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.

FOX News [12/9/2025 11:35 AM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports that two New Jersey brothers were arrested on charges tied to terroristic threats against DHS chief Kristi Noem’s top public-facing deputy, including alleged vows to "shoot ICE agents on sight." One brother also faces unlawful weapons-possession charges. The harrowing allegations come amid a reported 8,000% increase in death threats against Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel. The alleged targeting of Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin presented a new danger for those working to realize President Donald Trump’s mass deportation of the "worst of the worst" illegal immigrant criminals. Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores and Emilio Roman-Flores, twins from Absecon, New Jersey, next to Atlantic City; were arrested after allegedly posting to X that they wanted to torture and kill McLaughlin in a medieval fashion. "[The Second] Amendment is in place for moments like this. Shoot ICE on sight," one of the brothers tweeted in a partially-redacted response to a McLaughlin message: "We Americans should find you, tar you, feather you, and hang you as we did to anyone serving tyrants before the Revolutionary War." A second partially-redacted tweet, reportedly from the other brother, read: "Shoot ICE on sight." McLaughlin has been front-and-center on broadcast media throughout DHS’ immigration enforcement missions. ICE Director Todd Lyons told Fox News Digital the swift arrests — within three days of the alleged threats — serve as a warning: "We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We are not afraid of you." Lyons added, as McLaughlin previously said, that "extreme rhetoric" from the press, sanctuary-city politicians and left-wing activists are the direct precursor to these situations. "If you threaten our law enforcement or DHS officials, we will hunt you down, and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." The two suspects are American citizens. Emilio was charged with unlawful possession of an assault weapon, possession of prohibited weapons, conspiracy, terroristic threats, criminal coercion, and cyber harassment. His brother, Ricardo, was charged with one count of conspiracy-terroristic threats. DHS credited the Absecon Police Department and its SWAT team for successfully taking the brothers into custody after they executed a search-and-arrest warrant in the Atlantic County community. NewsMax [12/9/2025 12:56 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports that according to DHS, Emilio Roman-Flores is charged with unlawful possession of an assault weapon, possession of prohibited weapons, conspiracy to make terroristic threats, criminal coercion, threats, and cyber harassment. Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores is charged with conspiracy to make terroristic threats. The agency said the alleged posts included threats to kill DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons warned that threats against federal law enforcement would be investigated and prosecuted.

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Daily Caller [12/9/2025 3:00 PM, Harold Hutchison, 985K]
Univision [12/9/2025 3:03 PM, Staff, 5004K]
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FOX News [12/9/2025 11:09 AM, Max Bacall, 40621K] Video: HERE reports U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani could be "violating the Constitution" after he posted a video giving residents advice on how to evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. "If he were mayor, [he] could be violating the Constitution by giving advice on how to evade law enforcement and how to get away with breaking the law," Noem said on "Hannity" Monday. Mamdani posted the video in question on Sunday, outlining New Yorkers’ rights during encounters with ICE after an attempted raid in Manhattan. He pledged that his administration would safeguard immigrant communities while protecting the city’s constitutional right to protest. "As mayor, I’ll protect the rights of every single New Yorker and that includes the more than 3 million immigrants who call this city their home," he said. "But we can all stand up to ICE if you know your rights." He also offered guidance for immigrants who may encounter ICE. "First, ICE cannot enter into private spaces like your home, school or private area of your workplace without a judicial warrant signed by a judge," Mamdani advised. "If ICE does not have a judicial warrant signed by a judge, you have the right to say, ‘I do not consent to entry,’ and the right to keep your door closed." Noem also sounded the alarm on threats targeting ICE agents, casting blame on far-left politicians for violent rhetoric. "That rhetoric absolutely encourages these violent attacks," she said. "In fact, we had a congresswoman attack our ICE law enforcement officers. We’ve had them show up at ICE facilities and CBP facilities and harass these enforcement officers, use vile language, spit on them." "They’re supposed to be leaders, they’re supposed to be examples that we can point to, and we wouldn’t raise our children to do the things that they do. We would be ashamed of our kids for acting the way that these grown adults act that are supposed to be some of the best in the country, that lead us and protect our Constitution and our country’s freedoms." The DHS secretary called on politicians to do better, suggesting that if they didn’t like the law, they could change it. "And these politicians, if they don’t like the law, then go frickin’ change it. Go change the law. That’s your job, is to actually have debate, have discernment, to create a law that actually puts America first," Noem said. "I’m just grateful the president is focused on that."

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The Hill [12/9/2025 12:19 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12595K]

Washington Post [12/10/2025 3:06 AM, Frances Vinall, 24149K] reports the United States could begin requiring visitors from countries on the visa waiver program to provide up to five years of their social media history, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection proposal posted to the Federal Register to be officially published Wednesday. There are dozens of countries on the visa waiver program list, including many European nations, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Brunei, Singapore, Qatar, Israel and Chile. The proposal suggests adding social media as a “mandatory data element” for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) application. Applicants would also have to provide additional information “when feasible,” according to the proposal. The list includes telephone numbers used in the last five years, email addresses used in the last 10 years, IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos, and biometrics, including facial, fingerprint, DNA and iris data. It would also require applicants to provide information about their family members, including names, telephone numbers, dates of birth, places of birth and residences. According to CBP, the proposal is open for a 60-day public comment period. ESTA is an automated system used by tourists and people traveling for short-term business who are entering the United States through the visa waiver program. It allows citizens of select countries to visit for up to 90 consecutive days. The authorization costs $40 and is generally valid for two years, and the ESTA holder can enter multiple times during that period. Farshad Owji, past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and partner at law firm WR Immigration, said the proposal could “chill travel and expression.” “Basically, people will self-censor, and they avoid coming to the U.S. altogether, and that affects tourism, business and America’s global reputation.” Owji added that it appeared the Trump administration wanted to use the social media evaluation to “understand the person’s view of general politics around the world.” “Having the citizenship of an ESTA country doesn’t necessarily mean that person has a political view that is aligned with the current administration’s view,” he said. The proposal also includes removing the option of applying for an ESTA from the government website and instead would require applicants to use the ESTA Mobile app. CBP estimates that more than 14 million people annually will use the ESTA Mobile app after the changes come into effect. Similar requirements have previously been applied to other visa categories. All immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants have been required to disclose their social media accounts since 2019 in a change implemented during the previous Trump administration, covering about 15 million applicants per year, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice. In June, the State Department made it a requirement for student visa applicants to have their social media accounts set to public, and the same requirement soon goes into effect for H-1B high-skilled worker visa applicants.

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The New York Times [12/9/2025 11:28 AM, Mitch Smith, 135475K] reports that Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, a Democrat, signed into law on Tuesday a measure that restricts immigration enforcement outside state courthouses and that makes it easier to sue immigration agents if residents believe their rights have been violated. The Democratic-backed legislation was approved by lawmakers in October in the midst of a federal crackdown on illegal immigration in the Chicago area that has led to thousands of arrests and repeated clashes between agents and residents. Supporters said the measure was a necessary response to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign. The new law also limits the information that hospitals, day care centers and colleges in Illinois can provide to immigration agents. “Residents should be able to go to court, take their kid to day care and have access to the university they attend without fear they will be kidnapped off the street,” State Representative Lilian Jiménez, a Democrat from Chicago, said in a statement when the bill passed. Illinois Republicans and the Trump administration criticized the measure, which they said made it harder for federal agents to do their work and made the state less safe. State Senator John Curran, the Republican leader in his chamber, said during a floor debate that “this is going to get set aside by the U.S. Supreme Court.” Mr. Curran took particular issue with the law’s ban on civil immigration enforcement at state courthouses or within 1,000 feet of those courthouses. California and New York also have laws restricting civil immigration arrests at courthouses. Reuters [12/9/2025 1:31 PM, Jasper Ward, 36480K] reports that the bill, which was sent to Pritzker’s desk by the state legislature last month, restricts immigration enforcement efforts outside of state courthouses and allows plaintiffs to sue for damages. It also prohibits schools from threatening to disclose actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status of an employee, student or a person associated with a student or employee to an external party. "With my signature today, we are protecting people and institutions that belong here in Illinois. Dropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending your classes should not be a life-altering task," said Governor Pritzker, a Democrat, who some consider a potential 2028 presidential candidate. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The law went into immediate effect and is in response to an aggressive immigration agenda launched by the Republican President Donald Trump targeting U.S. cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. Trump has also sought to deploy National Guard members to Chicago to enforce what he calls anti-crime efforts. Trump for years has criticized crime in Chicago, even as city figures show most categories of violent crime have dropped this year.

