-era law that set up the federal government’s crime victim grant programs doesn’t say anything about immigration enforcement. The states asked a federal judge to block the new rules and declare them illegal. They said they need "urgent relief" since applications for most of the grants are due Wednesday. NewsMax [8/18/2025 1:33 PM, David Caplan, 4779K] reports that more than 20 attorneys general are suing to block the Department of Justice from "illegally conditioning federal funding for crime victims on states’ cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts," a release from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office said Monday. "The federal government is attempting to use crime victim funds as a bargaining chip to force states into doing its bidding on immigration enforcement," James alleged. The Victims of Crime Act, enacted in 1984, provides more than a billion dollars in grants to states each year to support victims of crime, with services such as medical care, counseling, shelter, and compensation for lost wages. "These grants were created to help survivors heal and recover, and we will fight to ensure they continue to serve that purpose," James argued. "New Yorkers deserve a justice system that puts their safety first. We will not be bullied into abandoning any of our residents.". But states could lose funding if they reject enforcement requests under U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s directive that "sanctuary jurisdictions" should not receive federal funds if they do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. James is filing the lawsuit with 20 other attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. The AP [8/18/2025 4:37 PM, Claudia Lauer and Mike Catalini, 56000K] reports that the lawsuit filed Monday in Rhode Island federal court seeks to block the Justice Department from enforcing conditions that would cut funding to a state or subgrantee if it refuses to honor civil immigration enforcement requests, denies U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers access to facilities or fails to provide advance notice of release dates of individuals possibly wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of their immigration status. The lawsuit asks that the conditions be thrown out, arguing that the administration and the agency are overstepping their constitutional and administrative authority. The lawsuit also argues that the requirements are not permitted or outlined in the Victims of Crime Act, known as VOCA, and would interfere with policies created to ensure victims and witnesses report crimes without fear of deportation. "These people did not ask for this status as a crime victim. They don’t breakdown neatly across partisan lines, but they share one common trait, which is that they’ve suffered an unimaginable trauma," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said during a video news conference Monday, calling the administration’s threat to withhold funds "the most heinous act" he’s seen in politics. The federal conditions were placed on VOCA funding, which provides more than a billion dollars annually to states for victims compensation programs and grants that fund victims assistance organizations. VOCA funding comes entirely from fines and penalties in federal court cases, not from tax dollars. Every state and territory has a victims compensation program that follows federal guidelines, but largely is set up under state law to provide financial help to crime victims, including medical expense reimbursement, paying for crime scene cleanup, counseling or helping with funeral costs for homicide victims. VOCA covers the cost of about 75% of state compensation program awards.

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Bloomberg [8/18/2025 2:14 PM, Mallory Culhane, 790K]

Axios [8/19/2025 5:00 AM, Cuneyt Dil, Marc Caputo, 14595K] reports nearly half of non-immigration-related arrests during President Trump’s D.C. takeover have taken place in two of the most crime-ridden areas, according to an analysis the White House shared with Axios. The figures refute critics who claimed the takeover was all for show or was not targeting high-crime areas, per a White House official who crunched the numbers this weekend. Trump’s D.C. takeover is unprecedented, as is the use of White House staff to analyze metropolitan crime data. Images of National Guard troops patrolling touristy areas, protesters chanting at police and masked agents arresting people on the streets have dominated headlines and chatter on social media for days. 212 people have been arrested for various crimes during the federal takeover since Aug. 8, according to White House data that excludes all immigration-related arrests. 101 of those arrests, or 48%, took place in Wards 7 and 8, home to many low-income and working-class majority-Black neighborhoods of Washington. They have long experienced the most violent crime in the city. There were 24 gun-related charges in Ward 8, and 11 in Ward 7. Altogether, there were 31 narcotics-related charges, seven DUIs, and two assaults. Meanwhile, immigration-related arrests since Aug. 8 total 164. Throughout the city, National Guard troops are stationed in "high traffic areas to provide a visible law enforcement presence to deter crime," the White House official said. The White House declined to release information about where officers and troops were specifically stationed, or crime data for other individual wards. The official pulled the crime data in response to critics and Washington Post’s reporting that tracked federal law enforcement whereabouts, using verified social media posts and reporters’ observations. The outlet reported more law enforcement presence downtown in areas with lower crime rates than in Wards 7 and 8. The D.C. mayor’s office, which has criticized the takeover, declined Axios’ request to comment. The Metropolitan Police Department did not return an email seeking verification of the arrest data. D.C.’s crime rates are declining from a COVID-era surge, in line with much of the country. But Trump, calling crime "out of control" in the district, took over D.C. police for 30 days in the city after a DOGE staffer was beaten and bloodied in an attempted carjacking involving a group of young people. Critics call it an authoritarian over-reaction. Trump swiped Monday at pundits and critics of his D.C. takeover by exaggerating the crime problem in the city, which he called "the most unsafe place anywhere." He said, "friends are calling" to thank him for making the city so safe that they can finally eat out after four years. "The press says, ‘he’s a dictator. He’s trying to take over.’ No," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, "All I want is security for our people ... and the restaurants the last two days were busier than they’ve been in a long time." According to OpenTable data, however, Washington restaurants have seen a plummet in diners amid the takeover.

Roll Call [8/18/2025 12:05 AM, Justin Papp, 511K] reports Michael Sullivan was just settling into his role as chief of the Capitol Police when President Donald Trump shined a bright light on law enforcement in the nation’s capital. Trump’s move to exert emergency powers over local police and deploy the National Guard has been felt throughout the District, as Sullivan can attest. "I was out for a run this morning and saw the National Guard on the Mall. That feels different to the city," he said in an interview Thursday reflecting on his first six weeks on the job. But the mission remains the same for the Capitol Police, Sullivan said: Keeping members of Congress safe, along with the thousands of visitors who come to Capitol Hill each day. "We have been really coordinating with this effort," Sullivan said of Trump’s surge, adding that working with federal partners, as well as Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith, is an everyday occurrence for the force and not a major departure from the norm. "We’ll continue to talk to Chief Smith because at the end of the day, whenever this wraps up … it’s us, Park Police, Amtrak, that consistently work here and work here every day," he said. Navigating through this tense moment for local-federal relations is the first high-profile challenge of Sullivan’s tenure, but it likely won’t be the last.

Breitbart [8/18/2025 7:20 PM, Staff, 2608K] reports Mississippi will send some 200 National Guard personnel to Washington, its governor said Monday, where they will join hundreds more from other Republican-led states to double the number of troops in the US capital. US President Donald Trump last week ordered the deployment of National Guard forces in Washington as part of what he has billed as a crackdown on crime in the city, despite statistics showing violent offenses are in fact down. "I’ve approved the deployment of approximately 200 Mississippi National Guard soldiers to Washington, DC, to support President Trump’s effort to return law and order to our nation’s capital," Governor Tate Reeves said in a statement. The announcement followed others over the weekend from the governors of Ohio, West Virginia and South Carolina who said they would send troops from their states. Ohio will provide 150 and South Carolina around 200, while West Virginia will send approximately 350, some of whom have already begun to arrive, according to a statement from the joint task force responsible for the mission. They will join 800 troops from the DC National Guard who have already been mobilized for the mission. It was not immediately clear why forces from other states were being sent instead of additional personnel from Washington. The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.

AP [8/18/2025 7:52 PM, Matt Brown and Mike Pesoli, 56000K] reports three more Republican governors have authorized the deployment of National Guard troops to Washington as part of President Donald Trump’s show of force meant to crack down on crime and boost immigration enforcement in the nation’s capital. The announcements by Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana bring the number of state troops detailed to the president’s effort to more than 1,100. Governors from the states said they were responding to requests from the Trump administration. It was not immediately clear why the administration requested further support. About 800 troops have already been called up from the D.C. National Guard and have had a limited assigned role so far in Trump’s 10-day-old attempted takeover of D.C. law enforcement. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement Monday that he has approved the deployment of about 200 Mississippi National Guard soldiers to Washington. "Crime is out of control there, and it’s clear something must be done to combat it," Reeves said. A spokesperson for Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said that the governor had granted a request from the Trump administration for the state’s National Guard members "to assist with monument security, community safety patrols, protecting federal facilities, and traffic control.". The troops "are ready to assist as long as needed," the governor’s office said. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee join three other states that have pledged to deploy hundreds of National Guard members to the nation’s capital to bolster the Republican administration’s operation aiming to transform policing in the Democrat-led city through a federal crackdown on crime and homelessness.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 3:06 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 1563K]

Washington Post [8/18/2025 10:04 PM, Brittany Shammas, Alex Horton, Jenny Gathright, and Ellie Silverman, 29079K] reports two more Republican governors announced plans to deploy National Guard troops to D.C. on Monday, joining three other GOP-led states, as city officials and residents questioned the need for an influx of hundreds of uniformed service members into the capital. The governors of Mississippi and Louisiana characterized the deployments as aimed at restoring public safety, although violent crime in the District has been falling since 2023. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement that he had approved the deployment of about 200 Guard soldiers to aid President Donald Trump’s “effort to return law and order to our nation’s capital.” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said in a social media post that his state would mobilize about 135 troops to help “return safety and sanity to Washington DC.” The news came after three states said over the weekend they would send hundreds of troops: 200 from South Carolina, 350 from West Virginia and 150 from Ohio. Along with the 800 D.C. National Guard members already mobilized in the city, the deployments announced since Friday would bring the number of Guard members in the city to about 1,835. The deployments are federally funded; the Pentagon has not produced a cost estimate of the mobilizations, and defense officials said Monday they won’t know the cost until the mission concludes.

Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 3:45 PM, Annabella Rosciglione, 1563K] reports Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday she did not agree with deploying the National Guard from various Republican-led states to the district. The governors of Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, and West Virginia have sent National Guard troops to the capital, in addition to the 800 Washington, D.C. National Guard troops currently in the district. This brings the total to 1,700 National Guard members, set to be on duty in Washington, D.C., after President Donald Trump federalized the local police department and sent hundreds of federal law enforcement agents to the district. Bowser noted on Monday that she did not believe the district’s home rule was at risk, specifically because of Trump’s order, but implied she has always been concerned. She asserted that "there is no takeover," but that there is "a surge in law enforcement." Officials in the Trump administration have said they have arrested nearly 400 people in the week since Trump authorized the guard and federalized the MPD. Around half of those arrests have involved undocumented immigrants. On immigration, Bowser said that federal law enforcement should be focused on violent crime. Bowser additionally called for "comprehensive immigration reform."

The Hill [8/18/2025 2:17 PM, Alex Gangitano, 12414K] reports that President Trump said Monday that restaurants in Washington, D.C., are more crowded than they’ve been in a long time, despite data suggesting restaurant attendance amid his police takeover has taken a dive. Trump, at an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the result of his federal takeover is that D.C. is now safe, a week after he brought in the National Guard and federalized the police. "The press says, ‘He’s a dictator, he’s trying to take over.’ No, all I want is security for our people. But people who haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in two years are going out to dinner, and the restaurants the last two days were busier than they’ve been in a long time," the president said during an Oval Office meeting. Trump, with Zelensky sitting to his side, offered stories of personal friends saying they felt safe enough to have dinner at a D.C. restaurant for the first time in years. "Friends are calling me up, Democrats are calling me up. And they’re saying, ‘Sir, we want to thank you. My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years, and Washington, D.C., is safe and you did that in four days,’" the president said. He also shared that another friend told him his son was going to dinner and praised the federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital. "I said, ‘Would you have allowed that to happen a year ago?’" Trump said. "He said, ‘No way… What you’ve done in incredible."

Reuters [8/18/2025 1:05 PM, Sarah N. Lynch, 45746K] reports that the White House has dispatched social media teams alongside FBI agents executing arrest warrants in the nation’s capital to generate videos that promote U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in the District of Columbia, according to two people briefed on the matter. The highly unusual arrangement runs afoul of longstanding Justice Department norms which seek to insulate criminal investigations from political influence. It could hamstring prosecutors’ ability to try their cases by generating pre-trial publicity and raise constitutional questions about suspects’ rights to privacy in cases involving arrests carried out in non-public areas, legal experts say. The White House has been playing an outsized role in the FBI’s operations since Trump announced on August 11 that he was initiating a federal takeover of the District of Columbia’s police department and calling in the National Guard to help patrol the streets. Critics have decried his actions as an authoritarian-like abuse of power. The White House posted a highly produced promotional video on its X account on Thursday documenting the arrest of Sean Charles Dunn, a now-former Department of Justice employee who is facing an assault charge after he hurled a Subway sandwich at a federal agent. In the video, armed agents can be seen storming Dunn’s apartment and putting him in handcuffs.

NPR [8/18/2025 5:48 AM, Jude Joffe-Block and Shannon Bond, 34837K] reports last month, the White House X account posted an illustration of President Trump looking determined, framed by eagles, fireworks, the American flag and a cloud of cash. "Six months in. All gas. No brakes. The winning will continue. The deportations will continue. The memes will continue," the post read. And the memes have continued, as has the controversy that inevitably follows. The White House’s X account, as well as that of the Department of Homeland Security, have for months been posting a steady stream of content celebrating the administration, especially its aggressive immigration crackdown, often framed as ironic comedy. The posts illustrate the Trump administration’s project of redefining who belongs in the United States, and promote its policies. In recent weeks, many posts have highlighted DHS’s push to hire more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, as well as the agency’s vision of the homeland. They range from World War II-style recruitment posters to artwork evoking nostalgic versions of America’s past, such as an 1872 painting that positively depicts white settlers displacing Native Americans. The accounts also periodically post videos in the style of viral internet trends. One from February includes footage of immigrants boarding planes with handcuffs and chains rattling, captioned "ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight," referring to a genre of videos featuring sounds meant to evoke a calming and pleasant experience. The posts are deeply polarizing: popular among a swath of Trump fans who share them and comment favorably, while generating outcry from critics who object to their tone and content. In response to NPR’s questions about the agency’s social media posts, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin called the inquiry "deranged and delusional." She continued: "If the media needs a history lesson on the brave men and women who blazed the trails, forded the rivers, and forged this Republic from the sweat of their brow, we are happy to send them a history textbook." She added, "This administration is unapologetically proud of American history and American heritage. Get used to it."

