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.

New York Times [8/8/2025 12:00 PM, Helene Cooper, Maggie Haberman, Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt, 330K] reports President Trump has secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision to bring the American military into the fight is the most aggressive step so far in the administration’s escalating campaign against the cartels. It signals Mr. Trump’s continued willingness to use military forces to carry out what has primarily been considered a law enforcement responsibility to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs. The order provides an official basis for the possibility of direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels. U.S. military officials have started drawing up options for how the military could go after the groups, the people familiar with the conversations said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal deliberations. But directing the military to crack down on the illicit trade also raises legal issues, including whether it would count as “murder” if U.S. forces acting outside of a congressionally authorized armed conflict were to kill civilians — even criminal suspects — who pose no imminent threat. It is unclear what White House, Pentagon and State Department lawyers have said about the new directive or whether the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has produced an authoritative opinion assessing the legal issues. Already this year Mr. Trump has deployed National Guard and active duty troops to the southwest border to choke off the flow of drugs as well as immigrants, and has increased surveillance and drug interdiction efforts. When he returned to office in January, Mr. Trump signed an order directing the State Department to start labeling drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. In February, the State Department designated Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (known as MS-13) and several other groups as foreign terrorist organizations, saying that they constituted “a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime.” Two weeks ago, the Trump administration added the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, to a list of specially designated global terrorist groups, asserting that it is headed by President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and other high-ranking officials in his administration. On Thursday, the Justice and State Departments announced that the United States government is doubling a reward — to $50 million — for information leading to the arrest of Mr. Maduro, who has been indicted on drug trafficking charges. The administration again described him as a cartel head, and Attorney General Pam Bondi said he “will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes.” Asked about Mr. Trump’s authorization for military force against the cartels, Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in an email that “President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.” The Defense Department declined to comment on the new directive.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [8/8/2025 12:13 PM, Lara Seligman, Vera Bergengruen, and Brett Forrest, 646K]
Washington Post [8/8/2025 7:57 PM, Dan Lamothe, Tara Copp, Mary Beth Sheridan, and Warren P. Strobel, 32099K]
New York Post [8/8/2025 1:11 PM, Diana Nerozzi, 49956K]
Reuters [8/8/2025 2:38 PM, Idrees Ali and Brendan O’Boyle, 51390K]
CBS News [8/8/2025 7:20 PM, Jennifer Jacobs and Melissa Quinn, 51860K]
FOX News [8/8/2025 3:11 PM, Staff, 46878K]
Daily Caller [8/8/2025 11:18 AM, Hudson Crozier, 1010K]
Daily Wire [8/8/2025 7:20 AM, Hank Berrien, 3816K]

The Hill [8/8/2025 3:37 PM, Amalia Huot-Marchand, 18649K] reports that Mexico’s president said Friday that U.S. forces would not be allowed to enter her country, responding to reports that President Trump had directed the military to cross the border to fight drug cartels that have been labeled foreign terrorist groups. "The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military. We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said to New York Times. "It is not part of any agreement, far from it. When it has been brought up, we have always said no." New York Times reported Trump signed the directive in secret, providing a justification for potential military operations against the criminal organizations. It also reported U.S. military officials have started drawing up plans for how the military could target cartels. Any unilateral strikes against cartels identified as terrorist groups could also raise legal issues if individuals are killed who do not pose an imminent threat or who are not part of a conflict where Congress has authorized military action. "President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to The Hill. The Los Angeles Times [8/8/2025 5:07 PM, Patrick J. McDonnell, 14672K] reports “There will be no invasion: That is rejected, absolutely rejected," an emphatic Sheinbaum told reporters at her regular morning news conference. "The United States is not going to come to Mexico with troops.’ The media accounts, originating in New York Times, revived nationalist fears in a nation that has endured U.S. invasions and land grabs over the years — though none in more than a century. Sheinbaum said Mexico had been informed that Trump was issuing such an order, but "it has nothing to do with Mexican territory.’ The Mexican leader repeated her oft-stated mantra that Mexico "cooperates and collaborates" with its northern neighbor on drug trafficking and other bilateral issues, but rejects any U.S. military presence or strikes on Mexican soil. In May, Sheinbaum said she had rebuffed Trump’s offer — made in one of many telephone calls between the two leaders — of direct U.S. military assistance. "We can share information, but we will never accept the presence of the United States Army on our territory," Sheinbaum said she told Trump in May. "Our territory is inalienable; sovereignty is inalienable.’

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [8/8/2025 3:42 PM, Mike Brest, 1934K]
CBS News [8/8/2025 3:23 PM, Staff, 51860K]
Daily Wire [8/8/2025 9:05 AM, Zach Jewell, 3816K]

NewsNation [8/8/2025 10:22 AM, Jeff Arnold, 5801K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem touted federal immigration arrest numbers Friday and said getting criminals off American streets and securing the southern border have remained her top priorities. Speaking from suburban Chicago, Noem emphasized Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s focus on arresting those the Trump administration has deemed "the worst of the worst." She said ICE has made hundreds of thousands of arrests since President Donald Trump took office in January, and that cities like Chicago and states like Illinois, with so-called "sanctuary" policies in place, have made ICE’s job more difficult. "I’m here today because elected leaders in Illinois are ignoring the law," Noem said. "In fact, they’re being obstructionists when it comes to getting dangerous criminals off of their streets. They’re deciding that dangerous criminals that are murderers, rapists, money launderers, have committed assaults, and that are trafficking children are more important than the families who live in the communities here." Noem has continued to speak out against what she says is an increased number of assaults directed at ICE officers. On Thursday, Noem said assaults have spiked "by 1,000%" from this time in 2024 and blamed sanctuary cities and states for vilifying federal immigration efforts. She called Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson "obstructionists" who have ignored the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, accusing state and local leaders of cooperating with criminals instead of ICE. Breitbart [8/8/2025 5:17 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 3077K] reports U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ripped Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Democrat Governor JB Pritzker for their obstruction of federal immigration enforcement in a press conference in the Chicago area on Friday morning. Appearing in the nearby suburb of Lombard, Noem highlighted the arrests of four dangerous, criminal illegals, the seizure of hundreds of thousands of dollars from drug gangs, and the confiscation of a group of firearms that ICE and other federal law enforcement officers took off the streets in the days before Noem’s trip to the Windy City. But her main message was that Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson have stood in the way of her office being able to do even more to protect the people of Illinois. Noem said: “I’m here today because the elected leaders in this state of Illinois are ignoring the law. In fact, they’re being obstructionists when it comes to getting dangerous criminals off of their streets. They’re deciding that dangerous criminals that are murderers, rapists, money launderers have committed assault, that are trafficking children are more important than the families that live in the communities here. That includes Governor Pritzker, Mayor Johnson and others who have worked so hard to protect these dangerous criminals, they’d rather be a sanctuary state and continue to put those individuals above American citizens, American citizens who built this country, who’ve raised their families here for generations, and just want to be able to walk down the street safely at night and put their kids to bed and live a peaceful life. The Chicago Tribune [8/8/2025 5:38 PM, Madeline Buckley and Madeline Buckley, 4917K] reports Noem’s message to Chicagoans was met with swift condemnation from community groups and local politicians who promised to continue to educate immigrant communities about their rights, arguing that the secretary’s goal was simply to stoke more fear. “In carrying out this campaign of fear and division the federal administration has repeatedly violated the Constitution, denied people due process, and separated hardworking families who are integral to our neighborhoods,” Johnson’s office said in a statement. “What Secretary Noem’s DHS is doing is not accountability. It’s mass targeting, fearmongering, and it undermines our work to ensure every Chicagoan can feel safe in our city.” As about three dozen people protested outside, Noem spoke to the media at a Lombard field office, relaying oft-repeated talking points about immigration enforcement priorities for President Donald Trump, who came into office with sweeping promises to hit record-level arrests and deportations. Though arrests and deportations have increased since Trump took office, the numbers have fallen short of the stated goals, and the administration has aired frustrations with so-called “sanctuary cities.” Earlier this week, the Justice Department placed Chicago, Cook County and Illinois on its latest “sanctuary jurisdiction list,” as Attorney General Pam Bondi promised to continue pursuing litigation against the jurisdictions on the list.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [8/8/2025 1:29 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 3077K]
DailySignal [8/8/2025 1:47 PM, Virginia Allen, 558K]

FOX News [8/8/2025 1:38 PM, Greg Norman, 46878K] Video: HERE reports that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem traveled to Illinois on Friday to call out Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, accusing both Democrats of "being obstructionist" when it comes to getting criminal illegal immigrants off the streets. Noem, speaking in a Chicago suburb, highlighted the recent ICE arrests of a Mexican illegal immigrant convicted of predatory sexual criminal assault against a victim under the age of 13, a Polish national convicted of attempted murder and aggravated domestic battery and an illegal immigrant from Micronesia with three DUI convictions. "These individuals would still be out on our streets today committing crimes and attacking people and harming them and hurting our children if Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson had their way. Because their choice has been routinely over and over and over again to release these criminals back on the streets," Noem said. "The debate over so-called sanctuary policies has real consequences and has consequences for our law enforcement officers, but also for the families that live here and the businesses that are just trying to provide for their community," she added. Representatives for both Pritzker and Johnson did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

FOX News [8/8/2025 1:35 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem slams Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson during visit to Illinois on Aug. 8, 2025. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [8/8/2025 12:38 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1934K] reports federal agency U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has seen abysmal cooperation from Chicago police who have refused to turn over 92% of illegal immigrants in law enforcement custody due to its "sanctuary city" policy since President Donald Trump took office, according to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Friday that Chicago’s refusal to let police work with ICE has led to virtually all illegal immigrants being released onto the streets after being arrested by local police for offenses in the community. "In just the last seven months, ICE has issued over 1,664 detainers in Chicago alone," Noem said during a press conference in the Chicago area Friday morning. "Unfortunately, Chicago and its leadership has only honored 8% of those." "The elected leaders in this state of Illinois are ignoring the law. In fact, they’re being obstructionists when it comes to getting dangerous criminals off their streets," Noem said. "That includes Governor [JB] Pritzker, Mayor [Brandon] Johnson, and others who have worked so hard to protect these dangerous criminals. They’d rather be a sanctuary state and continue to put those individuals above American citizens." Noem pointed to four recent arrests that ICE made in Illinois communities, including a Mexican man who was previously convicted for predatory sexual criminal assault against a victim under 13 years old, a Polish man convicted of attempted murder and aggravated domestic battery, and a Micronesian national who was convicted for driving under the influence three times.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [8/8/2025 4:06 PM, Mark Swanson, 4622K]

Breitbart [8/8/2025 2:06 PM, Staff, 3077K] reports that more than one million undocumented migrants have left the United States on their own since President Donald Trump took office, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Friday. Noem also said that hundreds of thousands of "criminal illegal aliens" have been arrested since January and "zero illegal aliens" have entered the country during the past three months. "(This) is the first time in this nation’s history that we’ve seen that kind of security at our nation’s border," she said at a press conference in Chicago. "Our top priorities have been these two items: securing our borders and arresting dangerous criminals. "We’ve been working on getting dangerous criminal illegal aliens out of our country — murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, human traffickers," she said. Noem said thousands of migrants have "self-deported" using an app created by the Department of Homeland Security. "But we also know that hundreds of thousands of people have left on their own, not utilizing a government program to do so," she said. "We believe over a million people have gone home on their own since we have started this administration." Trump vowed during his White House campaign to deport millions of undocumented migrants and has moved to significantly expand the federal agency primarily responsible for doing so, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "President Trump allocated to us the resources to hire 10,000 new ICE officers," Noem said. "We have had that open for less than a week and we have over 80,000 applicants for those jobs."

CNN [8/8/25 2:05 PM, Priscilla Alvarez, 21433K] reports the Trump administration notified shelter providers who care for unaccompanied migrant children this week that federal law enforcement agents will begin conducting in-person interviews of kids at shelters around the country, according to an internal notification obtained by CNN. The notification, which has not been previously reported, marks an escalation in the administration’s focus on migrant children who arrived unaccompanied at the southern border. In recent months, the Trump administration has targeted legal services for migrant kids in custody, made it more difficult for parents and guardians to retrieve their children from government custody, and directed federal agents to ask migrant teens whether they want to voluntarily depart the country. While the administration says the interviews will be part of an ongoing effort to identify and root out potential criminal activity, immigrant and child advocates say the notification raises significant red flags and threatens to dismantle safeguards meant to protect migrant children. The internal notification received by providers this week refers to July guidance about an interagency federal team, which includes officials from the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, that has been set up to identify, investigate and prosecute criminal activities relating to unaccompanied kids. But the notification is short on details, like how many children will be interviewed, for what purpose, and whether they will be able to have an attorney present. That’s sparked concerns among immigrant advocates and experts who are now scrambling for answers ahead of the expected interviews. The Department of Homeland Security said that HHS has reviewed thousands of reports of unaccompanied children who, they argue, were ignored under the previous administration, generating investigative leads that the department is pursuing. “As of July 24, 2025, more than 59,000 of the backlogged reports have been analyzed and processed, resulting in more than 4,000 investigative leads, including fraud, human trafficking, and other criminal activity,” said DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. “Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families,” McLaughlin added.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [8/8/2025 6:33 PM, Jim Mishler, 4622K]

NewsMax [8/8/2025 3:53 PM, Theodore Bunker, 4622K] reports that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Friday held a press conference in Chicago, where she touted the Trump administration’s immigration raids and criticized sanctuary cities and the state’s governor. Noem, while in the suburb of Lombard, ripped Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, accusing them of having "worked so hard to protect these dangerous criminals" apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "They’d rather be a sanctuary state and continue to put those individuals above American citizens," she said. Local legislators hit back at Noem, with Rep. Jesús ‘Chuy’ García, D-Ill., claiming in a statement that "The vast majority of people ICE has detained have no criminal record." He added, "ICE has been detaining and deporting hundreds of thousands of working people, mothers with children, student activists, tourists with visas and even U.S. citizens, all to meet the absurd quotas Trump has established, and fulfill the racist immigration policy Stephen Miller is directing." Noem on Friday dismissed these claims that the agency has mostly arrested nonviolent immigrants who have never been convicted of a crime, saying that the agency only targets "dangerous criminal illegal aliens."

