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.

CBS News [8/2/2025 1:45 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51860K] reports an appeals court late Friday mostly kept in place restrictions on "roving" immigration raids in the Los Angeles area, agreeing with a lower court judge who found that sweeps conducted by the Trump administration in Southern California appeared to have been predicated on people’s race and other factors, like speaking Spanish. A panel of judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit largely denied a Trump administration request to suspend the lower court ruling, which required federal immigration officials to have reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally before detaining them. The immigration raids at the center of the legal battle triggered massive protests in the Los Angeles area in June, as well as widespread fears among the region’s large Latino community. Those high-profile immigration arrests in California have continued, led by Customs and Border Protection agents who have been assigned to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers with furthering the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign — in some cases, far away from the U.S.-Mexico border. Beyond requiring CBP and ICE to have reasonable suspicion before detaining someone, the July order from U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong prohibited federal agents from basing arrests on people’s race or ethnicity, the fact that they speak Spanish or have an accent, their presence in a location, or their occupation. Frimpong stated that any immigration arrests that relied exclusively on these factors violated the U.S. Constitution’s 4th Amendment, which protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. In a statement to CBS News on Saturday, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that "unelected judges are undermining the will of the American people." ABC News [8/2/2025 8:11 AM, Laura Romero, 31733K] reports "We agree with the district court that, in the context of the Central District of California, the four enumerated factors at issue -- apparent race, ethnicity, speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent, particular location and type of work, even when considered together -- describe only a broad profile and do not demonstrate reasonable suspicion for any particular stop," the three judge panel said. The appeals court found that the Trump administration did not dispute in filings that definitive stops in Los Angeles have occurred based on the factors and did not dispute the district court’s conclusion that the reliance on them "does not satisfy the constitutional requirement of reasonable suspicion." The judges concluded that plaintiffs "are likely to succeed" in showing that the Trump administration stopped and detained people based on their race, place of work and language. Bloomberg [8/2/2025 4:04 PM, Erik Larson, 19320K] reports that the unanimous decision means Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will continue to be barred from a variety of profiling activity as they attempt to sweep the Los Angeles region to seek out undocumented immigrants. That includes questioning individuals at places were migrants often look for day labor, such as Home Depot parking lots. It came in a lawsuit by a group of Southern California residents, workers and advocacy groups who criticized President Donald Trump’s efforts to arrest and deport millions of migrants. The White House said authority to set immigration policy lies with Congress and the US president, not federal judges. The Trump administration “looks forward to continuing to implement its immigration policies lawfully,” spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security disputed that ICE uses racial profiling. “What makes someone a target of ICE is if they are illegally in the US — NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [8/2/2025 5:20 PM, Miriam Jordan and Tim Arango, 153395K]
Washington Post [8/2/2025 7:13 AM, Vivian Ho, 32099K]
Breitbart [8/2/2025 4:37 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 3077K]
The Hill [8/2/2025 11:54 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 18649K]

CBS News [8/2/2025 1:45 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51860K] reports a panel of federal judges on Friday limited President Trump’s effort to close the U.S. asylum system at the southern border, saying his administration can’t unilaterally suspend laws that bar the U.S. from deporting migrants to places where they would face persecution or torture. The ruling centers on a proclamation issued by Mr. Trump just hours after he returned to the White House in January, ordering the closure of the asylum system. U.S. border officials have relied on the order to summarily expel those entering the country illegally, without allowing them to request asylum. Mr. Trump justified the sweeping measure on the grounds that the country is facing an "invasion" of migrants. The three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit lifted its administrative pause on a July ruling from a federal judge who found Mr. Trump’s proclamation defied U.S. laws that require the federal government to hear the claims of migrants who want to apply for humanitarian protection out of fear that they could be harmed if deported. That ruling by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss struck down the Trump administration’s asylum ban and would’ve required officials to stop enforcing it on a legal class comprised of migrants who are or will be in the U.S. While it lifted its stay on Moss’ ruling, the D.C. Circuit panel also narrowed his order, limiting the class members eligible for relief to asylum-seekers already on American soil while Mr. Trump’s decree is in effect. The appellate court also limited the scope of Moss’ ruling, partially granting a request from the Trump administration. The panel allowed the Trump administration to continue using the president’s proclamation to deny migrants access to the U.S. asylum system, noting that U.S. law permits, but does not require, the government to grant asylum to those who prove they could be persecuted because of their race, religion, politics or other factors. But the panel also said Mr. Trump’s proclamation could not be used to prevent migrants from applying for other forms of humanitarian protections that the U.S. is legally required to give to certain migrants fleeing persecution and torture. The judges scheduled expedited proceedings to decide the merits of the case, asking both the government and the advocates challenging Mr. Trump’s proclamation to file briefs through Sept. 26. The lawsuit that triggered Friday’s decision was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocates, who have denounced the Trump administration’s border crackdown as a draconian policy that has sent migrants to harm’s way. "The President secured the border in record time at an unprecedented level by using every available legal tool provided by Congress," Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CBS News in a statement on Saturday. "A rogue district judge took those tools away, threatening the safety and security of Americans and ignoring a Supreme Court decision issued only days earlier admonishing district courts for granting nationwide injunctions. The Trump Administration is committed to restoring integrity to our immigration system and to our justice system." Trump administration officials have credited the president’s proclamation and other actions — including the deployment of thousands of additional troops to the southern border — for a historic drop in illegal crossings there. In July, just 4,600 migrants were caught crossing the southern border illegally, the lowest monthly tally recorded by Border Patrol and a figure the Biden administration reported daily during many months. While public monthly reports started in fiscal year 2000, annual data suggest the last time Border Patrol had that level of apprehensions was in the 1960s.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [8/2/2025 3:47 PM, Filip Timotija, 18649K]
Washington Examiner [8/2/2025 12:22 PM, Brady Knox, 1934K]