CNN [8/18/2025 1:41 PM, Devon M. Sayers, 23245K] reports a federal judge heard arguments Monday but declined to make an immediate ruling about the legal conditions of detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz.” US District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz II heard arguments over detainee access to attorneys, if a clear immigration court was assigned for those held at the camp, and if the case was filed in the correct federal court. “There have been a lot of changes on the ground” at “Alligator Alcatraz,” Ruiz said Monday during the hearing. The Trump-nominated judge did not immediately rule on any of the issues from the bench or issue a preliminary injunction requested by the plaintiffs. The harm taking place at the facility is “extorting,” an attorney for the ACLU told the court. “What is happening at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is not normal,” Eunice Cho, senior counsel with the ACLU’s National Prison Project and the lead attorney in the case, told the court. In the lawsuit filed by a number of those held at the camp and advocacy groups for immigrants, the plaintiffs claimed those held at the camp did not have an assigned immigration court of jurisdiction. (B) FOX 4 Morning News at 8A [8/18/2025 8:37 AM, Staff] reports that in a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that any allegation that illegal aliens at Alligator Alcatraz do not have access to attorneys is false. The ACLU lawsuit names Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her entire department, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his executive director of emergency management, and other officials as defendants.

Univision [8/18/2025 5:07 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports a federal judge in Florida heard arguments on Monday in one of the lawsuits against the Florida Everglades immigration detention center, "Alligator Alcatraz." He did not issue a decision. The complaint by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyers addressed the immigrants’ lack of access to their lawyers. This is the second lawsuit against "Alligator Alcatraz." Lawyers from the ACLU and other organizations sought an injunction guaranteeing detainees at the facility access to confidential conversations and meetings with their lawyers, which they claim are being denied. Florida authorities deny this. In an email to Univision News, Stephanie Hartman, Deputy Director of Communications for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, stated that "the detainees have access to telephones and free contact with their attorneys at any time." At Monday’s hearing, Florida attorneys said that since July 15, when videoconferences began at the detention center, each request has been granted permission. They added that in-person meetings began on July 28. Immigrant attorneys have complained that they write to the designated email address but don’t always receive responses with scheduled appointment dates. Even when appointments are assigned, the meetings between attorneys and clients—whether by phone, email, or video conference—are not private or confidential, and are more restrictive than at other Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers. The organizations also claimed that Alligator Alcatraz officials go cell by cell, pressuring detainees to sign voluntary deportation orders without allowing them to consult with their lawyers.

New York Post [8/18/2025 4:30 PM, Joe Marino, Larry Celona and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, 43962K] reports police are probing whether a gun-toting migrant killed trying to rob an off-duty NYPD cop was part of the same moped crew that shot a border patrol agent last month, sources told The Post. Lahione Soto, 30, an illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, was shot dead around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, about a month after another Dominican migrant was charged with shooting an off-duty Customs and Border Patrol agent in the face during an attempted robbery, seriously wounding him. Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant with a rap sheet, was charged with shooting the federal agent during a robbery attempt in Fort Washington Park in Manhattan on July 15 and was wounded when the border cop returned fire. The number of serious moped-related crimes then plummeted around the beginning of this year thanks to what law-enforcement sources call "the Trump Effect" — or President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants after taking office.

Blaze [8/18/2025 9:34 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1559K] reports New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has long used her pardon powers to spare criminal noncitizens from deportation. For instance, in December 2022, Hochul pardoned nine foreign nationals who engaged in criminal activity after migrating to the United States — crimes including drug dealing, theft, robbery witness tampering, and drug possession. "Clemency is a powerful tool that can be exercised to advance the interests of justice and fairness and to recognize efforts made by individuals to improve not only their own lives but the lives of those around them," the Democratic governor said at the time. The Democrat governor has issued yet another slew of pardons, but this she time did so without any fanfare and announced them only after New York Times reported on the decision — likely because she was helping a killer avoid deportation. Sammy Vatthanavong, 52, reportedly entered the U.S. as a refugee from Laos with his family around the age of 7. He was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in 1990 after gunning down an unarmed man two years earlier during a confrontation in a Brooklyn pool hall. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to New York Times that Vatthanavong "would be on a deportation flight to Laos" were it not for Hochul’s intervention. "If you are a convicted criminal alien, you should not have the privilege to be in this country," added McLaughlin. Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) noted that Hochul tried to get the pardon through without New Yorkers finding out.

FOX News [8/18/2025 4:17 PM, Charles Creitz, 40019K] reports the Biden administration did not fully vet sponsors who received thousands of illegal immigrant minor children, new data shows. A lawmaker who sought the records said the former president’s Department of Health & Human Services "stonewalled" his prior requests. Data presented to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, showed that between January 2021 and January 2025, the sponsors who received custody of 79,143 unaccompanied alien children (UACs) went without required home studies. Additionally, the Biden administration placed more than 11,000 UACs with sponsors who were unvetted and not blood relatives. The data showed a total of 468,736 UACs being taken under the care of HHS from October 2020 through September 2024. Of those, 11,488 were placed with unvetted sponsors during former President Joe Biden’s term. Data provided to Grassley also showed that the Trump HHS was reviewing about 65,000 "notices of concern" that had gone "unaddressed" during Biden’s term. The spokesman also confirmed the commencement of the new Interagency initiative with DOJ and other agencies while underlining that immigration enforcement operations are chiefly the purview of DHS.

The Hill [8/18/2025 3:12 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12414K] reports House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would be a top target of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee if Democrats retake the House in the midterms. Jeffries said Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who would lead the House Homeland and Judiciary committees if Democrats flipped the House, would likely play a key role in such efforts.

CBS News [8/18/2025 1:04 PM, Staff, 45245K] reports that former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada is set to plead guilty next week in a drug trafficking case that accuses him of ordering torture, plotting murders and flooding the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs. A Brooklyn federal judge on Monday scheduled an Aug. 25 change of plea hearing for Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. The development comes two weeks after federal prosecutors said they wouldn’t seek the death penalty against him. Zambada, 77, pleaded not guilty last year to drug trafficking and related charges, including gun and money laundering offenses. Under Zambada and co-founder Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán’s leadership, prosecutors allege, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world. Judge Brian M. Cogan’s order on Monday didn’t provide details about Zambada’s guilty plea and didn’t list the charges he’s expected to plead guilty to. The same judge sentenced Guzmán to life behind bars after he was convicted on drug trafficking charges in 2019. Messages seeking comment were left for Zambada’s lawyers. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn declined to comment. Zambada was arrested in Texas last year after what he has described as a kidnapping in Mexico. The New York Times [8/18/2025 3:16 PM, Santul Nerkar and Alan Feuer, 143795K] reports Ismael Zambada García, also known as El Mayo, was charged in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. He was accused of running a criminal enterprise that, along with conspiring to murder members of rival gangs, trafficked drugs like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine across the U.S.-Mexico border. Corruption was essential to Mr. Zambada García’s operation, prosecutors have said. Local police officers helped move drugs throughout Mexico, while high-ranking Mexican officials kept the cartel apprised of military operations. Under Mr. Zambada García’s direction, the Sinaloa cartel spent millions of dollars each year on bribes to Mexican government officials. Mr. Zambada García employed sicarios — hit men — to carry out kidnappings and assassinations of cartel rivals and Mexican law enforcement officials. Last year, he ordered the murder of his own nephew, prosecutors said. Mr. Zambada García has long had a reputation as a wily operator who avoided capture for decades, often through close ties to government and especially military officials. Indeed, his abduction last July by a son of his longtime partner, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo, was orchestrated in a way that kept the Mexican authorities from warning him. Frank Perez, Mr. Zambada García’s lawyer, said that his client’s agreement with federal prosecutors does not include a provision requiring him to cooperate with investigators. Mr. Zambada García’s assistance could have proved damaging not only to those directly involved in the Sinaloa cartel, but also to the government officials who U.S. investigators believe have supported it for years. Mr. Zambada García is scheduled to plead guilty before District Judge Brian M. Cogan next Monday.

Reported similarly:
AP [8/18/2025 3:10 PM, Michael R. Sisak]
ABC News [8/18/2025 11:42 AM, Aaron Katersky, 27036K]

CNN [8/18/2025 6:00 AM, Rocío Muñoz-Ledo, Avery Schmitz, and Veronica Calderon, 23245K] reports August 10 was, for many in Mexico, a quiet Sunday like any other. But in Sinaloa – a northwestern state facing the Pacific – it was no ordinary Sunday. That day, 17 homicides were committed: one every 85 minutes. According to Mexican government figures, it was the most violent day of 2025 in Sinaloa, exceeding every other state in the country. Sunday’s killings were some of the latest in a spate of violence that has gripped the state following the surprise arrest of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who authorities say is a long-time leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s oldest and most violent criminal organizations. Since his capture, homicides in Sinaloa have risen by more than 400%, according to an analysis of public data conducted by CNN. This analysis also reveals discrepancies between figures compiled by the Sinaloa Prosecutor’s Office, Mexican federal authorities, and the monitoring organization Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED). Historically, Mexican authorities have underreported the number of victims during periods of violence in the region. Even behind closed doors, U.S. defense and law enforcement officials distrust Mexico’s homicide figures, according to a source familiar with these conversations.

Washington Post [8/18/2025 9:33 AM, Jeremy Roebuck, 29079K] reports a key congressional Democrat is demanding answers from the Trump administration about a deal it reportedly struck with El Salvador’s president to send him several MS-13 gang leaders held in the United States, alleging it may have compromised several ongoing investigations and national security. Citing media reports of that agreement, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, asked in a letter Monday to know what role President Nayib Bukele’s demands for the MS-13 leaders played in his willingness to take in more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants deported from the U.S. this year. The migrants’ transfer to a notorious gang prison in El Salvador has become one of the most controversial episodes of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort. Garcia also asked Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem whether any of those MS-13 bosses had information that would have aided U.S. efforts to dismantle their criminal organization, one of the world’s most deadly, or to investigate corruption within Bukele’s government. The Trump administration’s apparent willingness to give in to Bukele’s demands “not only undercuts ongoing federal investigations but also threatens U.S. national security,” Garcia wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. “If true, this surreptitious deal struck by the Trump administration has profound implications for the integrity of the United States justice system and national security,” Garcia wrote. “The Committee demands to understand whether U.S. officials facilitated the repatriation of MS-13 leaders to prevent them from cooperating with American prosecutors.” The gang leaders were charged in a pair of cases playing out in federal court on Long Island that U.S. officials have described as “the highest-reaching and most sweeping indictments targeting MS-13 and its command and control structure in U.S. history.” The indictments alleged that many of the accused had been directly involved in negotiating a truce with unnamed members of Bukele’s government to tamp down public gang killings in El Salvador to help the president’s party win a supermajority in 2021 legislative elections.

NewsNation [8/18/2025 2:21 PM, Taylor Delandro, 6811K] reports that the Justice Department has filed criminal charges against five high-ranking leaders of the Cárteles Unidos, or United Cartels, a drug trafficking organization based in Michoacán, Mexico. Those charged include Juan Jose Farias Alvarez ("El Abuelo"); Alfonso Fernandez Magallon ("Poncho"); Luis Enrique Barragan Chavez ("Wicho / R5"); Edgar Orozco Cabadas ("El Kamoni"); and Nicolas Sierra Santana ("El Gordo"). Attorney General Pam Bondi said the charges are part of a broader effort to dismantle cartel networks. "Working closely with our partners throughout President Trump’s Administration, we will continue our historic effort to destroy foreign terror organizations and prosecute terrorists wherever they may hide," she said. Court records describe the United Cartels as one of the world’s largest methamphetamine producers, "capable of manufacturing multiple tons every month." The group also traffics cocaine and fentanyl, with operations stretching across the U.S., including Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago as well as markets in Europe and Australia. Farias Alvarez is accused of leading the organization, overseeing large cocaine shipments from Colombia and taxing meth and fentanyl producers in his territory, according to court records. Other defendants allegedly controlled armed factions or allied cartels in Michoacán, using assault weapons, drones, armored vehicles, and foreign mercenaries to enforce cartel control.

Breitbart [8/18/2025 10:57 AM, Staff, 2608K] reports the Trump administration has initiated a significant and unprecedented offensive against the Narco-terrorist cartels in Mexico and other Latin American criminal groups. This offensive, aimed at addressing threats to U.S. national security from specially designated narco-terrorist organizations in the region, is a significant development. The military buildup is a strong message, providing the president with a wide range of options should Trump order military action. President Trump has directed the Pentagon to prepare operations to confront these organizations in the Caribbean and the Gulf of America region. The administration has already made a significant deployment, with at least two destroyers, the USS Gravely and the USS Spruance, as previously reported by Breitbart News, now in action. According to a report from CNN, the U.S. military is mounting a significant deployment, with more than 4,000 Marines and sailors, part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, being sent to the Gulf of America and the Caribbean. This is part of a ramped-up effort to combat drug cartels, a dramatic show of force that will give the president a broad range of military options to target terrorist drug cartels. The deployment has been underway for the last three weeks.

Reuters [8/18/2025 8:19 PM, Steve Holland and Idrees Ali, 45746K] reports three U.S. Aegis guided-missile destroyers will arrive off the coast of Venezuela in the next 36 hours as part of an effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels, two sources briefed on the matter said on Monday. President Donald Trump has wanted to use the military to go after Latin American drug gangs that have been designated as global terrorist organizations. The sources said the ships are the USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham and the USS Sampson. A separate U.S. official told Reuters that in total, about 4,000 sailors and Marines are expected to be committed to the Trump administration’s efforts in the southern Caribbean region. That U.S. official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the additional commitment of military assets in the broader region would include several P-8 spy planes, warships and at least one attack submarine. The official said the process would be ongoing for several months and the plan was for them to operate in international airspace and international waters. The naval assets can be used to not just carry out intelligence and surveillance operations, but also as a launching pad for targeted strikes if a decision is made, the official added. Venezuela’s communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Without referring to the warships, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday in an address that Venezuela will "defend our seas, our skies and our lands." He alluded to what he called "the outlandish, bizarre threat of a declining empire." Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration as part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the U.S. southern border. The Trump administration in recent months has already deployed at least two warships to help in border security efforts and drug trafficking. The Trump administration designated Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and other drug gangs, as well as Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua, as global terrorist organizations in February, as it stepped up immigration enforcement against alleged gang members. The U.S. military has already been increasing its airborne surveillance of Mexican drug cartels to collect intelligence to determine how to best counter their activities.

Breitbart [8/18/2025 11:24 PM, Staff, 2608K] reports Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro on Monday said he would deploy 4.5 million militia members in response to US "threats," after Washington raised the bounty for his arrest and launched anti-drug operations in the Caribbean. "This week, I will activate a special plan with more than 4.5 million militiamen to ensure coverage of the entire national territory — militias that are prepared, activated and armed," Maduro announced on state television. Official figures say the Venezuelan militia, founded by Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez, contains about 5 million people — though the actual number is believed to be smaller. Venezuela’s total population is around 30 million. Maduro lambasted "the renewal of extravagant, bizarre, and outlandish threats" from the United States. The administration of US President Donald Trump earlier this month doubled its bounty to $50 million for the arrest of Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges. Washington, which does not recognize Maduro’s past two election victories, accuses the Venezuelan of leading a cocaine trafficking gang called Cartel de los Soles. The Trump administration announced sanctions against the group and Maduro’s administration last month. The US military has also reportedly deployed several vessels to the southern Caribbean, as part of Trump’s crackdown on Latin American drug cartels. "We are also deployed throughout the Caribbean…in our sea, our property, Venezuelan territory," Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said. Although he did not mention the recent US actions specifically, Maduro thanked those who expressed their support in the face of what he called "rotten refrain" of threats. Maduro called on his government’s political base to move forward with the formation of peasant and worker militias "in all industries.” "Rifles and missiles for the peasant force! To defend the territory, sovereignty, and peace of Venezuela," declared Maduro.

