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 New York Post [8/20/2025 11:43 PM, Victor Nava, 43962K] reports a federal appeals court ruled in favor of President Trump on Wednesday, allowing his administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 60,000 migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal. In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel of judges on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals halted a lower court order that had blocked the Trump administration from eliminating temporary deportation protections and revoking work permits from the migrants. "The government’s motion for a stay pending appeal … is granted," Circuit Judges Michael Hawkins ( a Bill Clinton appointee), Consuelo Callahan (a George W. Bush appointee) and Eric Miller (Trump appointee) wrote in their brief, two-page ruling, which did not explain the decision. Last month, San Francisco-based District Judge Trina Thompson, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, had paused Trump’s planned elimination of TPS for migrants from the three countries until Nov. 18. Thompson accused Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of being "motivated by racial animus" in her controversial opinion. "The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek," the judge wrote in her July 31 order. "Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names, and purify their blood. The Court disagrees.” Thompson even included a comparison of the Trump administration’s immigration policies to the trans-Atlantic slave trade in her now-overturned ruling. Hondurans and Nicaraguans had been given the legal status to emigrate and get work permits as a federal response to humanitarian issues following Hurricane Mitch in 1998, when the storm hit both countries, killing almost 7,300 people. Nepal joined the TPS program in June 2015 after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the country. Earlier this year, Noem announced that the protections would be revoked, and she offered a plane ticket and a $1,000 "exit bonus" to migrants willing to self-deport immediately. "Temporary Protected Status was designed to be just that — temporary," the DHS secretary said in a statement at the time. Noem also maintained that the nations have since recovered from the natural disasters that prompted their enrollment in the program. Protections for Nepalese migrants were set to expire Aug. 5, and Honduran and Nicaraguan migrants will be pushed out of the program in September. Around 51,000 Hondurans, 7,200 Nepalis and 2,900 Nicaraguans are currently in the TPS program without more permanent green-card status, according to DHS statistics previously reported by CBS News. CBS News [8/20/2025 9:01 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez and Joe Walsh, 45245K] reports that tens of thousands of migrants from Nicaragua, Honduras and Nepal rely on TPS, a program that grants temporary reprieve from deportation and work permits to people whose home countries are deemed unsafe due to war or natural disaster. If they don’t have any other means to stay in the U.S. legally — like a green card or an asylum application — those who lose their TPS are no longer eligible to work in the country lawfully and are at risk of deportation. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has sought to wind down TPS for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Haiti, Venezuela and other countries, arguing their protections have been in place for too long or that conditions in those nations have improved enough to allow their nationals to return. The Trump administration, for example, has noted that the TPS programs for Honduras and Nicaragua were first created in 1999, after Hurricane Mitch caused catastrophic floods and killed thousands in Central America. The TPS program for Nepal was announced in 2015, after an earthquake hit the small Asian country. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has said all three countries have recovered from those environmental disasters. But San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson said last month the TPS holders who sued Noem were likely to succeed in arguing that her decisions were "preordained" actions that did not fully consider lingering conditions in Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua. The judge also referenced a comment made by President Trump during the 2024 campaign in which he said migrants entering the U.S. illegally were "poisoning the blood of our country.” Breitbart [8/21/2025 2:25 AM, Staff, 2608K] reports "This devastating and unexplained decision threatens families who have lived here for decades, raised U.S. citizen children, built businesses and become an integral part of our communities," National TPS Alliance, which brought the case against the Trump administration, said in a statement following the ruling. "But let it be clear: We are families, workers, neighbors. And despite this setback, TPS holders and allies will CONTINUE to fight for justice, permanent protections and the right to stay in the only home many of us have ever known.” The ruling is a victory for President Donald Trump and his administration amid their crackdown on immigration as the American leader seeks to conduct mass deportations of non-citizens. "This is yet another huge legal victory for the Trump administration, the rule of law, safety of the American public," Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. "TPS was never meant to be a de facto asylum system, yet that is how previous administrations have used it for decades," she said, adding, "This unanimous decision will help restore integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe.”

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Politico [8/20/2025 9:03 PM, Josh Gerstein, 2100K]
AP [8/20/2025 8:47 PM, Janie Har, 37974K]
FOX News [8/20/2025 6:26 PM, Greg Wehner and Bill Mears, 40019K]
Washington Times [8/20/2025 5:08 PM, Stephen Dinan, 964K]
Washington Examiner [8/20/2025 11:13 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1563K]

Reuters [8/21/2025 3:37 AM, Elias Biryabarema, 45746K] reports Uganda has entered an agreement with the United States to take in nationals from third countries who may not get asylum in the U.S. but are reluctant to return to their countries of origin, the foreign affairs ministry said on Thursday. President Donald Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally and his administration has sought to increase removals to third countries, including by sending convicted criminals to South Sudan and Eswatini. "This is a temporary arrangement with conditions including that individuals with criminal records and unaccompanied minors will not be accepted," Vincent Bagiire Waiswa, the ministry’s permanent secretary, said in a statement. Waiswa added that Uganda would prefer to receive people from African nationalities under the agreement. "The two parties are working out the detailed modalities on how the agreement shall be implemented," he said. On Wednesday, another Ugandan foreign affairs official had denied a U.S. media report that the East African country had agreed to take in people deported from the United States, saying it lacked the facilities to accommodate them. Uganda, a U.S. ally in East Africa, also hosts nearly two million refugees and asylum-seekers, who mostly hail from countries in the region such as Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Sudan. The AP [8/21/2025 4:47, Staff, 3790K] reports International Relations Minister Henry Okello Oryem told The Associated Press that while Uganda is known globally for its benevolent refugee policy, there are limits. And he questioned why the country would take people rejected by their own countries. “We are talking about cartels: people who are unwanted in their own countries. How can we integrate them into local communities in Uganda?” he asked. He said the government was in discussions about “visas, tariffs, sanctions, and related issues, not accepting illegal aliens from the U.S. That would be unfair to Ugandans.” In July, the U.S. deported five men with criminal backgrounds to the southern African kingdom of Eswatini and sent eight more to South Sudan.

(B) KCBD 11 at Noon [8/20/2025 1:36 PM, Staff] reports that in New Mexico, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Neom visited Ruidoso yesterday to tour areas devastated by last month’s flooding. Three people were killed after heavy rain fell on the burn scar from last year’s fires, causing a massive flood. As many as 400 homes were damaged or destroyed with first responders conducting 65 water rescues. The federal government issued a major disaster declaration for the area.

(B) News 5 at Noon [8/20/2025 12:12 PM, Staff] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says she is working on building more partnerships with states on detention centers for illegal migrants. She referenced the newest center in Nebraska nicknamed the Cornhusker Clink. A detention center on a military base in El Paso, Texas, was opened over the weekend. It is poised to be the largest in the country.

NBC News [8/20/2025 4:25 PM, Julia Ainsley, 43603K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is pushing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use an influx of funds to buy, own and operate its own fleet of airplanes to deport immigrants, two sources familiar with the discussions told NBC News. Former officials said that ICE owning and maintaining its own planes would be costly but could make it easier for the agency to potentially double the number of people it deports each month. ICE uses charter planes to deport immigrants and has done so for years. The agency has typically chartered eight to 14 planes at a time for deportation flights, according to Jason Houser, who served as ICE chief of staff from 2022 to 2023. He said that allowed the Biden administration to deport roughly 15,000 immigrants per month on charter flights. With a guaranteed set of 30 or more planes, ICE wouldn’t be constrained by the limits of the companies it contracts with, which charter their planes to multiple clients. The Trump administration has vowed to deport 1 million undocumented immigrants per year. ICE deported 100,000 to 150,000 in his first six months in office, according to internal data that includes voluntary self-departures in which immigrants left the U.S. on their own. The exact number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. is disputed but is estimated to be in the millions. It can cost $80 million to $400 million to buy a commercial airliner, according to aviation experts at the Pilot Institute, a company that trains pilots. Purchasing 30 passenger jets at that price range could cost $2.4 billion to $12 billion, but it’s unclear if ICE could lower the price per plane by buying a large number of them. Charter companies are also responsible for maintaining the planes and making sure they comply with Federal Aviation Administration rules. If Noem creates the first ICE air fleet, the agency would then be responsible for staffing the planes with pilots, medics and security, as well as maintaining them and ensuring they comply with aviation regulations. And as ICE rapidly increases the number of people it detains, Houser said, more deportations are needed to avoid overcrowding in detention centers.

NBC News [8/20/2025 3:44 PM, Kimmy Yam, 43603K] reports Japanese American groups criticized the construction of a new immigrant detention center in Texas at a military base that was used during World War II to imprison people of Japanese descent. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center at Fort Bliss in El Paso, which opened this past weekend, will be able to hold as many as 5,000 detainees upon its completion in the coming months, making it the largest federal detention center in U.S. history. Japanese American advocates, however, say that the facility, which once imprisoned people considered "enemy aliens," is a chilling reminder of a dark past. "Comparisons of illegal alien detention centers to internment camps used during World War II are deranged and lazy," Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "The facts are ICE is targeting the worst of the worst—including murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, and rapists." The sprawling detention center, which cost roughly $1.2 billion to build, currently has the capacity to hold an estimated 1,000 people. More than 80 years ago, the base was an official U.S. Army facility that was used as a temporary internment camp, holding nationals from Japan, Germany and Italy, said Derrek Tomine, president of the National Japanese American Historical Society.

FOX News [8/20/2025 5:31 PM, Peter Pinedo, CB Cotton, 40019K] reports sanctuary jurisdictions are remaining defiant after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a deadline to begin cooperating with federal authorities by this week, with states like Washington saying they have "no intention of changing our values in the face of threats from the Trump administration." Bondi announced Thursday that she had sent letters giving sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide one week to comply with federal immigration laws or face Department of Justice action. Speaking on Fox Business, Bondi said she sent letters to 32 mayors and seven governors "telling them you better comply or you’re next." Several other Democratic-controlled sanctuary jurisdictions have similarly taken a defiant tone in their response to Bondi’s letter.

The Hill [8/20/2025 4:59 PM, Rachel Frazin, 12414K] reports the Interior Department is deputizing federal border agents and sending them to National Park Service sites amid the federal law enforcement takeover of Washington, D.C., Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Wednesday. Burgum wrote in a post on the social platform X that the department "has authorized a service-wide deputization" of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers to "intensify crime deterrence efforts" at park service sites. The move comes as federal law enforcement agents, including immigration authorities, have swarmed the nation’s capital. CBP officials have been among them, though the agency is typically in charge of border security. It’s not clear where exactly the CBP agents will be located or how many of them there will be.

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NewsMax [8/20/2025 6:36 PM, James Morley III, 4779K]

USA Today [8/20/2025 4:42 PM, Trevor Hughes, 64151K] reports ICE is going high-profile as the rapidly expanding immigration enforcement agency invests millions of dollars to buy eye-catching new vehicles to help "Defend the Homeland" and attract new recruits. Contractors have already begun applying paint and vinyl wraps to SUVS, pickups and a pair of $60,000 Ford Mustangs, some of which will be deployed in Washington, DC, as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on street crime and homelessness, along with targeting illegal immigrants. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is getting 10,000 new agents over the next four years to help carry out Trump’s ongoing mass deportations, and is spending millions to equip them. Homeland Security officials are also bringing on new police dogs and buying vast tranches of new equipment and gear to support the new officers, according to a USA TODAY review of federal purchasing data. For recruiting purposes, the White House specifically ordered ICE to buy two Mustangs, which are joining 25 new Chevrolet Tahoes, along with Ford Raptor pickups and top-end GMC SUVs as part of the fleet, according to purchasing data.

New York Post [8/21/2025 1:56 AM, Victor Nava, 43962K] reports federal law enforcement agents and DC police on Wednesday tackled and arrested an illegal migrant from Mexico, who was charged with child sex crimes last year, after he tried to run from officers. The dramatic arrest of David Perez-Teofani, captured on video by a reporter, occurred near the National Mall, nine days after President Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington, DC and deployed thousands of federal officers and National Guard troops to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital. Perez-Teofani initially appeared calm as he emerged from his blue SUV, which was surrounded by local and federal cops, during the traffic stop, the viral video taken by NBC4 reporter Aimee Cho shows. Seconds later, Perez-Teofani made a break for it but was almost immediately taken to the ground by an officer in a Homeland Security Investigations vest. "Please! I’m not a criminal! I work here! I want to be with my family!" the man howled in Spanish as cops piled onto him. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin later revealed the disturbing crimes Perez-Teofani had previously been accused of across the Potomac River. "Yes this illegal alien from Mexico was previously arrested in January 2024 in Fairfax County for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13," McLaughlin wrote on X, responding to Cho’s viral tweet. "Glad he is off of Washington DC’s streets," she added, thanking Trump, DHS Secretary Kriti Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). DHS also said Perez-Teofani had illegally entered the US three times and defied "a final order of removal" after voluntarily returning to Mexico on two previous occasions. Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court records viewed by The Post show that Perez-Teofani was arrested and charged in January 2024 with indecent liberties with a child under the age of 15 and aggravated sexual battery. The charges were later dropped by prosecutors, but it’s unclear why.

FOX News [8/20/2025 11:57 AM, Emma Colton, 40019K] reports that more than 550 arrests have been made in the nation’s capital amid President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown that began earlier in August, including officials recovering illegal firearms and removing drugs from the streets, photos shared with Fox News Digital show. Local police and federal law enforcement officers in the city have made more than 550 arrests since Aug. 7, including the apprehensions of three known gangbangers, one of whom was an MS-13 member, according to White House data provided Wednesday to Fox News Digital. "Thanks to President Trump’s bold actions to Make DC Safe Again, more than 550 dangerous criminals have been removed from the streets of our nation’s capital," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital Wednesday of the arrests. "While the Fake News tried to sell a lie that D.C. was safe, these arrests reveal the truth," she continued. "Hundreds of violent criminals have been arrested by federal law enforcement agents for carrying illegal weapons, distributing deadly drugs, committing armed robbery, and having ties to dangerous gangs like MS-13. President Trump is making DC safe again by enforcing the law and everyday Americans support his commonsense, tough-on-crime policies." Tuesday evening’s sweep of the city included 91 arrests, Fox News Digital learned, including 25 arrests of illegal aliens.

FOX News [8/20/2025 10:05 AM, Cameron Arcand, 40019K] reports that Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that there will be $500 awards doled out for tips that lead to an arrest in Washington, D.C. "We have now made over 550 arrests in Washington, DC and have taken 76 illegal firearms off the streets—saving lives. You can help— [US Marshals Service] is offering a reward for any information leading to an arrest. Together, we will make DC safe again!" Bondi posted to X on Wednesday morning with a QR code. The crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital continues in coordination with local and federal agencies after President Donald Trump announced a takeover of the city’s police force earlier this month. With Immigration and Customs Enforcement out, many of the arrests have been immigration-related, but roughly half of the over 200 non-immigration arrests have been in the high-crime Wards 7 and 8, a White House analysis explained, according to Axios. "In other news, on the home front, President Trump’s efforts to make DC safe again are working. There have been a total of 465 arrests since the start of this operation. On Thursday, August 7th. Last night, there were a total of 52 arrests, including the arrest of an illegal alien MS-13 gang member with convictions for DWI and drug possession," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. "Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the outstanding work of both federal and local law enforcement, dangerous gang members like the one picked up last night will not be allowed on the streets of our nation’s capital," she continued.

