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 Times [8/27/2025 6:13 PM, Anushka Patil, 143795K] reports an assailant on Wednesday fired through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, killing an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old and injuring 17 others, the police said. The attacker then died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, said at a news conference. Of the 17 people injured, 14 were children. The authorities have identified the attacker as Robin Westman, 23, who is believed to be a former student at the school, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation. The F.B.I. is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics, Kash Patel, the agency’s director, said on social media. The police have not yet determined a motive. The suspect’s social media accounts contain videos of diary entries that describe the killing of children and a drawing of the church’s sanctuary. The videos also show weapons, bullets and what appear to be explosive devices. Here’s what we know. The shooting took place at about 8:30 a.m. at Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis, which has a school for children in prekindergarten through eighth grade. The students had been observing an all-school Mass, an annual tradition for the new academic year, which began Monday. Witnesses described harrowing scenes inside the church. Ellie Mertens, a 25-year-old youth minister who said she had been sitting in a pew with children, said that bullets came ripping through a window, and that the school’s principal instructed everyone to get down. The shooting lasted for about two minutes, she said. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, said that students dived to the ground between pews for safety, citing the account of her former staff member’s child, who was in the church. “She watched a child get shot in the stomach and another in the neck,” Ms. Klobuchar said. Chief O’Hara said that most of the shooting happened outside the building and that at least two doors of the church had been barricaded from the outside. He estimated that the assailant fired dozens of rounds from three weapons — a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol — before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The shooter had purchased all three weapons lawfully, Chief O’Hara said. Reuters [8/27/2025 10:40 AM, Tim Evans and Ben Brewer, 45746K] reports that a videotaped message by the suspect showed Westman struggled with depression and was fascinated by the perpetrators of past mass shootings. FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency was investigating the attack as an "act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics." Law enforcement officials said they were examining an online manifesto posted by Westman that has since been taken down. Two victims, aged 8 and 10, were slain where they sat as the gunfire turned the morning Mass into pandemonium. It sent worshipers diving behind pews for cover while older children scrambled to shield younger ones, officials said. At least two of the church exits were blocked by wooden planks barricaded outside the doors, O’Hara said. In a statement on X, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristie Noem said the suspect was "claiming to be transgender." She continued: "This deranged monster targeted our most vulnerable: young children praying in their first morning Mass of the school year." Court records showed Westman’s name was changed from Robert in 2020 because Westman identified as female. Appearing with the police chief and other officials at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey cautioned against bringing gender politics into the tragedy. The Hill [8/27/2025 4:31 PM, Brett Samuels, 12414K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Westman “targeted our most vulnerable: young children praying in their first morning Mass of the school year.” Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed Wednesday morning in the shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis. Seventeen others were injured, including 14 children. Police officials said they are still unsure of the motive behind the crime. The Daily Caller [8/27/2025 4:53 PM, Jason Cohen, 985K] reports that videos from a YouTube channel bearing Westman’s name were posted around the time of the shooting, showing disturbing footage featuring multiple guns, cartridges and ammunition. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also verified in a Wednesday X post that the shooter wrote "For the Children," "Where is your God?" and "Kill Donald Trump" on a cartridge, matching the deleted videos. "We have confirmation that the shooter at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, MN was a 22 year-old man, claiming to be transgender," Noem wrote. NewsMax [8/27/2025 12:49 PM, Staff, 4779K] reports "This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible," said the police chief, who noted that a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors. Authorities found a smoke bomb but no explosives at the scene, he said. The children who died were ages 8 and 10, the chief said. Dozens more youngsters were inside. President Donald Trump immediately reacted on Truth Social: "I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene. The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!" Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the violence "horrific" in a post on X: "I’ve been briefed on a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and will continue to provide updates as we get more information. The BCA and State Patrol are on scene. I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence."

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The Daily Caller [8/27/2025 2:27 PM, Hudson Crozier, 985K] reports that authorities have reportedly identified the man who police say opened fire on children at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday before killing himself. Authorities identified Robin Westman, a man in his early 20s, as the gunman who killed two children while they attended Mass at Annunciation Catholic School, injured 17 other people and fatally shot himself Wednesday morning, local and national news outlets reported, citing law enforcement sources. Videos from a channel bearing Westman’s name were posted on YouTube around the time of the attack, showing disturbing footage featuring multiple guns, cartridges and ammunition with statements written on the weaponry such as "where is your God?" and other ramblings, the Daily Caller News Foundation found. The videos, which the DCNF saved before they were deleted, show what appears to be Westman filming an array of weapons in a bedroom and writings on paper apologizing to his family. A thumbnail image from a four-year-old video on the channel shows a man whose face matches images of Westman shared by The New York Post. "I was corrupted by this world and have learned to hate what life is… I have wanted this for so long. I am not well. I am not right. I am a sad person, haunted by these thoughts that do not go away," a notebook shown on camera reads. The suspected gunman did not have an extensive criminal history, authorities said Wednesday, according to FOX9. The FBI’s Minneapolis office and the Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment. NBC News [8/27/2025 4:56 PM, Rebecca Cohen, Doha Madani and Marlene Lenthang, 43603K] reports that the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after firing a rifle through the side windows of the Annunciation Catholic School’s church, aiming at children who were sitting in the pews, authorities said. Two children, aged 8 and 10, are dead. Seventeen other people were injured by gunfire: 14 children between the ages of 6 to 15, and three adults in their 80s who were parishioners in the church, officials said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon. FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooter was "a male" born under a different first name. The suspect’s parent had filed for a legal name change to "Robin M Westman" in Dakota County in November 2019. The suspect had no prior criminal history, officials said Wednesday. In the shooting, officials recovered a rifle, shotgun and a pistol used by the suspect that were all legally purchased recently by the suspect. Authorities believe Westman acted alone. Search warrants are being executed at the church and three residences nearby that are related to the suspect. O’Hara said authorities were working to determine a motive and that police were aware of a "manifesto" that the suspect had timed to be released on YouTube. O’Hara said he could not confirm any relationship between the suspect, the suspect’s family and the church, but that authorities are looking into that. Breitbart [8/28/2025 4:20 AM, Paul Bois, 3077K] reports that in a long manifesto posted to YouTube, the shooter revealed a strong hatred of Christianity by pinning a picture of Jesus Christ on a body target. He also wrote “Where is Your God?” on a gun magazine. In his notebook, the shooter also drew a cartoon picture, presumably of himself, talking to a “demon” in the mirror that advised him to kill himself. The Blaze [8/27/2025 8:22 PM, Joseph M. Hanneman, 1559K] reports that Westman, whose mother used to work at Annunciation Catholic Church, expressed regret for what his crime would do to his family, but said, "I will be selfish and leave you to pick up the pieces," according to pages of the letter shown in the video. While asking his parents, family, and friends to "pray for the victims and their families," Westman nevertheless dripped with disdain and anger, saying, "F**k those kids." The Hill [8/27/2025 5:10 PM, Brett Samuels, 12414K] reports that the manifesto included a lengthy written note from the suspected shooter as well. The video had been taken down from YouTube as of late Wednesday afternoon. The video also showed messages written on rifle magazines that said "For the Children" and "Where is your God." "This level of violence is unthinkable," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on social platform X where she discussed the messages. "Our deepest prayers are with the children, parents, families, educators, and Christians everywhere. We mourn with them, we pray for healing, and we will never forget them." While local police officials have said they do not know of a motive yet in the shooting at Annunciation Church, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau is investigating the incident as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.

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USA Today [8/27/2025 4:02 PM, N’dea Yancey-Bragg, 64151K] reports the shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic church that left two children dead and 17 other people injured follows a rash of gun violence across the city. The shooting occurred within 24 hours of at least three other fatal shootings in Minneapolis, including a mass shooting in the afternoon on Aug. 26 in which one person died and six were injured when a gunman shot in broad daylight at people standing on a sidewalk. The recent outbursts of gun violence come after city leaders celebrated a "promising decline" in shootings during the first few months of 2025, mirroring recent declines in violent crime seen nationwide since the pandemic. Despite the progress, it’s not unusual to see clusters of retaliatory violence, according to Jillian Peterson, executive director of the Violence Prevention Project Research Center. Minneapolis has experienced at least six mass shootings this year, according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are struck by gunfire, not including the shooter. So far in 2025, at least 174 people have suffered gunshot wounds and there have been 3,180 "shots fired" calls, marking a decline from this time in 2024, city data shows.

ABC News [8/28/2025 3:20 AM, David Brennan and Emily Shapiro, 27036K] reports all 14 children injured in Wednesday’s mass shooting in Minneapolis are expected to survive, the city’s police chief said at a press conference late Wednesday, with some victims having already been released from hospital. An 8-year-old and 10-year-old sitting in pews were killed when a shooter opened fire through the windows of a church at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis at just before 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, police said. Seventeen people were injured, police said. Fourteen of the injured victims were children ages 6 to 15, while the three adults who were shot were parishioners in their 80s, O’Hara said. The FBI identified the shooter as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who was born Robert Westman. The suspect died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. Officers recovered three guns -- one rifle, one shotgun and one handgun -- at the scene, all of which are believed to have been fired in the attack. All were purchased legally by the suspect, officials said. O’Hara told reporters on Wednesday night that authorities have four search warrants out for the church and three residences linked to the suspected shooter across the Minneapolis metro area. Electronics related to the suspect were recovered by officers, but no other firearms, O’Hara said. Police are now working through dozens of pages from documents with assistance from the FBI in hopes of identifying a motive. "It was premeditated, we believe," O’Hara said, but added that investigators have not yet established a motive. The suspect had no criminal history, police said. O’Hara said that additional police patrols will be provided as children return to school across the metro area throughout this week.

The New York Times [8/27/2025 5:00 PM, Patricia Mazzei, 153395K] reports the number of people being held at an immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades has decreased sharply and may soon be down to zero, despite the state’s recent insistence that the 2,000 beds at the facility were desperately needed as part of President Trump’s crackdown on unauthorized immigrants. Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, wrote in an email on Friday that the detention center, known as Alligator Alcatraz, was “probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days.” The email, obtained by The New York Times, was sent to the office of a South Florida rabbi in response to interfaith leaders who had asked whether they could minister to detainees inside the remote center. The state has repeatedly declined to say how many detainees it was housing at the center, which opened in early July at a remote airfield. Roughly 900 people were being held there by mid-July, according to members of Congress who visited. More than a month later, the email is the first evidence that the center is not operating at or near capacity. It comes six days after a federal judge ordered that the facility be shut down. On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, attributed the drop in the detention center’s population to the Department of Homeland Security. He said federal officials were deporting detainees or transferring them out of the facility more quickly, perhaps because of the ongoing litigation in federal court. “Our role is to provide more space for processing and detention leading to deportation,” Mr. DeSantis said at a news conference in Orlando. “We are not the ones actually removing them from those facilities.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for the state Division of Emergency Management did not respond to a question about how many detainees were being held at the Everglades center. The Washington Post [8/27/2025 7:03 PM, Lori Rozsa, 29079K] reports DHS confirmed that the department is moving detainees out of the Everglades site. DHS spokesman Nathaniel Madden said that despite what he called an “activist judge” who ordered the facility to be dismantled, “we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens.” “DHS is complying with this order and moving detainees to other facilities. We will continue to fight tooth-and-nail to remove the worst of the worst from American streets,” Madden said in an email. Opponents who have kept vigils outside the gates of the facility since it opened on July 1 said busloads of detainees were being moved out last weekend. A congressman who visited the center last week said fewer than 350 men remained at a place that DeSantis said could eventually hold 5,000 people.

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CNN [8/28/2025 4:07 AM, Priscilla Alvarez, 23245K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported nearly 200,000 people in the first seven months of President Donald Trump’s administration, according to a senior Homeland Security official, putting the federal agency on track for its highest rate of removals in at least a decade but still short of the administration’s stated deportation target. The latest figure is a slice of the overall deportations that have occurred under Trump. The administration has recorded nearly 350,000 deportations since the president returned to office in January. The other deportations this year included repatriations by US Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard, as well as people who chose to self-deport. Prior to Trump taking office, ICE had already recorded around 71,400 deportations between October 2024 through the end of December. Including those, ICE could surpass 300,000 deportations in fiscal year 2025, which ends September 30. The last time the agency recorded that many deportations was under President Barack Obama, when around 316,000 people were removed in fiscal year 2014. The administration has enlisted multiple federal agencies to bolster its immigration enforcement operations nationwide, notably flexing its presence in cities like Los Angeles and Washington, DC. CBP, the agency responsible for border security, recorded more than 132,000 deportations this year. The department has also tracked around 17,500 self-deportations. Taken together with ICE’s actions, that amounts to nearly 350,000 deportations in the first seven months of Trump’s second term. “In the face of a historic number of injunctions from activist judges, ICE, CBP, and the U.S. Coast Guard have made historic progress to carryout President Trump’s promise of arresting and deporting illegal aliens who have invaded our country,” the senior DHS official said in a statement. “Additionally, illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now or face the consequence.”

AP [8/27/2025 11:29 AM, Martha Bellisle, 37974K] reports immigration advocates gather like clockwork outside Seattle’s King County International Airport to witness deportation flights and spread word of where they are going and how many people are aboard. Until recently, they could keep track of the flights using publicly accessible websites. But the monitors and others say airlines are now using dummy call signs for deportation flights and are blocking the planes’ tail numbers from tracking websites, even as the number of deportation flights hits record highs under President Donald Trump. The changes forced them to find other ways to follow the flights, including by sharing information with other groups and using data from an open-source exchange that tracks aircraft transmissions. Their work helps people locate loved ones who are deported in the absence of information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which rarely discloses flights. News organizations have used such flight tracking in reporting. The airlines did not respond to multiple email requests for comment. ICE is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which would not confirm any security measures it has taken

FOX News [8/27/2025 12:32 PM, Breanne Deppisch and Jake Gibson, 40019K] reports a federal judge in Maryland issued a court order Wednesday blocking the Trump administration from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the U.S. until at least October, setting the stage for further court clashes with the government after he was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody earlier this week. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Wednesday extended a temporary restraining order she issued earlier this week, which requires Abrego Garcia to be kept in the continental U.S. — and within 200 miles of the court in Greenbelt, Maryland — until she can consider the emergency motion filed by his attorneys at an evidentiary hearing. She also set October 6 as the date for the hearing to take place, which both parties agreed to, and said she would rule on the emergency request in the 30 days after. The update from Xinis keeps Abrego Garcia in the U.S. for at least five more weeks, blocking the Trump administration, for now, from deporting him to a third country such as Uganda. It comes after his lawyers on Monday filed an emergency habeas request to keep Abrego Garcia in the U.S. for now until his immigration case can play out via the proper channels, ensuring due process protections — including the right to a reasonable fear interview — before being removed to a third country. ICE officials notified Abrego Garcia’s attorneys late last week that they planned to arrest him this week and deport him as early as Wednesday to Uganda. The East African nation reached an agreement with the U.S. earlier this month to accept certain deported migrants, though details of the arrangement were not immediately clear.