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Univision Chicago WGBO [12/9/2025 4:01 PM, Staff, 5004K]

NewsMax [12/9/2025 12:27 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed sweeping new "sanctuary-style" legislation Tuesday that restricts federal immigration enforcement near state courthouses and expands the ability to sue officers involved in civil immigration arrests. Pritzker, a Democrat, signed HB 1312 at Chicago’s La Villita Community Church as federal immigration operations continue across the state. His office issued a press release saying the measure is designed to ensure immigrants can attend court hearings, access child care, receive medical care, and participate in higher education "without fear of aggressive civil immigration enforcement actions." The bill took effect immediately, according to local reports. At the center of the new law is a courthouse buffer zone: It prohibits civil immigration arrests at state courthouses or within 1,000 feet of them when people are attending certain court proceedings. Democrats argue the goal is to ensure residents can seek justice without fearing they’ll be targeted outside a courtroom. But critics warn that forcing immigration agents away from controlled settings can push arrests into more unpredictable environments. John Curran, the Republican leader in the Illinois Senate, argued that the policy is likely headed for a legal showdown and predicted it will be "set aside by the U.S. Supreme Court." He also raised concerns that restricting courthouse enforcement increases risks for the public and officers alike by moving encounters "into uncontrolled settings," where tensions can spike and mistakes become more likely. Federal officials have been blunt about their opposition. The Department of Homeland Security said after the legislation passed the General Assembly that "nothing in the Constitution prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them," and called courthouse arrests "common sense" because agents already know where targets will be and can conserve resources. The Chicago Tribune [12/9/2025 1:19 PM, Olivia Olander, 4829K] reports that Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed into law a ban on federal agents making certain arrests near courthouses and easing a path for individuals to sue if they think their rights were violated during civil immigration arrests, capping off months of resistance to the Trump administration’s sometimes-violent enforcement crackdown in Chicago and the suburbs. “We know that this new set of laws can’t mitigate all of the harm,” Pritzker said at a bill signing ceremony in La Villita Community Church in Little Village, “but it gives us new protective tools and is a symbol of our shared action against those terrorizing our communities and our state.” Lawmakers passed the package of immigration tweaks in October, shortly after President Donald Trump administration’s immigration enforcement hit a fever pitch in the Chicago area. Under the new law, individuals will be better able to sue federal officers for knowingly violating the Illinois or U.S. constitutions during civil immigration enforcement actions. It also codifies a zone around courthouses where people involved in court proceedings are exempt from civil arrest.

Washington Examiner [12/9/2025 2:23 PM, Molly Parks, 1394K] reports that Illinoisans can now bring civil lawsuits against immigration enforcement officials whom they believe violated the federal or state constitution. Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) signed a bill into law Tuesday that the state government characterized as protecting "immigrants from unjust federal actions." The bill allows Illinois residents to sue law enforcement officers who violate the federal or state constitution. It also prohibits civil arrest around state courthouses, prevents hospitals from illegally releasing protected patient health information to law enforcement, and outlines action guidelines for universities and daycares surrounding immigration statuses. "With my signature today, we are protecting people and institutions that belong here in Illinois," Pritzker said in a statement. "Dropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending your classes should not be a life-altering task. Illinois — in the face of cruelty and intimidation — has chosen solidarity and support. Donald Trump, Kristi Noem, and Gregory Bovino have tried to appeal to our lesser instincts. But the best of us are standing up to the worst of them." DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in an October statement to the Washington Examiner that, as Pritzker "smears ICE and CBP officers as thugs" to "millions of Americans—including those victimized by criminal illegal aliens—they are heroes." "The real thugs are the worst of the worst — including pedophiles, rapists, murderers, gang members, and armed robbers — that Pritzker allows to terrorize the people of Illinois," McLaughlin said in October. "It’s no wonder Chicago has had the most murders of any U.S. city for 13 consecutive years. His rhetoric is directly contributing to domestic terrorists attacking our brave law enforcement. If he doesn’t knock this garbage off, one of our brave law enforcement officers is going to be killed."

Reuters [12/9/2025 4:26 PM, David Shepardson, 36480K] reports the U.S. Transportation Department on Tuesday threatened to withhold transit funding for Chicago trains and buses, and demanded more police protection, citing an incident in which a 26-year-old woman passenger was attacked and set on fire last month. The Federal Transit Agency said in letters to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson that they must develop and implement a plan to reduce assaults on transit workers and passengers and address unsafe conditions or face potential loss of federal funding. The department has sent similar letters over concerns about transit issues in New York and Boston. Chicago, like the other two cities is heavily Democratic. President Donald Trump has regularly threatened funding for large cities run by Democrats, including major infrastructure projects in Chicago and New York. Chicago Mayor Johnson said at a press conference he will respond to the letter and takes the funding threats seriously.

The Hill [12/9/2025 11:21 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12595K] reports that the creator of ICEBlock — an iPhone app that flagged sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents — sued the Trump administration on Monday, arguing Attorney General Pam Bondi violated free speech protections by pressuring Apple to remove the app from its store. Joshua Aaron, the maker of the app, argues in the complaint that the creation, distribution and promotion of the app is protected by the First Amendment and that the alleged "pressure campaign" by the Trump administration to "to coerce Apple into removing ICEBlock from the App Store" amounts to censorship and is unlawful. "We’re basically asking the court to set a precedent and affirm that ICEBlock is, in fact, First Amendment-protected speech and that I did nothing wrong by creating it," Aaron told The Associated Press in an interview Monday. "And to make sure that they can’t do this same thing again in the future." The lawsuit also asks a federal judge to protect Aaron from prosecution, challenging the "unlawful threats made by Attorney General Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, ICE Acting Director Todd M. Lyons, and White House Border Czar Tom Homan to criminally investigate and prosecute Aaron for his role in developing ICEBlock." He told the AP that one goal of the lawsuit is "to basically have them stop threatening myself and my family." Apple removed ICEBlock and other apps in October after Bondi said they put immigration enforcement officials at risk by allowing users of the app to track ICE activity in their neighborhoods.

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AP [12/9/2025 6:56 PM, Mark Vancleave and Steve Karnowski, 31753K] Video: HERE reports Federal agents used pepper spray to push through an angry crowd that blocked their vehicles as they checked identifications in a heavily Somali neighborhood of Minneapolis on Tuesday, amid the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown targeting the community. City Council Member Jamal Osman, a Somali American who represents the neighborhood, witnessed the confrontation, as did an Associated Press videographer. Minnesota’s Somali community — the largest in the U.S. — has been on edge the past couple of weeks since President Donald Trump said in a social media post Thanksgiving night that he was terminating Temporary Protected Status for them. It is not clear how many Somali community members have been arrested, temporarily detained or asked to show documents as part of the crackdown, which has also netted people of other nationalities. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said via email that they made no arrests in the neighborhood Tuesday, but provided no further details. Osman said armed ICE agents went to East African restaurants in the neighborhood Tuesday, closed the doors and demanded people’s IDs. They found only U.S. citizens and made no arrests, Osman said. "Luckily everyone had their passport, because I’ve been telling them to have their passport with them," Osman said. After checking the IDs of some people stopped at random on the street and temporarily detaining at least one U.S. citizen, Osman said, the agents went in seven to 10 vehicles to a nearby city-owned senior housing complex. There, he said, a group of mostly white young people he called "heroes" blew whistles to sound the alarm and confronted the agents, who responded with pepper spray. "Thank God so many people showed up there," Osman said. "(The agents) couldn’t get out of there because people showed up with their cars and whistles.” Osman said he saw people suffering from the effects of pepper spray. He also said he spoke with one young Somali American who was dragged to a vehicle, detained and taken to an ICE detention center. There, officials finally looked at his U.S. passport, fingerprinted him, and released him but told him to find his own way home, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) away in snowy weather. A new website launched by the Department of Homeland Security lists at least six Somalis arrested in Minnesota in recent weeks. The site says it is "highlighting the worst of worst criminal aliens" arrested by ICE to show how agents are "fulfilling President Trump’s promise and carrying out mass deportations.”