Wall Street Journal [8/20/2025 9:00 PM, Vera Bergengruen, Michelle Hackman, and Lara Seligman, 646K] reports in the neighborhood of Mount Pleasant, which has a large Hispanic population, a local plaza has become the center of a standoff between residents and federal immigration officers deployed under President Trump’s security crackdown in the capital. Since the administration’s law-enforcement surge in Washington began last week, federal agents have swarmed the surrounding streets. More than a half-dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in masks and sunglasses were at the plaza this past Friday, posing for a videographer before tearing down an anti-ICE banner. “We’re taking America back, baby,” one of them said, facing the camera as they walked away. A video of them was later posted by the agency. That night there was a new banner that said, “No Deportations in Mount Pleasant.” Residents scrawled chalk messages on the sidewalk that said, “Keep ICE out of DC,” and played Latin music. When Trump announced on Aug. 11 that he would deploy hundreds of National Guard members and federalize the local police to “take back” the capital, he framed the mission as a crackdown on violent crime. He cited cases of children killed by gun violence and the assault of a former DOGE staffer by teenagers. In practice, the most visible impact of Trump’s federal takeover has been the immigration-enforcement effort in places including Mount Pleasant. Authorities have pulled delivery drivers off mopeds, arrested construction workers and demanded proof of legal status from vendors selling mangos and watermelons. Vehicle checkpoints have sprung up nightly, and ICE vans have parked outside daycare centers and churches that tend to employ immigrants. A few days after Trump’s announcement, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed D.C. police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. Of the 465 total arrests from the start of operations in the District of Columbia through Tuesday, roughly 44%, or 206, have been arrests of immigrants in the country illegally, according to a White House official. The official said many of the immigrants arrested had outstanding warrants, ties to gangs or drug convictions. Residents said what they have seen tells a different story. Federal immigration officers, often accompanied by the local police, have appeared to target businesses, daycare centers, churches and community organizations, according to interviews with witnesses and families, as well as videos shared by onlookers and government social-media accounts. Federal officers have been positioned with local police at checkpoints, where they have asked for identification. An ICE spokeswoman said enforcing immigration laws and combating crime were part of the same mission. “We will support the re-establishment of law and order and public safety in D.C., which includes taking drug dealers, gang members and criminal aliens off city streets,” the spokeswoman said.

Washington Post [8/20/2025 9:33 PM, Brittany Shammas, Aaron Schaffer and Olivia George, 29079K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking to spend millions of dollars on SUVs and custom, gold-detailed vehicle wraps emblazoned with the words “DEFEND THE HOMELAND,” according to a contractor’s social media post and records that describe the decked-out fleet as urgently needed in President Donald Trump’s stated mission to improve safety on the streets of the District. Government contracting documents made public this week show the agency proposed paying four companies more than $2.4 million: $2.25 million for 25 Chevrolet Tahoes from Hendrick Motorsports in North Carolina and about $174,000 for custom wrapping of Tahoes, Ford Expeditions and other vehicles by three companies, including two in the Washington region. ICE selected the companies without an open bidding process and was required to submit the documents to justify the lack of a full and open competition. In the documents pertaining to the three vehicle-wrapping companies, the agency describes the need for the wraps as urgent and “essential for officers to provide support and a law enforcement presence in DC.” The agency also mentions “making the District of Columbia one of the safest cities in the world.” The document proposing the purchase of the 25 Tahoes says the vehicles “must be deployed to the streets immediately to provide a visible law enforcement presence, support public safety operations, and reinforce recruitment efforts.” Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital last week, placing the D.C. police department under direct federal control and announcing he was deploying D.C.’s National Guard to patrol city streets alongside its officers. National Guard troops from several Republican-led states also started arriving in D.C. in recent days, joining 800 troops already deployed in the capital. Trump has characterized the federal intervention as a mission to restore public safety, disputing D.C. police data that shows violent crime in the city has been falling since 2023. According to the White House, the operation has yielded more than 550 arrests and 76 firearms have been seized. But a comprehensive picture remains unclear as officials continue to ignore requests for a detailed breakdown of who has been arrested, where, why, when and by whom. The documents detailing the proposed spending of millions on customized vehicles come days after ICE’s and the Department of Homeland Security’s social media accounts pumped out stylized images of souped-up SUVs and pickups. In a video posted last week on X, a Ford Raptor and GMC Yukon rolled down D.C. streets, passing the Lincoln Memorial and other iconic sites. With a DaBaby rap song pounding in the background — “Better not pull up with no knife/ ‘Cause I bring guns to fights” — the footage cuts to shots of the vehicles parked in front of the White House and the Capitol and pans over the president’s name in gold.

Washington Post [8/21/2025 5:01 AM, Teo Armus, Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Emily Davies, Jonathan Baran, and Mariana Alfaro, 32099K] reports a growing number of delivery drivers, most of them from Central or South America, are being detained by federal agents on D.C. streets and put into immigration detention in one of the most visible and high-profile effects of President Donald Trump federalizing the D.C. police force. Many of these cases are the result of a new practice: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are accompanying D.C. police officers on moped traffic stops to determine the immigration status of those delivery drivers, and detain and deport them if they are in the United States illegally, according to three police officers who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. One D.C. police officer said ICE agents “are in the back while we make the stop. Then while we are verifying permit status, they are using that information to determine immigration status.” Before last week, D.C. police’s efforts to enforce moped laws — following the skyrocketing use of the vehicles by food delivery drivers and complaints about speeding and weaving through traffic — resulted mostly in immediate releases. But with ICE officials joining police officers on their patrols, more people are landing in detention. The incidents, filmed and posted to social media, have gone viral and have had a chilling effect among moped drivers, leaving some of their most-trafficked pickup spots deserted. Asked to respond specifically to concerns that routine enforcement of traffic violations and registration issues with mopeds could allow ICE to detain more drivers, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said: “We are exploring any additional guidance that our officers need.” On Wednesday, pressed on the specifics of the moped stops, Bowser pointed to pending litigation over an order that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued last week seeking to compel the D.C. police to “fully cooperate” with federal immigration enforcement. The city sued the administration, but a judge signaled in court last week that she is likely to allow Bondi’s order. Some of the most visible arrests have been in the dense, affluent neighborhoods close to downtown D.C. In one of the earliest and highest-profile of these incidents — witnessed and filmed by a Post reporter on Saturday — federal officers tackled and detained Christian Carías Torres, a Venezuelan national, as passersby asked what agency the officials worked for. District officials have said no D.C. police officers were at the scene. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Wednesday that ICE had placed Carías Torres into removal proceedings and called him a “suspected gang member,” an allegation the Trump administration has repeatedly used without providing evidence.

Washington Post [8/20/2025 3:54 PM, Amy B. Wang, 29079K] reports Vice President JD Vance and other Trump administration officials suggested Wednesday that the federal takeover of policing in D.C. could serve as a test case for other cities across the country as they tried to amplify the issue. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller visited Union Station on Wednesday to greet troops and tout the presence of federal law enforcement there, as the Trump administration continues to portray D.C. as “one of the most violent cities on planet Earth,” a depiction at odds with crime data. As Vance spoke, a mix of the authorities Trump has called to the District, including National Guard troops and federal agents, joined D.C. police officers who were inside Union Station. A small group of protesters yelled “Free D.C.” and other chants from the concourse objecting to the officials’ visit, attracting a crowd of reporters and passersby. Some travelers joined in as they hurried into the station. Trump’s takeover of policing in D.C. is in its second week of a 30-day period, and Vance did not rule out an extension. The D.C. National Guard has made patrols on foot in the city. Troops are not making arrests at the time, the White House said, and may be armed. City officials have repeatedly questioned the need for the additional troops. Also Wednesday, the White House said more than 550 arrests have been made since Aug. 7, including the seizure of 76 firearms. It has declined to answer questions for additional details about who is arrested. The U.S. Marshals Service, meanwhile, has announced a $500 reward for tips that lead to an arrest in D.C.

Washington Examiner [8/20/2025 5:55 PM, Lauren Green, 1563K] reports Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), along with a handful of House Democrats, will introduce two bills requiring federal officers to use body and dashboard cameras on marked vehicles and terminate President Donald Trump’s federalization of the Washington, D.C., police force. The legislation will include Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Park Police among those who must use cameras. This comes after President Donald Trump placed the district’s Metropolitan Police Department "under direct federal control" and deployed National Guard troops in the capital. Norton will be joined by House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), House Oversight ranking member Robert Garcia (D-CA), and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) in the effort to terminate Trump’s federalization. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) will join Norton’s effort to require body and dash cameras. The bills are set to be introduced in September when Congress returns from its 6-week district work period, also known as recess. Along with the two bills, Norton and Van Hollen will reintroduce bills to grant the district full control over its National Guard and the police.

The Hill [8/20/2025 5:31 PM, Mike Lillis and Rebecca Beitsch, 12414K] reports Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and other officials in Washington, D.C., say the Trump administration’s crime crackdown is really about exerting power and elevating immigration enforcement — not making D.C. safer. While top Trump officials say the high-profile deployments have had the immediate effect of stifling crime in the District, local critics are raising questions about both the geographic placement of National Guard troops and federal officers — who have been most prominent in tourist hot spots and other wealthier parts of the city — and the focus of the criminal crackdown. Of the 556 arrests tallied by the White House since it began increasing federal law enforcement presence on Aug. 7, nearly half of the arrests, 233, have been classified by the administration as migrants without legal status, a White House official said Tuesday. The list of those arrested includes immigrants with alleged criminal histories of assault, kidnapping, burglary and larceny, the White House official said. But it also includes delivery drivers arrested as they tried to pick up food from commercial venues, sparking a backlash from human rights advocates and some D.C. residents. Other high-profile or viral encounters have largely centered on immigration. The apparent focus on immigration has prompted protests around the city.

The Hill [8/20/2025 10:24 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12414K] reports a majority of residents in the nation’s capital are opposed to President Trump’s takeover of the city’s police department, according to a poll released Wednesday. The latest survey, released The Washington Post, shows 69 percent of participants said they "strongly" oppose the president’s decision to take federal control over the Metropolitan Police Department, and 10 percent said they "somewhat" oppose the move. Another 9 percent said they "strongly" approve of the Trump administration’s federalization of local police, while 8 percent said they "somewhat" support the crackdown on crime. About 4 percent said they had no opinion, the poll found. Trump has sought to justify his decision by pointing to violent crimes and carjackings in the nation’s capital. The argument comes as data shows crime in the District has slowed in recent months. The Justice Department announced this week that it launched a probe into the crime data.

New York Post [8/20/2025 7:05 PM, Kyle Schnitzer and Anna Young, 43962K] reports the off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer allegedly shot in the face by an illegal migrant last month suffered "devastating and lasting injuries" that required several surgeries, prosecutors revealed on Wednesday. The 42-year-old victim underwent a string of operations to repair his face, teeth and tongue after alleged gunman Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, 21, shot him in the jaw during a botched robbery inside Fort Washington Park on July 19, according to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joseph Abrams. The federal agent – who fired back with his own gun during the confrontation – was also shot in the right wrist, sustaining fractures that also required surgery. Abrams detailed the victim’s gruesome injuries as Mora Nunez and his accomplice and fellow Dominican Republic national Christhian Aybar-Berroa, 22, were arraigned on their state charges in Manhattan Supreme Court, where dozens of border patrol agents packed the chamber. "The defendant and his co-defendant have both been charged in connection in the shooting of an off-duty federal agent during the course of an attempted robbery on July 19, during which they inflicted serious and lasting injuries to the victim," the prosecutor told the court. "Both defendants have also been charged with another robbery they committed minutes earlier.”

Reuters [8/20/2025 7:02 PM, Steve Holland, 45746K] reports the United States has ordered an amphibious squadron to the southern Caribbean as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels, two sources briefed on the deployment said on Wednesday. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the USS San Antonio, USS Iowa Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale could arrive off the coast of Venezuela as early as Sunday. The ships are carrying 4,500 service members, including 2,200 Marines, the sources said. The sources declined to detail the specific mission of the squadron. But they have said that recent deployments are aimed at addressing threats to U.S. national security from specially designated "narco-terrorist organizations" in the region. Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration, part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the U.S. southern border.

The Hill [8/20/2025 2:52 PM, Elizabeth Crisp, 12414K] reports Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for more information about how the Trump administration teamed up with the state of Florida to create a controversial detention facility for migrants in the middle of the Everglades. "Brushing aside concerns from human rights watchdogs, environmentalist groups, and Tribal nations, [DHS] has greenlit the construction of this expansive detention facility that may violate detained individuals’ human rights, jeopardize public and environmental health and violate federal law," House and Senate Democrats wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem dated Wednesday. The detention facility, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," opened in early July to house arrested migrants awaiting deportation. It was created through a state and federal partnership, with Florida officials leading oversight and construction, with DHS footing the bill. President Trump toured the facility when it opened, along with Noem. A federal judge last week temporarily halted expansion of the site after tribal and environmental groups filed a lawsuit over potential damage to wetlands. Located just south of Miami, Alligator Alcatraz quickly raised alarms about conditions for detainees in the hot, humid climate. Some whistleblowers have described worm-infested food, plumbing problems and other issues since its opening. The Washington Examiner [8/20/2025 4:42 PM, David Zimmermann, 1563K] reports that a total of 65 lawmakers from the Senate and House, led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), signed the letter. The deadline for DHS officials to respond to the inquiry is Sept. 3, exactly two months after the first group of detainees arrived at "Alligator Alcatraz.” Legal challenges were levied against the Trump administration over the prison’s accelerated construction and detained immigrants’ denial of access to counsel. These concerns about the "problematic and seemingly unlawful model" were raised in the Democratic-led letter. The lawmakers questioned the role that Immigration and Customs Enforcement plays in the detention center, which is operated by the Florida Division of Emergency Management. The letter was addressed to Noem, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, ICE acting Director Todd Lyons, and FEMA acting Administrator David Richardson.

