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.

AP [8/23/2025 1:58 PM, Staff, 37974K] reports a truck driver accused of making an illegal U-turn that killed three people in Florida last week was denied bond Saturday. The crash sparked a clash between U.S. Department of Homeland Security and California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom over Harjinder Singh, a native of India, obtaining a work permit and driver’s license in the state. The Trump administration says Singh was in the U.S. illegally. Singh was charged with three state counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations, and he was denied bond on all charges. He is being held in the St. Lucie County Jail, Lt. Andrew Bolonka from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has put a hold on him. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said issuing a commercial license to someone in the country illegally is “asinine.” California is one of 19 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that issues licenses regardless of immigration status. Supporters say that lets people work, visit doctors and travel safely. Newsom’s press office responded on platform X that Singh obtained a work permit while Donald Trump was president, which McLaughlin disputed. Florida authorities said Singh entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018. Singh made the illegal turn on the highway about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. A minivan in the neighboring lane was unable to avoid the truck’s trailer and slammed into it, killing the minivan’s driver and two passengers. Singh and a passenger in his truck were not injured.

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FOX News [8/23/2025 10:07 AM, Michael Dorgan, 40019K] Video: HERE

FOX News [8/23/2025 8:09 AM, Preston Mizell, 40019K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed a few of the convicted, violent criminals arrested in Washington, D.C., as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital. DHS shared the arrests of five individuals caught in D.C. with Fox News Digital, who include illegal immigrants convicted of rape, child molestation, assault and robbery with a deadly weapon. "Secretary Noem unleashed the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to target the worst of the worst — including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, terrorists and rapists," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS has arrested more than 359,000 illegal aliens and removed more than 332,000." "The facts are ICE is targeting the worst of the worst — including murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles and rapists. Seventy percent of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges in the U.S. That doesn’t even include known or suspected terrorists, foreign gang members, convictions for violent crimes in foreign countries or INTERPOL notices," McLaughlin told Fox.

The Washington Post [8/23/2025 1:43 PM, Maria Sacchetti and Jeremy Roebuck, 29079K] reports the night before Kilmar Abrego García was set to be released from a Tennessee jail, federal prosecutors urged him to strike a deal: Plead guilty to two counts of human smuggling, serve his sentence, and be deported to Costa Rica, a tropical, Spanish-speaking refuge regarded as the safest country in Central America. When he declined the offer in favor of awaiting trial with his family in Maryland, officials threatened to deport him within days to Uganda, an African nation to which the State Department has discouraged travel because of the ongoing risk of terror attacks, his lawyers wrote in a filing Saturday detailing their account of those exchanges. Abrego has until Monday morning, when he must report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Baltimore office, to decide whether to take the Costa Rica deal, “or else that offer will be off the table forever,” his lawyers wrote. Lawyers for Abrego described the government’s “last-ditch” offer in a court filing Saturday, calling it another example of the Trump administration’s “drive for retribution” against the sheet-metal apprentice and an attempt to coerce him into pleading guilty. On Saturday, Abrego’s lawyers repeated their request that U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. dismiss the criminal charges on grounds that the government is waging a “vindictive and selective” prosecution of the undocumented immigrant. His defense team argued that the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and ICE were attempting to punish him. Politico [8/23/2025 1:56 PM, Ben Johansen and Kyle Cheney, 14810K] reports that attorneys for Abrego said in a Saturday court filing the Justice Department is pressuring him to accept a guilty plea to two felony counts, promising to deport him to Costa Rica — where he would be free from incarceration — after the completion of any criminal sentence. “In conjunction with that proposal, the government produced a letter to Mr. Abrego’s counsel confirming that he could live freely in that country, which would accept him as a refugee or grant him residency status, and promise not to refoul him to El Salvador,” Abrego’s lawyers indicated in court papers. But after Abrego resisted that proposal, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told his lawyers that they had decided instead to deport him to Uganda. Government officials informed Abrego’s lawyers that the Costa Rica option would remain on the table if he pleads guilty by Monday, his attorneys wrote. “There can be only one interpretation of these events: the DOJ, DHS, and ICE are using their collective powers to force Mr. Abrego to choose between a guilty plea followed by relative safety, or rendition to Uganda, where his safety and liberty would be under threat,” Abrego’s attorney Sean Hecker wrote in the filing. The allegation by Abrego’s lawyers comes a day after Abrego was released from a Tennessee jail, where he had been held since returning to the U.S. in June. He is being instructed to report to a Baltimore Immigrations and Customs Enforcement field office by “first thing” Monday morning, according to the filing. The Ugandan government announced earlier this week that it had reached an agreement with the Trump administration to accept third-country deportees from the U.S. The African nation’s foreign minister said the country will not accept “individuals with criminal records and unaccompanied minors” and preferred individuals from African countries. Abrego is asking a federal judge in Tennessee to dismiss the criminal case against him, saying the smuggling charges are corrupted by an overtly vindictive drive by the Trump administration to punish him. NBC News [8/23/2025 12:45 PM, Julia Ainsley, Laura Strickler, Gary Grumbach and Matt Lavietes, 43603K] reports that the White House continued to berate Abrego on Friday, accusing him of being a violent gang member. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Abrego’s release "a new low." Abrego’s lawyers have now notified the judge in the Middle District of Tennessee that ICE has informed Abrego of its intent to deport him to Uganda. Abrego could not face the criminal charges of human smuggling brought against him by Department of Justice in that case if he is out of the country. His trial is set for January. USA Today [8/23/2025 12:41 PM, Eduardo Cuevas, 64151K] reports that in a filing to the federal district court in Tennessee, Hecker wrote that it had become clear Abrego Garcia would be released at the end of the week, and the government made a "last-ditch effort to forestall that release" in exchange for guilty pleas and to stay in jail until Monday. Abrego Garcia declined to stay in jail and was released Friday. After his release, Charles Wall, an ICE lawyer, wrote to Abrego Garcia’s lawyers in a Friday email that he’d have to report to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations office in Baltimore on Monday. A minute later, at 4:01 p.m., Wall said Homeland Security officials may remove Abrego Garcia to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from then, absent weekends.

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New York Times [8/23/2025 8:44 PM, Jazmine Ulloa, 43795K] reports that, when Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia returned home late Friday, he was greeted with flowers, metallic streamers and cheers. In videos circulated by immigrant rights groups, he shared long, tearful embraces with his wife, children and other family members. He expressed his gratitude to the people who had not abandoned him. “Thank you for everything,” Mr. Abrego Garcia told his older brother, Cesar, as he wept in his arms. But the celebration of his homecoming has been muted. For Mr. Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old immigrant who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March and returned to the United States in June, the odyssey is not over: The federal government has threatened to deport him to Uganda, his lawyers said. So, for now, he and his family are keeping a low profile, with Mr. Abrego Garcia required to use an ankle monitor and largely staying out of the limelight. Mr. Abrego Garcia, who was in the United States without permission, became a defining face of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration when he was deported, prompting outrage from immigrant rights advocates and heightening fear and anxiety among other immigrants in the country. A sheet metal worker, Mr. Abrego Garcia had been living for years in Prince George’s County in Maryland when he was sent to El Salvador, alongside more than 260 detainees, with no due process. He was sent back in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee, where he was held in jail until Friday. His lawyers said the Trump administration’s threat to deport him to Uganda was an attempt to “coerce” him into a guilty plea in the smuggling case. It was not immediately clear exactly why the Trump administration chose Uganda as the place to potentially send Mr. Abrego Garcia. Initially, federal prosecutors had said that if Mr. Abrego Garcia pleaded guilty to his charges and agreed to stay in custody until Monday, they would send him to Costa Rica, where they said he could live safely, after whatever sentence he is given in that case. But after his lawyers did not agree to keeping him in jail beyond Friday, the administration said if he does not accept their plea deal by Monday, they would start the process to deport him to Uganda. In a statement on his release, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, called him a “monster” — rhetoric the Trump administration has been pushing as it continues to accuse him of being a member of the MS-13 gang. “We will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is out of our country,” she said.