CBS Colorado [8/18/2025 3:12 PM, Jennifer McRae, 45245K] Video: HERE reports the Arapahoe County sheriff, along with the ATF, DEA and several other law enforcement organizations, showed off the firearms and drugs seized in an undercover operation that resulted in the arrests of dozens of suspects. Some of those suspects have been confirmed to be TdA gang members. On Monday, the ATF displayed 69 firearms and some of the drugs seized in that operation that started 10 months ago. The undercover operation began when Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown reached out to federal agents about a spike in crime at the Ivy Crossing Apartments in Aurora. That’s where, according to undercover agents, they purchased some of the drugs and guns and agents said they even discussed a possible murder-for-hire with suspects. A total of 30 people were arrested. Law enforcement said they are connected to the TdA gang in Venezuela. "We have seen an impact of what true collaboration can bring. Not only through law enforcement but through the building of trust and assurance to the residents that their safety matters," said Brown.

NewsNation [8/18/2025 6:14 PM, Maddie Rhodes, 6811K] reports thirty people, including several members of the Tren de Aragua gang, are facing federal drug trafficking, firearms offenses and murder-for-hire charges after a months-long undercover operation based out of a troubled Aurora apartment complex. On Monday, U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly said 30 individuals, including gang members from a "designated foreign terrorist organization," are facing several charges from two federal indictments. A 39-count indictment charges 28 defendants with firearms trafficking, using firearms to commit drug trafficking crimes, possession of firearms and ammunition by illegal aliens and trafficking controlled substances, including methamphetamine, cocaine, and "Tusi" or pink powder that contains a variety of controlled substances like ketamine, methamphetamine and MDMA. Five of the defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. Meanwhile, the other indictment charges Luis Fernando Uribe-Torrealba, 29, and Luis Henriquez-Charaima, 29, with conspiracy to traffic firearms, conspiracy to traffic controlled substances, carjacking and conspiracy to commit murder for hire. FOX News [8/18/2025 8:07 PM, Greg Wehner, 40019K] reports thirty alleged members and leaders of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Venezuelan gang designated as a foreign terrorist group, were indicted in Colorado on charges including murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses. The gang has been tied to murder, extortion, kidnapping, and drug and human trafficking. Several TdA members are accused of unlawfully entering the U.S. and introducing its gang violence to communities across America, including those in Colorado. "These defendants include Tren de Aragua leaders, members, and associates," U.S. Attorney for Colorado Peter McNeilly said during a press conference on Monday. "The charges include firearms trafficking, drug trafficking, and a barbaric murder for hire plot in which several of the defendants agreed to kill two people for $15,000 and return their severed heads as proof of the murders for just an extra $5,000.". A nine-month investigation tied to crime at a Denver-area apartment complex led a grand jury to charge 28 people in a 39-count indictment. Charges include firearms trafficking, using guns in drug crimes, illegal possession of firearms and drug trafficking. Five defendants also face conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. "The charges tell a story of people selling guns and drugs – lots of them," McNeilly said. "The affidavits which have been filed in this case also tell a story of a murder-for-hire plot and other crimes that the defendants were willing to commit, such as sex trafficking. "One of the people who offered to commit murders in this case bragged to the undercover officers that the people he would use to commit those murders were the very same people that we had seen committing crimes on the news in these apartment complexes in Aurora," he continued. During the investigation, officers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recovered 69 firearms, including machine guns. Authorities claim that several of the firearms have been linked to shootings, carjackings, robberies and drive-by shootings in Denver and Aurora.

Washington Post [8/18/2025 6:00 AM, Amanda Coletta, 29079K] reports they trekked through a dozen countries, from Asia to South America, on horseback across the perilous Darién Gap and up through Central America to Mexico. Members of Afghanistan’s persecuted Shiite Hazara minority, the family — a man who worked for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, his wife and three of their children — spent months in Mexico trying to schedule an appointment with U.S. immigration authorities through the Biden administration’s CBP One app, to no avail. So, on Dec. 20, 2024, a month before President Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office, they paid a smuggler to help them cross the Rio Grande and turned themselves in to U.S. border guards. They hoped to travel on to Canada, where several close family members had been granted refugee status — and where, under the terms of a U.S.-Canada immigration pact, the family, too, would be eligible to seek asylum. But the man and two of the children are languishing in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, in conditions their attorneys have called “deplorable,” caught between Trump’s immigration crackdown and the bureaucracies of two nations, and at risk of being removed to Afghanistan. U.S. authorities say the family may fly to Canada, according to the family’s U.S.-based lawyer, Jodi Goodwin. But to board a plane, they would need visas or special permits that Canada is unlikely to grant. Canadian authorities would accept them at a land crossing. But the United States won’t release them to travel by land to the border. “They’re in a situation where, if they could get to Canada … they would be able to apply for asylum,” Goodwin said. “But they’re trapped by the fact that they’re being held in U.S. custody and the U.S. refuses to release them.” If they’re released, she said, “they will be at the Canadian border within a day and they will never cost the government a dime.” Their Toronto-based lawyers, meanwhile, say that “Canada can make this right.” The family’s “compelling circumstances,” Maureen Silcoff and Adam Sadinsky wrote, argue for temporary residence permits that would allow them to fly to Canada.

The Hill [8/18/2025 1:00 PM, Don Barnes and Brian Fennessy, 12414K] reports that when fighting wildfires, we need every advantage possible to help us save lives and protect property. Aircraft remains an essential tool that can quickly douse flames or create firebreaks to slow the spread of fire, often before ground crews can reach the scene. The list of wildland firefighting aircraft successes is long and impressive. During last month’s Rancho Fire in Laguna Beach, the force multiplier of a robust air attack saved an entire community. Similar results were recently seen in San Bernardino and Riverside counties when two fires that threatened homes were quickly extinguished using air support. The difference between a fire you have never heard of and a fire you never forget is often won or lost in the initial attack. That’s when time matters to the second, precision matters to the foot and volume of water matters to the gallon — measurements that can only be filled by aircraft. On the few fires that do escape initial attack, aircraft again become one of the most valuable resources in a firefight, as evidenced by the helitankers that saved the community of Brentwood during the Los Angeles Fires. Unfortunately, aircraft can be grounded just as rapidly as they are deployed. When natural factors like high winds or poor visibility cause grounding there is nothing that we, as first responders, can do. According to the Department of Homeland Security, in the last six months of 2024, over 27,000 drones were detected within 500 meters of the southern border, mostly at night and above permitted height limits.

New York Post [8/18/2025 12:06 PM, Miranda Devine, 43962K] reports we know that the Biden administration deliberately broke the border and ushered in over 20 million illegal aliens, at a huge cost to the nation’s social welfare system, and with a reckless disregard for potential criminality and terrorism. Exactly why it did it has always been the burning question. A new Rasmussen poll gives us a clue: It’s the census. There is mounting evidence that the Biden administration tried to cook the books to give Democrats an unfair advantage, which explains why a minority of Democrats (43% compared to 83% Republicans) approve of President Trump’s decision to take a new census that excludes illegal aliens from the population count.

Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 7:42 PM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1563K] reports as liberals, Democrats, and others on the Left continue to disparage the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, officers in those agencies continue to do their jobs protecting Americans from the worst of the worst violent illegal immigrant criminals in the country. DHS and ICE continue to make the country a safer place. One of the worst criminals apprehended was Magdeleno Barbosa-Montalvo, a 53-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico. According to DHS, Barbosa-Montalvo’s criminal record includes a heinous act in Vincennes, Indiana, where he was previously convicted of sexual misconduct with a minor. Another who could be filed under the "worst of the worst" was Adalberto Turcios-Mejia, a 66-year-old illegal immigrant from Honduras whose criminal history includes a conviction for "indecency with a child by contact in Austin, Texas.". ICE also arrested known drug traffickers this weekend. These are people who peddle poison, which makes its way to Americans, causing harm in communities throughout the country. One of those apprehended was a 48-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, Ramon Lopez-Ruiz. According to ICE, Lopez-Ruiz was previously convicted for "trafficking in cocaine in Durham County, North Carolina.". Consider just how much safer communities in Indiana, Texas, and North Carolina are with innocent Americans not having to worry about such criminals roaming around. It’s patently absurd to be against such initiatives, measures, and actions, as many Democrats have lambasted ICE for taking such actions. "The Biden administration allowed serial criminals to prey on Americans. The days of criminal illegal aliens terrorizing American citizens are OVER," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "While Americans are enjoying their weekends, ICE was hard at work arresting pedophiles, fraudsters, drug traffickers, and other violent criminals to make America safe again.".

NewsNation [8/18/2025 5:45 PM, Sandra Sanchez, 6811K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in July had a drop in migrant arrests nationwide but an increase in removals, according to new data. The average daily bookings from July 1-26 was 990 per day, down 19% from 1,224 daily bookings in June, Transactional Access Records Clearinghouse (TRAC) reports. The total number of people booked into an ICE detention facility in July was 31,281, that included 27,483 arrested by ICE and 3,798 arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, TRAC reports. There were 56,945 migrants detained in ICE custody, which is down 1.5% from the 57,861 detainees in June. TRAC reports that in July the number of migrants removed from the United States increased by an average of 84 more per day from June.

Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 3:39 PM, David Zimmermann, 1563K] reports as Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues deporting illegal immigrants en masse, more immigration detention centers are opening with President Donald Trump’s signature branding. These new facilities, spearheaded by the Trump administration in coordination with certain states, are being given alliterative names, such as "Speedway Slammer" and "Alligator Alcatraz." While Trump may not be the one coining these names, his tendency to use creative nicknames has certainly inspired administration officials and Republicans to follow suit. On Sunday, ICE opened its latest detention center, called "Lone Star Lockup," at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced a partnership with Indiana to expand detention space by 1,000 beds at the Miami Correctional Center. The state prison was named the "Speedway Slammer" by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said it will house "some of the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens." Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced Florida’s next immigration detention center, which he called "Deportation Depot." If all goes as planned, "Deportation Depot" will open in the coming weeks. The immigration detention center that started the trend of alliterative nicknames was "Alligator Alcatraz."

Los Angeles Times [8/18/2025 8:04 PM, Andrea Flores, 12715K] reports that, as the Trump administration continues to target the undocumented community and urge them to self-deport, some U.S. citizens have considered leaving the country themselves. Earlier this summer, Julie Ear dropped off her mother at the Tijuana airport to self-deport. She documented the tearful departure in a TikTok video, which has since reached over 9.3 million views and garnered thousands of sympathetic comments. "With my mom’s complicated legal status, she decided to [self-deport] on her own terms," Ear says in the clip. At the time of the video’s publication, ICE raids were spreading across Southern California, her mother’s home for the past 36 years. In March, the Trump administration rolled out its multimillion-dollar ad campaign warning undocumented individuals to self-deport or face the consequences of deportation. This strategy is part of Trump’s pledge to deport 1 million unauthorized immigrants per year, which has also offered individuals $1,000 and a free flight to self-deport. While much of Trump’s campaign was focused on undocumented immigrants who had committed violent crimes, it has now shifted its focus to anyone residing in the U.S. without legal authorization (which is still considered a civil violation). In some cases, the Trump administration has also targeted those with DACA protection, whom they have urged to self-deport as well. "She has no criminal record, she’s a hard-working taxpayer who has been working 12 hour shifts since she was 15, six days out of the week," says Ear of her mother in the video. "She never asked for a handout, she didn’t get food stamps, she didn’t get welfare.” This campaign has triggered many in the immigrant community to leave their families and homes in the U.S. and return to their countries of origin. But it also strikes fear in those born to immigrants in the U.S., especially as the future of birthright citizenship remains in limbo. "Are we even safe as American citizens?" asks Ear in an interview with The Times — citing instances in which U.S. citizens have been taken into ICE custody. " Even though we were born here, we don’t know if we’re gonna be safe long term.”

New York Post [8/19/2025 1:28 AM, Richard Pollina, 43962K] reports the illegal immigrant who landed a gig as a police officer in Maine after overstaying his visa agreed to voluntarily leave the US following detention by federal immigration agents when he attempted to buy a firearm. A judge on Monday granted the voluntary departure for Jamaican national Jon Luke Evans, a former reserve police officer with the Old Orchard Beach Police Department, WMTW-TV reported. He must pay his own way to leave the United States within a set time under the voluntary departure order. Evans was required to acknowledge his unlawful presence in the US, forgo any applications for legal status, and prove he had both the intention and financial ability to depart to secure his voluntary departure. Evans was arrested in Biddeford on July 25 after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) was informed that he attempted to purchase a gun. He was being held at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts, but he was later transferred to the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island, the outlet reported. Evans initially entered the US legally on a weeklong visa through Miami International Airport in September 2023. Although he was scheduled to leave the country on Oct. 1, 2023, he failed to do so and ultimately became a police officer in Maine. By May, Evans joined the police force as a seasonal officer for the popular tourist town. As part of his hiring process, Evans underwent a background check, physical and medical screenings and law enforcement training. The department also sent his employment documents to the Department of Homeland Security to confirm Evans’ eligibility to work in the US, the department said. The DHS stated that Evans had an eligible work permit that was set to expire in March 2030, according to the police department. "Our department and our community relied on the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program to ensure we were meeting our obligations," Police Chief Elise Chard told Fox News Digital. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin stated that the police department had a "reckless reliance" on the E-Verify Program and should have conducted further research to verify the individual’s legal status, according to WMTW-TV. "Usage of E-Verify does not absolve employers of their legal duty to verify documentation authenticity, and all employers should take necessary steps to effectively verify legal employment status," McLaughlin said. "No illegal alien should ever be provided a firearm or serve in law enforcement, not only is it the law, it’s also basic common sense.” However, McLaughlin also stated that E-Verify "delivers high accuracy in verifying work authorization by cross-checking employee documents against government databases to combat rampant document fraud and protecting American workers.”