NewsMax [12/9/2025 10:02 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports federal agents used pepper spray to push through an angry crowd that blocked their vehicles as they checked identifications in a heavily Somali neighborhood of Minneapolis on Tuesday, amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. City Council Member Jamal Osman, a Somali American who represents the neighborhood, witnessed the confrontation, as did an Associated Press videographer. Minnesota’s Somali community — the largest in the U.S. — has been on edge the past couple of weeks since President Donald Trump said in a social media post Thanksgiving night that he was terminating Temporary Protected Status for them. It is not known how many Somali community members have been arrested, temporarily detained or asked to show documents as part of the crackdown, which has also netted people of other nationalities. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said via email that they made no arrests in the neighborhood Tuesday, but provided no further details. Osman said armed ICE agents went to East African restaurants in the neighborhood Tuesday, closed the doors and demanded people’s IDs. They found only U.S. citizens and made no arrests, Osman said. "Luckily everyone had their passport, because I’ve been telling them to have their passport with them," Osman said. Osman said agents checked the IDs of some people stopped at random on the street and temporarily detained at least one U.S. citizen. He said the agents went in seven to 10 vehicles to a nearby city-owned senior housing complex. There, he said, a group of mostly white young people he called "heroes" blew whistles to sound an alarm and confronted the agents, who responded with pepper spray. "Thank God so many people showed up there," Osman said. "[The agents] couldn’t get out of there because people showed up with their cars and whistles.” Osman said he saw people suffering from the effects of pepper spray. He also said he spoke with one young Somali American who was dragged to a vehicle, detained and taken to an ICE detention center. There, officials finally looked at his U.S. passport, fingerprinted him, and released him. "I just don’t know what they accomplished today other than the chaos," Osman said. Trump further stoked tensions last week when he called Somalis "garbage" and said he does not want them in the country. At the same time, federal agents launched the crackdown in Minneapolis. Trump moves have drawn denunciations from leaders of the Somali community and Democrats, including Gov. Tim Walz. About 84,000 of the 260,000 Somalis in the country live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, the overwhelming majority of them U.S. citizens. Almost 58% were born in the U.S., and 87% of those born elsewhere are naturalized citizens. A new website launched by the Department of Homeland Security listed at least six Somalis arrested in Minnesota in recent weeks. The site said it is "highlighting the worst of worst criminal aliens" arrested by ICE to show how agents are "fulfilling President Trump’s promise and carrying out mass deportations.” ICE released a statement Friday listing three other arrested Somalis who did not appear on the website, along with people of other nationalities who it said were arrested in Minneapolis as part of Operation Metro Surge. ICE said they had all been convicted of crimes including sexual abuse of minors, robbery and domestic assault. "Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey protected these criminals at the expense of the safety of Americans," the statement said. "President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem have a clear message for criminal illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW. If you don’t, we will find you, arrest you, and deport you.”

Axios [12/9/2025 7:20 AM, Brittany Gibson, 12972K] reports local officials in the Twin Cities and beyond aren’t just criticizing ICE raids; they’re trying to make things harder for federal law enforcement, while being careful not to go over the line. The law forbids local leaders from impeding or interfering with federal officers. But Minneapolis and other cities are finding ways to push back on unwanted immigration enforcement by the Trump administration. Homeland Security officials started broadcasting a plan to target sanctuary jurisdictions from the start of President Trump’s second term. This has put local leaders — because of the law, past litigation and public sentiment — directly at odds with Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Within hours of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announcing plans for an expanded ICE operation targeting Somalis over visa fraud, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was standing at a microphone pledging "unwavering" support for the city’s immigrant communities. A day later, Frey signed an executive order that bans law enforcement agencies "from using any City-owned parking lots, ramps, garages, or vacant lots to stage civil immigration enforcement operations." MPD Chief Brian O’Hara reiterated that his officers won’t assist federal authorities unless there’s a public safety concern, and city staff shared a notice template that small businesses or homes can display to deter civil enforcement in private spaces. Some school districts across the Twin Cities also went on the offensive, pledging to block federal agents from buildings and sharing resources for families, per the Star Tribune.

New York Post [12/9/2025 10:39 PM, Anna Young, 42219K] reports President Trump on Tuesday fumed that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar does nothing but "b–ch" — insisting she should be booted from the country after boldly claiming that she married her brother to get US citizenship. "I love this Ilhan Omar, whatever the hell her name is, with the little turban," Trump said, seemingly referring to the Somali-American lawmaker’s hijab, during the first stop of his affordability-focused roadshow in northeastern Pennsylvania. "I love her. She comes in, does nothing but b—h.. She’s always complaining. She comes from her country, where I mean, it’s considered about the worst country in the world, right?". The raucous crowd erupted into a loud "Send her back!" chant as the president repeated his false claim that the "Squad" member committed immigration fraud by illegally marrying her brother. "We oughta get her the hell out," Trump raged. "She married her brother in order to get in, right? She married her brother. Can you imagine if Donald Trump married his sister? Beautiful. She’s a beautiful person. If I married my sister to get my citizenship, do you think I’d last for about two hours? Or would it be something less than that?" he continued. "She married her brother to get in. Therefore, she’s here illegally. She should get the hell out. Throw her the hell out. She does nothing but complain.” The claim that Omar illegally wed her brother so she could gain American citizenship first surfaced on conservative blogs in 2016, when she was running for the Minnesota state legislature. That same year, the Minnesota congresswoman called it "baseless rumors" that "are absolutely false and ridiculous." She has since continued to debunk the claims. The 43-year-old first tied the knot with Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009, a marriage that ended in 2011. She later married Ahmed Hirisi, splitting from him in 2019. Trump’s jab comes amid mounting scrutiny over Minnesota’s $1 billion fraud scandal, which has targeted the state’s generous social safety net and largely involves the Somali immigrant community. After Trump vented that he doesn’t want Somali immigrants in the state, ICE launched a major operation, apprehending more than a dozen illegal immigrants last week. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is home to the largest Somali population in the country. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Bloomberg [12/9/2025 8:00 AM, Fola Akinnibi, 18207K] reports a group of Democrats led by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin is seeking an investigation into alleged connections between high-ranking Trump administration officials and companies vying for billions of dollars in immigration contracts. In a letter sent Monday to the inspectors general for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, Warren, Raskin and seven other Democratic members of Congress express concern that immigration contractors are "potentially receiving lucrative, no-bid contracts" because of their proximity to Trump administration officials. The letter asks for an inquiry into personal, professional and financial ties between those officials and contractors. It specifically calls out border czar Tom Homan, who previously ran a firm that said it could help companies win government contracts. Prior to joining the administration, Homan allegedly accepted $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents on the promise that if Trump took office he would steer contracts to certain companies, according to the letter and reporting from other news outlets. Earlier this year, after Trump took office, the Department of Justice and FBI closed an investigation into the alleged misconduct, with officials calling it a “deep state” probe. Homan had said he would recuse himself from anything having to do with government contracts when he joined the administration.