Breitbart [8/23/2025 6:14 PM, Staff, 2608K] reports the Trump administration is deploying up to 1,700 National Guard troops to 19 states to assist with Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities. The troops will assist with logistical support, transportation, case management and clerical services at facilities that are processing "illegal migrants," the Defense Department told Fox News. "The in-and-out processing may include personal data collection, fingerprinting, DNA swabbing and photographing of personnel in ICE custody," a Pentagon spokesperson said in a prepared statement. The troops will be deployed from August through mid-November amid a surge in ICE enforcement activities as the Trump administration works to meet its goal of at least 30,000 monthly deportations. A July status change of Marine Corps personnel to National Guard status will support the 19-state deployment, which will not include law enforcement activities, according to News Nation. The deployments will occur in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming, according to the Defense Department. The pending deployments are not related to the use of National Guard troops to quell violent crime in the nation’s capital or other cities, such as Chicago, according to the White House. NewsMax [8/23/2025 11:16 PM, Eric Mack, 4779K] reports that troops will handle support roles such as case management, transportation, logistics, and clerical work, while also helping deter crime. "The State of Illinois at this time has received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention," Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker wrote in a statement in response to the reports. "The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority. There is no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active duty military within our own borders. "Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families. "We will continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect the people of Illinois." The possibility of using active-duty forces has also been raised but is considered less likely, officials told the Post. "Chicago’s a mess," Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday, singling out Chicago as his next target after Washington, D.C. "You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent. And we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough." Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson denounced the plan, too, warning any troop deployment would be "uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound." "We have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the City of Chicago," Johnson, whose city is among the most violent in the U.S., if not the world, told the Post. The Pentagon declined to discuss specifics.

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CNN [8/23/2025 11:00 AM, Ray Sanchez] reports as the Trump administration escalates its deployment of troops in the nation’s capital and vows similar moves elsewhere, leaders of largely Democratic cities across the country are pushing back. From Boston to Los Angeles, President Donald Trump’s portrayal of the District of Columbia as a lawless wasteland to justify his military and law enforcement incursion is viewed as an opening salvo in a bid to undermine the autonomy of America’s biggest cities. On Friday, Trump promised to target Chicago next, then New York. Many big city mayors, however, remain defiant, saying: Not so fast, Mr. President. Bondi has made it clear the federal takeover in DC goes hand-in-hand with the administration’s hard-line immigration enforcement, using control over law enforcement in the district as a way to try to put an end to the city’s laws that protect undocumented migrants. The federal government could slash funding to cities that don’t comply and send in law enforcement as it has done in Los Angeles and DC, Bondi has said. Still, authorities are preparing for the possibility of a federal takeover – ensuring civil disturbances are quickly and effectively handled to show there is no need for added enforcement, a state official told CNN this week.

Washington Post [8/23/2025 8:12 PM, Dan Lamothe, 29079K] reports the Pentagon has for weeks been planning a military deployment to Chicago as President Donald Trump says he wants to crack down on crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration, in a model that could later be used in other major cities, officials familiar with the matter said. The planning, which has not been previously disclosed, involves several options, including mobilizing at least a few thousand members of the National Guard as soon as September to what is the third most populous city in the United States. The mission, if approved, would have parallels to the polarizing operation that Trump ordered in Los Angeles in June, when he deployed 4,000 members of the California National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines despite the protests of state and local leaders. The use of thousands of active-duty troops in Chicago also has been discussed but is considered less likely at this time, said two officials who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Chicago effort would further expand Trump’s use of military force domestically, even when state and local authorities call the idea unwelcome and unwarranted. Administration officials have defended such deployments, arguing that they are taking necessary steps to bring back law and order. Trump on Friday touted his ongoing National Guard intervention in D.C., where more than 2,200 Guard members have been deployed in what he has cast as an overdue effort to crack down on crime. He zeroed in on Chicago as the next target. “Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent,” Trump said, in remarks that were immediately dismissed by Chicago’s leaders as unfounded. “And we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.” The officials familiar with the matter said that a military intervention in Chicago has long been in planning, probably in conjunction with expanded operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to search for undocumented migrants. The deployment would come as federal authorities look for new ways to intensify the identification and deportation of undocumented immigrants, including an expansion of ICE and efforts to challenge “sanctuary” policies, as they seek to meet a directive from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to make at least 3,000 arrests per day. The White House on Saturday declined to answer questions, referring instead to Trump’s comments in the Oval Office on Friday. The Pentagon said in a statement that it would not “speculate on future operations.”

Washington Examiner [8/23/2025 12:30 PM, Emily Hallas, 1563K] reports Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) condemned President Donald Trump on Friday for threatening federal intervention in Chicago to tackle crime. Speaking about Chicago over the weekend, the president suggested the government will "straighten that one out next" after he federalized Washington, D.C., earlier this month, sending federal troops and other law enforcement personnel to the area to target criminal activity in the country’s capital. Pritzker responded to Trump’s proposal with a strongly worded statement accusing the president of attempting "to create chaos that distracts from his problems," as well as "playing a game and creating a spectacle for the press to play along with." The Illinois governor pointed to crime statistics he said proves crime in Chicago is not a major issue.

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New York Post [8/24/2025 3:02 AM, Landon Mion, 43962K] reports Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said there is no emergency and President Donald Trump is "attempting to manufacture a crisis" after reports that the federal government may deploy the National Guard to Chicago to address crime in the city. "The State of Illinois at this time has received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention," the governor said in a statement on Saturday. This comes after Trump’s move to boost the presence of federal law enforcement in Washington, DC, in an attempt to reduce crime. Hundreds of federal agents and National Guard troops have been deployed to the streets of DC as part of the federal takeover of the district. Now, Trump says Chicago could be his administration’s next target for a federal crackdown on crime. The Pentagon has planned a military deployment to Chicago for weeks, which could include mobilizing a few thousand National Guard troops next month, according to Washington Post. "The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority," Pritzker said. "There is no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active duty military within our own borders.” The governor also accused Trump of "attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families.” "We will continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect the people of Illinois," he continued. Democrat Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton said the report that Trump is preparing to deploy federal troops in Chicago "proves what we all know: he is willing to go to any lengths possible to create chaos if it means more political power—no matter who gets hurt.” "As Lieutenant Governor and throughout my career, I’ve fervently fought for the reformation of our criminal legal system and under the Pritzker-Stratton administration, we’ve made tremendous progress," she said in a statement. "Crime in Chicago is declining and there’s absolutely no rationale for this decision, other than to distract from the pain Trump is inflicting on working families with his dangerous agenda.” "Illinois, Governor Pritzker and I are here to stand for your rights, your freedoms, and will protect you against whatever storms of hate and fear come our way," she added. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, also a Democrat, earlier said "unlawfully deploying the National Guard to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement when we know that trust between police and residents is foundational to building safer communities.” "An unlawful deployment of the [National Guard] would be unsustainable and would threaten to undermine the historic progress we have made," Johnson said in a statement on Friday. The mayor also cited data showing that homicides, robberies and shootings have dipped significantly in the past year.

The Hill [8/23/2025 7:43 PM, Filip Timotija, 12414K] reports President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said on Saturday that a Florida judge’s order to temporarily shut down some of Alligator Alcatraz is "not going to stop" Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, indicating that migrants apprehended by federal agents could be sent to other detention facilities. "They’re not going to stop us doing what we’re doing. We’ll follow the judge’s order and we’ll litigate and we’ll appeal it. But [the] bottom line is, we’re going to continue to arrest public safety threats and national security threats every day across this country," Homan said in an exclusive interview with NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network. "If we have to send them to another facility. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s why the president has asked for 100,000 beds in the Big, Beautiful Bill. So, we’re going to build 100,000 beds, so we’re not going to have a lack of bed space," the White House’s border czar told NewsNation’s correspondent Libbey Dean. "For every illegal alien we arrest. We need a bed. And that’s why the 100,000 beds is important. So, we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing, and these radical judges make these decisions, they may slow us up a bit, but they’re not going to stop us.” U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, an appointee of former President Obama, ruled late Thursday that Florida is barred from bringing in more migrants to Alligator Alcatraz and that parts of the facility be temporarily shut down. Williams said the Sunshine State has to stop the facility’s expansion, the installation of additional lighting and remove all "generators, gas, sewage, and other waste and waste receptacles that were installed to support this project" within two months. Florida appealed the decision Friday morning. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) rebuffed Williams’ order, arguing the judge was not "going to give us a fair shake.” "This was preordained, very much an activist judge that is trying to do policy from the bench," the Florida governor said on Friday at an event in Panama City. "This is not going to deter us," DeSantis added. "We’re going to continue working on the deportations, advancing that mission.” Homan said the administration follows "every judge’s order while we appeal it and litigate it.” "So, it will be shut down in the interim?" Dean asked Homan. "I don’t think that decision’s been made yet. We’re, we’re reviewing. Really, it’s a DOJ [Justice Department] question. We’re reviewing the order, and we’ll see where we go from there," Homan said on Saturday. "We’re not going to defy a court. We just take it to a higher level and appeal it.”