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Politico [8/27/2025 2:36 PM, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney, 2100K] reports the Salvadoran man at the center of the most highly publicized case in President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation drive, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is seeking to remain in the United States by renewing his bid for asylum. Lawyers for Abrego filed a motion reasserting his asylum claim in immigration court Monday afternoon, hours after Abrego was taken into custody following a “check-in” with immigration officials he was ordered to attend. Abrego’s attorneys revealed the new move publicly in a court filing Tuesday in a federal lawsuit he brought this week seeking to block the Trump administration from deporting him to Uganda, a country his lawyers say he has no ties to and where he could face new dangers. Abrego’s lead immigration attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told reporters Monday that Abrego had initially agreed to be deported to Costa Rica. However, it now appears that he intends to fight any attempt to deport him from the U.S. In response to a query from POLITICO, Sandoval-Moshenberg said his client’s recent reentry into the U.S. entitles him to a new bid for asylum. Abrego last sought asylum in 2019 during immigration-court proceedings, but a judge denied his claim, saying he had waited too long after entering the United States to file it. “The only reason that Mr. Abrego Garcia was denied asylum was that he had failed to apply within one year of arriving in the United States as required,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “Now, Mr. Abrego Garcia has returned to the United States less than one year ago, and so is eligible to apply.” During a video conference Wednesday in Abrego’s new lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said that she has no jurisdiction over the renewed asylum claim but that she intends to hold a hearing Oct. 6 on Abrego’s bid to block his deportation to Uganda. CBS News [8/27/2025 11:46 AM, Melissa Quinn and Jake Rosen, 45245K] reports Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s attorney, told a federal judge overseeing a legal challenge to his immigration detention that the Salvadoran man made the request Tuesday, one day after he was taken back into custody by U.S. immigration authorities in Baltimore. Abrego Garcia had been summoned for an interview with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at its Baltimore field office after he was released from criminal custody in Tennessee on Friday while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges, according to a notice. When he arrived at the Baltimore office, Abrego Garcia was then taken into custody by ICE and was being processed for deportation to Uganda, the Department of Homeland Security said. But Abrego Garcia swiftly filed a petition challenging the legality of his detention, and U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued an order temporarily blocking his removal to Uganda. At a brief status hearing Wednesday, Xinis, who is overseeing the cases filed by Abrego Garcia, extended her temporary restraining order until at least early October, keeping Abrego Garcia in ICE detention in the U.S. until she rules on his habeas petition. Her order blocks the Trump administration from removing Abrego Garcia from the continental U.S. and ensures that he remains in an ICE detention center within 200 miles of Greenbelt, Maryland, so he has access to attorneys in his civil and criminal cases. Abrego Garcia is being held at a facility in Virginia, Sandoval-Moshenberg said earlier this week. Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign said that the Department of Homeland Security is "committed" to not removing Abrego Garcia until Xinis rules, but said the government objected to the extension of the temporary restraining order. Xinis scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Oct. 6 and said she planned to issue a decision within 30 days.

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NBC News [8/27/2025 5:29 PM, Kimmy Yam, 43603K] reports a group of Israeli citizens filed a legal document this week in support of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University who was taken into custody during his naturalization interview in April before he was released on bail. The 26 Israeli citizens, most of whom are faculty members and students at the Ivy League school in New York, filed an amicus brief backing Mahdawi, a pro-Palestinian activist, in his ongoing immigration case. The government filed an appeal arguing that the federal district court did not have jurisdiction over Mahdawi’s claims and therefore did not have the authority to release him at the end of April. It called for a reversal of the district court’s decision. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to hear the case in the coming weeks. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in response to questions about the arguments in the brief that it is a "privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America."

New York Times [8/28/2025 3:43 AM, Edward Wong, 330K] reports that, when one thinks of law enforcement in the nation’s capital, several agencies jump to mind: the local police, the F.B.I., the Secret Service. Now, there is the Diplomatic Security Service. It is not the most likely of crime-busting outfits to take to the streets of Washington. The agency specializes in tasks involving global diplomacy, such as providing protection for the secretary of state, conducting background security checks of State Department employees and potential hires, and helping secure U.S. embassies and consulates. But its officers are now doing beat-cop work in Washington. They are deployed in the city alongside police officers and other federal agents in what President Trump says is a crackdown on crime. Many residents call it theatrical nonsense aimed at scoring political points with voters who know little about Washington. At least one diplomatic security officer played a leading role in the nighttime arrest on Aug. 19 of Mark Bigelow, 28, a part-time delivery driver for Amazon who was arrested on a charge of having an open container of alcohol, which was in a van. A diplomatic security officer, Adam Kapettanis, worked with counterparts from other agencies to try putting a handcuffed Mr. Bigelow into a law enforcement vehicle, but Mr. Bigelow resisted, according to an F.B.I. agent’s affidavit in court documents. Mr. Bigelow kicked Mr. Kapettanis in the leg, the text said, citing that as an element in charging Mr. Bigelow with resisting and assaulting federal officers, which carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison. Elizabeth Mullin, a federal public defender representing Mr. Bigelow, told the court that Mr. Bigelow “was caught up in this federal occupation of D.C.” — a reference to Mr. Trump’s new policy — and that “this was a case created by federal law enforcement.” When asked on Monday whether the Diplomatic Security Service was playing a role in Mr. Trump’s actions on Washington, the State Department said in a statement to New York Times that the security service was “actively partnering with the Metropolitan Police Department and other law enforcement to provide interagency support in the ongoing mission to deter and reduce crime in the District of Columbia.”

Reuters [8/27/2025 11:08 AM, Brad Heath and Jack Queen, 45746K] reports one night last week, police officers in Washington stopped a man carrying a designer handbag after spotting a small, clear plastic bag poking out of it, which they suspected might contain marijuana. It was the kind of encounter that is a staple of local police work, only this time the officers who asked to look inside the bag were accompanied by agents from five separate federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Secret Service, according to records filed in a local court. They seized about three ounces of marijuana, an ounce more than people can legally possess in the U.S. capital. They charged the man with a misdemeanor, a crime punishable by a fine and a short jail sentence. The arrest happened amid a crackdown on violent crime ordered by President Donald Trump, who has dispatched hundreds of federal agents and National Guard troops to Washington to combat what he has described as a crime epidemic, and which Democratic city leaders have derided as political theater. While the two-week effort has turned up guns and drugs, records from Washington’s Superior Court show it has also included federal agents converging in large numbers on low-level crimes such as marijuana use and public alcohol consumption, cases that have seldom been a priority for U.S. law enforcement agencies tasked with targeting drug traffickers and gunrunners. In the first such analysis, Reuters examined more than 500 criminal cases filed in local court since August 11, when Trump declared a crime emergency in the city. Together, they offer one of the clearest pictures of how the federal government is attempting to tackle crime in the capital.

NBC News [8/27/2025 5:43 PM, Rebecca Shabad, 43603K] reports D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday credited President Donald Trump’s directed surge of federal law enforcement with lowering crime in the nation’s capital, but made clear that the presence of immigration agents and National Guard troops is "not working." Bowser conveyed her ambivalent view of the Trump administration’s federalization of D.C. during a situational update since the president announced efforts on Aug. 7 to combat crime in the city. On one hand, she said that the changes have resulted in less crime, but she also expressed deep concern about residents "living in fear." Bowser, however, strongly rebuked the Trump administration’s deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and National Guard troops in the city. Since the federal surge began, the official said 1,170 people have been arrested. Axios [8/27/2025 2:26 PM, Anna Spiegel, 14595K] reports that Bowser’s 20-day review of the crackdown was overwhelmingly positive — a significant tone shift for the mayor, who suggested she and Trump are on the same page when it comes to "priorities around safety and investment in infrastructure." Bowser pledged support for Trump’s $2 billion request to Congress to "beautify" D.C. parks, fountains, streets and more. She also praised what she calls the "federal surge" for reducing crime in D.C. Bowser said having more federal law enforcement on city streets has helped tamp down on illegal guns, carjackings, and homicides. "We think that there’s more accountability in the system, or at least perceived accountability in the system, that is driving down illegal behavior," Bowser said at the Wednesday press conference. There’s been an 87% drop in D.C. carjackings over the 20-day period compared to the same time last year, per the mayor. D.C.’s data also shows a 15% decline in overall crime from the same period in 2024.

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Daily Wire [8/27/2025 2:59 PM, Tim Pearce, 3184K]

NewsMax [8/27/2025 7:50 PM, Jim Thomas, 4779K] reports Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff from 2020-21, told Newsmax on Wednesday that Democrats should not hesitate to accept federal assistance in combating crime, pointing to Washington, D.C.’s recent decline in carjackings following President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in the capital. Meadows, a Republican who represented North Carolina before joining the first Trump administration, urged Democratic leaders to support federal funding for local law enforcement, stating that public safety should take precedence over politics. Appearing on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," Meadows praised the partnership between the Trump team and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, noting that the federal enhancement of law enforcement has coincided with a significant drop in crime. "Well, I have had the privilege of working with Mayor Bowser when I was in Congress and also in the White House. And the one thing that is to be applauded here today is this hand-in-glove approach," Meadows said. "She mentioned it in her response in that this was a response in helping the Metropolitan Police Department there in D.C. Very capable men and women. And so this federal response is to augment that."

AP [8/27/2025 6:09 PM, Collin Binkley, 37974K] reports the arrest shattered the routine of the neighborhood around Bancroft Elementary School, a public school where more than 60% of students are Latino. It came on the third day of a new school year, and immigration fears had already left the neighborhood on edge. Groups of residents had started escorting students to school from two nearby apartment complexes. Some episodes with law enforcement in the District unfold calmly. During others, nothing happens at all. But the boil-over Wednesday morning was one among many that have erupted across the city since Trump’s police takeover, offering a glimpse into daily life in a city where emotions have been pulled taut. Sightings of police activity spread quickly, attracting residents who say the federal infusion is unwelcome. Millsaps said the city’s police department was carrying out a planned arrest of a “suspected drug dealer” with support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The suspect was taken into custody and a search of his apartment uncovered narcotics and an illegal firearm, Millsaps said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers joined only as a distraction to prevent protesters from disrupting the operation, he said. Residents told Millsaps that their trust of the city’s police had been broken. They said they felt less safe amid Trump’s crackdown. Millsaps said he was sorry to hear it. Asked about the timing of the arrest, Millsaps said it was a planned operation similar to countless others.

Reuters [8/27/2025 1:36 PM, Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward, 45746K] reports that a federal grand jury declined to indict a former Justice Department staffer who was arrested for throwing a sandwich at a federal law enforcement agent during U.S. President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in Washington, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. U.S. prosecutors had sought a felony assault charge against Sean Dunn, who had worked on international cases at the Justice Department. He was fired after being caught on video hurling a sub-style sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agent on August 10 in a bustling Washington neighborhood. The decision marked the second time in recent days that a grand jury stymied federal prosecutors in Washington seeking a felony indictment, typically a routine step in bringing in a criminal case. It is highly unusual for a grand jury to reject such a request given that the prosecutor alone controls the presentation of evidence and must clear a lower legal bar than a jury at a criminal trial. This dynamic led to an oft-quoted observation from a New York judge that a good prosecutor could indict a "ham sandwich." The failure to indict in this sandwich-related case illustrates the challenges facing prosecutors in Washington as they face orders to bring the most severe federal charges available against those arrested in law enforcement sweeps. The Trump administration has deployed federal agents and National Guard troops to curb what Trump has portrayed as an out-of-control crime problem in the nation’s capital, despite police statistics showing a decline in violent crime following an earlier surge.

Reported similarly:
AP [8/27/2025 12:11 PM, Alanna Durkin Richer, 37974K]
ABC News [8/27/2025 11:36 AM, Alexander Mallin and Katherine Faulders, 27036K]
CBS News [8/27/2025 2:56 PM, Scott MacFarlane, 45245K]
NBC News [8/27/2025 2:20 PM, Ryan J. Reilly, 43603K]
Axios [8/27/2025 11:51 AM, Herb Scribner, 14595K]
FOX News [8/27/2025 7:27 PM, Emma Bussey, 40019K]

CNN [8/27/2025 1:48 PM, Katelyn Polantz, Marshall Cohen, Holmes Lybrand, and Casey Gannon, 23245K] reports that President Donald Trump’s plan to combat crime in Washington, DC, with more federal force has led to a deluge of cases flooding already maxed-out courts in the city. The DC US attorney’s office, led by former Fox News anchor Jeanine Pirro, has encouraged its prosecutors to bring more cases to federal court with the most serious charges they can pursue. Defense attorneys across the city believe weaker cases are now being brought into the system as smaller infractions are bumped up to more serious charges. Prosecutors in Washington have also been instructed to push for more people to remain behind bars before their case is heard in court – despite a longstanding approach of courts keeping people accused of non-violent or petty crimes out of jail unless they’re convicted. Overall, Trump’s federal takeover of DC law enforcement is straining the city’s jail, federal court and its local Superior Court, which is already down 13 judges – vacancies the president is in charge of filling because of Washington’s status as the seat of the federal government. In a detention hearing at federal court on Tuesday, magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui addressed the surge of prosecutions. Faruqui admonished the Department of Corrections for keeping a woman locked up for nearly 24 hours despite his order releasing her, and has noted how the Trump-backed crackdown is exacerbating existing issues with the DC jail. "The systems in place are not keeping up with the volume coming in," Faruqui said in a different hearing Tuesday.

Washington Examiner [8/28/2025 5:00 AM, Samantha-Jo Roth and Christian Datoc, 1563K] reports President Donald Trump is pitching a $2 billion plan to repave streets, refurbish infrastructure, and restore order in Washington, D.C., casting it as part of a sweeping crime agenda that remains vague on Capitol Hill, even as House Republicans prepare their own slate of bills targeting the District. The $2 billion figure first surfaced in Trump’s Aug. 22 remarks, when he said he would ask Congress to fund a beautification campaign within a three-mile radius of the White House and Capitol. Senior White House officials now say the proposal stems from the president’s March executive order, Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful, which created seven interagency working groups on issues from policing to homelessness. At the same time, the House Oversight Committee is preparing a high-profile Sept. 18 hearing with D.C. leaders and planning to mark up legislation on juvenile crime, truancy, and limits on policing, ensuring the city will remain a central flashpoint when Congress returns. Trump has also tied the effort to a broader legislative push, which he says is coming. His latest comment came early Wednesday morning, when he posted on Truth Social that he is working with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), and other Republican lawmakers on a “Comprehensive Crime Bill” with “more to follow.” Trump has told allies the package will be easy to secure.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [8/27/2025 5:46 AM, Alex Gangitano, 12414K]

New York Times [8/27/2025 2:34 PM, Clyde McGrady and Bernard Mokam, 143795K] reports days after President Trump ordered a surge of federal law enforcement agents in Washington, D.C., Charlene Golphin told her 17-year-old son that his curfew was being cut short by two hours. Ms. Golphin feared that as a Black boy, her son would be caught in the dragnet set up by officers tasked by the president with cracking down on the “roving mobs of wild youth” he accused of terrorizing the city. Her son, Atrayu Lee, argued that his mother was overreacting. He didn’t engage in the activities that could incite a negative interaction with the police, he said. He spent his free time working with local organizations and had stopped wearing hoodies or black track suits. Ms. Golphin didn’t want to hear it. “I said what I said,” she affirmed. The highly visible new patrols of federal agents and National Guard troops and President Trump’s declaration that young people are a threat to public safety has put Black parents on edge, prompting many of them to enforce stricter rules about going out and wade back into tough conversations about racial profiling and policing. For decades, Black parents have given what they describe as “the talk,” a set of guidelines for how their children, particularly boys, should interact with the police and try to avoid attention from law enforcement altogether. These conversations became heightened after the deaths of Trayvon Martin in Florida and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., prompting national attention to the problem of young Black men dying at the hands of the police. After the nationwide protests that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis led to policing reforms in cities across the country, some parents said they had felt comfortable enough to back off those conversations. Keith Flemons, a father of four who lives in Washington’s 6th Ward, was one of several who said they had hoped to let their children feel relatively free to live their lives. “What am I doing except increasing their anxiety?” he said. But the expanded federal presence has already had a transformative effect, with many families imposing strict new controls on their children. Tanji White, who lives in Ward 7, no longer allows her 16-year-old daughter, Tangi, to venture outside by herself. Instead, her grandfather takes her to school, Target, tennis practice and even to the corner store.

CBS Chicago [8/27/2025 5:55 PM, Chris Tye, 45245K] Video: HERE reports the Trump administration has begun talks on housing ICE agents at a north suburban naval base to support immigration enforcement efforts in Chicago. Despite reports there’s also a request to lodge National Guard troops there, Navy officials said that has not happened. The Department of Homeland Security has reached out to administrators at Naval Station Great Lakes to talk about infrastructure and logistical help for ICE staff to assist with immigration efforts in the Chicago area. The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Wednesday that the 1,600-acre naval base also has been approached about the potential to house National Guard soldiers as part of President Trump’s plan to send troops to Chicago. A spokesman for the naval base said they have not received any official request to support the National Guard. City leaders in North Chicago, which neighbors the naval station, said they are also not aware of any troop deployment there. Gov. JB Pritzker said he’s read the reports that the National Guard mobilization has been discussed, but his office has not received any direct communication from the Trump administration. "We have received no calls from the White House, from the federal government, from anybody who might be in charge of some sort of troop movement," Pritzker said. "They don’t seem to want to communicate at all, and that’s odd, because it sounds like what they’re trying to do is march right over local police. You know, we used to hear that the President of the United States supported local police. WE support local police, but now it appears that he wants to ignore them altogether and do just whatever he has a whim about on that day.” With no official word yet from the White House about the president’s suggestion he could deploy the National Guard in Chicago as part of his plan to crack down on crime, Pritzker – who has vehemently opposed sending troops to Chicago – said no communication and no mobilization is good news, for now. "Right now, it’s hard to tell. We haven’t seen troop movements yet. We also haven’t seen any call-up of our National Guard, but we are on guard hoping that that does not happen," Pritzker said.

