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

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

The New York Post [8/5/2025 11:33 PM, Victor Nava, 49956K] reports the Trump administration is collaborating with Indiana to expand capacity at a state correctional facility in order to hold illegal migrants, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Tuesday – dubbing the new wing of the prison, "The Speedway Slammer.” "Today, we’re announcing a new partnership with the state of Indiana to expand detention bed space by 1,000 beds," Noem wrote on X. "Thanks to [Indiana Gov. Mike Braun] for his partnership to help remove the worst of the worst out of our country.” "If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Indiana’s Speedway Slammer.” The name is a nod to Indiana’s auto racing culture, particularly the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is located about 75 miles south of the new detention space at the Miami Correctional Facility. Braun, a former Republican US senator, announced on Aug.1 that Indiana would "fully partner with federal immigration authorities" to assist President Trump carry out mass deportations. As part of the partnership, the Indiana Department of Correction would work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make available up to 1,000 beds at Miami Correctional Facility, near Bunker Hill, Ind., and the Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base, to house migrants slated for deportation, Braun said. Camp Atterbury – operated by the Indiana National Guard – will also be made available for temporary use by DHS to house illegal migrants subject to deportation, according to the governor. "We are proud to work with President Trump and Secretary Noem as they remove the worst of the worst with this innovative partnership," Braun said in a statement. "Indiana is taking a comprehensive and collaborative approach to combating illegal immigration and will continue to lead the way among states," he added. DHS noted the agreement was "fully funded" by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Trump signed into law on July 4, which authorized spending for 80,000 new beds for ICE to utilize when detaining and deporting migrants. Indiana’s "Speedway Slammer" follows the opening of Florida’s "Alligator Alcatraz" earlier this summer to assist the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opened the swampland facility, located deep in the Everglades and on the site of an old airport, on July 3. The property, outfitted with tent structures to house the illegal migrants, has the capacity for 2,000 detainees but will eventually hold 4,000. The Trump administration began deporting migrants directly from the Alligator Alcatraz airport, which is able to accept commercial-sized aircraft and conduct both day and nighttime operations, on July 25. The Washington Examiner [8/5/2025 8:20 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 1934K] reports that the "Alligator Alcatraz" successor will be located at the Miami Correctional Facility near Bunker Hill, Indiana, and will house the "worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens arrested by ICE." The new beds are a partnership between ICE and the Indiana Department of Corrections. Gov. Mike Braun (R-IN) expressed support for the new detention beds in the press release. "The locations we’re looking at are right by airport runways that will help give us an efficiency that we’ve never had before," Noem said, adding that she’s gauged interest among state leaders. "Most of them are interested [and] many of them have facilities that may be empty or underutilized.” The homeland security secretary has been tasked with spending an unprecedented amount of funds allocated by the federal government on immigration enforcement and ICE. Congress set aside about $170 billion for immigration enforcement, with $75 billion of that directed toward ICE with the passage of the federal budget bill.

Reported similarly:
AP [8/5/2025 4:45 PM, Kate Payne, 56000K]
FOX News [8/5/2025 6:48 PM, Cameron Arcand and Bill Melugin, 46878K]
NewsMax [8/5/2025 6:49 PM, Jim Mishler, 4622K]
Daily Signal [8/5/2025 7:01 PM, Virginia Allen, 558K]
Daily Wire [8/5/2025 1:23 PM, Spencer Lindquist, 3816K]

The Daily Wire [8/5/2025 11:03 AM, Spencer Lindquist, 3816K] reports that an arsonist attacked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Washington state over the weekend, throwing a rock through a window and lighting a fire on the property. The unidentified arsonist targeted an ICE field office in Yakima, Washington, about 140 miles away from Seattle. Federal agents, the Department of Homeland Security says, managed to escape from the attack unscathed. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin slammed Democrat politicians for their incendiary rhetoric against ICE agents, accusing them of contributing to the surge in violence against the federal law enforcement force. "Make no mistake, Democrat politicians like Hakeem Jeffries, Mayor Wu of Boston, Tim Walz, and Mayor Bass of Los Angeles are contributing to the surge in assaults of our ICE officers through their repeated vilification and demonization of ICE," McLaughlin charged. "From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi Gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale.” Pictures from DHS and released by the New York Post show plumes of smoke filling the air as the fire burns on the property. "Secretary Noem has been clear: Anyone who seeks to harm law enforcement officers will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," the DHS Assistant Secretary went on to say. Noem has also called out Democrat politicians like Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell for "risking people’s lives" by opposing ICE and doxxing agents who were active in the southern city. McLaughlin noted that it has not been confirmed that ICE agents were the target of the attack, though the building is identified as a DHS office and is identified online as an ICE field office. The New York Post [8/5/2025 1:20 PM, Jennie Taer, 49956K] reports that while McLaughlin said it’s not confirmed that immigration agents were the target of the firebombing, the building has public signage identifying it as a Department of Homeland Security office. The complex, 140 miles southeast of Seattle, is also home to a Washington state Department of Social and Health Services office. Assaults on ICE personnel are up 830% as the Trump administration pushes a mass deportation campaign, according to McLaughlin. No officers were injured as a result of the attack and local cops are investigating it as an act of arson.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [8/5/2025 2:23 PM, Louis Casiano, 46878K]
Daily Caller [8/5/2025 4:07 PM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K]
NewsMax [8/5/2025 4:04 PM, Brian Freeman, 4622K]

CBS News [8/5/2025 11:26 AM, Kaia Hubbard, 51860K] reports the Justice Department published a list of 35 "sanctuary" jurisdictions on Tuesday, vowing to bring lawsuits against states, counties and cities that limit local cooperation with federal immigration agents. "Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. "The Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.” The Justice Department put 12 states on its list — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington — and the District of Columbia. It also included Baltimore County, Maryland; Cook County, Illinois; San Diego County, California; and San Francisco County, California, along with 18 cities from Seattle to Philadelphia. In April, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to "publish a list of States and local jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of Federal immigration laws" to be known as "sanctuary jurisdictions.” Under the order, the Justice Department was to notify each jurisdiction of "its defiance of Federal immigration law enforcement." If the jurisdiction continued to be in defiance, the order directed the Justice Department to "pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance with the laws of the United States.” NewsMax [8/5/2025 12:07 PM, Charlie McCarthy, 4622K] reports that cities listed included Albuquerque, New Mexico; Berkeley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; East Lansing, Michigan; Hoboken, New Jersey; Jersey City, New Jersey; Los Angeles, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York City, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Paterson, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Rochester, New York; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco City, California. Four counties — Baltimore County, Maryland; Cook County, Illinois; San Diego County, California; and San Francisco County, California – and the District of Columbia also appear on the list. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the list will be reviewed regularly to include additional locations and remove jurisdictions that have remediated their policies, practices, and laws. "Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design," Bondi said in a statement. "The Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country." President Donald Trump on April 28 signed an executive order directing the DOJ, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security, to publish a list of sanctuary jurisdictions.

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [8/5/2025 1:55 PM, Jenny Jarvie, 14672K]
AP [8/5/2025 5:29 PM, Tim Sullivan]
FOX News [8/5/2025 10:05 AM, Ashley Oliver, 46878K]
Washington Examiner [8/5/2025 11:33 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1934K]

Telemundo [8/5/2025 6:47 PM, Staff, 177K] reports Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is apparently preparing to build a second immigration detention center, granting at least one contract for what is tagged in state records as the North’s Detention Facility. The site would increase capacity at the state’s first detention facility, built at an isolated airport in the Everglades of Florida and nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz." State officials have signed more than $245 million in contracts for the facility, which officially opened on July 1. The second detention center, according to The Associated Press, would be at a Florida National Guard training center called Camp Blanding, about 27 miles (43 kilometers) southwest of downtown Jacksonville, though DeSantis has said the state is waiting for federal officials to increase deportations from the South Florida facility before expanding the Camp Blanding site. "We look forward to the increase in the pace," DeSantis said last month, calling the state "ready, willing and able" to expand its operations. Civil rights advocates and environmental groups have filed lawsuits against the installation of the Everglades, where detainees allege they have been forced to be without adequate food and medical care, and have been barred from meeting with their lawyers, held without charge and unable to get a federal immigration court to hear their cases. President Donald Trump has touted the toughness and isolation of the facility as suitable for the worst-than-wishers, while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said that the South Florida detention center can serve as a model for other state-run detention facilities for immigrants.

The AP [8/5/2025 1:41 PM, Gerald Imray, 1611K] reports that Rwanda has become the third African nation to enter into a deal with the Trump administration to accept migrants deported by the United States. The Rwandan government said Tuesday it has agreed to accept up to 250 deportees from the U.S. for resettlement but didn’t immediately give any more details, including when they would arrive or what Rwanda got, if anything, out of the deal. The U.S. has already deported eight men it said were dangerous criminals who were in the U.S. illegally to South Sudan and another five to Eswatini. Here’s what we know, and still don’t know, about U.S. President Donald Trump’s expanding third-country deportation program in Africa and the largely secretive deals the U.S. is striking. The U.S. State Department and the Department of Homeland Security haven’t responded to requests seeking more details on the deals in Africa. The U.S. sent eight men from South Sudan, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in East Africa in early July after their deportations were held up by a legal challenge. That led to them being kept for weeks in a converted shipping container at an American military base in nearby Djibouti. U.S. officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the U.S. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they were also violent criminals whose home countries had refused to take them back. FOX News [8/5/2025 6:56 PM, Louis Casiano, 46878K] reports that a State Department official told Fox News Digital that the U.S. works with Rwanda on a range of "mutual priorities" and that ongoing engagements with other governments is "vital to deterring illegal and mass migration and securing our borders.” Rwanda would be the third country to take in illegal immigrants from the U.S. Last month, the Trump administration sent 13 men it described as dangerous criminals who were in the U.S. illegally to South Sudan and Eswatini in Africa after their native countries refused to take them back. The U.S. has said it is seeking more agreements with African nations. "The United States is constantly engaged in diplomatic conversations with foreign nations who are willing to assist us in removing the illegal aliens that Joe Biden allowed to infiltrate American communities," a White House official told Fox News Digital. CNN [8/5/2025 1:03 PM, Nimi Princewill and Larry Madowo, 875K] reports Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that the East African nation had "agreed with the United States to accept up to 250 migrants," in a deal that allows the government "to approve each individual proposed for resettlement." When approved, the migrants, she said, "will be provided with workforce training, health care, and accommodation support to jump start their lives in Rwanda," allowing them to "contribute to one of the fastest growing economies in the world over the last decade." Rwanda, a nation of less than 15 million people, is not new to discussions around third-country deportations to its territory. It has previously partnered with the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) to temporarily host asylum seekers and refugees evacuated from North African nation Libya, with nearly 3000 arrivals recorded between 2019 and 2025, according to the UN organization. The Daily Caller [8/5/2025 11:19 AM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports that the Rwandan government reportedly agreed to the deal to bolster relations with Washington, D.C. "When you’re a small country, any time you can find a way consistent with your own policies and values, to be able to talk to a major country about something that it is interested in and not just asking them to take an interest in your issues, it just creates a more productive, obviously not equal, but a more balanced relationship and that’s good for both sides," an unnamed Rwandan official stated, according to Politico.

NewsMax [8/5/2025 12:17 PM, Mark Swanson, 4622K] reports President Donald Trump on Tuesday teased a new policy for migrant farm laborers as the administration continues to wrestle with helping U.S. farmers while remaining committed to deporting illegals, Politico reported. In an interview with CNBC, Trump said he wants to "work with" farmers to find a solution on migrant labor, suggesting the White House was working on a program for illegals to leave the country and reenter through legal pathways, according to the report. "In some cases, we’re sending them back to their country with a pass back in legally … we’re sending them back and then they’re schooling, they’re learning, they’re coming in, they’re coming in legally. We have a lot of that going on, but we’re taking care of our farmers," Trump told CNBC, according to the report. "We can’t let our farmers not have anybody." Trump first signaled a shift on June 12, posting on Truth Social that farmers and hotel and leisure businesses reported losing "very good, longtime workers" to immigration enforcement, calling the jobs "almost impossible to replace" and vowing "changes are coming."

FOX News [8/5/2025 4:58 PM, Ryan Morik, 46878K] reports President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that created a White House Olympics task force for security purposes and other issues ahead of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. The task force includes Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, among others. One of the task force’s top priorities will be coordinating federal, state and local government work on transportation. They will also "streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media," Reuters reported.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [8/5/2025 4:57 PM, Brett Samuels, 18649K]
CBS News [8/5/2025 5:18 PM, Kristin Brown, Joe Walsh, 51860K]

Los Angeles Times [8/5/2025 6:16 PM, Michael Wilner, Julia Wick and Thuc Nhi Nguyen, 14672K] reports in past Olympic Games held on American soil, sitting presidents have served in passive, ceremonial roles. President Trump may have other plans. An executive order signed by Trump on Tuesday names him chair of a White House task force on the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, viewed by the president as "a premier opportunity to showcase American exceptionalism," according to a White House statement. Trump, the administration said, "is taking every opportunity to showcase American greatness on the world stage.” At the White House, speaking in front of banners adding the presidential seal to the logo for LA28, Trump said he would send the military back to Los Angeles if he so chose in order to protect the Games. In June, Trump sent the National Guard and U.S. Marines to the city amid widespread immigration enforcement actions, despite widespread condemnation from Mayor Karen Bass and other local officials. "We’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe, including using our National Guard or military, OK?" he said. "I will use the National Guard or the military. This is going to be so safe. If we have to.” Trump’s executive order establishes a task force led by him and Vice President JD Vance to steer federal coordination for the Games. The task force will work with federal, state and local partners on security and transportation, according to the White House. Those roles have been fairly standard for the federal government in past U.S.-hosted Olympic Games. But Trump’s news conference could present questions about whether a president with a penchant for showmanship might assume an unusually active role in planning the Olympics, set to take place in the twilight of his final term. The task force, to be housed within the Department of Homeland Security, will "assist in the planning and implementation of visa processing and credentialing programs for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media personnel," the executive order said. City officials have expressed concern that the president’s border policies could deter international visitors and complicate visa processing for Olympic teams.

USA Today [8/5/2025 6:29 PM, Tom Schad, 75552K] reports that Donald Trump said on Aug. 5 that he might call in National Guard troops and other members of the U.S. military to assist with security efforts at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Trump’s comments came after he signed an executive order to create a White House task force that will handle an assortment of issues surrounding the Games, which will be the first on U.S. soil since 2002. It’s been less than two months since he deployed thousands of troops to the Los Angeles area to suppress protests and protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during raids. "We’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe − including using our National Guard, or military," Trump said. "I will use the National Guard or military − this is going to be so safe − if we have to." The Olympics task force, which he will chair, will coordinate security and transportation efforts across various arms of the federal government, while also working to "streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media," according to a fact sheet distributed by the White House. Those types of coordination efforts are common ahead of the Olympics and typically spearheaded by the federal government of the host nation. Trump was joined at the ceremony by several other members of the task force, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr. Former Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin and Paralympic swimmer Brad Snyder were also on hand for the signing. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [8/5/2025 5:56 PM, Les Carpenter, 32099K] reports President Donald Trump said he would consider using the military at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to keep them “safe,” though he did not specify a plan for doing so. Trump made the remark while announcing an executive order forming a White House task force to oversee preparation for the Games. The task force — which will be chaired by Trump and is filled with administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem — is meant to empower government agencies to ensure what Trump called a “safe and seamless” L.A. Olympics. It is unclear how closely the task force plans to work with state and local officials or whether it will try to bypass them and run some of the planning of the Games from the White House instead. Trump’s comment about the military came during a question-and-answer session at an announcement for the task force and was part of a response to a query about whether he worries the L.A. Games will be safe from fires. LA28 and other Olympic officials have been encouraged by Trump’s declarations of support and noted administration officials have said they will not impede preparations for the Games. Trump included $1 billion for the Games in his signature policy bill; that money is expected to help fund security and transportation, but details of how it will be allocated have not been revealed. The federal government probably will need to provide more money for security. In June 2024, the Department of Homeland Security declared the L.A. Games a “National Special Security Event,” which made the Secret Service the lead agency for designing a security plan for the Games.