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Breitbart [8/23/2025 2:49 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2608K] reports a San Francisco federal judge this week expanded an order forbidding the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from sanctuary cities for refusing to cooperate with immigration authorities. U.S. District Judge William Orrick, a President Barak Obama appointee, on Friday extended his injunction from earlier this year that argued the administration was trying to coerce local officials to cooperate with agencies such as Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) on illegal alien arrests — calling it a violation of the Constitution. Orrick added to his order other municipalities that have since joined the lawsuit against Trump’s funding policy, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Denver and Albuquerque, CBS reported. The ruling is the result of a lawsuit filed back in February, led by San Francisco, and at the request of 16 cities and counties across the country. The jurisdictions in the initial lawsuit include the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; New Haven, Connecticut; Portland, Oregon; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Seattle, Washington. The February lawsuit challenged an executive order by President Trump called "Protecting the American People Against Invasion" that directs the Department of Homeland Security to withhold funds from sanctuary jurisdictions. The cities and counties that sued argued that billions of dollars were at risk. The judge ruled that the administration’s withholding of funds violates the 10th Amendment, which establishes the division of power between national and local governments. Trump administration lawyers have appealed that decision.

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FOX News [8/23/2025 3:10 PM, Cameron Arcand, 40019K] Video: HERE reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement this week halting work visas for foreign commercial truck drivers drew praise from conservatives in the wake of a deadly accident in Florida. "Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers," Rubio announced on X on Thursday. "The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers." The move follows a deadly crash in Florida in which an illegal immigrant from India allegedly struck and killed three people while driving a truck. Questions still loom about how he obtained a commercial driver’s license, as federal investigators say the suspect, Harjinder Singh, failed English proficiency and road sign tests. Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, stated the move is "long overdue" and that commercial truck drivers should not be brought in from other nations in the first place. "There are legitimate questions about how qualified these foreign truck drivers are, following the horrible episode in Florida, where a non-English-speaking illegal alien who never should have been given any kind of driver’s license caused the death of three people as he botched an illegal U-turn in the middle of a divided highway," Vaughan said. Americans can’t depend on trucking companies and state regulators to make sure foreign truck drivers are competent and safe, she added. The director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, Lora Ries, said it’s "about road safety and immigration integrity." "DHS and the State Department should also analyze all current commercial truck drivers using a visa or an employment authorization document as the basis to obtain a commercial driver’s license and revoke such immigration benefits where appropriate. This is about road safety and immigration integrity," Ries wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Axios [8/23/2025 8:23 AM, Brittany Gibson, Russell Contreras, 14595K] reports the number of people in immigration detention has soared by more than 50% since President Trump took office — and that doesn’t include thousands more detainees who aren’t in the administration’s official count, an Axios review finds. A record 60,000 immigrants are now officially in long-term detention, according to the latest government data, a historic jump from the 39,000 or so who were behind bars at the end of the Biden administration. The Department of Homeland Security’s tally doesn’t include detainees in new facilities such as those in Florida’s now-infamous "Alligator Alcatraz," spaces designated as short-term "holding rooms," and military bases. The numbers continue to balloon as Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown escalates in cities nationwide and DHS inks more deals to detain immigrants ahead of trying to deport them. DHS is charging forward with plans for more state-run facilities nationwide. Military bases also are being used to detain immigrants as the administration pushes for more bed space.

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FOX News [8/23/2025 8:00 AM, Peter Pinedo, 40019K] reports a new report by the Pew Research Center shows that the unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S. soared to an all-time high of 14 million in 2023 in the middle of the Biden administration. Released this week, the study shows that the unauthorized immigrant population reached an "all-time high" of 14 million in 2023 after two consecutive years of record growth in 2021 and 2022. According to Pew, the number of unauthorized immigrants present in the country increased from 10.2 million in 2020 to 10.5 million in 2021 to 11.8 million in 2022. Pew said the increase of 3.5 million unauthorized immigrants in two years is the biggest on record. The next highest number of unauthorized immigrants recorded in a year was in 2007, with 12.2 million. Further, Pew reported that though 2023 is the most recent year with comprehensive data available, preliminary data indicate continued growth in 2024 and a decrease in 2025, coinciding with the end of former President Joe Biden’s term and the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term. Pew posits that the decline in unauthorized immigrants could be as much as 1 million, which it attributes in part to increased deportations and reduced protections under the Trump administration. Nonetheless, the center said that the unauthorized immigrant population likely remains above 2023 levels.

Los Angeles Times [8/24/2025 6:00 AM, David G. Savage, 14672K] reports this year’s most far-reaching immigration case is likely to decide if immigration agents in Los Angeles are free to stop, question and arrest Latinos they suspect are here illegally. President Trump promised the “largest mass deportation operation” in American history, and he chose to begin aggressive street sweeps in Los Angeles in early June. The Greater Los Angeles area is “ground zero for the effects of the border crisis,” his lawyers told the Supreme Court this month. “Nearly 2 million illegal aliens — out of an area population of 20 million — are there unlawfully, encouraged by sanctuary-city policies and local officials’ avowed aim to thwart federal enforcement efforts.” The “vast majority of illegal aliens in the [Central] District [of California] come from Mexico or Central America and many only speak Spanish,” they added. Their fast-track appeal urged the justices to confirm that immigration agents have “reasonable suspicion” to stop and question Latinos who work in businesses or occupations that draw many undocumented workers. No one questions that U.S. immigration agents may arrest migrants with criminal records or a final order of removal. But Trump administration lawyers say agents also have the authority to stop and question — and sometimes handcuff and arrest — otherwise law-abiding Latinos who have lived and worked here for years. They could do so based not on evidence that the particular person lacks legal status but on the assumption that they look and work like others who are here illegally. If the court rules for Trump, it “could be enormously consequential” in Los Angeles and nationwide, said UCLA law professor Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law & Policy. “The government would read this as giving immigration enforcement agents a license to interrogate and detain people without individualized suspicion. It would likely set a pattern that could be used in other parts of the country.”

AP [8/24/2025 1:56 AM, Abraham Téllez, 27036K] reports a judge in Mexico said boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. will stand trial over alleged cartel ties and arms trafficking but could await that trial outside of detention, the boxer’s lawyer said. Chávez’s lawyer, Rubén Fernando Benítez Alvarez, confirmed that the court imposed additional measures and granted three months of further investigation into the case. He described the claims against his client as "speculation" and "urban legends" following the court hearing on Saturday in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo. If convicted, Chávez — who took part in the hearing virtually from a detention facility — could face a prison sentence of between four and eight years, Alvarez said. Chávez, 39, who had been living in the United States for several years, was arrested in early July by federal agents outside his Los Angeles home for overstaying his visa and providing inaccurate details on an application to obtain a green card. The arrest came just days after a fight he had with famed American boxer Jake Paul in Los Angeles. Since 2019, Mexican prosecutors have been investigating the boxer following a complaint filed by U.S. authorities against the Sinaloa Cartel for organized crime, human trafficking, arms trafficking and drug trafficking. The case led to investigations against 13 people, among them Ovidio Guzmán López — the son of convicted drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán — along with some collaborators, hitmen and accomplices of the criminal organization. Guzmán López was arrested in January 2023 and extradited to the U.S. eight months later. Following the inquiry, the Federal Attorney General’s Office issued several arrest warrants, including one against Chávez. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Chávez was wanted since 2023 in Mexico, but that he wasn’t detained because he spent most of the time in the U.S. "The hope is that he will be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico," Sheinbaum said in July. The boxer, who is the son of Mexican boxing great Julio César Chávez, was deported by the U.S. on Aug. 19 and handed over to agents of the Federal Attorney General’s Office in Sonora state, who transferred him to the Federal Social Reintegration Center in Hermosillo. The high profile case come as the Trump administration is pressuring Mexico to crack down on organized crime, canceling visas of notable Mexican artists and celebrities and ramping up deportations.