Washington Post [12/10/2025 5:01 AM, Salvador Rizzo, 32099K] reports federal prosecutors spent over a year working to extradite a Belarusian woman accused of smuggling more than $2 million in sensitive U.S. aviation equipment into Russia as it waged war on Ukraine. But the case could fall apart because the defendant, Yana Leonova, is now at risk of being deported before going to trial. Trump administration officials issued an immigration detainer for Leonova shortly after she was paroled into the United States on Nov. 3 to face a 10-count indictment charging her with fraud, smuggling and money-laundering offenses. The unexpected move has left the prosecution and defense scrambling to find out whether Leonova will continue to face the raft of felony charges or be put on a flight home. A federal magistrate judge called the situation “Kafkaesque” at a hearing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday, and said in a written order that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s push to increase deportations on orders from President Donald Trump appeared to be wreaking havoc on a complex international prosecution that had been tied up for a year in extradition proceedings. “Indeed, it is both preposterous and offensive for the government to bring someone into the United States against their will and then turn around and seek ICE detention because that person is here ‘illegally,’” U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui said in the written order. “The government needs to decide what its priorities are: ginning up deportation stats or prosecuting alleged criminals.” Leonova’s authorization to remain in the country expired two weeks after she arrived, leaving the Russian resident, a citizen of Belarus, in uncharted legal limbo. The immigration detainer gives Department of Homeland Security officials the ability to take Leonova into custody and begin deportation proceedings, and government officials initially told the court that they planned to do so if she was released from jail pending trial. But at the hearing Monday, an assistant U.S. attorney said he was asking DHS to give Leonova legal authorization to remain in the country to face the conspiracy and smuggling charges as outlined in the 23-page indictment. That request was pending as of Tuesday evening, court records show.

Washington Post [12/10/2025 5:01 AM, Arelis R. Hernández, 32099K] reports the Trump administration’s move to overturn years of legal precedent and require mandatory detention for all immigrants facing deportation has sparked outrage from advocates who say they are being denied due process. Now, the migrants are fighting back in a torrent of legal challenges — and on a winning streak in federal court. Since September, when the mandatory detention policy took effect, judges have ruled overwhelmingly in favor of immigrants challenging the change, ordering the administration in case after case to hold immigration bond hearings for detainees or release them, according to a Washington Post review of hundreds of court cases. In a decision that could have sweeping implications for thousands of detainees, U.S. District Judge Sunshine Sykes of the Central District of California ruled on Nov. 26 that the administration’s policy is unlawful and said the government must provide noncitizens across the country a chance to seek their release on bond. She also granted class-action status to all migrants subject to the administration’s mandatory detention policy. The administration is likely to appeal, but immigration attorneys in Massachusetts and western Washington have secured similar class-action standing for detainees in their regions. Those rulings are significant because the Supreme Court ruled in June that lower-court judges have exceeded their authority in issuing injunctions that ban the U.S. government from enacting policies across the country. However, the justices left open the door for judges to award nationwide injunctions in class-action cases. “This is a classic example of the government putting their policy and agenda ahead of the law,” said Matt Adams, legal director at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project who serves as the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the California case. Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant Homeland Security secretary, said the administration’s no-bond rule aims to enforce the law “as it was actually written.” She expressed confidence that the nation’s highest court would rule in favor of the administration if the legal battle over the policy reaches that level. “Judicial activists have been repeatedly overruled by the Supreme Court,” McLaughlin said in a statement.

AP [12/9/2025 2:22 PM, Sahar Akbarzai, Martha Bellisle, Rebecca Santana, and Julie Watson, 31753K] reports on a recent afternoon, Giselle Garcia, a volunteer who has been helping an Afghan family resettle, drove the father to a check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She warned him and his family to prepare for the worst. The moment the father stepped into the ICE office in California’s capital city, he was arrested. Coming just days after the shooting of two National Guard troops by an Afghan national suspect, federal authorities have carried out increased arrests of Afghans in the U.S., immigration lawyers say as Afghans both in and outside the country have come under intense scrutiny by immigration officials. Garcia said the family she helped had reported to all their appointments and were following all legal requirements. “He was trying to be strong for his wife and kids in the car, but the anxiety and fear were palpable,” she said. “His wife was trying to hold back tears, but I could see her in the rearview mirror silently crying.” They had fled Afghanistan under threat by the Taliban because the wife’s father had assisted the U.S. military, and they had asked for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, Garcia said. Since the Nov. 26 Guard shooting, The Associated Press has tracked roughly two dozen arrests of Afghan immigrants, most of which happened in Northern California. In Sacramento, home to one of the nation’s largest Afghan communities, volunteers monitoring ICE activities say they witnessed at least nine arrests at the federal building last week after Afghan men received calls to check in there. Many of those detained had requested asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border in the last two years. Others were among the 76,000 Afghans brought to the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome, created by former President Joe Biden’s administration after the chaotic withdrawal of the U.S. from their country. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Dec. 1 that the Trump administration is “actively reexamining” all the Afghan nationals who entered the U.S. during Biden’s administration. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland, said in an email that the agency “has been going full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and criminal illegal aliens that came in through Biden’s fraudulent parole programs and working to get the criminals and public safety threats OUT of our country.”

CNN [12/9/2025 6:01 AM, Julia Vargas Jones, 18595K] reports when the announcement broke that the Trump administration would halt and rereview immigration cases for certain refugees who arrived during the Biden presidency, Jafar Wahidi’s phone started ringing nonstop. "People are really concerned about this," Wahidi said. "They are really worried." Wahidi helps run Afghan Hope Community Development, a volunteer-led nonprofit that assists Afghan refugees and families in the Sacramento, California, area. They’ve helped more than 5,000 Afghan families in the past five years, he says, and the fear spread almost instantly, and well before the shooting near the White House. "Even people who are here legally, they are calling me because they are afraid," Wahidi said.

FOX News [12/9/2025 9:40 PM, Emma Bussey, 40621K] reports the U.S. deployed two fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela Tuesday, marking what appeared to be the closest known approach of military aircraft to Venezuelan airspace to date, according to reports. The F/A-18 jets were observed on Flightradar24 flying for roughly 30 minutes over the waters north of Venezuela, the Associated Press reported. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the short mission as a "routine training flight" designed to demonstrate the aircraft’s operational reach. The official also did not disclose whether the jets were armed but did emphasize that the operation remained entirely within international airspace. Tuesday’s dual flight follows months of heightened U.S. military activity in the region. Although the U.S. has previously flown B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bombers along Venezuela’s coastline, those aircraft did not appear to approach as closely as Tuesday’s F/A-18s. The increase in activity in the region first began after U.S. strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in both the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific. The first reported U.S. military strike on a vessel that allegedly departed from Venezuela carrying drugs was in September. The Trump administration said the operations were essential to curbing illicit drug trafficking, though Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro continues to deny this. Tensions surrounding Venezuelan airspace escalated in November after President Trump instructed airlines to treat the region as effectively closed, aligning with FAA warnings to civilian carriers. Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation previously told Fox News Digital that Venezuela’s most significant military threat stems from its own air-naval systems. He said that included fighter jets, limited surface vessels, and Russian-made surface-to-air missiles. "Reasonably speaking, in the first day or two of a campaign plan, we can eliminate the air and maritime threat to U.S. forces," Montgomery said. Isaias Medina, an international lawyer and former Venezuelan diplomat, also said Venezuela’s own military capabilities look better on paper than in reality. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
AP [12/9/2025 6:38 PM, Konstantin Toropin, 2983K]
Telemundo [12/9/2025 9:34 PM, Staff, 182K]

AP [12/9/2025 3:50 PM, Stephen Groves and Lisa Mascaro, 2983K] reports that the U.S. Navy admiral who is retiring early from command of the campaign to destroy vessels allegedly carrying drugs near Venezuela spoke to key lawmakers Tuesday as Congress seeks more answers on President Donald Trump’s mission, which, in one instance, killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of an initial strike. The classified video call between Adm. Alvin Holsey, who will be retiring from U.S. South Command in the coming days, and the GOP chairs and ranking Democrats of the Senate Armed Services Committee represented another determined step by lawmakers to demand an accounting from the Department of Defense on the threats against Venezuela and the strikes, especially after a report that two survivors were killed during one operation in September. Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, declined to discuss the specifics of the call, but described Holsey as a "great public servant." Congress is also demanding that the Pentagon turn over unedited video of the strikes, as well as the orders authorizing the attacks, as part of its annual defense authorization bill. Wicker said that the Pentagon is weighing whether the video had "classified sections." The demands were evidence of the intense scrutiny being placed on the Sept. 2 strike, which legal experts say may have violated the laws governing how the U.S. military uses deadly force. Congressional leaders will also receive a wider foreign policy and national security briefing from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday afternoon.