NewsMax [8/20/2025 8:19 PM, James Morley III, 4779K] reports Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has assigned newly appointed Lt. Gov. Jay Collins to travel to California to extradite an illegal alien who is accused of causing a crash last week on the Florida Turnpike near Fort Pierce that killed three people. According to officials, Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant, attempted a U-turn on Aug. 12 in a highway zone marked "official use only," triggering a collision in which a minivan struck his semitruck. All three minivan passengers, a 30-year-old man from Florida City, a 37-year-old woman from Pompano Beach, and a 54-year-old man from Miami, were pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. After the crash, Singh flew back to California from Florida. Records from the San Joaquin County Jail show that Singh, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in 2018, is being held on a detainer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and faces three counts of vehicular homicide. Singh was denied a work authorization permit from the first Trump administration in 2020, according to Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. "During [the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s] interview with the driver, investigators administered an English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessment in accordance with FMCSA guidance," the Department of Transportation said in a statement. "The driver failed the assessment, providing correct responses to just 2 of 12 verbal questions and only accurately identifying 1 of 4 highway traffic signs.” At a Wednesday press conference at Palm Beach State College, DeSantis criticized the fact that Singh was able to obtain commercial driver’s licenses in Washington and California despite reportedly lacking English proficiency and an adequate understanding of U.S. road signs. "That was obviously a total disaster," DeSantis said. "Should have never obviously been behind the wheel.” "We’re going to throw the book at him when he gets back here," he added.

FOX News [8/20/2025 4:36 PM, Cameron Arcand, 40019K] reports questions are looming over how the illegal immigrant who allegedly killed three in a Florida truck crash obtained his commercial driver’s license. Harjinder Singh is the suspect in the Fort Pierce crash, and officials have said he did not pass English and road tests, according to officials. Singh, who entered the United States illegally, was given a full-term commercial driver’s license in Washington in July 2023 despite not legally being allowed to and was given a limited-term commercial driver’s license in California in 2024. The Department of Transportation is looking into whether it complied with federal regulations. Lora Ries, Director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, explained how this could have happened in the first place.

FOX News [8/20/2025 10:52 AM, Peter D’Abrosca, 40019K] Video: HERE reports the illegal immigrant truck driver who is accused of causing a crash in Fort Pierce, Florida, that killed three people failed English and road sign tests, officials investigating the wreck said. Harjinder Singh, who crossed into the United States illegally in 2018 via the southern border, obtained a commercial driver’s license in California. He attempted to obtain work authorization, but it was rejected by the first Trump administration on Sept. 14, 2020, according to Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs. "During [Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s] interview with the driver, investigators administered an English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessment in accordance with FMCSA guidance," the Department of Transportation said in a statement "The driver failed the assessment, providing correct responses to just 2 of 12 verbal questions and only accurately identifying 1 of 4 highway traffic signs.” The DOT indicated that the investigation began on Aug. 14, two days after the crash. Singh has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide. He was arrested in Stockton, California, on Saturday. According to the DOT, Singh was issued a regular full-term commercial driver’s license in the state of Washington in July 2023, but illegal immigrants are not allowed to obtain this type of license. A year later, Singh was issued a limited-term/non-domiciled commercial driver’s license in California. The DOT is investigating further whether the issuance of that license followed federal regulations. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [8/20/2025 3:31 PM, Charles Creitz, 40019K] reports Harjinder Singh’s deadly wreck on Florida’s Turnpike exposes not just the illegal immigration crisis but systemic negligence — or worse — in transportation-related areas, Florida Rep. Brian Mast told Fox News Digital in a Wednesday interview. Mast lives only 10 minutes from where Singh allegedly made anunlawful U-turn on Florida’s Turnpike and killed three people whose vehicle became wedged under his rig – after he illegally used a median crossover meant for emergency vehicles. The interview was held as Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and other officials were in-flight to California to extradite Singh, an illegal immigrant, to face charges for the incident in Mast’s St. Lucie County district. Mast said Singh’s case undercuts Democrats’ claims that the Trump administration targeted only "violent criminals" rather than immigrants working regular jobs and paying taxes. "This is just one example of saying this is why it matters if you’re here illegally you’re going back to your country of origin — whether you’re driving a truck or anything else," Mast said. As a member of the House Transportation Committee, Mast said he has heard complaints from municipal officials who run the local DMVs who tell him the problem of illegal immigrants getting CDLs in large numbers is "systemic.” Illegal immigrants who, at times, may be English-illiterate, have been coached to recite specific sentences and identify specific letters on ophthalmologic to essentially get by in their new jobs. "Now it’s coming out, you know, [Singh] maybe knew, you know, one or two things in English that he was supposed to know and didn’t know the rest. They clearly don’t know [what they need to]. Somehow, the school passes them," he said.

FOX News [8/20/2025 9:34 AM, Morgan Phillips, 40019K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reviewing federal security grants for Muslim groups with "alleged terrorist ties" after a new report linked past funding to "extremist" organizations. According to a DHS document obtained by Fox News Digital, 49 projects "with alleged affiliations to terrorist activities" have already been canceled, a move the department estimates will save $8 million. The review primarily targets funding distributed through FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), which provides aid to churches, mosques, synagogues, and other faith-based institutions facing threats of hate-driven violence. The probe follows a report by the Middle East Forum, a pro-Israel conservative think tank, which claimed that more than $25 million in DHS and FEMA grants went to "terror-linked groups" between 2013 and 2023. A DHS official said the department is conducting its own independent review of funding but added, "We take the results of the MEF report very seriously and are thankful for the work of conservative watchdog groups." The report flagged a $100,000 grant in 2019 to the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Virginia, which Customs and Border Protection once described as a "mosque operating as a front for Hamas operatives in the U.S.," according to records obtained by the Investigative Project through the Freedom of Information Act. In response to the MEF’s findings, DHS is reviewing all current and future contracts to ensure funds are not awarded to such organizations. Officials said the department is also examining ways to recover unspent funds.

Washington Post [8/21/2025 5:06 AM, Teo Armus and Karla Gachet, 32099K] reports for decades, young people in this hillside village have had two options: Harvest corn or head north. So many left, to work as gardeners and cooks in Southern California, that the money they sent home fueled an economic transformation. The small adobe homes in this Zapotec community of about 2,500 people gave way to two-story cement houses with wrought iron gates. Roads were paved. A basketball court rose near the town center. The migrants’ cash created jobs in construction and helped launch small businesses. In March, local leaders dedicated a peach-colored welcome arch at the town’s entrance. A plaque at its base honored “the invaluable help of our countrymen working abroad.” But as the Trump administration has pushed many of Quialana’s sons and daughters back to Mexico, and prompted many of those who remain in the United States to cut back on work, much of the once-steady construction has come to a halt. Now the gates hide the unfinished walls of their “California-style” facades. Rosa Gómez Hernández, 37, used money sent by her father and a nephew to start a small embroidery business. But with their costs in the U.S. rising and their earnings falling, their monthly payments have fallen from $1,500 to $500. Most of it, she said, is spent on costly medicine for her brother’s chronic condition. The total is likely to drop further next year, when her 63-year-old father plans to return home. “Up north is where we’ve gotten the money for everything — to build houses, to take care of families, to sow in the fields,” she said. “If they don’t send money, the town stops.” Remittances from the United States, which reached $60 billion last year, have helped to drive development across Mexico. They made up about 3.5 percent of Mexico’s GDP last year — and just over 10 percent here in the Pacific Coast state of Oaxaca, a major source of migrants to the United States. June saw a 16.2 percent drop in remittances year over year, the steepest decline for that month on record, the Bank of Mexico reported. Officials in Quialana, whose residents must travel down a steep mountainside to a larger city to cash their checks, estimate payments are down by a third. Many here blame President Donald Trump and his immigration crackdown. The Mexico City daily La Jornada decried the “manhunt,” which it said was causing a “drop in the cash transfers that on which millions of families depend.” A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said “the Trump administration is putting American communities first — not Mexican communities.” “American dollars should stay in American pockets, not flow across the border with a handout,” spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Illegal immigrants, who siphon the economic prosperity of this country, should immediately remigrate.”

FOX News [8/20/2025 5:04 PM, Breanne Deppisch, 40019K] reports lawyers for Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge in Nashville on Tuesday to dismiss a criminal case against him, arguing in a filing that the indictment handed down by the Trump administration amounts to a "vindictive" and selective prosecution. The 35-page filing was submitted Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in the Middle District of Tennessee. It comes just two days before Abrego Garcia is slated to be released Friday from federal custody, where he was detained on human smuggling charges in May, immediately after being returned to the U.S. from El Salvador at the end of a months-long court fight. Both Crenshaw and U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes had determined that Abrego Garcia was eligible to be released from criminal custody pending trial, though Holmes agreed to stay his release for 30 days, at the request of Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, who cited fears that he would be detained and immediately deported. Crenshaw, for his part, said in a 37-page ruling that the Justice Department "fails to provide any evidence that there is something in Abrego’s history, or his exhibited characteristics, that warrants detention." He also poured cold water on the government’s repeated allegations that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, a notion he described as "fanciful." It’s unclear whether Crenshaw will intervene and grant the motion to dismiss, filed late Tuesday.

Reported similarly:
(B) NBC News Daily [8/20/2025 2:33 PM, Staff]

Washington Examiner [8/20/2025 2:03 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1563K] reports that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national at the center of a monthslong deportation legal fight with the Trump administration, could be released from federal custody as early as this week. Attorneys for Abrego Garcia, who has since been returned to the United States after his initial deportation to El Salvador in March, asked a federal judge in Tennessee on Tuesday to issue an order releasing him from custody once a separate order delaying his release expires Friday. The prospect of Abrego Garcia’s release from the custody of U.S. Marshals sets up a pivotal decision for the administration: whether to push forward with his human smuggling prosecution in Tennessee or turn him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to begin deportation proceedings for a second time. On Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes set a noon Thursday deadline for the government to issue any possible response in opposition to Abrego Garcia’s release. If the Department of Justice does object, a hearing will take place on Monday at 10:30 a.m. local time to handle any additional disputes. Abrego Garcia, who first entered the country illegally in 2011, has been in federal custody since his return from El Salvador earlier this year. Upon his return to U.S. soil, federal prosecutors in Nashville charged him in June with conspiring to smuggle migrants, a case built on a 2022 traffic stop where he was discovered transporting several individuals who were in the U.S. illegally. At the time, no charges were filed, but the incident resurfaced after his deportation became a high-profile legal battle. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, previously said Abrego Garcia "will never walk America’s streets again," calling him a "gang member and human trafficker." The Washington Examiner contacted DHS for comment.

FOX News [8/20/2025 6:07 PM, Charles Creitz, 40019K] reports the Department of Homeland Security tweeted on Wednesday that the term "undocumented immigrant" is the political equivalent of "they/them" pronouns. "DHS has no interest in the left’s open borders pronouns," the department said in its statement. DHS said "alien" is the technical and legal term for what are also called illegal immigrants in the press. "Illegal" is the only way to correctly describe lawbreakers, the agency added. Federal law includes multiple references to the term "illegal alien" or "alien" in describing persons who incur into the U.S. illegally or without proper documentation.

The Hill [8/20/2025 11:06 AM, Filip Timotija, 12414K] reports Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Mexico due to alleged cartel ties and faces weapons charges in the country, the Trump administration announced. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to The Hill that Chavez, the son of legendary boxer Julio César Chávez Sr., was deported Monday to Mexico, where he has had an active arrest warrant for allegedly trafficking guns, ammunition and explosives, along with an alleged affiliation with the Sinaloa Cartel. "It is shocking the Biden administration flagged this criminal illegal alien as a public safety threat, but chose to not prioritize his removal and let him leave and COME BACK into our country," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the deportation during a press conference Tuesday. "I understand he was deported. I don’t know if it was yesterday or this morning, but we were informed that he was arriving in Mexico," Sheinbaum stated, according to The Associated Press. Univision [8/20/2025 3:58 PM, Elizabeth Gonzalez, 4932K] reports Julio César Chávez Jr. remains in prison until his legal situation is clarified. On Wednesday, August 20, a federal judge in Sonora ordered preventive detention for Julio César Chávez’s son, who is accused of alleged ties to organized crime. The decision by supervisory judge Enrique Hernández led to the immediate transfer of the Mexican boxer to a prison in the state of Sonora, where he will remain while his legal situation is determined. According to El Universal, Julio César Chávez Jr.’s defense team requested an extension of the constitutional deadline to gather evidence to support his innocence. The arraignment hearing has been scheduled for Saturday, August 23, at 5 p.m. At the hearing held this Wednesday, August 20, at the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Hermosillo, Sonora, Julio César Chávez Jr. was charged with organized crime with the intent to commit crimes against the Federal Firearms and Explosives Law. On July 3, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the arrest of Julio César Chávez Jr. for alleged links to organized crime. In their statement, authorities described him as an "undocumented criminal" and immediately began deportation proceedings. They also noted that the boxer had "an outstanding arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, and explosives."

Wall Street Journal [8/20/2025 8:19 PM, Lara Seligman and Brett Forrest, 646K] reports President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to send three Navy warships to interdict drug cartels off the coast of South America, including near Venezuela, expanding the Pentagon’s role in combating illegal drug smuggling and intensifying a U.S. confrontation with the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. The guided-missile destroyers will have authority to interdict drug shipments, according to two people familiar with the planning, giving the Navy a direct counternarcotics mission in Latin America, instead of its customary role supporting the Coast Guard. The move comes after the president earlier this month directed the Pentagon to prepare options to use military force against Latin American drug cartels, which he designated foreign terrorist organizations in a January executive order. Additionally, the Justice Department doubled its reward, to $50 million, for information leading to the arrest of Maduro. The administration accused him of being one of the world’s largest narco-traffickers and of working with cartels to flood the U.S. with cocaine. “Washington’s accusation that Venezuela is involved in drug trafficking reveals its lack of credibility and the failure of its policies in the region,” said Venezuela’s foreign minister, Yvan Gil. “While Washington threatens, Venezuela advances firmly in peace and sovereignty, demonstrating that true effectiveness against crime is achieved by respecting the independence of peoples,” he added. Earlier this week, Maduro said during a TV interview that he would deploy more than 4.5 million militia members around the country. The planned deployment comes a month after the White House supported Chevron in regaining its ability to pump oil in Venezuela, in an abrupt reversal of its policy toward the socialist dictatorship, The Wall Street Journal reported. Details of the agreement are still unclear, but it comes after a prisoner swap that released all 10 remaining Americans detained by the Venezuelan government, people familiar with the matter said. In recent months, Maduro has received deportation flights from the U.S. carrying Venezuelans.