FOX News [8/27/2025 4:39 PM, Charles Creitz, 40019K] reports a Chicago Teamsters local is demanding a packaging company refuse to allow federal immigration enforcement on its property without warrants as a top tenet of its overall demands. The workers are seeking assurances from Mauser Packaging Solutions that it will require ICE to display a warrant signed by a judge before it is allowed on the property. The strike at Mauser’s plant in the heavily Hispanic "Little Village" neighborhood has lasted more than two months, and the Teamsters Local 705 negotiator recently refused the factory’s latest offer, according to multiple reports. About 140 people work at the plant, which reconditions metal barrels for chemical storage, and a plurality are Latino, according to the American Prospect. One striking worker told the outlet that he and others are concerned that ICE may target them on a racial basis even if they are able to prove legal residency. The Prospect reported the strike began over a separate issue — allegations of employee surveillance during discussions with union representatives amid contract bargaining.

New York Times [8/28/2025 4:12 AM, Mike Ives, 143795K] reports immigration officials conducted an operation at the site of the largest wildfire in Washington State, fire officials said on Wednesday. The incident appeared to be a rare case of federal officials enforcing immigration laws at the site of an emergency. Officials in charge of fighting the Bear Gulch fire in the Olympic National Forest, west of Seattle, said in a brief statement on Wednesday night that they were “aware of a Border Patrol operation” at the site of the fire. “The Border Patrol operation is not interfering with firefighting activity and Bear Gulch firefighters continue to make progress on the fire,” the officials said in their statement. Hours earlier, The Seattle Times reported that two people fighting the blaze had been arrested earlier in the day. It cited interviews with firefighters, whom it did not name, and what it described as video of a confrontation between the firefighters and law enforcement agents. The fire officials did not say whom the operation had targeted. They referred questions about the operation to a Border Patrol office in Port Angeles, Wash. Federal and state officials did not immediately respond to inquiries about the fire. The blaze in the forest, west of Seattle, was the largest in the state as of Thursday morning, having consumed nearly 9,000 acres. The Seattle Times report said that the federal agents had made the arrests after showing up on Wednesday morning at a site near Lake Cushman where two crews of private contractors had been assigned to cut wood for a local community. The Bear Gulch fire is burning next to the lake. Border enforcement operations do not normally occur at active firefighting sites. During the 2021 wildfire season, the Department of Homeland Security said that immigration enforcement would not be conducted in places where disaster and emergency response and relief was being provided, “absent exigent circumstances.” In some cases, federal immigration agents have assisted firefighters by helping with evacuation efforts. The Bear Gulch fire was 13 percent contained of as Wednesday evening, officials said in an update. Officials have said that the fire, which started in early July, was caused by human activity. The exact cause is under investigation.

New York Times [8/28/2025 3:43 AM, Karen Yourish and Charlie Smart, 330K] reports that, in his seven months back in office, President Trump has declared nine national emergencies, plus a “crime emergency” in Washington. Those emergency declarations have been used to justify hundreds of actions — including immigration measures, sweeping tariffs and energy deregulation — that would typically require congressional approval or lengthy regulatory review, according to a New York Times analysis of presidential documents. All presidents have the authority under the National Emergencies Act, a post-Watergate law, to declare a national emergency to enable the federal government to respond quickly to a crisis. But Mr. Trump has already invoked this power much more frequently than his predecessors and, experts say, for situations that do not qualify as true emergencies. Previous emergency declarations have been made over events like the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, as well as to issue sanctions on countries like South Africa during apartheid in 1985 and North Korea in 2008. Mr. Trump’s use of emergency powers in this term has far outpaced what is typical. On average — between Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in January 1981 and the start of Mr. Trump’s second term this year — presidents declared about seven national emergencies per four-year term, according to a Times analysis of data from the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank focused on democracy. Mr. Trump declared that many in his first month back in office.

FOX News [8/27/2025 9:01 AM, Michael Dorgan, 40019K] Video HERE reports new bodycam footage has been released showing illegal immigrant truck driver Harjinder Singh struggling with limited English after he was pulled over by police for speeding in New Mexico last month - a detail that has since become a major talking point in the case. The footage shows Singh — the suspect accused of jackknifing his 18-wheeler while making an illegal U-turn in Florida that killed three people — being stopped by a New Mexico State Police officer on July 3 for allegedly driving 60 mph in a 45-mph zone. During the interaction, Singh appears apologetic as he receives a ticket from the trooper. He initially communicates without issue until after signing paperwork and preparing to leave, when the officer struggles to understand what the trucker is saying. Singh’s limited English has drawn sharp scrutiny since the Department of Transportation (DOT) said he failed an English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessment following the deadly crash in Fort Pierce, Florida. The DOT said that Singh provided the correct responses to just 2 of 12 verbal questions and only accurately identified 1 of 4 highway traffic signs, raising questions as to how and why he was driving a commercial truck in the first place. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [8/27/2025 5:25 PM, Sergio Candido, 45245K] reports a Texas man has been sentenced to 78 months in prison for his role in a scheme to supply military-grade weapons to Mexican drug trafficking organization the Sinaloa Cartel, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday. According to court documents, Edgar Raul Moreno, 50, purchased approximately 10 firearms in 2020 and 2021 that were "known to be highly desirable to Mexican drug trafficking organizations." Mexican law enforcement in Sinaloa, Mexico, later recovered a belt-fed rifle that had been purchased by Moreno, the DOJ said. Moreno bought belt-fed rifles, handguns, shotguns and other firearms. Moreno was arrested Aug. 23, 2021, and charged in a nine-count indictment on Sept. 15 of that year. He pleaded guilty on March 28, 2025, to one count of making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm.

FOX News [8/27/2025 4:53 PM, Jasmine Baehr, 40019K] reports federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration said Wednesday that 27 people were arrested in Franklin, New Hampshire, in a sweeping narcotics bust that seized fentanyl and methamphetamine tied to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. Investigators said the supply chain traced back through Lawrence, Massachusetts, a city long identified as a fentanyl hub for New England. "Twenty seven people in Franklin, New Hampshire have just been arrested!" wrote the DEA’s New England office on X. "Fentanyl and methamphetamine sourced from Lawrence, Massachusetts have been seized. The drugs are directly linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. The investigation continues.” Authorities said the takedown targeted cartel-backed networks fueling the region’s fentanyl crisis. Photos released by DEA New England showed suspects in handcuffs outside a home and bundles of seized cash.

Washington Post [8/27/2025 3:29 PM, Tara Copp, Samantha Schmidt and Ana Vanessa Herrero, 29079K] reports the U.S. Navy is surging eight warships to the Caribbean and Pacific waters near several Central and South American countries, a significant buildup for a region that has rarely seen such a large presence of U.S. military vessels and a move that has escalated tensions with nearby Venezuela. The ships are part of an “enhanced counter narcotics operation” to carry out drug interdiction missions in Latin America, a defense official told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not yet been made public. The move comes weeks after Trump administration officials said they are evaluating plans for using military force against drug cartels in what would be a major escalation of U.S. involvement in Latin America. In total, three destroyers, two landing dock ships, an amphibious assault ship, a cruiser and a littoral combat ship are either in the region or on their way. The destroyers are each carrying detachments of U.S. Coast Guard and law enforcement officials aboard who would carry out detentions or arrests in drug interdictions. The news of a potential buildup of warships in the region has raised suspicions that the U.S. might take military actions against Venezuela, a U.S. adversary whose president, Nicolás Maduro, is accused by the Trump administration of running a drug cartel. The Navy would not say exactly where the ships will be operating, except that they are patrolling the Caribbean and awaiting more specific orders. The destroyers are “not right off the coast of Venezuela,” the official said.

Breitbart [8/27/2025 11:17 AM, Frances Martel, 2608K] reports state media in Venezuela reported on Tuesday that dictator Nicolás Maduro had deployed 15,000 security operatives to the nation’s border with Colombia, allegedly to fight narco-terrorist organizations. The deployment of security personnel under Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López occurs after President Donald Trump approved the deployment of American military assets to the southern Caribbean Sea this month to address drug trafficking in the region — much of which, the U.S. government affirms, occurs under the auspices of the Venezuelan government. Maduro himself, for which America is offering a $50 million bounty, is believed to be a senior leader in the Cartel de los Soles ("Cartel of the Suns"), an intercontinental cocaine trafficking syndicate run by the Venezuelan military. "The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela. It is a narco-terror cartel," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week. Maduro and his henchmen have aggressively denied any association with drug trafficking, refuting extensive evidence that it also benefits from links to narco-terror groups operative in Latin America such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and Hezbollah. Maduro has instead accused the Trump administration of using drug trafficking as an excuse to plot an alleged coup d’etat against his illegitimate regime. The Venezuelan state news network VTV described the deployment of the alleged 15,000 "security personnel" as part of a larger initiative the regime branded "Operation Catatumbo Lightning," named after a unique natural phenomenon in the country responsible for a semi-permanent lightning storm over Lake Maracaibo. The troops would deploy, VTV reported, to Táchira and Zulia states in western Venezuela, near the border with Colombia. "Today, we will reinforce with 15,000 ground forces on a front… that represents 851 kilometers [521 miles] of the 2,219 kilometers [1,379 miles] of border with Colombia," Padrino announced. Those troops would join 60 "rapid response units" in Zulia and Táchira meant to combat and national security threats, as well as the deployment of naval fleets and drones.

Breitbart [8/27/2025 1:21 PM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2608K] reports that Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil on Tuesday called for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to help "restore common sense" and stop the United States’ ongoing efforts to combat drug cartels in Caribbean international waters — which the Venezuelan narco-state deems a "threat." Gil met with U.N. Resident Coordinator in Venezuela Gianluca Rampolla on Tuesday. According to the regime’s main propaganda outlet, VTV, the officials "debated the threats facing Latin America and the Caribbean from the United States." Secretary-General Guterres has not publicly commented on Venezuela’s request at press time. "We request the support of U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to restore common sense. In this regard, we share our concerns about the deployment of US military units and even nuclear weapons in the Caribbean, which threatens peace," Gil wrote on his official Telegram account. "In the face of false narratives, used as a pretext to justify aggression against Venezuela, we confirm that the 2025 World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) has ratified Venezuela as a territory free of illicit crops. Furthermore, the efforts of the Bolivarian Government have been duly certified by the UNDOC," he continued. Gil’s meeting with Rampolla and his request to Guterres come days after the administration of President Donald Trump increased its efforts to combat drug trafficking in the region and curb the flow of drugs entering the United States.

Politico [8/27/2025 5:55 AM, Myah Ward and Zack Colman, 2100K] reports Corey Lewandowski, the former Trump campaign manager-turned-Department of Homeland Security senior adviser, is involved in green-lighting six-figure contracts at the agency, according to an administration official and two FEMA officials. His involvement has contributed to a bottleneck at the agency that has rankled members of the administration, frustrated at both the delays and Lewandowski’s role as a so-called special governmental employee, the three officials said. Lewandowski has veto power over DHS contracts and grants that exceed $100,000, according to one of the FEMA officials and the administration official, who, like the others in this article, were granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the process. And he is the last stop before contracts move to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s desk, said the second FEMA official, who has personally seen his signature on an approval. He does not sign contracts in place of Noem. The second FEMA official described Lewandowski’s authority at the agency most responsible for carrying out Trump’s mass deportation plan as “insane,” saying his role has impeded FEMA operations through the new DHS protocol of manually reviewing routine contracts. “Corey is part of the problem,” said the administration official. “It doesn’t matter how quickly we get it there, it doesn’t just go straight to her desk.” Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment.

Washington Examiner [8/27/2025 6:14 PM, Christian Datoc, 1563K] reports President Donald Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development is giving every public housing authority in the country 30 days to share citizenship status of tenants or risk losing their federal funding. By law, every PHA is required to share eligibility information, including citizenship status, with HUD. Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act specifically bars illegal immigrants from public housing programs. However, two senior HUD officials, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive information, tell the Washington Examiner that a significant number have either not shared citizenship information with the government, or were simply never collecting that information in the first place. The letter itself, a draft of which was reviewed by the Washington Examiner Wednesday afternoon, will first be sent to the Washington, D.C. PHA, as the president continues his push to address violent crime and "beautify" the district. But HUD also plans to send the notice to each of the more than 3,000 PHAs across the country.

ABC News [8/27/2025 5:29 PM, Luke Barr, Laura Romero, and Armando Garcia, 27036K] reports in a significant policy shift following the firing and departure of over 100 immigration judges, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday that temporary immigration judges will no longer need to have experience in immigration law. The Executive Office for Immigration Review, a sub-agency of the Department of Justice, filed a rule in the federal register announcing that EOIR leadership, "with the approval of the Attorney General," can now select temporary immigration judges who don’t have experience in immigration law to oversee cases. "Immigration law experience is not always a strong predictor of success as an immigration judge and EOIR has hired individuals from other Federal agencies and Department components without prior immigration experience who have become successful and exemplary," the notice said.

New York Post [8/27/2025 2:39 PM, Diana Stancy, 43962K] reports that Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, is set to face the rest of his life behind bars as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to dismantle cartels. Zambada, 75, confessed in a Brooklyn, New York, courtroom Monday that he had coordinated with Mexican officials to smuggle drugs into the US for decades — and ultimately pleaded guilty to serving as principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise and racketeering conspiracy. The Trump administration has pledged to take down the cartels — and experts predict Zambada’s guilty plea paves the way for the Justice Department to launch more indictments against high-profile cartel members moving forward and exerts additional pressure on Mexico to comply with US requests. "It gives Trump powerful political leverage," Brian Townsend, a retired supervisory special agent with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, told Fox News Digital Monday. "I expect him to use this moment to rally public support for more aggressive cross‑border operations and tougher measures against Mexico." "Zambada admitted in court that for decades he paid off Mexican generals, governors, and politicians," Townsend said. "These are words directly from the mouth of one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers. It confirms what we have been seeing for decades: Mexico’s institutions have been deeply compromised."

NewsMax [8/27/2025 7:33 PM, Michael Katz, 4779K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that investigators have found no links between sitting politicians and the Sinaloa drug cartel. Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel who pleaded guilty Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, said he promoted corruption in Mexico by paying off "police, military commanders, and politicians," the Los Angeles Times reported. "We don’t have at this time any proof against any public servant, or member of the army [or] navy," Sheinbaum said, according to the Times. But she vowed during her morning news conference that Mexico would prosecute any officials found to be on cartel payrolls. "We won’t cover up for anyone," she said. Zambada’s comments regarding cartel payoffs across all of the major Mexican political parties added another layer of corroboration to what has long been suspected: Organized crime has thrived through collaboration with Mexican lawmakers, police and soldiers. Zambada’s charges came as the Trump administration weighs U.S. military strikes against cartel targets, the Times reported. Sheinbaum has said repeatedly her government views any unilateral U.S. action on Mexican territory as an egregious violation of sovereignty.