AP [12/9/2025 6:37 PM, Stephen Groves and Lisa Mascaro] reports the U.S. Navy admiral who is retiring early from command of the campaign to destroy vessels allegedly carrying drugs near Venezuela spoke to key lawmakers Tuesday as Congress seeks more answers on President Trump’s mission, which, in one instance, killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of an initial strike. The classified video call between Adm. Alvin Holsey, who will be retiring from U.S. South Command in the coming days, and the GOP chairs and ranking Democrats of the Senate Armed Services Committee represented another determined step by lawmakers to demand an accounting from the Department of Defense on the threats against Venezuela and the strikes, especially after a report that two survivors were killed during one operation in September. Congress is also demanding that the Pentagon turn over unedited video of the strikes, as well as the orders authorizing the attacks, as part of its annual defense authorization bill. Wicker said that the Pentagon is weighing whether the video had "classified sections." The demands were evidence of the intense scrutiny being placed on the Sept. 2 strike, which legal experts say may have violated the laws governing how the U.S. military uses deadly force. Congressional leaders will also receive a wider foreign policy and national security briefing from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday afternoon. What lawmakers learn from Holsey could shed new light on the purpose and parameters of Trump’s campaign, which has struck 22 boats and killed at least 87 people since it started in September. Trump has also been making threats against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, sending a fleet of warships near the South American country, including the largest U.S. aircraft carrier.

Washington Examiner [12/9/2025 12:40 PM, Brady Knox, 1394K] reports that President Donald Trump, in an interview released Tuesday, said he has watched the footage of a follow-up strike on a suspected drug boat and warned that more military action could be coming against drug traffickers soon. Trump sat down for a 45-minute conversation with Politico’s The Conversation, touching on topics ranging from Venezuela to the war in Ukraine to concerns about Europe. Here are the main takeaways from the president’s interview with Dasha Burns: As controversy over a follow-up strike on a suspected Venezuelan drug boat that killed two survivors of the initial strike continues to grip Washington, Trump appeared unconcerned when asked about the matter. "It looked like they were trying to turn back over the boat," Trump said, "but I don’t get involved in that.” He also praised the drug boat strikes more generally, saying that an average of 25,000 American lives were saved with each strike. In the same vein, Trump affirmed he would consider using lethal force against targets in other countries where the drug trade is active, such as Mexico and Colombia. Regarding Venezuela specifically, Trump once again said that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s "days are numbered" and declined to rule out deploying U.S. troops to the country if deemed necessary. "I don’t want to rule in or out. I don’t talk about it," Trump said when asked if he could deploy ground troops to Venezuela. "I don’t want to talk to you about military strategy."

ABC News [12/9/2025 12:51 PM, Hannah Demissie and Justin Gomez, 30493K] reports that President Donald Trump, after initially saying he had "no problem" with releasing the video of the Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea that killed two survivors, is now reversing course and deferring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. "I didn’t say that," Trump claimed when pressed on Monday by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott about his Dec. 3 comments. "Whatever Hegseth wants to do is OK with me," Trump said on Monday. In an interview with Politico published on Tuesday morning, Trump further distanced himself from the controversy when asked if he believed the second strike on the survivors was necessary. "Well, it looked like they were trying to turn back over the boat. But I don’t get involved in that. That’s up to them," Trump said. Though last week, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson spoke about Trump and Hegseth’s responsibility for the strike. "At the end of the day, the president and the secretary are the ones directing these strikes, and any follow-up strikes that were directed by Adm. Bradley, the secretary 100% agrees with," Wilson told reporters at a briefing at the Pentagon on Dec. 2. ABC Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang asked the president in the Oval Office on Dec. 3, "Will you release video of that strike -- so that the American people can see for themselves?" Trump responded, "I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release no problem."

CNN [12/5/2025 4:00 AM, Haley Britzky, 18595K] reports as the US military has undertaken a campaign of attacks against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, at least five people have survived initial strikes ending up in the water after explosions killed fellow crew members and disabled their ships. But what happened next to the survivors varied greatly – two were detained by the US Navy only to be returned to their home countries, one was left to float in the ocean and is presumed dead, and two more have been at the center of intense scrutiny in recent weeks following reporting that the US military conducted a second strike killing them as they clung to their flipped and damaged boat on September 2. The contrast in treatment has happened while policy on how the military will handle survivors remains steady, according to defense officials. That September 2 strike was the first conducted by US forces against alleged drug boats, a campaign that has resulted in the killing of 87 people on 23 boats. Democratic lawmakers have demanded answers about the follow-up strike with some suggesting that the US military may have violated international law by killing the survivors.

New York Times [12/9/2025 9:36 PM, Damien Cave, Edward Wong and Maria Abi-Habib, 135475K] reports the Pentagon was in a bind. The military had plucked two survivors from the Caribbean Sea in mid-October after striking a boat that U.S. officials said was carrying drugs, and it needed to figure out what to do with them. On a call with counterparts at the State Department, Pentagon lawyers floated an idea. They asked whether the two survivors could be put into a notorious prison in El Salvador to which the Trump administration had sent hundreds of Venezuelan deportees, three officials said. The State Department lawyers were stunned, one official said, and rejected the idea. The survivors ended up being repatriated to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador. A little under two weeks later, on Oct. 29, Pentagon officials convened another session about boat strike survivors, a video conference involving dozens of American diplomats from across the Western Hemisphere. The message was that any rescued survivors should be sent back to their home countries or to a third country, said three other officials, who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Behind that policy was a quieter goal: to ensure survivors did not end up in the U.S. judicial system, where court cases could force the administration to show evidence justifying President Trump’s military campaign in the region. The previously unreported calls demonstrate the haphazard and sometimes tense nature of the process within the Trump administration to weigh what to do with the survivors of U.S. attacks on boats that the military asserts — without presenting evidence — are drug-smuggling vessels posing an immediate threat to Americans. Pentagon officials largely kept State Department counterparts in the dark about strike operations, then scrambled to try to enlist diplomats to help deal with survivors, whom military officials referred to by specific terms that included “distressed mariners.” That phrase is usually used in a peacetime and civilian context. The talks took place after the first attack on Sept. 2, when the U.S. military killed two survivors with a second strike. Pentagon officials have not fully explained the process for handling survivors to other agencies or Congress, even as the campaign has continued, killing at least 87 people in 22 attacks. The very act of sending survivors to other countries, as the administration did after the attack in mid-October, raised a fundamental question about the administration’s premise for the strikes: If the administration has evidence to show that the people on the targeted boats are smuggling drugs and are a threat to Americans, then why is it not putting survivors on trial in U.S. courts?

New York Post [12/9/2025 1:59 PM, Ronny Reyes, 42219K] reports that President Trump warned in a new interview that Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s "days are numbered" and refused to rule out sending US ground troops to depose the left-wing leader. The president stressed in the sitdown with Politico released Tuesday that Maduro could not be allowed to stay in power as the administration cracks down on South American drug trafficking, but declined to tip his hand about what the US could or would do to cause regime change. When reporter and "The Conversation" podcast host Dasha Burns asked how far Trump was willing to go to oust Maduro, the president merely responded, "I don’t want to say that." "But you want to see him out?" Burns followed up. "His days are numbered," Trump affirmed. Trump blamed the Caracas regime for sending "drug dealers" into the US, including members of the notorious gang Tren de Aragua. "I want the people of Venezuela to be treated well," he told Burns. "I want the people of Venezuela, many of whom live in the United States, to be respected. I mean, they were tremendous to me. They voted for me 94% or something … I got to know the people well. They’re incredible people. And they were treated horribly by Maduro.” Since Sept. 2, the US military has carried out more than 20 strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing more than 80 people.

NBC News [12/9/2025 9:09 AM, Megan Lebowitz, 34509K] reports President Donald Trump said in an interview with Politico released Tuesday that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s "days are numbered" and declined to comment on whether the U.S. could send troops to the country. Asked whether the U.S. could send in troops on the ground, Trump said, "I don’t comment on that." "I wouldn’t say that one way or the other," he said, going on to criticize Maduro. The president’s comments came during a wide-ranging interview in which he said that Russia had a stronger negotiation position than Ukraine in talks to end their war, criticized European leaders as "weak" and their countries as "decaying," and launched another tirade against Somali immigrants and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. The president also rated his economy as "A+++++," despite polling indicating that voters think the administration has fallen short on addressing economic issues, and he affirmed that an immediate Federal Reserve rate cut decision would be a litmus test for selecting a new chair. Pressed during the interview on how far he would go to take Maduro out of office, Trump said, "I don’t want to say that." "But you want to see him out?" asked Politico reporter Dasha Burns. "His days are numbered," Trump said. Asked again whether he would rule out a U.S. ground invasion, Trump said, "I don’t want to rule in or out.”