Washington Post [8/20/2025 5:00 AM, Tara Copp, Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe, 29079K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s unusually large personal security requirements are straining the Army agency tasked with protecting him as it pulls agents from criminal investigations to safeguard family residences in Minnesota, Tennessee and D.C., according to numerous officials familiar with the operation. The sprawling, multimillion-dollar initiative has forced the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, the agency that fields security for top Defense Department officials, to staff weeks-long assignments in each location and at times monitor residences belonging to the Hegseths’ former spouses, the officials said. One CID official, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity citing a fear of reprisal, characterized Hegseth’s personal protective arrangement as unlike any other in the agency’s recent history. “I’ve never seen this many security teams for one guy,” the official said. “Nobody has.” This account is based on more than a dozen interviews — including with CID staff, current and former defense officials, and others familiar with Hegseth’s activities — and a review of documents revealing the Trump administration’s apparent unwillingness to meet the Army’s request for additional funding and personnel for the mission. Washington Post withheld several sensitive details gathered in the course of reporting this article, including the size of Hegseth’s protective details and the precise locations where they are assigned. Army CID has faced significant staffing and budgetary shortfalls for years, but new demands since Hegseth’s arrival in January have put added pressure on the agency, officials said. “We have complete inability to achieve our most basic missions,” one person said. The Pentagon declined to address several questions submitted by The Post. A spokesman, Sean Parnell, said in a statement that “any action pertaining to the security of Secretary Hegseth and his family has been in response to the threat environment and at the full recommendation of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.” CID’s chief mission is to investigate serious crimes within the Army. That includes contracting fraud, which the Trump administration has decried as wasteful government spending, sexual assault and other violent crimes such as the recent mass shooting of U.S. soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia. The agency’s other mandate is to provide security for the defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Army secretary, and other current and former top defense officials. CID agents serve as advance teams, coordinating security ahead of public appearances. They also staff motorcades and provide security during travel at home and abroad. Historically about 150 of the agency’s approximately 1,500 agents serve on VIP security details, according to people familiar with the matter, who said that when Hegseth took office a call went out for many more. Now there are hundreds assigned to personal protective duty, these people said. One person characterized the figure as “400 and going up.” Another said it’s “over 500.” In a statement, Army CID acknowledged the agency “operates within existing resource constraints” and said it “proactively adjusts its efforts to address emerging threats and maintains a robust security posture in both the investigative and protective realms.” Citing unspecified safety concerns, the agency said, “specific details regarding threat assessments, security protocols, resource allocation, and budgetary matters related to either investigative or protective operations are considered sensitive and cannot be publicly disclosed.”

NewsMax [8/20/2025 11:02 AM, Eric Mack, 4779K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is operating under the heaviest personal security detail in modern Pentagon history, a reflection of the heightened threats against him and his family as the U.S. military braces for the possibility of global conflict. "I’ve never seen this many security teams for one guy," an unnamed official told The Washington Post. "Nobody has." Army Criminal Investigation Division agents, normally assigned to probe serious crimes such as fraud and assaults within the service, have been diverted in large numbers to provide round-the-clock protection for Hegseth, his wife Jennifer, and their children at residences in Washington, Minnesota, and Tennessee. Such measures have never before been seen for a defense secretary, much less any official, according to the report. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell blasted media scrutiny of Hegseth’s security as "astonishing," defending the secretary’s protection as "appropriate.” The leftist media scrutiny of "Cabinet secretaries’ security protocols and movements," including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, "puts lives at risk," Parnell warned. The enhanced posture follows threats against Hegseth’s home and comes as President Donald Trump pursues an ambitious agenda to prevent war with Russia and stabilize flashpoints around the world.

FOX News [8/20/2025 3:00 PM, Brian Flood, 43962K] reports Pentagon officials are enraged by a Washington Post report they say jeopardizes the safety of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his family by disclosing sensitive security details. The report, dubbed a Washington Post exclusive and headlined "Hegseth’s expansive security requirements tax Army protective unit," cites unnamed "officials" who insist Hegseth is straining the agency tasked with protecting him because of "unusually large personal security requirements.” "The sprawling, multimillion-dollar initiative has forced the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, the agency that fields security for top Defense Department officials, to staff weeks-long assignments in each location and at times monitor residences belonging to Hegseth’s former spouses, the officials said," the Post reported. "Army CID has faced significant staffing and budgetary shortfalls for years, but new demands since Hegseth’s arrival in January have put added pressure on the agency.” The article noted that Hegseth requires additional resources because of a "large blended family" with homes in several locations, "a rise in politically motivated violence as the nation has become more splintered" and a bomb threat "made against his home in Tennessee.” Washington Post report also revealed the state where Hegseth’s second wife currently resides, noted that "CID security assignments can entail accompanying the children to school and walking the perimeter of the homes," and criticized the secretary of defense for taking his family to a Washington Nationals baseball game. "We attempted to get Washington Post to remove sensitive details about the security of Secretary Hegseth’s wife, children, and extended family, citing obvious security concerns and the potential for threats to increase after its publication. There is no justification for Washington Post to publish this information about them," Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told Fox News Digital. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell blasted the paper for putting "lives at risk.” "In the wake of two assassination attempts against President Trump, ICE agents facing a 1,000% increase in assaults, and repeated threats of retaliation from Iran for striking their nuclear capabilities, it’s astonishing that Washington Post is criticizing a high-ranking cabinet official for receiving appropriate security protection, especially after doxxing the DHS Secretary last week," Parnell wrote on X, referring to a previous report that revealed the residence of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. "Any action pertaining to the security of Secretary Hegseth and his family has been in response to the threat environment and at the full recommendation [of] the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID)," Parnell continued. "When left-wing blogs like Washington Post continue to dox cabinet secretaries’ security protocols and movements, it puts lives at risk.”

Reported similarly:
The Hill [8/20/2025 2:15 PM, Ellen Mitchell, 12414K]
Daily Wire [8/20/2025 8:44 AM, Hank Berrien, 3184K]

USA Today [8/21/2025 5:05 AM, Kristi Noem, 75552K] reports history has immortalized Babe Ruth’s “called shot” in the 1932 World Series. The New York Yankees legend extended his arm toward the centerfield bleachers, then crushed a home run to the spot where he pointed. It was an iconic, seemingly impossible moment. President Donald Trump, like Ruth, called his shot in the 2024 presidential campaign, saying that “you don’t need eight years, you need six months” to turn our nation around. Seven months into his second term, it’s clear that the president has done what he said he’d do by reestablishing law and order at our southern border and by removing violent illegal immigrants from our nation. Both actions were necessary for Americans’ peace and prosperity. President Trump called on me as secretary of Homeland Security to deliver on his promises. The best way to do that was to let law enforcement uphold our laws, to get out of their way and to put excellence at the heart of everything we do. More than 200 days into this job, we have achieved operational security at the border. Zero illegal immigrants were released into the country in May, June and July. In fact, 1.6 million illegal immigrants have left the United States under President Trump’s leadership. Across the country, we are cracking down on vicious criminals − more than 3,000 members of Tren de Aragua and 600 known or suspected terrorists have been arrested. As a result of that success, Americans’ lives have improved significantly. Job gains, for example, are now going to American-born workers instead of workers here illegally. As a result of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s actions, illegal immigrants are exiting the labor force because they are either being deported or voluntarily departing. As they go, more Americans are finding steady and gainful employment. In fact, the American-born workforce has seen an increase of 2.5 million between January and July of this year.

Washington Times [8/20/2025 10:36 AM, Cheryl K. Chumley, 964K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the southern wall Congress funded and President Donald Trump ordered built will be painted black so it retains heat and makes it more difficult to climb. Talk about strategic planning. This isn’t just hilarious. It’s genius. “It’s tall, which makes it very difficult to climb — almost impossible,” Noem said. Yes. There’s that. Check. “It also goes deep into the ground, which would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to dig under,” Noem said. Very good. Well done. Check, check. “And we are also going to be painting it black,” Noem said. Why? Why, because Trump ordered it so, she said. “That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here, when something is painted black, it gets even warmer, and it will make it even harder for people to climb,” Noem said. Cue laugh track. Better yet, cue the Rolling Stones. “Paint It, Black” ought to be informally dubbed the song of American security — and played over loudspeakers as the wall is being painted.

Breitbart.com [8/20/2025 4:36 PM, John Binder, 2608K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested an illegal alien with an extensive criminal record, including several dozen arrests and 15 convictions. This week, ICE agents arrested illegal alien Jonatan Monzon-Olivares of Guatemala, who has been arrested 38 times in the United States and has 15 criminal convictions. Monzon-Olivares’s convictions include sexual assault, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, possession of stolen property, and obstructing justice. "One of the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens arrested by ICE yesterday had 38 prior arrests and 15 convictions, including sexual assault, aggravated assault, and burglary," the Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. McLaughlin continued, "Under the Biden Administration, serial criminal illegal aliens were allowed to terrorize Americans. We are restoring law and order and putting the safety of Americans first. No longer is America a safe haven for the world’s criminals." Also arrested by ICE agents this week was illegal alien Pedro Carrillo-Miranda of Mexico, who has been convicted of fondling a child, as well as illegal alien Lloyd Tinashe HweHwe of Zimbabwe, who has been convicted of intoxicated manslaughter. Likewise, Trong Ho Luong, an illegal alien from Vietnam, and Lamphay Syvongsa, an illegal alien from Laos, were arrested by ICE agents. Luong has been convicted of manufacturing and delivering cocaine and MDMA, while Syvongsa has been convicted of robbery with an imitation firearm, feloniously pointing a firearm, possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, and several traffic offenses.

New York Times [8/20/2025 4:29 PM, Luis Ferré-Sadurní, 143795K] reports on a morning last week, a mother from Ecuador nervously entered a federal building in Lower Manhattan with her 6-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son for a mandatory appointment with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Inside, ICE agents detained the mother, Martha, and the two children. Officers drove the teenage son to a detention center across the river in New Jersey and flew the mother and her daughter to a family detention center in Texas. On Tuesday, exactly a week later, Martha and her daughter boarded a plane and were deported to Ecuador, leaving behind two other children in New York who had not been detained. The detention of the family, especially the 6-year-old girl, touched a nerve among New York elected officials like few other ICE arrests have during President Trump’s second term. Their arrest ignited a scramble to try to stop their deportation, and prompted a rare rebuke from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who called the arrest “cruel and unjust.” The family’s case illuminated a practice the Trump administration has revived across the country: the detention and deportation of families with children. ICE has detained about 50 children younger than 18 in the New York City area, largely from Ecuador, from Mr. Trump’s inauguration in January through the end of July, according to federal data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley. At least 38 of them have been deported, the data shows.

Politico [8/20/2025 5:09 PM, Myah Ward, 14810K] reports wartime-like recruitment posters. Sign-on bonuses of up to $50,000. Massive hiring events. Reduced age requirements. Superman. It’s all been part of the Trump administration’s campaign to attract new applicants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And so far, it’s brought in more than 110,000 applications, ICE deputy director Madison Sheahan said in an interview with POLITICO. Thirty percent of applicants are military veterans and roughly 10 percent are coming from other federal law enforcement agencies, Sheahan said. The administration’s targeting of law enforcement recruits comes amid fears from Democrats and immigration advocates that the Trump administration is going to rely on unqualified recruits to quickly fill the 10,000 new ICE agent jobs they got out of the GOP’s megabill. “This is the first time ICE has ever had a major plus up. So the beauty of that is that we can learn from the best practices of other agencies,” Sheahan said. “That huge presence that we’re seeing from former military and former federal law enforcement — those are people that have been vetted their entire career and have done great work for this country their entire career. And so having them a part of our ranks is really going to be helpful when it comes to a lot of the criticism that we’re getting right now.” The speed at which the agency executes the plus up — from 20,000 to 30,000 agents — is a delicate balance. Moving too quickly could amplify concerns that the agency didn’t thoroughly vet and train new agents at a time when ICE faces mounting scrutiny. But moving too slowly could delay the agency’s efforts to meet the White House’s goal of 3,000 daily arrests and 1 million annual deportations. “We have an opportunity to do this throughout the president’s entire term, and we’ll continue to do that until our ranks are filled,” Sheahan said. “Obviously, the pressure is on nationwide for us to serve the American people, and so we want to make sure we deliver for them.” ICE’s human resources department is sorting through the 110,000 applications, which include candidates interested in deportation officer roles, as well as for jobs as criminal investigators under Homeland Security Investigations and for attorneys and personnel in the agency’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Sheahan said. As of July, the agency had issued over 1,000 offers to former ICE agents and officers who had left under the Biden administration — a number that has since grown, according to an ICE spokesperson.

Politico [8/20/2025 6:12 PM, Emily Ngo, Daniel Han, Kelly Garrity and Shia Kapos, 14810K] reports Attorney General Pam Bondi’s fresh threats to Democrat-led cities and states demanding they drop their “sanctuary” policies is being met this week with a collective nope. Leaders ranging from the governors of California, Illinois and Minnesota to the mayors of New York City, Denver and Boston are standing their ground on limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officers in their responses to a letter Bondi sent to more than 30 jurisdictions. “This ends now,” Bondi wrote. Actually, it doesn’t, the Democrats replied by her Tuesday deadline — uniformly rejecting the Trump administration’s assertion that they’re interfering with federal immigration enforcement. “That the federal government would insist that Minnesota should divert state resources to do the federal government’s job or help effectuate some kind of misguided political agenda is fundamentally inconsistent with our founding principles as a nation,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the former Democratic nominee for vice president, said in his letter to the attorney general. The response letters — culled from POLITICO’s outreach to the 35 cities, counties and states on the Department of Justice’s updated “U.S. Sanctuary Jurisdiction List” — ranged in tone from antagonistic to diplomatic in the face of Bondi’s threats of criminal prosecution. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hosted a news-conference-turned-anti-Trump rally to trumpet the city’s resistance, while New York City Mayor Eric Adams sent a conciliatory two-paragraph letter via the city’s corporation counsel. But together, the replies represent uniform Democratic pushback to President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda and reflect a deepening conflict between his administration and the blue cities and states fighting to distance themselves from its aggressive enforcement efforts. Bondi has vowed swift retribution for local governments failing to comply with the demands of her letter. “We’re going to work with our other agencies to cut off their federal funding. We are going to send in law enforcement, just like we did during the L.A. riots, just like we’re doing here in Washington, D.C.,” she told Fox Business this week. “And if they’re not going to keep their citizens safe, Donald Trump will keep them safe.”

FOX News [8/20/2025 11:52 AM, Staff, 40019K] reports that ICE Boston Acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde joins ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss Mayor Michelle Wu’s refusal to comply with federal immigration enforcement and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ultimatum. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [8/20/2025 10:24 AM, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Bill Melugin, 40019K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Boston said it arrested 65 illegal aliens during a four-day operation in Connecticut dubbed "Operation Broken Trust," part of the agency’s ongoing crackdown on states with sanctuary policies. The operation was launched as Connecticut in May expanded its sanctuary state law known as the "Trust Act," which bans local law enforcement from sharing information with ICE unless required by law or in cases involving serious crimes. The agency said that the sting targeted transnational organized crime, gangs and egregious offenders. Among the 65 arrested, 29 had been convicted or charged in the U.S. with serious crimes, including kidnapping, assault, drug offenses, weapons violations and sex crimes. Others were identified as members of transnational gangs or had criminal histories in their home countries. "Sanctuary legislation like Connecticut’s Trust Act only endangers the communities it claims to protect. Such laws only force law enforcement professionals to release criminal alien offenders back into the very communities they have already victimized," said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. "The state of Connecticut is a safer place thanks to the hard work and determination of the men and women of ICE and our federal partners. Working together, we were able to arrest 65 illegal aliens in just four days throughout Connecticut, many of whom had significant criminality in the United States." Throughout the duration of Operation Broken Trust, ICE and its federal law enforcement partners targeted egregious criminal alien offenders, operating in the state of Connecticut. ICE said that under the state’s Trust Act, state and local law enforcement will refuse to "honor ICE detainers with a few rare exceptions.”