FOX News [8/27/2025 7:00 AM, Peter Pinedo, 40019K] Video HERE reports a woman whose sister, nieces and nephews were gunned down and burned alive by the Juarez cartel is now speaking out in support of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on cartel violence, saying she is "very hopeful for the first time in a long time." Speaking with Fox News Digital, Adriana Jones, president of American Families Against Cartel Terrorism, shared the story of how her sister, Maria "Rhonita" LeBaron, and nieces and nephews, Howie, 12, Krystal, 10, and 8-month-old twins Titus and Tiana, were killed by Mexican cartel members in November 2019. Jones said the family had been driving to Phoenix and was just 70 miles south of Mexico’s border with Arizona. "Gunmen opened fire on their vehicle, killing everybody in it, and then lit it on fire when they were gunned down. So, they were burned, most likely still alive," she explained. "There were two other vehicles that had been driving along that same route, family members, that two other mothers were murdered along with two more children, and there were seven surviving children, all gunned down, all American citizens, all right there along the border." Since then, Jones said her family has been "fighting for justice in every way we can." Through her advocacy, she said she has found that her family’s tragedy is "not a one-off" and that "all along the border you see this kind of stuff happening every single day," whether it involves cartel violence, human trafficking or deadly fentanyl trafficking. "No American family should ever have to suffer the way that my family has suffered," she said. "I held their bodies. I watched what the cartels did to them. I know how evil they are." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo [8/27/2025 8:37 PM, Cinthya Gómez, 51K] reports that, since the federal government’s shelter in the Flamingos neighborhood began operating in 2025, more than 7,500 deported Mexicans have been received in this space designed to provide immediate attention to those returning to the country after being repatriated by the U.S., following the tightening of Donald Trump’s immigration policies. While foreign migrants are channeled through flights to the southern border or to Mexico City, nationals have a short stay of just 48 hours. "That in one place they can stay safely, they can have food, a bathroom, and that they leave knowing what their next step will be. We remember that this is a short-term care space," said Monica Vega, coordinator of the Flamingos care center in Tijuana. The real challenge for many begins after crossing the border. Community organizations and shelters are key to the transition process. Gustavo Hernandez, a deportee and now a shelter worker, shared his experience with Telemundo 20. "If you do not want to return to your home state, they support you with a room, a bed, a bathroom, food, they also support you if you want to work here, as I help in the kitchen, they are giving me financial support and so they support you in the form that if you need to do any paperwork, they have a computer center, if you need medication, they also have medication here," she said. Claudia Portela, coordinator of the Salesian Project, emphasized that the process is not immediate and each case is very particular. "It is not 10 minutes, it is not a day. Many times it takes a few days for the person to understand what happened to them and begin to process it." Although some manage to return to their places of origin with the help of the "Mexico embraces you" program, many end up returning to the border, according to the experience of activists such as José María Lara, coordinator of Alianza Migrante Tijuana. "Because of the migratory situation we see that many who have already been returned to their states, return to the border. That is the most common thing nowadays in the city’s shelters," he mentioned. After their initial stay in the reception center, community shelters become temporary refuges, from where deportees seek to reintegrate into work and social life. The "Proyecto Salesiano" shelter, for example, welcomes dozens of people with different profiles. Although some manage to return to their places of origin with the help of the "Mexico embraces you" program, many end up returning to the border, according to the experience of activists such as José María Lara, coordinator of Alianza Migrante Tijuana. "Because of the migratory situation we see that many who have already been returned to their states, return to the border. That is the most common thing nowadays in the city’s shelters," he mentioned. After their initial stay in the reception center, community shelters become temporary refuges, from where deportees seek to reintegrate into work and social life. The "Proyecto Salesiano" shelter, for example, welcomes dozens of people with different profiles. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Bloomberg [8/28/2025 2:24 AM, Staff, 19085K] reports Mexico to Increase China Tariffs, Satisfying Trump. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [8/27/2025 12:58 PM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1563K] reports one would never know it by the despicable comments of Democrats, liberals, and others on the Left regarding the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, but the agencies are working diligently to make the country much safer. This includes removing illegal immigrants, specifically those with a violent criminal background. In return, Democrats have vilified, demonized, scolded, and compared them to some of the worst people in the history of human civilization, all for doing their job to protect people in the country to help prevent any more tragic murders, such as Laken Riley and Rachel Morin. On Tuesday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the arrest of the 5,000th illegal alien in Los Angeles, California, since June. These initiatives were part of the Trump administration’s plans, which began on Jan. 20, 2025. DHS and ICE amplified their efforts when aggressive and radical protesters began their usual violent protest tactics: destroying property, attacking law enforcement officials, wreaking havoc, and causing mayhem. Democrats in California allowed the violence to go unchecked; the Trump administration had other plans, however. "Border Patrol and ICE law enforcement faced riots and assaults against them as they risked their lives to arrest the worst of the worst in Los Angeles," read a statement from the DHS. As they have been for the duration of Noem’s term as DHS secretary, ICE officials have dealt with the "worst of the worst" when it comes to bringing sanity, normalcy, and safety in enforcing illegal immigration law. Whether it has been dealing with rabid, left-wing protesters throwing rocks and bricks at officers or arresting murderers, thieves, and drug and human traffickers polluting the country’s population, DHS and ICE deserve praise for their work in Los Angeles. Noem acknowledged their efforts in a statement on Tuesday.

New York Post [8/27/2025 8:27 PM, Alex Oliveira, 43962K] reports the Trump administration has levied billions in fines against illegal migrants who have refused deportation orders, according to a report. Immigrants have been fined at least $6.1 billion since President Trump took office in January, with some people facing millions in fines for staying in the US years after they were ordered to leave, the Wall Street Journal reported. In total, 21,500 fines have been issued, sometimes to the tune of nearly $1,000 for every day stayed past removal orders. One migrant, a Brooklyn restaurant worker who was ordered to leave the country in 1998, was fined $1.8 million in June after daily fines were applied retroactively. Those facing fines have been threatened with lawsuits by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), hounded by debt collectors and subjected to crushing IRS tax penalties, according to the newspaper. Meanwhile, immigrants who chose to self-deport from the US are rewarded. "It’s an easy choice: Leave voluntarily and receive [a] $1,000 check, or stay and wait till you are fined $1,000 [a] day, arrested and deported without a possibility to return legally," a senior DHS official told the Journal. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin characterized the fines as a common-sense approach towards people who are blatantly ignoring the law of the land. "These fines are targeted toward illegal aliens who ignore removal orders and do not honor voluntary departure agreements," she said.

CNN [8/27/2025 7:45 AM, Andy Rose, 23245K] reports when the police department of a small Maine resort town was told that one of its reserve officers was working in the US illegally, the Department of Homeland Security made sure the case was splashed on front pages. “The fact that a police department would hire an illegal alien and unlawfully issue him a firearm while on duty would be comical if it weren’t so tragic,” an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said in a statement. ICE accused the department of “knowingly breaking the very law they are charged with enforcing,” but the city said the flaw was with the federal verification program that it used to confirm that Jon Luke Evans – who has since agreed to voluntarily leave the country after barely a month on the job – was permitted to work. “We will continue to rely on the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form and the E-Verify database to confirm employment eligibility,” Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard said at the time. But the Trump administration said a green light from E-Verify was not enough. “The Old Orchard Beach Police Department’s reckless reliance on E-Verify to justify arming an illegal alien, Jon Luke Evans violates federal law, and does not absolve them of their failure to conduct basic background checks to verify legal status,” said Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. The statement from the federal government agency responsible for E-Verify saying it is “reckless” to rely on its own system brought new attention to the program’s weaknesses, even as the Trump administration makes removing undocumented workers from the country one of the top priorities in its aggressive, ongoing immigration crackdown.

Washington Examiner [8/27/2025 12:41 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1563K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security has denied a claim in a news report that alleged training for new Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officers was shortened to 47 days because the number is symbolic of President Donald Trump’s being the 47th president. The Washington Examiner recently visited the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, where acting ICE Director Todd Lyons shared that training had recently been shortened to six days a week for eight weeks, which is 56 days. However, an Atlantic report stated that the figure, when the one day a week of off-time was included, came out to 47 days. The report alleged that the number was chosen because of its relevance to Trump’s second term. "False. Training to become an Enforcement and Removal Operations officer is 8 weeks long," a senior DHS official wrote in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. "FLETC is prepared to accommodate 11,000 new hires by the beginning of next year. ICE continuously evaluates and modernizes its training programs and curriculum. We have streamlined training to cut redundancy and incorporate technology advancements," the official stated. "No subject matter has been cut. Candidates still learn the same elements and meet the same high standards ICE has always required."

(B) NBC News Daily [8/27/2025 2:52 PM, Staff] reports that immigration and Customs Enforcement is providing more details following the arrest of two dozen immigrants. ICE says agents arrested 24 people in Bellefonte last week, including two who they say are a suspected MS-13 gang member and a convicted felon. ICE officials say the operating which took place near Interstate 99 was prompted after investigators identified multiple immigration law violators believed to be temporarily living in that area. They say the individuals were intercepted during traffic stops. ICE says seven of the 24 immigrants arrested were given final orders of removal. Officials have not yet provided any information related to the other 15 that they say they also arrested.

Axios [8/27/2025 6:22 AM, Sabrina Moreno, 14595K] reports a sign is popping up in dozens of Richmond storefronts, declaring "ICE IS NOT WELCOME HERE." Restaurants and shops that once avoided public stances on immigration enforcement are joining together, even at personal risk, to rally behind the city’s immigrant workforce. For some, the rise of immigration raids nationwide — and the silence from businesses — inspired the public show of resistance. "Seeing the restaurant industry as a whole just not saying anything? It really f--king pissed me off," Carlos Ordaz-Nuñez, owner of TBT El Gallo and the son of immigrant farmworkers, tells Axios. "So many restaurants across this country depend on immigrant hands — depend on brown hands — to process food, to wash dishes, to cook food, to serve people." So when the Richmond Community Legal Fund began printing bilingual signs that also state a business’ rights if ICE agents show up, Ordaz-Nuñez asked for one. Around the same time, more businesses began asking the volunteer-run nonprofit for the free sign, says Kristin Reed, a labor organizer and one of the fund’s co-founders. And as the signs dotted storefronts everywhere from Church Hill and Northside to the Fan and Manchester, other businesses felt safer in getting one, too, Reed adds. While Reed and Ordaz-Nuñez said they’ve received an outpouring of support regarding the signs, Republican Lt. Gov. nominee John Reid blasted the campaign this month in a post. Local business owners "don’t get to decide which federal laws are obeyed and enforced," he said.

FOX News [8/27/2025 9:47 AM, Madison Colombo, 40019K] Video HERE reports the CEO of a biotechnology company is suing rideshare giant Uber, claiming he was attacked by one of its drivers and left with a brain injury. Bryan Kobel, CEO of TC BioPharm, claims the attack happened after a dispute with a South Carolina driver in April. Kobel explained the conversation started as "innocuous," but quickly escalated when the driver allegedly knocked him unconscious. "I was shocked. Uber is a $200 billion company. When you get in a car with the Uber sticker on it, it carries that brand weight. It carries the trust that you have in that brand," Kobel explained Tuesday on "America’s Newsroom." Kobel said he was stunned by the company’s response. "In fact, he picks up an Uber ride about two minutes later after leaving me for dead," Kobel said, noting that he contacted the company with hospital records, a police report and photographs of his injuries. "About 48 to 72 hours later, Uber just deactivated my account." Kobel argues that Uber has failed to properly vet its drivers and has avoided taking accountability for what happened to him. "You would have assumed, and I had up until that date, that they [Uber] do background checks. They vet these individuals. That they’ve got a stringent process that’s difficult to evade, and apparently that’s not the case.” The driver has been identified as Vadim Uliumdzhiev, 42, a Russian national who illegally entered the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security. After the attack, he was arrested and charged with second-degree assault and battery, then released on $10,000 bond. He has since been placed in ICE custody. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [8/27/2025 9:51 AM, Randy Clark, 2608K] reports a Florida sheriff sent a "legion" of deputies to arrest an illegal alien who allegedly assaulted ICE agents. Officials report the man is a Nicaraguan national illegally present in the United States. An illegal alien with an outstanding order of removal and a warrant for a DWI charge in Texas violently attacked two ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents in Lakeland, Florida, on Tuesday morning. After the attack, the suspect fled the scene but was tracked down and captured by Polk County Sheriff’s Deputies after burglarizing a business. In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd described the fight between the two HSI special agents and 21-year-old Denis Corea-Miranda, an illegal alien from Nicaragua. Grady told reporters Corea-Miranda had a non-extradition warrant issued in Galveston, Texas, for a DWI arrest and an existing order of removal from the United States issued by an immigration judge. According to Grady, the two HSI agents had information that Corea-Miranda was at a Lakeland residence and spotted the suspect getting into a vehicle with two other people on Tuesday morning. The pair of special agents stopped the vehicle on Reynolds Road in Lakeland and attempted to take him into custody. Grady says the suspect attempted to flee on foot but was chased and tackled by one of the special agents. Corea-Miranda allegedly resisted arrest and refused to submit. Grady described the fight with the two agents as lasting five minutes. Despite the suspect being pepper-sprayed by one of the agents, he managed to flee into a nearby wooded area. According to Grady, his dispatchers were notified of the assault and attempt to escape by Corea-Miranda, prompting him to send what he describes as a "legion" of assets to track the fugitive down. Grady says he sent deputies, a helicopter, unmanned aerial drones, and canine units to track Corea-Miranda. The attack on the DHS HSI Special Agents on Tuesday is yet another example of the increasing physical violence facing federal immigration agents. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a statement about the escalating attacks on Friday saying, "Our brave ICE law enforcement are now facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them as they risk their lives to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. These acts of violence are fueled by sanctuary politicians’ rhetoric vilifying our law enforcement.”

NewsNation [8/27/2025 7:35 AM, Sierra Rains, 6811K] reports a federal immigration officer was attacked and injured while trying to take a man into custody in Florida, according to local authorities. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the incident unfolded Tuesday morning in Lakeland. Two Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had followed Denis Corea Miranda, 21, because he had a warrant for deportation, according to the sheriff’s office. Authorities said Miranda was in a vehicle with two other people, who were also allegedly in the country illegally. According to the sheriff’s office, Miranda faces a slew of charges, which all have been upgraded to more serious felonies due to Florida’s recently passed immigration legislation. The charges include battery of a law enforcement officer, resisting with violence, resisting without violence, false imprisonment, and burglary of an occupied structure. Judd said the two other people who were in the car with Miranda cooperated with law enforcement and were taken into ICE custody.

CBS Chicago [8/27/2025 5:55 PM, Chris Tye, 45245K] Video: HERE reports the Trump administration has begun talks on housing ICE agents at a north suburban naval base to support immigration enforcement efforts in Chicago. Despite reports there’s also a request to lodge National Guard troops there, Navy officials said that has not happened. The Department of Homeland Security has reached out to administrators at Naval Station Great Lakes to talk about infrastructure and logistical help for ICE staff to assist with immigration efforts in the Chicago area. The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Wednesday that the 1,600-acre naval base also has been approached about the potential to house National Guard soldiers as part of President Trump’s plan to send troops to Chicago. A spokesman for the naval base said they have not received any official request to support the National Guard. City leaders in North Chicago, which neighbors the naval station, said they are also not aware of any troop deployment there. Gov. JB Pritzker said he’s read the reports that the National Guard mobilization has been discussed, but his office has not received any direct communication from the Trump administration. "We have received no calls from the White House, from the federal government, from anybody who might be in charge of some sort of troop movement," Pritzker said. "They don’t seem to want to communicate at all, and that’s odd, because it sounds like what they’re trying to do is march right over local police. You know, we used to hear that the President of the United States supported local police. WE support local police, but now it appears that he wants to ignore them altogether and do just whatever he has a whim about on that day.” With no official word yet from the White House about the president’s suggestion he could deploy the National Guard in Chicago as part of his plan to crack down on crime, Pritzker – who has vehemently opposed sending troops to Chicago – said no communication and no mobilization is good news, for now. "Right now, it’s hard to tell. We haven’t seen troop movements yet. We also haven’t seen any call-up of our National Guard, but we are on guard hoping that that does not happen," Pritzker said.

Washington Post [8/27/2025 7:34 PM, Dan Lamothe, 29079K] reports the Trump administration wants to use a Navy base north of Chicago as a launchpad for federal law enforcement activity against undocumented immigration, defense officials said Tuesday, as the White House contemplates also deploying thousands of U.S. troops to the nation’s third-largest city amid rising tension with the Illinois governor. Officials at Naval Station Great Lakes on Wednesday acknowledged having received a request from the Department of Homeland Security that seeks “limited support” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose aggressive tactics under the current administration have drawn outrage from opponents of President Donald Trump. The base, a hub for recruit training, would provide “facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs” if the request is granted, defense officials said in a statement. No decisions to approve access have been made, officials said. That responsibility lies with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who since taking office in January has eagerly pledged the Pentagon’s full cooperation as DHS and its agents search for, detain and remove undocumented immigrants. He has approved the use of other military bases to build detention facilities for people in DHS custody.