Reported similarly:
CBS News [8/8/2025 2:03 PM, Staff, 51860K]
Washington Examiner [8/8/2025 10:51 AM, Ross O’Keefe, 1934K] Video: HERE

FOX 32 Chicago [8/8/2025 6:22 PM, Paris Schutz] reports a group of demonstrators gathered in Lombard to protest U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s visit. Noem held a news conference at a Homeland Security investigations Field office in Lombard, Ill. on Friday, touting what she called "worst of the worst" ICE arrests. Noem’s news conference sought to highlight alleged violent offenders ICE has targeted, including undocumented immigrants convicted of sexual abuse, domestic assault and multiple DUI’s. "These individuals would still be on our streets committing crimes attacking people and harming our children, if Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson had their way," Noem said. Noem says they’ve targeted violent criminals and those with final deportation orders. "We also have situations where we have those that have final removal orders. They need to go home because due process is over, they have their paperwork, and they have to travel," she said. "Over 70% of those people have had pending charges and criminal convictions against them." Noem’s visit was met with dozens of protesters outside, claiming that she is not welcome, a sentiment echoed by the area’s Congressman, democrat Sean Casten who said, "Kristi Noem’s racism and xenophobia have no place in Illinois’ 6th congressional district. Her failures at the Department of Homeland Security harm American families and will have lasting, negative ripple effects on the American economy." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NPR [8/8/2025 3:45 PM, Meg Anderson and Danielle Kurtzleben, 37958K] reports that President Donald Trump is directing federal law enforcement agencies to increase the police presence in Washington, D.C., after a former staffer in the Trump administration was injured Sunday in an attempted carjacking. The surge in federal policing in the city began just after midnight on Friday morning and is expected to last seven days, with the option to extend enforcement "as needed", according to a White House official who was granted anonymity to explain the details of the plan. Trump has criticized Washington, D.C., for years, including repeated calls for the federal government to take control of the city. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement the move is intended to protect the city from violent crime. "President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens," Leavitt wrote. "There will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C. President Trump is committed to making our Nation’s capital safer for its residents, lawmakers, and visitors from all around the world." According to the White House official who spoke anonymously, the policing initiative will be led by the U.S. Park Police, with cooperation from more than a dozen other federal law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Capitol Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service, among others.

Reported similarly:
AP [8/8/2025 3:27 PM, Staff, 56000K] Video: HERE
Breitbart [8/8/2025 10:41 AM, Staff, 3077K]
Daily Signal [8/8/2025 10:28 AM, Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, 558K]
Free Beacon [8/8/2025 12:40 PM, Matthew Xiao, 773K]

Daily Caller [8/8/2025 1:26 PM, Reagan Reese, 1010K] reports that President Donald Trump increased the presence of federal law enforcement in response to crime in D.C. just days after a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer was brutally beaten in the nation’s capital, the White House shared with the Daily Caller. A White House official told the Caller that the increased presence was launched on Thursday in compliance with the president’s March executive order establishing the "D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force." As a part of the move, which will kick off as a 7-day effort, "[f]ederal officers will be identified, in marked units, and highly visible," the official said. "Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long. President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. There will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C. President Trump is committed to making our Nation’s capital safer for its residents, lawmakers, and visitors from all around the world," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Caller in a statement. Increased law enforcement began at midnight on Thursday, with at least 15 agencies involved in the effort as a part of the Task Force’s Law Enforcement Working Group, the official told the Caller. Agencies on the task force include the Metro Transit Police Department, Amtrak Police Department, United States Capitol Police, Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to information shared with the Caller.

The Hill [8/8/2025 7:47 AM, Miriam Waldvogel, 18649K] reports White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on Thursday compared the nation’s capital to several foreign war zones, as the Trump administration readies plans to deploy an unspecified number of federal law enforcement to parts of the city. "It is more violent than Baghdad, it is more violent than parts of Ethiopia, and parts of many of the most dangerous places in the world," Miller told NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network. Violent crime in the district, however, hit a 30-year low in 2024, including marked decreases in homicides, robberies and armed carjackings compared to 2023. The White House announced Thursday night that federal law enforcement from various agencies would patrol city streets for the next week. It’s unclear how many officers might be involved or where they might be deployed.

AP [8/8/2025 2:40 PM, Valerie Gonzalez, 56000K] reports a decades-old policy on protections for immigrant children in federal custody is inhibiting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, government attorneys told a judge Friday. The administration asked U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles during a hearing to dissolve the policy, which limits how long Customs and Border Protection can hold immigrant children and requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. Gee did not immediately issue a decision and it’s not clear how soon she might rule. Gee, who oversees what is known as the Flores agreement, expressed skepticism at the government’s request. She said that while border apprehensions have dropped under President Donald Trump, conditions “are deteriorating.” “It seems counterintuitive that should happen unless it’s willful,” said Gee, who was nominated to the court by President Barack Obama. Advocates for immigrant children asked the judge to keep the protections and oversight in place and submitted firsthand accounts from immigrants in family detention who described adults fighting children for clean water, despondent toddlers and a child with swollen feet who was denied a medical exam.

Breitbart [8/8/2025 9:59 AM, Neil Munro, 3077K] reports President Donald Trump’s deputies have asked the Supreme Court to override curbs on ICE operations imposed by pro-migration judges in Los Angeles and California. The New York Times reported on the ICE appeal: In the administration’s emergency application to the Supreme Court, D. John Sauer, the solicitor general, wrote that Judge Frimpong’s order had unlawfully hamstrung immigration enforcement in the nation’s most populous judicial district, one he said "harbors some two million illegal aliens out of its total population of nearly 20 million people, making it by far the largest destination for illegal aliens." Mr. Sauer added that federal agents used judgment and discretion. "Needless to say," Mr. Sauer wrote, "no one thinks that speaking Spanish or working in construction always creates reasonable suspicion. Nor does anyone suggest those are the only factors federal agents ever consider. But in many situations, such factors — alone or in combination — can heighten the likelihood that someone is unlawfully present in the United States, above and beyond the 1-in-10 baseline odds in the district." "Every day that the district court’s order remains in effect, law-enforcement officers throughout the most populous district in the country are laboring under the threat of judicial contempt, daunted by the prospect that their good-faith efforts to enforce federal law will be retrospectively deemed to violate a far-reaching, unlawful, and ill-defined injunction," he wrote. The curbs were imposed by the daughter of African migrants, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong.

New York Post [8/8/2025 3:42 PM, Priscilla DeGregory, 49956K] reports a panel of federal judges handed President Trump a major victory Friday, overturning a ruling that threatened to hold the administration in contempt over migrant flights to El Salvador earlier this year. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Chief US District Judge James Boasberg’s April 16 order finding "probable cause" to hold executive branch officials in criminal contempt for allegedly ignoring his March 15 order to stop deportation flights to Central America. In a split decision, appellate Judge George Katsas — a Trump appointee — said Boasberg’s decision represented an "improper use of the contempt power" since the US Supreme Court had already lifted Boasberg’s ban on the flights before the district judge ordered the feds to "purge their contempt.’ Boasberg — a Barack Obama appointee — ordered Trump administration lawyers to either retake custody of the deported migrants so they could continue fighting their immigration case in the US or identify the officials who had defied his order. "The government correctly says it has been put to a Hobson’s choice: comply with an invalid order or name Executive Branch officials for the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings," Katsas wrote. "The proffered choice impermissibly commingles civil and criminal contempt in a manner that results in substantial prejudice to the government. "Compounding this error, the district court’s order attempts to control the Executive Branch’s conduct of foreign affairs, an area in which a court’s power is at its lowest ebb," Katsas added.

FOX News [8/8/2025 3:39 PM, Charles Creitz, 46878K] reports President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts gained new momentum this week when Rwanda signed a formal third-country agreement, part of a broader push to partner with nations willing to accept deportees whose home countries refuse to take them back or present other barriers. Officials in Rwanda agreed to take in 250 illegal immigrants in a deal forged with the State Department Tuesday, joining nearly a half-dozen other nations that have done the same. When the talks between Washington and Kigali began earlier this year, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said the idea is not new to his country, as it previously forged a similar deal with the United Kingdom that was nixed by a London court. Illegal immigrants deported from the U.S. will be given help to get back on their feet, according to a spokesperson for Rwandan President Paul Kagame. They will need to be individually approved for resettlement and then receive "workforce training, healthcare and accommodation to jump-start their lives in Rwanda," the spokeswoman, Yolande Makolo, told the BBC. In another African nation, Eswatini, named Swaziland until 2018, five foreign nationals were deported from the U.S. to Mbabane in July. But that operation reportedly lacked the same formal third-country agreement as Rwanda. The tiny landlocked country, the last absolute monarchy on the continent, abuts Mozambique and South Africa. The deported men were all convicted of crimes ranging from battery to murder to gang activity and methamphetamine-related offenses. "This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities, but thanks to [Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem] they are off of American soil.’

Washington Examiner [8/8/2025 6:00 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1934K] reports the Trump administration’s efforts to convince illegal immigrants in the United States to voluntarily leave the country appear to be working, but a lack of information on the extent of the self-deportations from the government has made it difficult to know the extent of the operation. “Tens of thousands” of illegal immigrants residing in the United States have used a Department of Homeland Security phone app to get paid to self-deport to their home country, a DHS official told the Washington Examiner. According to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, 1 million people, including those who used the CBP Home app, have left on their own accord and paid their way home since President Donald Trump returned to office. This feat would signify a major accomplishment for the Trump administration, which promised to deport 1 million people in the first year. However, details about those departures and exact figures have yet to be shared by the DHS or the White House, sparking criticism and skepticism from some of the lack of transparency, including Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). "We’ve seen a complete lack of transparency when it comes to immigration from this administration," Gallego said in a statement to the Washington Examiner when asked about self-deportation figures. However, on Wednesday, White House border czar Tom Homan told reporters outside the White House that the number was much lower than the last time he saw it. "Last time I looked, it was about 7,000," Homan said. "That was weeks ago."

Houston Chronicle [8/8/2025 10:35 AM, Ann Killion, 1982K] reports in recent days, my social media is full of photos from one year ago, when I was at the Paris Olympics. The pictures create pleasant memories of an event that was spectacularly run, mostly glitch-free and agenda-free and widely embraced by the world. These trips down memory lane signify there are less than three years left before Los Angeles is scheduled to host the next Summer Games. That’s a short runway for such a massive event. And L.A.’s runway is littered with debris and hurdles. On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the formation of a White House task force for the 2028 Games. The task force will focus on security and other logistics, including visa processing for foreign visitors. Such an organization is normal: Federal governments are usually heavily involved in the coordination of Olympic logistics. The recently signed tax bill provides $1 billion for security and other Olympic related costs. But as with so many issues surrounding LA28, every piece of news raises more questions than it answers. "We’ll do anything to keep the Olympics safe, including using our National Guard or military," Trump said Tuesday. Among the members of the task force are adviser Stephen Miller, the man who has shaped Trump’s draconian immigration policies, as well as Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who enforces them. On Tuesday, Trump took the occasion of the task force announcement to further denigrate Bass and Newsom, to bang his anti-trans drum and go on a digression about smelt, among other topics.