Breitbart [8/20/2025 8:19 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2608K] reports the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has detained roughly 4,000 migrants in the Commonwealth of Virginia, according to reports. By the end of July, ICE had arrested 4,179 illegal aliens in Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. However, the task force assembled by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin reports the slightly lower figure of 3,564 arrests since the Trump administration took office and through the first week of August. Still, spokesman Peter Finocchio noted that his numbers "would not necessarily account for all ICE arrests in Virginia.” The Times-Dispatch added that the numbers for both June and July were record-setting, with June’s result coming in at 873 individuals arrested — which is five times higher than June of 2024 during the final year of Joe Biden’s term. And July added another 758 arrests to the total. The paper claims ICE reported that 28 percent of those arrested are convicted criminals, and another 15 percent have pending criminal charges. The remaining 57 percent had no outstanding criminal charges other than having entered the country illegally, which is a federal crime. In July, Gov. Youngkin reiterated his support for the arrest and deportation of illegal aliens. He also doubled down on his support for arresting illegal immigrants in and around courthouses. "Let’s just be clear, the vast majority of the people that have been arrested at courthouses around the country are committing violent crimes," Youngkin said at a press conference in July. "If someone breaks the law and is here illegally, they should be arrested.” At the time, Younkin also said that ICE has removed up to 2,500 violent criminals from Virginia. Youngkin had launched his state task force to work with ICE back in May.

Breitbart [8/20/2025 12:53 PM, John Binder, 2608K] reports more than a year after 22-year-old Laken Riley was murdered by an illegal alien in Athens, Georgia, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has drastically increased immigration enforcement across the Peach State, Breitbart News has learned. From January 20 through July 31, ICE agents have arrested about 4,500 illegal aliens in Georgia — a 367-percent increase compared to the same period in 2021 under former President Joe Biden, when just 963 ICE arrests were made. "Biden’s open border polices allowed Laken Riley’s killer to be in the country and gave him the opportunity to brutally murder the young Georgia nursing student," the Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin said: “President Trump promised to put Americans first and remove violent criminals from our country and that’s exactly what we are doing. Thanks to his and Secretary Noem’s leadership, ICE is once again empowered to remove the worst of the worst — including murderers, pedophiles, gang members, drug traffickers, and terrorists. In Georgia alone, arrests of illegal aliens have increased by 367 percent.”

Telemundo51 [8/20/2025 6:06 PM, Eduardo "Yusnaby" Rodríguez, 144K] reports a Cuban family in Orlando, Florida, is pleading for help after immigration authorities ordered Deivy Alemán Oropesa to leave the country within two weeks, despite having worked for seven years, paid taxes, and had no criminal record. His wife, Yisel Miguel Sarduy, a U.S. citizen, says the decision has put the family in crisis, especially because their two-year-old daughter, born in the United States, suffers from a congenital heart condition. The girl has already undergone two open-heart surgeries, and doctors warn she will need another before she turns five. Alemán said he attended his immigration appointments every year without any problems, until the most recent one, when ICE placed an electronic bracelet on him and gave him 14 days to leave voluntarily or face detention and deportation. The family insists they are not asking for financial assistance, only for the possibility of him remaining legally in the country while his daughter undergoes her medical treatment.

Daily Caller [8/20/2025 7:19 PM, Hailey Gomez, 985K] reports Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that he sent Lt. Gov. Jay Collins to California to retrieve an illegal immigrant who allegedly killed three people after making an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway. Indian national Harjinder Singh, who has been unlawfully living in the U.S., was charged Monday with three counts of vehicular homicide after three people died when he made an illegal U-turn in his big rig on the state’s Turnpike near Port St. Lucie. Singh fled to California, where he originally obtained his commercial driver’s license (CDL). DeSantis told Fox News Digital that Collins was dispatched to the state to apprehend the suspect. "I’m en route to California right now to ensure this individual is extradited back to Florida. Stay tuned," Collins posted on X in response to DeSantis’ announcement. The Department of Homeland Security charges against Singh came after video footage circulated online of the vehicle incident. On Aug. 12, Singh allegedly made the U-turn through an "Official Use Only" access point in St. Lucie County, ultimately blocking all lanes with his truck. Video footage of the incident shows Singh and another individual in his truck attempting the illegal U-turn, with a black car shortly plowing into Singh’s truck, which appeared to be blocking the lanes. According to an investigation conducted by Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, in coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Singh illegally entered the U.S. in 2018 through the U.S.-Mexico border, later obtaining his CDL in California.

Blaze [8/20/2025 6:05 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1559K] reports an immigration raid at a Texas bakery led to the owners of the business being found guilty of harboring illegal aliens. The two owners of Abby’s Bakery and Dulce’s Café in Los Fresnos face up to 10 years in federal prison and may possibly lose their own residency status when sentenced. A federal jury deliberated for about three hours before finding 56-year-old Leonardo Baez-Lara and 46-year-old Alicia Avila-Guel guilty of two counts of harboring aliens and conspiracy to harbor aliens. Baez-Lara and Avila-Guel are legal permanent residents and have been running the bakery since 2012. The raid was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office of Southern Texas. They found evidence that the couple was harboring illegal aliens and others who had visas to be in the U.S. but not to legally work. Between five and six workers were made to live in a small room by the bakery under dangerous conditions, including the head baker, who lived there for more than two years.

Telemundo Amarillo [8/20/2025 3:58 PM, Eduardo Hernández, 2K] reports July 28th will be a day that Hispanic families in Lubbock will never forget. Javier Erazo-Toro was separated from his wife and children when he was arrested by ICE agents while on his way to work. After several weeks of fighting for his freedom, he was deported to his home country last Sunday, causing anguish among his loved ones. According to his wife, Javier was arrested because the vehicle carrying four people appeared to be suspected of transporting undocumented immigrants. After spending a few hours in a federal detention center in our city, he was transferred to another prison in Eden, in the south of the state, where he spent most of his time awaiting a resolution in conditions he said were inhumane. On August 15, he was transferred to another detention center in Alvarado, but that’s where, unfortunately, the worst happened. According to the family, Erazo-Toro had a work permit and was in the process of obtaining a visa.

Breitbart [8/20/2025 2:27 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 2608K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Tuesday the opening of what is being called the "Cornhusker Clink" in Nebraska, which will serve as yet another detention space for criminal illegal immigrants, aiding in President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda. The partnership between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services will result in an expansion of 280 beds at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook, Nebraska. According to DHS’s press release, the agreement was made possible by President Trump’s "big, beautiful bill." "This law fully funded the 287(g) program and provided funding to secure 80,000 new beds for ICE to utilize when detaining and deporting the worst of the worst," DHS noted. "COMING SOON to Nebraska: Cornhusker Clink," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. "Today, we’re announcing a new partnership with the state of Nebraska to expand detention bed space by 280 beds. "Thanks to Governor Pillen for his partnership to help remove the worst of the worst out of our country. If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Nebraska’s Cornhusker Clink," she said, urging illegal aliens to voluntarily remove themselves to avoid detention. "Avoid arrest and self deport now using the CBP Home App." Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen proudly stated that his state of Nebraska is "stepping up its support of President Trump’s and Secretary Noem’s immigration enforcement initiatives in several key ways."

FOX News [8/20/2025 1:59 PM, Preston Mizell, 40019K] reports that two illegal migrants from Guatemala currently living in the U.S. were charged with rape, aggravated sodomy, and the kidnapping of a woman from an Oklahoma casino earlier this week. The victim told police that she was taken by the two illegal migrants against her will from the First Council Casino & Resort in Newkirk, Oklahoma, and was raped and assaulted repeatedly while traveling from Oklahoma to Arkansas City, Kansas. Luis Miguel Dominguez-Barrios, an illegal migrant from Guatemala, crossed the southern border illegally on Aug. 31, 2013, and was subsequently released by the Obama administration. Dominguez-Barrios had previously been arrested for disorderly conduct, domestic violence, and threatening a law enforcement officer. Jose Fernando-Lux Morales, who is also an illegal migrant from Guatemala, crossed the southern border illegally as an unaccompanied minor in 2018. Dominguez-Barrios, currently being held on a $1 million bond after being charged with rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated kidnapping, and his alleged accomplice Fernando-Lux Morales are being held on a $500,000 bond for aggravated kidnapping. "Depraved, violent predators like Luis Miguel Dominguez-Barrios and Jose Fernando-Lux Morales have no place in our country," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, vicious criminals who kidnap and sexually assault women will face the consequences for their heinous crimes and will never be allowed to prey on innocent Americans again.” "ICE’s arrest detainers ensure these criminal illegal aliens never walk free on U.S. streets again," McLaughlin added. According to McLaughlin, DHS has arrested more than 359,000 illegal aliens and removed more than 332,000 as of Monday.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [8/20/2025 7:39 PM, Randy Clark, 2608K]

Axios [8/20/2025 6:18 PM, Alayna Alvarez, 14595K] reports Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Denver’s acting city attorney sent letters Tuesday to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi refusing to roll back laws that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Their move defies Bondi’s demand last week that they submit a plan by Tuesday to roll back their "sanctuary" laws — even as she threatens to prosecute state and local officials who won’t comply. Denver’s acting city attorney, Katie McLoughlin, said Denver has "no intention" of changing its practices. Colorado and Denver leaders have resisted the "sanctuary" label but uphold policies that restrict local police from asking about immigration status while still complying with federal law and working with ICE in specific cases. In Bondi’s letter to the governor and Johnston, the attorney general wrote that their policies have "obstructed federal immigration enforcement" for too long, "giving aliens cover to perpetrate crimes in our communities." Bondi referenced President Trump’s order threatening to withhold federal funding from jurisdictions that "obstruct" federal immigration enforcement — something Denver and others are already challenging in court. Identical letters were sent to dozens of other so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, including Boston, Seattle and Portland.

NBC News [8/20/2025 3:10 PM, Minyvonne Burke, 43603K] reports a video posted on social media showed immigration agents yanking Colombian TikToker Tatiana Martinez from her vehicle during an arrest last week. Martinez was detained on Friday in Los Angeles while sitting inside her Tesla. She was streaming on TikTok when federal agents approached her vehicle, according to Newsweek. Footage shows three agents pull Martinez, whose real name is Leidy Tatiana Mafla-Martinez, out of the car and place her facedown on the ground as she screams. In another video, a person yells for someone to call 911 as Martinez lies motionless on the ground. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that Martinez was detained because of a prior conviction of driving under the influence in Los Angeles. McLaughlin said Martinez came to the United States in 2022 and "was RELEASED by the Biden administration.” "Under President Trump and @Sec_Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences," Homeland Security said in a post on X. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the social media videos. Univision [8/20/2025 3:36 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports that the incident occurred on the morning of Friday, August 15, outside the influencer’s residence in Los Angeles. Federal agents approached Martínez’s car, opened the driver’s door, and forcibly removed her. The incident was broadcast live to her more than 37,000 TikTok followers, turning the arrest into a viral event. Following the incident, Martinez was taken to White Memorial Hospital for medical treatment. She was later taken to the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California, according to a CNN report. In an incident that added to the tension surrounding Martínez’s arrest, an ICE vehicle was towed by a tow truck and removed from the scene. Viral images show an agent chasing the vehicle. The act was interpreted on social media as a symbol of resistance to police action. The Colombian influencer’s arrest stemmed from a previous conviction. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek that she will be in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings. Regarding the ICE vehicle towed during the arrest, she commented: “Secretary Noem has been clear: Anyone who attempts to impede law enforcement will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

CBS San Francisco [8/20/2025 7:39 PM, Carlos E. Castañeda, 45245K] reports a man was arrested for alleged sexual assault in Santa Rosa that involved the suspect posing as a police officer and threatening to report the victim to immigration authorities, police said Wednesday. Earlier this month, a woman came to the Santa Rosa Police Department to report she was the victim of a violent sexual assault, police said in a public safety alert and on social media. The woman told officers that in June, she was sleeping in her vehicle on Montgomery Drive near 2nd Street when a man who identified himself as a police officer - wearing a uniform and a badge - threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as he forced his way into her vehicle. The man then sexually assaulted her, the woman told police. The woman said she was scared to report the incident because of the threat of ICE being contacted, but a family member convinced her to file a report, police said. Investigators identified the suspect as 42-year-old Santa Rosa resident Peni Cere, who worked as a uniformed security guard at various locations in the city, often working night shifts. Officers conducted a search and surveillance operation to locate Cere, and at 9:15 p.m. on Aug. 7, officers observed Cere park a vehicle on College Avenue about four blocks away from the location of the sexual assault, police said. Cere was arrested and later booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on suspicion of assault with attempt to commit rape, and threatening arrest or deportation to commit sexual assault. He was being held on $250,000 bail. Police said that based on the boldness of Cere’s alleged actions, and that he identified himself as "police" and threatened to report the victim to ICE, investigators believe there may be more unidentified victims who are too scared to come forward. "SRPD policy goes even further by explicitly prohibiting officers from inquiring about a person’s immigration status or cooperating with ICE enforcement actions," said the department. "Our priority is public safety, and we are here to support every member of our community without fear of deportation or immigration consequences.”