(B) CBS Mornings [8/27/2025 8:27 AM, Staff] reports that the private company responsible for the largest automated license plate reader system in the country is facing a violation in the State of Illinois. The secretary of state’s office found in a recent audit that the company allowed US Customs and Border Protection to access Illinois license plate cameras on state roads to surveil drivers. The audit included a sampling of 12 local law enforcement agencies. The secretary of state’s office also discovered that the company did not have proper safeguards in place for data.

New York Post [8/27/2025 9:12 AM, Emily Crane, 43962K] reports an enraged Chicago woman allegedly told an ICE agent "I hope your kid dies" and threatened to shoot officers "right in their f–king" face as they carried out a recent immigration raid. Joshalin Rivera is accused of spewing the vile tirade as ICE and Border Patrol agents were making arrests at an apartment building on Chicago’s West Side on Sunday morning, according to a criminal complaint. "I hope your kid dies a f–king miserable death, your f–king kid needs to get shot in the f–king face next bitch," Rivera allegedly shouted at the agent. Rivera was among a group of bystanders who swarmed the apartment building entrance just as the feds were trying to make the arrests, according to the filing. It wasn’t immediately clear who authorities were trying to detain. After the officers eventually moved inside the apartment, Rivera allegedly could be heard saying, "I’m busting all their f–king windows." Moments later, someone hurled a brick through a Border Patrol agent’s unmarked vehicle and shattered the glass, the complaint states. When authorities demanded to know who was responsible, at least two people allegedly pointed to Rivera. As the feds tried to cuff her, Rivera allegedly pulled at an officer’s neck and grabbed another agent’s "vest in the direction of her firearm," the complaint charges. Another woman, Daishalie Urdiales, then allegedly intervened and tried to stop officers from nabbing Rivera. Both women were eventually cuffed and are now facing federal assault charges.

Daily Caller [8/27/2025 10:03 AM, Jason Hopkins, 985K] reports a Wisconsin judge accused of helping an illegal migrant avoid federal immigration authorities lost her bid to throw out the Trump administration’s case against her. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman on Tuesday denied a motion to dismiss the federal case against Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, paving the way for a trial on charges that she obstructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to continue, according to court documents. Adelman rejected Dugan’s argument that she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and thus immune from prosecution. "A review of the relevant history reveals the government has the better of the argument," Adelman wrote in his ruling. "There is no basis for granting immunity simply because some of the allegations in the indictment describe conduct that could be considered ‘part of a judge’s job,’" Adelman said. "As the magistrate judge noted, the same is true in the bribery prosecutions, concededly valid, where the judges were prosecuted for performing official acts intertwined with bribery.” Appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton and a former Democratic state senator in Wisconsin, the 85-year-old Adelman is considered a liberal judge. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Dugan in April after investigating her for allegedly helping Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal migrant charged with violence, flee from ICE agents. The indictment accuses Dugan of obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing an individual to prevent an arrest, which could carry a penalty of up to six years in prison and a $350,000 fine.

Reported similarly:
Blaze [8/27/2025 11:45 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1559K]

CBS News [8/27/2025 7:12 PM, J.D. Miles, 45245K] Video: HERE reports a trip to drop off their daughter at Texas Tech University has resulted in an unhappy ending for a North Texas couple. The couple, who own a Grand Prairie dry cleaning business, has been detained and faces possible deportation after a traffic stop in West Texas. The arrest raises questions about the selective use of state and local police departments to check on the immigration status of the people they pull over. It was a proud moment when Arcadio and Veronica Ortega dropped off the youngest of their four children for her senior year at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. But on the way back home to Grand Prairie, they were pulled over in Eastland County for what their children say was "...a routine traffic stop.” "But instead of letting them go on their way, the officer contacted ICE to verify their immigration status. Without warning or clear reason, my parents were taken to the county jail," Yolanda Ortega, the detained couple’s daughter, said in a statement. "In a few hours, ICE picked them up and transferred them to the South Texas Detention Complex, where they are still being held. They are separated from us, scared, and facing an uncertain future.” The Ortegas have operated the dry cleaners on Carrier Parkway in Grand Prairie for eight years. Their daughter said they entered the country 25 years ago without visas. That means they will likely be denied bond and held for months.

The Hill [8/27/2025 11:22 AM, Bayan Wang, 12414K] reports a 37-year-old professional violinist who has lived in Utah for most of his life was taken into ICE custody while on a work trip to Colorado last week. John Shin immigrated to Utah on a visa with his father from South Korea when he was a child, according to his attorney Adam Crayk. He went to elementary school, high school and college in the Beehive State, graduating from Utah State University before going on to play on some of the biggest stages, including a stint with the Utah Symphony and Ballet West. On Tuesday, Shin’s wife, Danae Snow, an American citizen, told Nexstar’s KTVX/KUCW that she got a heartbreaking phone call from him on her birthday, Wednesday, Aug. 20. "That morning, he was texting me, ‘Happy birthday, I love you so much,’ and then by that afternoon, I got the phone call, ‘Honey, I’ve been detained by ICE. I love you and the kids, and they’re sending me to a detainment center," Snow said behind tears. "I just thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know how this can happen.’". According to Crayk, ICE arrested Shin because of a charge of impaired driving several years ago while he was struggling with the death of his father. "It looks like John back in 2019 was charged with a DUI, but ultimately resolved his case in 2020 with an impaired driver [charge]," Crayk said. "He has successfully completed all of his probation, completed treatment classes, everything he was ordered to do … everything was completed.” Shin had his driver’s license reinstated and was able to drive on Utah roads again with insurance. "The problem that you have, though, is as someone who is coming to the United States and who doesn’t currently have proper documentation because when you get a DUI, DACA gets taken — immigration will not let you have DACA with a DUI," Crayk said. "He becomes a priority, especially under the current administration, so he was taken into ICE custody because he accepted and did an agreement in Tooele County for an impaired driver, which caused ICE to take him into custody.”

Breitbart [8/27/2025 2:03 AM, Bob Price, 2608K] reports Federal law enforcement officers and agents made their 5,000th arrests of criminal aliens in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The law enforcement actions in the illegal alien sanctuary city led to the removal of gang members, child predators, and murderers, she said. Criminal alien 5,000 was identified as a convicted drug trafficker and aggravated felon from Mexico who had been previously deported. "Precious lives saved. Families protected," Noem wrote in a post on social media. "American taxpayers spared the cost of their crimes AND the burden of their benefits." The Department of Homeland Security celebrated the milestone with a video posted to X showing many of the criminal aliens being taken into custody. "Today, DHS made its 5,000th arrest in Los Angeles. 5,000 criminal illegal aliens, gang members, child predators, and murderers taken off the streets," DHS officials stated. "That is just the beginning." DHS officials identified the individual arrested as number 5,000 as Gustavo Garcia-Miranda, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico. Garcia-Miranda is a convicted drug trafficker and aggravated felon, officials reported. He first illegally entered the U.S. in 2008 and was arrested by Border Patrol for illegal re-entry. If he is charged and convicted for illegal re-entry after removal, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

Telemundo20 [8/27/2025 2:34 PM, Dave Summers, 51K] reports as the White House intensifies its immigration enforcement, federal agents arrested a convicted sex offender living in a San Diego daycare center early Tuesday morning. Ezequiel Cruz Rodríguez, a 47-year-old Mexican citizen, faces deportation after being deported twice. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived at the Little Hands Academy Family Child Care center. Rodriguez, the partner of Dulce Villagómez, the owner of the center, also lives there.

According to federal court records obtained by NBC 7, Rodriguez was first deported in August 1996. At the time, he was a registered sex offender in California and a member of the San Diego gang Logan Clika. Court records indicate that three months before his deportation, he was convicted of a lewd act with a 14-year-old girl. He was sentenced to six months in prison and three years of probation.

Univision [8/27/2025 3:55 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports a family has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government after a 15-year-old student with special needs was detained at gunpoint. The operation, carried out by ICE and Border Patrol agents on August 11 outside Arleta High School, ended in what authorities acknowledged was a case of mistaken identity. The teenager was waiting in a car while his family registered a girl for school. Suddenly, armed officers intercepted him, handcuffed him, and briefly detained him. Witnesses said the officers even left bullet casings at the scene, and when school staff complained, the officers responded that they could keep them "for target practice." For its part, the Border Patrol asserted that it was a case of mistaken identity, as agents were searching for a Salvadoran man with a criminal record. However, the family’s attorneys dispute that account.

FOX News [8/27/2025 11:25 PM, Landon Mion, Bill Melugin, 40019K] reports more than 5,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested in the Los Angeles area since June, according to the Department of Homeland Security, including some of the "worst of the worst" violent offenders. The detainees highlighted by DHS include citizens of Mexico, El Salvador, South Korea, Vietnam, China and Eritrea. "DHS law enforcement has made over 5,000 arrests in Los Angeles. That’s more than 5,000 criminal illegal aliens, gang members, child predators, and murderers taken off our streets. Precious lives saved," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. Some of the illegal immigrants highlighted by the agency have criminal histories that include violent offenses such as murder, theft and sexual abuse, including against children. "Families protected. American taxpayers spared the cost of their crimes AND the burden of their benefits. Thank you to our brave law enforcement officers. Make no mistake: if you are here illegally, we will find you, arrest you, and send you back. This is just the beginning," she continued. Diego Fernandez-Martinez, from Mexico, has convictions for carjacking, vehicle theft, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance for sales, robbery and prisoner in possession of a weapon, according to DHS. The agency also said he is a member of the Surenos gang. Mexican national Juan Carlos Marin-Hipolito was convicted of murder and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison, DHS said. Jaime Sarinana-Rodriguez, also from Mexico, is a registered sex offender convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child and was sentenced to 16 years in prison, according to the agency. Mexican woman Martina Zacarias is a convicted sex offender convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 and was sentenced to eight years in prison, DHS said. Edgar Isaac Lopez, also from Mexico, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, child cruelty resulting in injury or death, assault by a prisoner, unlawful display of a fake or fraudulent ID card or permit, and trespassing, according to the department. Omar Guzman-Rodriguez, a registered sex offender, has convictions that include burglary, possession of check or money order to defraud, taking vehicle without owner consent, vehicle theft and possession of stolen vehicle, and lewd acts with a child under 14, DHS said. He is also from Mexico. Joel Benjamin Reyes, from El Salvador, is a registered sex offender convicted of first-degree rape by forcible compulsion and incest engaged in sexual conduct with a related person, DHS said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Los Angeles Times [8/27/2025 8:35 PM, Summer Lin, 12715K] reports a federal grand jury has indicted two employees at a Ontario surgery center on charges of assaulting and interfering with U.S. immigration officers trying to detain landscapers who ran into the facility to escape the authorities. Jose de Jesus Ortega, 38, of Highland and Danielle Nadine Davila, 33, of Corona have been charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer, a felony, according to a news release Wednesday from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California. A trial date has been scheduled for Oct. 6. Ortega and Davila were charged last month by the U.S. attorney’s office on the same matter. By returning an indictment, the grand jury indicated that it believed federal prosecutors had proved that there is probable cause the defendants violated federal law and that the case can proceed to trial. According to court documents, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were conducting raids in Ontario on July 8 while wearing government-issued equipment, including law enforcement vests, the release states. The agents followed a truck with three men inside and approached them after the men exited the truck in the parking lot of the surgery center, according to the release. Two of the men ran away; one of them, an allegedly unauthorized immigrant from Honduras, was detained near the facility’s front entrance and tried to pull away, causing him and the ICE officer to fall to the ground. A medical staffer helped the landscape worker off the ground and pulled him away from the officers, according to the release. The man went into the surgery center and was chased by the ICE agent, who eventually stopped him.

AP [8/27/2025 7:48 PM, Stephen Groves, 1648K] reports that Democrats were plunged into political crisis, especially splintered on immigration and border security, after their thorough defeat last year in an election in which President Donald Trump made hard-line immigration action a centerpiece of his campaign. That may be changing. From New York to California, Democratic lawmakers are talking more about their immigration plans, showing up at detention centers to conduct oversight on the conditions and at times getting into confrontations with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. It’s putting a spotlight on Trump’s agenda to deport millions of people, suggesting Democratic lawmakers are feeling emboldened to push back. Still, they have a ways to go before advancing a unified agenda of their own. Yet their actions show how the ground is shifting in the American immigration debate — away from border policies to questions about the future for millions of people who are already in the country without permanent legal status. "Is there an opening for Democrats? Yeah," Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat who has pushed his party for years to emphasize border security, told The Associated Press. "Say strong on border security, focus on criminals and all that, but do not deport the folks with good records." Across the country, Democrats have shown up — sometimes unannounced — at immigration detention centers to check on reports of unsanitary and unsafe conditions and draw attention to the Trump administration’s actions. Congressional Democrats have sued the Department of Homeland Security for blocking them from making unannounced site visits, saying they have a right to do so under federal law.

Politico [8/27/2025 8:03 PM, Rebecca Carballo, 14810K] reports the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday it intends to publish a proposed rule that would limit the length of time foreign students are allowed to stay in the United States. Since 1978, foreign students, or F visa holders, could stay in the U.S. for their “duration of status,” meaning as long as they were enrolled as a full-time student. The proposed rule set to publish Thursday would allow for foreign students and exchange visitors to stay up to the duration of the program they are participating in, not to exceed a 4-year period. DHS officials said the rule is to correct a system in which foreign students have “taken advantage of U.S. generosity” by becoming “forever students.” “For too long, past Administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the U.S. virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing untold amounts of taxpayer dollars, and disadvantaging U.S. citizens,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “This new proposed rule would end that abuse once and for all by limiting the amount of time certain visa holders are allowed to remain in the U.S., easing the burden on the federal government to properly oversee foreign students and history.” If finalized, the rule would require foreign students to be regularly assessed by DHS to remain in the U.S. for a longer period. Advocates who represent foreign students, said this rule will create uncertainty for these students and leave them with more bureaucratic hurdles to clear. “International students deserve assurance that their admission period to the U.S. will conform to the requirements of their academic programs,” said Miriam Feldblum, president and CEO of the Presidents’ Alliance, which represents 500 presidents and chancellors of public and private colleges and universities. “They already represent the most closely monitored population in the U.S. and are subject to rigorous oversight by DHS and academic institutions.” The proposed rule could dissuade some students from choosing to study in the U.S., said Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. “It will certainly act as an additional deterrent to international students choosing to study in the United States, to the detriment of American economies, innovation, and global competitiveness,” Aw said in a statement.

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Breitbart [8/28/2025 12:27 AM, Staff, 2608K] reports the Department of Homeland Security plans to introduce a new rule capping the length of stay for international students, among other visa changes, amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The new rule will stipulate that foreign students who hold F visas and exchange visitors with J visas can reside in the United States for the duration of their program, but not to exceed four years. Since 1978, foreign F visa holders have been admitted to the United States for an unspecified period, allowing them to reside in the country as long as they are enrolled as full-time students. The Trump administration says this move will "end foreign student visa abuse.” "For too long, past administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the U.S. virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing untold amounts of taxpayer dollars and disadvantaging U.S. citizens," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. "This new proposed rule would end that abuse once and for all by limiting the amount of time certain visa holders are allowed to remain in the U.S., easing the burden on the federal government to properly oversee foreign students and their history.” Trump ran on a campaign to conduct mass deportations of non-citizens, and since returning to the White House in January has cracked down on immigration. A focus of this crackdown has been universities, with the State Department earlier this month confirming that 6,000 student visas have been revoked so far this year. Last week, the State Department announced plans to investigate all 55 million foreigners in the country with visas. The new rule was swiftly rebuked by international education advocates as unnecessarily creating burdens for foreign students and exchange visitors. "These changes will only serve to force aspiring students and scholars into a sea of administrative delays at best and, at worst, into unlawful presence status — leaving them vulnerable to punitive actions through no fault of their own," Fanta Aw, executive direct and CEO of NAFAS: Association of International Educators, said in a statement. Miriam Feldblum, president and CEO of the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, described the rule as "yet another unnecessary and counterproductive action" targeting students and scholars. "This proposed rule sends a message to talented individuals from around the world that their contributions are not valued in the Unite States," Feldblum said in a statement. "This is not only detrimental to international students — it also weakens the ability of U.S. colleges and universities to attract top talent, diminishing our global competitiveness.” The new measure also sets an initial admission period of up to 240 days for foreign media representatives, with the potential for an extension period of up to another 240 days, but no longer than the lengthen of their temporary activity or assignment.