Daily Wire [8/5/2025 10:13 AM, Mary Margaret Olohan, 3816K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is renewing its calls for Americans to join ICE following the arrest of more criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, sexual predators, and pedophiles, The Daily Wire can first report. Among those arrested Monday were Israel Cobian-Sandoval, convicted of homicide in Chicago; Rey Bautista-Osorio, convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to ill/cause serious injury in North Carolina; Edgar Allan Becerril, convicted of aggravated assault of a child and six counts of sexual assault of a child in Texas; Kevin Sosa-Ayala, convicted of statutory rape in Tennessee; and Simon Torres-De Leon, convicted of rape in Ohio. "Murderers. Pedophiles. Rapists. These are the dirtbags ICE is arresting and removing from our country," Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin told The Daily Wire. "We are delivering on President Trump’s promise to remove the worst of the worst. Serve your country today by signing up to join ICE and help us get these dirtbags out of our country.” All the criminal illegal aliens arrested this week are from Mexico, DHS told The Daily Wire, except for Sosa-Ayala, who is from Honduras. In the wake of these arrests, DHS urged "patriotic Americans" to join ICE and help to "remove more of these barbaric criminals." The agency is recruiting ICE agents through messaging that mirrors that of military recruitments in the past, featuring a photo of a stern-looking Uncle Sam looking the viewer in the eye and telling them: "America needs YOU!". "America has been invaded by criminals and predators," the ICE recruiting website says. "We need YOU to get them out.” ICE promises that those who join may be entitled to up to a $50,000 signing bonus, $60,000 student loan repayment, 25% premium pay, and more. The agency is looking for deportation officers, criminal investigators, general attorneys, and more.

NBC News [8/5/2025 3:44 PM, Nicole Acevedo, 44540K] reports a monthslong probe by the office of Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., compiled hundreds of alleged human rights violations at immigration detention centers, according to a new report about his probe first obtained by NBC News. The report states that Ossoff’s office has "identified 510 credible reports of human rights abuse" against people in immigration custody. Of these cases, 41 include allegations of physical or sexual abuse, as well as 18 alleged reports of mistreatment of children in custody, both U.S. citizens and noncitizens, and 14 alleged reports of mistreatment of pregnant women. The report cites a Department of Homeland Security official who anonymously reported to Ossoff’s office seeing pregnant women sleeping on floors in overcrowded intake cells. In response to an NBC News request for comment about the report’s allegations, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an email, "Any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false."

Telemundo [8/5/2025 6:59 PM, Hatzel Sailing, 177K] reports "It is inhumane the way they keep their residents," said a former worker from the detention center called Alligator Alcatraz and located in the Everglades. Her name is Lindsey, and we’ll only use her first name because this woman is concerned about her family’s privacy and possible online harassment. She provided documentation showing she arrived at the facility on July 6 and worked at the controversial detention centre for about a week before contracting Covid and having to isolate herself. From the beginning, the situation was difficult. "When I got there, it was overwhelming," he said. I thought I’d get better. But he just never did. Lindsey provided her Florida State credential, which the list in her position as a corrections officer explains that she was told that the work would be five days of work and two days off. The former employee also provided a copy of her contract with GardaWorld Federal Services, a security company that is allegedly one of the suppliers in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’. A job offer on the company’s LinkedIn account shows they were hiring for the job a month ago and offered $26 an hour for this job position. "I was aware that it was going to be in Alligator Alcatraz," said Lindsey, who added that although he knew he would live in a shared trailer, he said the conditions were tough for everyone there. We had to use the portable bathrooms. We didn’t have hot water half the time. "Our bathrooms were stuck," he said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [8/5/2025 11:56 PM, David Fischer and Mike Schneider, 31733K] reports a federal judge on Wednesday was hearing arguments over whether to stop construction of an immigration detention center built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" because it didn’t follow environmental laws. Until the laws are followed, environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe said U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams should issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction. The suit claims the project threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars’ worth of environmental restoration. The lawsuit in Miami against federal and state authorities is one of two legal challenges to the South Florida detention center which was built more than a month ago by the state of Florida on an isolated airstrip owned by Miami-Dade County. A second lawsuit brought by civil rights groups says detainees’ constitutional rights are being violated since they are barred from meeting lawyers, are being held without any charges, and a federal immigration court has canceled bond hearings. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Aug. 18. Under a 55-year-old federal environmental law, federal agencies should have examined how the detention center’s construction would impact the environment, identified ways to minimize the impact and followed other procedural rules such as allowing public comment, according to the environmental groups and the tribe. It makes no difference that the detention center holding hundreds of detainees was built by the state of Florida since federal agencies have authority over immigration, the suit said. "The construction of a detention center is an action that is necessarily subject to federal control and responsibility," they said in a recent court filing. "The State of Florida has no authority or jurisdiction to enforce federal immigration law.”

NewsMax [8/5/2025 6:36 PM, Mark Swanson, 4622K] reports the Department of Homeland Security used an image from an upcoming "South Park" episode for a recruiting pitch on social media. After "South Park" released its short teaser to Wednesday’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement-based episode, DHS posted a screen grab from the trailer with the words "Join.ICE.gov," which links to the agency’s recruitment page. The image shows four cars marked "ICE" with nine agents all wearing masks. "We want to thank South Park for drawing attention to ICE law enforcement recruitment," a DHS spokesperson told Newsweek. "We are calling on patriotic Americans to help us remove murderers, gang members, pedophiles, and other violent criminals from our country. Benefits available to new ICE recruits include an up to $50,000 signing bonus, student loan forgiveness, and retirement benefits. Apply today at join.ice.gov.” The Trump administration slammed the show’s Season 27 premiere, in which Trump sues the town of South Park, and as part of the settlement, residents are forced to produce pro-Trump content. The episode closes with a parody ad showing an overweight Trump walking naked through a desert. It also depicted Trump naked in bed with the devil. The upcoming episode ostensibly takes aim at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, depicting a gun-toting woman with long hair wearing a "Police ICE" vest and posing for photographers next to Mr. Mackey Jr., also wearing a mask and a vest.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [8/5/2025 5:08 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 18649K]

Breitbart [8/5/2025 11:52 AM, John Binder, 3077K] reports the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report for July shows all job gains are going to native-born Americans rather than foreign workers, President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports. In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Trump said the latest employment figures are a victory for Americans as the data shows foreign workers continuing to drop out of the labor market, opening jobs for working and lower-middle class Americans. "That’s a great number, by the way, because it means we’re putting Americans to work," Trump said about the jobs report. DHS officials similarly said the jobs report reveals that all net job gains are going to native-born Americans — the opposite of what had occurred for years under former President Joe Biden when nearly all net job growth went to newly arrived migrants. "The July jobs report shows that as illegal aliens continue to exit the labor force, more Americans are finding steady and gainful employment," DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said. "President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership is making America both safe and prosperous again.” Indeed, as Breitbart News reported, the jobs report was a huge score for native-born American workers as the Trump administration grows the workforce with American labor rather than foreign labor. "Despite [a] disappointing headline, this jobs report was best [July] ever for employment among native-born Americans, up two million [year to year] and annual growth 2.2 million faster than among foreign-born workers; native-born American employment is now 1.8 million above pre-pandemic level," Economist E.J. Antoni wrote on X. "Employment among native-born Americans exploded over the last 12 months, up 2 million, while foreign-born workers [with] jobs fell 237k; all net job growth over the last year went to native-born Americans," Antoni continued.

Washington Post [8/5/2025 9:45 PM, Emily Davies, Olivia George and Meagan Flynn, 32099K] reports a protégé of Elon Musk and former DOGE staffer was injured in an attempted carjacking early Sunday morning in D.C., a police report said, in an attack that captured the attention of President Donald Trump and reinspired his threats to take over the nation’s capital. “If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. Billionaire Elon Musk, who helmed the U.S. DOGE Service, wrote on X that a DOGE “team member” was attacked, and Musk called to federalize D.C. A police report identified the victim as Edward Coristine, who is also known by the nickname “Big Balls.” Trump’s Truth Social post was accompanied by an image of a young person smeared in blood, sitting shirtless on the ground. D.C. police have arrested a 15-year-old boy and girl from Maryland and charged them with unarmed carjacking, the department said in a news release. Two people familiar with the details of the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the suspects are being held at the city’s youth detention center. The attack is the latest seemingly random assault on a federal staffer in Washington, intensifying scrutiny of the nation’s capital from Congress and the White House. In June, 21-year-old congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym was killed in crossfire near the District’s convention center. He was a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, working for Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas. No one has been charged in his death. “Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of Violent Crime,” he wrote about Sunday’s incident. “If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [8/5/2025 9:34 PM, Nicholas Nehamas and Campbell Robertson, 138952K]
CNN [8/6/2025 12:01 AM, Rashard Rose, 875K]

Washington Post [8/6/2025 5:04 AM, Natalie Allison and Olivia George, 32099K] reports when a young man pulled out a marijuana joint in Logan Circle park and proceeded to smoke it on a bench one evening last month, three law enforcement officers quickly appeared, handcuffed him and took him away. The officers were with the U.S. Park Police. And they were there to enforce one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders: “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.” The man was one of four people arrested that evening in Logan and Dupont Circle parks — both of which are federal land. The other three were charged with possession of open containers of alcohol. The arrests, which generated outrage from some residents, were among the latest operations that White House officials say are part of an effort to improve the quality of life in the nation’s capital — a city Trump has derided as a “dirty, crime-ridden death trap” and pledged to turn around. Trump amplified his campaign Tuesday, sharing a photo of a bloodied young man who he said had been beaten by “local thugs.” People familiar with the incident identified the victim as Edward Coristine, a protégé of Elon Musk and a former U.S. DOGE Service staffer. Trump wrote on Truth Social that “if D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the city.” Violent crime in D.C. has been on the decline, starting last year, part of a nationwide drop that brought murder rates nationwide to their lowest level in decades in 2024. In D.C., the drop in crime reversed a sharp spike in killings and robberies that in 2023 rendered the nation’s capital one of America’s deadliest cities, prompting Congress to block revisions to the city’s criminal code that lawmakers said were too permissive. On the campaign trail, Trump made the city a symbol of dysfunction. The crime drop has continued this year, both nationally and in the city. In D.C., assaults with a dangerous weapon, for example, have fallen by 19 percent year-to-date compared with 2024 and robberies have fallen by 39 percent, according to police data. There have been 14 fewer homicides. Still, 98 people have been killed citywide so far this year — including a congressional intern, killed by a stray bullet on a downtown street, and a 3-year-old struck while in the back seat of a car with her family. White House officials say Trump’s executive order targeting crime and vagrancy has led to improvements across the city. Despite complaints from some residents who say the administration is going after nonviolent offenders, officials defended arrests like those in Logan and Dupont circles as key to remaking the capital into what Trump has envisioned.

Axios [8/5/2025 2:20 PM, Russell Contreras, 13599K] reports that Homicides declined in major U.S. cities — by more than 50% in some communities — during the first six months of the year, according to new data from an organization of law enforcement executives.

Why it matters: The stats are the latest signs that violent crime in America is falling from the COVID crime wave, and that drop appears to be accelerating during President Trump’s first months in office. The big picture: Violent crime ticked up early in President Biden’s term, but reports show it’s dropped significantly since then as law enforcement agencies responded to the pandemic surge and adopted more detailed recordkeeping. The recent downward trend in crime also counters Trump’s false claims that immigration had sparked rising crime nationwide — a reason he gave for his mass deportation plan. By the numbers: Reports from 68 law enforcement agencies showed a 19% drop in homicides in the first six months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to stats compiled by the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA). An Axios analysis of the MCCA data found that Denver, Honolulu, Orlando, Portland and Tampa all had a 50% or more decrease in homicides during that period. Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Louisville, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Seattle all had declines in homicides of more than 30%.

New York Post [8/5/2025 6:43 PM, Amanda Woods, Haley Brown ,Craig McCarthy, and Matt Troutman, 49956K] reports that shootings and the number of New Yorkers who fell victim to gun violence have plunged to all-time lows so far this year — even as the Big Apple contended with its worst mass shooting in 25 years, new NYPD crime statistics show. The Big Apple saw 412 shooting incidents, with 489 victims, during the first seven months of 2025, according to the data, released by the police department this week. Both are records that comfortably shatter the previous lows for shootings — 426 — and shooting victims — 522 — respectively, set over the same time frame in 2017 and 2018, cops said. When the NYPD began tracking such data at the beginning of the CompStat era in 1993, there were a whopping 3,114 shootings and 3,451 victims of gun violence, police said. "Summer is usually the toughest test for public safety, but the wins that we are celebrating today prove that under Mayor Adams’ leadership, we are not just passing the test, we are resetting the curve," said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch during a Monday event outlining the numbers. The declines come as Mayor Eric Adams tries to salvage his re-election bid against Democratic socialist frontrunner Zohran Mamdani by focusing on public safety.

Daily Signal [8/5/2025 9:30 AM, Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, 558K] reports the Trump administration is working to safely return the unaccompanied illegal migrant children lost under the Biden administration to their home countries, The Daily Signal has learned. Hundreds of thousands of minors arrived at the southern border without a parent or a legal guardian under the Biden administration. The Trump administration has located 13,000 of those children, and now, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a subagency of the Department of Health and Human Services, is working to reunite those children with their families in their home countries and find the rest of the missing minors. "If their parents are outside the United States, we are going to look at repatriating them to their country," John Fabbricatore, a senior adviser at the Office of Refugee Resettlement, told The Daily Signal. Fabbricatore said there is a misconception that the unaccompanied alien children are getting deported, when in fact it’s a reunification process. If a migrant child is in danger, the U.S. government will make "every effort" to find their parents. Foreign governments that come forward asking for their children back will bear the responsibility to connect the child with their parents. "We always work with these foreign governments, not just HHS, but [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] does," Fabbricatore said. "There are consular officers that go out from all of these different countries to visit their citizens that are in custody or in care." The Biden administration didn’t properly vet sponsors, causing some minors to be released to individuals posing as family who later sexually abused the children in their custody. For instance, a 37-year-old illegal immigrant man was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing at least one teen girl who the Biden administration sent to live with him. The Trump administration has been involved in numerous prosecutions of sponsors who are involved in trafficking, border czar Tom Homan told The Daily Signal. "President Trump has three priorities: Secure the border, which you have the most secure border in history; No. 2, remove public safety threats and national security threats that are illegal; and third, find the children," Homan said. "We take it very seriously," he added.

FOX News [8/5/2025 6:00 AM, Melissa Rudy, 46878K] reports a little-known opioid that’s deadlier than fentanyl has led to a growing number of overdose deaths in recent years. Nitazenes, a class of synthetic opioids, were originally developed as pain relievers in the 1950s, but were never approved for use due to the high overdose risk, according to a report from the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD). Starting in 2019, nitazenes (benzimidazole-opioids) began to enter the illicit drug market in Europe, where they have been reported on almost every continent. CICAD’s report suggests that "nitazene use is a growing trend in North America and that availability is likely spreading across the Americas." The most prevalent type of nitazene is isotonitazene (ISO), but at least a dozen others have been identified, the report stated. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies ISO as a Schedule 1 drug, along with seven other nitazenes. "Nitazenes are being produced in illicit labs overseas, mostly in places like China and India, and are getting trafficked into the U.S. through the same channels used for fentanyl," Corey Gamberg, a licensed alcohol and drug counselor and executive director at the Massachusetts Center for Addiction, told Fox News Digital. "As authorities crack down on fentanyl, traffickers pivot to new synthetic opioids like nitazenes to get around enforcement," Gamberg went on.

New York Times [8/6/2025 12:24 AM, Hamed Aleaziz, 330K] reports Evgeny and Evgeniia faced an excruciating choice. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers told the couple they could leave the United States with their child and return to their native Russia, which they had fled seeking political asylum. Or they could remain in immigration detention in the United States — but their 8-year-old son, Maksim, would be taken away and sent to a shelter for unaccompanied children. In the end, they chose the agony of limbo in the United States over a return to a place where they saw no prospect for freedom or any future for their family. “Interior separation is approved,” ICE officials concluded in writing after the couple insisted they could not return to Russia. The last time Evgeny and Evgeniia saw Maksim was on May 15, in a room at Kennedy International Airport in New York City, as ICE agents led them back to detention in New Jersey. “A few days, right?” Maksim begged his parents that day. “A few days?” The couple, who asked to be identified only by their first names out of fear for their family back in Russia, said they tried to keep their son calm. Maksim pleaded with his father, who told the boy what he wanted to hear. “I said, ‘Yes, yes, it will be just a few days,’” Evgeny said, recounting the moment in an interview. Their case is an example of a little-known tactic the Trump administration is using to pressure undocumented immigrants to leave the United States. Officials have begun separating children from their families in small numbers across the country, in what appears to be a more targeted version of one of the most explosive policies of President Trump’s first term. New York Times has uncovered at least nine cases in which parents have been separated from their children after they refused to comply with deportation orders, according to internal government documents, case files and interviews. The practice is not as widespread as the “zero tolerance” policy of Mr. Trump’s first term, when thousands of children were systematically taken from their parents as they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and sent to shelters and foster homes. But the new cases suggest that the administration has decided to use family separation as a tool, at least in some instances, to persuade families to leave and to create a powerful deterrent for those who might come to the United States illegally. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, insisted that “ICE does not separate families” and placed the onus on the families themselves, saying that the parents have the option of staying with their children by leaving the country together. “The parents had the right and the ability to depart the country as a family and willfully choose to not comply,” she said. She denied that there was any new policy on family separations.