FOX News [8/2/2025 10:41 AM, Staff, 46878K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin ‘Fox News Live’ to discuss the illegal immigrants accused of trying to ram an immigration agent’s car and the department’s new signing bonus for recruits. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [8/2/2025 9:07 AM, Staff, 46878K] reports National Border Council Vice President Art del Cueto joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the manhunt for an illegal immigrant accused of attempting to run over an ICE agent as President Donald Trump continues his historic border crackdown. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [8/3/2025 6:00 AM, Tobi Raji, 32099K] reports one former interpreter for U.S. forces in Afghanistan was detained by immigration agents in Connecticut last month after he showed up for a routine green card appointment. A second was arrested in June, just minutes after attending his first asylum hearing in San Diego. As the administration seeks to fulfill President Donald Trump’s pledge to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, attorneys for the men say their clients — Afghans who fear retribution from the Taliban for their work assisting the United States in its 20-year war in Afghanistan — have found themselves in the crosshairs of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The attorneys provided The Washington Post with military contracts and certificates, asylum and visa applications, recommendation letters and other records that described both men’s work on behalf of U.S. forces during the war. After Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021, President Joe Biden’s administration moved to resettle Afghans who had worked for the U.S. government through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, which grants lawful permanent resident status and a pathway to U.S. citizenship. As of April, about 25,000 Afghans had received an SIV, and another 160,000 had pending applications, said Adam Bates, an attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Program who analyzed State Department data. But the Trump administration is rolling back programs created to assist more than 250,000 Afghans — including the allies who worked for U.S. forces and other refugees who fled after the Taliban takeover. And while administration officials say SIV processing will continue, advocates for Afghans who served with U.S. troops fear the curtailment of programs they depend on, along with Trump’s ambitious deportation plan, jeopardizes those still vying for SIV protection.

Washington Post [8/3/2025 6:00 AM, Marianna Sotomayor, 32099K] reports Hispanic Republicans in the U.S. House say they are increasingly concerned that President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign could backfire with Latino voters, as they look for ways to protect some undocumented immigrants from deportation. These Republicans expressed fear that the inroads Trump and the GOP made with Latino voters in 2024 could erode because of what they see as a haphazard approach to mass deportations, which are starting to disrupt their communities and threaten local businesses. They are growing especially anxious about the push to arrest and deport migrants whose only crime is crossing the border illegally. “We’re all against criminals and gang members and those with deportation orders. But as this is starting to touch some folks who have known somebody who’s been here 20 years, more and more [people] are starting to see it, and there’s more and more response in the districts,” Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (R), who represents a predominantly Hispanic district in South Florida, said in an interview. The concern from Latino Republicans — along with some of their conservative colleagues — comes as the Trump administration, through White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, has directed immigration officials to make a minimum of 3,000 arrests daily.

Washington Post [8/3/2025 6:00 AM, Holly Bailey, 32099K] reports inside a small Presbyterian church off the courthouse square, a few dozen people packed the pews on a hot summer evening, their faces a mix of sweat and tears. There were Baptists and Methodists and some who claimed no denomination at all, heads bowed and eyes closed in a rare show of interfaith unity amid criminal allegations considered so evil that some openly wondered if Satan himself had taken up residence here. Days earlier, just across the street, Bibb County Sheriff Jody Wade said his office had uncovered an alleged child sex trafficking ring operating from a concrete bunker behind a home on the dusty outskirts of Brent, an adjacent town of about 3,000 people located an hour south of Birmingham. At least 10 children between the ages of 3 and 15 were allegedly victimized. Over a period spanning at least three years, the children had been taken to the bunker, a structure on the edge of a wooded area that had been originally built as an underground storm shelter in a region known for destructive tornadoes. But that refuge of safety was transformed into a den of horrors, according to Wade. The children were allegedly drugged and abused in an operation that included sex trafficking, torture and acts so cruel that Wade said they led to him to question humanity. Seven people were arrested and charged with a laundry list of crimes, including numerous charges of rape, sexual abuse, trafficking and kidnapping. The defendants include the parents of at least four victims. To some local residents, sex-abuse scandals are the province of rich elites, like the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who is pictured on a billboard in nearby Birmingham with President Donald Trump, along with the question, “What’s the big secret, fellas?” It is a reference to accusations that Trump’s Justice Department is covering up details from Epstein’s alleged sex crimes that could also ensnare the current president, his predecessor Bill Clinton or other famous people who spent time with Epstein decades ago. (Trump has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and had claimed that the two had a falling out years before the disgraced billionaire’s convictions on sex crimes.) Now, at prayer meetings and other gatherings, Bibb County residents have grappled with the realization that even more horrific crimes than those Epstein was accused of may have been happening in their own town. For some, it has shattered a sense that their small community was safer than bigger cities. But experts say rural areas are among the places where people are the most vulnerable to trafficking and abuse — including in Alabama, where local prosecutors say such cases have been on the rise.

Los Angeles Times [8/3/2025 12:47 AM, Howard Blume, 14672K] reports the L.A. teachers union and its allies held a rally Saturday calling on the school district to more aggressively fight for immigrant families, including by demanding that the federal government return all detained and deported students to Los Angeles. School district officials — in both a statement and at the rally — downplayed the union’s confrontational tone and said they are united, along with various constituent groups, in supporting immigrant families. The Saturday rally was held outside school district headquarters and included a march through downtown. It drew about 500 raucous participants, many of them wearing the bright red shirts associated with United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents about 38,000 teachers, counselors, social workers, nurses and librarians. "Education not deportation," they chanted. And: "Say it loud! Say it clear! Immigrants are welcome here!". Speakers at the rally included rising senior Vanessa Guerrero, who attends the nearby Miguel Contreras Learning Complex. She spoke about a classmate who was seized and deported. "She was going to be a senior this year," Vanessa said. "She’s known for coming to school every day, working hard, and she was an honors student. She did contribute to the community of the school. And was a great person.” Her classmate and the girl’s mother were seized when they attended an immigration appointment, said Vanessa and others. "Honestly, everybody is terrified," Vanessa said. The union called for a directly confrontational approach with the Trump administration — including involvement in litigation to protect immigrant rights. The school system is not currently involved in litigation with the Trump administration, officials said, although district leaders have strongly criticized its actions. Specific union demands include establishing a two-block perimeter around schools where immigration agents would not be allowed. It’s not clear that district officials or staff would have jurisdiction beyond school grounds. The union also called for a "formal campaign" that would work with families to update emergency cards and add additional trusted adults to the list of a family’s contacts, in case, for example, a student’s parents are detained. L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho has said outreach for this purpose is ongoing. The union also is calling for counselors to be paid to return to work prior to the first day of school to make sure families affected or potentially affected by immigration enforcement are willing and prepared to have their children return to school. It’s not clear how many students or family members of students have been taken into custody or deported. The school district does not collect information on immigration status. A few cases have become high profile and widely reported on. In other instances, however, both district policy and privacy protections limit what the school system discloses.