Federalist [8/27/2025 1:55 PM, Shawn Fleetwood, 982K] reports that President Trump and his administration are facing blowback for their plan to allow hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals to continue studying at U.S. universities — and rightly so. Throughout the past several days, America’s commander-in-chief has doubled down on his ill-advised infatuation with granting these individuals access to the United States’ premier academic institutions. After first claiming on Monday that it’s "very important" to allow 600,000 Chinese students to attend American colleges — more than double the estimated number admitted annually — Trump reaffirmed his support for such a policy during a Tuesday cabinet meeting. Speaking to reporters, the president contended that "it’s very insulting to say [China’s] students can’t come here." "Because they’ll go out and start building schools… but I like that [China’s] students come here. I like that other countries’ students come here," Trump said. "And you know what would happen if they didn’t? Our college system would go to hell, very quickly… And it wouldn’t be the top colleges; it would be colleges that struggle on the bottom… And I told this to President Xi: That we’re honored to have their students here." "Now with that, we check, and we’re careful, and we see who’s there… But we have a tremendous college system, the best in the world. Nobody even close — that’s why China sends them here. You can call it an industry if you want… I’m honored to have the students from China come here," he added.

Washington Examiner [8/27/2025 1:42 PM, Robert Schmad, 1563K] reports that President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that the United States will welcome 600,000 Chinese international students as part of a trade deal with the country. However, a considerable number of Chinese international students have already been implicated in espionage schemes, and access to U.S. universities has been a boon to the Chinese economy. A 2019 FBI report showed that the Chinese government "uses some Chinese students," particularly those studying science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, to "operate as non-traditional collectors of intellectual property" to steal sensitive information from U.S. researchers for the benefit of China. In addition to being a source of trade secrets, U.S. universities also provide a means for future Chinese workers to acquire advanced technical skills for the Chinese government and industries. "The Chinese Communist Party does what authoritarian regimes do: seek to make individual people appendages of the state," Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Sobolik told the Washington Examiner. "Every Chinese student in America is under potential or actual pressure to perform duties for the CCP. That’s not their fault, and we shouldn’t suggest otherwise. We should also, however, be realistic about the problems this reality poses." "Policymakers shouldn’t give visas to Chinese students in STEM programs, nor should they allow sons and daughters of senior party and military officials into the country," Sobolik added.

FOX News [8/27/2025 5:59 PM, Emma Colton, 40019K] reports the Trump administration is restoring an immigration policy that was last used under former President George H.W. Bush’s tenure to conduct neighborhood investigations related to immigrants applying for U.S. naturalization, according to a policy memo released Tuesday by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The administration’s revitalization of personal investigations, also called "neighborhood checks," will include U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requesting information from immigrants seeking naturalization, such as "testimonial letters from neighbors, employers, co-workers, and business associates who know the alien and can provide substantiated information about the alien, including any of the requirements for naturalization." The personal investigations will now include interviewing a naturalization applicant’s neighbors and their employment history stretching back at least a five-year period before an individual applied for naturalization, according to the memo. The checks are to ensure "scrutiny of an alien’s residency, good moral character, attachment to the U.S. Constitution, and disposition to the good order and happiness of the United States."

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AP [8/27/2025 11:16 AM, Staff, 37974K] reports with immigration once again at the center of national debate, former U.S. diplomat, national security expert, and longtime immigration attorney Ramin Asgard is calling for practical, results-oriented solutions to strengthen America’s legal immigration system. Drawing on more than three decades in U.S. foreign policy and immigration law, Asgard offers a rare insider perspective. He has conducted over 30,000 visa interviews as a U.S. State Department consular officer and now leads Asgard Law Offices PLLC, advising thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, highly skilled professionals, and individuals with extraordinary ability. “Every day I work with talented, law-abiding immigrants who are doing everything right,” Asgard said. “But with growing delays, shifting rules, and an increasingly strict enforcement climate, too many are questioning whether the U.S. legal immigration process is reliable enough to build their futures on. That’s not just their problem—it’s America’s problem.” Asgard warns that as rhetoric escalates and policies shift, even the most qualified immigrants are reconsidering the U.S. as a destination. This hesitation has ripple effects: startups that launch elsewhere, businesses that never open, top students and professors who choose other countries, research left unfunded, high-skilled jobs never created, and tourism dollars lost. “These are real, long-term losses that weaken America’s economy, innovation ecosystem, and global standing,” Asgard noted. “Most Americans don’t realize it’s happening.” Operating at the intersection of law, policy, and public engagement, Asgard works one-on-one with clients while advising institutions and policymakers on legal reform and diplomatic engagement. His guiding principle is simple: High-merit immigration benefits both the immigrant and America.

San Diego Union Tribune [8/27/2025 12:52 PM, Shalina Chatlani, 1648K] reports B. said he left Cameroon nine years ago because he was scared for his life. Authorities in the West African nation threw him in prison because of his sexual orientation, he said. After his release, he feared that if he stayed in the country, he would be killed. B., who is now 39 and who asked that he be identified only by his initial because he still has family in Cameroon, arrived in the United States with practically nothing. Since he was granted asylum last year, he has been able to use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, to help him get by. But now most refugees and asylees, who entered the country legally, including B., are no longer eligible for food stamps. The change is part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the giant federal domestic policy measure that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4. "I think it’s unfair. I understand that there are some people who abuse the system," B. told Stateline. "There are also people who are in need. And cutting help for families like mine — not being able to get the help — it will be very difficult." Supporters of the change note that refugees and asylees can get permits to work, and that they have other sources of support. "It’s not like they have been dropped off in this country with no support system," said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit group that backs stricter immigration rules. "They have sponsoring organizations that are helping them get settled and they have work authorization. So they really should be moving forward towards self-sufficiency with support right out of the starting gate. And they should be moving ahead to obtain green cards," she added, referring to the cards that signify permanent residency.

FOX News [8/27/2025 8:00 AM, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, 40019K] reports Canadian authorities intercepted a U-Haul truck packed with 44 migrants near the Vermont border on Aug. 3, as human smuggling networks grow in sophistication along the United States’ northern frontier. That case, now under investigation as a suspected human trafficking operation, captures a dangerous shift in smuggling routes as pressure mounts along the southern border. Immigration attorney and former Connecticut Senate candidate Peter Lumaj, who has practiced immigration law for decades, told Fox News Digital that smugglers are constantly adapting to changes in U.S. enforcement. "The smugglers are very sophisticated. They are able to read what’s happening in a certain country, whether it’s the United States, Canada, or Mexico," he said. Smuggling along the northern border is not new, but the direction of movement has changed. Lumaj noted that while the flow used to be largely from Canada into the U.S., in recent years there has also been a surge of migrants attempting to cross into Canada from the U.S. to avoid deportation to their home countries.

Daily Signal [8/27/2025 10:19 PM, Virginia Allen, 668K] reports interim Chief for the El Paso Sector Walter Slosar has served in the Border Patrol under six different presidential administrations. Today, the border is the "most secure border we’ve ever had," he said. Illegal border crossings have fallen from almost 1,000 a day in August 2022 to just 35 a day in July in the El Paso Sector, which includes the two westernmost counties in Texas—Hudspeth and El Paso—and all of New Mexico. While Slosar says he is proud that encounters have fallen so low, he is "also not satisfied.” The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now. The Border Patrol chief explained that an average of about nine illegal aliens are still managing to evade apprehension every day in the El Paso Sector. "Those are nine people that we don’t know who they are, [what] their intentions are, and so, we’re really focused on getting that number to zero," Slosar said. "Criminal, foreign terrorist organizations, transnational criminal organizations, they’re try still trying to profit" by sneaking people and drugs across the border, he explained. The change now, according to Slosar, is those criminals are running from Border Patrol," whereas [during] the previous three, four years, they were looking for us.” During the administration of President Joe Biden, "criminal organizations made sure that [illegal aliens] were able to come across, use the asylum laws as a way to stay here, have a court date years in advance, but right now, ‘catch and release,’ it’s over," the chief said. ‘Catch and release’ was the policy of apprehending illegal aliens at the border and paroling them into the U.S. until their asylum court date. President Donald Trump ended the practice during his first administration, but Biden permitted the practice to resume under his administration. The El Paso Sector Border Patrol estimates the changes at the border in the past eight months, especially the end of "Catch and release," has cost the criminal cartels over $1 billion. That loss of revenue is driving the cartels to rely on new or varied tactics to smuggle people and drugs into the U.S., according to Slosar. The cartels are digging tunnels under the border wall, using drones to monitor the location of Border Patrol agents, and looking for weak points along the border to cross. But as the cartels employ new tactics, Slosar says Border Patrol is also adapting and working to employ new technology to further heighten "domain awareness.” New technology, such as cameras, sensors, and aerial assets, are key to combating the current threats at the border, he explained. "We’re continuing to develop technology and employ technology," he said, adding that "a lot of that is going to be able to come in with the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and the money that we’re about to receive, or we’ve [already] received." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [8/27/2025 3:32 PM, Staff, 3790K] reports that a U.S. Border Patrol agent in upstate New York who pleaded guilty to charges related to ordering women entering the U.S. to show him their breasts was sentenced to a year in federal prison Wednesday, according to prosecutors. Shane Millan, 53, pleaded guilty in March to federal misdemeanor charges related to allegations he ordered three immigrant women crossing the southern border in 2023 to expose their chests to him via webcam. A fourth woman was ordered to show him her breasts with her bra on, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. While he was stationed in New York, Millan at the time was processing arrivals along the southern border via videoconferencing. Though the resident of Jefferson County told the women that his requests were part of the process for being admitted into the U.S., it was actually for his own gratification, prosecutors said. Millan told two women that he was checking tattoos and used his government computer to research and use Spanish phrases such as, "I will also need you to lift your bra, please," according to court documents. "Everybody deserves respect, and we will not tolerate the sexual exploitation of immigrants by members of law enforcement. Nobody is above the law," acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone said in a prepared release. Millan’s attorney declined comment.

NewsNation [8/27/2025 6:29 PM, Sandra Sanchez, 6811K] reports the Department of Homeland Security says it is waiving more environmental regulations and health rules in order to quickly build more border wall through wildlife refugees in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday announced she has waived regulations to build five miles of new border wall in Starr and Hidalgo counties. Environmentalists says this includes several sections of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The segments are paid from Fiscal Year 2019 funds appropriated and approved by Congress and are to connect to existing border wall in the region, DHS says. This is the seventh environmental waiver Noem has signed relating to border barrier construction on the Southwest border since taking office earlier this year. And it’s the second time environmental laws have been waived in Starr County in the past two years to build border wall. The first time was under the Biden administration. DHS says this is necessary "to ensure the expeditious construction of physical barriers and roads. Projects executed under a waiver are critical steps to secure the southern border and reinforce our commitment to border security," the agency said in a statement. But several environmentalists have told Border Report that the waivers will allow border barrier to be built through federal wildlife tracts of land that previously had been protected.

FOX News [8/27/2025 7:54 AM, Staff, 40019K] reports a Chinese doctor was busted in Texas for allegedly trying to smuggle cancer-related research back to China. Yunhai Li – a 35-year-old employed by the MD Anderson Cancer Center since 2022 – was confronted at an airport by officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection on July 9, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. The office said the authorities working in coordination with Homeland Security Investigations "found evidence Li was attempting to take sensitive medical information abroad during an inspection of his belongings." "We were able to detain him as he was trying to get on a flight to China," Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told Fox26 Houston. "That intellectual property stays with us, so we can save lives." Li was charged with Theft of Trade Secrets and Tampering with a Government Record. The theft charge carries a penalty of two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

NewsNation [8/27/2025 1:23 PM, Julian Resendiz, 6811K] reports that a judge in Arizona has sentenced a woman from Mexico to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal agent with a dangerous weapon. The charge stems from an April 16 incident in Nogales, Ariz., in which a U.S. Border Patrol agent, only identified as E.B., saw the woman come over the border wall and drove up to the scene. The woman, later identified as Sandra Meza Casillas, 51, attempted to go unnoticed by lying flat on her stomach on a road that runs parallel to the international barrier. Court records show that when Agent E.B. arrived, two individuals on the Mexican side of the wall encouraged Meza to run away. The agent pursued the woman on foot and grabbed her shoulder when he caught up to her. Court records show Meza pulled out a canister and pepper-sprayed the agent on his left cheek. The agent overcame the assault, and Meza was apprehended. Records show Meza did not have authorization to be in the United States and was previously deported from the country in 2012. Court records show Meza has family in the United States and that her attorney requested her release pending trial. The government opposed the move, and the judge ruled she should remain in custody. Facing a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the assault, Meza decided to seek a plea bargain with prosecutors approximately one month after her arrest. U.S. District Judge Angela M. Martinez sentenced Meza to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced this month. Meza is facing deportation upon completion of her sentence.

AP [8/27/2025 6:38 PM, Megan Janetsky, 37974K] reports Mexico said Wednesday its postal service was suspending package shipments to the United States ahead of an end to the exemption on tariff duties for low-value packages by the Trump administration. The announcement follows similar moves by postal services from the European Union and several other countries to pause shipping as they await more clarity on the U.S. measure. It also comes amid months-long negotiations between the Mexican government and the Trump administration to avoid wider tariffs. The exemption — known as the “ de minimis” exemption, which allows packages worth less than $800 to come into the U.S. duty free — is ending on Friday. A total of 1.36 billion packages were sent in 2024 under this exemption, for goods worth $64.6 billion, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Mexico’s government said its postal service, Correos de Mexico, will temporarily suspend package deliveries to the U.S., starting Wednesday. “Mexico continues its dialogue with U.S. authorities and international postal organizations to define mechanisms that will allow for the orderly resumption of services, providing certainty to users and avoiding setbacks in the delivery of goods,” the statement read. With the announcement, Mexico joins several European and other countries, including Australia and Japan, in suspending the shipments to the U.S. amid confusion over new import duties.

AP [8/27/2025 6:36 PM, Staff, 37974K] reports the Transportation Security Administration announced the implementation of the One Stop Security Congressionally authorized pilot, which will drastically simplify international travel for passengers flying to the United States. One Stop Security enables passengers arriving in the U.S. from certain foreign airports with connecting flights to be exempt from rescreening by TSA. The One Stop Security operational assessment began in July, with two flights originating in London’s Heathrow International Airport. American Airlines’ One Stop Security flight destination is Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, while Delta Air Lines’ flight destination is Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. This history-making pilot is one of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s top priorities and is the result of close collaboration between TSA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the United Kingdom. “One Stop Security is TSA’s latest common-sense approach to streamlining the passenger journey while also bolstering aviation security,” said TSA Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl. “International air travel can often be a challenging and time-consuming process. It’s our goal to simplify this experience while maintaining the highest levels of security. We believe One Stop Security is an important step in that direction and helps us advance President Trump’s vision for a new Golden Age of American travel, while ensuring the homeland is safe and secure.”

Washington Post [8/27/2025 12:51 PM, Brianna Sacks, 29079K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security is now barring states and volunteer groups that receive government funds from helping undocumented immigrants, according to a Washington Post analysis of updated guidelines and interviews with Federal Emergency Management Agency employees. The new rules also require groups to cooperate with immigration officials and enforcement operations. Several disaster assistance groups, FEMA employees and emergency management experts said the new requirements in the department’s fiscal 2025 aid contracts would make it harder for nonprofits to help the most vulnerable people in the aftermath of a disaster. Some members of the national volunteer disaster group network also questioned whether the new requirements are constitutional and point out that they seem to violate some local and state laws that prevent asking about a person’s immigration status. By accepting the federal grants and awards, the new documents state, volunteer organizations that help after disasters must agree to not “operate any program that benefits illegal immigrants or incentivizes illegal immigration.” That could put groups that provide food, housing, mental health support and other assistance in disaster-stricken states in the position of having to verify aid recipients’ legal status before providing assistance, experts said.