The Hill [8/24/2025 6:00 AM, Alex Gangitano, 12414K] reports Stephen Miller has been by President Trump’s side for most of the last 10 years of the president’s political career, taking center stage on some of the president’s biggest battles – from border security to culture wars. The crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital is Miller’s latest project, working to make his own mark as Trump and his administration officials fan out across the city to highlight a federal take over. “Trump sees transforming Washington, D.C. as a victory that would define his legacy, and Miller is the one shaping and driving that message,” an aide in Trump’s first term said. Miller, who serves as deputy chief of staff, joined Trump on Thursday evening to greet federal law enforcement agents who have been patrolling D.C at a U.S. Park Police facility in Anacostia. Miller stood next to Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem while the president touted the success of the crime crackdown. Days prior, Miller joined Vice President Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Union Station to meet with National Guard troops, during which the deputy chief of staff railed against what he called “stupid white hippies” who were protesting the federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital. As a key player in Trump’s orbit, Miller has a hand in major policy decisions, especially on domestic matters like issues of immigration and crime in cities that are run by Democrats. Trump said on Friday that the federal government would turn its attention to Chicago next. “He is the 85 percent center of gravity in the White House,” a source close to the White House said of Miller. “It’s almost like open knowledge that if he’s not involved in it then it’s not important.”

NewsMax [8/24/2025 5:39 AM, Staff, 4779K] reports civil servants, housewives and retirees alike lined up in Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Saturday as thousands volunteered to join the country’s militia in case there is a US invasion. President Nicolas Maduro called on citizens to respond to the current US "threat" and sign up over the weekend to the Bolivarian Militia, a civilian corps linked to the South American country’s armed forces. The show of force is also intended to send a message to Washington, which has issued a $50 million bounty for Maduro -- who is accused by the Trump administration of leading a drug cartel -- and has stationed three warships off Venezuela’s coast for what the US says are anti-drug operations. Militia registration centers were set up in the capital’s squares, military and public buildings and even in the presidential palace Miraflores. Volunteers could also sign up in the Mountain Barracks, which is home to the mausoleum of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, in a densely populated area with large housing projects and crumbling brick houses. It is unclear how many troops are in the Venezuelan militia. Maduro said this week that the militia alone has more than 4.5 million ready soldiers. However the most recent independent estimate tallied about 343,000 members in 2020, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

New York Post [8/23/2025 8:27 PM, Staff, 43962K] reports two news items from last week point to where US immigration enforcement is headed: 1) the number of foreign-born people in the country fell by 1.5 million in the first six months of 2025, and 2) ICE is on track to deport just 400,000 illegal immigrants for the whole year. The obvious conclusion: A lot more illegal migrants are self-deporting than being expelled — which is surely how most Americans want things to proceed, and a lot more practical than any kind of mass round-ups. The Trump administration is increasing deportations: This year’s 400,000 is up from the last reported Biden annual total of 271,000 which itself reflected a belated effort to show greater toughness as Democrats finally admitted how badly their open-borders policies had angered voters. But Team Trump’s fierce rhetoric matters plenty, too: sending a message to strongly override the “everybody come on in” signals of the prior four years. See the feds’ plans to review the status of 55 million visa holders as yet another signal: a warning that those who’ve been abusing their visas — it’s time to acquire permanent legal status if you mean to stay permanently or make plans to head home. Prodding and persuasion were always going to be crucial in undoing the Biden mess: ICE — despite a big expansion of its budget and the firm support of the president — can’t detain and deport that many people. It would require mass roundups that aren’t remotely politically practical: Voters want all the worst illegal immigrants sent home but will balk at ham-handed enforcement. So seriously reducing the illegal population, even the millions of bogus Biden-era “asylum seekers,” is going to involve a lot of self-deportation. Doing it on your own also preserves the chance to return legally. President Donald Trump won re-election by promising to get everything back under control. By stopping new illegal migration cold, he’s proved Democrats were simply lying when they said it couldn’t be done without passing new laws. Now he needs to show that greatly reducing the illegal population, particularly the millions waved in these last few years, doesn’t require “police-state tactics” and other “savage cruelty” — that is, to expose Dems’ new lies. Of course, lefties who oppose policing of all kinds will keep screaming about even reasonable immigration enforcement — but that just exposes their extremism to the broader public. High-profile but deft toughness is delivering exactly what the public wants; expect Team Trump to stick to what’s already working.

Daily Caller [8/23/2025 4:52 PM, Jorge Martinez, 985K] reports from the Nation’s capital to sanctuary cities coast-to-coast, President Donald J. Trump is demonstrating unwavering resolve and effective leadership in restoring law and order and the safety American families deserve. In the heart of Washington, D.C., under President Trump’s decisive leadership, the federal government invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to declare a "crime emergency" and place the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control — an unprecedented move guided by the urgent need to protect Americans under siege. This bold action deployed National Guard troops and federal agents, resulting in more than 400 arrests, including 60 individuals suspected of being undocumented immigrants and the seizure of 27 firearms. This marks a serious restoration of public safety in our Nation’s capital. While critics cite data showing violent crime in D.C. was at a 30-year low and trending downward — including a 35% overall decline and a 37% drop in carjackings in 2025 — recent reporting suggests that these numbers may not tell the whole story. According to Fox News, D.C. police officials are accused of manipulating crime statistics in the weeks leading up to the federal takeover, allegedly reclassifying or downgrading violent incidents to mask the true scale of lawlessness. This raises a chilling question: Were Americans being misled about the reality on the ground just to protect political narratives?

The Hill [8/23/2025 2:00 PM, José Alemán, 12414K] reports the claims made by Jeb Bush and Mark Wallace in the Aug. 20 op-ed "Panama deserves sanctions, not the Security Council presidency," do not reflect the proactive heightened security cooperation between Panama and the U.S. regarding the illicit sale of oil by Iran. The article ignores the substantial steps Panama has taken to uphold international sanctions and maritime security. It is a blatant lie that Panama is complicit in Iran’s sanctions evasion. On the contrary, our Maritime Authority has removed more than 650 vessels from our registry since 2019, including 214 in the past year alone. Just recently, we delisted 17 ships specifically targeted by new U.S. sanctions for transporting Iranian oil. These actions reflect our zero-tolerance policy toward misuse of our flag.

Breitbart [8/23/2025 2:50 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2608K] reports Boston cops are defying left-wing Mayor Michelle Wu by secretly providing immigration officials with information to help arrest criminal illegals, according to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. Wu has been prominent among the many extremist Democrat mayors who are openly rebelling against federal immigration law, welcoming illegal aliens, and demanding that her administration block the enforcement efforts of ICE and other federal law enforcement officials. But, if Lyons’ comments can be believed, many Boston police officers are engaging in a rebellion of their own. Lyons added that Boston is not the only city where police officers are quietly aiding ICE.

Newsweek [8/23/2025 5:05 PM, Mandy Taheri, 52220K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are not expected to be at schools in the nation’s capital when classes kick off on Monday, acting director Todd Lyons recently told NBC News. An ICE spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement Saturday that "ICE is not conducting enforcement operations at or ‘raiding’ schools. ICE is not going to schools to make arrests of children." The statement continued: "If a dangerous illegal alien felon were to flee into a school, or a child sex offender is working as an employee, there may be a situation where an arrest is made to protect public safety. But this has not happened." As the school year is kicking off across the U.S., the first day of class for D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) is on Monday, August 25. Lyons told NBC News in an interview earlier this week that "day one, you’re not going to see us," but noted that there might be circumstances when ICE officers may need to come to schools in the future. Lyons said one of those circumstances might be to conduct safety and wellness checks on students, stating, "We want to use our special agents and our officers to go ahead and locate these individuals. And if [there are] some we haven’t, and the last known address was at a school, we just want to make sure that child is safe. If we have the opportunity to reunite that parent with that child, that’s what we want to do." Lyons noted that under "exigent" circumstances would officers arrive at school, including "something violent going on." An ICE spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement Saturday: "In many situations, the only last known address ICE has for a child is the last school they attended. In cases where a special agent visits a school, it would be for a wellness check on the child, not to make an arrest. These visits are designed to assess whether children are receiving appropriate care and ensure they are not being trafficked, exploited or abused." Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a previous statement shared with Newsweek: "Under Secretary Noem, we are delivering on President Trump’s and the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make America safe. Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst and carry out the largest deportation operation of criminal aliens in American history."