NewsMax [8/2/2025 1:23 PM, Jim Thomas, 4622K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is ramping up efforts to recruit thousands of new agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Acting Director Todd Lyons told Newsmax Americans are answering the call. In an interview on "Saturday Report," Lyons said there’s overwhelming support for Defend the Homeland, ICE’s new hiring campaign launched with funding from President Donald Trump’s newly signed border-security package. The initiative includes up to $50,000 in signing bonuses and student loan forgiveness to attract qualified candidates. "It’s been incredible, the outpouring of support not only from this administration but from Secretary Noem," Lyons said, referencing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. "She let us have the latitude to go out there and recruit a lot of the folks that we lost under the last administration." According to Lyons, morale within ICE had plummeted in recent years, especially within Enforcement and Removal Operations, the division responsible for apprehending and deporting illegal immigrants. Many officers and analysts left, citing an inability to carry out their mission. But Lyons said that’s changing. Under new leadership and with renewed funding, ICE is aiming to meet Trump’s goal of hiring 10,000 new agents and deporting 1 million people per year. Public support has grown, he said, as Americans better understand ICE’s role in removing dangerous individuals from communities. The agency is especially targeting veterans, active-duty military members nearing separation, and civilians interested in law enforcement careers. Lyons said student loan forgiveness and competitive benefits add to the appeal, but the deeper motivation is service.

USA Today [8/2/2025 9:50 AM, Trevor Hughes, 75552K] reports dangling bonuses of up to $50,000, federal officials are launching a massive recruitment campaign to hire more than 14,000 immigration agents, attorneys and other workers to help execute President Donald Trump’s border crackdown. The president is newly flush with billions in funding and wants to deport 1 million people annually with the help of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The federal spending plan funds the hiring of 10,000 new ICE agents, making ICE the single-largest law enforcement agency in the country, larger than the FBI, DEA, ATF and other agencies combined. Even before the new hires take their posts, the dramatic expansion of public ICE operations has upset communities from coast to coast, and raised questions about the tactics agents have used as they’ve chased suspects across Home Depot parking lots, farm fields and into medical buildings. The aggressive recruitment efforts have also angered local sheriffs worried that deputies in already understaffed offices will be lured away by the big bonuses and higher pay. The Department of Homeland Security has already begun hiring for the new jobs. Federal officials are planning a massive social media blitz to reach recruits, potentially advertising on YouTube and SnapChat, but also on connected TVs via Hulu and Amazon Prime.

FOX News [8/2/2025 4:38 PM, Greg Wehner, 46878K] reports an illegal migrant with a DUI rap sheet only to be released back into the community of a blue state is accused of causing a crash in Lakewood, New Jersey, killing a mother and her 11-year-old daughter. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said 43-year-old Raul Luna-Perez of Mexico was arrested and charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and assault by auto in connection with a July 26 motor vehicle crash, and now has a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged against him. In a news release, ICE said that this was not Luna-Perez’s first run-in with the law. In Luna-Perez’s latest alleged incident, which turned deadly, officers with the Lakewood Township Police Department responded to reports of a crash just before 11:30 p.m. on July 26. ICE lodged a detainer against Luna-Perez on Monday, and has initiated removal proceedings while Luna-Perez remains in custody. Luna-Perez entered the U.S. illegally on an unknown date, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ICE blamed New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s sanctuary policies for allowing Luna-Perez to be released into American communities. "Governor Murphy and his sanctuary policies released this serial criminal into New Jersey communities," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "Now, this innocent family is shattered by their failed leadership. "President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to do everything in their power to remove these criminal illegal aliens before they destroy more lives."

Reported similarly:
New York Post [8/2/2025 1:05 PM, Chris Harris, 49956K]

Chicago Tribune [8/2/2025 10:23 AM, Meredith Colias-Pete, 3987K] reports Gov. Mike Braun announced Friday he has greenlit ICE to use state law enforcement agencies to assist with immigration enforcement. The federal agency now has agreements with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Indiana State Police, Indiana Department of Correction, in addition to the Indiana National Guard. The Indiana Department of Homeland Security has a 287(g) agreement allowing it to make arrests, issue legal detainers, hold immigrants in custody and operate in a joint ICE task force. Indiana State Police "have a similar agreement," he said. The Indiana Department of Correction also signed an agreement requiring personnel to "identify and deport" immigrants "arrested" and "booked" in state prisons. Braun also directed the DOC to set aside up to 1,000 prison beds at the Miami Correctional Facility in north central Indiana for those arrested in the country illegally. He said ICE would have a "further partnership" with the Indiana National Guard, although those details are not immediately clear. Braun has already approved ICE to use Camp Atterbury in north central Indiana as a "temporary" site to house arrested immigrants.

NewsNation [8/3/2025 1:57 AM, Marilyn Parker, Russell Falcon, 5801K] Video: HERE reports there’s a new app that lets people track immigration and customs enforcement sightings in their communities. This comes as some states take steps to increase their participation in the Trump administration’s mass deportation raids. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a new enforcement division with the Florida Highway Patrol that will focus on locating and capturing undocumented immigrants. DeSantis recently said over 3,000 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in Florida since March. Additionally, he said over 1,000 traffic stops led to immigration apprehensions and more than 160 traffic crashes involved arrests of undocumented immigrants. But immigrant advocates and critics alike say the push to bring even more anti-immigrant enforcement is causing unnecessary stress for legal immigrants and even non-immigrants. In response to the increased threat of ICE, many Americans have begun using "Coqui," a live map-based community alert app. People can bookmark things like ICE and police sightings. The posts are anonymous and rely on community reports. Coqui, per its Apple App Store listing, also allows users to post in either English or Spanish. User markers on the map will remain visible for two days before disappearing and users can create up to five markers per day, according to Coqui’s website. Coqui additionally offers advice for migrants who encounter ICE. "We need to see if [Coqui] is working for people," Florida-based migrant advocate Ana Lamb told NewsNation local affiliate WFLA. "If we can manage and use this correctly and accurate, if possible, that will be a lot of help.” She says ultimately, something is needed to help protect all immigrants afraid of being picked up by ICE. "What Governor DeSantis was saying is like escalating to another level," Lamb said. "There is a concern there because there is a lot of racial profiling.” The Department of Homeland Security also has an app for voluntary self-deportations. Lamb said every situation is different, so she advises people to consult with a lawyer before making that decision.