The Hill [8/5/2025 10:30 AM, Laura Kelly, 18649K] reports that the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is forcing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to transmit to Congress agreements reached with the governments of Costa Rica and Panama for accepting deported migrants, including asylum-seekers, vulnerable women and children. In a letter sent last week, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) invoked a 2023 federal law that the State Department must provide international agreements or nonbinding instruments that are the "subject of a written communication from the Chair or Ranking Member" of either the Senate Foreign Relations or House Foreign Affairs committees. "This letter constitutes the statutorily required written communication," Shaheen wrote. She raised alarm over the approximately 500 third-country nationals deported to Central America since February — and many back to their countries of origin. Shaheen said dozens of those deported remain in vulnerable situations in Panama and Costa Rica, at risk of exploitation, statelessness and other harm. "These individuals included Iranian Christians fleeing religious persecution, Afghan women escaping the Taliban’s ruthless crackdown and Russians facing political persecution for protesting Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine," Shaheen wrote of the initial migrants who were deported. "While some chose to return to their countries of origin, dozens of deported migrants are still in Panama and Costa Rica with no clear path forward."

CNN [8/5/2025 6:00 AM, Priscilla Alvarez, Gabe Cohen, and Alayna Treene, 21433K] reports as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem jetted across South America last week, there was one familiar face from President Donald Trump’s orbit frequently at her side: Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski has become a fixture at the Department of Homeland Security, serving as Noem’s chief adviser . But on paper, he was originally tapped to serve as a special government employee, a unique role meant to span a limited number of days. He’s not included on the department’s leadership list, but in other DHS materials he’s been described as chief adviser to the secretary. A senior Homeland Security official, speaking on behalf of the department in response to questions from CNN, said Lewandowski remains a special government employee — a status that typically lasts up to 130 days in a yearlong period — and his time "is kept by a career DHS employee who submits the paperwork on a bi-weekly basis." He isn’t paid by DHS and doesn’t receive federal government benefits, the official said.

CNN [8/5/2025 10:23 AM, Harmeet Kaur, 875K] reports the Trump administration recently presented a vision for the country’s future in song and video. "The Promise of America is worth Protecting. The Future of our Homeland is worth Defending," the Department of Homeland Security wrote on X. In the accompanying vintage-filtered montage, families gaze out wondrously at our national parks, Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty stand tall in all their glory, and law enforcement officers salute a horse-carried American flag. What caught some attention, though, was the music: The video was set to Sam Hunt’s country cover of Woody Guthrie’s "This Land Is Your Land." This version appeared on the soundtrack to "Bright," Netflix’s 2017 Will Smith-fronted buddy cop movie about orcs and elves. Woody Guthrie fans who know the song’s origins as a socialist protest anthem would find the Trump administration’s embrace of "This Land" an odd choice. Guthrie — a lifelong socialist, anti-capitalist and communist sympathizer — penned "This Land Is Your Land" in 1940, irritated by what he felt was the blind patriotism of Kate Smith’s late ‘30s hit recording of "God Bless America." He was also motivated by the stark poverty and social injustices that he witnessed during his travels throughout the country, as evidenced by the original lyrics that include two verses critiquing widespread hunger and the concept of private property. "This Land Is Your Land," was not — as it’s often understood today — a paean to the country’s natural beauty, said Will Kaufman, author of "Woody Guthrie, American Radical" and two other books on the artist. "Woody is writing about a different America," he told CNN. "He’s writing about cops and vigilantes and barbed wire and bread lines.” CNN reached out to ask if the government was aware of the song’s radical roots and history. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin answered in a statement that read, in part: "Loving America may be a radical or foreign concept for CNN, in fact we’re quite confident it is.”

NBC News [8/5/2025 12:22 PM, Shannon Pettypiece, 44540K] reports meteorological data collected by some weather balloons has been halted. Statistics for HIV among transgender people were scrubbed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. And basic public figures, like how many people work for the federal government, have been frozen or delayed for months. Across the federal government, President Donald Trump has been wielding his influence over data used by researchers, economists and scientists, an effort that was playing out largely behind the scenes until Friday, when he fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency collects and publishes economic data, and Trump accused its former chief, Erika McEntarfer, of giving fake employment data last week showing a recent slowdown in the labor market. "The numbers were rigged. Biden wasn’t doing well, he was doing poorly," Trump said in an interview on CNBC Tuesday, referring to the jobs numbers. Presidents of both political parties often seek to spin government data to their benefit, cherry-picking numbers that put their agendas in the best light possible. But McEntarfer’s firing has drawn criticism from economists, Wall Street investors and even Republicans who are raising wider concerns about the continued reliability of government data once seen as the gold standard. "We have to look somewhere for objective statistics. When the people providing the statistics are fired, it makes it much harder to make judgments that, you know, the statistics won’t be politicized," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said in an interview. "You can’t really make the numbers different or better by firing the people doing the counting." "President Trump is leading the most transparent administration in history," said White House spokesman Kush Desai. "Not only has the administration continued to share the data that’s critical for policymakers, businesses, researchers, and everyday Americans, but we have taken historic steps to improve the reliability and accuracy of that data by re-examining how it’s collected and distributed." The deputy commissioner of BLS, Bill Wiatrowski, who took up the role during the Obama administration, will become the acting chief while Trump looks for a replacement, who will have to be confirmed by the Senate. Other types of federal data haven’t been updated for months. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used to provide a data dashboard of arrests, detentions and deportations, but it hasn’t updated it since December. The White House said the Department of Homeland Security has been regularly putting out information on immigration enforcement actions by press release, in media appearances by top officials and on social media.

NewsNation [8/5/2025 7:09 PM, Julian Resendiz, 5801K] reports Immigrant advocates are calling for the release of an El Paso-area activist detained Sunday at El Paso International Airport on immigration charges. Catalina "Xóchitl" Santiago was taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents at around 4 a.m. as she waited to board a flight out of El Paso. The Movimiento Cosecha activist and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals beneficiary was carrying a work authorization document when detained, according to friends and colleagues who have started a GoFundMe account for her legal fees. Movimiento Cosecha also posted on X video of Santiago’s encounter with Border Patrol agents at the airport. "Xóchitl was accosted by two Border Patrol agents […] as she was about to board a domestic flight for work. Despite presenting a valid DACA work authorization card offering proof of her protection from deportation, Border Patrol abducted and detained her without warrant or cause," the organizer wrote on a GoFundMe page. Santiago has since been transferred to a federal immigration processing center. The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday told Border Report Santiago is a "criminal illegal alien from Mexico." She has previously been charged with trespassing, possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia, the federal agency said. "Illegal aliens who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals are not automatically protected from deportation. DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation fora number of reasons, including if they’ve committed a crime.” Santiago is in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pending proceedings to remove her from the United States, according to DHS.

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Telemundo 48 El Paso [8/5/2025 10:57 AM, Claudia Moreno, 9K]

Federalist [8/5/2025 11:20 AM, Brianna Lyman, 1142K] reports that forty-two years ago, a pregnant Guatemalan woman illegally crossed the Rio Grande River and gave birth to a baby who now has "birthright" citizenship. Today, that child sits in Congress — proudly declaring her allegiance to the country her mother left behind. This is the predictable result of a broken immigration system — one that has allowed the mass importation of both legal and illegal aliens regardless of their capacity or willingness to assimilate into the country. "I am a proud Guatemalan before I am American," Illinois Democrat Rep. Delia Ramírez said in Spanish during the opening remarks of the second annual Panamerican Congress in Mexico City. Notably, she sits on the House Homeland Security Committee — a committee dedicated to protecting the homeland. Following backlash, Ramírez said in a statement that she is the "daughter of immigrants. The press release noted how she is "an American citizen by birthright." "I am from both Guatemala and Chicago, Illinois," she said, after claiming that "[h]onoring my Guatemalan ancestry only strengthens my commitment to America.” But her comments should alarm anyone because they reveal a deep reality: mass immigration — legal and illegal — has produced not only millions of persons living in America with tenuous ties to the nation, but lawmakers who openly place ancestral identity above national allegiance.

NewsMax [8/5/2025 10:10 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4622K] reports Rep. Delia Ramirez is under fire, including from some Republicans demanding that she be deported, after she said at an appearance in Mexico that she is a "proud Guatemalan before" "an American." "Denaturalize, deport, and kick her off [the] Homeland Committee. We know where her allegiances lie," Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., wrote on X after the clip of the Illinois Democrat’s comments, made in Spanish while speaking at a Mexico City summit this past weekend, went viral, according to Newsweek on Tuesday. The Department of Homeland Security also responded on X, posting the video and quoting late President Theodore Roosevelt’s call for Americans to hold their allegiance to the United States. "There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism," the department posted. "Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance." Responding to the criticism, she posted on X that "Honoring my Guatemalan ancestry only strengthens my commitment to America.” The congresswoman also said the backlash to her comments came in response to her criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration actions. She has called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign, for ICE to be defunded, and has referred to the Trump administration as a "fascist government."

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Blaze [8/5/2025 8:45 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K]
Daily Caller [8/5/2025 1:15 PM, Mary Rooke, 1010K]

FOX News [8/5/2025 6:16 AM, Alex Nitzberg, 46878K] reports Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., pushed back against a firestorm of criticism that erupted on Monday after a remark she made sparked calls for her to be deported. The congresswoman, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, described herself as "both Chapina and American" and as "from both Guatemala and Chicago, Illinois." Ramirez "is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants and an American citizen by birthright," according to the news release in which she responded to the criticism of her controversial comment. She made a comment in Spanish in which she reportedly said, "I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American," according to a tweet from TheBlaze, which was shared by the official Department of Homeland Security X account. When retweeting the post, DHS shared a quote, which it attributed to Theodore Roosevelt: "There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism...Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance." Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., called for the congresswoman to be deported. "Denaturalize, deport, and kick her off Homeland Committee. We know where her allegiances lie," Ogles wrote on X.

New York Times [8/5/2025 6:13 PM, Hamed Aleaziz and Nicholas Nehamas, 138952K] reports on Tuesday morning, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced in an internal email that it would offer cash bonuses to agents for deporting people quickly, an incentive meant to motivate the staff to speed up President Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Less than four hours later, the agency abruptly canceled what was supposed to be a 30-day pilot program. Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said the program had not been enacted, adding that “no such policy is in effect or has ever been in effect.” The email canceling the program was sent shortly after The New York Times inquired about its existence. But the short-lived effort underscored the mounting pressure on ICE to meet Mr. Trump’s aggressive deportation targets. The bonus program that ended on Tuesday almost as quickly as it began had been described as a 30-day pilot, according to documents reviewed by The Times. Under its terms, ICE would hand out $200 bonuses for each immigrant deported within seven days of being arrested and $100 for those deported within two weeks, according to an initial memo signed by Ms. Castano that was sent to the directors and deputy directors of ICE’s field offices across the country. It was meant to motivate officers to reduce a backlog of people awaiting deportation, “reducing overall removal costs and decreasing strain” on the agency’s detention resources, the memo stated. To “maximize” their bonuses, the memo instructed ICE agents to deport eligible immigrants through a fast-track process known as expedited removal, which allows immigrants without legal status to be deported without court proceedings. It also said that agents could offer detainees the option of leaving the country voluntarily.

NewsMax [8/5/2025 4:44 PM, Theodore Bunker, 4622K] reports the number of arrests performed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents declined in July following a backlash against anti-immigration raids that led to widespread protests in Southern California. According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonpartisan group that helps organize and distribute government records to the public, ICE officers averaged 990 arrests per day in July, a decline from the daily average of 1,224 arrests the month before and far below the 3,000 immigration-related arrests per day that senior White House adviser Stephen Miller said was the administration’s goal. The report also shows that although arrests declined, removals during July increased by an average of 84 more per day, and TRAC notes that more than 70% of the roughly 57,000 people held in ICE detention facilities, many of whom face minor charges such as traffic violations, have never been convicted of a crime. The Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Axios that arrests had declined from June to July and criticized "a historic number of injunctions" for preventing the administration from making more arrests.

CNN [8/5/2025 6:00 AM, Casey Tolan and Isabelle Chapman, 21433K] reports the Trump administration is apprehending hundreds of immigrants every day across the country – but there’s a stark split in where Immigration and Customs Enforcement makes those arrests in blue states and red states. In states that voted for President Donald Trump, ICE agents are far more likely to arrest immigrants directly from prisons and jails, a CNN analysis of data from the agency found. In Democratic-leaning states, by contrast, ICE is frequently arresting immigrants from worksites, streets and mass roundups that have sparked protests and intense backlash in cities such as Los Angeles. Most of those arrested don’t have any criminal record. The ICE data shows that overall, more immigrants are being arrested in red states than blue states – both in the community and, especially, in prisons and jails. But there is a clear divide in where ICE is apprehending people: 59% of arrests in red states took place in prisons and jails, while 70% of arrests in blue states took place in the community. That partisan gap between red and blue states existed before Trump’s second term began – but it has widened since last year. Trump officials say the differing tactics are simply a downstream effect of sanctuary policies in many Democratic-controlled states and large cities, which can limit prisons and jails from cooperating with ICE. In many of those states, local authorities can’t hold immigrants in custody based on ICE orders alone – so they’re often released before immigration officials can arrest them. "Sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don’t want, more agents in the communities and more worksite enforcement," Trump border czar Tom Homan told reporters last month. "Why is that? Because they won’t let one agent arrest one bad guy in a jail." The divide is especially dramatic in Massachusetts, where 94% of immigrants arrested by ICE were apprehended in the community, and 78% of them had no criminal record. The state has a court decision and local policies that limit law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. The agency’s regional office was also led until March by Todd Lyons, who is now the acting ICE director, and who has described the focus on community arrests in Massachusetts, his home state, as a direct response to sanctuary policies. "If sanctuary cities would change their policies and turn these violent criminal aliens over to us, into our custody, instead of releasing them into the public, we would not have to go out to the communities and do this," Lyons said at a press conference in June.

Breitbart [8/5/2025 9:13 AM, John Binder, 3077K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seeking custody of an illegal alien accused of several sex crimes against children in the sanctuary state of Massachusetts, including the rape of a child, Breitbart News has exclusively learned. On Monday, ICE officials lodged a detainer against 29-year-old illegal alien Manuel Umana Solorzano of El Salvador after he was arrested by the Milford, Massachusetts Police Department. Local police and the United States Marshals had arrested Solorzano, who is accused of rape of a child with force, statutory rape of a child with a five-year age difference, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years old, possession of child pornography, possession of photos of sexual or intimate parts of a child, reckless endangerment of a child, lascivious pose or exhibit child in the nude, and resisting arrest. "This pedophile should never have been in our country," the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure local authorities don’t release this creep back into American neighborhoods. Unfortunately, far too often sanctuary states like Massachusetts refuse to honor detainers to turn these criminal illegal aliens over to ICE. Instead, they release child predators and other violent criminals back into our neighborhoods. President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to do everything in their power to remove pedophiles from our country and protect children.

AP [8/5/2025 3:08 PM, Jake Offenhartz] reports a Purdue University student from South Korea has been freed from federal detention, tearfully reuniting with her family and religious community in Manhattan following days of outcry from faith leaders in New York and abroad. Yeonsoo Go, 20, was taken into custody on Thursday during a routine immigration hearing in Manhattan, according to her attorneys and family. She was then transferred to a federal detention facility in Monroe, Louisiana, where she was held for three nights before being released without bail on Monday. Mary Rothwell Davis, an attorney for the Episcopal Diocese of New York, where Go’s mother works as a priest, said the family had not received an explanation for the arrest or abrupt reversal. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Go had been placed in expedited removal proceedings for overstaying an expired visa. The agency did not respond to questions about what prompted Go’s release. "The fact of the matter is those who are in our country illegally have a choice — they can leave the country voluntarily or be arrested and deported," agency spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. But Davis disputed the contention that Go was here illegally. She said Go has maintained a valid visa since arriving in the U.S. in 2021, along with her mother, Rev. Kyrie Kim, who leads a Korean congregation in the New York area.