CNN [8/20/2025 12:33 PM, Michael Williams, 23245K] reports the Trump administration is expanding the requirement for immigrants who are hoping to become US citizens to display "good moral character," in a move that some immigration lawyers denounced as a troubling change that adds uncertainty to the naturalization process. US Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security that administers the country’s legal immigration system, directed its officers in a memo last week to more heavily consider both positive and negative "attributes or contributions" of people going through the naturalization process to become US citizens. The memo, which was sent to USCIS officers on Friday, requires them to take a more "holistic approach in evaluating whether or not an alien seeking naturalization has affirmatively established that he or she has met their burden of establishing that they are worthy of assuming the rights and responsibilities of United States Citizenship." The agency said in a statement that the new policy is intended to ensure its officers are accounting more heavily for an immigrant’s positive attributes, rather than simply the "absence of misconduct," to reflect their character. "U.S. citizenship is the gold standard of citizenship—it should only be offered to the world’s best of the best," USCIS spokesperson Matthew J. Tragesser said in a statement. The standard to show good moral character has long been part of the naturalization process in the US. But immigration attorneys told CNN that the memo is designed in a way that places additional burdens on people going through the process.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [8/20/2025 4:36 PM, Eduardo Cuevas, Lauren Villagran, 64151K]
NewsMax [8/20/2025 2:06 PM, Eric Mack, 4779K]

Reuters [8/20/2025 7:03 PM, Kanishka Singh, 45746K] reports President Donald Trump’s administration has said it will assess applicants for U.S. work, study and immigration visas for "anti-Americanism" and count any such finding against them, sparking concern about implications for free speech. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a "policy alert" dated Tuesday that it gave immigration officers new guidance on how to exercise discretion in cases where foreign applicants "support or promote anti-American ideologies or activities" as well as "antisemitic terrorism.” Trump has labeled a range of voices as anti-American, including historians and museums documenting U.S. slavery and pro-Palestinian protesters opposing U.S. ally Israel’s military assault on Gaza. "Anti-American activity will be an overwhelmingly negative factor in any discretionary analysis," USCIS said. "America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies.” The announcement did not define anti-Americanism. But the policy manual refers to a section of federal law about prohibiting naturalization of people "opposed to government or law, or who favor totalitarian forms of government.” The full text mentions supporters of communism or totalitarian regimes and people who advocate overthrow of the U.S. government and violence against government officers, among other factors. USCIS said it expanded the types of applications that have social media vetting, and reviews for "anti-American activity" will be added to that vetting. CBS News [8/20/2025 10:19 AM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 45245K] reports that if officials find applicants have any ties to these groups or share their views, the directive instructs the officials to consider that an "overwhelmingly negative factor" justifying the denial of an application. The policy will affect requests for immigration benefits that are discretionary, meaning that USCIS can deny them even if applicants meet the qualifications outlined in U.S. law. Those cases include many applications for permanent U.S. residency (also known as a green card), work permits and status changes for foreign students. While it wasn’t immediately clear how expansively USCIS will define "anti-American" views and activities, the agency said it would make the determination based on a provision of U.S. immigration law that bans immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens if it is found that they advocate for world communism, totalitarianism, violence against officials or the overthrow of the U.S. government. FOX News [8/20/2025 9:26 AM, Michael Dorgan Fox, 40019K] Video: HERE reports "America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies," USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said. He added that USCIS is committed to implementing policies that root out anti-Americanism and strengthen vetting. "Immigration benefits — including to live and work in the United States — remain a privilege, not a right." While the release offered no clear definition of "anti-Americanism," USCIS referenced the Immigration and Nationality Act, which prohibits people linked to terrorism, antisemitism or "world communism" from gaining citizenship. It noted that officers, when conducting a discretionary analysis, will weigh whether an applicant’s requests were made in line with existing laws and policies. The change comes alongside a wave of new immigration measures in Trump’s second term, including expanded social media vetting and a tougher "good moral character" standard for naturalization. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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Breitbart [8/20/2025 4:06 PM, John Binder, 2608K]
Daily Caller [8/20/2025 10:41 AM, Jason Hopkins, 985K]

Federalist [8/20/2025 12:51 PM, Brianna Lyman, 982K] reports that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Tuesday they are updating their guidance so that radical anti-American foreigners can’t receive a change in their status in the United States — a common sense change long overdue. Days after the USCIS announced updated guidance requiring applicants for citizenship to show they are "worthy" of becoming U.S. citizens, the agency updated its policy for aliens applying for immigration benefits (like work permits, citizenship, green cards) so that officers not only take into account an alien’s compliance with immigration laws, but whether that alien "has endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused the views of a terrorist organization or group, including those who support or promote anti-American ideologies or activities, antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, and antisemitic ideologies." Naturalization already requires an oath of fidelity to the Constitution, so the updated guidance merely reflects the last step in the formal citizenship process, but the usual suspects responded in shock that America would insist newcomers be pro-America if they wish to stay here or pursue citizenship. Senior fellow at American Immigration Council Aaron Reichlin-Melnick posted on X that requiring aliens to support America is now "McCarthyism." Reichlin-Melnick says the term "Anti-America ideologies or activities" "has no prior precedent in immigration law and its definition is entirely up to the Trump admin."

Bloomberg Law [8/20/2025 4:21 PM, Mallory Culhane, 790K] reports a man born in New York who lived and worked in the US for nearly 70 years isn’t a birthright citizen because his father had diplomatic immunity the year he was born, the Ninth Circuit said Wednesday. Although the government "repeatedly recognized" 75-year-old Roberto Moncada as an American citizen, having issued him five passports over the last seven decades, a district court didn’t clearly err in finding that the government’s evidence proves Moncada was immune at the time of his birth, Judge Anthony D. Johnstone wrote for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The ruling comes as President Donald Trump’s administration faces several lawsuits challenging his executive order that denies automatic citizenship to US-born children of noncitizens. The Ninth Circuit in July ruled the order unconstitutional, upholding a preliminary injunction issued by a Seattle federal judge blocking its enforcement. Moncada’s father was working for Nicaragua’s permanent mission to the United Nations in 1950, the year he was born. The US government "repeatedly affirmed" his father’s status as a consul, which wouldn’t confer diplomatic immunity on his children, therefore providing Moncada birthright citizenship, he contends. But the government in 2018 reviewed his father’s diplomatic status, and concluded he’d served as an attaché when Moncada was born. The government revoked Moncada’s passport and informed him he wasn’t a birthright citizen. The "ambiguities and gaps" in official records led to conflicting evidence to be presented to the district court.

Washington Examiner [8/20/2025 12:21 PM, Paul Bedard, 1563K] reports the Trump administration is turning its attention to immigrants who falsely claim to be citizens so that they can seize on key American benefits such as voting, Social Security checks, and even passports. In its latest policy update, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is aligning its vetting process with a 2019 court decision that led to the deportation of a Chinese man who fraudulently bought a proof of citizenship document so he could get a U.S. passport. The update comes a day after USCIS changed other guidance in its policy manual to bar immigration benefits, such as work documents and citizenship, to those pushing anti-American sentiments. The agency is also requiring those it vets to have high "moral character.” While the main focus of the changes being announced on Wednesday is on immigrants hopeful of upgrading their citizenship status, such as students and tourists, the update could have far-reaching implications. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that millions of illegal immigrants have engaged in identity theft and document fraud to claim citizenship benefits. "USCIS is restoring robust screening and vetting processes to detect aliens seeking to defraud or abuse the immigration system, including aliens who make false claims to U.S. citizenship," said spokesman Matthew Tragesser in previewing the change to Washington Secrets. "USCIS is actively increasing public awareness among aliens and the public about the consequences of committing immigration fraud. Aliens who use false information or deceitful practices to unfairly obtain immigration advantages will face serious consequences," he added.

Reuters [8/20/2025 5:06 PM, Daniel Wiessner, 45746K] reports a federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a bid by the administration of Republican President Donald Trump to bar Illinois from restricting employers’ use of a federal program that electronically verifies eligibility to work in the United States. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman on Tuesday said an Illinois law imposing a series of requirements on employers who use E-Verify falls within the state’s power to regulate employment and does not interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration laws. Coleman denied the administration’s motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the law, which took effect in January, and granted a motion by Illinois to dismiss the case. The Illinois law, called the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act, bans employers from using the program to check the immigration status of existing employees and requires them to post notices about E-Verify in the workplace. It also requires employers to notify workers when federal authorities are conducting an audit of their immigration status and allow them to address any discrepancies in their paperwork. The Trump administration in its lawsuit claimed that because the law discourages employers from using E-Verify, it disrupts federal immigration enforcement and is preempted by federal law. Coleman on Tuesday said that argument was "broad to the point of absurdity." If the administration were correct, it would mean that states also could not mandate the use of E-Verify and that various other state employment laws that have been upheld by courts would be invalid, she said.

USA Today [8/20/2025 1:10 PM, Adam Powell and Lauren Villagran, 64151K] reports that the Trump administration is painting the U.S.-Mexico border fence black to make the steel so hot migrants won’t climb it. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unveiled the plans Aug. 19 in a news conference in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, while workers ran paint rollers up the steel bollards behind her. When asked about the possibility that critics might call the heat-inducing paint job cruel, Noem said: "Don’t touch it." Noem said the request to paint it black came from President Donald Trump. "Too high to climb. Too narrow to squeeze through. And now, at the President’s direction, it will be painted black – so hot to the touch that criminal illegal aliens won’t even try," Noem said in a post on X. As USA TODAY has previously reported, hundreds of miles of 30-foot barrier at the border already pose a deadly threat to migrants who attempt to scale the fence. Still, thousands of migrants have tried since President Donald Trump ordered construction of the 30-foot barrier during his first term. Noem didn’t tell reporters how much the paint job will cost. She praised Trump’s war on illegal immigration, which Noem said has resulted in "the most secure border in our nation’s history.” Migrant apprehensions have plummeted to fewer than 8,000 in July, compared with more than 104,000 during the same month a year ago, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In El Paso Sector, which includes West Texas and New Mexico, interim Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar said the seven-day average for apprehensions currently sits at around nine, compared with around 400 at the same time last year.

(B) 9/10 News at Noon [8/20/2025 12:05 PM, Staff] reports that the Department of Homeland Security plans to paint the steel wall along the southern border black. Secretary Kristi Noem announced Tuesday that President Trump made the request for it to be painted. She said it is an effort to make the wall too hot to climb during warm weather. The chief of the US Border Patrol added that the black paint will also prevent rust on the wall but did not say how much it could cost to paint.

FOX News [8/20/2025 9:25 PM, Staff, 40019K] reports DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin explains the benefits of painting the border wall black on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [8/20/2025 5:38 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1563K] reports the miles of steel slats along the southern border are getting a fresh coat of paint meant to disincentivize would-be crossers, drawing praise from Republicans and new criticism from Democrats. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced while in New Mexico this week that President Donald Trump had instructed her to paint the "entire" reddish brown wall black to make the beams hotter and more difficult for climbers to scale. The Trump administration’s plan to paint the beams was met with strong support from Republican lawmakers in Washington. Not all lawmakers support Trump’s paint project, however. The idea of painting the slatted beams, which range from 18 to 30 feet tall, is not new. In May 2020, amid the pandemic, Trump reportedly told his advisers that painting them would make the steel hotter and that he preferred "matte black." The project was said to cost around $500 million. On Tuesday, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks said during a press conference in New Mexico that painting it black would also prevent the steel beams from rusting in the open elements.

Bloomberg Law [8/20/2025 5:18 PM, Christopher Yasiejko, 790K] reports US Customs and Border Protection unlawfully let Apple Inc. reactivate a blood-oxygen tracking feature on Apple Watches that infringes patents for the technology, Masimo Corp. said in a federal lawsuit. CBP exceeded its authority in an Aug. 1 internal advice ruling that overturned its own January decision without notice or input from Masimo, the medical-device maker said in a complaint filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Masimo brought claims under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause. Apple announced Aug. 14 that software updates would restore the blood-oxygen feature for US Apple Watch owners by shifting calculations to paired iPhones rather than the watch itself. Masimo said that was the first time it learned CBP had quietly reversed course two weeks earlier in an ex parte ruling, despite the agency’s policy that such decisions normally require both sides to be heard. The feature has been banned on US Apple Watches since the US International Trade Commission in October 2023 found it infringes claims in two Masimo patents. Masimo’s complaint notes the timing of Apple investment pledges around CBP’s Aug. 1 ruling. Masimo on Wednesday also asked the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block enforcement of CBP’s Aug. 1 ruling. The company wants to restore the January decision, reached after a proceeding in which both Apple and Masimo participated, that allowed imports only if the oxygen-tracking function was disabled. Masimo said the reversal "effectively nullified" an October 2023 limited exclusion order from the ITC, which found Apple Watches infringe US Patent Nos. 10,912,502 and 10,945,648 covering non-invasive pulse oximetry. Apple’s appeal of the ban is pending at the Federal Circuit.

Daily Caller [8/20/2025 2:01 PM, Jason Hopkins, 985K] reports that an Indian national will face jail time and deportation after leading an illegal migrant smuggling scheme that ended horribly. Aryan Deshwal, a 21-year-old man from India, pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and five counts of alien smuggling, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Deshwal attempted to smuggle five illegal migrants from Canada into the country in November 2024, but totaled his vehicle when fleeing from Border Patrol agents, leaving his passengers hospitalized. "This case illustrates the dangers of alien smuggling, and how smuggling networks put people and federal agents in harm’s way for profit," Acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone said in a public statement. "Aryan Deshwal endangered the lives of the illegal aliens he picked up, the Border Patrol agents who were trying to stop him, and other people on the road," Sarcone continued. "Thankfully, he was arrested, prosecuted and will be held accountable for his crimes." Deshwal picked up five individuals on Nov. 21, 2024, who had just unlawfully crossed the U.S.-Canada border, according to federal prosecutors. When Border Patrol attempted to pull him over, he instead chose to speed away, leading agents on a pursuit. The Indian national eventually lost control of his vehicle, causing it to flip several times and land on its side before catching fire. All of the occupants, including Deshwal, were taken to a nearby hospital in New York State, according to the DOJ. One of the passengers required emergency surgery due to the severity of their injuries.

New York Times [8/21/2025 1:00 AM, Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Mark Bonamo, 153395K] reports federal officers detained dozens of immigrant workers at a warehouse in Edison, N.J., on Wednesday in what appeared to be among the largest federal raids in the state since President Trump took office. The hourslong operation was conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, whose officers arrived at the warehouse along a busy stretch of shipping facilities west of New York City about 9 a.m. The federal officers arrested 29 people, according to the Edison mayor’s office, which said that the township’s Police Department had been notified that the Department of Homeland Security, which runs the customs agency, would be in the area on Wednesday. The purpose of the operation remained unclear on Wednesday night, and it was unclear if other federal agencies had been involved. The Department of Homeland Security and the Customs and Border Protection agency did not reply to requests for comment. A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told Univision that the agency had carried out “a surprise inspection” of the warehouse. The agency also told Univision that the operation was part of routine customs enforcement efforts, not specifically immigration-related, but that officers had checked the immigration status of workers

Detroit Free Press [8/20/2025 4:40 PM, Natalie Davies, 3744K] reports eleven pounds of rodent meat and 52 pounds of primate meat were intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in July, according to the federal agency. The two separate instances of bushmeat, meat from wild animals such as monkeys and rats, were encountered within days of each other in late July, according to a CBP news release. The rodent meat arrived with a traveler from the West African country Togo, and the primate meat, which was declared as antelope, arrived with a traveler from the Central African nation of Gabon, according the news release. Customs seized the meat and turned it over to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each traveler was fined $300 for the undeclared agricultural items, according to the news release. CBP Public Affairs Officer Youseff Fawaz said CBP intercepts bushmeat at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport about once every few weeks, an uptick from last year when it would happen about once a month. Fawaz said intercepting bushmeat is more common in the summertime. There have been about 24 instances of bushmeat since October, the start of the federal fiscal year, Fawaz said.

USA Today [8/20/2025 5:52 PM, Kathleen Wong, 64151K] reports the TSA is piloting eGates, an automated biometric system, to speed up security checkpoints. The system compares travelers’ biometrics to their ID and boarding pass, eliminating the need for manual checks by TSA officers. Called eGates, these new security checkpoint features automatically compare someone’s biometrics against their identification document and boarding pass instead of by a Transportation Security Administration officer at the podium, according to a news release by the agency on Aug. 19. The new pilot program is meant to streamline the airport security screening process, including "enhancing efficiency and security," the release continued. Under the new modernization program, travelers will scan their boarding pass and walk up to the eGate, which scans their face. Once cleared, they go directly to the bag screening. "eGates accomplish several objectives toward achieving Secretary Noem’s goal to enhance TSA security and hospitality," said TSA Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl in a statement. "This includes creating a seamless, less invasive traveler experience and shorter wait times at TSA security checkpoints." The eGates are currently being piloted in partnership with CLEAR – a privately run program that already uses biometrics to expedite travelers’ security screening – and is only available to CLEAR+ members at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), where it launched earlier this month. TSA has complete operational control over the eGates, with CLEAR only transmitting limited data, like a live photo and boarding pass, the company said in a news release.