Reported similarly:
AP [8/18/2025 4:34 PM, Patrick Whittle, 56000K]
FOX News [8/19/2025 2:41 AM, Christina Shaw, 40019K]
Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 6:36 PM, Brady Knox, 1563K]

CBS New York [8/18/2025 7:34 PM, Staff, 45245K] Video: HERE reports several New York physicians are speaking out against what they say are inhumane conditions at an immigration holding facility in Lower Manhattan. Monday, physicians from the nonprofit New York Doctors Coalition tried to get into 26 Federal Plaza, requesting access to assess conditions on the 10th floor. That’s where the doctors say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has an overcrowded and unsanitary holding facility for detained immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security calls it a processing center. The doctors were turned away by security. Last month, video released by the New York Immigration Coalition and verified by CBS News New York showed conditions on the 10th floor, although it was unclear when the footage was taken. The person taking the video was heard saying "Look how they have us here, like dogs.". Last week, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting ICE from detaining people in spaces with fewer than 50 square feet per person, and calling for improved access to hygiene, providing sleeping mats and access to medical care. "The building has been turned into a place of health abuse," Dr. Steve Auerbach of New York Doctors Coalition said. "We’ve had observers that went to the 10th floor.". "It is not a residential building. They are violating zoning laws," Auerbach added. "They detained a 7-year-old last week. A 7-year-old. How is that helping anybody?" Dr. Sonni Mun of New York Doctors Coalition said. "I think the distress these families are going are similar to people who lose young family members.". Several advocacy groups who rallied with the doctors Monday called for medical professionals independent of DHS to be allowed in. They told CBS News New York loved ones of those detained fear retaliation for speaking out publicly. "Complete fiction about 26 Federal Plaza," DHS says.

Telemundo [8/18/2025 7:13 AM, Melissa Colorado and Jennifer Vázquez, 131K] reports a 6-year-old Queens girl, along with her mother and brother, are separated hundreds of miles away after federal agents detained them following a routine visit to New York City immigration court last week. "Schools are supposed to start in three weeks. Dayra and her mother should be buying school supplies," Councilman Shekar Krishnan, D-Jackson Heights, told our sister station. Instead, Dayra, a student at Public School 89, the José Peralta School for Dreamers in Queens, and her mother are in a detention center nearly 2,000 miles away in Texas. Krishnan says the family, originally from Ecuador, showed up at 26 Federal Plaza on Tuesday for an immigration check-in last week. "It’s horrifying to discover that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained, taken into custody, and separated a family including a 6-year-old girl and her older brother, Manuel, 19," Krishnan said Saturday. Krishnan claims the older brother was separated and taken to a detention center in New Jersey. A spokesperson for New York City Schools shared the following statement: A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Dayra, her mother, Martha, and her older brother entered the country "illegally" in December 2022. "All have received final deportation orders from an immigration judge," the spokesperson said.

The Hill [8/18/2025 9:06 AM, Cory McGinnis and Matthew Euzarraga, 12414K] reports ICE is detaining a 7-year-old girl and her immediate family, sources confirmed to Nexstar’s WPIX Saturday morning. The 7-year-old, a student at a New York City Public School, and her mother were sent to an ICE detention center in Texas. Her 19-year-old brother remains in ICE custody in New Jersey, officials said. "It is disgusting that a child would be taken into ICE detention this way," Queens City Councilman Shekat Krishanan said in an interview with WPIX. "She should be with her mom, getting ready for school in a couple of weeks. She should be buying school supplies." This is the first known ICE arrest of a New York City child under 18, Krishnan said in a social media post.

Politico [8/18/2025 7:15 PM, Ry Rivard, Matt Friedman and Erica Orden, 14810K] reports the federal officer who arrested the mayor of New Jersey’s largest city outside an immigration detention center in May suggested that he was making the arrest at the direction of the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, Todd Blanche, according to law enforcement body camera footage described in a new court filing. The filing, from Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), sheds new light on the chaotic scene on May 9 when Democratic lawmakers and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, attempting to conduct an oversight visit, clashed with immigration agents. Baraka was arrested for trespassing, but that charge was dropped. McIver was later charged with assaulting federal agents; she is seeking to get the case dismissed. According to McIver’s attorneys, a Department of Homeland Security special agent was on the phone as the events unfolded that day. Citing bodycam footage they obtained in the case, the attorneys wrote that the special agent, after hanging up the call, turned to a group of fellow agents and announced: “We are arresting the mayor right now, per the deputy attorney general of the United States. Anyone that gets in our way, I need you guys to give me a perimeter so I can cuff him.” POLITICO has not reviewed the bodycam video. Although the footage was submitted as an exhibit in the case, it was not yet publicly available. A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment, and a response from the Department of Homeland Security did not address whether Blanche had ordered the agents to make the arrest. The special agent’s apparent suggestion that he was acting at Blanche’s direction is the latest sign that top Justice Department officials are harnessing the power of law enforcement against Democrats and other perceived enemies of President Donald Trump. Trump’s DOJ has opened investigations into various figures Trump disdains, including Jack Smith, James Comey, former Homeland Security aides who criticized him and many others. Federal law enforcement officials have also detained New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and handcuffed California Sen. Alex Padilla. Baraka is the progressive mayor of New Jersey’s largest city and at the time of his arrest was seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, an election he has since lost. Separately, he is suing the Trump administration for “malicious prosecution” in a lawsuit that names acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and Ricky Patel, a special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations’ Newark Division. According to a comparison of court documents filed in the Baraka and McIver cases, Patel is the special agent overheard on the bodycam footage referring to the deputy attorney general. Her attorneys said McIver’s visit to the detention facility, known as Delaney Hall, was a legislative act she cannot be prosecuted for. They cited the Supreme Court ruling last summer that gave Trump immunity from criminal prosecution for some actions he took during his first presidential term while fighting to subvert the 2020 election. McIver’s attorneys also argued that she is facing intimidation and that Habba’s office, which is prosecuting the case, is undermining the Constitution’s “Speech or Debate” Clause. That clause grants members of Congress a form of immunity that is mostly impenetrable in investigations relating to the official duties of lawmakers, their aides or other congressional officials. The Department of Homeland Security said the argument is laughable. “Suggesting that physically assaulting a federal law enforcement officer is ‘legitimate legislative activity’ covered by legislative immunity makes a joke of all three branches of government at once,” the Homeland Security Department’s assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement.

New York Times [8/18/2025 5:10 PM, Jazmine Ulloa, Christina Morales, 143795K] reports many working-class immigrants who operate the hotels, restaurants and tourist sites of Washington, D.C., say they had long wanted the city to do more about homelessness and crime. Some said they had watched violence intensify on the very streets where they work overnight shifts or walk on early mornings as they open up shops. But in recent days, workers, small business owners and street vendors say they have found themselves at the center of two crackdowns: one on crime, another on illegal immigration. With Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents appearing alongside National Guard members and federal agents as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on crime in Washington, these workers say they worry that the federal show of force may only complicate efforts to lower violence in the city. Immigrants interviewed in and near Washington in recent days described a new sense of anxiety, whether they were undocumented or had legal status in this country. And some said they worried that the result could be the opposite of the president’s intended goals, fracturing relationships between immigrants and local authorities, deterring immigrants from reporting crimes and, in the end, making the city less safe.

NBC News [8/19/2025 5:00 AM, Didi Martinez, 43603K] reports Washington, D.C., resident Tyler DeSue woke up tired and craving breakfast Saturday morning, so he did what many people in that situation would do: He used Uber Eats to put in an order for burritos. When his driver took longer than usual, DeSue checked the app and noticed something seemed wrong — the delivery driver’s GPS location had stopped short of his address. He went outside to look for him. "I stepped into the street, I looked down and see lights in the direction, like police lights, in the direction of where my driver was," DeSue said in an interview. "It was my driver by himself and, like, nine different officers all wearing different uniforms. ... Most of them had face coverings on.” When DeSue went to investigate, the driver — whose name appeared on the food app as "Sidi" — was being questioned, first about his vehicle’s registration and then about his immigration status, he said. "You’re gonna come with us, you’re gonna come with us today," a masked agent can be heard telling Sidi in video that DeSue recorded and provided to NBC News. "Can you tell me in Arabic, please?" Sidi says, adding that he did not understand what was being said and that he was nervous. One of the agents, wearing a vest emblazoned "POLICE HSI" — short for Homeland Security Investigations, a part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — replies that they do not have an Arabic translator. The men then cuff Sidi’s hands, waist and feet before they put him in an unmarked car. DeSue said he has since reported the incident to Uber. NBC News has not been able to verify the driver’s full name, nationality or location, and Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The incident is one of several arrests of delivery drivers recorded by eyewitnesses across the Washington area that have gone viral since the Trump administration took over law enforcement in the nation’s capital last week. The videos, scattered across social media and shared among D.C. delivery driver chat groups, are having a chilling effect on the drivers themselves. Some of them have chosen to stop making deliveries in the city. It has been "five days since working, looking at what to do. And, well, closed down here waiting for things to pass, because I don’t know what to do," a D.C.-area delivery driver who did not want to be named told NBC News in a voice message in Spanish. On Sunday afternoon, DeSue said, an area where 15 to 20 delivery drivers typically would be parked out front of his home looking at their phones for their next orders was an empty lot. "I haven’t seen a driver anywhere in the last two days," he said. Some other D.C. residents have noticed the dwindling presence of delivery drivers, as well. "The number of people who come to pick up orders has diminished," said Clarissa Vasquez, who works at a restaurant in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. "We are at 4% of the people who come to pick up food.”

New York Times [8/18/2025 1:27 PM, Billy Witz, 153395K] reports the immigration enforcement raids that have occurred in cities across the country have largely been absent in Louisville, Ky. Federal funds, which have been choked off to some municipalities, have continued to flow to the city. There has been no talk of deploying National Guard troops to neighborhood streets, as in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Mayor Craig Greenberg of Louisville, elected to lead a blue city in a deep-red state, is trying to keep it that way with a rare gambit for a Democratic mayor. He has agreed to the Trump administration’s request to place a 48-hour hold on immigrant inmates at the city’s jail that would allow the Department of Homeland Security more time to detain them. The new policy, a reversal of a 2017 city ordinance that limited how the police could work with immigration authorities, seems to have achieved the mayor’s goal for now. Louisville was removed this month from the Department of Justice’s list of sanctuary cities, counties and states that are being threatened with litigation. But the mayor’s decision has also generated blowback from Democratic leaders and immigrant rights organizations in a city with a rich history of opening its arms to refugees and where Kentucky’s two headlining industries — horse racing and bourbon — rely heavily on labor from immigrants, including many who are undocumented.

Breitbart [8/18/2025 4:11 PM, Amy Furr, 2608K] reports an illegal alien with a lengthy criminal history was arrested Wednesday in Lee County, Florida, when a K-9 found drugs in his vehicle, authorities said. The suspect is identified as Yulier Alvarez-Dominguez, whom the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday has a history of charges for battery on an LEO (law enforcement officer), aggravated battery, battery on a pregnant woman, attempted murder, and prior narcotics charges. The agency called him a "violent drug dealer who is in the U.S. illegally," noting he was previously deported. When officers made the traffic stop, their K-9 alerted them to the presence of drugs inside the suspect’s vehicle; authorities eventually found 96 grams of cocaine stashed in the console. Video footage shows the suspect exiting the vehicle and an officer deploying the K-9, who was seen putting its front paws on the door of the suspect’s white truck. An officer is then seen uncovering what appeared to be the drugs wrapped in a red towel, and moments later Alvarez-Dominguez was handcuffed.

Breitbart [8/18/2025 3:19 PM, John Binder, 2608K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested an illegal alien accused of killing high school sweethearts 18-year-old Hallie Helgeson and 19-year-old Brady Heiling in a drunk driving crash in Dane County, Wisconsin. As Breitbart News reported, on July 20, illegal alien Noelia Martinez-Avila of Honduras, 30 years old, was allegedly drunk driving in Dane County when she crashed into Hallie and Brady. Hallie was killed immediately and pronounced dead at the scene, while Brady was left in critical condition, airlifted to a nearby hospital, and died from his injuries on July 25. Hallie and Brady were high school sweethearts and had attended senior prom together shortly before the crash. Martinez-Avila, who had a criminal record that included several driving violations, was apparently able to hide from federal immigration enforcement partly due to Dane County’s sanctuary policy, which refuses to honor ICE detainers. On August 13, ICE agents took custody of Martinez-Avila after she was charged with two counts of felony vehicular homicide and impaired driving. ICE officials said Dane County law enforcement gave agents less than an hour to arrest the illegal alien. Martinez-Avila remains in ICE custody. Her next hearing is scheduled for September 22.

NewsNation [8/18/2025 9:19 AM, Jorge Ventura and Rob Taub, 6811K] reports as the federal government continues large-scale deportations of undocumented migrants, the Trump administration has opened what it calls the largest federal immigration detention center in the country’s history. The facility, dubbed "Lone Star Lockup," opened Sunday in Fort Bliss, Texas, under a $1.2 billion Defense Department contract. The detention center holds 1,000 beds with a plan to expand to 5,000 beds by 2027. Inside are legal access areas, medical treatment areas and recreational space — amenities that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say make it like a "traditional" facility. Supporters of the detention center, like Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales, say it will help ease overcrowding at other facilities and serve as a processing hub, sending migrants with final removal orders directly onto ICE air flights back to their home countries. "Fort Bliss is an amazing military facility," Gonzales said. "Everything thrown their way, they’ve handled. We should be supporting this, not attacking it.". The Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 6:48 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1563K] reports that the base is located on the edge of the Texas-New Mexico border and is home to 90,000 service members. Lone Star Lockup was funded by a $1.2 billion Defense Department contract. In addition to beds, it contains space for legal access, medical treatment, recreation, and meals. Republican lawmakers across the red state, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), have applauded the effort. "This is a place where up to a thousand criminal aliens will be detained pending their repatriation or return to their country of origin," Cornyn said during an Aug. 13 site visit. "We’re not talking about gardeners, housekeepers, or people like that. We’re talking about as many as 291,000 individuals who are called criminal aliens with criminal charges pending or criminal convictions who have exhausted all of their legal remedies," Cornyn said. Fort Bliss’ new detention center will hold up to 5,000 criminal aliens until they’re sent home. These are people with criminal convictions or pending charges. In Texas, we enforce the law and protect our communities. pic.twitter.com/Fx7cTJRK4Q. The site is one of many popping up in the past two months as the Trump administration expands detention space for illegal immigrants, a necessary part of its effort to arrest and then deport people.