ABC News [8/23/2025 3:16 PM, Luke Barr, 27036K] reports as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramps up hiring, one of the first stops new officers make is to a training center just outside of Savannah, Georgia. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) is preparing to train up to 10,000 new ICE officers, as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s deportation efforts, and members of the media were given access to see the "lifecycle of a recruit." Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, a graduate of the FLETC training course in 2007, told ABC News the agency is confident they’ll be able to staff up 10,000 new officers by the end of the year. "We are taking a whole of government approach," he told ABC News. "We have to be cognizant of who we are hiring, but I think it is an achievable goal." The process starts with a security screening and background check, once that passes, the entire time can take as little as eight weeks from training to an officer is on the street, according to ICE. The training center is run by former ICE Acting Director Caleb Vitello, who said the agency cut the Spanish language portion of the training to speed up the hiring timeline. Instead, ICE uses Spanish language software in the field which is faster, according to Vitello. "The recruits here know the staff training them are professionals, and experts in the job they do," Lyons said while standing outside of the recruit obstacle course. Both Lyons and Vitello stressed that they did not want to compromise the quality of officers for quantity. The training academy runs more classes and goes six days a week, according to ICE, and they have four different sites around the country in which they run training.

USA Today [8/23/2025 8:44 AM, Eduardo Cuevas, Lauren Villagran, 64151K] reports Americans of Japanese heritage say they hear echoes of their families’ forced internment in the Trump administration’s newest immigrant detention site. Homeland Security officials say President Donald Trump’s sweeping mass deportation campaign requires a build-up of detention centers to bridge the gap between arrests and removals. They’ve turned to the U.S. military and private contractors to get the job done, including erecting the nation’s largest immigrant detention site on Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. But stewards of Japanese American history, including the children and grandchildren of those who were held in detention, are criticizing the use of Fort Bliss and the plans to expand immigrant detention on American military bases. At a cost of $1.2 billion, the camp has capacity to detain 5,000 people. Roughly 1,000 men were being held there in mid-August, according to U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat whose district includes Fort Bliss. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, called comparisons between detention centers for people in the country illegally and World War II internment camps "deranged and lazy."

FOX News [8/23/2025 8:37 AM, Michael Dorgan, 40019K] reports a mob of up to 20 anti-ICE protesters swarmed and attacked immigration agents outside a San Francisco courthouse on Wednesday, with one keffiyeh-clad agitator allegedly armed with a knife threatening to stab an officer and go after his family, officials said. Adrian Guerrero, a U.S. citizen, slashed the tire of a government vehicle during the clash at the immigration courthouse on 100 Montgomery Street, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The incident unfolded as ICE agents carried out a removal operation, when protesters surrounded them and physically assaulted four officers, throwing punches and deploying pepper spray. Standing within arm’s length, Guerrero made repeated threats, saying, "I’m going to f--- you up," "I’m going to go after your family," and "I’m going to stab you," according to DHS, citing court filings. Agents sustained injuries from pepper spray and one officer suffered a jammed finger. Guerrero has been charged with assault on a federal officer and destruction of government property, according to DHS. U.S. Federal Protective Services and San Francisco police responded and helped clear the area, DHS said. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said ICE agents are facing a 1,000% increase in assaults, calling them "the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens."

Telemundo52 [8/23/2025 4:00 PM, Gabriel Huerta and Marvelia Alpizar, 93K] reports a group of workers were arrested by federal agents after being caught in the parking lot of a Home Depot in North Hollywood. One of the workers wanted to alert his coworkers about the presence of the agents. "La migra is here, la migra is here," were the worker’s shouts heard at the scene. Uniformed officers, with their faces covered and aboard unmarked vans, arrived at the parking lot of the Home Depot, located on Sherman Way. They were allegedly looking for undocumented immigrants. "This is alarming, because we know they are targeting our community, using racial profiling just because they want to fill their quota, a number," said Loyda Alvarado, an organizer with the National Day Laborer Network. In images recorded by activists and some day laborers who were at the scene, the workers immediately ran away when they noticed the presence of the officers to avoid arrest. However, according to activists from the National Day Laborers Network, at least eight of them were arrested. So far, the Department of Homeland Security has not officially reported on this operation. "Any person would flee at the threat of being kidnapped, with a person who is covered, with a person who is not identified, who does not have a type of name identification and who has guns and who has them pointed at them and they have already been shot at as happened recently," said Alvarado. According to witnesses, one of the workers suffered some injuries after falling to the pavement trying to escape from the authorities. "They started pulling out guns, they confronted the day laborers," said Alex, an activist. "Some of them ran away and started chasing them. One comrade, a day laborer fell and cracked his head open." Lazaro, another worker who asked that his real name not be revealed, notes that the worker suffered injuries to an arm and his head. He also states that this is the second raid carried out by federal agents at the Home Depot. The previous raid was last August 11, when twenty workers were taken. "Well, they did grab people we know here, day laborer friends," said Lazaro. The worker points out that even though they all have needs and families to support, many are no longer approaching these stores to offer their labor. They prefer to look for work elsewhere. "I also come to here on this corner to look for work but the way things are right now I’m not going to come and put myself in danger really," said Lazaro. "I could advise them to work with the pure contacts they have and if there is no work, not to despair." According to activists, this raid was not the only one conducted in the Los Angeles area. Similar raids were also carried out at a Home Depot in Alhambra and a car wash business in Pasadena. Immigration raids have resulted in two workers who have died trying to escape authorities. The most recent was in Monrovia in mid-August, when a day laborer of Guatemalan origin was run over and killed on the 210 freeway trying to evade the raid.

NewsNation [8/23/2025 11:40 AM, Angelique Brenes, 6811K] reports a San Bernardino family is calling for a criminal investigation after federal immigration agents fired at their car last week, an encounter that escalated into a tense standoff and days of protest in the neighborhood. On Aug. 16, Francisco Longoria was driving home with his teenage son and his daughter’s boyfriend when, according to attorneys for the family, several masked individuals in mismatched uniforms jumped out of an unmarked vehicle and surrounded them. The family said they asked for identification but received no response. Without warning, one of the men smashed the driver’s side window and struck Longoria, who then drove away in fear. Moments later, shots rang out. At least three bullets struck the car door near where Longoria’s son was seated, the family’s attorneys said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have confirmed that agents were involved in the incident but offered a different account. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Longoria refused to exit his vehicle and drove toward officers, injuring two. That, the spokesperson said, "forced a CBP officer to discharge his firearm in self-defense." No one in the family’s vehicle was struck by the gunfire. San Bernardino police said officers responded but did not intervene directly, citing state law that limits local participation in federal immigration enforcement. By late morning, multiple law enforcement vehicles surrounded the family’s home, where advocates said the family feared leaving after the shooting. Agents ultimately departed hours later without making an arrest. The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, which has been working with the family, said Longoria has no criminal record and was targeted without legal justification. The group has demanded accountability from federal officials and local police.

Univision [8/23/2025 5:37 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the administration will pause issuing worker visas for commercial truck drivers , citing that "the growing number of foreign drivers driving large tractor-trailer trucks on American highways is endangering American lives and undermining the livelihoods of American truckers." Rubio’s announcement came just days after a fatal crash in Florida caused by reckless driving by an undocumented immigrant, who is now charged with multiple counts of vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter. And by not offering further explanations, Rubio’s decision raised doubts in the commercial trucking industry about the scope of the measure, but also gave rise to signs of how political infighting is also a factor in the fatal accident that occurred on August 12 on the Florida Turnpike.