The Hill [8/8/2025 9:07 AM, Filip Timotija, 18649K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem blasted Comedy Central’s "South Park" for its depiction of her, calling it "lazy" and part of a pattern of making fun of women for "how they look.’ Noem said during her Thursday appearance on Glenn Beck’s podcast that she did not watch the episode, titled "Got a Nut," saying she was going over "budget numbers and stuff." "But you know, I just think it’s — yeah, it never ends. But it’s so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look. Only the liberals and the extremists do that," the DHS chief said. "If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly they can’t, they just pick something petty like that." The sitcom’s latest episode mocked President Trump, Vice President Vance and Noem, along with the immigration operations conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Yahoo! News [8/8/2025 4:34 PM, Tory Basile, 47007K] reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 8 deleted an X post that depicted a seemingly AI-generated image of an Indy car to promote its new northern Indiana immigrant detention facility, dubbed the “Speedway Slammer.” Hours later, the DHS account posted a new image of an Indy car with "ICE" once again on the side. The difference? The car no longer has a No. 5 on it. Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision to delete the original post. The "Speedway Slammer" imagery was first posted by DHS on the social media platform X on Aug. 5. Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Penske Entertainment requested that its branding not be used. “We were unaware of plans to incorporate our imagery as part of the announcement,” Penske Entertainment said in a statement to IndyStar. “Consistent with our approach to public policy and political issues, we are communicating our preference that our IP not be utilized moving forward in relation to this matter.” The original post featured an image of a white IndyCar emblazoned with the letters “ICE” — for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The car also bore a No. 5, leading critics to point out that Pato O’Ward, who uses the same number on his car, is the only Mexican 500 driver. A DHS spokesperson on Aug. 6 told IndyStar that the Trump administration did not see a problem with the image. “An AI generated image of a car with ‘ICE’ on the side does not violate anyone’s intellectual property rights,” DHS said in the statement. “Any suggestion to the contrary is absurd.” The so-called Speedway Slammer, as named by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, will use 1,000 beds at the Miami Correctional Facility to house and detain immigrants. The move comes amid the Trump administration’s sweeping deportation efforts and crackdowns on immigration to the U.S.

The Hill [8/8/2025 11:32 AM, Alexander Bolton, 18649K] reports the ranking Democratic members of two key House committees have written a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to express "great concern about the abuse of federal public safety resources" in response to reports that the FBI is helping Texas law enforcement track down Democrats who fled Texas to stop a partisan redistricting effort. The Democrats, led by Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Jamie Raskin (Md.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, raised alarm over reports that the "FBI is diverting federal law enforcement away from fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and other federal crimes to instead harass and target Texans’ duly elected representatives." They wrote that the reports "raise urgent questions about the legal basis, scale, and appropriateness of federal law enforcement involved in a state-level political matter." The letter comes in response to a claim made by Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) on Thursday that the FBI is assisting the Texas Department of Public Safety in identifying or locating Democratic state lawmakers who left the state to stop a GOP effort to radically redraw Texas’s congressional map. The House Democrats pointed out that Texas state Democrats from both parties have fled the state in prior years to disrupt bills from moving forward. They noted that the House Ethics Committee reprimanded then House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas) for requesting that the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security track a plane of Democratic state lawmakers who fled Texas in 2003 to stop a GOP-led effort to redistrict the state’s congressional map.

The Hill [8/8/2025 10:49 AM, Filip Timotija, 18649K] reports New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Thursday pushed back against claims by Republicans that the FBI would help "track down" Texas state Democrats who fled the Lone Star State amid the redistricting battle. "First of all, I have a lot of respect for the FBI, but I guarantee there are far more important pursuits that they should be engaging in, like human trafficking, breaking up drug cartels, stopping terrorist attacks here in New York City," Hochul said on MSNBC’s "The Weeknight." "So I think this is an abuse of the power of the FBI to direct them to go after duly elected officials in the United States of America," the governor continued. "If we’ve fallen that far, that makes our fight even more important — that all people stand up and say, ‘We’re not going to let you take away our democracy, and you’re not going to hunt down our elected officials.’" Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) shared earlier Thursday that FBI Director Kash Patel approved his request to assist in locating and possibly detaining the Democrats who left Texas to avoid voting on new Congressional maps they argue unfairly favor the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Daily Caller [8/8/2025 11:45 AM, Jaryn Crouson, 1010K] reports the Trump administration has stated a willingness to "meet and confer" and consider "counterproposals" from Harvard in the battle over the university’s foreign students. Harvard sued the administration in May after it attempted to block the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students. With Harvard already earning an injunction against the order, the Trump administration is now signaling a willingness to settle with the university by agreeing not to enforce its revocation of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, according to a Wednesday court filing. "Defendants proposed this stipulation to Plaintiff in an attempt to jointly simplify the case," the court filing reads. "Defendants also made clear that they were open to counterproposals and a meet and confer. Plaintiff did not accept." Harvard did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in May notified Harvard its SEVP certification has been revoked, preventing the school from enrolling new foreign students and demanding all foreign students currently enrolled at the school transfer elsewhere, citing a "toxic campus climate." Harvard promptly sued and earned a restraining order against the action, but President Donald Trump attempted to enforce the ban through an executive order, which was subsequently blocked again.

New York Times [8/8/2025 8:00 PM, Stephanie Saul and Alan Blinder, 138952K] reports that the White House stepped up pressure against Harvard Friday, adding a new investigation into the university’s patents and renewing a host of claims that the university is unfit to host international students. The two sides have been working to resolve their differences in recent weeks, but a court motion filed by the government on Friday in a dispute over international students suggested there is still deep acrimony. The motion accuses Harvard of failure to control crime, and claims that Harvard’s leadership has “shown itself to be incapable of properly hosting, monitoring, disciplining, and reporting on its foreign student arguing.” On the same day, Commerce Secretary Howard W. Lutnick sent a letter to Alan M. Garber, Harvard’s president, claiming that the university had not lived up to its obligations surrounding federally funded patents, which are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the letter, the agency will begin a comprehensive review of Harvard’s compliance with federal law. Earlier in the year, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, moved to end Harvard’s right to host the students. Harvard sued. When Judge Allison Burroughs of federal court in Boston temporarily blocked the administration action, the White House countered in June by issuing a proclamation blocking international students that invoked a different provision of law.

FOX News [8/8/2025 7:39 PM, Louis Casiano, 46878K] reports the Trump administration is seeking $1 billion from UCLA to settle discrimination and antisemitism allegations in exchange for restoring more than half a billion dollars in frozen grant funding to the university. The proposed agreement sent to the school Friday requires UCLA to pay the federal government $1 billion over multiple installments, along with establishing a $172 million claims fund for alleged victims of violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The Trump administration has already suspended $584 million in federal grants from UCLA after the Justice Department announced it found the school violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, UC President James Milliken said the university system had received the document with the offer and was reviewing it. "Earlier this week, we offered to engage in good-faith dialogue with the (Justice) Department to protect the university and its critical research mission," Milliken said. "As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources, and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians. "Americans across this great nation rely on the vital work of UCLA and the UC system for technologies and medical therapies that save lives, grow the U.S. economy and protect our national security.’ "Demanding $1 billion from a publicly-funded, leading research institution is a misuse of tax dollars that will hurt the University’s mission of serving students and the public," he said in a statement. "UCLA, and the larger UC system, has taken meaningful steps to make it clear that combatting antisemitism and protecting Jewish students, faculty, and community members on campus is a top priority.’

Reported similarly:
Reuters [8/8/2025 3:34 PM, Kanishka Singh, 51390K]

The Hill [8/8/2025 7:53 AM, Zach Schonfeld, 18649K] reports a federal judge in Maryland blocked President Trump’s birthright citizenship restrictions nationwide late Thursday, the fourth such ruling following the Supreme Court’s decision clawing back universal injunctions. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman already signaled she would block the restrictions nationwide, but she did not have jurisdiction at the time because the case rested with an appeals court. Last week, the appeals court sent the case back to Boardman so she could issue the ruling. The new phase of litigation follows the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision along ideological lines curtailing judges’ ability to issue universal injunctions. The high court still left the door open for nationwide blocks when needed to provide plaintiffs "complete relief" or when judges certify a nationwide class action. Boardman insisted she was not "resurrecting" a universal injunction and Thursday’s ruling "comports with old and recent Supreme Court precedent.’ FOX News [8/8/2025 10:03 AM, Greg Norman and Breanne Deppisch, 46878K] Video: HERE reports "The Court finds that the plaintiffs have shown they are entitled to a classwide preliminary injunction. The plaintiffs have established that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their constitutional claim because the Executive Order contradicts the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment and conflicts with binding Supreme Court precedent," Boardman wrote in her ruling. "The plaintiffs also have shown that the class representatives and members will suffer irreparable harm — the denial of citizenship — without injunctive relief. Finally, the plaintiffs have established that the balance of the equities and the public interest weigh in favor of a preliminary injunction," she added. "The government will not be harmed by an injunction that maintains the status quo of birthright citizenship, and the plaintiffs will be harmed if the Executive Order is not enjoined pending the outcome of this lawsuit." Boardman is now the fourth judge to issue a block on the executive order since a ruling from the Supreme Court in June, according to The Washington Post.

Blaze [8/8/2025 3:20 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1805K] reports a July raid at an underground night club in Los Angeles, California, led to multiple arrests and the dismantling of a drug and financial scheme, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection executed a search warrant on July 19 at an El Monte nightclub as part of a drug trafficking investigation. Federal agents interrogated and searched 66 individuals, confiscating narcotics and drug paraphernalia. DHS reported that it also seized thousands of gift cards that had been re-encoded and are suspected to be part of an illegal financial scheme. ICE arrested eight illegal aliens, including six from China, one from Malaysia, and one from Mexico. Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the DHS Tricia McLaughlin stated, "In July, ICE and CBP agents worked together with the FBI and DEA to dismantle criminal drug operations in Los Angeles, California, which resulted in the arrest of multiple illegal aliens.’ "Unfortunately, sanctuary politicians in California give cover to criminals to run an underground club filled with drugs and illegal financial schemes. Under President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem, DHS law enforcement is protecting Americans and keeping our communities safe," McLaughlin said.

AP [8/8/2025 7:01 AM, Deepa Bharath, 56000K] reports outside a Southern California immigration court, the Rev. Oona Casanova Vazquez sat beside a nervous Peruvian national as he waited for a judge to call his name — talking, smiling, even handing him a mint. Vazquez, lead pastor of the South Bay Church of the Nazarene in Torrance, has been spending her Thursdays this summer with other faith leaders and church volunteers observing court proceedings and handing out leaflets about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. “I come here to stand and bear witness to these people who have more courage than I have,” she said. “They walk through these doors knowing they could be detained. I’m here to offer them strength and to let them know they are valued and prayed over.” Many faith leaders and groups — including the Catholic Church, which has millions of adherents in the region — have come out in support. While clergy in collars have registered a moral presence and show of support in the courts, numerous churches and nonprofits have mobilized to deliver food and medicine to those afraid to leave their homes. Department of Homeland Security officials have maintained there will be no safe spaces for those who are in the country illegally, have committed crimes, or tried to undermine immigration enforcement. They have consistently said their efforts are intended to safeguard public safety and national security. People in the country illegally can avoid arrest taking the government’s offer of $1,000 and a free flight to their home country, said department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. “We encourage every person here illegally to use the CBP Home app and take advantage of this offer and preserve the opportunity to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream,” she said.

CNN [8/8/2025 3:15 PM, Morgan Rimmer and Angélica Franganillo Díaz, 875K] reports Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez is introducing a resolution that would remove Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez from the House Homeland Security Committee, citing recent comments the Democrat made at a summit in Mexico City. Ramirez, speaking at the Panamerican Congress earlier this month during the chamber’s August recess, said: "I am a proud Guatemalan before I am an American." The comment drew backlash on social media. Gimenez told CNN on Friday he was moving to strip his colleague from her committee assignment because he views her conduct as "unbecoming of any member of Congress." The Florida congressman’s resolution is privileged, meaning it will receive a full vote in the House once lawmakers return in September. "I was born Cuba and was exiled from my homeland shortly after the Communist takeover. Everything I am, I owe to this exceptional country of limitless opportunities," Gimenez said in part in a statement. He added that "when a Member of Congress openly declares allegiance to a foreign nation over the United States, it is not only unacceptable — it is disqualifying for service on a committee tasked with securing our homeland.’ In response to the resolution, Ramirez said she "saw this coming.’ "It’s not normal, but it’s predictable," the congresswoman told CNN in a statement. "I am the most progressive member of Congress on the Committee on Homeland Security. I speak out and was the first to call for (Homeland Security Secretary Kristi) Noem’s resignation for the many ways she is violating our civil rights and undermining the Constitution.’

CBS News [8/8/2025 5:09 PM, Melissa Quinn and Jacob Rosen, 51860K] reports that a divided federal appeals court on Friday granted the Trump administration’s request to set aside a district judge’s decision finding probable cause that some federal officials committed criminal contempt by violating an order to turn around planes carrying Venezuelan migrants bound for El Salvador. The 2-1 decision from a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is a massive victory for the Trump administration, which has lambasted U.S. District Judge James Boasberg for overstepping his authority when he initiated criminal contempt proceedings in April. The D.C. Circuit had issued a temporary pause of Boasberg’s decision while it took more time to consider the issue. In an unsigned opinion issued Friday, Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, both appointed by President Trump in his first term, granted a request from the Justice Department to toss out Boasberg’s contempt order. Judge Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, dissented. The dispute over Boasberg’s contempt order stems from immigration officials’ efforts to deport Venezuelan migrants under the wartime Alien Enemies Act, which President Trump invoked in March to swiftly remove alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Washington Post [8/8/2025 7:45 AM, Staff, 32099K] reports President Donald Trump is understandably angry that a staffer in his administration was assaulted last weekend during an attempted carjacking by a group of teens. The president cited the horrific incident as evidence that crime in D.C. is “out of control” and reiterated previous threats to federalize the capital city’s police force. But although one carjacking is one too many, crime has actually been declining in the District for two years, thanks in part to new local laws and more aggressive enforcement. Ongoing public safety challenges do not justify stripping autonomy from the more than 700,000 residents of Washington. The D.C. Council fell prey to “defund the police” hysteria during the tumultuous summer of 2020 and passed an overhaul of the criminal code in 2023, over the mayor’s veto, that would have made the city far more dangerous. But Congress voted to block that measure from going into effect. Local attitudes then shifted as crime spiked in D.C., despite decreases elsewhere. A far-reaching law enacted last year, called Secure DC, made it easier to prosecute gun crimes, carjackings and organized retail theft while reducing obstacles to locking up dangerous defendants, including juveniles, before trial. That and other needed changes, including expanded police presence, helped restore an ethos of accountability to the criminal justice system.