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NBC News [8/5/2025 1:34 PM, Kimmy Yam, 44540K]
NewsNation [8/5/2025 8:23 AM, Ben Mitchell, James Ford and Anthony DiLorenzo, 5801K]

Politico [8/5/2025 5:05 PM, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney, 16523K] reports the Trump administration has agreed to allow Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri to return to his job at the school while litigation continues over efforts to deport him because of his alleged ties to Hamas. The Justice Department and Suri revealed a settlement Tuesday in court papers that partially resolves a five-month-long legal dispute that arose after masked ICE agents arrested Suri without warning in March outside his Arlington, Virginia, apartment as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian academics. The agreement does not address Suri’s right to remain in the U.S. or his attorneys’ claims that Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s bid to deport Suri violated his First Amendment rights. However, it allows Suri to resume his employment as a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. A judge ordered Suri’s release from immigration detention in May amid a wave of legal rebukes for the administration’s targeting of other pro-Palestinian academics, including Columbia University students Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi and Yunseo Chung, as well as Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to permit Suri to remain free while his lawsuit was pending. Despite his release, immigration court proceedings that could lead to Suri’s deportation continued. In addition, Suri’s civil litigation continued in the Virginia court as he sought the reinstatement of his legal status in a Department of Homeland Security database that tracks immigrant students and researchers permitted into the country. The deal revealed Tuesday will likely obviate the need for a hearing that was set for Friday in federal court in Alexandria over his bid for reinstatement. ICE had terminated Suri’s record in the system in March, which made it difficult for him to continue his academic work. The termination also extended to his two young children, whose student status in the U.S. was linked to their father’s. Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh, is a U.S. citizen. But her father’s former role advising Hamas leadership figured into the Trump administration’s decision to target Suri. Under the settlement, the Trump administration has agreed to maintain Suri’s student status unless officials become aware of a “newly discovered, independent legal ground” to take action against him — and give him 21 days notice before acting on it. It also made the reinstatement of his status retroactive to March 18.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [8/5/2025 9:40 PM, Zach Montague, 138952K]

Newsweek [8/5/2025 2:06 PM, Alia Shoaib, 52220K] reports a Ring camera captured the moment federal immigration officers pulled a gun on a man’s partner during an unannounced raid at their home in South Carolina. Newsweek contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for comment via email on Tuesday. The latest incident comes as the Trump administration moves forward with widespread arrests and deportations of illegal migrants as part of the White House’s immigration crackdown. This case comes amid ongoing controversy over administration’s immigration policies and increasing concerns about ICE’s overreach. Several immigration officers arrived outside the home of Franklin Arce in North Charleston on July 30. In the video published by ABC News 4, the officers can be seen throwing Arce to the ground to arrest him. The man appears to be complying with orders and does not appear to resist the officers at any point. Seeing this happening outside, his partner Celeste Hernandez runs out the door towards Acre. One of the officers approaches Hernandez and shoves her back into the house, and points a gun at her while shouting profanities. Arce’s family claim that the immigration officers never showed proof of a warrant and refused to give their names and badge numbers. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek: "The Trump administration will not ignore the rule of law. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [8/5/2025 8:11 AM, Randy Clark, 3077K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers placed immigration detainers on six criminal aliens arrested as part of a multiagency sting operation in Florida targeting child sex predators. One of the criminal aliens arrested was a University of Florida student on a visa who, along with the other defendants, allegedly planned to meet with and sexually abuse children ages 13-15. Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the arrest of 48 individuals in all, including the six foreign nationals flagged with ICE detainers, Breitbart’s Hannah Knudson reported. The arrests were part of a six-day undercover operation aimed at taking online child predators off the street. The operation, coordinated by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, marks the highest number of arrests ever made during this annual joint effort to protect Florida children from exploitation and abuse. This operation was executed by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals Service, Florida Highway Patrol, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Ocala Police Department, Port Orange Police Department, and the Lake City Police Department.

Axios [8/5/2025 7:20 AM, Abbey Higginbotham, 13599K] reports Latino leaders and advocates are gathering in Kansas City this week to share tools, training and solidarity at the UnidosUS national conference. UnidosUS president and CEO Janet Murguía told Axios the conference is designed to educate people on their rights, especially as aggressive enforcement tactics escalate. "This is a very scary time," Murguía told Axios. "People are coming together here in Kansas City because they want to be in solidarity, to re-energize, educate and protect one another." Murguía pointed to last week’s ICE raid in the Kansas City, Kansas, area as an example of the concerns driving this year’s agenda. Members of Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR), said in a press conference that ICE agents entered two El Toro Loco restaurants in Lenexa and Kansas City, Kansas, during lunch service and detained workers without warning. In a statement to Axios on Friday about the raid, Department of Homeland Security public affairs assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said ICE was carrying out a criminal federal search warrant to "rescue victims of human trafficking" and that people "tried to interfere with law enforcement."

CNN [8/5/2025 6:40 PM, Sol Amaya, 21433K] reports when Paola Clouatre arrived home, her young son Noah glanced at her sideways. He covered his face, turned around, looked back again. “It was as if he couldn’t believe that the person there was me, his mom,” Clouatre says, as she recalls the moment she was reunited with her family, two months after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while breastfeeding her three-month-old baby. The first thing she did when Noah recognized her was hug him. “I said to him: ‘It’s Mom. Mom is home again with you.’” The second thing she did was breastfeed her baby, Lyn. “I couldn’t believe I was home again, it was like a shock,” Clouatre tells CNN from her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as she cradles Lyn, and Noah runs around the room scribbling on a piece of paper. Next to her is her husband Adrián, a Marine Corps veteran who fought tirelessly for her release. Clouatre, born in Mexico, had come to the United States in 2014 with her mother. She was 14 years old. She soon lost contact with her and spent her teenage years in homeless shelters. In 2022 she met Adrian. Shortly after, they had Noah. In February 2024, they got married and later, little Lyn was born. On May 27, the couple went to an adjustment of status interview, hoping to advance the process for Clouatre to obtain her permanent residence or green card. Just a week before, they had learned that there was a deportation order against her, because she had not attended a hearing whose notice had been sent to her mother, and the young woman never found out. Clouatre was detained on the spot and transferred to ICE’s rural detention center in Monroe, four hours from her home. A week ago, after her husband and his lawyer Carey Holliday tried by every possible means to secure Clouatre’s release, she was finally able to leave the detention center and reunite with her family. Her husband told CNN that a judge suspended the deportation order. Then, Senator John Kennedy’s office submitted a request to DHS for the woman to be released, the AP reported. Asked by CNN, DHS said that “Members of Congress have no influence over whom ICE arrests, detains, or subjects to immigration procedures … DHS enforces the law. Period,” they responded by email, in a statement attributed to Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Lisette Paola Rosas-Campos (Clouatre) filed a motion to reopen her immigration case on May 27, 2025, and requested an emergency stay of deportation from an immigration judge. The immigration judge granted the motion and she was released from ICE custody while her immigration process continues,” the DHS statement says.

Univision [8/5/2025 6:52 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports Indiana Governor Mike Braun announced on August 1 new cooperation agreements between state agencies and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The goal is to step up deportation efforts within the state. Agencies involved include the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, the State Police, the Department of Corrections and the National Guard. India is not a safe haven for illegal immigration. Indiana will fully work with federal authorities to enforce the most fundamental laws in the country, Braun said in a statement.

FOX News [8/5/2025 5:47 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46878K] reports a group of six criminal illegal aliens have been arrested by ICE in Houston after having collectively illegally entered the country a staggering 42 times. The six criminal aliens were finally arrested by ICE in the final days of July after two decades’ worth of illegal reentries and after racking up an equally astounding 48 criminal convictions, according to a statement released on Tuesday. Criminal convictions among the group include cocaine trafficking, grand theft auto, assault, domestic violence and multiple DWIs. One of the illegals is a documented member of a cartel-connected gang. ICE said the six were arrested by multiagency targeting teams established under the Trump administration to target the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal aliens for removal.

Houston Chronicle [8/5/2025 7:00 AM, Haajrah Gilani, 1982K] reports the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas from Jesse Rincones’ childhood didn’t engage in lawsuits against the federal government. Under his leadership, it does now. Rincones, the organization’s executive director, said the group felt compelled to break tradition and join the fight against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy change he says threatens its network of over 1,000 churches in Texas. "We felt like, if we don’t speak up and advocate for our pastors and our churches, who will?" Rincones said. The lawsuits the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas joined this year challenged a Department of Homeland Security reversal of a longstanding "sensitive" locations directive that generally restricted federal immigration agents from operating in houses of worship. The move came early in the infancy of President Donald Trump’s second term as he promised to launch the largest mass deportation in the country’s history. The fight against the policy reversal began with religious organizations that traditionally held more progressive views, such as a liberal Maryland Quaker congregation. But opposition has expanded to less politically active religious groups such as the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas. "This is not just a political issue for our churches," Rincones said. "This is families that are being torn apart in our churches. This is kids in our churches whose parents are gone from one day to another, or fathers out of the home from one day to another, and the church has to come together and figure out, how do we serve them? How do we minister to them?" DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has said in a statement officers need secondary supervisor approval before any action could be taken in locations like a church or school. "We expect these to be extremely rare," McLaughlin’s statement read.

FOX News [8/5/2025 3:46 PM, Stepheny Price, 46878K] reports Aurora, Colorado, police apprehended a suspect Monday morning in connection with a weekend shooting that left one woman dead and another critically injured. Authorities identified the man as a Venezuelan national who is reportedly in the U.S. without legal status. Authorities had been searching for 30-year-old Michel Jordan Castellano-Fonseca following the early Sunday morning shooting at an apartment located in north-central Aurora. At the time of the incident, five children ranging from ages 1 to 15 were also inside the apartment. Chamberlain identified Castellano-Fonseca as a Venezuelan national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, first settling in Florida before relocating to Aurora. He added that the suspect had not initiated any process to obtain legal residency or citizenship. While the suspect was previously cited in Florida for a traffic violation, no other legal action was taken at that time. Chamberlain shared further details about the shooting, suggesting it likely stemmed from a domestic violence incident. Chamberlain also spoke on the broader challenges facing law enforcement, including the influx of immigrants to Aurora and the tension between local and federal authorities regarding immigration enforcement. He criticized current restrictions that limit local police cooperation with federal agencies like ICE, particularly following recent legal actions by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

San Diego Union Tribune [8/5/2025 10:49 AM, Alexandra Mendoza, 1611K] reports the message to the dozens of volunteers who would soon be supporting immigrants at their court hearings was clear. “We are not here to obstruct or prevent any arrests,” said Rev. Hung Nguyen, associate pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Logan Heights. “We are here to accompany people.” Monday’s orientation meeting was a prelude to the launch of Faithful Accompaniment in Trust and Hope (or FAITH), a pilot program that will have religious leaders and volunteers present at the San Diego immigration court to offer spiritual support, comfort, and prayer to those in need. The program is scheduled to begin Tuesday and will run at least through the end of the month as a comfort to asylum seekers and immigrants facing the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. Since late May, in an effort to increase deportations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been detaining people as they leave immigration courts, often after a judge has dismissed their cases at the request of government attorneys. This tactic has affected people who have been in the country for less than two years and now face expedited removal. The program is being organized by the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, and the San Diego Organizing Project, a network of religious and spiritual congregations. Other religious communities are expected to join the initiative.

Telemundo52 [8/5/2025 7:25 PM, Ana Milena Male, 103K] reports civil rights advocates have urged the Los Angeles community to remain vigilant in the enforcement of a U.S. federal court order banning racially hate-motivated arrests or without reasonable suspicion, and urged to report any irregularities committed by immigration agents. "If the federal government breaks into the streets with armed and masked agents ... my message to everyone is: if you see anything, say something," Mohammad Tajsar, senior attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, said at a press conference. The call came after a new judicial victory for immigrants in the lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s government, which managed to stop the immigration operations that hit the Los Angeles metropolitan area for more than a month and around the country areas. A panel of the Ninth Circuit of Appeals confirmed last Friday the temporary restriction issued by a lower court that prevents federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) and the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), from making indiscriminate arrests in seven Southern California counties. Tajsar and other attorneys representing the plaintiffs are alerted to the possibility that the Trump administration will not comply with the temporary restriction in its quest to fulfill its promise of mass deportations. The plaintiffs, five detained workers and four organizations - the Los Angeles Workers’ Network of Centers, the Agricultural Workers Union (UFW), the Coalition for Immigrant Human Rights (CHIRLA) and the Immigrant Defenders Legal Center - argue that the Trump administration has "unconstitutionally" arrested and detained people "unconstitutionally" to meet an "arbitrary" quota of arrests. "We look forward to holding the federal government accountable for these authoritarian horrors it unleashed in Southern California, and we invite everyone with a conscience to join us to defend the integrity and freedom of communities of color across the country," the ACLU lawyer insisted.

NBC News [8/5/2025 4:16 PM, Rebecca Shabad, 44540K] reports the State Department is set to launch a new pilot program later this month that will require foreign visitors planning travel to the U.S. from certain countries to post bonds of up to $15,000, according to a temporary final rule published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. The program, scheduled to begin Aug. 20 and last until Aug. 5, 2026, will specifically apply to people in certain foreign countries applying for B-1 or B-2 visas for business or tourist travel to the United States. Each of those visas allows for a maximum stay of six months, though extensions are permitted in some cases. The Trump administration said the program’s purpose is to reduce visa overstays in the U.S. and is a direct response to President Donald Trump’s January executive order "Protecting The American People Against Invasion." These requirements will only apply to countries that the State Department identifies as having records of high visa overstay rates, based on data collected by the Department of Homeland Security. The State Department announced Tuesday that the program will first apply to visa applicants from Malawi and Zambia. The list of countries can be amended throughout the program, according to the rule. The State Department said that these visa holders from Malawi and Zambia will have to arrive and depart from one of three points of entry: Boston Logan International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [8/5/2025 2:35 PM, John Binder, 3077K]
Blaze [8/5/2025 12:55 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K]

Reuters [8/5/2025 6:48 PM, Humeyra Pamuk, 51390K] reports that President Donald Trump’s administration will require visa applicants from Zambia and Malawi to pay bonds up to $15,000 for some tourist and business visas under a pilot program launching in two weeks, the State Department said on Tuesday. "Starting August 20, 2025, any citizen or national traveling on a passport issued by one of these countries who is found otherwise eligible for a B1/B2 visa must post a bond in amounts of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000, determined at time of visa interview," the State Department said in a notice on its website. A notice about the program, which gives U.S. consular officers worldwide the discretion to impose bonds on visitors from countries with high rates of visa overstays, appeared on the Federal Register on Monday but no country names had been mentioned. A State Department spokesperson on Monday said countries would be identified based on "high overstay rates, screening and vetting deficiencies, concerns regarding acquisition of citizenship by investment without a residency requirement, and foreign policy considerations." The spokesperson, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the list of countries may be updated from time to time. The bond amount will be returned to the applicant if the applicant leaves the U.S. within the allowed window of time in line with their visa and complies with all the terms of their visa status. President Donald Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a focus of his presidency, boosting resources to secure the border and arresting people who are in the U.S. illegally.

The New York Post [8/5/2025 4:22 PM, Ryan King, 49956K] reports transgender female athletes from outside the US will face new hurdles in obtaining a visa to enter the country to compete in major sporting events. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new guidance Monday saying foreign athletes who are born male and transition to female will have their gender status working against them when they apply for a visa for competitions in America. "Men do not belong in women’s sports," USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in a statement. But the policy change is significant as it comes ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which the US is co-hosting alongside Canada and Mexico, as well as the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The move is in line with President Trump’s February "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" executive order, which declared US opposition to "male competitive participation in women’s sports." The updated immigration guidance, first reported by the Daily Wire, notes that USCIS doesn’t use the term transgender and simply refers to the trans female athletes as being born male. Foreign athletes have frequently been able to obtain US visas in the past because of the "extraordinary abilities" they bring to the country, according to the law. But "USCIS does not consider a male athlete who has gained acclaim in men’s sports and seeks to compete in women’s sports in the United States to be seeking to continue work in his area of extraordinary ability," a press release from the agency said. Breitbart [8/5/2025 4:13 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 3077K] reports USCIS has clarified eligibility for certain visa categories: O-1A aliens of extraordinary ability, E11 aliens of extraordinary ability, E21 aliens of exceptional ability, and for national interest waivers (NIWs), to guarantee an even playing field for all women’s athletics in the United States. The policy update from USCIS comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February titled "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports." Under the executive order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem were directed to "review and adjust, as needed, policies permitting admission to the United States of males seeking to participate in women’s sports, and shall issue guidance with an objective of preventing such entry to the extent permitted by law."

Reported similarly:
The Hill [8/5/2025 12:47 PM, Brooke Migdon, 18649K]
Daily Caller [8/5/2025 4:33 PM, Tayte Christensen, 1010K

AP [8/6/2025 12:01 AM, Sylvia Hui, 11859K] reports that, in China, wait times for U.S. visa interviews are so long that some students have given up. Universities in Hong Kong are fielding transfer inquiries from foreign students in the U.S., and international applications for British undergraduate programs have surged. President Donald Trump’s administration has been pressuring U.S. colleges to reduce their dependence on international enrollment while adding new layers of scrutiny for foreign students as part of its crackdown on immigration. The U.S. government has sought to deport foreign students for participating in pro-Palestinian activism. In the spring, it abruptly revoked the legal status of thousands of international students, including some whose only brush with law enforcement was a traffic ticket. After reversing course, the government paused new appointments for student visas while rolling out a process for screening applicants’ social media accounts. The U.S. remains the first choice for many international students, but institutions elsewhere are recognizing opportunity in the upheaval, and applicants are considering destinations they might have otherwise overlooked. The impact on U.S. universities — and the nation’s economy — may be significant. New international enrollment in the U.S. could drop by 30% to 40% this fall, according to an analysis of visa and enrollment data by NAFSA, an agency that promotes international education. That would deprive the U.S. economy of $7 billion in spending, according to the analysis. Many international students pay full price, so their absence would also hurt college budgets. Britain stands to gain as the US takes ‘a massive hit’. As the second most popular destination for international students, Britain is positioned to benefit.and. The country’s new Labour government has vowed to cut migration, and officials have imposed time limits on post-study visas allowing graduates to stay and work. But admissions consultants say the United Kingdom is still seen as the most welcoming of the traditional "big four" English-speaking destinations in higher education — the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia.