Washington Examiner [8/23/2025 3:57 PM, Emily Hallas, 1563K] reports postal services worldwide are pausing certain deliveries to the United States due to President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs on the shipment of some international goods. Postal services in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Italy are stopping low-value shipments immediately, while France and Austria will follow on Monday, and the United Kingdom on Tuesday. India will temporarily suspend most cheap postal deliveries starting Monday. The announcements follow Trump’s move in late July to suspend what is known as a de minimis exemption that has historically allowed low-value packages to be spared from tariffs on shipments and allowed foreign companies to ship cheap products to the U.S. for free. Trump’s order goes into effect Aug. 29, leading foreign postal service companies to pause shipments due partly to concerns about the time frame to process implications of the new policy on commerce, and saying they cannot guarantee the goods will enter the U.S. before that date. The de minimis exemption has traditionally allowed packages worth less than $800 to come into the U.S. tariff-free. Last year, over 1.3 billion packages were shipped to the U.S. under the exemption, accounting for goods worth $64.6 billion, according to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency. Several shipping companies, including DHL, the largest shipping provider in Europe, said they are suspending shipments of impacted goods due to a lack of clarity on the new policy. "Key questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what additional data will be required, and how the data transmission to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be carried out," it said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. France’s national postal service, La Poste, issued similar concerns. ″Despite discussions with U.S. customs services, no time was provided to postal operators to re-organize and assure the necessary computer updates to conform to the new rules,″ it said in a statement. Before expanding the policy through a decree last month, Trump initially confined suspension of the de minimis exemption to China when he first signed an executive order targeting the trade loophole in April, leading major companies such as Temu to halt shipments to the U.S.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [8/23/2025 11:34 AM, Victoria Bisset, 29079K]

NPR [8/23/2025 6:21 PM, Camila Domonoske, 34837K] reports many European parcel companies — including DHL, the Royal Mail, and the French and Spanish national post offices — are temporarily suspending some shipments to the U.S., citing new U.S. tariff policies that kick in this week. And while the financial costs of tariffs have dominated trade news this summer, in this case, it’s not so much the money as the paperwork that’s a stumbling block. An executive order from President Trump will end the "de minimis" rule, which allowed individual packages worth less than $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free, effective August 29. The "de minimis" rule (sometimes called a loophole) had already been eliminated for China and Hong Kong, but is now being suspended for all countries. Letters are not affected by the new rules. Also, gifts worth less than $100 (and sent between individuals, not from a company) are exempt and can still be sent. But packages from businesses will be significantly affected. As NPR has previously reported, most packages shipped into the U.S. currently qualify for the "de minimis" exemption. Removing the exemption raises costs for imported goods. But that’s not why post offices and parcel companies are pressing pause on some shipments — instead, they’re citing ambiguous policies and the need to establish brand-new logistics systems. "Key questions remain unresolved," writes DHL Group in a statement, "particularly regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what additional data will be required, and how the data transmission to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be carried out. As a result, DHL Group says, it’s suspending business shipments to the U.S. through Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany. The more expensive DHL Express service will remain an option. DHL did not have an estimate of how long the pause would last, but said the goal "is to resume postal goods shipping to the U.S. as quickly as possible.” The French postal service La Poste is also suspending shipments of goods to the U.S., telling France24 that European postal services were given "an extremely limited timeframe" to prepare for the new rules, and that the policies require "further clarification." Spain’s Correos postal service is also suspending goods shipments for now, saying the new policies and their short timeframe for implementation are having a "significant impact" on international postal logistics. The Royal Mail, meanwhile, predicted only a brief disruption of 1-2 days as it establishes new services that will calculate and invoice companies for the tariffs. In a fact sheet published last month, the White House called "de minimis" treatment a "catastrophic loophole" and a "big scam," arguing that it not only reduces tariff revenue but enables the importation of illicit drugs, because "de minimis" goods also get expedited processing, meaning less oversight of the goods coming in.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [8/23/2025 6:14 PM, Staff, 2608K]
AP [8/23/2025 2:51 PM, Demetris Nellas and Mae Anderson]
FOX Business [8/23/2025 6:15 PM, Brie Stimson, 9194K]

Breitbart [8/23/2025 11:50 AM, Amy Furr, 2608K] reports President Donald Trump had nothing but praise for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday regarding her work on the southern border wall. During a press conference in the Oval Office, Trump pointed to the fact that Noem and other officials were seen painting the wall black so it would be too hot for would-be illegal immigrants to try to climb, Fox News reported Saturday. Trump said he told Noem two weeks prior that he needed her to do him a favor in regard to the wall — namely, a coat of paint. In a social media post on Friday, Noem shared a video of herself and border patrol officers painting the wall and assured the American people that it is being completed.

DailySignal.com [8/23/2025 11:00 AM, Virginia Allen, 668K] reports illegal border crossings are down across the U.S. border with Mexico, and Customs and Border Protection has also seen a significant decline in drug seizures at the border. But the same cannot be said of drug seizures in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as cartels look for ways to get their drugs into the United States with the U.S.-Mexico border practically shut down. While illegal crossings are down in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, drug smuggling is on the rise. Already in fiscal year 2025, Border Patrol has seized 9,600 pounds of cocaine, while it seized 5,900 pounds in 2024 and 5,300 pounds in 2023. Efforts to apprehend drug smugglers is often a joint law enforcement effort that includes the Coast Guard, CBP’s Office of Field Operations, and local police in Puerto Rico. Additional resources are needed to address the increased drug smuggling efforts in Puerto Rico, and Johnson says the passage of the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" is expected to provide those resources.

AP [8/23/2025 1:57 PM, Staff, 20690K] reports New York and North Carolina have begun to reopen beaches that had been closed due to Hurricane Erin, which sent strong winds and dangerous waves across the U.S. East Coast. Erin’s outer bands brushed North Carolina on Wednesday, but the storm never made landfall and caused no widespread damage to infrastructure despite being twice the size of an average hurricane. After progressing north in the Atlantic, it weakened into a post-tropical cyclone Friday, far from land. In North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Highway 12 on Hatteras Island opened at noon Saturday for residents, property owners and workers, according to North Carolina’s Department of Transportation. All restrictions will lift at 5 a.m. Sunday. Beachgoers can also swim again at Jones Beach State Bark in New York and wade at Robert Moses State Park, but there are still restrictions at other beaches as conditions remain rough. Both beaches had been closed Thursday and Friday. The Outer Banks — essentially sand dunes sticking out of the ocean a few feet above sea level — are vulnerable to erosion. Storm surges can cut through them, washing tons of sand and debris onto roads and sometimes breaking up pavement and creating new inlets. The dunes took a beating by Erin but there were no new inlets or significant structural damage to homes or businesses.

USA Today [8/23/2025 6:04 PM, Mike Snider, Jennifer Sangalang, Jonathan Limehouse, 64151K] reports hurricane forecasters have turned their attention from Erin to other developing tropical systems in the Atlantic, including one that has developed into Tropical Storm Fernand. That system, which is associated with showers and thunderstorms, is currently about 405 miles south-southeast of Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center said in an outlook issued at 5 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 23. Fernand is expected to "move well east of Bermuda and across the open waters of the subtropical North Atlantic," according to the outlook. Some strengthening is forecast over the next 48 hours, and Fernand could reach near hurricane strength by Monday, Aug. 25. The storm is expected to weaken on Tuesday, Aug. 26, according to the outlook. Before becoming a tropical storm, forecasters said they did not expect any major impact on the United States mainland. "At this time, direct wind and rain impacts are not expected in the U.S.," AccuWeather’s lead hurricane expert, Alex DaSilva, said previously, "but rip currents and rough surf could impact some East Coast beaches again next week.” The National Hurricane Center is tracking two disturbances, Tropical Storm Fernand and another in the Atlantic. Forecasters previously warned people in Bermuda to monitor the progress of the disturbance that became Fernand, the NHC said. The storm, which was moving north at 10 to 15 mph at the time, was thought to possibly follow a similar path to Hurricane Erin’s and even come close, or directly hit, Bermuda as a hurricane, according to AccuWeather. “This storm is expected to produce several inches of rain, wind gusts of 60-80 mph, rough seas and surf and storm surge of several feet,” AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva said in the earlier forecast. Even if the storm’s path shifts to the east as it possibly approaches Bermuda this weekend, the impacts there will lessen even if the storm intensifies. By mid-week, the storm may bring rough seas, heavy rain and strong winds to Newfoundland, Canada, according to AccuWeather.