NBC News [8/27/2025 1:22 PM, Laura Strickler and Rebecca Shabad, 43603K] reports that at least 21 Federal Emergency Management Agency employees have been put on administrative leave after they signed an open letter criticizing the Trump administration’s disaster preparedness and response capabilities, the founder of the organization behind the letter confirmed to NBC News. Colette Delawalla, who is also the executive director of the group, Stand Up for Science, said Wednesday that two of the employees who were placed on leave were working in Kerr County, Texas, on the ongoing response to the devastating floods in July when they learned they were placed on leave. The letter, which began by emphasizing the overhaul of FEMA after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was signed by nearly 200 of the agency’s employees, about three dozen of whom used their names. It said the agency’s "current trajectory" under President Donald Trump "reflects a clear departure" from the intent of the post-Katrina overhaul, adding they meant to "sound the alarm" to their superiors at the agency, Congress and the public. The agency’s current and former head lacked "legal qualifications, Senate approval, and the demonstrated background required of a FEMA Administrator," the letter said. The decisions those leaders and Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem have made "erode the capacity of FEMA and our State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) partners, hinder the swift execution of our mission, and dismiss experienced staff whose institutional knowledge and relationships are vital to ensure effective emergency management," it said.

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AP [8/27/2025 9:31 AM, Staff, 37974K]
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FOX News [8/27/2025 5:29 PM, Emma Colton, 40019K]
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Washington Examiner [8/27/2025 8:39 AM, Brady Knox, 1563K]

Federal News Network [8/27/2025 6:40 PM, Justin Doubleday, 1147K] reports Hurricane Katrina was a landmark event for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, ushering in major reforms and serving as a key lesson that reverberates across the FEMA workforce 20 years later. It’s no small thing, then, that some FEMA employees have invoked failures in the government’s response to Katrina to warn Congress and the public that changes under the Trump administration risk a similarly catastrophic scenario in the future. More than 190 current and former FEMA staff members have now signed the "Katrina Declaration." The letter, released publicly on Monday, pushes back against the administration’s changes and petitions for action from Congress. It’s addressed to the FEMA Review Council. FEMA staff say the letter came together over the past two months. It was inspired by similar efforts at other agencies and further driven by a series of events, including catastrophic floods in Texas, that convinced staff to sign the statement. This week’s 20th anniversary of Katrina’s landfall was an opportunity to highlight the real-world consequences of an underprepared FEMA, employees said. FEMA employees who organized the letter were inspired by similar letters written by employees at the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation and NASA, respectively. The idea percolated in the late spring after calls from President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to eliminate FEMA and put more responsibility on states. Many senior career staff at FEMA were taking voluntary buyouts, while the new senior official performing the duties of the FEMA administrator, David Richardson, threatened to "run right over" staff who opposed his agenda. The letter points to the administration’s "ongoing failure to appoint a qualified leader." It points out that the post-Katrina reform law requires FEMA’s administrator to have a background in emergency management. Neither Richardson nor his predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, have experience specific to emergency management. The letter also calls out cuts to FEMA preparedness programs as conflicting with the law’s requirement to build state and local capacities through funding, training and other support.

New York Times [8/28/2025 4:12 AM, Mike Ives, 153395K] reports immigration officials conducted an operation at the site of the largest wildfire in Washington State, fire officials said on Wednesday. The incident appeared to be a rare case of federal officials enforcing immigration laws at the site of an emergency. Officials in charge of fighting the Bear Gulch fire in the Olympic National Forest, west of Seattle, said in a brief statement on Wednesday night that they were “aware of a Border Patrol operation” at the site of the fire. “The Border Patrol operation is not interfering with firefighting activity and Bear Gulch firefighters continue to make progress on the fire,” the officials said in their statement. Hours earlier, The Seattle Times reported that two people fighting the blaze had been arrested earlier in the day. It cited interviews with firefighters, whom it did not name, and what it described as video of a confrontation between the firefighters and law enforcement agents. The fire officials did not say whom the operation had targeted. They referred questions about the operation to a Border Patrol office in Port Angeles, Wash. Federal and state officials did not immediately respond to inquiries about the fire. Border enforcement operations do not normally occur at active firefighting sites. During the 2021 wildfire season, the Department of Homeland Security said that immigration enforcement would not be conducted in places where disaster and emergency response and relief was being provided, “absent exigent circumstances.”

SFGate [8/27/2025 4:22 PM, Julie Brown Davis, 11503K] reports the Trump administration wants to increase logging in forests to simultaneously boost timber production and reduce wildfire risk. Yet, a new study shows that industrial private land managed by timber companies is nearly 1.5 times more likely to experience high-severity wildfires compared with public land. Many timber companies manage land in a way that maximizes profits while also providing a sustainable source of wood, according to the study’s authors. That tends to look like clear-cutting an area, then replanting trees in a dense yet methodical grid. As trees grow back, they’re the same age and size. The forest takes on a homogenous look, with undergrowth that easily connects to the canopy. That’s a recipe for high-severity wildfire, said Jacob Levine, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah and the study’s lead author. In a high-severity wildfire scenario, fire kills more than 95% of overstory trees, Levine said. It’s the most extreme kind of a wildfire, with flames so hot that dominant trees like ponderosa, Jeffrey and sugar pines aren’t just killed outright, their seeds are also consumed by fire. "When you have these really massive patches of total mortality of the forest, there’s no chance for those trees to come back," Levine told SFGATE in a phone interview.

Breitbart [8/27/2025 2:26 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2608K] reports that a U.S. Coast Guard cutter offloaded 76,140 pounds of illegal drugs valued at $473 million in Port Everglades, Florida, this week — the largest drug offload in the service branch’s history. As part of an effort called Operation Pacific Viper, the offload by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton included approximately 61,740 pounds of cocaine and approximately 14,400 pounds of marijuana. The seized contraband was the result of 19 interdictions in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The operation is part of a wider, ongoing effort ordered by President Donald Trump to combat foreign drug cartels in Latin America. "To put this into perspective, the potential 23 million lethal doses of cocaine seized by the U.S. Coast Guard and our partners, are enough to fatally overdose the entire population of the state of Florida, underscoring the immense threat posed by transnational drug trafficking to our nation," said Rear Adm. Adam Chamie, Coast Guard Southeast District commander. According to a statement yesterday from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security: This is the first major offload of Operation Pacific Viper, a historic partnership between the Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy that is surging forces to the Eastern Pacific to cut off drugs and human smuggling before they ever reach American shores. As part of this operation, the Coast Guard conducted 19 interdictions in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. They are defending the Homeland with overwhelming force.

Washington Examiner [8/27/2025 7:00 AM, Mike Brest, 1563K] reports the Coast Guard demonstrated a number of autonomous and semi-autonomous drones to a small group of reporters at the service’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. The service recently announced a significant transformation effort called Force Design 2028 (FD2028), which Vice Adm. Thomas Allan, acting Vice Commandant, described on Tuesday as a “once in a generation effort to transform the Coast Guard.” "Today, I’m particularly excited to highlight the establishment of the robotics and autonomous systems or RAS Program Executive Office," which he said would be "the most transformational enhancement of the Coast Guard’s capabilities since the inception of aviation." The new office "allow[s] us to stay ahead of the curve, translating emerging technologies into real world capability, not in years, but now," Allan continued. "It also empowers us to advocate for the resources we need and streamline our acquisition process, ensuring we can adapt to innovation. We are already behind in this technology revolution, and we can’t afford to wait."

New York Post [8/27/2025 6:00 AM, Jeanette Settembre, 43962K] reports a former mission specialist for OceanGate, the private company that launched the Titan submersible, is defending its controversial late CEO, Stockton Rush. Rush, 61, has been blamed for the implosion that killed him and four other passengers on a voyage to see the Titanic in June 2023. Earlier this month, the US Coast Guard released its final report on the catastrophe criticizing Rush as the main culprit. The 335-page report found that Rush was negligent and did not "follow established engineering protocols." It also accused OceanGate of "strategically creating and exploiting regulatory confusion and oversight challenges." But the mission specialist, who asked to remain anonymous, said the risks were made clear to everyone who traveled on the vessel. The passengers included Hamish Harding, a 58-year-old British explorer and businessman; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a 77-year-old French maritime expert who had previously dove down to the Titanic wreck; Shahzada Dawood, 48, a Pakistani-British businessman; and his 19-year-old son, college student Suleman Dawood. "Anybody who went with OceanGate to the Titanic expedition was offered a lot of information and signed a waiver. They had knowledge that this was a very risky endeavor. There were presentations on board," the mission specialist told The Post. "If anybody made the decision to get in the sub, it was at their own risk. I did not feel anybody [at OceanGate] lied. I did not feel they were not trying to be safe or that their intention was to deceive people."

USA Today [8/27/2025 10:46 AM, Nathan Diller, 64151K] reports two travelers in need of urgent medical care were evacuated from a Princess Cruises ship. The U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Air Force removed a 52-year-old woman and 99-year-old man from the Ruby Princess ship on Aug. 24. The woman was on life support after experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, while the man had complete esophageal obstruction, according to a news release. The ship was about 145 nautical miles west of Washington’s Cape Flattery at the time. The vessel is sailing an 11-day cruise to Alaska and Canada that departed from San Francisco on Aug. 22, per CruiseMapper. A helicopter rescue crew hoisted the man from the ship and "conducted a wing-to-wing transfer with Life Flight Network at Neah Bay, Washington," the Coast Guard said, while the woman was taken to Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, British Columbia. "This case demonstrates how our specialized expertise and dedicated training allows us to rapidly respond to these types of time-sensitive medical evacuations at sea," Cmdr. Kelly Higgins, commanding officer of U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, said in the release. "The expert coordination between the Canadian Coast Guard, the Life Flight Network, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the U.S. Coast Guard ensured this patient received the care they needed." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CyberScoop [8/27/2025 2:40 PM, Tim Starks] reports Google says it is starting a cyber “disruption unit,” a development that arrives in a potentially shifting U.S. landscape toward more offensive-oriented approaches in cyberspace. But the contours of that larger shift are still unclear, and whether or to what extent it’s even possible. While there’s some momentum in policymaking and industry circles to put a greater emphasis on more aggressive strategies and tactics to respond to cyberattacks, there are also major barriers. Sandra Joyce, vice president of Google Threat Intelligence Group, said at a conference Tuesday that more details of the disruption unit would be forthcoming in future months, but the company was looking for “legal and ethical disruption” options as part of the unit’s work. “What we’re doing in the Google Threat Intelligence Group is intelligence-led proactive identification of opportunities where we can actually take down some type of campaign or operation,” she said at the Center for Cybersecurity Policy and Law event, where she called for partners in the project. “We have to get from a reactive position to a proactive one … if we’re going to make a difference right now.” The boundaries in the cyber domain between actions considered “cyber offense” and those meant to deter cyberattacks are often unclear. The tradeoff between “active defense” vs. “hacking back” is a common dividing line. On the less aggressive end, “active defense” can include tactics like setting up honeypots designed to lure and trick attackers. At the more extreme end, “hacking back” would typically involve actions that attempt to deliberately destroy an attacker’s systems or networks. Disruption operations might fall between the two, like Microsoft taking down botnet infrastructure in court or the Justice Department seizing stolen cryptocurrency from hackers. Trump administration officials and some in Congress have been advocating for the U.S. government to go on offense in cyberspace, saying that foreign hackers and criminals aren’t suffering sufficient consequences. Much-criticized legislation to authorize private sector “hacking back” has long stalled in Congress, but some have recently pushed a version of the idea where the president would give “letters of marque” like those for early-U.S. sea privateers to companies authorizing them to legally conduct offensive cyber operations currently forbidden under U.S. law. The private sector has some catching up to do if there’s to be a worthy field of firms able to focus on offense, experts say.

CyberScoop [8/27/2025 2:35 PM, Matt Kapko] reports a financially motivated threat group operating since 2021 has refined its technical tradecraft, honing its focus on cloud-based systems that allow it to expand ransomware operations beyond the scope of on-premises infrastructure, Microsoft Threat Intelligence said in a report released Wednesday. By leveraging cloud-native capabilities, Storm-0501 has exfiltrated large volumes of data with speed, destroying data and backups within victim environments and encrypted systems. “This is in contrast to threat actors who may have relied solely on malware deployed to endpoints,” Sherrod DeGrippo, director of threat intelligence strategy at Microsoft, said in an email. “This evolution is about both a technical shift and a change in impact strategy,” DeGrippo said. “Instead of just encrypting files and demanding ransom for decryption, Storm-0501 now exfiltrates sensitive cloud data, destroys backups, and then extorts victims by threatening permanent data loss or exposure.” Storm-0501 targets opportunistically by searching for unmanaged devices and security gaps in hybrid cloud environments. By exploiting these vulnerabilities, it can evade detection, escalate its access privileges and sometimes move between user accounts. This approach amplifies the impact of its attacks and raises its chance for a payout, according to Microsoft. The threat group recently compromised a large enterprise with multiple subsidiaries that each operated standalone Active Directory domains and separate Microsoft Azure instances with varying security tool coverage linked to several Entra ID tenants. “This fragmented deployment created visibility gaps across the environment,” researchers said in the report.

CyberScoop [8/27/2025 4:40 PM, Tim Starks] reports a notorious Chinese hacking campaign against telecommunications companies has now reached into a variety of additional sectors across the globe, including government, transportation, lodging and military targets, according to an alert U.S. and world cybersecurity agencies published Wednesday. The alert is an effort to give technical details to potential victims of the campaign from the People’s Republic of China-backed group commonly known as Salt Typhoon, the alleged culprit behind what has been called the most serious telecom breach in U.S. history. Those intrusions may have begun years ago and that first came to light last fall, accompanied by revelations that the hackers targeted U.S. presidential candidates. “By exposing the tactics used by PRC state-sponsored actors and providing actionable guidance, we are helping organizations strengthen their defenses and protect the systems that underpin our national and economic security,” Madhu Gottumukkala, acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in a news release. In comments to The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post on Wednesday, the FBI said the scope of the Salt Typhoon campaign includes hitting more than 80 countries and 200 American organizations, beyond the previous nine identified telecom company victims. The alert also names Chinese companies identified as being part of the campaign. Its recommendations include patching known vulnerabilities that have been actively exploited and securing “edge” devices that the hackers have used to get into networks, such as routers.

Federal News Network [8/27/2025 6:10 PM, Terry Gerton, 1147K] Video: HERE congress is once again focusing on quantum cybersecurity — this time with a bipartisan bill that calls on the White House to lay out a national strategy for protecting federal systems from future quantum-powered hacks. It builds on earlier efforts to prepare agencies for the encryption-breaking risks that quantum computing could bring.

NBC News [8/27/2025 8:18 AM, Kevin Collier, 43603K] reports a hacker has exploited a leading artificial intelligence chatbot to conduct the most comprehensive and lucrative AI cybercriminal operation known to date, using it to do everything from find targets to write ransom notes. In a report published Tuesday, Anthropic, the company behind the popular Claude chatbot, said that an unnamed hacker "used AI to what we believe is an unprecedented degree" to research, hack and extort at least 17 companies. According to the blog post, one of Anthropic’s periodic reports on threats, the operation began with the hacker convincing Claude Code — Anthropic’s chatbot that specializes in "vibe coding," or creating computer programming based on simple requests — to identify companies vulnerable to attack. Claude then created malicious software to actually steal sensitive information from the companies. Next, it organized the hacked files and analyzed them to both help determine what was sensitive and could be used to extort the victim companies. The chatbot then analyzed the companies’ hacked financial documents to help determine a realistic amount of bitcoin to demand in exchange for the hacker’s promise not to publish that material. It also wrote suggested extortion emails. Jacob Klein, head of threat intelligence for Anthropic, said that the campaign appeared to come from an individual hacker outside of the U.S. and happen over the span of three months.