NewsNation [8/18/2025 6:59 PM, Julian Resendiz, 6811K] reports what will soon become the largest immigration detention facility in the United States is now up and running at Fort Bliss, Texas. The $1.24 billion East Montana Detention Facility in Far East El Paso opened on Sunday and already is holding 1,000 individuals, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, said on Monday. The El Paso Democrat held a news conference just outside what she described as a "massive tent city" to question federal spending she says could be better utilized to improve quality of life in her community. She also disputed recent statements by fellow federal lawmakers that all the detainees are migrants with either criminal records or final deportation orders. "No, Donald Trump’s massive deportation plan is not targeting the worst of the worst. No, this is not just for people with final deportation orders. I stress that because members of Congress have an obligation to provide accurate information to the public and I am very dismayed that are putting out information that is not accurate," Escobar said. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the East Montana Detention Facility is comparable to any other detention center in the country. "The Fort Bliss facility will offer everything a traditional ICE detention facility offers including access to legal representation and a law library. Access to visitation, recreational space, medical treatment space and nutritionally balanced meals. It also provides necessary accommodation for disabilities, diet and religious beliefs," McLaughlin said in a statement.

ABC News [8/18/2025 7:27 PM, Ely Brown, 27036K] reports Camp East Montana, the latest and largest of the new migrant detention centers opening across the country, has been met with criticism from immigration advocates after officially opening Sunday. Protesters greeted the opening of the facility over the weekend. The detention center, on the grounds of Texas’ Fort Bliss, can currently house 1,000 migrants, with officials saying it can eventually expand to hold 5,000. "We are demanding that this administration do what they say they’re going to do if they’re not going to close the camps," Marisa Limon Garza, executive director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, told El Paso ABC affiliate KVIA. "At a minimum, we need access to people who have due process and should have access to attorneys.” The criticism came as a federal judge on Monday heard arguments from lawyers for detainees at the Florida detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz," who say they lack proper attorney access and are being held without any formal criminal or immigration charges against them. Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, who toured the new Texas detention center Monday, said of the facility’s price tag, "I want you to think about how much good that money could do in El Paso if it were spent on the community, if it were spent on access to child care for El Paso kids, if it were spent on universal pre-K for El Paso kids, if it were spent on health care for El Pasoans.” "There is a tremendous amount of good that that money could do for El Pasoans, but it is instead being used to fund mass deportation by the Trump administration," she said. "It’s important for people to understand we are not talking gardeners or housekeepers," said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who visited the facility last week. "These are people who didn’t show up to court-ordered hearings. There is no due process concern. They have no legal right to be here.” "Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Monday. "The One Big Beautiful Bill has provided historic funding to help us carry out this mandate, especially by securing enough detention capacity to maintain an average daily population of 100,000 illegal aliens and 80,000 new ICE beds.” "The Fort Bliss Facility will offer everything a traditional ICE detention facility offers, including access to legal representation and a law library, access to visitation, recreational space, medical treatment space and nutritionally balanced meals," McLaughlin said. "It also provides necessary accommodations for disabilities, diet, and religious beliefs.”

FOX News [8/18/2025 11:53 AM, Charles Creitz, 40019K] reports that nearly a dozen people were arrested following an armed July 4 ambush at a Texas ICE facility, with some suspects tied to a shadowy anti-fascist group and others linked to transgender activists, according to authorities. Some of those arrested were linked to training sessions Benjamin Song – a former Marine Reservist who was also charged with terrorism in the incident outside the Prairieland Detention Center south of Fort Worth – according to the Washington Post. Song was arrested several days after the incident, in which several people converged on the facility and vandalized cars in which some defense attorneys told the Post was initially intended as a protest until gunfire erupted. On July 5, a SWAT team raided a home in the historically-Black "The Bottoms" neighborhood in Dallas, and took at least one person into custody. A cache of weapons was found in the dwelling, which the Post reported was home to transgender people who were "part of a group of activists united around trans and queer identity issues." A neighbor offered an incredulous response to the paper when asked about the group moving into the community. Meanwhile, Song spoke to the paper from jail, where he is being held on charges including attempted murder of federal agents and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, according to the New York Post. Song also allegedly purchased several of the firearms connected to the ambush, the paper reported. The FBI previously said it was offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to Song’s arrest and conviction.

Daily Signal [8/18/2025 6:15 PM, Virginia Allen, 558K] reports Immigration enforcement authorities rescued 27 human-trafficking victims in Nebraska last week. Among the victims Immigration and Customs Enforcement rescued were 10 children under the age of 12, according to the Department of Homeland Security. “Our brave ICE law enforcement rescued these children and women, who were being sexually exploited and trafficked,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant DHS secretary. The human-trafficking ring was being run by illegal aliens, according to the DHS. President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “will not allow children and women to be victims of these heinous human-trafficking rings,” McLaughlin said. “Our message to human traffickers is clear: We will dismantle your networks, and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. That’s a promise.” Illegal aliens were running the trafficking operation, which also included drug trafficking, out of motels and eyebrow salons in the Omaha metro area, according to the DHS. “Victims were crammed into cockroach-infested rooms and trapped in squalor, with no basic sanitation or safety,” the DHS reported in a press release first obtained by The Daily Signal. “Children and adults were being sex-trafficked.” Five illegal aliens have been charged in the bust and will remain in custody pending judicial proceedings and removal. “ICE has placed immigration detainers on all five Indian illegal aliens arrested to ensure they are not released back into the community after completion of their federal criminal charges,” according to the DHS. During the operation, law enforcement seized more than $565,000 in cash and illicit drugs.

Breitbart [8/18/2025 1:40 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2608K] reports that officials in Oklahoma have entered into a wide-ranging partnership with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to remove hundreds of criminal illegal aliens from state jails and deport them back to their home countries. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) has been working on plans to deport as many as 500 illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes in the Sooner State and are currently serving prison sentences. Recently, ICE touted its relationship with Oklahoma in a message on X. "Oklahoma does not have any sanctuary cities and is undertaking an initiative to send criminal aliens from jails and prisons directly to ICE," the agency wrote on August 15. "All states could follow suit, eliminating the risks of criminal alien recidivism after incarceration." "It just makes sense," the agency insisted. Stitt has been working to reassess the sentences of some criminals with an eye toward shortening them in order to pass the illegal aliens into the hands of immigration officials for expedited deportation, according to the Washington Examiner. The program, dubbed "Operation Guardian" by state officials, seeks to save the state the $36,000 per day to house and feed the convicts. Stitt says the state could save a million dollars per month if many of these illegal aliens are deported. Operation Guardian cycles the convicts from the jails right into the custody of ICE at the conclusion of the convicts’ state sentences. The criminals also have a say in their fate, to a degree. So far, about 60 convicts have gone through the process, but hundreds more are in the pipeline.

(B) NBC News Daily [8/18/2025 12:34 PM, Staff] reports that questions are swirling after federal immigration agents opened fire on a family’s pickup truck in southern California. It happened Saturday in San Bernadino. The Department of Homeland Security claims the driver tried to run over the agents during a traffic stop but the driver says he feared for his life when they started smashing windows. The San Bernadino Police Department says there is no viable arrest warrant or outstanding warrant in their system for any arrest. Federal agents later came to the house but there was no warrant to go into the house and they left. The driver is still at large, according to DHS.

CNN [8/18/2025 9:21 AM, Karina Tsui, 23245K] reports US Customs and Border Protection officers opened fire during a targeted immigration enforcement operation in San Bernadino, California, on Saturday, calling it an act of self-defense after a man "struck two CBP officers with his vehicle," the Department of Homeland Security said. But the family inside the vehicle said they drove away out of fear for their safety after masked men emerged from unmarked cars and surrounded their truck with weapons drawn before smashing the truck’s windows. Martin, one of the three men in the vehicle, told CNN affiliate KABC he was working with his father-in-law and 18-year-old brother-in-law on Saturday morning when their vehicle was suddenly surrounded. The agents did not identify themselves and the family stayed inside the locked car, said Martin, who KABC only identified by his first name. Videos recorded from inside the family’s truck show at least three masked agents wearing tactical vests marked with "police" surrounding the car. At least one of the agents is wearing a hat marked "CBP." The agents are seen asking the men inside the truck to roll down the window, but the men refuse. The agents are then seen breaking two windows in the truck before the driver accelerates away. It’s unclear why DHS was pursuing the men in the vehicle. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NBCNews [8/18/2025 1:14 PM, Staff, 43603K] reports that a man who was fatally struck by a car while running away from a Home Depot parking lot where ICE agents were conducting an immigration roundup has been identified as Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, from Guatemala. KNBC’s Karma Dickerson reports. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NBC News [8/18/2025 1:22 PM, Karma Dickerson and Helen Jeong, 43603K] reports after a man was struck and killed by a SUV Thursday while running from a federal immigration enforcement operation at a Home Depot in Monrovia, California, immigrant communities are once again condemning the federal government’s tactics while mourning the crash victim. The man who died on the 210 Freeway was identified as Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez from Jutiapa, Guatemala, according to the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which said the Guatemalan consulate had confirmed the identity. Cellphone video from the deadly crash appears to show a passerby on the 210 Freeway, showing the body of a man who has been hit by a car just yards from where federal officers were arresting day laborers below. The man ran from the scene, crossed Evergreen Avenue and entered the eastbound 210 Freeway, said Monrovia City Manager Dylan Feik. CHP officers said they received a report just before 10 a.m. that someone had been hit by a SUV on the freeway near Myrtle Avenue. What exactly led up to the man running onto the freeway is unclear. The Department of Homeland Security told NBC Los Angeles in a statement that Montoya Valdez was not being pursued by federal officials. But Alvarado blamed the federal officials’ tactics that, he said, created fear.

San Diego Union Tribune [8/18/2025 11:35 AM, Alexandra Mendoza, 1648K] reports a father waiting nearby to pick up his son from Linda Vista Elementary School was arrested Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, school officials said. The arrest occurred days after the start of the school year and a week after another parent, whose deportation in absentia had been ordered by an immigration judge, was detained by federal immigration agents outside an elementary school in Chula Vista during morning drop-off. Arrests by immigration authorities have increased locally during the first months of the Trump administration. One of the administration’s first actions was to rescind Biden-era guidelines that restricted immigration enforcement operations “in or near” certain protected locations, including schools. Both families and authorities noted that these actions during school drop-off or pick-up can create fear in the community. On Saturday, Tricia McLaughlin, deputy secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement that ICE did not target the school and that the arrest did not take place on school grounds. She added that the operation was aimed at a man from Mexico who was “fraudulently using the social security number of a US citizen.” McLaughlin said agents approached the man after he stopped in a parking lot. He was arrested and deportation proceedings were initiated, he added. “Any defamation suggesting that ICE targeted an elementary school contributes to the 1,000% increase in attacks against our brave law enforcement officers.” Homeland Security officials called the school principal, Miriam Atlas, after the arrest. She informed the child’s mother about the situation, Bagula said.

Los Angeles Times [8/18/2025 4:56 PM, Hannah Fry, 12715K] reports officials in Anaheim issued a warning to the public on Monday following a spate of immigration raids over the weekend that they called "the most significant and disruptive federal enforcement" the city has seen in weeks. Anaheim has seen targeted enforcement and "larger activity" since mid-July, when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking federal agents from using racial profiling to carry out random immigration arrests across the region, officials said. Around midday on Saturday, agents in three or four black SUVs and a white van arrived at the Euclid Car Wash, deploying what appeared to be a smoke canister before detaining one person. The individual was a bystander, not an employee at the car wash, according to the city. Video of the incident posted on social media showed uniformed, masked agents tackling a man to the ground as he tried to flee through the parking lot. The man was later released. Officials say it was the third time the car wash, located on Euclid Street near La Palma Avenue, has seen immigration enforcement activity since early July. Several employees were detained during previous operations. City officials said approximately five laborers were also detained Saturday outside the Home Depot on Brookhurst Street, another frequent target of immigration enforcement.

San Francisco Chronicle [8/18/2025 7:00 AM, Julie Zhu, 3790K] reports ICE arrests in Northern California have surged this summer, a Chronicle analysis of deportation data shows. That’s in keeping with national trends. The Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), claimed on Friday that they are "cleaning up the streets," targeting what they continued to call the "WORST OF THE WORST" — including "illegal alien pedophiles, sex offenders, and violent thugs." But the numbers tell a more complicated story. Since the beginning of 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested roughly 2,640 people in its San Francisco "area of responsibility" — a 123% increase compared to the final seven months of the Biden administration. The pace picked up dramatically in June and July. That area spans a large portion of California, from Kern County northward, and also includes Hawaii, Guam, and Saipan. The Chronicle’s analysis focused only on arrests made within California. Notably, under the Trump administration, arrests of people without criminal convictions have risen sharply. Many of those taken into custody have only pending criminal charges — or none at all. In June, about 58% of arrests involved individuals with no prior convictions. That figure dipped slightly to 56% in July, but just a few months earlier, the numbers were far lower: In December, before President Donald Trump took office, only 10% of arrests involved people without a criminal conviction. Among those without a conviction, ICE has arrested a large number of individuals whose only suspected violation is entering the country illegally or overstaying their visa. Although administration officials often call these undocumented immigrants "criminals," being in the U.S. without legal status is a civil violation, not a crime. Arrests of convicted criminals are also up, though not as sharply. Those convictions varied widely — from serious and violent crimes like child sexual assault, homicide, and drug trafficking, to lesser charges such as traffic violations and low-level misdemeanors.

Daily Caller [8/18/2025 8:47 PM, Hudson Crozier, 985K] reports a top federal prosecutor in California says most suspects his office has charged in anti-deportation riots are U.S. citizens, calling the trend "bizarre.” Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli noticed the trend among the more than 50 suspects charged with crimes stemming from violent protests against federal immigration enforcement in California, he told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Trump appointee said the mob violence that brought national attention since June shines a light on a political culture favoring illegal immigrants under Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. "I find it very fascinating that U.S. citizens are fighting so hard to prevent the deportation of illegal immigrants. It’s quite bizarre, to be honest with you," Essayli told the DCNF. "And one thing that’s been very shocking to me — whether it’s the defendants or the politicians — I’ve never seen people fight so hard for foreign nationals." (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: California Rioters Only Driving ICE To ‘Double Down,’ Trump Prosecutor Says). "I wish these politicians like Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass fought this hard for American citizens," said Essayli, a former California state lawmaker. "I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve been in the legislature, I’ve been in the political world, I’ve never seen them fight this hard or aggressively for Americans. So you have to ask yourself, what’s really going on here?". Newsom and Bass have criticized local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids as targeting innocent people, with Bass declaring that ICE is waging a "reign of terror" in her city. Newsom’s administration also blamed President Donald Trump for anti-ICE riots in the state, saying he "deliberately sowed chaos" through immigration raids and sending National Guard troops to stop disorder. Essayli said he expects some of his cases to go to trial and that he will work to prevent potential courtroom bias. "The government’s entitled to a fair trial just as much as the defendant is, so we will be fighting for that, but at the end of the day, you know, our jury pool here does draw from the community," Essayli said. "So, we want to make sure that we have a robust voir dire [jury selection] process, and we’ll be screening jurors … making sure they can be fair and impartial, which is what we’re entitled to.” Essayli said the American public has learned much more about political violence since deadly Black Lives Matter riots erupted in 2020, including how mob violence is sometimes organized and premeditated. The Small Business Administration said in July that the anti-ICE riots caused an estimated $1 billion in damage to Los Angeles. "That’s what we’re going to be looking into," Essayli said about any evidence of orchestration. The presence of union leaders or activist groups at recent chaotic protests is another indicator of that trend, he said. During the June riots, protesters reportedly handed out protective face shields, ear plugs, gas masks and water bottles to one another and shot fireworks at police, painting a picture of coordinated civil unrest. Federal officials have also accused a man of purchasing mortars and fireworks in New Mexico with plans to travel to Los Angeles and kill law enforcement during the June demonstrations. In July, people defending a cannabis farm from an ICE raid in Camarillo, California, allegedly threw a tear gas canister near federal agents’ heads and fired shots at them during a demonstration encouraged by leftist groups.