Detroit Free Press [8/2/2025 10:30 PM, Natalie Davies, 4241K] reports almost 100 people rallied in support of causes including immigration, voting and abortion rights at Roosevelt Park near Michigan Central Station in Detroit on Saturday, Aug. 2. Protesters participating in the Solidarity in Our Streets rally marched to the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building to show opposition to federal policies. The protest took place in tandem with local 50501 Rage Against the Regime protests around the country. Michele Leeland, of Detroit, said as a young teen in the 1960s, she remembers intense protests and wants to see more of them in 2025. She said the Solidarity in Our Streets protest was “small but meaningful.” Comité de Acción Comunitaria organizer Kassandra Rodriguez said the group started in April to oppose deportation and hopes to pressure Detroit to become a "sanctuary city." “We should be demanding our city become a true place of sanctuary not just with flimsy promises but legislation — legislation that bans Detroit Police Department from ICE cooperation, legislation that bans our tax dollars from being used to aid raids and deportations," Rodriguez said. "We can win. We can make society safer for everyone regardless of legal status." Comité de Acción Comunitaria also organizes court support for immigrants, know your rights workshops and bimonthly meetings at Vamanos!, with its next meeting on Thursday, Aug. 7, Rodriguez said. “To those in office who will build walls and will persecute our people, we will build movements and we will fight back," Rodriguez said. Detroit has taken a "Welcoming City" approach, according to the police department, meaning DPD "does not engage in immigration enforcement," but "regularly cooperates with federal officials in their law enforcement efforts." The department does not inquire about an individual’s immigration status when interacting with the public, and crime victims and witnesses are not asked about their legal status, according to the police department. Though, in criminal arrests, "DPD does not shelter any suspect from federal immigration enforcement," according to a statement by DPD. Leelan said she moved to Detroit about a year ago from a sanctuary city in California and hopes to see Detroit become one, too. She said she is considering candidate stances on becoming a sanctuary city in the upcoming mayoral election.

Chicago Tribune [8/3/2025 5:00 AM, Laura Rodríguez Presa and Joe Mahr, 4917K] reports the sounds of weeping mothers curled on cold concrete floors echoed through the walls at the federal immigration processing center in Broadview, keeping Gladis Chavez awake for most of the night. The cries came in waves, she recalled. Quiet whimpers, choked gasps and occasional prayers. About children left behind and fears of what would happen next. Most of the women who had been detained at a routine check-in June 4 at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Chicago now had nothing but each other and a few jackets they shared to fight off the nightly chill that seeped into their bones in a nondescript brick building just off the Eisenhower Expressway. By day three, Chavez said, her body ached with exhaustion. On day four, she and some of the other women were finally transferred out. The west suburban processing center is designed to hold people for no more than 12 hours before transferring them to a formal immigration detention facility. It has no beds, let alone any covers, Chavez said. They were not offered showers or hot food. No toothbrushes or feminine products. And certainly, Chavez recalled, those detained had no answers from immigration authorities about what would happen next. An investigation by the Chicago Tribune found that immigration detainees such as Chavez have been held for days at the processing center, a two-story building that is designed as a temporary way station until detainees can be transferred to jails out of state. For busier periods in June, data shows the typical detainee was held two or three days - far longer than the five or so hours typical in years past. The findings, which come from a Tribune analysis of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained and shared by the research group Deportation Data Project, show that the federal agency has routinely violated ICE’s internal guidelines, which say the facility shouldn’t hold people for more than 12 hours. Chavez became one of hundreds of people held in the facility for longer than 12 hours under the latest crackdown. Data showed that at least three people spent six or more days there.

Breitbart [8/2/2025 9:42 AM, Randy Clark, 3077K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an arrest detainer with the Harris County Jail on Jose Maldonado-Zavala, a 60-year-old previously deported illegal alien from Honduras, following his arrest for suspicion of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a Houston area woman. According to arrest records, on July 2, Maldonado-Zavala falsely claimed the victim’s air conditioner at a Houston apartment complex was leaking into his apartment. Maldonado-Zavala allegedly grabbed the woman by her arm and dragged her into his residence by force. The victim told police Maldonado-Zavala then sexually assaulted her once inside his residence. After a physical struggle, the victim reported the incident and told responding law enforcement authorities she fought off Maldonado-Zavala and managed to escape. A passing friend assisted her in a car and drove her to safety. Pasadena Police Department issued a lookout for Maldonado-Zavala shortly after the incident and announced his arrest on July 28. Commenting on the illegal immigration status of Maldonado-Zavala, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said through a written statement, "This depraved criminal illegal alien should have never been in our country. Local police charged Maldonado-Zavala with kidnapping and sexually assaulting his neighbor. We will not allow criminal illegal aliens to prey on American citizens. This monster was already deported once in 2011," McLaughlin continued. "Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Noem, we now have the most secure border in history and have stopped criminals like this from invading our country."

New York Times [8/3/2025 5:00 AM, Mitch Smith, 153395K] reports like many people in Leavenworth, Kan., Jeff Fagan spent his career working in prisons. The son of a corrections officer at Fort Leavenworth’s military prison, Mr. Fagan described going to work as a young man in Leavenworth’s silver-domed federal penitentiary. He later got a job at the state prison just outside city limits, where he said he spent nearly four decades as an officer. So when Mr. Fagan heard about plans for a private company to run an immigration detention center in his city, it seemed like a natural fit. Leavenworth is a prison town, after all, and the company was offering a starting wage of more than $28 an hour. “I’d like to see all the revenue that would come into our community, all the jobs,” Mr. Fagan said, adding that Leavenworth, which has 37,000 residents, is “not like a community that’s completely, totally afraid of the fact that you have prisons.” But even in a place that has been in the corrections business for more than 150 years, plans for an immigration detention center have proved divisive, fusing national tensions into municipal debates.

Washington Examiner [8/2/2025 3:17 PM, Dave Mason, 1934K] reports local and federal law enforcement searched for two illegal immigrants who allegedly tried to ram their vehicle into U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers near Colorado Springs. The search was started in the Black Forest area, where ICE said the immigrants Thursday morning tried to run over officers from the agency’s Denver office with a vehicle during an ICE operation at a construction site. ICE said one of its officers fired at the immigrants’ vehicle in self-defense. "Two criminal aliens attempted to ram their vehicle into ICE officers during a targeted enforcement operation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 31," an ICE spokesperson said in a statement. "As a result of their violent actions and to protect the officers and agents onsite, an officer fired three shots into the vehicle." The fugitives, who ICE said fled and abandoned their vehicle, have not been identified. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Department of Homeland Security and ICE after the incident and set up a containment area to preserve the crime scene, the sheriff’s office said Friday in a news release.