(B) NBC News Daily [8/20/2025 3:14 PM, Staff] reports that a program called eGates is being rolled out at America’s busiest airport in Atlanta. It uses facial recognition and biometrics to move passengers through screenings and let them bypass the TSA podium. At this time, the plans are only for this to be an opt-in for people who are CLEAR+ members. CLEAR says they do not share any private information with third parties or other government agencies. TSA is the only entity that has control over whether or not people get through these checkpoints.

Bloomberg [8/20/2025 13:37 PM, Lauren Rosenthal, 19085K] reports Hurricane Erin is triggering dangerous beach conditions across much of the US East Coast that will likely last into the weekend, as the storm pushes north in the waning days of the summer travel season. Erin is not currently forecast to make landfall in the eastern US or Canada. But the storm has created a high risk of powerful and potentially deadly currents this week at popular vacation destinations, including Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts, the Hamptons on Long Island and Delaware’s Rehoboth Beach. Heavy winds and waves up to 20 feet (6 meters) tall are possible in the worst-hit areas before beginning to calm on Saturday. Erin — which was 335 miles (540 kilometers) southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as of Wednesday afternoon — is creating massive disturbances in the Atlantic Ocean that will take days to subside. Tropical storm-strength winds now extend for hundreds of miles from Erin’s eye, triggering widespread warnings off the Eastern seaboard. The hurricane was a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale Wednesday with top winds of 110 mph (175 kph). “Beachgoers are cautioned against swimming at most U.S. East Coast beaches due to life-threatening surf and rip currents,” said Richard Pasch, a forecaster with the US National Hurricane Center, in an update Wednesday at 2 p.m. local time.

New York Times [8/20/2025 5:34 PM, Michael Levenson and Judson Jones, 143795K] reports powerful rip currents unleashed by Hurricane Erin this week are forcing beaches from Florida to New England to close or to issue warnings that even strong swimmers who venture into the water could be swept out to sea. The National Weather Service on Wednesday urged people not to swim at most East Coast beaches because of life-threatening surf and rip currents generated by the hurricane, which was churning over the Atlantic Ocean, 370 miles off Cape Hatteras, N.C. The Weather Service warned of a high risk of rip currents all the way from Miami to Montauk, on the east end of Long Island in New York, with a low to moderate risk along the New England coast as far north as Camden, Maine. Officials have banned swimming at beaches in New York City, New Jersey, Delaware and North Carolina, where Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, and where more than 1,000 people have evacuated the Outer Banks. Even beaches far from the brunt of the storm, in places like Scituate, Mass., have closed. In Seaside Heights, N.J., which is usually teeming with people in late August, swimming was prohibited on Wednesday, and lifeguards were patrolling the shore to make sure no one was in the water. “For swimming, it’s absolutely tremendously dangerous, between the storm and the northeast wind,” said Hugh Boyd, the town’s chief lifeguard. “Don’t even think about going into the ocean, even if you’re a good swimmer. This isn’t the ocean for that. We won’t let our own guards go in at this point.”

AP [8/21/2025 2:15 AM, Allen G. Breed and John Seewer, 27036K] reports Hurricane Erin battered North Carolina’s Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes as the monster storm inched closer to the mid-Atlantic coast. Forecasters predicted the storm would peak Thursday and said it could regain strength and once again become a major hurricane, or Category 3 or greater, but it was not forecast to make landfall along the East Coast before turning farther out to sea. Tropical storm conditions were anticipated over parts of the Outer Banks and the coast of Virginia, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported. In Bermuda, residents and tourists were told to stay out of the water with rough seas expected through Friday. As Erin’s outer bands brushed the Outer Banks, water poured onto the main route connecting the barrier islands and a handful of stilted homes precariously perched above the beach. By Wednesday evening officials had closed Highway 12 on Hatteras Island as the surge increased and waves grew higher. Ocracoke Island’s connection to its ferry terminal was cut off. Authorities predicted that the largest swells during high tide would cut off villages and homes on the Outer Banks and whip up life-threatening rip currents from Florida to New England. Authorities closed beaches to swimming Wednesday and Thursday in New York City, and some others in New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware were temporarily off-limits. Widespread, moderate coastal flooding was forecast for low-lying areas of Long Island and parts of New York City. Off Massachusetts, Nantucket Island could see waves of more than 10 feet (3 meters) later this week. But the biggest threat remained along the Outer Banks where longtime residents didn’t seem too concerned. Despite beach closures elsewhere, some swimmers continued to ignore the warnings. Rescuers saved more than a dozen people caught in rip currents Tuesday at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina, a day after more than 80 people were rescued. A combination of fierce winds and huge waves estimated at about 20 feet (6.1 meters) could cause coastal flooding in many beachfront communities, North Carolina officials warned. "Dangerous conditions can be felt far from the eye, especially with a system as large as Erin," said Will Ray, the state’s emergency management director.

Houston Chronicle [8/20/2025 5:53 PM, Dug Begley, 2356K] reports federal officials are closing two of the four local offices offering aid to those affected by the July 4 Hill Country floods, leaving two offices open as thousands wait on aid claims to be approved and paid. The office in Burnet will close permanently at 7 p.m. on Thursday, according to a news release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, while the Kerrville office will be shuttered at 7 p.m. Friday. The closures leave two FEMA offices open — in Hunt and San Angelo, down from seven on Aug. 13, when the Leander office closed. The office in Georgetown closed on Aug. 16 and the San Saba location shuttered Aug. 18. People have until Sept. 4 to apply for aid as either homeowners or renters in Burnet, Guadalupe, Kerr, Kimble, McCulloch, Menard, San Saba, Tom Green, Travis and Williamson counties. As of Aug. 16, residents in the 10 counties eligible for aid have filed nearly 7,700 applications for assistance, according to a Hearst Texas analysis of pending and approved claims. Of those, about 5,000 have had the inspections needed to assess damages. 3,020 have been approved, either for assistance with a home repair or rebuild, or other needs such as replacing personal property.

AP [8/20/2025 6:14 PM, Heather Hollingsworth] reports on Wednesday, McCown joined other Camp Mystic parents, some wearing buttons memorializing "Heaven’s 27," in demanding that Texas lawmakers pass a bill that would boost camp safety, including generally keeping cabins out of flood plains, instituting new requirements for emergency plans and mandating weather radios. Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July, destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. All told, at least 136 people died, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong. County leaders were asleep or out of town. The head of Camp Mystic had been tracking the weather beforehand, but it’s now unclear whether he saw an urgent warning from the National Weather Service that had triggered an emergency alert to phones in the area, a spokesperson for camp’s operators said in the immediate aftermath. Some of the camp’s buildings — which flooded — were in what the Federal Emergency Management Agency considered a 100-year flood plain. But in response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county’s flood map to remove 15 of the camp’s buildings from the hazard area. Texas State Sen. Charles Perry described the proposed legislation as a "legacy to the loss" and an answer to what has been learned during hours of public testimony. He said it’s dubbed the "Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act.”

CNN [8/20/2025 2:11 PM, Nicquel Terry Ellis, 23245K] Video: HERE reports Michael McCown sent his 8-year-old daughter Linnie to a summer camp in central Texas trusting she would be safe. But that trust was tragically broken when Linnie and at least 26 other campers and counselors were killed after a catastrophic flood swept through Camp Mystic on July 4. On Wednesday, McCown and several other parents of children who were at the nearly century-old camp for girls, which largely sits in a flood-prone area, sat before a Texas state Senate committee and called for stronger safety standards at youth camps in Texas. "We did not send Linnie to a war zone; we sent her to camp," said McGown, who remembered his daughter for her gentle, playful manner. "No parent should ever go through what we are living through now.” It was the first time many of the parents spoke publicly about the death of their children and the lack of sufficient safety measures to prevent their deaths. At the hearing, the parents testified on Senate Bill 1, which aims to improve safety for youth camps across the state. Among the bill’s provisions are a requirement for camps to have emergency rooftop ladders in every cabin in the floodplain and flash flood evacuation plans. It also seeks to create a line of succession for local officials in the event they are absent when disaster strikes and to streamline how justices of peace report deaths.

Federal News Network [8/20/2025 3:10 PM, Michele Sandiford, 1147K] reports the Federal Protective Service would be required to establish emergency communication guidance to help safeguard federal employees and buildings under a bipartisan bill in the Senate. The Federal Building Threat Notification Act would require FPS to firm up protocols around informing building tenants of potential violent threats, including weapons threats and suspicious devices. The bill would also require FPS to periodically test its emergency protocols. The legislation comes amid an uptick in the number of terrorist attacks and plots against government targets, including bomb threats. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

NewsNation [8/20/2025 6:30 PM, Jane Alvarez-Wertz, 6811K] reports a Navy pilot is recovering after ejecting from an F/A-18E Super Hornet Wednesday morning off the coast of Virginia. LT Jackie Parashar, a public affairs officer for Naval Air Force Atlantic, confirmed to NewsNation local affiliate WAVY the mishap took place just before 10 a.m. The pilot, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83, was conducting a routine training flight at the time, the Navy said. The squadron is based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. The pilot ejected and the plane crashed into the water. The Navy has not indicated yet what led to the crash. Search and rescue crews responded and located the pilot at 11:21 a.m. Dale Gauding, a spokesperson for Sentara, confirmed the Coast Guard brought a Navy pilot to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Wednesday. The F/A-18E remains in the water at this time. The Navy said the cause of the mishap is under investigation. This is the latest in a series of crashes involving Hampton Roads-based Navy fighter jets. In May, an F/A-18F Super Hornet was lost in the Red Sea after it went over the Norfolk-based USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier during an attempted landing, and crashed into the sea. Both pilots ejected. About a week earlier, another fighter jet, an F/A-18E, also fell from the Truman into the Red Sea while sailors were towing the aircraft.

(B) NBC News Daily [8/20/2025 2:34 PM, Staff] reports that four sisters are safe after a harrowing rescue on Lake Superior courtesy of the US Coast Guard. It happened over the weekend when the young girls were trapped on a rocky island into the midnight hours. Rough weather made a rescue by boat impossible. The closest helicopter equipped for such a mission was in Traverse City, Michigan, two and a half hours away.

NBC News [8/21/2025 3:40 AM, Chloe Yang, 43603K] reports a fire aboard a U.S. warship was declared extinguished early Thursday, 12 hours after it started off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, with two sailors being treated for minor injuries. The blaze on the USS New Orleans began around 4 p.m. Wednesday local time (3 a.m. ET) as the 684-foot amphibious transport dock ship was anchored near the White Beach Naval Facility, the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, it said. Sailors battling the flames received assistance from the crew of the USS San Diego, a similar ship moored nearby, along with the Japanese military and coast guard. The Navy said the crew will remain on the USS New Orleans, which was commissioned in 2007 and can carry as many as 800 personnel. The incident comes five years after a devastating blaze consumed the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego, injuring more than 60 sailors and civilians. A sailor who was accused of intentionally setting fire to the $1.2 billion warship was acquitted in 2022. The fire, which burned for five days in July 2020, prompted a Navy investigation that found widespread failures in leadership and training.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [8/21/2025 3:29 AM, Yan Zhuang, 330K]
The Hill [8/20/2025 11:12 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12414K]
AP [8/20/2025 6:59 PM, Staff, 37974K]

Reuters [8/20/2025 5:25 PM, A.J. Vicens, 45746K] reports hackers associated with some of Russia’s most prolific cyber espionage units have over the last year been leveraging a vulnerability in older Cisco software to target thousands of networking devices associated with critical infrastructure IT systems, the FBI and Cisco said on Wednesday. Hackers working within the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Center 16 are extracting "device configuration information en masse, which can later be leveraged as needed based on then-current strategic goals and interests of the Russian government," Cisco Talos researchers Sara McBroom and Brandon White wrote in a threat advisory published to the company’s blog. In a separate advisory, the FBI said that over the last year it had detected the hackers collecting configuration files "for thousands of networking devices associated with U.S. entities across critical infrastructure sectors.” In some cases the configuration files are modified to enable long-term access for the hackers, who use that access to conduct reconnaissance in targeted networks, with a particular interest in industrial control systems. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. Moscow denies conducting cyber espionage operations. The hackers are exploiting a seven-year-old vulnerability in Cisco IOS software, targeting unpatched and end-of-life network devices, according to a separate threat advisory published on Wednesday by Cisco Talos, Cisco’s threat intelligence research unit.

Reuters [8/20/2025 6:49 PM, Staff, 45746K] reports Microsoft (MSFT.O) said on Wednesday it has scaled back some Chinese companies’ access to its early warning system for cybersecurity vulnerabilities following speculation that Beijing was involved in a hacking campaign against the company’s widely used SharePoint servers. The new restrictions come in the wake of last month’s sweeping hacking attempts against Microsoft SharePoint servers, at least some of which Microsoft and others have blamed on Beijing. That raised suspicions among several cybersecurity experts that there was a leak in the Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP), which Microsoft uses to help security vendors worldwide, including in China, to learn about cyber threats before the general public so they can better defend against hackers. Beijing has denied involvement in any SharePoint hacking.

DefenseScoop [8/20/2025 7:15 PM, Brandi Vincent, 150K] reports the powerful “Rapper Bot” Distributed Denial of Service-for-hire botnet impacted the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN) in at least three attacks between April and August — when U.S. government authorities gained control of the disruptive malware web, two officials told DefenseScoop. Federal prosecutors in Alaska charged 22-year-old Ethan Foltz on Tuesday for allegedly running the large-scale cyber operation since before or around 2021. Authorities ranked Rapper Bot as “among the most powerful DDoS botnets to have ever existed,” in the affidavit for the criminal complaint. On a call with a small group of reporters shortly after the announcement, sources familiar with this investigation who requested anonymity to speak freely about it, shared new details about this massive online extortion campaign that targeted victims all over the world — including a U.S. government network, a popular social media platform and multiple technology companies. “The Department of Defense, [and] specifically the defense industrial base, is one of the 16 critical infrastructures listed by the United States, which means we’re a big target. We get targeted by DDoS and botnet services all time. We have a very robust network defense team that handles that,” an official said.