FOX News [8/9/2025 6:00 AM, Chuck DeVore, 46878K] reports on Friday, Aug. 8, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military into action against Mexican and other Latin American drug cartels, taking an anticipated step after declaring these violent groups to be foreign terrorist organizations less than a month into his second term. Sending the military to our southern border, and potentially beyond, is a much-needed step for national security. Because the problem is worse than most Americans realize. Evidence shows that corrupt Mexican military and law enforcement officials are aiding the cartels on U.S. soil. Trump has succeeded in securing the border where former President Joe Biden failed — unless failure was the objective. But securing the border is about more than stemming illegal entrance into America — it also encompasses interdicting deadly drugs and preventing or catching criminals, terrorists and hostile agents from entering, as well. From May to July, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released no illegal immigrants from the border to the nation’s interior. In 2024, over the same three-month period, Biden released 212,000 illegal aliens into the interior with a simple promise to report to an immigration judge at some point. Most didn’t bother to report and simply disappeared. Border security isn’t just an immigration problem — it’s a national security imperative. Six years ago, the Texas Public Policy Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act request with DHS for reports of Mexican military or law enforcement operating on U.S. soil or in U.S. airspace. The DHS responded in July 2025, after the Biden administration suppressed the response for years. We carefully reviewed 190 pages of Serious Incident Reports that detailed Mexican incursions into America over the six-year period of 2014 to 2019, covering the last three years of the Obama administration and the first three years of the first Trump administration. The reports detailed 78 separate incidents, of which 39 appeared significant and 39 benign. The latter included police in hot pursuit of suspects, or training aircraft taking off from airports close to the border and briefly straying into U.S. airspace. The remaining 39 reports indicated something more troubling: Mexican authorities purposefully violating U.S. territory, likely in corrupt service of the Mexican drug and human trafficking cartels.

NewsMax [8/8/2025 1:45 PM, Dennis Kneale, 4622K] reports deep in the heart of Texas, more than 200 people gathered in Mesquite in late May to celebrate the opening of a green-energy factory. Encompassing almost half-a-million square feet and retrofitted for up to $200 million, the plant will mass-produce large-scale lithium-ion batteries for U.S. utilities. It will turn out 10 gigawatt hours of storage per year, a large chunk given industry plans to add almost 20 gigawatts of utility-scale storage in the full year 2025. But rather than "Made In America," this is more of a Chinese invasion. The new plant is owned by a Chinese company: Hithium, which has ties to the Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army, as well as state-owned entities investing in it. It has been cited in various U.S. legislation aimed at banning Chinese battery makers from contracting with the U.S. government. Yet, now Hithium will be producing storage for the U.S. electrical grid right here at home. This may pose a security risk. In May, Reuters reported that "rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found inside some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S. experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues.’ The experts also found "undocumented" devices such as cellular radios in batteries from multiple Chinese suppliers. "The discovery raises fears China may have installed covert malware in critical energy infrastructure across the US and Europe, enabling remote attacks during conflict," says a follow-up report from securityaffairs.com. In Mesquite, Texas, plans for the new factory were unveiled in July 2024 — just one month following a U.S. House committee passed a new bill, H.R. 8631, "To prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from procuring certain foreign-made batteries." (Italics added). The bill would bar China-produced gear made by Hithium and five other Chinese battery makers; it stalled in committee.

Houston Chronicle [8/8/2025 7:00 AM, Regina Lankenau, 1982K] reports Martínez was 8 or 9 the first time she understood she was different. She was in the back seat of her mom’s car, still sweaty in her tae kwon do uniform, when a police officer pulled them over just as they were entering their apartment complex. His flashlight sliced through the night. Where had they been? Her mom, speaking in broken English, stumbled out an explanation. The officer glanced at her mom, then at Martínez and her brother in the back seat. "You can go," he said. The light clicked off, and the family made it safely home. By then, in the early 2000s, Martínez knew about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. She’d overheard her parents’ warn each other on the phone: "Don’t go near Grand Prairie today." She knew about the families who’d disappeared from their apartment complex, the kids she’d played with who left without a goodbye. She knew enough to understand: Her family didn’t really belong. Since growing up, Martínez has spent her life proving otherwise. Yet her bright, easy laugh betrayed no hint of the high stakes she’s navigating. To shield her from retaliation, I’m referring to her only by her last name. In January, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Texas in a yearslong lawsuit challenging the legality of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Since its creation in 2012, that federal policy has shielded people like Martínez, brought to the U.S. as children, from deportation. It’s also granted them a Social Security number and, with it, the ability to apply for driver’s licenses and work permits. The court upheld deportation protections but ruled work authorization unlawful — specifically in Texas. The case is back with U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen, who must now decide how and when Texas will strip DACA recipients of their ability to work. Martínez’s work permit doesn’t expire until November. But after that? "Then I might be screwed," she said. Trapped in the limbo of renewal, Martínez is one of nearly 90,000 DACA recipients in the state now grappling with this absurdity.

NBC News [8/8/2025 8:50 AM, Daniella Silva, 44540K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pushing the message that it wants "patriotic Americans" to join its ranks — and that new perks come with signing up. The agency enforcing President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations is promising new recruits maximum $50,000 signing bonuses over three years, up to $60,000 in federal student loan repayments and retirement benefits. ICE announced this week it is waiving age requirements and, on Wednesday, actor Dean Cain, who played Superman in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," announced on social media that he was joining the ranks of ICE as an honorary officer. "I felt it was important to join with our first responders to help secure the safety of all Americans, not just talk about it, so I joined up," Cain said. He encouraged others to join ICE as officers, touting the job’s salary and benefits. The possibility of monetary benefits and the celebrity endorsement have experts concerned. They fear the recruitment push could endanger public safety if it takes local police away from their communities, removes important personnel from other critical missions or cuts corners in the rush to hire. The administration has said it wants to add 10,000 ICE agents to carry out Trump’s promise of mass deportations. That effort recently received an unprecedented influx of funding after the Republican-led Congress passed a bill that includes nearly $30 billion for ICE’s deportation and enforcement operations, tripling the agency’s budget. DHS recently launched an initiative called "Defend the Homeland" with the goal of recruiting "patriots to join ICE law enforcement" and meet Trump’s goal of deporting 1 million immigrants per year. "Your country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement announcing the initiative.

Daily Signal [8/8/2025 3:37 PM, Virginia Allen, 558K] reports Md. Mobarak Hossain is a convicted pedophile from Bangladesh. His criminal record includes sexual contact with a minor under the age of 11 and endangering a child’s welfare in Queens, New York. He was living in the U.S. illegally until Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody this week. Hossain is one of the "violent pedophiles, car thieves, and burglars" present in the U.S. illegally who ICE arrested across the U.S. on Thursday. The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now. "Just yesterday, ICE arrested rapists, thieves, and other violent offenders," Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary, said Friday in a press release first obtained by The Daily Signal. Jose Antonio Banda-Banda is from Mexico and has been convicted of indecency with a minor and child fondling in Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston. Daniel Arevalo-Hernandez, a Salvadoran, has been convicted of breaking and entering in Wake County, North Carolina, possession of a stolen vehicle, and felony larceny. Perla Salais-Solis is an illegal alien from Mexico who has been convicted of unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and nonresidential burglary. Gorje Patricio Palaguachi-Mayansela is an illegal alien from Ecuador. His rap sheet includes convictions for gang assault and reentry of an aggravated felon in Queens, New York, and Tucson, Arizona. "These are the scumbags our law enforcement are arresting and getting out of our country every single day. We are calling on patriotic Americans to apply TODAY to join ICE and help us arrest terrorists, gang members, rapists, murderers, and child predators," McLaughlin said, directing Americans to apply at: join.ice.gov.

NPR [8/8/2025 4:13 PM, Meg Anderson, 37958K] reports that Samantha French was at the Maywood Courthouse in Cook County, Ill., when she noticed a group of men in plainclothes who seemed like they were looking for someone. "I saw their attention peak when they saw someone walking toward them, and one of them very aggressively went toward this man and grabbed his wrist," says French, an assistant public defender in the county. The man’s lawyer, Rick Sotorrio, told NPR his client was facing misdemeanor charges for a domestic disturbance in the Chicago suburbs. "His wife is there, his two kids are there, and as we’re starting to leave down the hallway from the actual courtroom, there’s like five or six guys standing there," Sotorrio says. "I said, ‘What’s going on?’ And [an officer] goes, ‘I work for Homeland Security. We have a warrant for his arrest.’" Sotorrio and French say they did not see the warrant or any identification. The federal officers arrested the man, and Sotorrio says he is in Mexico. He believes he left the U.S. voluntarily. In the months since President Trump’s second term began, a tactic his administration has increasingly deployed is arresting people at immigration court as they show up for routine hearings. But arrests like the one in Maywood — at a criminal courthouse — are also happening across the country. Many fear the criminal courthouse arrests have created a chilling effect not just for those accused of crimes, but for victims as well.

Breitbart [8/8/2025 1:39 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 3077K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week debunked claims made by Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), including his assertion that illegal immigrant pregnant women are being mistreated while in DHS custody. Ossoff this week shared a report titled "The Abuse of Pregnant Women & Children in U.S. Immigration Detention," claiming to have found "credible reports of human rights abuses" at the hands of DHS since President Donald Trump took office in his second term. His report reads in part, "Through interviews, analysis of public reports, and site inspections, the Senator’s staff has received or identified 41 credible reports of physical and sexual abuse, 14 credible reports of mistreatment of pregnant women, and 18 credible reports of mistreatment of children in immigration detention." DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin emphasized in a statement that Ossoff’s allegations are "false." "Politicians stayed quiet as the Biden administration lost 450,000 unaccompanied migrant children and opened our border to terrorists and gang members. Yet now, these same politicians are peddling FALSE claims that rely on inaccurate reporting to score political points," she pointed out, later adding, "These false allegations are garbage and are part of the reason ICE agents are now facing an 1,000 percent increase in assaults against them." "Now we’re a full court press, because the big thing we have to do is we have to combat the left side media that just totally stifles what ICE is really doing, right?" ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons said during an interview on Breitbart News Daily. "They’re not out there highlighting the great work, the bad actors we get every day, known suspected terrorists… gang members, crushing these foreign terrorist organizations, these FTOs the president designated under Executive Order," Lyons added.

Los Angeles Times [8/8/2025 1:07 PM, Rachel Uranga, 14672K] reports that American citizens have been increasingly caught up in the immigration crackdown: a 4-year-old boy with cancer deported to Honduras, a doctoral student filming a raid in Hollywood detained for 25 hours, an Illinois man held for 10 hours in detention. Increasingly frustrated that the aggressive tactics are sweeping up American citizens, Democratic members of Congress have been pressing for a full accounting of the citizens detained. On Friday morning 49 Congress members, led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Reps. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), sent letters to the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari and two other immigration oversight offices asking them to open an investigation into encounters with American citizens and "determine whether DHS is violating Americans’ civil rights." The letters were sent to Cuffari, Troup Hemenway, acting officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and Joseph Guy, director for the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman. The latter two of those offices have been hollowed out under the Trump administration, which had attempted to abolish them completely. "The administration owes the American people answers, particularly as Republicans in Congress just approved record funding for immigration enforcement, which threatens to put even more citizens at risk," said Warren. The Trump administration has adamantly defended its actions. "DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted and are not resulting in the arrest of U.S. citizens," said department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin in response to The Times’ inquiry about the number of Americans detained, arrested and deported under the administration. "We do our due diligence. We know who we are targeting ahead of time," she said. "If and when we do encounter individuals subject to arrest, our law enforcement are trained to ask a series of well-determined questions to determine status and removability."