Breitbart [8/5/2025 7:56 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 3077K] reports the Trump administration is tightening rules to prevent migrants from bribing citizens to gain legal status via fake marriages. With the new policies, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is putting increased scrutiny on U.S. green card marriage rules. The policies will apply to all new applications as well as pending ones. "Fraudulent, frivolous, or otherwise non-meritorious family-based immigrant visa petitions erode confidence in family-based pathways to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status and undermine family unity in the United State," the ISCIS said in a statement announcing the rules changes. The agency added that the new rules, which are already in effect, are meant to ensure that proclaimed family relationships "are genuine, verifiable, and compliant with all applicable laws.” One new rule, for instance, requires U.S. citizens to supply financial records showing they have a close relationship to the migrant they claim to have married. USCIS is looking for bank account records, living arrangements such as mortgage or rent papers, utility bills in the couple’s names, photos of the couple, and letters from friends and family to prove real relationships. The agency is also stepping up in person interviews to assess the validity of a marriage. During the interviews, questions will be asked to ascertain how well the applicants know each other and the migrant’s immigration history will take a close examination, including a review of past immigration requests and records. "We are committed to keeping Americans safe by detecting aliens with potentially harmful intent so they can be processed for removal from the United States," the USCIS added. The marriage fraud industry has raged unchecked for decades and whole criminal enterprises have been created to funnel foreigners into the U.S. disguised as migrants being "married" to a U.S. citizen.

Daily Signal [8/5/2025 11:44 AM, Jacob Adams, 558K] reports a bipartisan coalition of members of Congress are seeking to provide green cards to Afghans who assisted the United States in the war in Afghanistan. To that end, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, is reintroducing the Afghan Adjustment Act, a bill that was also proposed in 2023, to deal with the aftermath of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The bill would provide conditional permanent residency (green cards) to Afghans who have legally entered or been paroled in the U.S. on or after July 30, 2021, and who have gone through an eligibility and vetting process. The bill also creates special immigrant visas for those Afghans who aided in the U.S. mission by serving in the Afghan air force and some other military capacities. The new bill’s vetting requirements come after the Biden administration failed to properly vet at least 21 individuals during its U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Republican co-sponsors of the bill are Reps. Zach Nunn of Iowa, Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Maria Salazar of Florida, Michael Baumgartner of Washington, and Dan Crenshaw of Texas. On the Democrat side, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., is leading the charge for the legislation. The bill is also co-sponsored by Democrat Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Ami Bera of California, Seth Moulton and Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania. The renewed legislative effort comes after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social in July that he would try to rescue the Afghans who fled to the United Arab Emirates.

NewsMax [8/5/2025 1:24 PM, Theodore Bunker, 4622K] reports that the U.S. is "more secure in elections," according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow, who told the Daily Caller in an interview released on Tuesday that the agency has dramatically ramped up efforts to identify noncitizen voters. Edlow, whose agency employs more than 20,000 people, said state officials so far have identified as many as 33 potential instances of noncitizens casting votes in the 2024 presidential election in Texas. "We’re already more secure in elections than we were six months ago," Edlow said. "My goal is have our next election, the midterms, be one of the most secure elections in American history." He went on to praise the recent changes to the agency’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database that helps government departments track people’s immigration and naturalization status, saying that "we’ve modernized it to allow secretaries of state and other election officials to batch audit… a large group of records to determine whether someone is eligible to register to vote." Edlow said, "We have now an agreement with the Social Security Administration whereby you can use a nine-digit Social Security number, and we can return hits for you to determine whether someone is a citizen or not for voter verification purposes.” "And we’re continuing to improve it, we’re constantly testing it," he continued. "We’re looking to go down from the full nine to the last four of the Social… we’re going to get there soon."

Reported similarly:
Daily Caller [8/5/2025 9:00 AM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K]

Axios [8/6/2025 5:00 AM, Kelly Tyko, 13599K] reports the U.S. travel industry is warning that a new $250 visa fee could deter millions of international visitors just as the country gears up to host the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics. The fee comes at a crucial moment for U.S. tourism, with America’s 250th birthday next year. Critics say the provision in the "big, beautiful bill" is a stealth "junk fee" that could harm inbound tourism. The fee applies to most nonimmigrant visa applicants, excluding those from the 42 countries in the Visa Waiver Program. The legislation specifies fee amounts for 2025, with future increases linked to inflation. The office estimates the State Department will issue about 120 million nonimmigrant visas between 2025 and 2034, which would raise $28.9 billion in revenue. The fee is in addition to the $185 nonimmigrant visa itself. "This is nothing more than a cynical junk fee that attempts to steal money from travelers that otherwise would have been spent in U.S. businesses," Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, tells Axios. Freeman said the fee "would make Ticketmaster blush" and amounts to $1,000 for a family of four — money he argues would otherwise be spent at restaurants, hotels, and retailers in the U.S. He added that rising costs — already the top deterrent for international travel to the U.S. — combined with a strong dollar, are making other destinations more attractive to global travelers. "The most likely action here is to simply go to another market where your business is more appreciated," he said. Exactly when the fee will go into effect isn’t yet known. Laura Wong, a U.S. immigration attorney at KPMG Canada, says her firm anticipates it will start Oct. 1, which is the start of the government’s fiscal year

Univision [8/5/2025 8:36 AM, Staff, 4992K] Video: HERE reports in "Let’s talk about Immigration," Televisa Univision’s chief immigration editor, Jorge Cancino, along with Televisa Univision’s vice president and legal adviser, Armando Olmedo, and guest lawyer Jonathan Shaw explain the keys to the new rules announced by the immigration service (USCIS) to process requests for the adjustment of immediate family status. The federal agency, which operates under the command of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said it was updating the Policy Manual to clarify the interview criteria for asylum seekers and refugees, and their derived relatives, who present Form I-485 (Request for Permanent Residence Registry or Status Adjustment). The new rules come into effect immediately. U.S.CIS is restoring a uniform reference standard for the selection and vetting of asylum seekers and refugees, the unit said. According to the agency, updating the policy will help ensure the integrity of the program by better detecting fraud, misrepresentation, threats to national security and risks to public security. USCIS also said that this leadership priority is consistent with Executive Order 14161 (known as U.S. Protection against Foreign Terrorists and Other Threats to National and Public Security).

Los Angeles Times [8/5/2025 7:33 PM, Howard Blume, 14672K] reports as many immigrant parents express fear about sending their children back to school next week, Los Angeles Unified has set a goal of $1 million in donations for a "compassion fund" for families affected by federal immigration raids, Supt. Alberto Carvalho announced Tuesday. The funds donated to the LAUSD Education Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the school system, will cover needs from "A to Z," said Carvalho during an annual event in which he makes home visits to encourage regular school attendance. "We’re talking about support systems for kids who may have to go into court or employees," Carvalho said while visiting two families that live near Sheridan Elementary School in Boyle Heights. "Additional transportation costs that may go beyond our school buses, anything the family may need. We are not restricting it. We want to hear what the challenge is, what the difficulty is, and then use the fund to bring ease, comfort and viable solutions for these families.” Food aid could be provided through other sources, Carvalho added: "We have very viable partners that have already committed to providing the food through information that we provide.” The district estimates that it employs at least 300 staff members who lack citizenship — all working legally with either Temporary Protected Status, for immigrants who were in danger in their native country, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, for immigrants who arrived as children. The employees are at risk of losing their right to live and work in the United States. Carvalho’s pledges — on top of measures already taken that include trying to establish safe zones around campuses — come as teachers-union members rallied last weekend demanding that the district do more to help immigrant families in the nation’s second-largest school district.

NewsNation [8/5/2025 1:07 PM, Staff, 5801K] reports that an elite group of Border Patrol agents has found success cracking cases away from the border, in part due to the complicated and rugged conditions the group is used to working in. NewsNation got an exclusive look at the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, or BORTAC, which has been called in on high-profile cases such as the search for escaped Arkansas convict and ex-police chief Grant Hardin, known as the "Devil in the Ozarks." "When (BORTAC) is the best of the best, it’s because of the work they do in a rural setting tracking people," Gil Kerlikowske, chief of Customs and Border Protection during the Obama administration, told NewsNation. While news of BORTAC’s success in locating and apprehending Hardin added to the unit’s reputation, National BORTAC Cmdr. Christopher Voss considered it just another case of his group doing its job. Voss said in BORTAC’s case, how the team is built and its selectivity are by design. But the more attention the unit receives for completing another successful mission, the greater the demand becomes, as the unit’s track record speaks for itself to state and local agencies seeking assistance from federal agents. "I’m glad I’m not a person who has to compete against them," said Victor Manjarrez, director of the University of Texas-El Paso’s Center for Law and Human Behavior and the U.S. Border Patrol’s retired sector chief in Tucson. "They’re just a higher-quality agent. They’re better skilled and better equipped."

New York Times [8/6/2025 3:33 AM, Kailyn Rhone, 330K] reports U.S. imports of goods fell in June, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday, as President Trump’s tariffs continued to weigh on trade. The decline from May was nearly 4 percent, as businesses adjusted to shifting tariff deadlines and uncertainty in negotiations between the Trump administration and officials from other countries. Companies had rushed to stockpile goods before higher tariffs were put in place. That led to a temporary surge earlier in the year in goods shipments that pushed the trade deficit to a record $138.3 billion in March. Exports dipped slightly, about 0.5 percent, as U.S. companies sold fewer industrial goods. Still, the overall trade deficit narrowed to $60.2 billion in June. Mr. Trump has imposed tariffs on a variety of industries and trading partners since returning to the presidency in January, raising the U.S. tariff rate to levels not seen in a century. He has suspended, altered and delayed many of those tariffs many times to allow for negotiations, which have resulted in broad-brush agreements with America’s major trading partners like Japan and the European Union. Higher tariffs for dozens of countries are set to snap back into effect on Thursday unless more deals are reached. In recent quarters, big swings in trade and inventories have skewed U.S. economic growth. Overall, the data suggest a slow, though positive, pace of growth. Many forecasters expect a deterioration in the months ahead, as tariffs disrupt supply chains and the Trump administration’s policies on immigration and government job cuts start to take a toll on the economy. Weaker-than-expected job growth in May, June and July in data released on Friday has provided more evidence for this view. Later that day, Mr. Trump, angered by the jobs numbers, fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Oxford Economics, a research firm that provides economic forecasts, said on Tuesday that it expected trade volumes to decline throughout the year as high inventory levels, weaker business and consumer spending, and elevated prices all weighed on demand for goods. But, despite the anticipated drop, the downturn “may not be as severe” as initially expected, the firm added. Still, as most U.S. firms rely heavily on international supply chains, the proposed tariffs could make American businesses less competitive and less profitable and provide fewer opportunities of growth, said Mark Weinstock, an economics professor at Pace University. “Tariffs will not make America great again,” he said.

ABC News [8/5/2025 4:57 PM, Doc Louallen, 31733K] reports a Las Vegas woman was caught trying to smuggle marijuana worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars through Washington Dulles International Airport earlier this week, authorities said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers said they found more than 59 pounds of marijuana in the luggage of Aleshia Anne Pinheiro, 42, of Las Vegas, as she attempted to board a flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Police arrested Pinheiro and charged her with transporting a controlled a substance into Virginia and possession with intent to distribute -- both felonies. Authorities said they made the discovery Sunday when customs officers were checking bags going onto the Germany-bound flight. They found several sealed packages stuffed inside two hard suitcases, the CBP said in a news release. Officers found 50 sealed packages in the suitcases, according to the CBP. Tests showed the packages contained marijuana — about 59 pounds in total, according to the release. While the drugs were worth around $240,000 in the U.S., they could have sold for up to three times more in Europe, the CBP said.

CNN [8/5/2025 3:25 PM, Katherine Jennings, 21433K] reports Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio captured the moment Border Patrol agents arrived after Florida Highway Patrol officers stopped the vehicle his mom was driving, taking him and two co-workers to a landscaping job. The encounter turned violent and unbeknownst to the agents, Laynez’ phone recorded the incident along with the agents’ candid conversation.

NewsNation [8/6/2025 5:11 AM, Jeff Arnold and Ali Bradley, 5801K] reports as a federal U.S. Border Patrol agent assigned to an elite tactical unit made his way up a rain-soaked wooded ridge near where Grant Hardin, known as the “Devil in the Ozarks,” had escaped an Arkansas state prison almost two weeks before, his mind started to race. NewsNation exclusively spoke with two agents in the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, or BORTAC, who captured Grant Hardin in June. NewsNation is not naming the agents to protect their identities. Less than 24 hours into the manhunt for the police chief-turned-escaped prisoner, the agent figured if Hardin wasn’t in this patch of rural wilderness, he likely wasn’t far. Part of a 20-member BORTAC squad that was dispatched from their home base at Fort Bliss in El Paso, the agent approached the crest of the hill and spotted a muddied, shirtless man matching Hardin’s description. The agent called out and identified himself as law enforcement, setting off a mental game of cat and mouse. Spotting the federal agent, Hardin jumped to his feet and began to run. The agent gave chase for about 30 or 40 yards before Hardin lost his footing, setting the stage for a fugitive capture that state and local law enforcement and area residents alike had been eagerly awaiting. “There’s an element of God’s grace or luck or whatever you want to call it,” the arresting agent told NewsNation. “It just goes back to perseverance. But truth be told, I was pretty friggin’ stoked to see him.”

USA Today [8/5/2025 4:13 PM, Nathan Diller, 75552K] reports some U.S. airports have added dedicated family lanes as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s "Families on the Fly" initiative, the Transportation Security Administration announced late last month. "DHS and TSA are committed to making the airport security experience as smooth and stress-free as possible for traveling families," Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy TSA Administrator, Adam Stahl, said in a news release. "The Families on the Fly campaign, being rolled out at select airports, aims to mitigate the unique challenges families face when traveling and minimize stress while maintaining the highest level of security." In addition to the dedicated screening lanes for families, TSA is offering a discount on fees for PreCheck, which offers expedited screening. NewsNation [8/5/2025 4:53 PM, Tony Kurzweil, Michael Bartiromo, 5801K] reports that. when asked, a representative for the TSA told NewsNation that the family-friendly security lanes work basically the same as the regular lanes, while providing families "with their own space where they can move through security at their own pace, without feeling rushed or as though they’re inconveniencing other travelers." As part of the program, the TSA is also offering a $15 discount on PreCheck enrollment when two adults sign up together. There are also plans to implement dedicated TSA PreCheck lanes for service members and their families, the TSA and Department of Homeland Security say. Dedicated family lanes are already operational at Orlando International Airport (MCO) in Florida and Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (CLT) in North Carolina, the TSA says. But NewsNation local affiliate KTLA reported that John Wayne Airport, in Orange County, California, debuted theirs in July.

Reported similarly:
(B) Good Morning America [8/5/2025 8:03 AM, Staff]

Los Angeles Times [8/5/2025 7:34 PM, Clara Harter, 14672K] reports flying with children is always a challenge, from lugging strollers through security to making sure teddy doesn’t get left at the gate and dealing with mid-flight meltdowns. But a new Department of Homeland Security program seeks to ease parents’ stress while traveling by offering family-friendly lanes at TSA checkpoints. The Families on the Fly program began its roll-out at select airports this summer, including at John Wayne Airport in Orange County. Parents need not have TSA PreCheck to take advantage of the dedicated lanes, which often have shorter lines and allow families to move through security without feeling rushed or like they are inconveniencing their fellow passengers. "When families arrive at John Wayne Airport, they will find a specially designated lane for them at the centrally located Checkpoint B," said Jason Pantages, Transportation Security Administration federal security director for John Wayne Airport, at a news conference Monday. "With Southern California being one of the top tourist destinations in the U.S. for vacationing families, I am excited that we can now expedite their screening process and enhance their overall airport experience.” John Wayne Airport is a popular travel hub for families on vacation, thanks in part to its proximity to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. In addition to the new family TSA lane, airport officials also unveiled a new lactation pod in the Terminal C baggage claim area to provide mothers with a place to nurse in private. "As a mom who nursed two babies, I know the stress of traveling when babies get hungry," Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said in a statement. "I’m excited that we now offer a private, clean, comfortable space for moms to nurse before flights at JWA to reduce the chaos of traveling with kids.” Although California officials predicted that the state would experience a "Trump slump" in tourism this year due to the president’s tariff policies, a slowdown in visitors has not materialized at John Wayne. The Orange County airport reported a 3.1% year-over-year increase in passengers in May, while California airports overall reported a very slight 0.6% year-over-year dip in passengers in May, the latest month for which data are available.