Telemundo [8/23/2025 5:08 PM, Staff, 2782K] reports Tropical Storm Fernand, the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed Saturday afternoon southeast of Bermuda, according to the National Hurricane Center, which expects it to remain away from inhabited territory and pose no threat. Fernand is located 405 miles from Bermuda and is moving north at 15 mph with sustained winds of 40 mph. Its tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 105 miles from its center, but there are no active watches or warnings from the National Hurricane Center. It is expected to increase in speed over the next two days, turning northeastward and staying away from Bermuda and into open waters of the North Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center. It also forecasts it to strengthen over the next 48 hours, potentially becoming a hurricane on Monday before weakening the following day.

New York Times [8/23/2025 6:04 PM, Amy Graff, 153395K] reports the Flat fire in Central Oregon doubled to more than 18,000 acres by Saturday morning, with hundreds of homes under evacuation orders and warnings and the wildfire expected to expand amid hot, windy weather, officials said. The fire, which was burning six miles northeast of Sisters (pop. 2,957), started on Thursday. On Friday, it grew rapidly, spreading south through timber and grass, as winds picked up in the late afternoon. Gert Zoutendijk, a spokesman for the Oregon State Fire Marshal, said breezy weather was expected again on Saturday, with gusts up to 20 miles per hour. “We think it could potentially move again if our fire lines don’t hold,” he said. More than 1,000 homes in Deschutes and Jefferson Counties were under some level of evacuation on Saturday. “We do know a handful of structures have been burned, but we don’t know the exact number or what types of structures they are,” Mr. Zoutendijk said. The cause of the Flat fire is under investigation.

SFGate [8/23/2025 6:37 PM, Sam Mauhay-Moore, 11503K] reports wildfires have cropped up in different regions across California over the past several days as a record-breaking heat wave blankets most of the state, with more fire activity expected amid a spate of dry lightning and thunderstorms. In Napa County, the Pickett Fire broke out Thursday afternoon in a rural area east of Calistoga. The blaze grew from 1,200 acres that night to 4,690 acres as of Saturday morning, and is currently 7% contained, according to Cal Fire. Evacuation orders remain in place in affected areas. The fire is burning near several of the region’s famous vineyards and wineries along the western slope of the Mayacamas Mountains. Ground crews and three helicopters were able to hold the fire within contingency lines Friday night, Cal Fire shared in an update posted Saturday morning on social media. The fire is expected to remain within those lines, Operations Chief Jeremy Pierce said in a morning update video posted Saturday. Firefighting efforts will continue overnight with three type one night, flying helicopters with 1 Helco providing supervision. Ground resources will also remain on the fire which include hand crews, engine strike teams, dozers, and water tenders. While the… pic.twitter.com/xKFmPHfov7. A separate blaze broke out in Alameda County Friday afternoon. The Parks Fire started at Camp Parks, an Army Reserve training center in Dublin located near several residential neighborhoods. As of Saturday morning, the fire had impacted 118 acres and was 75% contained, according to Cal Fire.

NPR [8/23/2025 3:50 PM, Alana Wise, 34837K] reports evacuation orders are in effect as wildfires blaze across the West, including in California’s scenic Napa County. The Pickett Fire, which has burned nearly 4,690 acres, first sparked Thursday afternoon and continued to rage Saturday with only 7% of the wildfire contained. The cause of the fire is not yet known. But an area where it has burned is the same as the devastating 2020 Glass Fire, which raged for 23 days and laid waste to more than 1500 structures. But Cal Fire operations section chief Jeremy Pierce assured residents that the two blazes were markedly different beasts. "That Glass Fire is an everlasting memory. That being said, these are not anywhere close to the same conditions as the Glass Fire," Pierce said in a video posted to social media, noting that the 2020 blaze had been aided by wind to get as out of control as it did. "[The Pickett Fire] is a slope and fuels-driven fire. We don’t have any extreme weather events. We’re able to keep up with this fire because of those issues.” At least 1,230 personnel, 80 fire engines and seven helicopters are among resources helping to contain the fire, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Napa County is world famous for its extensive vineyards and wine industry. The fire in Napa County is burning at the same time other wildfires are burning in Oregon, such as the Flat Fire. At least 3,300 acres have been scorched across central Oregon because of the fire that started on Thursday, according fire officials on Friday. The Flat Fire grew "significantly" overnight Friday and was largely driven by persistent heat and dry conditions, according to the Jefferson County sheriff’s department. Some areas, including near the Lake Billy Chinook reservoir, were upgraded to level 3, or go now evacuation status, the highest evacuation level in the state. Residents in those areas were warned to "leave immediately" as the threat to their area was imminent. "If you choose to ignore this advisement, you must understand that emergency services may not be available to assist you further," said a notice from the sheriff’s department. "DO NOT delay leaving to gather any belongings or make efforts to protect your home. This will be the last notice you receive.” The cause of the Flat Fire is still under investigation.

ABC News [8/23/2025 11:34 PM, Jack Moore, 27036K] Video: HERE reports a fast-spreading wildfire in California’s wine country sparked evacuation orders as firefighters continued to battle the blaze Saturday. The Pickett Fire in Northern California’s Napa County has burned more than 5,800 acres since it broke out Thursday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. As of Saturday evening, the fire was just 11% contained, and the cause remains under investigation, CalFire said. In an update Saturday morning on its website, CalFire said crews fighting the fire overnight were aided by three night-flying helicopters and drones. The fire is in the same region as the massive Glass Fire that scorched more than 11,000 acres in 2020. "Leadership with prior experience in this rugged terrain, specifically from the 2020 Glass Fire, has been instrumental in guiding effective suppression efforts," CalFire said in its update. The fire comes as parts of the West Coast swelter under a heat wave. In Southern California, the extreme heat also led to elevated fire concerns. There were red flag warnings in place for the mountains north of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.

Los Angeles Times [8/23/2025 2:28 PM, Jasmine Mendez, 12715K] reports California’s weather conditions are intensifying after a week of extreme temperatures, prompting fire evacuations in Napa County and sparking a handful of blazes that began burning Saturday morning in the Angeles National Forest. The Pickett fire broke out Thursday near a remote area in Napa County as weather officials warned about elevated fire threats across the region. The fire quickly spread to 2,133 acres with no containment by Friday morning, forcing hundreds of residents in the small city of Calistoga — known for its wine — to evacuate. Fire Chief Ryan Isham said crews worked throughout Thursday night, forming a second line of defense along Rattlesnake Ridge to curb the Pickett fire from progressing into Pope Valley. As temperatures warm up, "you will expect to see increased fire activity throughout the perimeter of the fire," Isham said in a video update to Facebook. The Pickett fire remained at 3,993 acres with 7% containment until Friday night. By Saturday, the fire spread to 4,690 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. About 1,200 fire personnel are currently assigned to the Picket fire, according to Cal Fire. No structural damages nor injuries were reported, according to Battalion Chief Bob Todeschini. "We’d like to remind everyone to be vigilant and have a plan as we continue with suppression efforts," he said Thursday in a video statement to X. New fires emerged this week amid the region’s intense heatwave. The Little fire in Kern County broke out Friday afternoon, about five miles west of Borel Road. The Little fire burned 300 acres. In Alameda County, the Parks fire burned 113 acres with 75% containment as of Saturday. Smoke plumes were seen spread across the east bay as flames scorched up dry grass. No evacuation orders were issued for either incident. A lightning bolt struck a tree and ignited two fires southwest of the Little Rock community, according to a post by the Angeles National Forest on X. A third fire began Saturday morning near Table Mountain, west of Wrightwood. No injuries have been reported. The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for portions of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties for "an unseasonably hot and unstable air mass capable of producing extreme fire behavior from vertical plume growth [and] low relative humidity.” The red flag issue will continue until Sunday at 9 p.m. as temperatures are expected to range between 98 and 110 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Santa Clarita Valley, the San Gabriel Mountains and the Antelope Valley foothills will remain under critical fire warning until Saturday at 9 p.m.

Telemundo [8/23/2025 6:16 PM, Jonathan Lloyd, 93K] reports firefighters in the Angeles National Forest and other areas responded to several small wildfires started Saturday by thunderstorms in the region, as extreme heat heightened the fire danger in Southern California. The fires in the mountains of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties burned on a red-alert day that was scheduled to expire Saturday night. An extreme heat warning remains in effect until Sunday. According to Angeles National Forest officials, firefighters responded to two small lightning-caused fires Saturday morning southwest of Littlerock, near the area of ​​Mount Emma Road and 47th Street. Another fire was reported in the mountains to the southeast, just west of Wrightwood near Table Mountain. Lightning-related fires also erupted near Sunset Peak, west of Mount Baldy Road , in the Old Ridge Route area, south of Pine Canyon and State Route 138, and near south of Quail Lake. A tree caught fire after a lightning strike near Mount Baldy Road, near Manker Flats. The National Weather Service issued a special statement warning of a severe thunderstorm affecting northeastern Los Angeles County until 11:45 a.m.