Los Angeles Times [8/2/2025 9:30 AM, Shelby Grad, 14672K] reports after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, parks across the San Fernando Valley filled with families left homeless by the destruction or simply too afraid that an aftershock might pancake their home. An estimated 14,000-20,000 people lived in those tent cities, and many were Latino immigrants who had nowhere else to go. Noel Mendoza, a migrant from Nicaragua who spent two weeks camping at one park because she didn’t feel safe in her crack-filled Canoga Park apartment, told The Times back then: "I was a refugee there and now I’m a refugee here." It’s one thing to seek safety in public spaces, as one tent city dweller said, to have nothing between oneself and the stars. But what if being out in public is the thing that places you at risk? This forgotten piece of seismic history came to mind as I listened this week to experts talking about how L.A.’s summer of ICE has brought waves of emotional struggles to immigrant families. There are so many facets to the raids — the legal issues, questionable tactics, protests, economic impacts, political fallout — that the emotional fallout easily gets lost. We are now nearly two months into President Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has led to more than 3,000 arrests in Southern California alone. The raids have upended countless lives.

San Francisco Chronicle [8/2/2025 5:22 PM, Jennifer Gollan, 4120K] reports a Tracy man pleaded guilty this week in an assassination plot involving an FBI informant posing as a hit man. Shaminderjit Singh Sandhu conspired with Jagninder Singh Boparai, 49, of Manteca (San Joaquin County) and Ramesh Kumar Birla Jr., 47, of Dublin to murder a man, assault a former business associate and rob a business over real estate deals that soured, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The trio met several times with the would-be hit man, a confidential informant for the FBI, at a Starbucks in Manteca in February 2023, investigators said. All three defendants were arrested in March 2023 and remain in federal custody. Several agencies helped with the investigation, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, police departments and sheriff’s offices, Homeland Security Investigations and the California Highway Patrol.

Reuters [8/2/2025 1:09 PM, Staff, 51390K] reports managers and members of the Venezuelan minor league team were set to compete in a World Series baseball tournament in South Carolina before their U.S. visas were denied. The young players said that despite the frustration, they still hold on to their dream of playing on a professional team. Fiona Jones reports. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo [8/3/2025 12:11 AM, Staff, 3352K] reports that, by order of the White House, USCIS officials will be more punctilious in reviewing claims between family members to avoid fraud attempts. Disturbingly, anyone whose residency is rejected will be subject to deportation. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo [8/2/2025 7:09 PM, Eduardo Orbea, 145K] reports U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS) announced that it will immediately pay much closer attention to visa and permanent residency applications for family members of citizens or residents. In a press release, USCIS stated that it issued a "policy guide in the USCIS Policy Manual to explain the requirements associated with the evaluation, investigation, and adjudication of family-based immigrant visa petitions, including eligibility criteria, filing, interviews, and decisions." USCIS will use the new guidance to “review qualifying marriages and family relationships to ensure they are genuine, verifiable, and in compliance with applicable laws” and maintains that it “is prioritizing robust vetting and background checks on foreign nationals that protect Americans from potential national security threats,” according to the statement. If immigration authorities detect possible fraud in a petition, they could issue deportation orders for the affected individuals. “This guidance streamlines existing policy to provide clear and consistent guidance to officers. This guidance also provides clarification on certain eligibility and adjudication requirements, including when USCIS requires an interview for family-based immigrant visa petitions and that USCIS may issue a Notice to Appear (NTA) to improve benefits integrity and identify investigative and fraud concerns,” USCIS said.

Los Angeles Times [8/2/2025 4:08 PM, Obed Lamy and Julie Carr Smyth, 14672K] reports an Ohio city whose Haitian migrants were disparaged by a Donald Trump falsehood last year as he pitched voters on his plans for an immigration crackdown is now bracing to defend the community against possible deportation. A group of about 100 community members, clergy and Haitian leaders in Springfield gathered this week for several days of training sessions as they prepare to defend potential deportees and provide them refuge. "We feel that this is something that our faith requires, that people of faith are typically law-abiding people — that’s who we want to be — but if there are laws that are unjust, if there are laws that don’t respect human dignity, we feel that our commitment to Christ requires that we put ourselves in places where we may face some of the same threats," said Carl Ruby, senior pastor of Central Christian Church. Ruby said the ultimate goal of the group is to persuade the Trump administration to reverse its decision to terminate legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. Last month, a federal judge in New York blocked the administration from accelerating an end to Haitians’ TPS protections, which the Biden administration had extended through at least Feb. 3, 2026, citing gang violence, political unrest, a major earthquake in 2021 and other factors. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said at the time that the Trump administration would eventually prevail and that its predecessors treated TPS like a "de facto asylum program." In the meantime, the government has set the expiration date back to early February.

Univision [8/2/2025 6:24 PM, Fabiola Galindo, 4992K] reports U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will use a guide to "examine qualifying marriages and family relationships" for a family petition. The federal agency warned that it will conduct background checks to detect possible threats to national security and may begin the deportation process. We tell you when to apply. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [8/3/2025 5:00 AM, Jack Birle, 1934K] reports the Trump administration has faced various legal setbacks in its efforts to implement sweeping deportations and immigration policies, with some of the judges issuing orders accusing officials of racism and unfavorable comparisons in dramatic opinions. Judge Trina Thompson, a Biden appointee on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, offered the latest lengthy opinion, aimed at the morals of Trump administration officials trying to end temporary immigration programs for foreign nationals. In a 37-page opinion Thursday blocking the administration from ending Temporary Protected Status for Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua, she accused officials of “racial animus” based on their statements about criminal migrants. “By stereotyping the TPS program and immigrants as invaders that are criminal, and by highlighting the need for migration management, [Homeland] Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s statements perpetuate the discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population,” Thompson wrote in her opinion. Thompson wrote in her rejection that she “shares” the “concern” of those suing the Trump administration regarding the president’s ability to end TPS at his discretion.

Daily Caller [8/2/2025 10:02 AM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports the Trump administration on Friday hailed its ongoing streak of record-low activity along the U.S.-Mexico as tough enforcement policies continued to bear fruit. For the third month in a row, Border Patrol agents released a grand total of zero migrants into the interior of the United States in July, according to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The current situation marks a far cry from the peak of the border crisis during the Biden era, which experienced tens of thousands of illegal migrants released every month. “History made, again. The numbers don’t lie — this is the most secure the border has ever been,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a public statement. “President Trump didn’t just manage the crisis — he obliterated it. No more excuses. No more releases,” Noem continued. “We’ve put the cartels on defense and taken our border back.” There were just 4,598 apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border for the month, a record low number that is nearly 500 fewer than the daily average set under the Biden administration, which was around 5,110 apprehensions per day from February 2021 to December 2024. Nationwide, border agents experienced a record low of 24,630 encounters during July, a 2.4% tick down from the previous month and nearly a 90% drop from the monthly average under the Biden administration, according to DHS. Border Patrol agents made 6,177 apprehensions nationwide, breaking the all-time record set the previous month. “Stats don’t lie. Border Security IS National Security and we will continue to unapologetically enforce our nation’s laws,” Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks stated Friday on social media, touting the amount of drug busts made by his agency during July.