New York Post [8/5/2025 12:37 PM, Ryan King, 49956K] reports Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard opened up to The Post’s Miranda Devine about being harassed and followed by federal law enforcement after her name was added to a since-scrapped Transportation Security Administration watchlist. "I was certain … that it was politically motivated," Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii and ex-Democratic National Committee vice chair, said on the latest episode of Devine’s "Pod Force One," out Wednesday. "There was no other explanation for it, other than that. "When I spoke to TSA agents in multiple airports who were just doing their jobs, but who, as they went through this extreme and in-depth search of me — and oh, by the way, my husband was also placed on this domestic terror watch list — they were like, ‘Why are we doing this with you?’" the DNI recalled. Gabbard and her husband, Abraham Williams, were flagged under the Quiet Skies program, in which federal air marshals would surveil individuals on domestic and international flights who were not already on existing watchlists. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended the Quiet Skies program in June this year, claiming it failed to prevent a single terrorist attack. Gabbard’s inclusion on the list was triggered by her attendance at a Vatican event in July 2024 that was organized by a European businessman who was on an FBI watch list, the New York Times reported in January. It is unclear why the businessman was of interest to federal authorities.

AP [8/5/2025 3:42 PM, Josh Funk, 56000K] reports a new federal rule proposed Tuesday would make it easier for companies to use drones over longer distances out of the operator’s sight without having to go through a cumbersome waiver process. The federal government had already approved 657 waivers to allow companies such as Amazon and major utilities to do this in certain circumstances, but the waiver process made it difficult. The industry has long pressed for the rule because being able to operate drones out of sight opens up a multitude of possibilities for their use. Being able to do this enables more use of drones for deliveries, inspecting infrastructure like bridges and power lines and other uses in agriculture over thousands of acres on large farms. "This draft rule is a critical step toward enabling drone operations that will enhance safety, transform commercial services, and strengthen public safety with drones as a force multiplier," said Michael Robbins, president & CEO of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International trade group. The rule spells out the circumstances drones can be used under while working to ensure they don’t disrupt aviation and cause problems around airports, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford said. "We are making the future of our aviation a reality and unleashing American drone dominance. From drones delivering medicine to unmanned aircraft surveying crops, this technology will fundamentally change the way we interact with the world," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. President Donald Trump issued executive orders in June directing the Transportation Department to quickly get this rule out. The orders also included restrictions meant to help protect against terrorism, espionage and public safety threats.

ABC News [8/5/2025 4:54 PM, Ayesha Ali, 31733K] reports a new rule proposed on Tuesday would ease altitude and line-of-sight restrictions for drone operations, allowing them to be widely used for commercial purposes, such as package deliveries. Under this proposed rule from the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, drones can be flown beyond the current visual line of sight requirements, allowing them to be flown at an altitude of 400 feet or less. This would permit drones to be used across the United States for operations like package deliveries, agriculture, aerial surveying and civil interests, including public safety, recreation and flight testing, according to a fact sheet from the FAA. Although the new rule eases some restrictions, there are still requirements drone operators will need to follow in order to be able to fly, including approval from the FAA for the area where they intend to operate. Drones will be limited to a maximum of 1,320 pounds including cargo. The FAA said it’s partnering with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to ensure proper vetting of all parties involved in flying drones. The proposed rule will go through a required 60-day public comment period before it can go into effect.

The New York Times [8/5/2025 7:40 PM, Zach Montague, 138952K] reports a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the Trump administration on Tuesday from ending a multibillion-dollar disaster mitigation program, prohibiting funding for the program from being diverted and spent elsewhere until the court can rule on the case’s merits. Judge Richard G. Stearns wrote that a plan to suspend the program, which helps states build safe rooms and shelters and fund flood reduction and wildfire management, among many other mitigation projects, left the states exposed to considerable disaster risk. A coalition of 20 Democratic-led states had sued in response to announcements in April by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that it would repurpose funds previously available to states under the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. The announcements informed states to prepare to do without more than $4 billion that Congress had set aside for grants, asserting without citing evidence that the program had not “increased the level of hazard mitigation as much as desired.” Since 2000, Congress has allocated billions of dollars in funding to help states prepare for large-scale disasters. According to the states’ complaint, by conservative estimates, every dollar spent on disaster mitigation projects “saves an average of $6 in post-disaster costs.” The program, known as BRIC, was launched in 2020 during President Trump’s first term, replacing the pre-disaster mitigation program that preceded it. FEMA approved around $4.5 billion in grants for nearly 2,000 projects since then, much of it allocated for coastal storm preparedness and other projects connected to threats exacerbated by climate change. But in April, the agency moved to end the program, describing it as “wasteful” and “more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.” Critics of the Trump administration called the move an ideologically driven effort to shutter federal programs that acknowledge climate change. In court filings in July, the government denied that it had actually terminated the program or stopped approving grants. But Judge Stearns concluded that the program was clearly in jeopardy, pointing to a June report by FEMA showing that the remaining $4 billion in the BRIC account had been transferred to another pool of general disaster relief funding. “Although the Government equivocates about whether it has, in fact, ended the BRIC program, the States’ evidence of steps taken by FEMA to implement the announced termination portend the conclusion that a determination has in fact been made and that FEMA is inching towards a fait accompli,” Judge Stearns wrote. CBS News [8/5/2025 9:18 PM, Hannah Marr, 51860K] reports that before it was halted, the BRIC program provided funding for local infrastructure projects such as stormwater management systems and the relocation or elevation of buildings in flood-prone zones. FEMA officials originally announced in April that they were "ending" the BRIC program because it is "wasteful" and had become more concerned with "political agendas than helping Americans recover from natural disasters." But in a court filing last week, the disaster response agency walked back those comments, stating that they hadn’t cut the program and were still evaluating whether they will end or revise it. A CBS News investigation in June revealed that the recent BRIC funding cuts have disproportionately affected counties that supported Mr. Trump in the 2024 election, with two-thirds of the counties that lost funding having voted for the president. The elimination of the BRIC program will especially deprive vulnerable communities across the Southeast — an area prone to natural disasters — the CBS News data analysis found.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [8/5/2025 5:35 PM, Rachel Frazin, 18649K]
AP [8/5/2025 5:39 PM, Jack Brook and Michael Casey]
Reuters [8/5/2025 5:33 PM, Jonathan Stempel, 51390K]
Washington Examiner [8/5/2025 6:17 PM, Jack Birle, 1934K]

Blaze [8/5/2025 10:49 AM, Staff, 1805K] reports the Department of Homeland Security appears to have changed its policy that previously withheld disaster relief from cities that boycott Israel. The original policy said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would withhold funding for a city or state that was found to have cut or limited its "commercial relations" with Israel. Following online controversy, the DHS issued a statement saying there were no FEMA requirements tethered to Israel and apparently updated its policy, removing the excerpt about boycotting Israel. "There is NO FEMA requirement tied to Israel in any current [notice of funding opportunity]," the DHS statement reads. "No states have lost funding, and no new conditions have been imposed." Although the policy appears to have been updated, the DHS maintained that it will still enforce all anti-discrimination laws and policies. "FEMA grants remain governed by existing law and policy and not political litmus tests," the statement continues. "DHS will enforce all anti-discrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism. Those who engage in racial discrimination should not receive a single dollar of federal funding."

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [8/5/2025 9:40 AM, Brian Freeman, 4622K]

ABC News [8/5/2025 1:22 PM, Kenton Gewecke and Jon Haworth, 31733K] Video: HERE reports air quality alerts are in effect on Tuesday in 10 states as toxic smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada continues to waft into the United States, creating hazy, gray skies over major metropolitan areas, including New York City. At least 741 wildfires are burning in Canada, including 304 labeled out of control. The intensifying Canadian smoke prompted the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday to declare a "Code Orange Air Quality Action Day" in more than 40 counties, including the city of Philadelphia. Smoke from the Canadian fires are forecast to be medium to heavy through Wednesday from Duluth, Minnesota, to Buffalo, New York, and through New York’s Hudson Valley. Meanwhile, wildfires burning in U.S. Western states were prompting red flag fire danger warnings on Tuesday. Red flag warnings remain in place for parts of Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming due to very dry conditions, low humidity and gusty winds that could rapidly spread new fires. One of the biggest active wildfires is burning in Southern California’s Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. As of Tuesday morning, the Gifford Fire, which started on Sunday, had burned more than 82,500 acres across Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and was just 7% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Wildfires burning in the West are creating smoky skies for millions from Southern California to Colorado. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [8/5/2025 2:30 PM, Annabella Rosciglione, 1934K] reports that the National Weather Service will rehire hundreds of positions months after they were eliminated by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. The new hiring target will include 126 new "front-line mission critical" roles, according to CNN, which first reported the hirings. The NWS has been approved to hire 450 meteorologists, hydrologists, and radar technicians. The agency was hit hard by DOGE firings and employees taking the "fork in the road" early retirement option. As a result, more than 550 people, including probationary employees and those who took early retirement, left or were forced out of the agency. At one point, there were fewer than 4,000 employees. Staffing shortages at the NWS led to multiple offices closing and limited operations. However, these hirings will not make up for all the lost personnel. Cuts to the agency have raised concerns that it is not prepared for hurricane season or other major weather events. Staff reductions have also been criticized in the wake of the deadly flooding in central Texas earlier this year. The NWS office in Houston, which is vulnerable to extreme flooding and hurricanes, remains without its top three leadership positions. The Trump administration has additionally proposed cutting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s budget by 20%. Hundreds of jobs have been eliminated there as well. Additionally, around 10% of the Federal Emergency Management Agency workforce has left since January.

Reuters [8/5/2025 8:37 PM, Courtney Rozen, 51390K] reports the Trump administration said it would cut terrorism prevention funding for New York City, according to a grant notice posted days after a gunman killed four people inside a Manhattan skyscraper. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a grant notice posted on Friday that New York City would receive $64 million less this year from its urban area security fund. The U.S. Congress created the program to help cities prevent terrorist and other violent attacks. Manhattan has been the site of two attacks on high-profile corporate executives in the last year. The most recent attack occurred in late July when a gunman armed with an assault-style rifle killed four people inside an office building that houses the headquarters of the NFL and several major financial firms. "It makes absolutely no sense, and no justification has been given to cut NY’s allocation given the rise in the threat environment," a spokesperson for the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services said in a statement. A spokesperson for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday defended the move, saying New York City had not spent all of its counter-terrorism money from previous years. Reuters could not independently verify that assertion. Governor Kathy Hochul highlighted the latest attack in a letter to Noem in July that asked why the Trump administration had not announced the amounts each city would receive from the program this year. DHS is the parent agency of FEMA. The agency uses "an analysis of relative risk of terrorism" to decide how much money each city will receive, according to the grant notice posted on Friday. The agency may change the amounts later, according to the notice. In 2023, the agency considered city visitor counts, population density and proximity to international borders, among other factors, to determine the totals, according to a report signed by then-FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. FEMA has been decreasing terrorism prevention money for New York City each year since at least fiscal year 2022. The drop is much more drastic this year at 41% year-over-year. The New York City Police Department has used the funding in the past to pay for the Domain Awareness System, a network of cameras, license plate readers and detection devices, according to a 2016 statement from former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office.

AP [8/5/2025 5:37 PM, Staff] reports individuals in central North Carolina counties whose homes and belongings were damaged by massive rains last month from Tropical Storm Chantal can now seek state-funded financial grants for temporary assistance. The aid for residents in eight counties within or near the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area is available after Gov. Josh Stein issued a state disaster declaration on Tuesday. As much as 9 to 12 inches (22.9 to 30.5 centimeters) of rain fell in the region at the close of the July 4 weekend, sending some rivers to record-breaking levels, affecting public water systems and damaging homes and businesses. There were at least six storm-related deaths, law enforcement agencies said. Stein also wrote President Donald Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday asking them to issue a federal major disaster declaration that would accelerate federal aid to help local governments with the costs of rebuilding roads and utilities, and for removing debris. Public assistance damage estimates have already totaled more than $42 million, according to Stein’s office. Stein’s state-of-emergency declaration three weeks ago in 13 central counties was designed to jump-start the process to seek federal recovery assistance. Stein’s letter on Tuesday to Trump and FEMA said that Chantal’s rains at the time resulted in more than 100 roads in the region being impassable because of flooding, sinkholes and structural damage.

FOX News [8/5/2025 12:30 PM, Hanna Panreck, 46878K] Video HERE reports Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., offered some praise for President Donald Trump’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Tuesday and said the administration had improved its customer service and had been effective on the ground. While discussing the impact of natural disasters with "At Our Table" podcast host Jaime Harrison, Beshear said he believed the American people agree that the federal government should be there at their darkest moments, "where through no fault of your own, a hurricane, a tornado, flooding has torn through your communities." Beshear gave credit to Trump’s administration during the interview before suggesting it was something the president wants to scale back. "The irony of all of it to me is, is Trump’s FEMA on the ground has done a good job in Kentucky. They have bettered their customer service. We’re not getting nearly as many complaints. They’re getting a lot of money through individual assistance out to families, especially after flooding. It’s actually a credit to his administration, and it seems to be the thing that they want to undo or unwind. Hopefully, him seeing it personally has an emotional impact because we need FEMA for that emergency response," Beshear said. Beshear also said public assistance was still needed for some areas of his state. "And one thing we haven’t seen is that public assistance — really since February — that helps out Laurel County, where London, Kentucky is, and Pulaski County, where Somerset is. Both of those counties went 80-plus percent for the president, but he hasn’t approved public assistance that would help them as county governments since that tornado," he added. The Democratic governor, who has said he’s considering running for president in 2028, also discussed some criticisms of the Democratic Party, specifically where the Biden administration could have done better. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Bloomberg [8/5/2025 9:32 AM, Staff, 19320K] reports aerial footage captured on July 14th shows the impact of the Dragon Bravo Fire in the Grand Canyon. A lighting strike started the fire on July 4. More than 100,000 acres and a historic lodge have been burned. Arizona’s governor and members of the state’s congressional delegation called for an investigation as the Park Service immediately came under scrutiny after the lodge and other historic buildings were destroyed. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [8/5/2025 2:32 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports more than 800 structures are threatened by a massive wildfire in central California that left at least three people injured as it burned through Los Padres National Forest. The Gifford Fire scorched more than 129 square miles (334 square kilometers) of coastal Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, with 7% containment, according to a U.S. Forest Service update on Tuesday morning. More than 1,900 personnel are battling the blaze that grew out of at least four smaller fires that erupted Friday along State Route 166 between Santa Maria and Bakersfield. The causes of the fires are under investigation. The blaze is burning through steep terrain and creating a huge smoke column, said Capt. Scott Safechuck, a spokesperson with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. “A lot of it’s in really inaccessible areas where even bulldozers can’t even get into,” Safechuck said, adding that aircraft is being added to the firefight. The smoke will affect parts of Southwest California, the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office said, noting that wildfire smoke is a health risk. Smoke was expected to move toward the south and east.

Daily Caller [8/5/2025 11:29 AM, Sally Lynne, 1010K] reports an illegal alien from Romania was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his alleged role in skimming tens of thousands of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards in New York and California, authorities announced Monday. Catalin-Marius Graur was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark Scarsi, who ordered him to pay $165,697 in restitution, according to a statement from the Central District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO). "Graur is a Romanian citizen who entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2020 but overstayed his visa," the statement reads. "Graur travelled across Los Angeles and the Inland Empire installing sophisticated skimming devices in ATMs and point-of-sale terminals to record the account information of individuals who used those devices.” Graur was arrested in an Airbnb rental apartment in New York City in June 2024. He allegedly possessed over $37,000 in cash and 1,448 stolen access device numbers, according to the USAO’s statement. Graur pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in October 2024. "Graur worked with multiple members of a transnational criminal organization from Romania to carry out this scheme," the USAO stated. "A search warrant for the residence of one of Graur’s accomplices revealed that Graur had sent him more than 36,000 stolen EBT card numbers over three years.”