NBC News [8/23/2025 8:30 PM, Marlene Lenthang, 43603K] reports a container ship captain has been arrested, accused of operating the vessel while drunk with a blood alcohol content level six times the limit for mariners. The captain of the MSC Jubilee IX — a 333-meter container ship operating under the Liberian flag — was arrested Wednesday in Seattle, the Coast Guard said in a news release Saturday. The captain’s name was not disclosed. A Puget Sound pilot aboard the ship had reported to the Coast Guard watchstanders that the captain was “exhibiting signs of intoxication.” The pilot and first mate operated the vessel from near Everett, Washington, to the Port of Seattle “without incident,” the release said. After the ship moored at Terminal 5, a Coast Guard team and Coast Guard Investigative Service agents boarded the vessel. The captain completed a field sobriety and breathalyzer test, “which found that he was impaired more than six times the legal limit for commercial mariners," the guard said. Under federal law, a person operating a vessel other than a recreational vessel with a blood alcohol concentration of .04% or more is considered to be under the influence. The captain was arrested and transported to the King County Jail. Charges were referred to the King County Prosecutor for boating under the influence, and the case remains under investigation. The prosecutor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. The vessel was given a relief captain and has since been cleared to resume operations, the Coast Guard said. “The Coast Guard is proud to ensure the safety and security of the maritime transportation system,” Paul Shultz, Special Agent in Charge of the CGIS Northwest Field Office, said in a statement. “The Pilot’s immediate intervention mitigated significant risks and ensured the safe passage of the vessel.”

NewsMax [8/23/2025 10:52 PM, Staff, 4779K] reports President Donald Trump said Friday his administration will conduct a "major" tariff investigation on furniture entering the United States. "I am pleased to announce that we are doing a major tariff investigation on furniture coming into the United States," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Within the next 50 days, that investigation will be completed, and furniture coming from other countries into the United States will be tariffed at a rate yet to be determined. "This will bring the furniture business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has previously defended Trump’s trade agenda, telling Newsmax earlier this year that foreign competition has "exploited" U.S. manufacturers and specifically pointed to the struggles of domestic furniture makers. Trump has also highlighted the industry on the campaign trail, portraying it as emblematic of American jobs lost to globalization. Furniture would be the latest imported products targeted for a national security investigation by the Trump administration. It announced Thursday a national security probe into imported wind turbines and has previously targeted copper and other metals.

New York Post [8/23/2025 3:36 PM, Caitlin Doornbos, 43962K] reports former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton should face criminal charges over his alleged emailing of highly sensitive classified materials through a private server, high ranking FBI officials told The Post Saturday, as they questioned why the Biden administration shelved the case in the first place. Federal agents raided Bolton’s Maryland home and DC office Friday morning in search of evidence in their case investigating the Trump critic’s alleged theft of "highly sensitive national security documents.” The alleged crime was first identified in 2020 through a "very specific intelligence capacity" that helped produce damning intelligence that Bolton had "transferred" classified documents to his wife and daughter from his White House desk before Trump fired him in September 2019, the senior sources told The Post. Investigators opened the case — entirely separate from a different investigation into Bolton’s alleged inclusion of national security secrets in his 2020 book, "The Room Where it Happened" — at the time, which carried into the Biden administration, but was "shelved," officials said. Now, Trump’s Justice Department is questioning if the Biden FBI’s decision not to further pursue the case against one of the most staunch Trump critics was politically motivated. "The [Biden administration] had probable cause to know that he had taken material that was detrimental to the national security of the United States, and they made no effort to retrieve it," a senior FBI official told The Post on Saturday. Bolton is one of the most prominent ex-Trump officials regularly criticizing his former boss in media appearances, leading some to believe it would have been politically advantageous to allow Bolton to go along unscathed. "That was a friendly administration to [Bolton.] They kept bashing [Trump] the entire time for ‘weaponizing law enforcement,’ and they — by politically stopping a righteous investigation — are the ones who weaponized law enforcement," the official alleged. The case — described as "air-tight" by some investigators — was so buried that FBI Director Kash Patel did not find out about it until about a month after his February confirmation, when he asked agents for a briefing on sensitive cases, the sources said. Among those addressed was the Bolton case, which the director initially thought had to do with the prior closed investigation into Bolton’s book. But investigators encouraged him to look closer, explaining it was an entirely new case that they were stopped from pursuing over the past four years by the Biden administration. The raid Tuesday was launched to find further evidence of the alleged crime. Federal agents found "a lot" of potential evidence at Bolton’s home, as well as "a bunch" from his DC office, the sources said. Federal investigators are confident in their case against Bolton, but the Justice Department does not intend to go after his wife and daughter, the sources added.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [8/23/2025 5L29 PM, James Morley III, 4779K]

Bloomberg [8/23/2025 8:56 AM, Olesia Safronova, 19085K] reports President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said "all the developments" to set up security guarantees for a post-war Ukraine will be "ready in the coming days." "At present, the teams of Ukraine, the United States, and European partners are working on their architecture," Zelenskiy said in an X post after a phone call with Netherlands Prime Minister Dick Schoof. The Dutch leader had been scheduled to visit Kyiv on Saturday but postponed the trip due to a political crisis in the Netherlands. “There is now a real chance to end this war, and Ukraine is ready for constructive steps that can bring true peace closer,” said Zelenskiy, adding that Russia “is showing no intention of peace on its side.”

New York Post [8/23/2025 4:00 PM, Arnold Roth, 43962K] reports a thunderous explosion stunned Israel’s capital Aug. 9, 2001, destroying a crowded Sbarro pizzeria. Seven of the 16 murdered in the Jerusalem blast were children. One was my daughter Malki, 15, killed as she waited in line to order lunch. The United States has failed for more than a decade to enforce the extradition of the bragging jihadist who faces trial in Washington for what she calls "my operation." Ahlam Tamimi, a native Jordanian, walked free from an Israeli prison as part of a 2011 deal the Jewish state was extorted to do with Hamas. She has since lived a life of celebrity in Jordan. But President Trump can bring justice to a murdered American.

Reuters [8/24/2025 3:31 AM, Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo, 45746K] reports U.S. protectionism is undermining agricultural cooperation with China, Beijing’s ambassador to Washington said, warning that farmers should not bear the price of the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. "It goes without saying that protectionism is rampant, casting a shadow over China-U.S. agricultural cooperation," said Xie Feng, according to the transcript of a speech published by the Chinese embassy on Saturday. Agriculture has emerged as a major point of contention between China and the U.S. as the superpowers are locked in a tariff war launched by President Donald Trump. China in March slapped levies of up to 15% on $21 billion worth of American agricultural and food products in retaliation for sweeping U.S. tariffs. Washington and Beijing this month extended a truce for 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other’s goods. U.S. agricultural exports to China fell 53% in the first half of the year from the same period in 2024, with a 51% decline in soybeans, Xie said in the speech to a soybean industry event in Washington on Friday. "American farmers, like their Chinese counterparts, are hardworking and humble," Xie said. "Agriculture should not be hijacked by politics, and farmers should not be made to pay the price of a trade war.” The envoy said agriculture is a promising area of cooperation and a "pillar of bilateral relations". China has a comparative advantage in labour-intensive products, while the U.S. excels in land-intensive bulk commodities through mechanised, large-scale production, he said. Last month U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Washington would curb farmland purchases by "foreign adversaries," including China. The Department of Agriculture said it had fired 70 foreign contract researchers after a national security review intended to secure the U.S. food supply from adversaries including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Xie dismissed the U.S. concerns. "Chinese investors hold less than 0.03% of U.S. agricultural land, so where does the claim of ‘threatening U.S. food security’ even come from," he said, calling the U.S. restrictions a "political manipulation". U.S. soybean exporters risk missing out on billions of dollars worth of sales to China this year as trade talks drag on and buyers in the top oilseed importer lock in cargoes from Brazil for shipment during the key U.S. marketing season, traders say.

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