CNN [8/3/2025 4:00 AM, Ramishah Maruf, 875K] reports President Donald Trump last week suspended a global trade loophole allowing smaller parcels into America duty-free. This closes a backdoor into the United States for Chinese mega-shippers like Shein and Temu, who could potentially pass the cost of those duties down to consumers. Trump eliminated the so-called "de minimis exemption," which had admitted duty-free shipments of goods worth $800 or less into the United States. Giant e-commerce sites used the loophole when shipping hundreds of millions of packages to US consumers. The administration did away with the exemption for goods coming out of China and Hong Kong in May amid the US-China trade war. This latest move extends that to every country around the world. Trump said in an executive order issued on Wednesday that "many shippers go to great lengths to evade law enforcement and hide illicit substances in imports that go through international commerce" and the risk of "evasion, deception, and illicit-drug importation are particularly high for low-value articles that have been eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment.” This is more bad news for Chinese retailers and their customers because it shuts down the option of re-routing small shipments duty-free through countries like Vietnam, which is facing a tariff rate of 20%. The executive order also demands that the origin of the package must be declared to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Temu and Shein had already started stockpiling goods and bulk-shipping to US warehouses to lower shipping times. Hours after the de minimis exemption expired for China in early May, Temu announced it was overhauling its shipping model. It said it would send out all American orders via US-based distributors, adding that its "pricing for US consumers remains unchanged." But some of Temu’s American buyers subsequently complained of higher prices and items were quickly out of stock. Companies also will eventually need to restock their warehouses, and "by imposing (the suspension of de minimis) for the whole world, there is no other workaround," Chris Tang, a professor of global supply chain management at the University of California, Los Angeles, told CNN. Companies will now have to pay a hefty import tax even if they ship in bulk, which means customers may eventually have to pay more. The suspension of de minimis will also affect the millions of sellers on Amazon Haul, a discount competitor to Temu and TikTok Shop. Amazon and Temu have not responded to CNN’s request for comment.

New York Post [8/2/2025 9:58 PM, Shane Galvin, 49956K] reports some lines you don’t cross. A good Samaritan found 50 pounds of cocaine floating in the Florida Keys — and turned the haul in to the authorities, according to a local report. The highly-ethical boater — who wasn’t publicly identified — discovered the packages of party drugs roughly five miles off the coast of Islamorada, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said, according to the Miami Herald. Photos showed the more than 20 large, black brick-shaped packages that were out there floating in the balmy Caribbean waters. After the boater sniffed out the drugs, the sheriff’s office handed the packages to US Customs and Border Protection, the report stated. Last month, a beachgoer in Walton County, Fla., stumbled upon $500K in cocaine wrapped in packaging that featured "Yosemite Sam" from the Looney Toons.

Wall Street Journal [8/3/2025 5:00 AM, Elizabeth Findell, 646K] reports orange survey flags waved in the wind as Alejo Clarke Jr. walked across the land he has hunted and fished all his life, but which is soon to be blocked off completely by an 18-foot border wall. “This is the piece they want to take out of me,” said Clarke, who is fighting back against the government’s push to take control of his land. “My entrance y todo.” President Trump’s border wall is back—and more expensive than his first term. Congress recently allocated $46 billion in taxpayer funds to pay for it. Construction of the wall was a signature promise of Trump’s first term, when he said it would cost $8 billion and Mexico would ultimately pay for it. He ended up allocating $18 billion before leaving office in early 2021, mostly to rebuild stretches of wall on federal land in New Mexico and Arizona. Trump made little progress in Texas, where land to build wall must be seized from private owners. Now that process is restarting, with money from Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” For South Texans, that means again grappling with a confusing and highly unpopular eminent domain process, in a region where many family ranches predate their inclusion in the U.S. and rely on access to the Rio Grande as their only source of water. Since Trump regained office, border encounters have fallen further to their lowest levels since the 1960s. The government this year has filed dozens of eminent domain lawsuits against Texas landowners, continuing a process that began in the first Trump administration. The cases are complicated, often involving small patches of land with poorly-documented titles and generations of owners. One pending case, where the government is seeking to take just over one-tenth of an acre, lists 130 defendants, many of them “unknown heirs” of deceased former owners. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the completion of the border wall crucial to national security. “Successful mass deportations mean nothing if we don’t control the border and keep future illegal aliens out,” she wrote in a New York Post opinion column in June. “That’s why the BBB legislation also funds hundreds of miles of new border wall and water-based barriers in the Rio Grande, which will permanently secure the border for decades.”

USA Today [8/2/2025 5:13 PM, Anthony Robledo, 75552K] reports an area of low pressure is expected to form on the night of Saturday, Aug. 2, or Sunday, Aug. 3, near the coast of the Carolinas with a one-in-five likelihood of becoming a cyclone over the span of a week, hurricane experts say. The "area of disturbance" is forecasted to form along a frontal system off the southeastern coast of the United States, according to an Aug. 2 tropics advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center at 2 p.m. ET. The development could continue through Monday as it slowly moves east northeastward; after this time, "environmental conditions become less conducive for development," the advisory continues. The center forecasted a 30% chance of forming through the next 48 hours and a 30% chance through the next seven days. The system comes as August begins, a time when forecasters expect the so-far unremarkable Atlantic hurricane season to ramp up.

CBS News [8/3/2025 6:00 AM, Nathalie Marie Palacios and Lexi Salazar, 51860K]reports the special session continues for Texas lawmakers. Two of the biggest topics include the response to deadly floods that occurred in Central Texas on July 4 and redistricting to change the state’s congressional maps. Hearings have been underway for both topics, with the public making their voices heard. Nearly a month after the devastating Hill Country floods killed at least 135 people and left a trail of destruction, state lawmakers question Kerr County leaders about the emergency response. Hundreds of people packed a convention center on Thursday to hear from Kerr County officials on how the emergency response to the devastating and deadly floods went wrong. The public hearing lasted more than 12 hours. CBS News Texas reporter Marissa Armas attended the hearing and reports that several lawmakers, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, grilled Kerr County’s sheriff. The emergency management director and the Kerr County judge on their whereabouts as the floods unfolded. "Three people responsible for sounding the alarm were unavailable, am I getting that right?" asked Rep. Ann Johnson of Houston (D). In the initial hours of the flooding, two of the county leaders were asleep, and a third was out of town at the time of the floods. Lawmakers also heard emotional and heartbreaking testimony from survivors. Texas Republicans have unveiled their proposed changes to the state’s congressional map. Democrats have blasted the justification for the unusually timed redrawing, which typically happens only once every 10 years to coincide with demographic shifts from the U.S. census. When Gov. Greg Abbott called the special session, he said the current congressional maps needed to be changed because of constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ sent a letter to the governor earlier this month, saying four of the state’s Democratic-controlled districts, including District 33, which covers parents of Tarrant and Dallas counties and is currently represented by Marc Veasey, are illegal because of racial gerrymandering.