New York Times [8/6/2025 3:33 AM, Chris Hippensteel, 330K] reports the Coast Guard’s final report on the submersible that imploded during a dive to the Titanic concluded that the fatal disaster resulted from a series of safety and design failures. “This marine casualty and the loss of five lives was preventable,” said Jason Neubauer, who led the two-year inquiry for the Marine Board of Investigation, which issued a more than 300-page report on Tuesday morning. The submersible, known as the Titan and operated by a company called OceanGate, disappeared in June 2023 on a trip to view the wreck of the Titanic ocean liner. It lost contact an hour and a half into the dive, and prompted a sprawling search effort in the dark depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The craft’s remains were discovered on the fourth day by a remotely operated vehicle. The submersible’s operator and four passengers were killed. Numerous investigations, hearings and news reports have documented failures in the submersible’s construction and operation, which were echoed by the Coast Guard report. “The board determined the primary contributing factors were OceanGate’s inadequate design, certification, maintenance and inspection process for the Titan,” the investigative board said in a news release. The five people killed in the implosion were the operator, Stockton Rush, as well as the explorers Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet and two members of a wealthy Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood. The Titan’s final voyage on June 18, 2023, proceeded largely without incident until the submersible nearly reached the ocean floor, the report found. At 10:47 a.m., as the submersible was approaching the seabed, the report said it “followed standard procedure by releasing ballast weights to slow its descent.” Seconds later, at a depth of 10,978 feet, the Titan transmitted its location for the final time. Within moments, the submersible’s carbon fiber hull gave way, catastrophically imploding under the immense pressure, the report found. The board’s report said that the passengers “were exposed to approximately 4,930 pounds per square inch of water pressure” when the vessel imploded, “resulting in the instantaneous death of all five occupants.” At the time of the Titan’s final dive, Mr. Rush possessed a credential issued by the U.S. Coast Guard that permitted him to operate vessels of a certain volume on inland waters. That credential was based on falsified information, the report said: In 2020, OceanGate exaggerated the volume of the Titan in a letter to the National Maritime Center so that it would appear as though Mr. Rush had the requisite time at sea needed to earn the credential.

The Hill [8/5/2025 4:28 PM, Filip Timotija, 18649K] reports the Titan submersible implosion that killed five people during an underwater voyage to the wreckage of the Titanic two years ago was a preventable incident, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which concluded owner OceanGate failed to follow engineering protocols for testing, maintenance and safety. The U.S. Coast Guard’s two-year investigation, published Tuesday, found that OceanGate did not abide by “established” deep-sea protocols and lacked third-party oversight and experienced company workers, allowing CEO Stockton Rush to “completely ignore vital inspections, data analyses and preventative maintenance procedures, culminating in a catastrophic event.” “There is a need for stronger oversight and clear options for operators who are exploring new concepts outside of the existing regulatory framework. I am optimistic the ROI’s findings and recommendations will help improve awareness of the risks and the importance of proper oversight while still providing a pathway for innovation,” U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) Chair Jason Neubauer said in a statement. The probe found OceanGate, which was based out of Washington state, did not “ensure” an analysis was done to process the expected cycle of the Titan’s hull; overrelied on a real-time monitoring system to analyze the condition of the carbon fiber hull; and kept using the Titan after a number of incidents that “compromised the integrity of the hull and other critical components of the submersible without properly assessing or inspecting the hull.” The MBI also concluded the Titan’s hull construction and design “introduced flaws that weakened the overall structural integrity” of it. Reuters [8/5/2025 10:01 AM, David Shepardson, 51390K] reports a U.S. Coast Guard investigative board concluded Tuesday that the "inadequate design" of the Titan submersible was a primary contributing factor in its implosion in 2023 that left five people dead. The implosion was preventable, the chair of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation, Jason Neubauer, said as a 300-page report was released following a two-year probe. "There is a need for stronger oversight and clear options for operators who are exploring new concepts outside of the existing regulatory framework," he said in a statement. A media spokesperson at OceanGate, the U.S.-based company that managed the tourist submersible and suspended all operations after the incident, was not immediately available for comment. The board determined that the primary contributing factors were OceanGate’s "inadequate design, certification, maintenance and inspection process for the Titan." It also cited "a toxic workplace culture at OceanGate," an inadequate regulatory framework for submersibles and other novel vessels, and an ineffective whistleblower process. The Washington Examiner [8/5/2025 11:27 AM, Brady Knox, 1934K] reports that a false sense of safety and security was created by Mr. Rush through his misrepresentation of the TITAN’s safety, achieved by falsely claiming substantial safety margins, misleading mission specialists regarding testing procedures, and exaggerating the number of hull test dives for the final TITAN hull," the report read. Rush was repeatedly warned of the severe design and safety flaws with the Titan, only to ignore or threaten those who brought up the issues. He created a "toxic work place environment which used firings of senior staff members and the looming threat of being fired to dissuade employees and contractors from expressing safety concerns," the report claimed. The fatal factor was Rush’s avoidance of critical safety inspections and neglect of maintenance, with the Coast Guard noting "glaring disparities between their written safety protocols and their actual practices." Had Rush survived, the Coast Guard would have asked the Department of Justice to pursue a criminal investigation into him. Rush wasn’t the only one at fault, however. The report found that domestic and international regulatory frameworks were "insufficient to address the complexities of modern submersible technologies and practices." Overall, the Coast Guard concluded that the disaster was "preventable."

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [8/5/2025 11:50 AM, Ben Brasch and Daniel Wu, 32099K]
AP [8/5/2025 12:13 PM, Staff, 56000K]
ABC News [8/5/2025 1:16 PM, Meredith Deliso, et al. Sweeney, 31733K] Video: HERE
CBS News [8/5/2025 7:51 PM, Staff, 51860K] Video: HERE
(B) NBC News Daily [8/5/2025 3:40 PM, Staff]
CNN [8/5/2025 10:47 AM, Dakin Andone, 21433K]
FOX News [8/5/2025 1:54 PM, Michael Dorgan Fox, 46878K]
USA Today [8/5/2025 2:01 PM, Jeanine Santucci, 75552K]
SFGate [8/5/2025 9:00 AM, Staff, 11859K]

CBS News [8/5/2025 4:40 PM, Emmet Lyons, 51860K] Video: HERE the U.S. exploration company OceanGate used "intimidation tactics" to "evade regulatory scrutiny" in the years leading up to the June 2023 Titan submersible tragedy, according to findings released by the U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday. Those conclusions are part of an over 300-page report released by officials into the incident, which killed five people onboard when the sub imploded underwater while on an expedition to see the wreckage of the Titanic. "This marine casualty and the loss of five lives was preventable," Jason Neubauer, who led the Coast Guard’s investigation into the incident, said in a statement Tuesday. "For several years preceding the incident, OceanGate leveraged intimidation tactics, allowances for scientific operations, and the company’s favorable reputation to evade regulatory scrutiny," the Coast Guard report said. "By strategically creating and exploiting regulatory confusion and oversight challenges, OceanGate was ultimately able to operate TITAN completely outside of the established deep-sea protocols.” The report outlines several key causes behind the Titan submersible’s demise. That included the fact that the "design and testing processes for TITAN did not adequately address many of the fundamental engineering principles that would be crucial for ensuring safety and reliability in such an inherently hazardous environment," the report said. The report also faulted OceanGate for its continued use of the Titan sub even though the vessel had previously been damaged in "a series of incidents that likely compromised the integrity of the hull and other critical components of the submersible.” On the day of the tragedy, the sub’s hull "experienced a critical event that compromised the structural integrity of its pressure vessel, resulting in an instantaneous and catastrophic implosion," according to the Coast Guard’s investigation. The Coast Guard report also found that OceanGate had a "toxic" safety culture and corporate structure, and that its operational practices were "critically flawed.” That included a workplace environment which "used firings of senior staff members and the looming threat of being fired to dissuade employees and contractors from expressing safety concerns.” Breitbart [8/5/2025 10:15 AM, Simon Kent, 3077K] reports a "toxic workplace culture" coupled with managerial "negligence" combined to deliver the deadly implosion of the Titan submersible, a damning report released Tuesday by the U.S. Coast Guard makes clear. Throughout the report, which spans more than 300 pages, investigators repeatedly point to OceanGate’s culture of downplaying, ignoring and even falsifying key safety information to improve its reputation and evade scrutiny from regulators. OceanGate ignored "red flags" and had a "toxic workplace culture," while its mission was hindered by lack of domestic and international framework for submersible operations, the report says. Numerous OceanGate employees have come forward in the two years since the implosion to support those claims. The report, as seen by AP, claims multiple dismissals of senior staff members and the looming threat of being let go were used to dissuade employees and contractors from expressing safety concerns.

CBS News [8/5/2025 7:31 PM, Staff, 51860K] Video: HERE reports the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday released its final report on the 2023 OceanGate Titan submersible tragedy, saying the implosion was preventable. Matthew Shaffer, who serves as counsel for the estate of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, one of the people who died in the tragedy, joins "The Daily Report" to discuss.

USA Today [8/5/2025 3:49 PM, Sara Chernikoff, Joe Strupp, 75552K] reports a 20-foot minke whale died Aug. 2 in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, after being struck by a boat, which nearly capsized and forced a passenger overboard, according to officials. The whale was first spotted at the bay inlet at 2:45 p.m. local time, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC), which received a call from New Jersey State Police. Rescue crews responded with the U.S. Coast Guard seeking a way to guide the whale out of the bay, MMSC wrote on social media. But before they could, the whale was struck by a vessel at 3:40 p.m. and was reported dead by officials hours later. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center conducted a necropsy – an animal autopsy – and found that the whale was in thin body condition. According to the center’s Instagram post, the whale had external superficial cuts, with bruising present in the blubber and muscle in the areas of trauma on the dorsal side. USA TODAY previously reported on multiple whale deaths on both the Atlantic coast and in the San Francisco Bay.

FedScoop [8/5/2025 12:30 PM, Staff, 56K] reports the Senate voted to confirm Sean Cairncross as national cyber director Saturday, giving the Trump administration one of its top cyber officials after a more than five-month process. The vote was 59-35. President Donald Trump nominated Cairncross on Feb. 12. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on his nomination in early June, then voted to advance him that same month. At his hearing, Cairncross said he’d be focused on policy coordination. He fielded questions from senators about his lack of cyber experience, the biggest cyber threats, cuts to federal cybersecurity personnel and more. Cairncross has held leadership positions inside and outside of government where there’s been a tenuous connection to cybersecurity. He served as CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a foreign aid agency, in the first Trump administration, along with roles in the White House. He’s also a former top official at the Republican National Committee. Despite that, Cairncross has the vocal support of a number cyber experts and past government cyber officials. A new commission has been established to chart a path toward developing an independent Cyber Force for the U.S. military. The commission was started by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in partnership with the Cyber Solarium Commission 2.0 project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. While there have been calls historically to create a new dedicated, standalone cyber service, the effort has gained steam in recent years. Congress has sought to address these shortfalls, mostly through studies, previously. The fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act initially mandated a study for alternate organizational models for military cyber elements, to include a Cyber Force, which was considered a watered-down version from previous drafts. The new commission won’t be examining the efficacy of a Cyber Force — something congressional studies have already been tasked with doing — but rather, looking at the foundational issues of establishing that type of entity such as the organizational structure, core functions, roles and responsibilities, and necessary authorities. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

CyberScoop [8/5/2025 7:30 PM, Matt Kapko] reports SonicWall warned customers to disable encryption services on Gen 7 firewalls in the wake of an active attack spree targeting a yet-to-be identified vulnerability affecting a critical firewall service. Attacks have increased notably since Friday, the company said in a blog post. Threat hunters and incident responders from Arctic Wolf, Google and Huntress have observed a wave of ransomware attacks beginning as early as July 15. Mounting evidence points to a zero-day vulnerability affecting the secure sockets layer (SSL) VPN protocol as the initial attack vector. “A financially motivated threat actor is actively compromising victim environments and deploying Akira ransomware,” Charles Carmakal, CTO at Mandiant Consulting, said in a LinkedIn post Tuesday. “The speed and scale of the compromises suggests a potential zero-day vulnerability in SonicWall Gen 7 firewalls.” SonicWall said an ongoing investigation has yet to determine if the attacks involve a previously disclosed vulnerability or a zero-day. “If a new vulnerability is confirmed, we will release updated firmware and guidance as quickly as possible,” Bret Fitzgerald, senior director of global communications at SonicWall, told CyberScoop. Researchers from multiple security companies confirmed attackers have intruded and compromised customer networks, even in environments with multi-factor authentication enabled.

New York Post [8/5/2025 2:32 PM, Shane Galvin, 49956K] reports that a well-known city firm that owns and manages luxury properties was allegedly scammed out of nearly $19 million thanks to a single phishing email, The Post has learned. Milford Entities/Management Company — whose tony properties include Liberty View and Liberty Luxe in Battery Park City — was the victim of thieving cybercriminals in early July, sources and emails show. The "spoofing’’ email led to the gargantuan sum getting accidentally transferred to a TD Bank account posing as the Battery Park City Authority, according to sources with knowledge of the situation and the internal correspondence. The Department of Homeland Security is now leading a multiagency task force investigating the whopping fraud, according to sources and emails obtained by The Post. "Last month, Milford Management was the victim of a fraud involving the theft of funds through the creation of a fraudulent bank account in the name of the Battery Park City Authority," the Manhattan-based company said in a statement. "The theft involved buildings directly owned by Milford Management-related entities, as well as others the company manages," it said. "As this fraud is the subject of an ongoing law enforcement investigation, we will have no further comment on the matter." DHS did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.

CyberScoop [8/5/2025 1:30 PM, Tim Starks] reports the apparently disjointed response from Iranian hackers to the 12-day conflict with Israel in June actually demonstrated a significant degree of alignment and coordination, according to research published Tuesday. SecurityScorecard’s STRIKE Team analyzed 250,000 messages from Iranian proxies and hacktivists from more than 178 groups whose activity ranged from pushing propaganda to stealing data to defacing websites to launching cyberattacks. “Our analysis reveals a detailed map of operations that were fast, targeted, and ideologically charged,” its report states. “In many cases, the threat groups appear to have coordinated their operations with agility and deep alignment.” Separately Monday, the Middle East Institute published an analysis that arrived at similar conclusions. “Iran’s conduct in cyberspace during the 12-day war marked a turning point in its cyber strategy, reflecting greater coordination, clearer strategic intent, and the integration of digital tools across military, political, and psychological domains,” Nima Khorrami, an analyst at NSSG Global and a research associate at the Arctic Institute, wrote for the think tank. The cyber fallout from the 12-day conflict led to a warning from the U.S. government about potential spillover. But some have questioned how effective any of the cyber operations between Iran and Israel were.

The Los Angeles Times [8/5/2025 7:52 PM, Keegan Hamilton, 14672K] reports federal authorities in the United States revealed Tuesday that they will not seek the death penalty against three reputed Mexican drug cartel leaders, including an alleged former partner of the infamous "El Chapo" and the man accused of orchestrating the killing of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. Court filings showed decisions handed down in the trio of prosecutions, all being held in Brooklyn, N.Y. The cases involve drug and conspiracy charges against Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, 75, charged with running a powerful faction of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel; Rafael Caro Quintero, 72, who allegedly masterminded the DEA agent’s torture and murder in 1985; and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, 62, also known as El Viceroy, who is under indictment as the ex-boss of the Juarez cartel. Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York filed a letter in each case "to inform the Court and the defense that the Attorney General has authorized and directed this Office not to seek the death penalty.” The decision comes despite calls by President Trump use capital punishment against drug traffickers and the U.S. government ratcheting up pressure against Mexico to dismantle organized crime groups and to staunch the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs across the border. It’s rare for the death penalty to be in play against high-level Mexican cartel figures. Mexico long ago abolished capital punishment and typically extradites its citizens on the condition they are spared death. The AP [8/5/2025 10:37 PM, Jennifer Peltz, 56000K] reports Caro Quintero, 72, and Zambada, 75, have pleaded not guilty to an array of drug trafficking charges. The prosecutions are separate, but they similarly target two of Mexico’s most notorious narcos. It is unclear whether taking the death penalty off the table signals any possibility of a plea deal with either or both men. Their lawyers welcomed the decision but were circumspect about what happens next. Caro Quintero’s attorney, Elizabeth Macedonio, said she and her client “look forward to resolving this matter quickly to bring closure to all parties.” Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez, said the government’s decision “marks an important step toward achieving a fair and just resolution.” Prosecutors said last winter that they were having plea discussions with Perez. Prosecutors wouldn’t comment further Tuesday after telling judges in brief letters that Attorney General Pam Bondi had directed them not to pursue capital punishment for Caro Quintero, Zambada, or a third defendant, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, known as “The Viceroy.” Sent from Mexico to the U.S. last winter along with Caro Quintero, he also has pleaded not guilty. Carrillo Fuentes’ lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, said he and his client “are very thankful and think it was the right decision.” The cases are unfolding in the same Brooklyn federal courthouse where infamous Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was tried and convicted. The Sinaloa cartel is Mexico’s oldest criminal group, with various incarnations dating to the 1970s. It is a drug trafficking power player: A former Mexican cabinet member was convicted of taking bribes to help the cartel.