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NewsMax [12/9/2025 8:38 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4109K]

NBC News [12/9/2025 3:18 PM, Courtney Kube, 34509K] reports that a coalition of advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration seeking the immediate release of the memo that provides the legal justification for U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats. The complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, argues that the deadly strikes, which have killed at least 87 people since early September, are illegal and that Americans deserve to see the justification for them. The filing requests that the court order the Justice, State and Defense Departments to immediately search for all records regarding the legal reasoning behind the U.S. military campaign against the alleged drug boats and to release them to the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, and other plaintiffs, including the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights. "We think that the public deserves to know how our government is justifying the cold-blooded murder of civilians as lawful," Jeffrey Stein, attorney for the ACLU, said in an interview. "We think that the Trump administration needs to stop these illegal and immoral strikes immediately, and that the officials who have carried them out must be held accountable, not gifted a ‘Get Out of Jail Free card.’" The Defense Department said it does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [12/9/2025 4:29 PM, Mariana Alfaro and Amy B Wang, 24149K]
Washington Examiner [12/9/2025 1:23 PM, Emily Hallas, 1394K]

USA Today [12/9/2025 12:53 AM, Josh Meyer, 67103K] reports that President Donald Trump and his top aides have justified lethal military strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats from Venezuela, by accusing Venezuela and alleged criminal networks operating on its soil like the Cartel de los Soles of flooding the United States with deadly drugs. "This mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people," Secretary of War (formerly known as Secretary of Defense) Pete Hegseth said on Nov. 13. He said the military mission has been officially named "Operation Southern Spear." In August, the United States doubled the reward for information leading to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to an unprecedented $50 million over allegations of drug trafficking and links to criminal groups. Attorney General Pam Bondi explained the bounty at the time by accusing Maduro in a video message of being "one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security." That’s reason enough, Trump and administration officials say, for launching U.S. military attacks that have killed at least 87 people in recent months – including two men clinging to wreckage after they survived an initial Sept. 2 strike that killed nine other suspected smugglers. They say it even warrants a potential attack on Venezuelan soil, which Trump has implied may be in the offing.

CBS News [12/9/2025 5:20 PM, Jennifer Jacobs and Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 39474K] reports President Trump intends to name the deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department to be the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, a major shift in the DHS leadership structure, multiple sources told CBS News. Troy Edgar was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March, making him eligible for the new role without further Senate approval. No start date has been set yet, but it’s likely to be soon, two sources said. Spokespeople for the White House and Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately comment. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Edgar have had a good working relationship, multiple sources say. El Salvador has played a high-profile role in the Trump administration’s sweeping illegal immigration crackdown. The president in March invoked a 200-year-old wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act, to send migrants to a maximum security prison in El Salvador as he sought to deport individuals his administration accused of being members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. CBS News previously reported that many of the men do not have criminal convictions. The men imprisoned in El Salvador were returned to Venezuela in a U.S.-brokered swap over the summer. A report by human rights groups last month determined that the deportation and treatment of the more than 200 Venezuelan migrants at the prison amounted to arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearance under international law.

Univision [12/9/2025 5:30 AM, Staff, 5004K] reports alleging that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has not provided adequate information about her actions in the case of the deportation flights to El Salvador , Judge James Boasberg decided on Monday to expand his investigation and order a senior Justice Department (DOJ) official to testify. Specifically, Boasberg ordered the government to make Deputy Attorney General Drew Ensign available to testify on December 16. Boasberg wants to hear testimony beforehand from Erez Reuveni, the lawyer fired from the DOJ for allegedly failing to defend the Trump administration’s interests during the hearing that ordered Kilmar Abrego García’s reinstatement. The judge is investigating whether Secretary Noem should face contempt charges after her order to halt flights carrying migrants to El Salvador was ignored. The planes arrived in El Salvador with hundreds of migrants, the vast majority Venezuelans, just hours later. The case has given rise to an extraordinary confrontation between the judicial and executive branches.

Federalist [12/9/2025 7:32 AM, Ben Weingarten, 785K] reports on Nov. 28, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security entered a settlement to resolve litigation with four states. The lawsuit was originally brought against the Biden administration over its alleged stonewalling of election authorities seeking federal records necessary to rid their voter rolls of suspected noncitizens. Once the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida signs off on the settlement, election integrity will be strengthened not only in the Sunshine State, Ohio, Iowa, and Indiana — its co-plaintiffs — but nationwide. It marks the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration has taken to enable states to ensure that only citizens are voting — efforts made vital in the aftermath of the Biden-led illegal immigration invasion, and with Congress yet to pass the SAVE Act, which would require registrants to provide documentary proof of citizenship. Under the settlement, the federal government affirmed its pledge to dramatically increase the capability, functionality, and accessibility of DHS’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements or SAVE program. Historically, SAVE (not to be confused with the pending bill of the same name) allowed authorities to search for the citizenship and immigration statuses of applicants for benefits or licenses. But the system was subject to a variety of limitations. Each query required state authorities and other users to include both biographic information and a federally issued immigration number — a number that many states do not possess. States could only cross-reference data with DHS’s immigration records, not compare it with information held by other agencies that might reveal citizenship status. They could only run queries on one individual at a time and had to pay the federal government for those queries. And federal authorities only granted a limited number of states access to the SAVE tool in the first place, with some allegedly finding their requests slow-walked — akin to the charges leveled by the four state plaintiffs in their litigation with DHS.

FOX News [12/9/2025 12:13 PM, Preston Mizell, 40621K] Video: HERE reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is pointing to new data from the state of California that shows the cost of taxpayer-funded ambulance transport potentially rising by 383%. The Trump administration is using the shocking statistic to further blast Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom for providing healthcare services through state-funded Medi-Cal and federally funded Medicaid to illegal immigrants. DHS and the White House have both been critical of illegal migrants receiving healthcare benefits, mainly through emergency services. The topic served as the center of discourse that contributed to the recent government shutdown. "President Trump consistently promised to protect Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "To keep that promise after Joe Biden flooded our country with tens of millions of illegal aliens, CMS and DHS are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans." "California should understand this principle pretty well by now, since they had to announce they were freezing Medi-Cal enrollment for illegal immigrants earlier this year," McLaughlin added. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/9/2025 11:45 AM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner slammed the Biden administration for what he called an illegal immigration and refugee crisis that rattled the housing market – particularly for low-income renters – though some analysts dispute the findings. Every two years, HUD releases its "Worst Case Housing Needs Report" – considered the agency’s flagship assessment of the state of the housing market for low-income Americans – and how many lack affordable and adequate housing. The report serves as a nationwide barometer of housing stress and shows whether the availability of affordable housing is improving or worsening, and who may be being hurt by the current conditions, which Congress can then use to craft policy. Policymakers use it to gauge gaps in the supply of low-cost rentals, target federal housing programs, and understand trends in who is being left behind. In short, it’s HUD’s way of tracking the renters in the greatest need — and how the U.S. housing system is failing to meet them. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Wire [12/9/2025 6:28 AM, Mary Margaret Olohan, 2494K] reports one of the main blue-state plaintiffs suing the Trump administration for sharing Medicaid beneficiary data with the Department of Homeland Security cannot produce evidence showing that the policy causes harm, filings first shared with The Daily Wire show. Hawaii joined California and 18 other states in the suit, which contends that sharing Medicaid data with Homeland Security puts beneficiaries in harm’s way and at risk for deportation. America First Legal submitted records demands for documents showing any data leaks or improper disclosures, instances of Medicaid information reaching immigration authorities, increased hospital costs or uncompensated care, drops in enrollment or reluctance from noncitizens, any administrative burden, any deaths or adverse patient outcomes, and interference with the state’s ability to administer Medicaid. Filings viewed by The Daily Wire show that Hawaii could not produce any documents on these topics, and the state’s reasoning was that it does not have the records for these requests. America First Legal maintains that this shows that the state has no evidence to back up its claim that the Trump policy causes harm.