Daily Caller [8/8/2025 11:42 AM, Harold Hutchison, 1010K] reports Republican strategist Scott Jennings on Thursday criticized "The Young Turks" co-host Ana Kasparian when she called United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the "Gestapo." ICE is offering bonuses of up to $50,000 for those selected to join the agency, the New York Post reported. After the panel discussed actor Dean Cain announcing he would be sworn in, Jennings contrasted the treatment of ICE at the hands of Republicans and Democrats during a "CNN NewsNight" panel discussion. "I will just say Republicans right now are trying to recruit and give bonuses to people who want to serve in ICE and Democrats, right now, and people on the left, are encouraging violence against people who want to serve in ICE and are putting them in harm’s way every day," Jennings said, with Kasparian cutting in by asking. "They are? How are they encouraging violence? How exactly?" "The two parties and how they’re treating ICE agents right now, I think Republicans embracing recruitment of ICE and Democrats encouraging violence against ICE – terrible," Jennings said, with Kasparian responding, "So, we’re just going to make a declarative statement like that without providing a single shred of evidence." ICE agents have faced a 1000% increase in assaults over 2024 totals, according to a Department of Homeland Security release. "You have not seen the myriad stories of ICE agents? Democrats every day are calling them the Gestapo. Do you think that that helps or hurts?" Jennings asked during a back-and-forth as Kasparian said, "No, no. Hold on. Hold on. Well, they do act like Gestapo when they’re showing up."

CBS News [8/8/2025 7:16 PM, Mark Prussin, 51860K] Video HERE reports New York City police made multiple arrests Friday at another anti-ICE protest outside 26 Federal Plaza. The building in Lower Manhattan houses a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center, where protesters allege immigrants are being detained in deplorable conditions. Video shows protesters in the street holding a banner reading "Free Them All" and signs that say "Rise Up Against Cruelty," among other slogans. The NYPD said 15 people were arrested at the protest, but did not say what they were charged with. The Department of Homeland Security maintains 26 Federal Plaza is not a detention center and says allegations of overcrowding or poor conditions are "categorically false." "It is a processing center where illegal aliens are briefly processed to be transferred to an ICE detention facility," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CBS News New York. "All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. As we arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens and public safety threats from the U.S., ICE has worked diligently to obtain greater necessary detention space while avoiding overcrowding." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [8/8/2025 1:42 PM, Carolyn Y. Johnson, David Ovalle, and Sabrina Malhi, 32099K] reports that Federal immigration authorities detained a woman seeking medical care at the National Institutes of Health’s flagship research hospital, according to an internal document and an NIH official briefed on the situation. The woman, an existing patient, drew scrutiny at a security station to enter the campus of the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, when she handed over a state driver’s license that failed to meet new federal security ID standards. That prompted NIH officials to check for warrants and discover she had an order for removal. They then called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The woman was to receive care through the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, according to the official and the document. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIH, confirmed the detainment. “We are grateful to NIH security for apprehending an illegal alien attempting to enter the NIH campus Thursday,” Andrew Nixon, the spokesman, said in a statement. “Like any taxpayer-funded service, NIH clinical trials are for people here legally, whether they be citizens or those with proper visas that allow them to participate in clinical trials and/or treatment at the NIH. We are grateful to our law enforcement partners for acting swiftly to protect patients and staff at NIH Clinical Center.” The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return requests for comment.

CBS Chicago [8/8/2025 4:35 PM, Marissa Perlman and Sabrina Franza, 51860K] Video HERE reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in Chicago’s western suburbs on Friday to tout the detentions of "the worst of the worst" while demonstrators gathered outside to protest her trip to Illinois. Her visit comes just days after the Trump administration announced plans to build a new immigration detention center in Indiana, already nicknamed the "Speedway Slammer," which has drawn backlash from the town of Speedway as well as the IndyCar organization. Noem stood in front of posters of four men who have been arrested from the Chicago area since Sunday. She says these arrests were made without help from city and state law enforcement. She also displayed evidence she said came from those investigations including $100,000 in cash, 20 kilos of fentanyl, and seven weapons all from three separate investigations the HSI has undergone since Sunday. Noem claimed hundreds of thousands of people have self-deported, and claimed ICE has detained thousands more in recent months. She displayed four men who had been detained by ICE agents in the Chicago area, saying they are foreign nationals with previou convictions.

Detroit Free Press [8/9/2025 7:11 AM, Niraj Warikoo, 4200K] reports in the 1960s, the CIA recruited Hmong people in Laos to battle Communist forces in southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Many of them sacrificed their lives to help the U.S. and saved the lives of American soldiers. But after the fall of Saigon and Laos 50 years ago, the Hmong were persecuted for allying with the American military and many fled, some of them admitted into the U.S. as legal refugees. They found a home in Midwestern states like Michigan, building new lives in places such as Detroit, Macomb County and the Lansing area. Now, 16 Hmong and Laotian immigrants are facing deportation after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained them in Michigan in July. Fifteen of them had been sent letters telling them to show up for an appointment at their Detroit field office on July 30. The arrests that day were unexpected since many of them have often had ICE appointments before that were routine. But this time, they were taken to an ICE detention center at North Lake Correctional Facility in northwestern Michigan, several hours away, and are now at detention centers in Louisiana and Texas facing imminent deportation. The immigrants detained had criminal histories, which made them eligible for deportation, ICE officials said. A group of 27 State House and Senate legislators and a Detroit councilwoman wrote a letter Friday, Aug. 8, to Kevin Raycraft, field director of Detroit’s ICE office, calling for their immediate release.

The Hill [8/8/2025 5:37 PM, Amalia Huot-Marchand, 18649K] reports that Roland Mehrez Beainy, a co-owner of Trump Burger in Texas, is facing deportation. Beainy, a 28-year-old originally from Lebanon, entered the U.S. in 2019 with a non-immigrant visitor visa and overstayed, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The restaurateur was arrested by ICE on May 16 and placed in detention. He was then granted bond by an immigration attorney on June 13 as his case goes through the courts, the agency stated. "Roland Mehrez Beainy does not have any immigration benefits that prevented his arrest or removal from the United States," an ICE spokesperson told The Hill. Trump Burger opened its third restaurant in the Houston area in April, where they sell burgers with the buns branded with "Trump." A fourth franchise opened in Bay City this summer. The two other restaurants are in Bellville and Flatonia, Texas. Earlier this year, Beainy told Eater that high demand for the branded burger led him to open more locations. The White House declined to comment about the deportation.

FOX News [8/8/2025 7:11 PM, Staff, 46878K] Video: HERE reports Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reports on the plans for the largest federal detention center to be built in Texas on ‘Special Report.’

NBC News [8/9/2025 5:30 AM, Nicole Acevedo, 44540K] reports every two weeks, an 18-year-old in Texas buys lifesaving medication for his 11-year-old sister and sends it to Mexico. He has been doing this for the past six months, since immigration authorities removed his five siblings from the United States — four of whom are U.S. citizens, including his then-10-year-old sister, who is recovering from a rare brain tumor. They were all sent to Mexico when authorities deported their parents, who lacked legal status. The family’s absence has since weighed heavily on him as the oldest brother, who was left behind in the United States alone. His once bustling home, where cookouts were hosted and life milestones were celebrated among family and friends, now feels empty, he said. Every time he steps into the house, a deep sense of loneliness overcomes him. “There’s no one here. It’s just me,” he said, followed by a long pause. “It’s been pretty hard.” The brother, who spoke exclusively to NBC News, is not being named out of concern for his family members’ safety after they were sent to an area of Mexico known for kidnappings of U.S. citizens. He had been planning to go to college after finishing high school to pursue his dream career. Instead, he said, he’s working two jobs — one during the day at a fast-food restaurant and another at night at a gas station. The teen said he works so many hours a week that at times he barely gets to eat. His family’s deportation has forced him to become their lifeline. When the loneliness and long work hours become overwhelming, he said, the ever-present memories of his young sister having seizures and being revived countless times at the hospital motivate him to keep going.

Daily Caller [8/8/2025 10:12 AM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports a California man is facing the prospect of decades in prison after allegedly injuring a Border Patrol agent during a violent immigration enforcement protest in June. A federal grand jury indicted Jacob Daniel Terrazas — a 30-year-old man from Paramount, California — on charges after he allegedly threw pieces of cinderblock that injured a Border Patrol agent, leaving him injured and bleeding, according to a Thursday announcement from the Department of Justice (DOJ). If convicted, Terrazas faces up to two decades in federal prison. The indictment is likely among many more to come after intense anti-immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots plagued the Los Angeles area in June and assaults against immigration agents rise across the country. "After repeatedly throwing pieces of cinderblock at law enforcement, officers detained Terrazas, who now faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted," Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in a public statement. "We will not stand by while our brave officers get hurt," Essayli continued. "If you’re thinking of injuring an officer or agent enforcing immigration law, think again. It’s not worth it.’

San Francisco Chronicle [8/8/2025 7:00 AM, St. John Barned-Smith, 4120K] reports Lucy, 44, had just turned the corner onto her block northeast of Richmond last month when she spotted a white van in front of her home. Her chest tightened. She came to the U.S. when she was just 17, from Campeche, Mexico, to help babysit her older brother’s daughter. After her first daughter was born, she spent months living on the street. Eventually, Lucy found her footing, working 16-hour days, in hotels and restaurants, and cleaning homes and warehouses, often taking overnight shifts, while raising two daughters and a son. Now, she was seeking a hardship visa, while working under a legal permit and paying taxes while her case was pending. But why was that van there? Had ICE come for her? Should she keep driving? It was mid-July, weeks after masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained people across Los Angeles, sparking furious clashes with protesters. Hundreds of miles north in the Bay Area, Lucy and many other immigrants — documented or otherwise — watched anxiously, wondering if the federal government would set its sights on them. ICE has confined most of its activity to Southern California, but it entered Richmond recently, targeting people who allegedly weren’t following federal supervision requirements while their immigration cases were decided. The van Lucy saw turned out to be innocuous. But her reaction to it was emblematic in this East Bay city, where nearly half of the 115,000 residents are Latino and a third are foreign-born. The Chronicle spent five recent days in Richmond, interviewing residents like Lucy as well as business owners, politicians, activists and immigration attorneys. The city was so on edge over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort that many people were essentially hiding, the Chronicle found. Lucy now avoids many of the grocery stores and shops in Richmond that she loved to frequent: Las Montañas, La Loma, and the flea market on the outskirts of town where a recent visit by Contra Costa sheriff’s deputies looking for an assault suspect, led customers to scatter thinking it was an ICE raid. "I’m always looking over my shoulder," said Lucy, who asked to be identified by her first name because she fears immigration consequences. "I’m a little paranoid." For the Trump administration, the atmosphere in Richmond is helpful as it argues the country would be better off if it could remove millions of immigrants — or if those immigrants self-deport out of fear. "Leave now," Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem says in an ad broadcast in the Bay Area and beyond for months. "If you don’t, we will find you and we will deport you. You will never return."

San Francisco Chronicle [8/8/2025 7:00 AM, Sarah Ravani, Ko Lyn Cheang, and Jessica Flores, 4120K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials handcuffed Jorge Willy Valera Chuquillanqui as he walked out of his court hearing in San Francisco recently and placed him in an eighth-floor cell at a downtown field office with no bed. He spent the next four days there with six other detainees before being sent to Fresno and eventually to a larger facility in Arizona. "It was hell," the 47-year-old Peruvian man said. His meals were granola bars and bean-and-cheese burritos, and at one point had to be transferred to a hospital after he started feeling pain related to a stroke he suffered a year ago. "I’ve never experienced something like this, not even in my own country," Valera said. As President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts ramp up and immigration authorities strive to meet an arrest quota of 3,000 people per day, detention centers continue to fill up, leading to overcrowding in some cases. As of July 27, just under 57,000 people were being held at detention centers compared to just under 40,000 people in January, according to TRAC Immigration, a data gathering nonprofit organization. Immigration attorneys say that as a result, they’ve seen an increase in ICE holding people at its 25 field offices across the country for extended periods of time — raising concerns that the facilities are ill-equipped for people to sleep in, and lack medical care for those who need it and privacy to use the bathroom. The situation has prompted legal action from immigration advocates across the country. In the Bay Area, lawyers have raised concerns about the conditions of the offices as holding centers and are looking into taking legal action.