Reuters [8/27/2025 6:05 AM, Staff, 45746K] reports
Anthropic said on Wednesday it had detected and blocked hackers attempting to misuse its Claude AI system to write phishing emails, create malicious code and circumvent safety filters. The company’s findings, published in a report, highlight growing concerns that AI tools are increasingly exploited in cybercrime, intensifying calls for tech firms and regulators to strengthen safeguards as the technology spreads. Anthropic’s report said its internal systems had stopped the attacks and it was sharing the case studies - showing how attackers had attempted to use Claude to produce harmful content - to help others understand the risks. The report cited attempts to use Claude to draft tailored phishing emails, write or fix snippets of malicious code and sidestep safeguards through repeated prompting. It also described efforts to script influence campaigns by generating persuasive posts at scale and helping low-skill hackers with step-by-step instructions.

CBS News [8/27/2025 9:29 PM, Andres Gutierrez, 45245K] reports Nevada officials revealed Wednesday that personal information may have been compromised in what was described as a "sophisticated ransomware-based cybersecurity attack" that occurred Sunday in which hackers infiltrated government networkers and disrupted essential services statewide. Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo had initially said Monday there were no signs personal data was stolen. However, in a news conference Wednesday, Tim Galluzi, Nevada’s state chief information officer, indicated that personal information may have been taken. "I must disclose that our ongoing forensic investigation has found evidence that indicates some data has been exfiltrated, or moved outside the state network, by the malicious actors," Galluzi told reporters. "...At this stage we cannot yet identify or classify the specific nature of this data.” Several state services were brought to a standstill by the cyberattack. Many people showed up at DMV offices across the state for their appointments this week only to learn the agency is closed. State DMV offices were still closed as of Wednesday. "We want to remind our citizens that this statewide outage is impacting almost every state agency’s operations, and connectivity to impact safety and the health and human services fields needs to take priority over DMV services," Tonya Laney, director of the Nevada DMV, said at the news conference. The outage also prevented law enforcement from accessing state DMV records. For a good part of Sunday, the dispatch phone lines for Nevada State Police were down. Emergency and essential operations, such as 911 services, were still available. Lombardo had announced Monday that all state offices were closed to in-person services until further notice. The breach impacted state systems only, Lombardo said. The attack is under investigation. Galluzi said "bringing systems back online is a meticulous process" and they "must ensure that threat has been fully eradicated before we reconnect them.” Cybersecurity experts, meanwhile, say local governments are prime targets for cyberattacks. "Now they’re hitting government, like the small, not big federal, but state and local community," Greg Moody, professor of information systems at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told CBS News. "And so that’s been the trend for the past 12 to 18 months.” An analysis from the software company Comparitech counts 525 ransomware attacks on U.S. government entities since 2018, with an estimated $1.09 billion lost to downtime as a result of those attacks. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Washington Post [8/27/2025 10:00 AM, Joseph Menn, 29079K] reports that the FBI and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world warned Wednesday that a Chinese-government hacking campaign that previously penetrated nine U.S. telecommunications companies has expanded into other industries and regions, striking at least 200 American organizations and 80 countries. The joint advisory was issued with the close allies in the Five Eyes English-language intelligence-sharing arrangement and also agencies from Finland, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic, an unusually broad array meant to demonstrate global resolve against what intelligence officials said is a pernicious campaign that exceeds accepted norms for snooping. “The expectation of privacy here was violated, not just in the U.S., but globally,” FBI Assistant Director Brett Leatherman, who heads the bureau’s cyber division, told The Washington Post in an interview. Chinese hackers won deep access to major communication carriers in the U.S. and elsewhere, then extracted call records and some law enforcement directives, which allowed them to build out a map of who was calling whom and whom the U.S. suspected of spying, Leatherman said. Prominent politicians in both major U.S. parties were among the ultimate victims. Although technology and security companies call the same hacking group different names, the best known is Salt Typhoon, from Microsoft’s terminology. The joint advisory named three private companies that allegedly participated in the onslaught and said that they provided services to multiple units in the People’s Liberation Army and the Ministry of State Security. The Wall Street Journal [8/27/2025 10:30 AM, Aruna Viswanatha and Sarah Krouse, 646K] reports that the scope of the intrusion allowed Chinese intelligence officers to potentially surveil U.S. citizens’ private communications and track their movements around the globe, Brett Leatherman, the FBI’s top cyber official, said in an interview. The agency estimates that the intruders likely obtained more than one million call records and targeted the telephone calls and text messages of more than 100 Americans. “This is one of the more consequential cyber espionage breaches we have seen here in the United States,” he said. The hackers were also able to access information from systems the federal government uses for court-authorized network wiretapping requests, one of the aspects of the breach that most concerned U.S. officials. “It should really set off alarm bells for all Americans,” Leatherman said. The “Salt Typhoon” campaign dates back to at least 2019 but was only discovered by U.S. authorities last year. It allowed China-linked actors to access U.S. customer call data, private communications for a limited number of individuals, sensitive law-enforcement information and technical network information that could inform future attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported last year. “If you are able to exfiltrate similar information globally you can start to aggregate that data and start to understand a much different intelligence picture than what you would get if you just targeted and compromised one country,” Leatherman said.

NBC News [8/27/2025 5:03 PM, Kevin Collier, 43603K] reports three private Chinese companies helped China carry out one of the boldest hacking operations to date, including snooping on text messages from the Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigns in 2021, according to a coalition of U.S. agencies and 12 allied governments. The operation, known as Salt Typhoon, hacked into telecommunication companies around the world, including AT&T and Verizon last year, allowing it to potentially access text and telephone communications between millions of people, and track their locations. A 37-page technical report released Wednesday was signed by the FBI, the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as well as intelligence and law enforcement bodies from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, among others. It said that the campaign, which has been going on since 2021, also targeted government, transportation, lodging and military infrastructure networks around the world. An FBI spokesperson told NBC News in an emailed statement that Salt Typhoon has hacked more than 200 companies across 80 countries.

ABC News [8/27/2025 3:37 PM, Staff, 27036K] reports nearly a dozen school shooting hoaxes at universities have been reported across the country in the past week, according to the schools and law enforcement agencies. While these particular hoaxes, also known as "swatting calls," ended up being false alarms, experts note that these types of hoaxes are not only a serious crime with substantial penalties for those involved, but can also put first responders and bystanders at risk. "Swatting is not a benign endeavor. Law enforcement is taking it seriously...when they are identified, they are arresting them and prosecuting them," said John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and a former acting undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security. These swatting calls -- which Cohen defines as a "malicious reporting of a fictitious emergency with the purposes of eliciting a law enforcement response" -- are not a new phenomenon, with people previously calling 911 from pay phones "hoping to create these types of response scenarios," Cohen said. But, what’s different now is the increase in technology that create a more realistic threat to police, Cohen said. On Monday, the University of Colorado Boulder responded to a report from an individual who claimed there was an active shooter and that they heard gunshots coming from the direction of a campus library. But once on the scene, "there were no findings of injuries or any suspect," the school said. "The University of Colorado Boulder was the latest target in a string of hoaxes directed at campuses around the country with false active-harmer reports," the school said. That same day, there were also false threats reported at the University of New Hampshire, University of Arkansas, Iowa State University, Northern Arizona University and Kansas State University. On Sunday, the University of South Carolina received two separate calls of an active shooter at a campus library, with the calls including "background noise that mimicked gunfire," the school said. Last week, there were also swatting calls placed at Villanova University and the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, the schools said. While law enforcement is still attempting to understand the motive behind these hoaxes, Cohen said swatting is typically used to "threaten or harass public officials, to disrupt public events or acquire ill-gotten gain or using it as part of an extortion technique.”

Free Beacon [8/27/2025 12:05 PM, Matthew Xiao, 500K] reports the head of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, has been under round-the-clock protection for weeks in Vienna after Austrian security services received intelligence of a "specific Iranian threat," according to a Tuesday report. Grossi, who has led the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog since 2019, has been guarded by Austria’s elite Cobra counterterrorism unit since late June after intelligence pointed to an Iran-linked threat against him, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Austria deploys its Cobra force to "counter the gravest threats, such as terror plots and to secure top-ranking individuals, including the Austrian chancellor," according to the Journal. The news comes as Iranian officials have already publicly threatened the IAEA chief over his reports on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities, the Journal reported. Ali Larijani, a top aide to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, warned that "when the war ends, we are going to deal with Grossi." Other senior Iranian officials have demanded Grossi’s removal from IAEA and threatened to put him on trial. Grossi, who "had the backing of the first Trump administration" to take the IAEA job, has focused his efforts on persuading "Iran to limit its violations of the 2015 nuclear deal and has faced what IAEA officials call Iranian stonewalling of a six-year probe into undeclared nuclear material found in Iran," the Journal noted. He recently told Fox News in an interview that U.S. and Israeli strikes earlier this year set back Iran’s nuclear program "significantly," describing the differences as "night and day."

Daily Wire [8/27/2025 1:47 PM, Virginia Kruta, 3184K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that he was putting an end to a program that had for nearly ten years allowed Chinese coders access to Department of Defense cloud systems. Hegseth shared a video in which he described the "Digital Escorts" program — implemented under former President Barack Obama — under which Microsoft employed Chinese coders to "support sensitive DOD cloud systems" under the supervision of American contractors. "Last month the Department of Defense was made aware of an Obama-Biden era legacy program called Digital Escorts," Hegseth began. "For nearly a decade, Microsoft has used Chinese coders, remotely supervised by U.S. contractors, to support sensitive DOD cloud systems. The program was designed to comply with contracting rules but it exposed the department to unacceptable risk.” "I mean, if you’re thinking ‘America First,’ and common sense, this doesn’t pass either of those tests," Hegseth continued. "So I initiated an immediate review of this vulnerability and I want to report our initial findings.” Hegseth went on to explain that his review had determined that any benefits were not worth the potential risk of allowing Chinese nationals to have that kind of access to sensitive information, especially information pertaining to Defense Department.

FOX News [8/27/2025 10:41 AM, Stephen Sorace, 40019K] reports that U.S. military fighter jets were scrambled on Tuesday to track a Russian spy plane detected flying near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said. It was the fourth time in less than a week that the military command has detected and tracked a Russian IL-20 COOT, a Cold War-era reconnaissance aircraft, in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), a stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security, according to NORAD. The same type of Russian aircraft flew over the region on Aug. 20, Aug. 21 and Aug. 24, the military command said. In each of the four instances, NORAD responded with its own fighter jets to track the spy plane. In the latest detection on Tuesday, NORAD scrambled an E-3 Sentry, two F-16s and one KC-135 tanker to track the spy plane. NORAD said the Russian military aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, adding that such Russian activity in the Alaskan ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat. "NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions," the military command said. "NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America."

Reported similarly:
CBS News [8/27/2025 8:49 AM, Emily Mae Czachor, 45245K] Video: HERE

CBS News [8/27/2025 10:40 AM, Staff, 45245K] reports Denmark’s foreign minister had the top U.S. diplomat in the country summoned for talks after the main national public broadcaster reported Wednesday that at least three people with connections to President Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland. Greenland, a huge semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, is coveted by Mr. Trump, who has called repeatedly for the vast land mass to be annexed by the United States. Denmark and Greenland insist that the mineral-rich island is not for sale, while Mr. Trump has not ruled out taking it by military force even though Denmark is a NATO ally. On Wednesday, Danish public broadcaster DR reported that government and security sources, which it didn’t name, as well as unidentified sources in Greenland and the U.S., believe that at least three Americans with connections to Mr. Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in the territory. It said its story was based on information from a total of eight sources, who believe the goal is to weaken relations with Denmark from within Greenlandic society. DR said it had been unable to clarify whether the Americans were working at their own initiative or on orders from someone else.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [8/27/2025 12:06 PM, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Soren Jeppesen, 45746K]
Axios [8/27/2025 9:00 AM, April Rubin, 14595K]

Bloomberg [8/27/2025 7:52 AM, Daryna Krasnolutska, 19085K] reports President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet a Ukrainian delegation to the US this week as Kyiv’s allies discuss possible security guarantees for the war-ravaged nation, a person familiar with the plans said. The Ukrainian delegation will include President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, the person said on condition of anonymity. According to the person, the agenda during the Ukrainian visit will potentially focus on security assurances and a future bilateral meeting between Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv’s delegation will arrive amid intense discussions in the wake of a high-profile meeting between Zelenskiy, the US President and European leaders in the White House on Aug. 18. As Trump pushes for a quick agreement between Kyiv and Moscow on ending the war, Ukraine’s supporters are focusing on pinning down what security guarantees they can provide to ensure that any agreement reached with Putin can hold.

Reuters [8/27/2025 3:46 PM, Michelle Nichols, 45746K] reports that Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said on Wednesday that there will be more information in the next few days on a strike on Nasser hospital in Gazaon Monday, that killed at least 20 people, including five journalists. "We’re still looking into the details of that incident, and so that in the next few days we will have more information about that," Danon told reporters. "Our goal is to fight terrorists, not journalists, not anyone who is not involved in terrorism," he said. Journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other outlets were among the dead. Israel’s military has concluded six Hamas members were killed in the strike on on Monday, acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Shea told the Security Council. She said that "the IDF struck the site Hamas was using to monitor troops at the hospital," using an acronym for Israel’s military. "We note the prompt nature of this investigation and response and call on this council to condemn the continued use of civilian infrastructure by Hamas," she said. None of the five journalists were among the six alleged Palestinian militant targets that the Israeli military named in a written statement, released on Tuesday. The statement included photos of six individuals who were killed, including alleged members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Washington Post [8/27/2025 8:01 PM, Brianna Tucker, 29079K] reports White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Wednesday ramped up pressure on India to discontinue purchasing Russian oil, while accusing the country of funding Russia’s war in Ukraine and harming American taxpayers. “India can get 25 percent off tomorrow if it stops buying Russian oil and helping to feed the war machine,” Navarro said during an interview on Bloomberg TV. When India buys Russian oil “at a discount,” Navarro continued, “Russia uses the money it gets to fund its war machine, kill more Ukrainians. And then the next thing that happens, of course, is Ukraine comes to us and Europe and says give us some more money.” “Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. The consumers and businesses and everything lose, and workers lose because India’s high tariffs cost us jobs, and factories, and income and higher wages. And then the taxpayers lose because we got to fund Modi’s war,” Navarro said, referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The road to peace runs in part through New Delhi,” Navarro added.

Breitbart [8/27/2025 1:50 PM, John Hayward, 2608K] reports that Russia is reportedly prepared to use its position as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to protect Iran from "snapback" sanctions, which European leaders are threatening to invoke because Iran has failed to comply with its obligations under former president Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal. Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanski, confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday that Russia is circulating a draft proposal at the U.N. to block sanctions against Iran. "Russia and China want to give more breathing space for diplomacy and provide some possibilities for an active quest for a diplomatic solution to this issue," Polyanski said. "The choice of the international community should be in favor of peace and diplomacy, not in favor of war — and that is what our draft is about," he said, strongly implying that anyone in favor of punishing Iran for noncompliance is attempting to start a war with the Islamic Republic. The push for snapback sanctions comes from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, collectively known as the "E3." Unless the extension demanded by Russia is granted, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — which was never ratified by treaty — will "expire" on October 18, 2025. The United States withdrew from the agreement during President Donald Trump’s first term.

CBS News [8/27/2025 7:16 AM, Staff, 45245K] reports China said Wednesday that it would not participate in denuclearization talks with the United States and Russia, after President Trump said he hoped to include Beijing in negotiations. Mr. Trump on Monday said the United States was trying to pursue denuclearization with both countries. "I think the denuclearization is a very - it’s a big aim. But Russia’s willing to do it and I think China is going to be willing to do it too," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We can’t let nuclear weapons proliferate. We have to stop nuclear weapons," he added. Russia and the United States — former Cold War rivals — possess almost 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons between them, but Moscow pulled out of the last remaining arms control agreement with Washington in 2023. When asked about Mr. Trump’s comments, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Wednesday it was "neither reasonable nor realistic" to expect China to participate in trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations with the United States and Russia. "China and the United States are not at the same level at all in terms of nuclear capabilities," Guo told reporters.

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