Washington Examiner [8/2/2025 3:10 PM, Liam Hibbert, 1934K] reports Nevada’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security is bracing for federal funding cuts to an urban security grant. The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to cut $1 billion from the Urban Areas Security Initiative, as was leaked by CNN last week. Nevada looks set to lose considerable funds if President Donald Trump approves the move. UASI cuts would create "a less secure nation, especially at the border and in some of the nation’s most targeted cities, including Miami, Washington DC, and Dallas," read one of the leaked memos signed by senior White House administrators. Federally, UASI is the largest of a slew of proposed FEMA cuts, with over $500 million provided to major U.S. cities. "FEMA has not issued a formal decision regarding its cancellation," Gail Powell, the Nevada OEM chief communications officer, told The Center Square Friday. "The state continues to monitor the situation closely, engage with our federal partners, and advocate for the needs of our state and its communities."

New York Times [8/2/2025 5:27 PM, Amy Graff, 153395K] reports a wildfire in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona has burned for nearly a month in exceptionally dry, hot weather, growing into the largest wildfire of the year so far in the continental United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The Dragon Bravo fire, which has closed the park’s North Rim, grew to more than 114,000 acres on Saturday. Its size is expected to increase in coming days because of dry, warm weather. The fire was 11 percent contained as of Saturday, according to InciWeb, a government site that tracks wildfires. “We’re kind of locked in a dry, breezy, abnormally hot pattern because our monsoon hasn’t showed up,” said Benjamin Peterson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Flagstaff, Ariz.

AP [8/2/2025 5:26 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports smoke from Canadian wildfires hovered over several Midwestern states Saturday, bringing warnings of unhealthy air for at least the third day. Air quality alerts were in effect in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as eastern Nebraska and parts of Indiana and Illinois. Forecasters said the smoky skies would remain for much of the day. People with lung disease, heart disease, children, older adults and pregnant women are most susceptible to the poor breathing conditions. Canadian environmental officials said smoke from forest fires that was causing reduced visibility and poor quality would persist into Sunday for some areas. The Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir, which assesses air quality in real time, listed the city of Minneapolis as having some of the worst air pollution in the world since Friday. "What’s been unique in this go-around is that we’ve had this prolonged stretch of smoke particulates towards the surface, so that’s where we’ve really had the air quality in the red here for the past few days," said Joe Strus, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area in Minnesota. “We’ve sort of been dealing with this, day in and day out, where you walk outside and you can taste the smoke, you can smell it,” Strus said. “Sometimes we’ve been in higher concentrations than others. Other times it’s just looked a little hazy out there.” The air was improving Saturday, he said, specifically across the Twin Cities and southwestern Minnesota, but state health officials warned that conditions could remain unhealthy for sensitive groups through Monday.

The New York Post [8/2/2025 4:25 PM, Ryan King, 49956K] reports former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle — under fire over the Pennsylvania assassination attempt against President Trump — won’t have her top-level security clearance renewed, The Post has learned. The Secret Service decided not to extend Chealte’s clearance after opposition from Republicans in Congress, namely Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). "Director [Sean] Curran has been modernizing the intelligence apparatus within the agency," a spokesperson told The Post. "During that process, he has determined that not all former directors will have their clearances renewed." The decision to end Cheatle’s security clearance came after RealClearPolitics inquired about Johnson’s opposition to renewal, claimed the outlet, which was the first to report the change. NewsMax [8/2/2025 2:46 PM, Jim Thomas, 4622K] reports that the move, quietly made by new Secret Service Director Sean Curran, follows growing Republican pressure and public outrage over the events surrounding the July assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Critics of Cheatle argue that her leadership directly contributed to the security breakdown that left Trump wounded and one rallygoer dead. Curran, a Trump appointee, reversed the agency’s initial plan to renew Cheatle’s top-level clearance after Johnson voiced his opposition. A Secret Service spokesperson confirmed the reversal, saying Curran had determined "not all former directors need to have their clearances renewed." The agency cited ongoing modernization efforts and a restructuring of intelligence operations as justification. The decision aligns with efforts by the Trump administration to limit access to classified material for former officials accused of political bias or professional misconduct. FOX News [8/2/2025 9:57 PM, Landon Mion, 46878K] reports that the Secret Service, as well as several top U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and FBI, regularly update the security clearances for former directors. But the Secret Service now says not all former directors will have their clearances renewed under current Director Sean Curran. "The U.S. Secret Service sponsors security clearances for all the former directors for their knowledge of operational and national security matters," a Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. "The purpose for this was so the agency could maintain formal and protected communication including potentially sensitive and classified matters with former officials.” "Since appointed, Director Curran has been building a dynamic team of knowledgeable advisors that will help implement his vision for the agency," the spokesperson continued. "Additionally, Director Curran has been modernizing the intelligence apparatus within the agency. During that process, he has determined that not all former directors will have their clearances renewed.” The move not to renew Cheatle’s security clearance comes as some Republican lawmakers were voicing opposition to a potential renewal, including Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., who argued that her leadership decisions contributed to the agency’s numerous failures surrounding the assassination attempt against Trump. Breitbart [8/2/2025 8:29 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 3077K] reports that the decision to not renew Cheatle’s security clearance comes as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has "argued that Cheatle should not have her security clearance renewed," in the aftermath of the agency’s failures on July 13, 2024 during Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire. Johnson told the outlet that he saw "no reason for her security clearance to be instated.” "Following the security debacle in Butler, the former director of USSS made the right decision to resign," Johnson said. Per RCP, a Secret Service spokesman explained to the outlet that the purpose of renewing the security clearance for former directors is "so the agency can maintain formal and protected communication." The spokesman added that while Curran "has been building a dynamic team of knowledgeable advisors" and "modernizing the intelligence apparatus within the agency," he had also "determined that not all former directors need to have their clearances renewed.” The U.S. Secret Service, along with several top U.S. intelligence agencies including the CIA and FBI, has regularly updated the security clearances for all former directors. Although this practice is a matter of public debate, a Secret Service spokesman told RCP the purpose of the renewals "was so the agency can maintain formal and protected communication, including potentially sensitive and classified matters with former officials.” "Since appointed, Director Curran has been building a dynamic team of knowledgeable advisors that will help implement his vision for the agency," the spokesman said. "Additionally, Director Curran has been modernizing the intelligence apparatus within the agency. During that process, he has determined that not all former directors need to have their clearances renewed.” The New York Post reported that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has accused Cheatle of having lied to Congress when she "denied accusations she turned down requests for more resources" for the then 2024 Republican presidential candidate Trump’s Butler rally.