NewsNation [8/8/2025 1:29 PM, Rhea Caoile, 5801K] reports that over a dozen people were arrested during a sting operation that took place during San Diego Comic-Con weekend, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The operation was conducted from July 24 to 26 during the dates of the popular convention that drew large crowds to the Gaslamp Quarter and other parts of downtown. During the joint investigation with the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, undercover agents initiated contact with people intending to buy sex throughout San Diego County. As a result, 13 people were arrested for solicitation in violation of Penal Code 647(b)(2), Bonta’s office stated in a news release Thursday. Last year, 14 people were arrested during Comic-Con weekend as a result of a similar human trafficking sting. "Solicitation is a crime, and these arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that we stand ready to hold them accountable," Bonta said in a statement. "The demand for commercial sex is a driving factor that contributes to human trafficking, where perpetrators profit from the exploitation of people for sex or labor by force, fraud, or coercion." According to the news release, while not all commercial sex is attributed to human trafficking, sex buyers may "unknowingly contribute" to trafficking by engaging in solicitation. The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force is a collaboration between numerous agencies, including the California Department of Justice, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation and others. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Telemundo [8/8/2025 2:55 PM, Staff, 37K]

CNN [8/9/2025 5:26 PM, Graham Hurley and Gonzalo Alvarado, 21433K] reports Roberto Reyes had barely left his Fontana, California, apartment and was just a block down the road on his way to work when four white cars swarmed him, boxing in his vehicle. Within moments, the 32-year-old father frantically looked for an escape as he noticed an immigration officer hop out of one of the cars. Tapping into his survival instincts, Reyes spotted a gap between the vehicles and fled, leaving his wallet, keys and other belongings inside the car. As he ran back to his apartment, Reyes said he called his wife and daughter to open the door – all while the agents chased him, not far behind. In security camera video from Reyes’ apartment, the Nicaraguan immigrant can be seen narrowly escaping the agents’ grasp as he rushed inside his apartment and shut the door. Reyes along with his wife, three children, and mother-in-law, have been barricaded inside their home for more than a week out of fear of being detained by immigration agents. They arrived from Nicaragua three years ago, seeking asylum. “We are afraid and we’ve seen there are cases where they separate the children, their parents are deported, the children are left here, that is my fear,” Reyes said. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed federal immigration agents attempted to detain Reyes last week. He was described as a “dangerous criminal illegal alien from Nicaragua with a criminal history including assault with a deadly weapon, exhibiting a deadly weapon, and disturbing the peace.” Reyes told CNN he was wrongfully accused in relation to an incident with a neighbor and the case has been dismissed. CNN reached out to the San Bernardino County Superior Court to confirm the case was dismissed. Since his encounter with immigration agents, Reyes said no warrant or summons has been presented to him or his family. But the agents have not stopped approaching their apartment and the family has seen unknown cars parked near or in his apartment building’s parking lot, he said. “They send infiltrators to knock on my door to see if we’re there, they park in some parking spaces,” Reyes said. For now, Reyes said he is willing to stay at home as long as is needed and do whatever is in his hands. “I want to work legally, go forward and provide for my children,” Reyes said.

New York Post [8/8/2025 4:53 PM, Jennie Taer, 49956K] reports the owner of Texas’ Trump Burger may soon be deported as part of the president’s mass deportation campaign, Homeland Security officials told The Post. Roland Beainy, from Lebanon, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in May after it was found he had overstayed his visa. The restaurateur, who opened his first location of the Donald Trump-themed burger joint in 2020, arrived in the United States on a non-immigrant tourist visa in 2019, DHS said. The visa expired in February 2024, but Beainy didn’t leave and continued to live in the country illegally. But the Trump fan’s political beliefs won’t spare him from the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. "Under the current administration, ICE is committed to restore integrity to our nation’s immigration system by holding all individuals accountable who illegally enter the country or overstay the terms of their admission," DHS said in a statement to The Post. "This is true regardless of what restaurant you own or political beliefs you might have," the agency added. The feds also "revoked" the Lebanon native’s petition for immigration status after members of his own family admitted that his marriage was "a sham designed to game the system," DHS said. "The Department of Homeland Security has zero tolerance for immigration fraud, and this individual’s claims are baseless," DHS said. "This person has no Green Card, a history of illegal marriages, and an assault charge. DHS is actively pursuing all legal avenues to address this flagrant abuse of our immigration laws," the agency added.

New York Times [8/8/2025 11:19 AM, Jonathan Wolfe, 138952K] reports that the Girl Guides of Canada, the country’s equivalent of the Girl Scouts, is suspending all trips to the United States over concerns for the safety of its members amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The charity organization, which is focused on empowering girls through skill building and friendship, said in a statement emailed on Friday that its decision was rooted in its “commitment to inclusivity and the safety of all our members.” It was prompted, the statement said, “by the recent restrictions put on equal entry into the United States.” The organization said that some of its members may hold citizenship from countries other than Canada, and could be affected by recent changes to U.S. immigration policies. In June, President Trump barred citizens of 12 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, from entering the United States and restricted visas for citizens of seven others. The Girl Guides said that its pause on U.S. travel would take effect next month. The organization, which has over 60,000 active members, did not provide details about how many trips were canceled or how long the pause would last. The announcement comes as U.S.-Canada relations are at a low point.

Reuters [8/8/2025 3:56 PM, Polina Devitt, 51390K] reports the White House plans to clarify what its official called misinformation about import tariffs for gold bars amid uncertainty, which saw some industry players pausing deliveries of bullion to the United States. According to a ruling on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service’s website on Friday, Washington may place the most widely traded gold bullion bars in the United States under country-specific import tariffs, a move that would roil the metal’s global supply chains. The White House intends to issue an executive order in the near future "clarifying misinformation" about tariffs on gold bars and other specialty products, the White House official told Reuters on Friday.

New York Times [8/9/2025 4:40 AM, Paulina Villegas and Maria Abi-Habib, 153395K] reports the fentanyl packer moved with precision, his headlamp casting a sharp glow on the swift work of his gloved hands. Hoodless carcasses of old vehicles sat gutted under a pitch-black sky. Car jacks, coils and greasy rags littered the ground. The man sprayed six aluminum-wrapped packets with a liquid that smelled like chlorine, a compound that he said would help disguise fentanyl from search dogs. Underneath the foil, the deadly drug was wrapped in carbon paper to try to avoid basic methods of X-ray detection, he said. The 58-year-old man, a mechanic by day and drug packer by night, had been working for the Sinaloa Cartel for over 20 years, fixing and loading cars with cocaine, meth and now fentanyl. In all of that time, he said, his job has never been as dangerous as now. “Hopefully this is my last gig,” he said. The cartel, which as one of the world’s most formidable drug syndicates had once seemed immune to challengers, has been pushed into survival mode. President Trump has vowed to crush the fentanyl trade — directing the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain cartels that his administration considers terrorist organizations. Mexico, pushed hard by Mr. Trump, has launched its own aggressive crackdown, deploying hundreds of troops to combat the Sinaloa Cartel, a U.S.-designated terrorist group. While under intense pressure from both governments, the cartel has also been plagued by infighting. But even in that weakened state, the cartel continues to adapt. Its smugglers are shifting to smaller loads, devising creative methods and adjusting in real time to changing threats — showing how extraordinarily difficult it would be for any government to dismantle such an entrenched criminal organization. And despite the campaign against them, cartel operatives said they had no intention of giving up the trade. Most expressed no compunction over the devastating toll in the United States, where fentanyl has fueled an addiction crisis and become a leading cause of death. This summer, The New York Times interviewed five operatives of the cartel. They spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity because they would otherwise be subject to arrest or danger. The Times’s reporting included documenting how fentanyl packages were hidden in cars in Culiacán, in western Mexico, in order to show in greater detail how fentanyl trafficking unfolds.

Axios [8/8/2025 2:30 PM, Ben Berkowitz, 13599K] reports that the Trump administration is planning to issue an executive order soon clarifying the status of gold bars amid tariff confusion, a White House official says. Why it matters: Reports that gold bars would be tariffed caused the precious metal to spike to an all-time high in U.S. trading. Catch up quick: Multiple outlets reported Thursday evening that a late-July Customs and Border Protection letter indicated stamped gold bars imported from Switzerland would be subject to tariffs. Markets had assumed that such bars, an important part of the financial system, were not part of the tariff regime. What they’re saying: "The White House intends to issue an executive order in the near future clarifying misinformation about the tariffing of gold bars and other specialty products," the official tells Axios. Gold prices dropped by over 0.9% on reports of the executive order, but have since recovered.

Los Angeles Times [8/8/2025 6:00 AM, Rachel Uranga and Brittny Mejia, 14672K] reports Matilde suffered a heart attack after she was held by immigration agents at a Lowes parking lot and can no longer go to the store without breaking down. Narciso Barranco, a gardener accused of threatening heavily armed agents with a weed whacker, still wakes up with headaches after he was beaten during his arrest. Jaime Alanís Garcia died after falling 30 feet from a rafter as agents stormed his workplace. The aggressive tactics led by Border Patrol agents hundreds of miles from their posts have left communities jarred, people injured and businesses gutted. Civil rights activists, city leaders, immigrants and their advocates were hopeful that the indiscriminate sweeps targeting Latinos were over in July after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, ruling that Border Patrol agents’ profiling tactics violated the 4th Amendment. They were even more heartened when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the government’s argument that their tactics were lawful and upheld the restraining order. But this week, Customs and Border Protection struck in Los Angeles again, raiding a car wash and a Home Depot, grabbing anyone who ran from them. "We are not leaving," said Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino, who has been leading the operations in California. The temporary restraining orders prohibits agents from stopping someone solely based on their race, language, job or location. Mayor Karen Bass said it appears as if the Wednesday raid at a Home Depot in Westlake — dubbed "Operation Trojan Horse" — violated the order, but city attorneys are still trying to determine the facts.

Bloomberg [8/8/2025 6:00 AM, Michael Scott Moore, 19320K] reports when the American Civil Liberties Union mounted a lawsuit in February on behalf of a farmworkers’ labor group, accusing federal agents of arresting workers in California’s Kern County based on little more than appearance, it looked like a standard procedural move in a quickly overheating legal climate. A federal judge in April imposed a temporary restraining order on racial and other forms of profiling for the state’s rural Eastern District, which stretches from Kern’s county seat, Bakersfield, all the way to the Oregon border—but no one knew whether it would make much difference. To even the plaintiffs’ surprise, it did. A three-month review shows that in the aftermath of the ruling, warrantless detentions in the district have screeched to a halt. Under the terms of the injunction, Border Patrol, part of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has to disclose its warrantless arrests in the district to the ACLU—and it didn’t report a single one from April 29 to June 21. The United Farm Workers union, on whose behalf the suit was filed, says its members in the area anecdotally describe the same results. And both the UFW and the ACLU say they now regard the strategy as one to replicate nationwide. “We were very pleased to see during the first compliance period, they appeared to obey,” says ACLU’s Bree Bernwanger, lead counsel on the suit.

FOX News [8/8/2025 3:40 PM, Staff, 46878K] Video: HERE reports U.S. CBP chief patrol agent of the El Centro Sector Greg Bovino joins ‘America Reports’ to discuss a major raid at a Home Depot in California where numerous illegal migrants were arrested.

The Hill [8/8/2025 6:00 AM, Miriam Waldvogel, 18649K] reports President Trump’s top-line tariffs of 35 percent on Canada are among the highest in the world. However, most imports from America’s northern neighbor could be spared thanks to sweeping exemptions under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiated during Trump’s first term. The USMCA allows products to be traded duty-free if they significantly originate from North America — a carve-out that currently applies to some 90 percent of products coming down over the northern border, and could potentially apply to more. That means products that originate in Canada, such as minerals, most agricultural products, and meat and fish (as well as goods taken from outer space), will skirt Trump’s 35 percent tariff. USMCA’s rules of origin also exempt most products that are manufactured in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, even if their components are imported from other countries. "In theory, anything could qualify for USMCA if the parts and components are available from Canadian, Mexican or U.S. producers," said Ted Murphy, a customs and trade lawyer. "If you don’t qualify today, you know exactly why you don’t qualify and you can change your behavior tomorrow." Trump has justified tariffs on Canada as a way of combating what he characterized as a flow of fentanyl over the northern border. Customs and Border Protection seized a total of 3.37 pounds of fentanyl on the Canadian border in June.

Blaze [8/8/2025 9:31 AM, Andrew Chapados, 1805K] reports that an executive order signed by President Trump upon taking office is having a ripple effect on gender activism in Canada. On January 20, Trump signed an order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.’ The order affirmed the "biological reality of sex" and formally recognized only two genders in the United States. Canadians were recently notified that the order is now restricting their gender performance in terms of travel documents. Since 2019, Canadians have been allowed to designate their genders as "X" on their passports, a policy that progressed through the Nexus travel cards, a joint program between the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. As Juno News reported, current Nexus cards will remain valid if they use the X, but all future applications are required to select either "male" or "female." Canadian border officials confirmed that this will affect hundreds of Nexus members. A CBSA spokesman told the Canadian Press that while Canada’s government recognizes the "X," it cannot guarantee entry to other countries. "Not all countries have the same values and legal system that we have in Canada," Luke Reimer said in a statement. "As a result, it is important for travelers to be informed about the legal framework and social customs governing sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics in the destination country."

USA Today [8/8/2025 8:44 AM, Jeanine Santucci, 75552K] reports storms driving damaging winds, large hail and even a couple of tornadoes are threatening the Northern Plains and upper Midwest regions on Aug. 8, forecasters said. About 5.5 million people live across an area most at risk for strong to severe thunderstorms, including parts of the Dakotas, most of Minnesota and part of Wisconsin, the Storm Prediction Center said. Major cities at risk include Minneapolis, Duluth and St. Paul, Minnesota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Fargo, North Dakota. The storms are expected to first sweep across parts of North Dakota in the morning before spreading through eastern Minnesota by the evening, and possibly last multiple days, according to the National Weather Service. The end-of-the-week storms come after severe weather was recorded from eastern Montana through North Dakota the night of Aug. 7, with wind gusts above 60 mph, AccuWeather reported. "Damaging winds may become the primary threat as storms increase and spread eastward through the evening into late tonight," the Storm Prediction Center said in a forecast.