The Hill [8/18/2025 4:59 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12414K] reports the Trump administration is ordering officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to take a more "holistic" approach when determining whether to award U.S. citizenship to immigrants, saying they must weigh more factors in determining whether an applicant has "good moral character." The Friday memo from USCIS said officers must now weigh not just any disqualifying behavior but whether those seeking to naturalize are in good standing in their community. But the new memo also encourages officers to consider rejecting applicants with other convictions, including drug use or two or more convictions for driving under the influence. Officers are also encouraged to weigh conduct that may not be illegal but frowned upon, such as "reckless or habitual traffic infractions" or soliciting. Officers are also urged to consider evidence of reform, including compliance with court orders, payment of lapses in taxes of child support payments, or "community testimony" from those who can assure their good character. The memo also encourages the officers to look at other "positive factors," such as "sustained community involvement," caregiving or raising a family, education and career achievements, and paying taxes. The Daily Caller [8/18/2025 11:37 AM, Jason Hopkins, 985K] reports that the Trump administration argues the move will restore integrity to the citizenship application process. "U.S. citizenship is the gold standard of citizenship — it should only be offered to the world’s best of the best," Matthew Tragesser, a USCIS spokesperson, said in a public statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. "Today, USCIS is adding a new element to the naturalization process that ensures America’s newest citizens not only embrace America’s culture, history, and language but who also demonstrate Good Moral Character," Tragesser continued. "This memo ensures that USCIS officers are accounting for an alien’s positive contributions to American society — including community involvement, achievements, and financial responsibility rather than the absence of their misconduct." NewsMax [8/18/2025 8:17 PM, Michael Katz, 4779K] reports that "Becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen means being an active and responsible member of society instead of just having a right to live and work in the United States. "Among other eligibility factors, aliens applying for naturalization must demonstrate that he or she has been and continues to be an individual of good moral character [GMC]. Evaluating GMC involves more than a cursory mechanical review focused on the absence of wrongdoing. It entails a holistic assessment of an alien’s behavior, adherence to societal norms, and positive contributions that affirmatively demonstrate good moral character.” The memo stated that among the factors to determine an applicant’s good moral character are: Sustained community involvement and contributions in the U.S. Family caregiving, responsibility, and ties in the U.S. Stable and lawful employment history and achievements. Length of lawful residence in the U.S. Compliance with tax obligations and financial responsibility in the U.S. U.S. law has long prevented those convicted of murder and other serious violent crimes from gaining U.S. citizenship, and applicants were required to be considered as having good moral character, according to The Hill. But the new memo also encourages officers to consider rejecting applicants with other convictions, including drug use or two or more convictions for driving under the influence. Officers are also encouraged to weigh conduct that might not be illegal but frowned upon, such as "reckless or habitual traffic infractions" or soliciting. The Washington Post [8/19/2025 4:43 AM, Grace Moon, 29079K] reports that experts say the directive and its vague language are reflective of the Trump administration’s broader moves to limit legal immigration, leaving wiggle room for immigration services officers to make subjective choices about who gets to become a U.S. citizen. While the order “is not necessarily a break from past practice,” it emphasizes USCIS officers’ ability to “impose their subjective interpretations of this fuzzy concept in their evaluations of naturalization applicants,” said Jane Lopez, an associate professor of sociology at Brigham Young University who specializes in immigration and citizenship policy. According to Lopez, all applications for U.S. citizenship, permanent residency, tourism visas and student visas are by default subject to evaluation by one or more USCIS officers. These officers already have the “authority to deny that application for a multitude of reasons,” she added. The move could “make it harder for noncitizens to obtain legal belonging in the United States,” she said, since USCIS officers “must evaluate something they cannot consistently describe or define.” “Good moral character” has been a requirement for obtaining U.S. citizenship since the Naturalization Act of 1790. But Lopez said that citizenship applicants are now faced with the additional burden of proving they have “positive attributes,” rather than simply demonstrating they have not been convicted of crimes or taken part in other kinds of misconduct. The recent USCIS memo cites “family caregiving, responsibility, and ties in the United States” as examples of positive attributes, as well as educational achievement and long-term community involvement.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [8/18/2025 3:40 PM, John Binder, 2608K]

Univision [8/18/2025 7:37 AM, Staff, 4932K] reports the State Department announced over the weekend that it was suspending medical visas for Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip pending an investigation, after a far-right influencer criticized the humanitarian policy with baseless allegations. "All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are suspended while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used in recent days to issue a small number of temporary medical and humanitarian visas," the State Department said in its X account. This announcement follows posts on the same social network by Laura Loomer, an ally of President Donald Trump known for promoting racist ideas and conspiracy theories. On Friday, Loomer announced that she had denounced to Republican lawmakers the arrival in the United States of Palestinians from Gaza who "work for pro-Hamas Islamic organizations (...) affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and funded by Qatar."

Reuters [8/18/2025 8:06 PM, Kanishka Singh, 45746K] reports U.S.-based charity HEAL Palestine and other rights groups criticized the State Department’s decision to stop visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza, saying it will harm wounded children seeking medical treatment on short-term U.S. visas. The State Department said on Saturday it was halting all visitor visas for Gazans while it conducted "a full and thorough" review, after far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer said Palestinian refugees were entering the U.S. HEAL Palestine said there was no refugee resettlement program as stated by Loomer and that the group’s efforts were part of a medical treatment program. It also said the program was run on donations and did not use U.S. government money. The charity sponsored and brought "severely injured children to the U.S. on temporary visas for essential medical treatment not available at home," it said in a statement. "After their treatment is complete, the children and any accompanying family members return to the Middle East.” The U.S. has issued more than 3,800 B1/B2 visitor visas, which permit foreigners to seek medical treatment in the U.S., to holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents so far in 2025. That figure includes 640 visas issued in May. The Palestinian Authority issues travel documents to residents of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. The State Department said a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas were issued to people from Gaza in recent days but did not provide a figure. The Council on American Islamic Relations and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund condemned the decision to stop the visas. Loomer told New York Times she spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to warn about what she called a threat from "Islamic invaders.” Rubio said the government was evaluating the process of granting such visas after concerns by some members of Congress regarding alleged ties to extremism. He said their offices had presented evidence of such ties but he gave no details.

(B) Good Morning America [8/18/2025 7:24 AM, Staff] reports that a Massachusetts man is expected to be in court today in connection with a fugitive from justice charge. US Customs and Border Protection says Masseye Dabo of Medford was taken into custody at the Port of Entry in Highgate, Vermont, yesterday. Troopers say he has a warrant out of Manchester in connection with a robbery charge.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [8/18/2025 3:05 PM, Staff, 6K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Paso del Norte border crossing seized 30 kilograms of methamphetamine on August 13. The narcotics were discovered after a CBP canine initially indicated the presence of narcotics in a 2008 Ford Expedition with Mexican license plates. A non-intrusive inspection was performed using Z-Portal (a high-performance drive-through inspection system for large trucks, buses, and cargo containers), detecting anomalies in the gas tank area. Upon further inspection by CBP officers, 60 packages of methamphetamine were discovered concealed inside the vehicle’s gas tank, the agency reported. So far in fiscal year 2024, through July, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) El Paso Field Office has seized 3,919 pounds of narcotics.

Telemundo [8/18/2025 6:41 PM, Staff, 6K] reports a 25-year-old Houston resident faces federal charges after being accused of illegally trying to illegally enter 40 people in a truck with hidden compartments, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The incident occurred on August 15 at a Border Patrol checkpoint, located on FM 1017, in Jim Hogg County. The young man, identified as Kenneth Gamboa, was driving a box-type truck with paper plates when a trained dog alerted officers to possible presence of people or narcotics in the cargo area. After the alert, officers conducted an X-ray inspection, which revealed human figures standing inside the truck. When they opened and searched the compartment, officers discovered a fake wall with bolted wood hidden by the migrants.

CNN [8/18/2025 9:21 AM, Karina Tsui, 23245K] reports US Customs and Border Protection officers opened fire during a targeted immigration enforcement operation in San Bernadino, California, on Saturday, calling it an act of self-defense after a man "struck two CBP officers with his vehicle," the Department of Homeland Security said. But the family inside the vehicle said they drove away out of fear for their safety after masked men emerged from unmarked cars and surrounded their truck with weapons drawn before smashing the truck’s windows. Martin, one of the three men in the vehicle, told CNN affiliate KABC he was working with his father-in-law and 18-year-old brother-in-law on Saturday morning when their vehicle was suddenly surrounded. The agents did not identify themselves and the family stayed inside the locked car, said Martin, who KABC only identified by his first name. Videos recorded from inside the family’s truck show at least three masked agents wearing tactical vests marked with "police" surrounding the car. At least one of the agents is wearing a hat marked "CBP.". The agents are seen asking the men inside the truck to roll down the window, but the men refuse. The agents are then seen breaking two windows in the truck before the driver accelerates away. It’s unclear why DHS was pursuing the men in the vehicle. It is unclear in the videos when officers were struck by the vehicle. In its statement, DHS said two officers were injured. It did not specify the severity of the injuries. The Washington Examiner [8/18/2025 11:33 PM, Brady Knox, 1563K] reports Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice Executive Director Javier Hernandez spoke to the driver, a 43-year-old Mexican who has been in the United States illegally for 23 years, and shared his experience with the Associated Press. The driver’s son and son-in-law, who were in the car with him, recorded part of the interaction. In the video, viewed by the outlet, the driver refused to open the windows of the car when asked by the authorities. After the agents broke the windows, the driver accelerated his vehicle, after which three shots could be heard. "This reckless decision came despite the subject’s outright refusal to comply and his wounding of two federal officers," DHS said in a statement. "It is yet another tragic example of California’s pro-sanctuary policies that shield criminals instead of protecting communities." [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The AP [8/18/2025 6:27 PM, Jaimie Ding] reports that the 18-year-old son and 23-year-old son-in-law are U.S. citizens, Hernandez said. Federal agents later arrived at the man’s home, but the family did not allow them to enter because they didn’t have a warrant, Hernandez said. DHS did not respond to questions about whether they had a warrant and were still seeking the man’s arrest. DHS criticized the police department for not arresting the man.

The Hill [8/18/2025 1:13 PM, Elizabeth Crisp, 12414K] reports that California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is seeking information from the Trump administration about why federal agents were present at an event he held with other Democrats to discuss redistricting efforts last week. The governor, who is a frequent critic of President Trump, filed a formal records request Sunday with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeking "all documents and records, including but not limited to text messages, Microsoft Teams messages, phone logs, risk assessments and memoranda" related to the presence of Border Patrol agents at his downtown Los Angeles press conference Thursday. "Trump’s use of the military and federal law enforcement to try to intimidate his political opponents is yet another dangerous step towards authoritarianism," Newsom said in a statement. "Trump is attempting to advance a playbook from the despots he admires in Russia and North Korea." "We will not back down in our defense of democratic freedom, and the Trump administration should answer for this pathetic and cowardly behavior," he added. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Hill in a statement Monday that Border Patrol has a constant presence in Los Angeles to track down people in the country illegally as part of the president’s immigration crackdown. "DHS is a law enforcement agency— we enforce the law," McLaughlin said. "To Mr. Newsom’s chagrin, DHS is focused on enforcing the law, not on him." "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.," she added.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [8/18/2025 3:50 PM, Brian Freeman, 4779K]

(B) Local News Live [8/18/2025 2:22 PM, Staff] reports that 20 states are suing FEMA over the agency getting rid of a grant that was meant to help communities minimize the impact of natural disasters. FEMA called the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant wasteful and politicized. A federal judge has ordered that BRIC money cannot be spent on anything else until he rules on whether FEMA can legally eliminate the grant. The lawsuit filed by the 20 states claims FEMA’s attempted elimination of the grant is illegal, violates the Constitution, and claims the elimination has been devastating as it causes communities to delay, scale back, or cancel projects dependent on the funding. In court, FEMA claims Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has not made a final decision to end the program and that no grants had been canceled.

CNN [8/19/2025 3:51 AM, Briana Waxman, Mary Gilbert, 23245K] reports Hurricane Erin is poised to bring deadly rip currents to the entire US East Coast, as well as destructive waves and storm surge to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Meanwhile, Atlantic hurricane season is hitting its stride, threatening to spin up another named storm in Erin’s wake. Erin, a sprawling Category 3 hurricane that exploded in strength over the weekend, is not forecast to make landfall but will touch off life-threatening surf conditions as it tracks up the East Coast. Bermuda will face similar conditions to the storm’s east. The impact is already being felt on US coastlines. At least 75 rip-current rescues were conducted along North Carolina’s southern coast Monday, officials in New Hanover County reported. The county’s Wrightsville Beach has issued a no-swim advisory through Friday. A tropical storm watch stretches from the middle of North Carolina’s coast north past Kitty Hawk, including the Pamlico Sound. The watch means tropical-storm-force winds (39 to 73 mph) are possible within 48 hours. Dare and Hyde counties, which encompass most of the Outer Banks, have already issued local states of emergency with mandatory evacuations for Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. To the south, tropical storm warnings remain in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas. A tropical storm watch is also in place for the central Bahamas. Erin’s outer bands lashed those islands in recent days, causing flooding, power outages and airport closures. Puerto Rico also bore the brunt of Erin’s outer bands with flooding and widespread power outages. Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center says a tropical wave trailing Erin in the Atlantic has a 60% chance of developing into a depression or storm within the next seven days. If it forms, it would take the sixth name on this hurricane season’s list: Fernand. A third disturbance just off the coast of Africa currently has a low chance of development, but that could change as it moves across the Atlantic Ocean. Erin is expected to remain a powerful major hurricane – Category 3 or greater – through at least midweek. The hurricane’s impact will be felt not through direct landfall, but through water: large, pounding surf, dangerous currents and coastal flooding during high tides. Extensive beach erosion is likely in the Outer Banks, with waves of 20 feet or more forecast this week, according to the National Weather Service. Waves of this size “will likely inundate and destroy protective dune structures,” which could lead to severe flooding inland, National Park Service officials at Cape Hatteras National Seashore warned Monday. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [8/18/2025 10:05 AM, Ben Noll, et al., 29079K]
The Hill [8/18/2025 9:10 AM, Elizabeth Crisp, 12414K]
NBC News [8/18/2025 1:16 PM, Marlene Lenthang, 43603K]

New York Times [8/19/2025 1:31 AM, Mike Ives, 153395K] reports several popular beaches in New Jersey and Delaware will be closed to swimmers on Tuesday, in the middle of peak tourist season, as Hurricane Erin brings dangerous rip currents to the East Coast. The Category 3 storm was churning through the Atlantic, several hundred miles east of the Carolinas, on Tuesday morning. Portions of the Outer Banks of North Carolina were under a state of emergency and a mandatory evacuation order. Even though Erin is expected to turn away from the East Coast, a number of beaches from New York to Florida face a high risk of rip currents through Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service. Rip currents have been blamed for at least one death in New Jersey in the past week. High waves are also in the forecast for parts of New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and parts of New England this week. Beaches in Suffolk and Nassau countries on Long Island may see breaking waves as high as 11 to 15 feet on Thursday, the Weather Service said in a high surf advisory.