Reported similarly:
AP [8/5/2025 6:25 PM, Jennifer Peltz]
Reuters [8/5/2025 4:37 PM, Luc Cohen, 51390K]
Telemundo [8/5/2025 5:34 PM, Staff, 3352K]
Univision [8/5/2025 4:01 PM, Staff, 4992K]

Axios [8/5/2025 4:11 PM, Russell Contreras, 13599K] reports hate crimes in the United States last year hit their second-largest total since the FBI started keeping data, in a sign that bias-motivated crimes aren’t subsiding, according to new numbers. Although overall hate crimes decreased by 1.5% in 2024 from the year prior, advocates say the high numbers show Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans and LGBTQ+ residents are still targets for bias attacks. Law enforcement agencies reported 11,679 criminal cases of hate crime last year, the FBI said Tuesday. In addition, the FBI reported 13,683 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. More than half of hate crimes involved attacks involving race or ethnicity, the FBI Crime Data Explorer database showed. Black Americans were the most targeted group, followed by Jewish Americans, then gay men, according to the numbers. Just over 16,000 agencies participated in the hate crime collection with the FBI, with a population coverage of 95.1% of the U.S. population. Advocates are pushing Congress to pass the proposed Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act (IRPHA). The bipartisan bill would compel local law enforcement agencies to make this dataset more inclusive and provide for additional education around hate crimes and bias incidents.

Free Beacon [8/5/2025 5:00 AM, Adam Kredo, 773K] reports Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) is petitioning the IRS to formally investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for violations of its tax-exempt status, citing "ties to terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood," according to a formal letter sent Tuesday and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. CAIR, one of the nation’s foremost anti-Israel advocacy organizations, has long been dogged by accusations that its funding streams are entangled with Hamas. It was named as a co-conspirator in a 2009 federal court case related to terrorism financing and has since become a leading force in the pro-Hamas campus movement that erupted after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks. Cotton, chair of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, says that CAIR’s "deep ties to terrorist organizations" warrant an immediate IRS investigation to determine if the group is in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, which governs nonprofits. The senator wants the federal probe to include a comprehensive review of CAIR’s "financial records, affiliations, and activities," according to the letter addressed to IRS commissioner Billy Long. While CAIR’s funding networks have drawn congressional scrutiny in the past, Cotton’s letter marks the first time since Oct. 7 that a leading GOP senator is formally requesting the IRS to engage in investigative oversight. CAIR’s financial records remain opaque, though the organization maintains it is primarily funded through individual donations.

CBS News [8/5/2025 6:39 PM, Jake Rosen, 51860K] reports the Justice Department will move to indict the man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staffers in May on federal hate crime charges this week, a source familiar with the matter said. The indictment against 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez is expected to include special findings for capital punishment, which would allow the Justice Department to pursue the death penalty in the case. A grand jury has been convened to hear the Justice Department’s evidence, the source said. A Department of Justice spokesperson and attorneys for Rodriguez did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Rodriguez is already charged with two counts of first-degree murder, murder of foreign officials and other counts after allegedly killing Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, two employees at the Israeli Embassy in Washington who were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum on May 21. He is also charged with causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said at the time of the shooting that the attack was being investigated as a hate crime and terrorism. President Trump has sought to expand the use of the death penalty, directing his Justice Department to seek capital punishment "for all crimes of a severity demanding its use" in a January executive order. Under federal law, the death penalty is only permitted for certain crimes like homicide or treason, and some aggravating factor — like murdering a diplomat or kidnapping resulting in murder — must be present. According to charging documents, video shows that after Rodriguez allegedly shot the couple, he walked closer to them and fired "several more times." Milgrim sat up after being shot, and he reloaded his weapon and fired again at her, striking her, the documents allege. In all, 21 rounds were fired from a 9 mm weapon, according to the court documents. A firearm magazine was found at the scene, and a handgun with its slide locked was found nearby.

Reported similarly:
CNN [8/5/2025 2:01 PM, Hannah Rabinowitz, 875K]

Daily Caller [8/5/2025 11:10 AM, Hudson Crozier, 1010K] reports that Florida police arrested a 13-year-old on Friday who is charged with possessing child pornography and beastiality material after he joined an "online cult" that allegedly targets minors for abuse, according to a local sheriff. The unnamed suspect was charged with four felonies weeks after police received a tip about a group on Discord, a popular gaming platform, encouraging a young girl to harm herself during a "live cut show," Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said in a Monday press conference. The suspect’s group adheres to "Satanic and neo-Nazi ideology" that has been linked to similar cases in the U.S., and law enforcement found instructions on mass murder in the suspect’s possession, Nocco said. "This is a warning to parents, to children, to let them know about the dangers that are out there," Nocco said, adding that online extortion networks like the one allegedly involving the suspect are a global problem. These Satanic groups tend to gather on platforms popular with young people, build trust with minor victims, ask them for explicit photos or videos and use the material as blackmail to extort them into degrading acts, such as carving the names of their abusers into their skin, Nocco said. "It’s an online cult," Nocco told reporters. "They place no value on human life. They use Satanic and neo-Nazi ideology. They idolize school shooters."

New York Post [8/6/2025 1:51 AM, Shane Galvin, 49956K] reports sharp-eyed Florida sheriff’s deputies prevented a possible mass shooting Tuesday when they arrested a man armed to the teeth with high-powered guns just outside a busy airport, officials said.` Michael Rodrigues, 41, was in a rental car packed with an AR-15, at least two loaded magazines, and several knives parked outside the Palm Beach International Airport in a restricted lot, on Tuesday morning, the Miami Herald reported. Palm Beach Sheriff’s deputies approached the "suspicious" man at 7:10 a.m. as the suspect was getting dressed outside the car — discovering the small armory inside his vehicle after finding one loaded magazine in a glovebox, the outlet stated, citing the sheriff’s office. Some of those deadly weapons were concealed under a blanket in the car, according to the Herald. Rodrigues was taken into custody without incident. Charges are still pending.

CNN [8/5/2025 10:37 AM, Holly Yan and Josh Campbell, 21433K] reports that stymied by treacherous terrain and untamed wilderness, authorities are struggling to find an Army veteran suspected of killing four people at a Montana bar last week. Investigators say Michael Paul Brown, 45, vanished Friday after gunning down a bartender and three patrons at The Owl Bar in Anaconda – a community of less than 10,000 people nestled between the dense forests and formidable mountains of western Montana. "This is an unstable individual who walked in and murdered four people in cold blood – for no reason whatsoever," Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said Sunday. "So there absolutely is concern for the public." Among the countless potential hideouts: Garrity Mountain, a popular hiking and camping site lined with cabins for outdoor enthusiasts. As of Tuesday, the Garrity Mountain Wildlife Management Area remained closed "until further notice" due to public safety concerns and an ongoing law enforcement presence, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said. Other manhunts in the wilderness have lasted weeks – with at least one fugitive still missing after two months. But it’s not just the challenging landscape impeding Brown’s capture. "That mountain is gigantic," said Anaconda resident Dan Haffey, a former fire foreman for the Montana Division of Forestry whose team cut trails for hikers. "There’s a thousand places to hide on that mountain." And Brown fled in a sparsely populated area with fewer authorities, one official said, essentially giving him a head start while partnering law enforcement agencies were brought in from around the state.

Daily Caller [8/5/2025 11:00 AM, Ashley Brasfield, 1010K] reports House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a flurry of subpoenas targeting the Clintons and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Comer issued additional deposition subpoenas, including to Bill and Hillary Clinton — just two of several individuals House investigators are seeking to question in the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell probe, according to the committee’s Tuesday statement. He also sent a subpoena to the DOJ demanding records related to Epstein’s case. Bipartisan members of the Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee approved by voice vote a motion introduced by Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, directing the chairman to subpoena the Clintons as well as a range of officials from the Obama, Biden and Trump administrations. Among those subpoenaed are former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Directors James Comey and Robert S. Mueller III.

ABC News [8/5/2025 11:44 AM, Ayesha Ali and Matthew Glasser, 31733K] reports nuclear power on the moon is critical to the United States’ space exploration and national security goals, and the U.S. government should "move quickly" to build reactors there before its terrestrial rivals, according to a directive issued by Transportation Secretary and acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, which was obtained by ABC News. One full "day" on the moon is two weeks of light followed by approximately two weeks of darkness (in Earth time). Nuclear energy, referred to as fission surface power, or FSP, in the directive, is a "sustainable" and "high-powered" energy source that can survive through the lunar night and be deployed on other celestial bodies, like Mars, according to Duffy. "We’re in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon," Duffy said at a press conference on Tuesday. "And to have a base on the moon, we need energy. And some of the key locations on the moon, we’re going to get solar power. But this vision technology is critically important, and so we’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars studying.” "Can we do it? We are now going to move beyond studying, and we are going," Duffy continued. "We have given direction to go. Let’s start to deploy our technology, to move to actually make this a reality.” When reached for comment by ABC News, NASA said, "We’ll let these directives speak for themselves.” The directive, dated July 31, calls for a "Fission Surface Power Program Executive" to be named within 30 days, who will implement and oversee the project and will report directly to the NASA administrator. It does not say what exactly the nuclear reactors would power on the moon. "Since March 2024, China and Russia have announced on at least three occasions a joint effort to place a reactor on the Moon by the mid-2030s," Duffy said in the directive. "The first country to do so could potentially declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States from establishing a planned Artemis presence if not there first.”

Daily Caller [8/5/2025 4:43 PM, Melissa O’Rourke, 1010K] reports newly-released documents reveal that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials raised concerns over Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s ties to China after he joined the Democratic presidential ticket last year, Just the News reported. The documents, obtained by the watchdog group Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, had been previously withheld by the Biden administration, according to Just the News. Scrutiny of Walz’s longstanding ties to the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-affiliated organizations escalated after he was selected as former Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. Whistleblowers reportedly alerted the House Oversight Committee to the existence of the messages last year, after the committee launched an investigation into Walz’s connections to the CCP. Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena to the DHS for the records but later accused the department of stonewalling the request.

NewsMax [8/5/2025 11:27 AM, Sam Barron, 4622K] reports President Donald Trump said he was "happy to hear" Attorney General Pam Bondi launched a grand jury investigation regarding the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative. In an interview on CNBC’s "Squawk Box," Trump said he had nothing to do with launching the investigation of how the Obama administration handled claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election. "Pam is doing a great job," Trump said. "I have nothing to do with it. I will tell you this — they deserve it. I was happy to hear it." White House spokesman Harrison Fields said the administration "remains committed to conducting a thorough investigation." "This effort aims to provide the American people with the truth about the extent to which former government officials worked to sabotage the Trump administration and undermine the will of the American people in a clear attempt to subvert our Constitutional Republic," Fields said in a statement. The grand jury proceedings are expected to examine whether top officials conspired to mislead the public and misuse government intelligence to tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russian actors — charges that Trump and his allies have long denied and labeled a political hit job. The referral, submitted by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in late July, included a previously classified intelligence memorandum detailing how U.S. intelligence agencies suppressed evidence showing no Russian interference affected election infrastructure. The document accuses intelligence officials of pushing a false narrative to delegitimize Trump’s presidency.

Reuters [8/5/2025 12:37 PM, Staff, 51390K] reports Sweden, Norway and Denmark will contribute around $500 million to a NATO-led initiative to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons, including Patriot missiles, to ensure it can continue to defend itself against Russia, the three countries said on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump said last month the United States would supply weapons to Ukraine, paid for by European allies, but did not indicate how this would be done. "With this contribution, we want to ensure that Ukraine quickly receives the equipment it needs, while strengthening NATO cooperation on Ukraine’s defence and securing peace on Ukrainian terms," Norwegian Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik said in a statement. Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the money would be available immediately and that Denmark would be willing to consider additional funding at a later stage. "Speed is absolutely critical," he said in a statement. Denmark’s share is around $90 million while Norway said it will contribute around 1.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($146 million).

Reported similarly:
AP [8/5/2025 1:23 PM, Lorne Cook, 56000K]

The Hill [8/5/2025 6:49 PM, Tara Suter, 18649K] reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said that a call with President Trump ahead of a sanctions deadline for Russia was "productive.” "A productive conversation with President Trump, with the key focus of course being ending the war. We are grateful to @POTUS for all efforts toward a just and lasting peace," Zelensky said in a post on the social platform X. "It is truly a must to stop the killing as soon as possible, and we fully support this. Many months could have already passed without war, had Russia not been prolonging it," he added. President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to go to Russia this week for what Ukraine has referred to as Moscow’s "last chance" to come to a peace deal before U.S. sanctions are imposed on countries that import oil from Russia. On Sunday, Trump said Witkoff "may be going to Russia" on Wednesday or Thursday in an effort to lock down a ceasefire. Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has ignored pressure from the president for a peace deal, and he moved up a deadline last week for Russia to come to a peace deal or face increased economic isolation. The president’s latest deadline for Russia would technically run out Friday, but Trump has been flexible when it comes to imposing threatened tariffs on other countries.

Washington Examiner [8/5/2025 7:35 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 1934K] reports with just three days before President Donald Trump’s latest deadline for Russia to get serious about negotiating a peace deal with Ukraine, special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to show up in Moscow as soon as tomorrow to give Russian President Vladimir Putin one more last chance to agree to a ceasefire. Asked earlier this week what it would take for Putin to avoid secondary sanctions on Russia’s trading partners, Trump told reporters, "Get a deal where people stop getting killed." Trump seems to have accepted that his threatened sanctions — which would penalize countries like China and India that still buy Russia cut-rate oil — will likely have little effect on Putin, who in recent weeks has made clear he wants all of Ukraine, no matter the cost. "Well, there’ll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions. You know, they are wily characters and they’re pretty good at avoiding sanctions," Trump said Sunday. "They would like to see him. They’ve asked that he meet. So we’ll see what happens.”

Reuters [8/5/2025 11:40 AM, Andrea Shalal and Aftab Ahmed, 51390K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would increase the tariff charged on imports from India from the current rate of 25% "very substantially" over the next 24 hours, in view of New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil. He also said a "zero tariff" offer for imports of U.S. goods into India was not good enough, alleging that India was "fuelling the war" in Ukraine. Trump’s threat to India over its purchases of Russian oil started on July 31, when he announced a 25% tariff for Indian goods, along with an unspecified penalty. "They’re fuelling the war machine, and if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy," Trump told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday, adding that the main sticking point with India was that its tariffs were too high. "Now, I will say this, India went from the highest tariffs ever. They will give us zero tariffs, and they’re going to let us go in. But that’s not good enough, because of what they’re doing with oil, not good." An Indian government source said that India’s purchases of Russian oil have helped to stabilise global oil prices by easing the pressure on supplies from other regions. India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, buys more than a third of the oil it needs from Russia. "If we stop buying Russian oil, who will replace those barrels to maintain balance (in the market) and at the same time prevent the prices from shooting up? We don’t want a repeat of 2022 when prices shot up to $137 a barrel," the source said, referring to the oil market spike around the time when Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine began. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorised to speak to the media. Trump’s latest comment followed a similar threat on Monday, which prompted India’s Foreign Ministry to say the country was being unfairly singled out over its purchases of Russian oil. "It is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia (despite the Ukraine war)," it said in a statement issued late on Monday.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [8/5/2025 8:40 AM, Skylar Woodhouse, 19320K]

The Hill [8/5/2025 12:35 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 18649K] reports that India fired back at the United States after President Trump pledged to increase tariffs on New Delhi over the country’s purchase of Russian oil. In a statement Monday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the purchase of Russian oil is a "necessity" to "ensure predictable and affordable energy costs" and was once "encouraged" by the U.S. "for strengthening global energy markets stability." The MEA spokesperson further suggested the West is being hypocritical, pointing to trade that the European Union and the United States has continued to do since the war between Russia and Ukraine began. "In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable," the spokesperson said in the statement. "Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," it added. The pushback from India comes after Trump said on Monday he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling oil from Moscow, arguing the country doesn’t care about the Ukrainian casualties suffered at the hands of "the Russian War Machine." Trump did not specify the new tariff rate but said it would increase from the 25 percent tariff the U.S. president said he would impose last month.

AP [8/5/2025 8:01 PM, Didi Tang, 4120K] reports China, the adversary. China, the friend? These days, maybe a bit of both. From easing export controls to reportedly blocking the Taiwanese president’s plans to travel through the United States, President Donald Trump is raising eyebrows in Washington that he might offer concessions that could hurt U.S. interests in his quest to meet, and reach a deal with, the Chinese leader. There is no firm plan for Trump to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. But it’s widely believed that the men must meet in person, likely in the fall, for the two governments to ink a trade deal, and some are worried that Xi is leveraging Trump’s desire for more giveaways. "The summit mismatch is real. There’s a clear gap between Trump’s eagerness for a face-to-face with Xi and Beijing’s reluctance to engage," said Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies. There are concerns that Trump may throttle back on export controls or investment curbs to preserve summit prospects, Singleton said, warning the risk "isn’t just in giving away too much" but also "in letting Beijing set the tempo.” Efforts by a U.S. president to meet the head of the authoritarian Chinese government have often met with partisan outcries — which happened when former President Joe Biden hosted Xi in California in 2023. But Trump’s case is peculiar, partly because he is willing to break with conventional political restraints to make deals and partly because his own party has grown hawkish towards China over national security. On Tuesday, Kush Desai, a White House spokesman, said the Trump administration "has not wavered — and will never waver — in safeguarding our national and economic security to put America first.” "The administration continues to have productive conversations with China to address longstanding unfair trade practices," Desai said, adding that export controls on cutting-edge technology and many tariffs remain in place.

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