FOX News [12/9/2025 6:27 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller explains why he thinks a 1965 law changed U.S. immigration policy substantially on ‘The Will Cain Show.’

Blaze [12/9/2025 6:00 AM, Rachel Ehrenfeld, 1442K] reports Democrats deny what mountains of evidence have long shown: Terrorist groups traffic in illegal drugs. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) recently insisted, "There is no such thing as a narco-terrorist," as he defended his opposition to the Trump administration’s war on narco-terrorism in the Caribbean. He accused the administration of trying "to make this look like it’s ISIS or Al-Qaeda," ignoring that ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and similar groups have long run profitable drug operations with local and transnational cartels. These alliances increased revenue, financed attacks, fueled violence, and deepened existing conflicts. Narco-terrorism did not originate with the Trump administration. It was the subject of my 1990 book, which documented how governments around the world used the drug trade to fund and advance terrorist activity. For more than three decades, Washington looked away. That era has ended. On November 16, the U.S. Treasury designated Venezuela’s Cártel de los Soles — run by Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro and key figures in his illegitimate regime — along with Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, as foreign terrorist organizations. Treasury should have added Colombia’s National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, or ELN), a Marxist paramilitary and major drug-trafficking force that controls both sides of the border and works closely with Maduro.

NewsMax [12/9/2025 6:47 AM, Fred Fleitz, 4109K] reports that the mainstream media was quick to amplify harsh condemnations by European leaders and elites about President Trump’s new national security strategy, even though the Europe section of the plan is titled "Promoting European Greatness" and stresses America’s sentimental attachment to Europe. Former French ambassador to the U.S. Gérard Araud said the strategy "largely confirms" perceptions that Trump is an "enemy of Europe," adding, "the stunning section devoted to Europe reads like a far-right pamphlet." German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul rejected the strategy, saying Germany will not take advice on democracy and freedom from the Trump administration. Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt said the strategy was "language that one otherwise only finds coming out of some bizarre minds of the Kremlin." However, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas broke with European elites on the National Security Strategy when she said, "of course, there’s a lot of criticism, but I think some of it is also true. Additionally, she noted, "Europe has been underestimating its own power. Towards Russia, for example we should be more self-confident.” The intense criticism by European elites of the Europe section of the National Security Strategy stemmed from it saying many things they strongly disagreed with and would prefer their people not hear. The principal point of the Europe section was that Europe is in decline due to economic decline and "civilization erasure" caused by out-of-control mass and unvetted migration.

NewsNation [12/9/2025 6:13 PM, Ali Bradley and Jeff Arnold, 8017K] Video: HERE reports more than 600 migrant children who entered the United States illegally and unaccompanied by an adult have been placed into government shelters this year — more kids than the previous four years combined — federal officials confirmed to NewsNation. Since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, the Office of Refugee Resettlement has received 651 referrals from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which took children who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border unaccompanied by an adult, the agency said. As of Monday, more than 62,000 minors who crossed into the United States illegally, unaccompanied by an adult, had been located since Trump began his second term, NewsNation confirmed. That’s a sharp increase since July, when the Department of Homeland Security reported 24,000 minors had been located. ProPublica, citing government data, reported that at least 160 of this year’s cases involved child welfare concerns of children who were separated at the border. The outlet reported an additional 150 cases involved children who were sent to government shelters after their parents were detained in traffic stops in places like Florida, where state and local police partner with federal immigration agents and officers, the report indicated. An ICE spokesperson told NewsNation this week that the federal agency does not separate families, a practice that began during Trump’s first term. Instead, the spokesperson said that the parents of the minors, who are often teenagers, are given the choice to be removed from their children or for ICE to place minors with a "safe person," who is designated by the parents. The ICE spokesperson deferred specific questions about the placement of children into federal shelters to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees ORR. An ORR spokesperson told NewsNation that the agency is legally responsible for providing care and custody for all unaccompanied children until they can be placed with a vetted sponsor. The ProPublica report indicated that in many of the cases that the media outlet investigated, the children who were placed in federal shelters would not have been sent there previously. Data cited in the report shows that the average stay in the ORR facilities is six months under Trump, as opposed to one month under the Biden administration. However, ICE officials said that although the agency is not responsible for maintaining custody of unaccompanied minor children, the Trump administration has helped to ensure the safety of children who are being housed in ORR facilities. The ICE spokesman said that federal officials have made thousands of physical visits to locate and check the well-being of unaccompanied children who entered the country under the Biden administration. "We’ve jump-started our efforts to rescue children who were victims of sex and labor trafficking by working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate these children," the ICE spokesperson told NewsNation. "President Trump and (Homeland Security) Secretary (Kristi) Noem are laser-focused on protecting children and will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement to reunite children with their families.”

Blaze [12/9/2025 3:50 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1442K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement is locking up more pedophiles and violent criminals as the Department of Homeland Security launches a new "worst of the worst" searchable website. A press release obtained exclusively by Blaze News highlighted the Monday arrests of five criminal illegal aliens. "Every day, our law enforcement are removing the worst of the worst from across our nation," McLaughlin continued. "Just yesterday, ICE arrested pedophiles, armed robbers, and drug traffickers. Thanks to our new website, Americans can see for themselves the criminal illegal aliens that we are arresting and removing from their communities." The agency’s recent arrests coincide with the launch of wow.dhs.gov, a webpage that highlights the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal aliens nabbed by federal immigration officials since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. The website provides their names as well as their country of origin, arrest location, and prior arrests and convictions. Users can search for arrests by both country of origin and state. The DHS announced the new searchable website on Monday.