Reuters [8/18/2025 6:40 PM, Scott Vincent and Sarah Morland, 45746K] reports residents in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos on Monday braced for the Atlantic season’s first hurricane, the Category 4 Erin, after it strengthened over the weekend while sweeping past Caribbean islands. While Erin is not on track to make direct landfall and has yet to cause major damage, its growing size and strength are threatening rough seas and have prompted some evacuation orders in parts of North Carolina, on the U.S. East Coast. "Erin’s already large size and intensity are acting like a giant plunger on the sea surface," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said in a report. Sosnowski said Erin was among the fastest-strengthening storms on record after it intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane, the highest level of the Saffir-Simpson scale, in just over 27 hours. It makes 2025 the fourth straight Atlantic season with at least one Category 5 storm. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Erin was expected to strengthen somewhat on Monday as it sweeps by the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos. It will likely maintain its force as a dangerous major hurricane through the middle of the week, but avoid contact with Bermuda or the U.S. coast.

New York Times [8/18/2025 6:16 PM, Judson Jones and Eduardo Medina, 143795K] reports Hurricane Erin is growing larger, and its expected impact is starting to stretch far beyond its footprint. A tropical storm watch was in effect for the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and officials there ordered the evacuation of some coastal areas amid concerns that bands from the storm’s outer edges could lead to heavy rain and strong winds by Wednesday. And nearly the entire East Coast of the United States was at risk for dangerous rip currents, forecasters warned. On Monday, the storm’s eye was already over 35 miles in diameter, and the tropical-storm-force winds (39 miles per hour or higher) spinning around it stretched 230 miles from the center. Typically, a hurricane has tropical-force winds that extend about 150 miles outward; Erin is almost double that and still growing in size, according to the National Hurricane Center. The authorities in Hyde County, N.C., declared a state of emergency for Ocracoke Island on Sunday night and ordered people to leave. Officials there said that even though Hurricane Erin was expected to stay well off their coast, it could still produce dangerous waves more than 20 feet high, which could possibly inundate protective dune structures along the highway. They said that portions of Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island would likely be impassable for several days.

AP [8/19/2025 2:11 AM, Staff, 37974K] reports Hurricane Erin neared North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Tuesday and threatened to whip up wild waves and tropical force winds. Evacuations were ordered on barrier islands along the Carolina coast such as Hatteras as authorities warned the storm could churn up dangerous rip currents and swamp roads with 15 foot waves. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
AP [8/19/2025 3:20 AM, Jeffrey Collins, 56000K]

ABC News [8/18/2025 5:00 PM, Kenton Gewecke and Emily Shapiro, 27036K] reports Hurricane Erin, now a powerful Category 4 storm churning in the Caribbean, is not forecast to hit land, but it will impact North Carolina and bring dangerous waves and rip currents to the U.S. East Coast. Erin’s outer bands lashed the Caribbean this weekend, flooding Puerto Rico and leaving more than 80,000 customers on the island without power on Monday. A flood watch remains in effect for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for more heavy rain on Monday, while tropical storm alerts were issued in Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas for up to 6 inches of rain and powerful wind gusts through Tuesday. Erin is forecast to remain a major hurricane through at least mid-week as it begins to move north and then northeast by Thursday. Erin will move between the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda on Thursday and Friday and then head out to sea. While Erin won’t hit the U.S. directly, the storm’s biggest impact on the East Coast will be along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where coastal flood watches, tropical storm watches and storm surge watches are in effect. The storm surge could be as high as 4 feet. High surf advisories have also been issued for the Outer Banks, with waves forecast to reach 10 to 15 feet, and even 20 feet in some areas. The peak of the dangerous waves in the Carolinas will be on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tropical storm conditions are possible in the Outer Banks by late Wednesday.

CBS Miami [8/18/2025 11:36 PM, Staff, 45245K] reports Hurricane Erin remained a large and dangerous storm as it moved near the Bahamas Monday evening, but the NEXT Weather team stressed no direct impacts are expected for South Florida. South Florida and U.S. East Coast residents, however, should brace for indirect effects, including higher surf and a heightened rip current risk over the next several days. As Erin shifts north, winds along South Florida’s coastline will turn from the north, bringing a high rip current risk Tuesday that may linger until Thursday. Surf could rise up to 6 feet, especially along Palm Beach County. No official marine alerts have been issued. As of the 11 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Erin’s maximum sustained winds are 125 mph and it is moving northwest at 8 mph. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 100 miles from the center, while tropical-storm-force winds reach as far as 230 miles. Erin’s outer rainbands are already affecting the Southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, where tropical storm conditions will continue through Tuesday. Erin is expected to make a turn to the north on Tuesday and is not forecast to make landfall on the east coast of the U.S. The storm is expected to move between Bermuda and the Carolina coast on Wednesday and Thursday while gradually weakening. North Carolina under tropical storm and surge watches. The heaviest impacts in the U.S. are expected along the North Carolina coastline and Outer Banks, where a tropical storm watch, storm surge watch, and high surf advisory remain in effect through midweek. Surge up to 4 feet and waves as high as 20 feet are possible. Erin is forecast to shift northeast around Thursday and move further away from the U.S. into the Atlantic. The NEXT Weather team will continue to monitor updates from the NHC and track the latest model trends.

Washington Post [8/18/2025 7:28 PM, Salvador Rizzo, 29079K] reports an Indiana woman who joined a D.C. protest over the weekend criticizing the surge in federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital has been arrested and charged with making online death threats against President Donald Trump, according to documents filed Monday in federal court. U.S. officials said the Secret Service found social media accounts linked to Nathalie Rose Jones, 49, of Lafayette, Indiana, calling for Trump’s arrest and removal from office — and labeling him a terrorist and “nazi” — in erratic posts beginning in early August. "She wanted to ‘avenge’ all the lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, which she attributed to the President’s administration and its position on vaccinations," a Secret Service agent said in a charging document filed in U.S. District Court. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said Jones’s social media commentary included death threats, with a Facebook account linked to Jones posting on Aug. 6: "Here’s where we are: I literally told FBI in five states today that I am willing to sacrificially kill this POTUS by disemboweling him and cutting out his trachea with Liz Cheney and all The Affirmation present and you did not come to my home this way at all.". The online threats began before Trump declared a crime emergency in D.C. on Aug. 11, law enforcement officials indicated in court filings. Jones agreed to be interviewed by the Secret Service on Friday, telling them that she had access to a "bladed object" and that "if she had the opportunity, she would take the President’s life and would kill him at ‘the compound’ if she had to," according to the Secret Service agent’s affidavit. President Donald Trump is facing more than 300 lawsuits over his executive orders. We’re tracking some of the biggest Trump administration actions being challenged in court. She told the Secret Service that she expected to travel to Atlanta the next day, and was not arrested. The Secret Service found her still in Washington the following day. Jones agreed to be interviewed again and "admitted that she made threats towards the President" in her previous interview with the Secret Service, according to charging documents. "However, Jones denied having any present desire to harm the President of the United States," the Secret Service agent said.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [8/18/2025 6:35 PM, Victor Nava, 43962K]
FOX News [8/18/2025 7:46 PM, Louis Casiano, 40019K]

USA Today [8/18/2025 12:47 PM, Gidget Fuentes, 64151K] reports early on May 23, U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders at the Joint Harbor Operations Center in San Diego tracked a vessel crossing into U.S. waters off Southern California. A Maritime Safety and Security Team in the area intercepted the vessel. Assisted by USCGC Halibut, the Seattle-based small boat team detained 10 foreign nationals without authorization to enter the U.S. and transferred them to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Halfway across the country, USCGC Joseph Doyle had intercepted a boat with four Mexican men illegally fishing off Texas inside the U.S. exclusive economic zone. The catch included about 200 red snappers. The crew transferred the men to CBP on return to Coast Guard Station South Padre Island. The two operations marked the start of a busy summer season for the Coast Guard, which is tasked with safeguarding the nation’s borders, facilitating commerce and supporting maritime safety. "This operational surge is a great example of what the Coast Guard is capable of doing, meeting the need — but it’s a surge. It’’s not sustainable," Roth says. "The Coast Guard has been an incredible bang for the buck for the taxpayer. Look at what you’’re getting out of them. We’’ve got to give them the attention that they need and get them whole after decades of under-funding." The 55,000-member force has long grappled with the need to modernizing its fleet, force and infrastructure. Top officials hope that changes under Force Design 2028, the plan developed by the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to bolster national security and commit resources to both capabilities and facilities.

USA Today [8/18/2025 1:07 PM, Nathan Diller, 64151K] reports Cruise lines are rerouting ships away from Hurricane Erin, which regained power after weakening over the weekend. The Category 4 storm is expected to bring heavy rain to parts of Hispaniola on Monday, Aug. 18 and to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos through Tuesday, Aug. 19. "Erin is expected to produce life-threatening surf and rip currents along the beaches of the Bahamas, much of the east coast of the U.S., Bermuda, and Atlantic Canada during the next several days," an Aug. 18 advisory from the National Hurricane Center said. Turks and Caicos and the southeast Bahamas will likely see tropical storm conditions Monday, while parts of the central Bahamas could see similar weather late Monday and into Tuesday.

NewsMax [8/18/2025 8:42 PM, Staff, 4779K] reports an apparent explosion occurred aboard a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier near the Francis Scott Key Bridge site in Baltimore on Monday evening. Baltimore City fire spokesperson John Marsh told WBAL-TV that the incident was reported at 6:28 p.m. ET on Aug. 18. Marsh said the situation was contained and confirmed that no injuries had been reported. The vessel had just departed from the CSX Coal Dock, according to Mike Singer, a member of the Baltimore and Chesapeake Bay Shipwatchers group. Singer told WBAL-TV the ship was "full of coal" at the time of the explosion. Multiple fireboats and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene. Baltimore officials said there was no indication of a wider safety threat, and the cause of the explosion remains under investigation. The ship was reportedly en route to Port Louis, Mauritius, carrying a full coal load. No damage to nearby infrastructure or reports of pollution have been released at this time. Authorities said additional information will be provided once the investigation into the cause of the blast is complete. On March 26, 2024, the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali lost power while leaving the Port of Baltimore and struck a support pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Despite a Mayday call that stopped traffic, the collision caused the bridge to collapse, killing six construction workers and injuring two others. A federal investigation later found that the bridge’s vulnerability to such impacts had been underestimated, with its collapse risk nearly 30 times higher than acceptable safety levels.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [8/18/2025 10:21 PM, Alexandra E. Petri, 153395K]
USA Today [8/18/2025 10:24 PM, Anthony Robledo, 64151K]
NewsNation [8/19/2025 12:34 AM, Patrick Djordjevic, 6811K]

Los Angeles Times [8/18/2025 3:10 PM, Staff, 12715K] reports a U.S. Coast Guard boat on patrol off Newport Beach stopped a 20-foot boat taking on water with seven apparent Mexican nationals on board, authorities said Sunday. The boat was spotted about 9 p.m. Saturday while the Coast Guard vessel was on routine patrol, according to a Coast Guard statement. The crew stopped the boat to board it. "During the boarding, the crew identified seven suspected aliens aboard and discovered water intrusion in the bilge," according to the statement. "They secured the flooding source and initiated a tow." There were no reported injuries or medical concerns among the five men and two women on the boat, the Coast Guard said. Three were confirmed Mexican nationals and four were suspected to have been Mexican nationals. The boat and its occupants were turned over to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard reported.

San Diego Union Tribune [8/18/2025 2:11 PM, Gary Robbins, 1648K] reports that the Navy says it is sending the San Diego-based carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to Alaska to participate in large-scale warfighter training before it deploys to the Indo-Pacific, which is expected to occur later this year. The 1,092-foot Lincoln is the largest of seven U.S. and Canadian ships that will participate in Northern Edge 2025, an exercise that began Sunday and will last at least eight days and possibly to the end of the month. The carrier’s specific departure date has not been announced. The USS O’Kane, a San Diego-based destroyer, also will participate, as will upwards of 6,400 service members and about 100 aircraft, the Navy said Sunday. The exercise is meant to improve the Navy’s ability to operate in the Indo-Pacific, where there is rising tension over China’s moves to limit the passage of some foreign vessels in the South China Sea. Last week a Chinese Coast Guard ship and a Chinese destroyer collided in that region while pursuing a Coast Guard vessel belonging to the Philippines, a major U.S. military partner. The Navy, which is trying to keep sea lanes open, sent a destroyer to investigate. The USS Cincinnati, a San Diego-based littoral combat ship, was in the area but did not get involved, the Navy told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

HS Today [8/18/2025 8:45 AM, Staff, 38K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in partnership with the National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC), Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre), Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Netherlands’ National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NL), and New Zealand’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NZ), has released new guidance to help operational technology (OT) owners and operators across all critical infrastructure sectors create and maintain comprehensive OT asset inventories and taxonomies, according to a press release last Wednesday. OT systems are vital to the core functionality of the nation’s critical infrastructure to safely and reliably operate by powering process automation, instrumentation, cyber-physical operations, and industrial control systems. “OT systems are essential to the daily lives of all Americans and to national security,” said Madhu Gottumukkala, Acting CISA Director. “They power everything from water systems and energy grids to manufacturing and transportation networks. As cyber threats continue to evolve, CISA through this guidance provides deeper visibility into OT assets as a critical first step in reducing risk and ensuring operational resilience.” “Operational technology is foundational to the operations of the nation’s critical infrastructure,” said Chris Butera, Acting Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity at CISA. “Securing operational technology and industrial control systems has been a priority for CISA for many years and remains a priority into the future. The joint asset inventory guide we published with our U.S. and international government partners is a valuable resource that helps organizations effectively identify and secure their most vital assets, reduce the risk of cybersecurity incidents, and ensure the continuity of their mission and services.”