CyberScoop [8/20/2025 11:11 AM, Greg Otto] reports a Russian state-sponsored espionage group has been systematically compromising network devices worldwide for over a decade, exploiting a seven-year-old vulnerability to steal sensitive data and establish persistent access to organizations across multiple sectors, according to new research from Cisco Talos Intelligence. The group, designated “Static Tundra” by Cisco Talos, is linked to the Russian Federal Security Service’s Center 16 unit and operates as a likely sub-cluster of the broader “Energetic Bear” threat group. The operation represents one of the most persistent network device compromise campaigns documented to date, with the group maintaining undetected access to victim systems for multiple years. According to the researchers, the group has been leveraging CVE-2018-0171, a vulnerability in Cisco IOS software’s Smart Install feature that was patched when initially disclosed in 2018. Despite the availability of patches, the group continues to find success targeting organizations that have left devices unpatched or are running end-of-life equipment that cannot be updated. The vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected devices or trigger denial-of-service conditions.

FOX News [8/20/2025 3:50 PM, Jasmine Baehr and Liz Friden, 40019K] reports the U.S. military carried out a raid in northern Syria on Tuesday, killing a senior ISIS figure who had been poised to become the group’s next leader in the country, a U.S. official told Fox News. A key ISIS financial official was also killed in the operation, the official said, noting that both men had been actively planning attacks in Syria and Iraq. No U.S. forces were injured. On the background of a U.S. official to Fox News, the raid was described as a "successful operation" targeting a senior ISIS member assessed to be a strong candidate to assume the role of ISIS Syria Emir, a position that would have posed a direct threat to U.S. and Coalition forces as well as the new Syrian government. No civilians were injured or killed, and there were no injuries to U.S. or Coalition forces.

FOX News [8/20/2025 6:18 PM, Brooke Singman, 40019K] reports Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced a transformation of the agency Wednesday that will cut the "bloated" ODNI by more than 40% by the end of the year and save taxpayers more than $700 million annually, all while executing its core national security and intelligence mission "in the most agile, effective, and efficient way.” Gabbard, on Wednesday, announced what she described as a "long-overdue" transformation, that will refocus ODNI and eliminate offices that were involved in the politicization of intelligence. "Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence," Gabbard said. "ODNI and the IC must make serious changes to fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the U.S. Constitution by focusing on our core mission: find the truth and provide objective, unbiased, timely intelligence to the President and policymakers. Ending the weaponization of intelligence and holding bad actors accountable are essential to begin to earn the American people’s trust which has long been eroded.” Gabbard said that "under President Trump’s leadership, ODNI 2.0 is the start of a new era focused on serving our country, fulfilling our core national security mission with excellence, always grounded in the U.S. Constitution, and ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people.” ODNI was first created after the 9/11 terror attacks and exposed systemic failures across the intelligence community. ODNI’s purpose was to integrate intelligence from and provide oversight over all intelligence community elements in order to ensure the intelligence provided to the president and policymakers was "timely, accurate, and apolitical.” "Unfortunately, two decades later, ODNI has fallen short in fulfilling its mandate," an ODNI spokesperson said.

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New York Times [8/20/2025 6:17 PM, Julian E. Barnes, 143795K] reports Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, announced on Wednesday that she would reorganize her office, eliminating the National Defense University and shrinking the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which tracked efforts by adversarial countries to manipulate U.S. elections. The moves, shared with Congress in a memo, are part of an effort to fulfill Ms. Gabbard’s vow to shrink her office, something Republican lawmakers have pressed her to accomplish. But Ms. Gabbard has also framed the changes as part of her campaign to crush “the deep state,” a term she has used to describe civil servants and appointees from previous administrations that she sees as opposed to President Trump’s policies. The Foreign Malign Influence Center, created by Congress in 2022, coordinates efforts across intelligence agencies to monitor threats to elections and public debate. During the last election, intelligence officials held regular briefings to warn of attempts by Russia and other countries to manipulate the vote in the United States. The center also issued warnings about deepfake videos that spread false information about Vice President Kamala Harris, and about videos from Russia that sought to spread false claims about damaged ballots and illegal voting. But Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s election-defense efforts, saying that its attempts to counter foreign disinformation curtailed the free speech rights of conservatives. Early in the second Trump administration, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency shut down its election-defense efforts, while Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the F.B.I. to dismantle its malign influence task force. Even though the Foreign Malign Influence Center was created long after the 2016 presidential election, Ms. Gabbard has been deeply critical in recent weeks of its examination that year of Russian election interference. She has said the 2016 assessment was flawed, and has accused Obama administration officials of a “treasonous conspiracy,” comments that have earned Mr. Trump’s praise. Because the center was created by Congress, it is difficult for Ms. Gabbard to eliminate it outright. Instead, the memo said she would fold its operations into another part of her office, called Mission Integration, that oversees national intelligence officers.

NewsMax [8/20/2025 2:02 PM, Mark Swanson, 4779K] reports that the acting director of the National Security Agency tried to save one of his top scientists from having his security clearance revoked by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Lt. Gen. William J. Hartman beseeched Gabbard on behalf of Vinh Nguyen, who was one of 37 current and former national security officials to have their clearance yanked by Gabbard on Tuesday, but was rebuffed, according to the Times. Nguyen is recognized as an expert in artificial intelligence and advanced mathematics. In a statement posted on X, Gabbard said the action followed direction from President Donald Trump. She stated that those affected had "abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards." At issue is that Nguyen is linked to a whistleblower who said he was instructed to abandon "further investigation" into whether Trump was communicating with Russia in 2016 through a secret server shared by Alfa Bank of Russia and Trump Tower in Manhattan, RealClearInvestigations reported earlier this month. The whistleblower said he was told by his boss, reported to be Nguyen, to stop investigating when the analyst found little to no evidence supporting collusion. Hearing that Nguyen’s name was going to be among those affected, Hartman had asked Gabbard to see the evidence against Nguyen but was denied, the Times reported.

Washington Post [8/20/2025 8:05 PM, Cate Brown, 29079K] reports the United States imposed new sanctions against members of the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, targeting two judges and two prosecutors over investigations into alleged U.S. and Israeli war crimes. The measures expand a sanctions campaign that began shortly after Trump’s return to office, resuming his first-term fight against the ICC. Since February, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on six judges, as well as Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, and his two deputies. The sanctions effectively freeze the U.S. assets of the ICC officials and bar them from entering the country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the court a “national security threat” in a statement Wednesday. He said the officials were placed under sanctions for their work to “investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel” without the consent of either nation. Trump’s latest sanctions campaign stems from actions that date back to his first term. In 2020, the ICC appeals chamber unanimously voted to authorize an investigation into alleged crimes committed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan government forces and U.S. troops since May 2003, provoking U.S. sanctions against ICC officials. And in 2024, the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas officials, drawing condemnation from Israeli leaders and the Biden administration. The Trump administration has said that the ICC has no jurisdiction over U.S. or Israeli officials because neither country is party to the Rome Statute, the 2002 treaty that established the ICC. ICC officials maintain that the court is authorized to investigate alleged crimes committed in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories because both have ratified the treaty. Countries that are party to the Rome Statute are obliged to act on ICC arrest warrants. The fresh batch of designations comes amid escalating international and domestic pressure for Israel to end the war in Gaza as Israeli troops prepare to advance into Gaza City.

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The Hill [8/20/2025 4:57 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 12414K] reports two German fighter jets were dispatched to Romania’s border with Ukraine on Tuesday in response to Russian attacks in the region. Moscow targeted Ukrainian ports on the Danube River, according to Romania’s Ministry of National Defense. However, no intrusions from Russian forces were detected during the German mission. "The close cooperation with Allies throughout the enhanced Air Policing Missions strengthens Romania’s defense capability and contributes to NATO’s deterrence and defense posture on the eastern flank," Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said in a Wednesday statement. Despite these escalations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Monday warned NATO leaders against deploying troops in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Russia hit civilian infrastructure in Ukraine’s Ismail region near Romania. Defense officials deployed two Romanian F-16 fighter jets in response to the assault’s close proximity. In recent weeks, NATO leaders have increased pressure on the Kremlin as its war with Ukraine continues past its three-year mark. European leaders met with President Trump at the White House this week alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an attempt to solidify peace in the region.

New York Times [8/20/2025 6:50 PM, Luke Broadwater and Maggie Haberman, 143795K] reports there was a time when Marco Rubio regarded President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as a “gangster,” a “war criminal” and a “thug.” By his own admission, Mr. Rubio, now President Trump’s secretary of state and national security adviser, has since undergone a transformation on foreign policy. Once quick to criticize the wing of the Republican Party skeptical of foreign interventions and those who would seek accommodation with Russia, Mr. Rubio began adapting to Mr. Trump’s views years ago. He is now helping steer the administration through fitful negotiations with the Kremlin to bring an end to the bloody assault on Ukraine begun by Mr. Putin. Mr. Trump has now delegated to Mr. Rubio an especially tricky job: negotiating with European leaders to produce proposed security guarantees for Ukraine. It is perhaps the highest-profile role Mr. Rubio has taken on. It will require him to balance Mr. Trump’s insistence that no American troops be stationed in Ukraine against the need to reassure President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine that his country will have backup should Mr. Putin violate any peace deal and attack again. Mr. Rubio will have to persuade the Europeans that the mercurial Mr. Trump will stick to his commitment to help them defend Ukraine without doing so under the banner of NATO. And even though Mr. Trump asserted recently that Mr. Putin had accepted Ukraine’s need for security guarantees, Mr. Putin’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that Russia would insist on being part of any security plan for Ukraine, making the process of creating a proposal that could lead to a peace deal that much more fraught. Mr. Rubio will lead what a senior administration official called “sensitive diplomatic conversations” with counterparts from Ukraine and other European allies. The national security advisers from those countries plan to meet on Thursday with Mr. Rubio, according to one person familiar with the plans.An administration official said the talks would determine “what the security guarantees could look like” before a potential meeting between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Putin. A security guarantee could encompass a wide range of issues. In return for Russia ending its invasion, a security pact could include a pledge of U.S. air support for any European-led operations should Russian troops resume their assault. It could comprise a pledge of U.S. assistance in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to support missions in Ukraine and a naval force to keep the Black Sea, including access to the Danube, from falling under Russia’s domain. And it could address how to ensure that any security guarantees would be legally binding, including whether they would need congressional approval. “From a European perspective, I think everyone is quite happy that Rubio is leading the working group, because he’s definitely perceived as the one who is most competent to come up with something that could actually work,” said Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Reuters [8/20/2025 9:09 PM, Kanishka Singh, 45746K] reports U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that European countries will have to pay the "lion’s share" of costs for Ukraine’s security guarantees. President Donald Trump wants to strike a peace deal to end Russia’s 3-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine. One of Ukraine’s priorities is security guarantees against Russian aggression. Trump has said he will not put U.S. troops on the ground there but could offer U.S. air support. European countries have formed a "coalition of the willing" that would commit forces to guarantee Ukraine’s security. With Trump testy about billions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Ukraine so far, the White House has said Washington will not continue "writing blank checks" to fund Kyiv’s defense. Trump wants to shift more responsibility for the costs to European allies. "I don’t think we should carry the burden here.... The president certainly expects Europe to play the leading role here," Vance told Fox News’ "The Ingraham Angle" show. "No matter what form this takes, the Europeans are going to have to take the lion’s share of the burden. It’s their continent, its their security, and the president has been very clear - they are going to have to step up here."

New York Times [8/20/2025 1:46 PM, Anton Troianovski, 143795K] reports Russia’s top diplomat on Wednesday said the country would insist on being a part of any future security guarantees for Ukraine, a condition that European and Ukrainian officials widely see as absurd. It was the clearest sign yet that enormous gaps remain in the negotiations over a possible end to Russia’s invasion. And it added to the uncertainty over how a European effort to rally a “coalition of the willing” to protect a postwar Ukraine, possibly with Western soldiers stationed inside the country, would fit into President Trump’s plans for a peace deal with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. “Seriously discussing issues of ensuring security without the Russian Federation is a utopia, a road to nowhere,” Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, told reporters in Moscow after a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart. Kyiv’s supporters largely dismiss the idea that Russia could be a part of ensuring Ukraine’s future security, given that it launched its military intervention there in 2014 and its full-scale invasion in 2022. But Mr. Lavrov signaled that Mr. Putin had not budged from his insistence on having a decisive say over Ukraine’s future sovereignty as part of any peace deal. “We cannot agree that now it is proposed that security issues, collective security, be resolved without the Russian Federation,” Mr. Lavrov said. “This will not work.” The Trump administration has trumpeted a breakthrough in talks with Russia this month, claiming that Mr. Putin had accepted a proposal for the West to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as strong as Article 5 of the NATO charter, which stipulates that an attack on one alliance member is considered an attack on all. Mr. Trump said on Monday that Mr. Putin had “agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine,” calling it a “very significant step.” Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for Mr. Trump, said that Mr. Putin had made the “game-changing” concession of letting the United States and Europe offer “Article 5-like protection” to Ukraine. The Kremlin has long said it is open to offers of such guarantees for Ukraine from foreign countries. But with a catch: Russia, the Russian government says, should be one of the guarantors, and no Western troops should be based in Ukraine. Those caveats remain in place, Mr. Lavrov indicated on Wednesday. He said that the kind of security guarantee for Ukraine that Russia would accept was of the sort that Russia and Ukraine were negotiating when they held peace talks in the early months of the war in 2022. The draft peace treaty that Russia and Ukraine negotiated at the time, which they never finalized before talks fell apart, would have banned Ukraine from entering into military alliances like NATO or allowing foreign troops to be based on its territory. It stipulated that a group of “guarantor states” — including Britain, China, the United States, France and Russia itself — would come to Ukraine’s defense if it were attacked again.

Washington Post [8/20/2025 7:02 PM, Cat Zakrzewski, Catherine Belton and Michael Birnbaum, 29079K] reports just days after the White House celebrated splashy summits with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine as foreign policy victories, the Kremlin signaled Wednesday that its position has barely budged, making clear the challenges facing President Donald Trump as he seeks a peace deal. Since the summits, Trump repeatedly has touted security guarantees for Ukraine that, he said, could include France and other European countries providing “boots on the ground” in Ukraine. And the White House said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russian officials on Wednesday spoke against both of those ideas. “The brainless Gallic rooster can’t let go of the idea of sending troops to ‘Ukraine,’” former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev wrote on X, in an apparent reference to French President Emmanuel Macron. “It’s been explicitly stated: NO NATO troops as peacekeepers. Russia won’t accept such a ‘security guarantee.’ But the hoarse, pathetic bird continues to crow to prove it’s king of the coop.” Also on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov struck a blow at another major part of Trump’s peace effort, downplaying expectations for a swift bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian president, and further blocking the prospects for any deal on security guarantees for Ukraine. He said Russia would only agree to the measures if it had an effective veto over future efforts to defend Kyiv. The statements laid bare the limits of Trump’s attempts to leverage his personal relationship with Putin to bring an end to the bloodiest European war since World War II. The disconnect has exacerbated concerns that Trump and his top advisers have failed to grasp central elements of Putin’s positions in Ukraine, which remain largely unchanged since Russia launched a full-scale invasion into the country three years ago. Several foreign policy experts said they worried that White House decisions were showing signs of wishful thinking.

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