Breitbart [8/2/2025 4:39 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 3077K] reports a federal judge has barred Ryan Wesley Routh — the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump on his Florida golf course last year — from seeing classified material related to the case. Responding to a motion by federal prosecutors, Judge Aileen Cannon wrote in a ruling Friday that "the United States has made a sufficient showing that the information at issue was classified" and that its disclosure "could cause serious damage or exceptionally grave damages to the national security of the United States." Typically in a criminal case, attorneys for a defendant are allowed "discovery" — the ability to view all documents and evidence obtained by the prosecution. However, Routh, 59, is representing himself in his upcoming trial and is seen as a potential national security risk. He has been charged with attempting to kill the president on September 15 of last year and assaulting a federal officer as well as multiple firearms violations.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [8/2/2025 9:46 AM, Greg Norman, David Spunt, 46878K]

CNN [8/3/2025 5:20 AM, John Miller and Jeff Winter, 21433K] reports during evening rush hour in New York City on Monday, a man calmly walked into a Park Avenue office building lobby and killed a police officer, then opened fire on other innocent strangers. Within a minute, the gunman had disappeared into a labyrinth of elevator banks and hallways, armed and loose somewhere in the 44-story building. The day’s violence would become the deadliest mass shooting in New York City since 2000. The gunman shot and killed four people and wounded another, before killing himself, police said. From the moment the first panicked 911 calls were received, the New York Police Department unleashed a torrent of cops, specially trained units, heavy weapons, sophisticated technology and a swift information exchange among its 32,000 police officers and law enforcement partners across the country. As calls flooded in, the NYPD’s electronic log system captured the horror happening in real time inside the Park Avenue skyscraper. The shorthand notes, obtained by CNN, show the desperation of frightened callers as operators attempted to piece together what was happening. Within minutes, every officer searching the building or holding the outside perimeter had a picture of a man taking large strides and carrying an assault rifle, the officials said. The gunman was identified after responding teams found his body on the building’s 33rd floor: 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura of Las Vegas, Nevada. New details from law enforcement sources shed light on Tamura’s travel to New York City, the gunman’s movements inside the building and the police investigation.

NBC News [8/2/2025 5:47 PM, Rebecca Cohen, 44540K] reports officials in Tennessee found 14 improvised explosive devices in a man’s home while they were arresting him this week on suspicion of threatening officials, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said. Sheriff’s deputies and detectives went to an address Friday seeking to arrest Kevin Wade O’Neal on active warrants. O’Neal was accused of threatening to kill public officials and law enforcement personnel in the county, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. While they were taking him into custody, they noticed something smoldering in the bedroom where they found O’Neal and determined it was an IED, officials said. Bomb squad officers and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who searched the home found 14 IEDs inside, the sheriff’s office said. Detectives said O’Neal’s plan was to detonate the bombs as law enforcement arrived to arrest him.

FOX News [8/2/2025 3:28 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports Fox News correspondent Madison Scarpino reports on the police search for a man accused of killing four in Tennessee on ‘Fox Report.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [8/2/2025 2:17 PM, AWR Hawkins, 3077K] reports purple haired Texas mom Ashley Pardo faces charges for allegedly helping her son plan a mass shooting on Rhodes Middle School as way of rewarding him for babysitting, according to the Daily Mail. The school is located in San Antonio, Texas. The 33-year-old mom allegedly "purchased ammunition, tactical gear, and loaded magazines for her [13-year-old] son." Law enforcement indicated the son "drew chilling maps of his school marked ‘suicide route,’ idolized white supremacist mass shooters, and planned to carry out a massacre." The Daily Mail pointed to an affidavit showing Pardo allegedly helped prepare her son for the attack "in exchange for babysitting his siblings." She was charged with "aiding in the commission of terrorism." By court order, if Pardo is released on bond she is prohibited from consuming alcohol or possessing a gun.

Breitbart [8/2/2025 2:02 PM, Lowell Cauffiel, 3077K] reports federal authorities arrested a Southern California man Friday for allegedly sending a dozen payments to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, commonly known as the foreign terrorist group ISIS. The feds charged Mark Lorenzo Villanueva, 28, of Long Beach with "attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, a felony offense that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison," according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. The statement reported that Villanueva is a lawful permanent resident from the Philippines. Villanueva then allegedly sent 12 payments totaling $1,615 during a five-month period to two intermediaries who accessed the money overseas, the office reported, citing Western Union records.

FOX News [8/2/2025 3:34 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports Fox News’ Marianne Rafferty joins ‘Fox Report’ with an update on a homemade bomb discovered in a California man’s home. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Times [8/2/2025 10:01 AM, Brad Matthews, 2106K] reports authorities arrested a Long Beach, California, man Friday, accusing him of giving material support to the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group. Mark Lorenzo Villanueva, 28, a national of the Philippines and a permanent U.S. resident, is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said. Federal prosecutors allege that Mr. Villanueva communicated with two self-proclaimed fighters in the group and, in February, offered financial support and expressed his desire to one day join and fight in the group himself. Western Union records showed that Mr. Villanueva sent $1,615 in 12 payments made over five months to two intermediaries overseas. Federal prosecutors said Mr. Villanueva intended for the intermediaries to, in turn, provide that money to ISIS, though they did not say whether ISIS actually received the funds. Federal prosecutors also said that the FBI found something that appeared to be a bomb when they arrested Mr. Villanueva on Friday.

FOX News [8/2/2025 9:00 AM, Diana Stancy, 46878K] Video: HERE reports President Donald Trump wrapped up his second term’s 28th week in office announcing he would reposition two nuclear submarines amid increased tension with Russia, after just adding new tariffs to a host of countries. On Monday, Trump unveiled a new deadline for Russia to end its conflict with Ukraine, and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the announcement is an additional "step towards war." In response, Trump made a rare announcement Friday that he would reposition two submarines to best respond to the escalated tension between the two countries. "Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that," Trump said in a Friday post on Truth Social. Trump did not disclose any additional details regarding the submarines, and defense officials rarely comment on submarine placement given the highly classified nature of their operations. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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