Bloomberg [8/18/2025 5:36 PM, Andrew Martin, 19085K] reports Inotiv Inc. said a cybersecurity incident earlier this month has disrupted certain business operations at the company. The West Lafayette, Indiana-based company, a contract research organization for drug discovery and development, said it became aware of the incident on Aug. 8. A preliminary investigation determined that a hacker had gained unauthorized access and encrypted some company systems, the company said in a regulatory filing. Inotiv took steps to contain the incident, including engaging outside cybersecurity experts and restricting access to certain of its systems. The timeline for restoration isn’t known, the company said.

FedScoop [8/18/2025 4:40 PM, Miranda Nazzaro, 56K] reports a federal watchdog is urging the Office of Management and Budget to prioritize the governmentwide adoption of a federal IT spending framework, or end the efforts, after finding the multi-year initiative has stalled. In a report made public Monday, the Government Accountability Office recommended that the OMB director direct the federal chief information officer to either terminate the agency’s push for governmentwide adoption of the Technology Business Management framework or deem it an administration priority. Should it be made a priority, the GAO also suggested OMB quickly implement the watchdog’s previous recommendations and take “immediate action” to integrate the framework across government fully. The Technology Business Management framework, also called TBM, is a taxonomy aimed at helping federal agencies and IT leaders track and manage spending on technology products and services. The TBM Council, a nonprofit organization, created this framework. The TBM framework can be used by leaders to “understand trade-offs between specific IT investment decisions” and “use these insights to accelerate” tech-related initiatives, the GAO report explained. It can also be used to detect spending on “shadow IT,” referring to technology purchased without knowledge of an agency’s CIO.

CyberScoop [8/18/2025 5:40 AM, Tim Starks] reports expiration of a 2015 law at the end of September could dramatically reduce cyber threat information sharing within industry, as well as between companies and the federal government, almost to the point of eliminating it, some experts and industry officials warn. The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, also known as CISA 2015, is due to end next month unless Congress extends it. Leaders of both of the House and Senate panels with the responsibility for reauthorizing it say they intend to act on legislation next month, but the law still stands to expire soon without a quick bicameral deal. The original 2015 law provided legal safeguards for organizations to share threat data with other organizations and the federal government. “We can expect, roughly, potentially, if this expires, maybe an 80 to 90% reduction in cyber threat information flows, like raw flows,” Emily Park, a Democratic staffer on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said at an event last month. “But that doesn’t say anything about the break in trust that will occur as well, because at its core, CISA 2015, as an authority, is about trust, and being able to trust the businesses and organizations around you, and being able to trust the federal government that it will use the information you share with it.” That estimate — 80 to 90% — is on the high side of warnings issued by policymakers and others, and some reject the notion that the sky is catastrophically falling should it lapse. Additionally, some of the organizations warning about the fallout from the law’s lapse benefit from its provisions. But there’s near-unanimity that expiration of the law could largely shift decisions about cyber threat info sharing from organizations’ chief information security officers to the legal department.

Axios [8/18/2025 1:50 PM, Avery Lotz, 14595K] reports President Trump on Monday pledged to end mail-in voting, calling it a "fraud," and said he would sign an executive order "to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections." While he shifted his tune before the 2024 election to promote absentee voting, Trump has long railed against mail-in voting — and he’s back to singing that song. In harmony with him, Trump recently claimed on Fox News, is Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president didn’t mention Putin his Monday Truth Social post, but following the leaders’ Alaska summit on Friday, Trump relayed to Fox’s Sean Hannity that Putin told him, "Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting." Trump, in a Monday Truth Social post, also said he’d also target "Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES." Trump has argued mail-in voting was a source of cheating in the 2020 election, despite there being no evidence of widespread fraud. Trump also incorrectly claimed that the U.S. is the only country in the world that uses mail-in voting. Many countries offer some form of postal voting. Asked about his post during an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — a question the president acknowledged was off-topic — Trump said "we’re going to stop mail-in ballots because it’s corrupt." He said he’d start with an executive order "that’s being written right now by the best lawyers in the country" to end mail-in ballots. In addition to domestic mail-in voting, millions of Americans who live overseas are eligible to vote absentee, such as military members and their families.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [8/18/2025 11:13 AM, John Nolte, 2608K]

FOX News [8/17/2025 8:00 PM, Madison Mikan, 40019K] Audio HERE reports following President Trump’s press conference last week on crime in Washington, D.C., Jason breaks down the dangers he has seen firsthand. Jason revisits his conversation with the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Ratcliffe, who shares his lengthy resume in terrorism and national security. He describes working in Congress and provides his perspective on U.S. national security threats. Bring on the stupid: Hobby horse racing reaches new heights.[Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

The Hill [8/18/2025 11:52 AM, Julia Shapero, 12414K] reports that several top Senate Democrats are urging President Trump to walk back a deal with Nvidia and AMD that would allow the companies to sell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China after they agreed to share 15 percent of revenue from sales. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democratic Sens. Mark Warner (Va.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Chris Coons (Del.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) argued in a letter sent Friday that the move runs counter to U.S. national security interests and could violate the law. Warner is the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, while Reed, Shaheen and Warren are the top Democrats on the Senate Armed Services, Foreign Relations and Banking panels, respectively. "This ‘negotiated deal,’ allowing American semiconductor manufacturers to pay a 15 percent fee for the ability to sell critically sensitive technology to our adversary, blatantly violates the purpose of export control laws," they wrote. Nvidia and AMD have each agreed to share 15 percent of revenue from the sales of their H20 and MI308 chips in order to secure export licenses from the Trump administration, which had imposed new licensing restrictions effectively blocking sales earlier this year. The deal has raised legal questions, as federal law prohibits fees on export licenses, while the Constitution bars export taxes. However, it’s unclear whether the agreement would be considered a formal fee or tax and whether anyone would challenge the move.

Yahoo News [8/18/2025 7:21 PM, Nicolas Fernandes, 59943K] reports a New Jersey resident has been sentenced to federal prison after being convicted for his role in a scheme to smuggle of military equipment to Russia. Vadim Yermolenko, 43, of Upper Saddle River, received a 30 month sentence on Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New York said in a statement. He pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his role in a scheme to export dual-use electronics to Russia to aid its military and intelligence services. Yermolenko was born in Russia and has citizenships in both Russia and the United States. Federal authorities said Yermolenko was one of nearly two dozen criminals who, for more than two years, conspired to aid Russia’s military aggression in the Russia-Ukraine war. An investigation found that he was affiliated with two Moscow-based companies that procured advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment for the country’s industrial and research and development sector. The Justice Department said the entities controlled a network of shell companies and bank accounts worldwide, including in the United States, which helped Russia hide its involvement in the scheme.

Reuters [8/18/2025 1:02 AM, Andrea Shalal and Max Hunder, 45746K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end Russia’s war there, though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear. Trump made the pledge during an extraordinary summit at the White House, where he hosted Zelenskiy and a group of European allies following his meeting on Friday in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help," Trump told reporters, adding that European countries would be involved. "They are a first line of defence because they’re there, but we’ll help them out.” Zelenskiy hailed the promise as "a major step forward," adding that the guarantees would be "formalized on paper within the next week to 10 days" and saying Ukraine offered to buy about $90 billion worth of U.S. weapons. The tone on Monday was much warmer than a disastrous Oval Office meeting that saw Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly criticize the Ukrainian leader in February. But a peace deal still appeared far from imminent. Just before the talks began, Russia’s Foreign Ministry ruled out the deployment of troops from NATO countries to help secure a peace deal, adding complications to Trump’s offer. Both Trump and Zelenskiy said they hoped Monday’s gathering would eventually lead to three-way talks with Putin, whose forces have been slowly grinding forward in eastern Ukraine. In a social media post late on Monday, Trump said he had called the Russian leader and begun arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy, to be followed by a trilateral summit among the three presidents. Trump told European leaders that Putin suggested that sequence, according to a source in the European delegation. While the Kremlin has not publicly announced its agreement, a senior U.S. administration official said the Putin-Zelenskiy meeting could take place in Hungary. The pair will meet within the next two weeks, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The last direct talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Turkey in June. Putin declined Zelenskiy’s public invitation to meet him face-to-face there and sent a low-level delegation instead. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in audio remarks on Telegram on Monday that Trump and Putin had discussed "the possibility of raising the level of representatives from the Ukrainian and Russian sides ... participating in the mentioned direct negotiations.”

Reuters [8/18/2025 8:48 PM, Yuliia Dysa and Lidia Kelly, 45746K] reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders that security guarantees for Kyiv will likely be worked out within 10 days. "Security guarantees will probably be ‘unpacked’ by our partners, and more and more details will emerge. All of this will somehow be formalised on paper within the next week to 10 days," Zelenskiy said at broadcast press briefing after his meetings. Trump told Zelenskiy on Monday that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end Russia’s war there, though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear. "It is important that the United States is sending a clear signal that it will be among the countries helping to coordinate and will also be a participant in the security guarantees for Ukraine," Zelenskiy said. "I believe this is a major step forward.". Although a peace deal appeared far from imminent after the meetings in Washington, Zelenskiy said his Monday meeting with Trump was his "best" so far.

Reuters [8/18/2025 5:44 PM, Staff, 45746K] reports Ukraine will promise to buy $100 billions of U.S. weapons financed by Europe as part of a deal to get guarantees from the United States for its security after a peace settlement with Russia, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing a document seen by the newspaper. The newspaper added that under the proposals, Ukraine and the U.S. would also strike a $50 billion deal to produce drones with Ukrainian companies.

New York Times [8/18/2025 6:25 PM, David E. Sanger, 143795K] reports at the meeting among President Trump, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and other European leaders on Monday in Washington, there was frequent discussion of “security guarantees” to make sure Russia does not invade again. Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain has talked about assembling a force, drawn from a “coalition of the willing,” that would be stationed in Ukraine after a cease-fire or peace agreement. But no one has detailed publicly what that force would look like. And what it looks like matters, military officials say. One concept is a full-blown “peacekeeping force,” presumably armed, that would supplement the Ukrainian military. It would be put in place only for defensive purposes, but the idea would be to deter Russia by making the Kremlin think hard about getting into a conflict with soldiers from NATO member states. The problem is that to be a credible deterrent, that would take tens of thousands of troops. A second possibility is a “tripwire” force — one far smaller. It would not be able to mount much of a defense, but the theory is that the Russians would hesitate to risk killing non-Ukrainian Europeans in any resumed invasion effort. That, however, is an untested theory — and a big roll of the dice. A third possibility would be to create an “observer force.” It could be small, a few hundred troops or so. They would essentially be there to report on an incoming military action. But that role could be accomplished with satellites and ground cameras, and the force wouldn’t be big enough to mount any kind of defense.

Daily Caller [8/18/2025 10:00 AM, Wallace White, 985K] reports that President Donald Trump suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy give up on Ukrainian membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and retaking the Crimean Peninsula ahead of Monday’s visit with European leaders at the White House. Trump said Zelenskyy could end the war "almost immediately" if he agreed to drop both his NATO membership pursuit and aspirations to retake Crimea after Russia seized the region in 2014, the president posted on Truth Social Sunday night. The Ukrainian president is set to meet with Trump and European leaders at the White House on Monday afternoon to discuss Trump’s Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight," Trump said on Truth Social. "Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!" The White House did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. Russia has maintained control of the Crimean peninsula since 2014, although few nations recognize its formal claim on the region. As part of current negotiations, Putin has reportedly demanded the annexation of the Russian-speaking Donbas region, which is already mostly occupied by Russian forces.

Reuters [8/19/2025 3:01 AM, Maxim Rodionov, 45746K] reports former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that European leaders had failed to outplay Donald Trump, but that it was unclear how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy would present the issues of territory and a security guarantee. "The anti-Russian warmongering Coalition of the Willing failed to outplay @POTUS on his turf," Medvedev said in English on X. "Europe thanked & sucked up to him.” Medvedev said the question was "what tune" Zelenskiy would play "about guarantees & territories back home, once he’s put on his green military uniform again.” Trump told Zelenskiy on Monday that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end the war in Ukraine, though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear.

CNN [8/18/2025 1:19 PM, Aaron Blake, 662K] reports that for years, Donald Trump criticized presidents for empty threats. He often pointed to then-President Barack Obama failing to enforce his "red line" on Syria using chemical weapons. During his first term in 2017, Trump called it a "blank threat" that cost us "in many other parts of the world." When Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, he intoned: "Today’s action sends a critical message: The United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them." When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Trump decried the Biden administration for letting Vladimir Putin off "with no repercussions whatsoever." But Monday, as Trump prepares to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a host of European leaders, his own threats to sanction Russia are looking pretty empty. The president last month issued a tight new deadline for Russia to agree to a peace deal or face supposedly crippling economic punishment. That deadline passed 10 days ago with no new sanctions on Moscow, although he did announce higher tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, set to go into effect later this month. And on the day of his sanctions deadline, Trump instead announced he’d be meeting with Putin, which he did on Friday in Alaska. But to the extent we know anything that came of that summit, it seems to be that Trump has not only backed off on his sanctions threat – at least for now – but he’s also backed off on his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine. He instead wants a full peace deal now – which could take much longer to hash out and could buy Putin time, with little to no public evidence that the Russian president is serious about peace.

CNN [8/18/2025 11:37 AM, Becky Anderson, Mostafa Salem, and Nadeen Ebrahim, 23245K] reports the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is a "red line" and Cairo will not allow any party to risk Egypt’s national security or sovereignty, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Monday. In an exclusive interview with CNN in the northern Egyptian town of Al-Arish, close to the Gaza border, Abdelatty said that Egypt is working through "different channels, with one objective, to alleviate the burden and suffering of Palestinians," adding that mass Palestinian emigration from Gaza would not be tolerated by his country. "We will not accept it, we will not participate in it, and we will not allow it to happen," Abdelatty told CNN, adding that displacement is guaranteed to be a "one way ticket" for Palestinians out of Gaza, which would lead to the "liquidation" of their cause altogether. The Israeli government has never given a detailed vision of what will happen to Gaza after the war but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly advocated for moving Palestinians from Gaza to other countries, particularly after US President Donald Trump floated the idea early this year. But even after Trump appeared to cool on the proposal, Israeli officials have embraced it.

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