Reuters [8/8/2025 5:18 PM, Courtney Rozen, 51390K] reports that the Trump administration plans to slash security funding for Washington, D.C., according to a grant notice, even as President Donald Trump asserts crime in the U.S. capital is "totally out of control." The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a notice posted last week that D.C. and surrounding areas would receive $20 million less this year from its urban security fund, reducing the funding to $25.2 million and amounting to a 44% year-on-year cut. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, said on Friday it cut funds to D.C. and other cities to align with the "current threat landscape." The agency has "observed a shift from large-scale, coordinated attacks like 9/11 to simpler, small-scale assaults, heightening the vulnerability of soft targets and crowded spaces in urban areas," it said. FEMA also cut security money for Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Jersey City and San Francisco, but the reduction in D.C. was the largest for any urban area that received funding from the program last fiscal year. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters email requesting comment on the funding cuts.

Washington Post [8/8/2025 6:13 PM, Brianna Sacks and Maeve Reston, 32099K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security is holding up more than $100 million in preapproved funds intended to help hurricane-battered North Carolina clean up storm damage and fix infrastructure still in disrepair almost a year after Helene hit the region, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and officials familiar with the process. On July 22, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi L. Noem urging her to rapidly release disaster recovery funds that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had already approved, which total about $115 million in public assistance grants. The state “faces nearly $60-billion in storm related damages,” the governor said, and while the federal government has already provided “considerable financial support… unfortunately much more help is needed to rebuild western North Carolina.” In a statement, DHS said after Helene, FEMA “delivered substantial assistance to North Carolina to help individuals, businesses and communities recover,” which the agency said has so far totaled $1.36 billion, not counting funds from other federal entities. The statement added “funding and resources will continue to flow to the state.” Communities across the region, though, still need to be reimbursed for about a hundred projects ranging from debris removal, waste water treatment repairs, roads and bridges, damaged buildings and parks, as well as for emergency protective measures such as paying back volunteer fire departments, according to data obtained by The Post.

Houston Chronicle [8/8/2025 3:37 PM, Elizabeth Zavala, 1982K] reports nearly $30 million in federal aid and loans has been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration for people and businesses affected by the Hill Country flooding that occurred in early July, officials said. Flooding triggered by heavy rainfall along the Guadalupe River on July 4 killed at least 119 people along the Guadalupe River and destroyed or damaged thousands of homes and businesses. State and local officials say the bodies of 108 flood victims have been recovered in Kerr County, and two people remain missing. In neighboring Kendall County, the bodies of nine Guadalupe River flood victims have been recovered. Another 16 deaths were reported in separate July flooding events in Travis, Burnet, Williamson and Tom Green counties. A spokesman for FEMA said the federal agency has set aside $23 million in federal assistance for 2,600 Texas households. A spokesperson for the Small Business Administration said that agency has approved $8 million in disaster loans related to the flooding. FEMA said Kerr County, which suffered the most loss of life and property damage, has been approved for $5.8 million of the FEMA total. Kerr County has received $1.3 million in SBA funding, officials said. FEMA said federal officials are working closely with state and leaders and nonprofit organizations to help survivors who are recovering from the storms and flooding in Burnet, Guadalupe, Kerr, Kimble, McCulloch, Menard, San Saba, Tom Green, Travis and Williamson counties. President Donald Trump’s major disaster declaration authorizes FEMA to provide financial assistance and direct services to households that were affected by severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding, in those 10 counties, FEMA said Friday.

Telemundo [8/8/2025 7:34 AM, Elizabeth Chavolla and Jonathan Lloyd, 103K] reports a wildfire broke out on a sweltering Thursday afternoon east of Lake Piru in Ventura County, prompting evacuations as this week’s warm temperatures in Southern California reached their peak. The Canyon Fire was estimated at about 50 hectares (120 acres) by early Thursday afternoon, before quickly expanding to 4,856 acres (11,000 acres) as it moved away from the community of Piru and toward some scattered rural homes. The fire originated north of Highway 126, just east of the Los Angeles County line. On Thursday night, the fire crossed into Los Angeles County, prompting evacuation orders for the Castaic area. Evacuations were ordered for the Lake Piru Recreation Area and parts of the surrounding area. An evacuation alert was issued for the few ranches at the western end of Holser Canyon.

The Hill [8/8/2025 10:44 AM, Judy Kurtz, 18649K] reports the White House is pressing the pause button on public tours of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. as construction is set to begin within weeks for President Trump’s new $200 million ballroom. New tour bookings were "paused proactively while a collaborative group of White House, U.S. Secret Service, National Park Service, and Executive Residence staff work to determine the best way to ensure public access to the White House as this project begins and for the duration of construction," said Nicholas Clemens, communications director for first lady Melania Trump, in a Friday statement to The Hill. Plans for the 90,000 square foot ballroom — expected to be built adjacent to the White House where the East Wing sits — were announced earlier this month, with the White House saying construction is expected to begin in September. The cost for the multimillion-dollar project will be covered by Trump and other "patriot donors," according to the White House. The ballroom is poised to be completed before Trump leaves office in early 2029.

Daily Signal [8/8/2025 12:46 PM, Rebecca Downs, 558K] reports Vice President JD Vance’s 41st birthday trip to kayak with his family on the Little Miami is drawing considerable attention. While U.S. Secret Service raised water levels, it was for security reasons and done without the vice president’s knowledge. Many in the media are claiming the levels were raised to create "ideal kayaking conditions." Sources tell The Daily Signal otherwise, however. On Wednesday, The Guardian reported that "JD Vance’s team had water level of Ohio river raised for family’s boating trip," citing anonymous sources to claim that changing the water levels was done to create "ideal kayaking conditions" for the vice president. One source with knowledge of the matter who communicated with the Guardian anonymously alleged that the outflow request for the Caesar Creek Lake was not just to support the vice-president’s Secret Service detail, but also to create "ideal kayaking conditions." The Guardian could not independently confirm this specific claim. The news raises questions about whether Vance’s office was potentially exploiting public infrastructure resources for his personal recreation at a time when the Trump administration has cut billions of dollars in foreign aid, scientific research, and government jobs as part of its "efficiency" drive. "The Secret Service often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the vice president or his staff, as was the case last weekend," a Vance spokesperson told The Daily Signal. Other outlets joined in on covering the vice president’s trip from such an angle. Some headlines are more damning than others.

Yahoo! News [8/8/2025 12:15 PM, Jade Leach Burns, 47007K] reports that the Coast Guard and local emergency services were called for rescue when a boat flipped in Lake Erie, stranding four people. The emergency call came in around 9:30 a.m. Friday, with the boat about 8 miles out from the shore of the Walnut Creek Marina access in Fairview. Three local drowning deaths in July raise concerns over water safety “The back of the boat started filling up with some water, apparently, the bilge pump quit working and we started looking at that and then a wave hit us and just rolled the boat right over. Wow, like, real quick,” said Jerry Warner, who was rescued from the flipped boat. An average fishing day for Jerry Warner and his four friends turned into something they had never experienced before. Warner, along with two others, was thrown into the water and hung onto the upside-down vessel until help arrived. Meanwhile, one of the fishermen got trapped underneath. Around 11:15 a.m., the Coast Guard deployed dive teams and a helicopter to rescue the fourth person who was trapped under the overturned boat. “None of us had life jackets on. There’s life jackets in the boat and they were trapped under the boat and we’re outside of the boat,” Warner recalled. Dive teams and a helicopter from the U.S. Coast Guard, along with fire companies from Erie, Lake City, Fuller Hose and Millcreek arrived to retrieve the fourth person.

Reuters [8/8/2025 10:11 AM, Tom Polansek, 51390K] reports the Mississippi River has reopened to vessel traffic north of St. Louis after closing because a helicopter crashed into a barge on Thursday, killing two people, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Friday. The interior U.S. river, a major shipping waterway for crops and other goods, reopened on Thursday night near Alton, Illinois, except for in a safety zone that extends 450 feet from the shore between mile marker 199.5 and mile marker 200.5, according to the Coast Guard. The safety zone is an area where vessels cannot enter. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday that there were two people on board when the helicopter crashed and the National Transportation Safety Board would lead an investigation into the incident.

Must Read Alaska [8/8/2025 9:15 PM, Suzanne Downing] reports the US Coast Guard will commission the Cutter Storis on Sunday in Juneau, marking the service’s first new icebreaker in a quarter-century. The commissioning ceremony is scheduled for 9:30 am at Peratrovich Plaza, 292 Marine Way, and will be streamed online for remote viewers. Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, will preside over the event and hold a media availability afterward. The Storis represents a major expansion of the Coast Guard’s icebreaking capability, a critical mission in Alaska and the Arctic where the service maintains year-round maritime safety, security, and environmental protection operations. The commissioning comes as the also Coast Guard welcomed nearly $25 billion in funding through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the largest single commitment of resources in the service’s history. The investment strengthens every facet of Coast Guard operations, from drug interdiction and maritime border security to Arctic operations and search and rescue. According to Coast Guard estimates, the new funding will allow the service to procure 17 new icebreakers, 21 new cutters, more than 40 helicopters, and six C-130J aircraft, while also modernizing shore infrastructure and maritime surveillance systems. The package also enhances the Coast Guard’s ability to counter drug and human trafficking, improve navigational safety, and enable maritime trade.

CyberScoop [8/8/2025 12:17 PM, Matt Kapko] reports businesses that don’t treat security with the gravity it requires — exhibited by lackluster or nonexistent preparation, planning and exercise in the event of a cyberattack — typically suffer longer and unnecessarily, Microsoft threat intelligence, hunting and response leaders said Thursday at Black Hat. In the best- case scenarios in the wake of an attack, professionals across the impacted organization know their roles and responsibilities, said Aarti Borkar, corporate vice president of security customer success at Microsoft. “They know the moving parts. They know what their policies are. They know who to call in the middle of the night and wake them up, because incidents don’t happen on a Wednesday afternoon,” she said. Microsoft’s incident response and recovery efforts are often measured in days, instead of months, when organizations have plans in place, and regularly assess and practice those procedures against challenges that might occur across the organization, Borkar said. Only 1 in 4 organizations have an incident response plan and have rehearsed it, said Andrew Rapp, senior director of security research at Microsoft. When Microsoft’s incident response team engages with a customer that has rehearsed an incident response plan, held table-top exercises and conducted proactive compromise assessment, the operation functions like a well-oiled machine, he said. “It’s sort of like sharing a central nervous system with a customer during that bad day.” Attackers are moving faster than ever before — achieving shortened dwell times — and this accentuates the need for incident responders and organizations to prepare, said Sherrod DeGrippo, director of threat intelligence strategy at Microsoft.

CyberScoop [8/8/2025 11:20 AM, Greg Otto] reports one of the big worries during the generative AI boom is where exactly data is traveling when users enter queries or commands into the system. According to new research, those worries may also extend to one of the world’s most popular consumer technology companies. Apple’s artificial intelligence ecosystem, known as Apple Intelligence, routinely transmits sensitive user data to company servers beyond what its privacy policies indicate, according to Israeli cybersecurity firm Lumia Security. The research, presented Wednesday at the 2025 Black Hat USA conference, detailed how Apple’s Siri assistant sends the content of dictated messages and commands, including WhatsApp communications, to Apple servers even when such transmission isn’t necessary to complete user requests. The data flows occur outside Apple’s heavily promoted Private Cloud Compute system, which the company markets as providing enhanced privacy protections. The research comes as Apple has long positioned itself as a privacy-focused company, building marketing campaigns around the company’s concentration on privacy for individual users.

StateScoop [8/8/2025 11:20 AM, Colin Wood] reports five groups representing state and local governments on Thursday evening sent an open letter to congressional appropriations leaders urging them to reinstate cut federal funding to support their cybersecurity efforts. The groups, which represent state IT officials, mayors, county governments, sheriffs and cities, said the recent cuts to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center will lead to “gaps in critical security services, making state and local governments more susceptible to cyberattacks, undermining public trust and safety.” “In short, without MS-ISAC’s services, many of its members will not be able to maintain the security of their public services,” reads the letter addressed to Reps. Tom Cole and Rosa DeLauro, and Sens. Susan Collins and Patty Murray, who comprise the leadership of the appropriations committees. They claim in the letter that, over the course of 2024 alone, the MS-ISAC helped state and local network operators detect more than 43,000 potential cyberattacks, along with 59,000 ransomware and other malware attacks, and at nearly double the speed compared to the notices provided by commercial alternatives. The groups’ plea is the latest by cybersecurity advocates to warn of how the federal government’s reduced support during the second Trump administration could harm not only state and local governments, but the critical infrastructure that runs the nation — schools, water utilities, law enforcement offices and hospitals.

Reuters [8/8/2025 1:34 PM, Sarah N. Lynch, Brad Heath, and Jana Winter, 51390K] reports the FBI has asked local police to submit the names of people tied to drug cartels and gangs to the U.S. government’s terrorist watch list created after 9/11, which could land more Americans on the list, according to law enforcement documents seen by Reuters. The bureau told law enforcement agencies in a May 9 email to share the names of people they believe are linked to eight criminal groups President Donald Trump has labeled foreign terrorist organizations. It also asked agencies to share information about family members and associates of the groups’ members. The existence of the email, which was obtained by the national security-focused transparency nonprofit Property of the People through a public records request and shared with Reuters, has not been previously reported. The email was sent to law enforcement agencies and groups including the National Sheriff’s Association, which confirmed receiving it from the FBI. The FBI declined to answer detailed questions about the email, instead referring to an earlier statement that said "watchlisting is an effective tripwire keeping those who would engage in violent criminal acts, illicit drug trade, and human smuggling/trafficking out of the country."

Reuters [8/8/2025 6:00 AM, Aram Roston and Jim Urquhart, 51390K] reports wearing cargo shorts, flip-flops and a baseball cap shading his eyes from the sun, Dalton Henry Stout blends in easily in rural America. Except for the insignia on his hat. It bears the skull and crossbones of the infamous "Death’s Head" SS units that oversaw Nazi Germany’s concentration camps – and the initials "AFN," short for Aryan Freedom Network, the neo-Nazi group Stout leads with his partner. From a modest ranch house in Texas, the couple oversee a network they say has been turbocharged by President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. They point to Trump’s rhetoric – his attacks on diversity initiatives, his hardline stance on immigration and his invocation of "Western values" – as driving a surge in interest and recruitment. Trump "awakened a lot of people to the issues we’ve been raising for years," Stout told Reuters. "He’s the best thing that’s happened to us." While the Aryan Freedom Network and other neo-Nazi groups remain on the outermost edges of American politics, broadly regarded as toxic by conservatives and mainstream America, they are increasingly at the center of far-right public demonstrations and acts of violence, according to interviews with a dozen members of extremist groups, nine experts on political extremism and a review of data on far-right violence. Stout said his group opposes violence. Yet the Aryan Freedom Network openly advocates preparing for a "Racial Holy War." It promotes white superiority ideology, seeks to unify elements of the broader white nationalist movement and actively recruits former members of other extremist groups. The Trump administration has scaled back efforts to counter domestic extremism, redirecting resources toward immigration enforcement and citing the southern border as the top security threat. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reduced staffing in its Domestic Terrorism Operations Section. The Department of Homeland Security has cut personnel in its violence prevention office. Some specialists in domestic terrorism say these moves could embolden extremists by weakening U.S. capacity to detect and disrupt threats. The DHS and FBI have defended the cuts, saying they remain committed to fighting domestic terrorism. The FBI said in a statement it allocates resources based on threat analysis and "the investigative needs of the Bureau," and that it remains committed to investigating domestic terrorism.

New York Times [8/8/2025 9:13 PM, Hannah Ziegler, Sean Keenan, and Rick Rojas, 138952K] reports that a person opened fire late Friday outside of the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, killing one police officer and striking the exterior of buildings on the C.D.C. campus, the authorities said. The shooting suspect was found fatally shot, but there were “no civilian casualties,” officials said. Officials reported an active shooter just before 5 p.m. at a CVS drugstore on Clifton Road, which is directly across from the main entrance to the C.D.C. headquarters. Officers found the suspect on the second floor of the CVS, but it was unclear if the person had been struck in an exchange of gunfire with the police or the gunshot was self-inflicted, Chief Darin Schierbaum of the Atlanta Police Department said at a news conference on Friday evening. The officer who was killed was from the DeKalb County Police Department, a spokesman for the agency said. Investigators are still working to determine the motive for the attack, officials said. Pictures shared by workers showed the windows of C.D.C. buildings that appeared to have been struck by gunfire. The C.D.C. did not immediately comment. Officials are still working to reunite dozens of children at the Clifton School, a child-care program on the C.D.C. campus, with their parents.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [8/8/2025 9:03 PM, Staff, 4622K]

FOX News [8/8/2025 5:23 PM, Alexandra Koch and Peter D’Abrosca, 46878K] reports the suspect in a fatal mass shooting at an Anaconda, Montana bar was arrested Friday after a week-long manhunt. Michael Paul Brown, a 45-year-old Army veteran who has been on the loose since allegedly killing four people at The Owl Bar for a week, was taken into custody early in the afternoon. "The Anaconda shooter Michael Brown has been apprehended," Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte confirmed in a post on X. "Incredible response from law enforcement officers across Montana," he said. "Thank you to all partners for your commitment to the search. May God continue to be with the families of the four victims still grieving their loss.’ Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59, Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64, David Allen Leach, 70, and Tony Wayne Palm, 70, were killed in the attack. Kelley was a bartender, and the other three victims were patrons. All were from Anaconda. A manhunt was underway in the central Montana mountains. USA Today [8/8/2025 6:25 PM, Eduardo Cuevas, 75552K] reports that the 45-year-old man accused in the fatal shooting of a bartender and three patrons at a Montana bar was captured by police on Aug. 8 after a weeklong manhunt, state officials announced. At approximately 2 p.m. local time, law enforcement officials arrested Michael Paul Brown near the search area in Anaconda, a small community in southwestern Montana known for its forestland. Police say he killed four people at the Owl Bar in Anaconda on Aug. 1. Brown, an Army veteran who lived close to the bar, was taken into custody on Aug. 8 by Anaconda-Deer Lodge County officials, according to a state Department of Justice news release. For a week, officials scoured the mountains outside Anaconda, a rural Montana community of around 9,400 people about 100 miles southeast of Missoula. "The support we’ve seen for the community of Anaconda from across the state and the nation has also been remarkable," state Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in a statement. "The families and friends of the victims remain in my prayers.’ Brown is accused of killing bartender Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64, along with patrons Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59, David Allen Leach, 70, and Tony Wayne Palm, 74. Officials said more details will be announced in the evening.

Breitbart [8/8/2025 11:18 AM, Christian K. Caruzo, 3077K] reports U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Thursday the United States doubled its reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro to $50 million. "Today, the Department of Justice and State Department are announcing a historic $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like TDA, Sinaloa, and Cartel of the Sons to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country," AG Bondi said. "To date, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates with nearly 7 tons linked to Maduro himself, which represents a primary source of income for the deadly cartels based in Venezuela and Mexico. Cocaine is often laced with fentanyl, resulting in the loss and destruction of countless American lives," she continued.

Reuters [8/8/2025 11:20 AM, Staff, 51390K] reports Mexico is not investigating alleged ties between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the Sinaloa Cartel and has no evidence of such ties, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday announced the U.S. was doubling its reward to $50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest over allegations of drug trafficking and links to criminal groups. When asked by a reporter about Washington specifically accusing Maduro of collaborating with the Sinaloa Cartel, Sheinbaum said it was the first time she had heard of the topic. "On Mexico’s part, there is no investigation that has to do with that," Sheinbaum said. "As we always say, if they have some evidence, show it. We do not have any proof," she added. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on Thursday called Washington’s announcement "the most ridiculous smokescreen ever seen."

Washington Post [8/9/2025 6:00 AM, David J. Lynch and Hannah Natanson, 32099K] reports President Donald Trump’s freewheeling use of tariffs as a tool of American power may have been more extensive than was publicly known, encompassing an array of national security goals as well as the interests of individual companies, according to internal government documents obtained by The Washington Post. This month, State Department officials considered demanding that U.S. trading partners vote against an international effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the oceangoing container ships that are the backbone of global trade. In a draft “action memo,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio was told that department officials had sought “to inject this issue into the ongoing bilateral trade negotiations” with maritime nations such as Singapore. That move came after administration officials this past spring debated broadening trade negotiations with more than a dozen nations, including by requiring Israel to eliminate a Chinese company’s control of a key port and insisting that South Korea publicly support deploying U.S. troops to deter China as well as Seoul’s traditional rival, North Korea, the documents said. Administration officials saw trade talks as an opportunity to achieve objectives that went far beyond Trump’s oft-stated goal of reducing the chronic U.S. trade deficit. In the first weeks after the president paused his “reciprocal” tariffs April 9 to allow for negotiations, officials drew up plans to press countries near China for a closer defense relationship, including the purchase of U.S. equipment and port visits, the documents said.

Breitbart [8/8/2025 1:21 PM, Staff, 3077K] reports that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan responded to President Donald Trump’s call for him to resign as head of the company. "I have always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards," Tan said in a press release on Thursday. "My reputation has been built on trust, on doing what I say I’ll do, and doing it the right way." "This is the same way I am leading Intel," he added. Trump posted to Truth Social Wednesday that "The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately." Trump didn’t clearly explain why he made the declaration, but Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., did wrote a letter Tuesday to Intel’s Chairperson Frank Yeary in regard to Tan expressing "concern about the security and integrity of Intel’s operations and its potential impact on U.S. national security." "There has been a lot of misinformation circulating about my past roles at Walden International and Cadence Design Systems," Tan said in the release. "I have always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards." Intel also put out a related press release on Wednesday. "Intel, the Board of Directors, and Lip-Bu Tan are deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests and are making significant investments aligned with the President’s America First agenda," the company said. "We look forward to our continued engagement with the Administration," it concluded.

AP [8/8/2025 10:14 AM, Lindsay Whitehurst, 56000K] reports a legal organization challenging President Donald Trump’s administration on multiple fronts filed a new lawsuit on Friday seeking the release of records detailing the handling of the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The group Democracy Forward sued the Justice Department and the FBI for senior administration officials’ communication about Epstein documents and any regarding correspondence between him and Trump. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, appears to the be first of its kind. The group says it submitted requests under the Freedom of Information Act for the records related to communications about the case in late July that have not yet been fulfilled. “The court should intervene urgently to ensure the public has access to the information they need about this extraordinary situation,” said Skye Perryman, the president and CEO of the Democratic-aligned group, in a statement. The federal government often shields records related to criminal investigations from public view. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

NBC News [8/8/2025 6:39 PM, Gabe Gutierrez and Monica Alba, 44540K] reports a long-awaited meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled for next week in Alaska, Trump announced Friday on social media. "The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Further details and logistics of the meeting are still unclear and remain very fluid, including whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be involved. The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. A White House official said earlier Friday that the Russians have provided a list of demands for a potential ceasefire for the war in Ukraine, and the U.S. is trying to get buy-in from Ukrainians and European allies. Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials have long said they would not concede any territory that Russia illegally annexed. In a statement Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News, “President Trump has been clear since he inherited this war from Joe Biden six months ago: he wants it to end at the negotiating table. At the President’s direction, Special Envoy Witkoff once again met with President Putin to discuss potential paths to peace, and the President and his national security team are discussing those paths with both the Ukrainians and the Europeans. Out of respect for our sensitive diplomatic discussions with Russia, Ukraine, and our European allies, the White House will not comment on alleged details in the news media.” On Friday, European national security advisers and the White House were expected to join a call to make sure everyone has a common understanding of what is under discussion with Russia, according to a person familiar with the call. Secretary of State Rubio Marco was expected to be on the call, as well as White House special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [8/8/2025 7:32 PM, Ellen Mitchell, 18649K]

Washington Examiner [8/8/2025 7:50 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 1934K] reports today’s the deadline that President Donald Trump set for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to negotiate a ceasefire in the Ukraine war or face secondary sanctions intended to make it harder for Russia to sell oil, the mainstay of its struggling economy. However, with active discussion underway to arrange a summit between the two presidents as soon as next week, Trump is noncommittal about whether he’ll follow through with the threat. Asked by a reporter at the White House yesterday, “Is your deadline still standing?” for Putin to agree to a ceasefire, Trump replied. “It’s going to be up to him. We’re going to see what he has to say, but it’s going to be up to him. Very disappointed.” Earlier in the day, a White House official told the Associated Press that Trump’s agreement to meet face-to-face with Putin had been conditional on Putin agreeing to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump quickly rendered that statement inoperative. "Does Putin have to meet with Zelensky in order and before you and Putin have to meet?" Trump was asked. "He doesn’t have to agree to meet with Zelensky? Is that what you’re saying?" CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Trump.

Newsweek [8/8/2025 12:07 PM, Micah McCartney, 54790K] reports that three Chinese coast guard vessels have deployed to a strategic waterway in the South China Sea that separates the Philippines from Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory—adding to rising regional tensions. Newsweek contacted the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Philippine coast guard with requests for comment. The Philippines, a U.S. defense treaty ally, and China are locked in a yearslong territorial dispute. Beijing asserts sovereignty over most of the South China Sea—a conduit for an estimated one-third of global seaborne trade—citing so-called historical rights. Manila has in recent years stepped up its pushback against Chinese coast guard incursions into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, leading to occasional dramatic clashes at contested features such as Scarborough Shoal. On Thursday, three Chinese coast guard cutters—each at least 330 feet in length—"bracketed" the Philippines’ northernmost province of Batanes, according to ship-tracking data shared by maritime analyst Ray Powell. Powell, who heads the Stanford University-affiliated maritime analysis group SeaLight, described the maneuvers as "a new level of aggression" from Beijing. As of Friday morning, two of the ships were operating east of the island group, while the third remained in waters to the west. It is rare for Chinese coast guard ships to operate this far north. The Batanes are closer to southern Taiwan than to Manila and are situated in the Bashi Channel—a strategic choke point that would almost certainly come into play in a war with China.

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