Breitbart [12/9/2025 4:48 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is launching a public database where Americans can search the "worst of the worst" illegal aliens arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The database, known as dhs.gov/wow, aggregates various information on illegal aliens arrested by ICE agents, including the location of their arrest, their crimes, and their names. DHS officials said the database is crucial so that Americans no longer have to rely on the establishment media to highlight migrant crime. "This new Worst of the Worst webpage allows every American to see for themselves the criminal illegal aliens that we are arresting, what crimes they committed, and what communities we removed them from. This is all about transparency and showing results," DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Telemundo52 [12/9/2025 9:40 PM, Luis Treto, 76K] reports the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report Tuesday on the detention of nearly two dozen U.S. citizens by immigration agents, five of whom testified today before senators and congressmen. Three of the five citizens who gave their testimony today are from Southern California, and one of them was arrested by immigration agents in June during a migration operation in downtown Los Angeles. The hearing was attended only by Democratic congressmen and senators; no Republicans participated. The report, titled “Unchecked Authority,” released by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee, details 22 interviews with U.S. citizens who claim they were arrested by immigration agents in the country between June and November of this year. Five of them testified this morning before Democratic members of Congress and the Senate in Washington, D.C. “Imagine if this is happening to a citizen, imagine what is also happening to an immigrant,” said Javier Ramirez, a U.S. citizen detained by ICE. In August of this year, Democratic senators began documenting the detentions of U.S. citizens by federal agents. In October, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated in an interview detailing the report that “no U.S. citizens had been arrested or detained.” But lawmakers say that interviews with 22 citizens indicate otherwise. “There needs to be accountability for the actions they are taking against not only citizens, but also immigrant people,” said Andrea Vélez, a U.S. citizen detained by ICE. Vélez claims that in June of this year she was arrested by federal agents in downtown Los Angeles during an immigration operation. “They came running and attacked people without saying it was ice, and at that moment I was running and I used my bag to protect myself and they threw me and knocked me to the ground,” Vélez said. Vélez notes that, although she told the officers she was a U.S. citizen and had her Real ID, she was detained for two days and was later charged with federal offenses that were subsequently dismissed. Javier Ramirez was also arrested during the summer in Montebello, and although he says he informed the officers that he had his passport in his pocket, they detained him for five days. “They arrested me because of racial profiling and how I looked dressed and speaking Spanish,” Ramirez said. In response to the report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told Telemundo 52 in a statement: “ICE does not arrest U.S. citizens. What makes someone a target of an immigration operation is their illegal presence in the country—not their skin color, race, or ethnicity. Under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, DHS personnel use reasonable suspicion to make arrests. There are no indiscriminate detentions. The Supreme Court has vindicated us on this issue. DHS enforces federal immigration law without fear, favor, or prejudice.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [12/10/2025 12:09 AM, Moriah Balingit, 19051K] reports that, not long after President Donald Trump took office in January, staff at CentroNía bilingual preschool began rehearsing what to do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials came to the door. As ICE became a regular presence in their historically Latino neighborhood this summer, teachers stopped taking children to nearby parks, libraries and playgrounds that had once been considered an extension of the classroom. And in October, the school scrapped its beloved Hispanic Heritage Month parade, when immigrant parents typically dressed their children in costumes and soccer jerseys from their home countries. ICE had begun stopping staff members, all of whom have legal status, and school officials worried about drawing more unwelcome attention. All of this transpired before ICE officials arrested a teacher inside a Spanish immersion preschool in Chicago in October. The event left immigrants who work in child care, along with the families who rely on them, feeling frightened and vulnerable. Trump’s push for the largest mass deportation in history has had an outsized impact on the child care field, which is heavily reliant on immigrants and already strained by a worker shortage. Immigrant child care workers and preschool teachers, the majority of whom are working and living in the U.S. legally, say they are wracked by anxiety over possible encounters with ICE officials. Some have left the field, and others have been forced out by changes to immigration policy. At CentroNía, CEO Myrna Peralta said all staff must have legal status and work authorization. But ICE’s presence and the fear it generates have changed how the school operates. “That really dominates all of our decision making,” Peralta said. Instead of taking children on walks through the neighborhood, staff members push children on strollers around the hallways. And staff converted a classroom into a miniature library when the school scrapped a partnership with a local library. Schools and child care centers were once off limits to ICE officials, in part to keep children out of harm’s way. But those rules were scrapped not long after Trump’s inauguration. Instead, ICE officials are urged to exercise “common sense.” Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, defended ICE officials’ decision to enter the Chicago preschool. She said the teacher, who had a work permit and was later released, was a passenger in a car that was being pursued by ICE officials. She got out of the car and ran into the preschool, McLaughlin said, emphasizing the teacher was “arrested in the vestibule, not in the school.” The man who had been driving went inside the preschool, where officials arrested him. About one-fifth of America’s child care workers were born outside the United States and one-fifth are Latino. The proportion of immigrants in some places, particularly large cities, is much higher: In the District of Columbia, California and New York, around 40% of the child care workforce is foreign-born, according to UC Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. Immigrants in the field tend to be better educated than those born in the United States. Those from Latin America help satisfy the growing demand for Spanish-language preschools, such as CentroNía, where some parents enroll their kids to give them a head start learning another language. The American Immigration Council estimated in 2021 that more than three-quarters of immigrants working in early care and education were living and working in the U.S. legally. Preschools like CentroNía conduct rigorous background checks, including verifying employees have work authorization.

NBC News [12/9/2025 11:32 AM, Doha Madani and Christiana Corporon, 34509K] reports the mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew has been released from immigration detention, nearly a month after she was taken into custody. Bruna Caroline Ferreira, who shares a child with Leavitt’s brother, was taken into custody on Nov. 12 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere, Massachusetts, while she was driving to her son’s school, her attorney Todd Pomerleau told reporters last month. Pomerleau said Tuesday that she was released on a $1,500 bond, the lowest amount permitted under immigration law. He stated in a phone interview that he had a brief conversation with Ferreira, who said she was traveling back to the Northeast from Louisiana. "We argued forcefully that she was not a danger or flight risk, discussed the numerous forms of relief available to her to receive lawful permanent residency, and that the DHS’ narrative that she was a ‘criminal illegal alien’ was false as a matter of fact and law, as she has never been arrested for any crime," Pomerleau said in a Tuesday statement. The statement added that the only time she has been arrested was on Nov. 12, which he called an "unconstitutional ICE charade." The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Monday night that Ferreira was "a criminal illegal alien from Brazil" who had been arrested for battery and that she entered the U.S. on a B2 tourist visa that required her to leave by June 6, 1999. The DHS statement added that a judge authorized her release and bond payment upon her entry into "removal proceedings.”

CBS New York [12/9/2025 7:07 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports a Brooklyn man says he’s praying for a Christmas miracle -- the release of his husband from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Allan Dabrio Marrero was detained two weeks ago at a routine hearing, but the Department of Homeland Security says he received "full due process.” "He’s in prison basically". The only way Matthew Marrero can see his husband is at an ICE detention facility. "He’s the love of my life. He’s my best friend. He’s the only person that has really seen and heard me the way I like to be heard and seen," Marrero said. "He’s in prison basically, and he doesn’t have a criminal record. He has done nothing wrong. We’ve done everything right up to this point.” The couple went to immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza for Dabrio Marrero’s routine green card interview on Nov. 24, but instead of leaving together, Marrero’s husband was taken into ICE custody. "My whole world just fell apart right then and there," Marrero said. Immigration advocates working to gain Dabrio Marrero’s release. Members of the couple’s Middle Church family and immigration advocates rallied Tuesday to free the man who came to the U.S. in 2013 from the Cayman Islands, seeking asylum based on his LGBTQ+ identity. A decade later, the couple met and got married and filed their own immigration paperwork. "Allan is a man who kept meticulous track of his immigration paperwork and tried to do everything by the book," said Alexandra Rizio, supervising immigration attorney for Make the Road New York, which filed a motion to reopen his deportation case. While the motion is being considered, he can’t be deported. "The Trump administration has fired 25% of immigration judges in New York. When will Allan’s case be heard? When will he get his day in court?" Rizio said. A DHS spokesperson said, in part, "[Dabrio Marrero] entered the United States on a tourist visa that required him to depart the United States by Sept. 8, 2013. After he failed to show up for his immigration hearing, a judge ordered him a final order of removal in 2022. He received full due process.”

Univision [12/9/2025 5:53 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports Dylan Torres picked up a co-worker at an apartment complex in Metro Atlanta on the morning of Monday, Dec. 8. Shortly after leaving, a van "closed" them in front of her and from her were dropped by alleged immigration agents who asked him and the passenger for their identifications. The exchange was recorded on video. The young man spoke to Univision about what they lived and their reaction. “It happened on Shallowford Road around 6:40 a.m. ... I was going to pick up a person in the apartments... When I walked in, there was no car. After picking up the worker, I saw a car at the entrance with an orange spotlight that said Security,” Torres said in an interview with Jensser Morales of Univision 34 Atlanta. “A dark blue Ford Expedition pickup went through me and closed. He turned on the lights and, at that moment, another car was placed behind me,” Torres said. Moments later, the Hispanic described that alleged agents got off and began to touch his window. “They wanted the person who was going with me to identify themselves. I told them no, that the only person who should identify was me, because I was the one who drove,” Torres described. Torres recorded all the exchange he had with the alleged ICE agents. The men seen in the video wear green vests with the word “Police,” have part of their face covered and the vehicles they were traveling on had blue lights like those used by official authorities, such as patrols. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [12/9/2025 8:24 PM, Omar Villafranca, 39474K] reports what began as a normal Monday morning for 18-year-old Jonathan Escalante quickly changed when his mother, 38-year-old Vilma Cruz, called to tell him that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had pulled up behind her car in Kenner, Louisiana. "She told the man in Spanish that ‘I didn’t do anything to you, sir,’ and then she hung up the call," Escalante said in a broadcast exclusive interview with CBS News. "And then I wasn’t able to call her ever since.” Another relative said she was on the phone with Cruz when she heard ICE agents yelling to open the door. The next thing she heard was the window breaking, before the phone went dead. Cruz, who is from Honduras and has lived in the U.S. for roughly two decades, had spent nearly three weeks avoiding work because of heightened immigration enforcement in the area, Escalante said. The family had even discussed the night before whether she should leave the house for a painting job. "‘We’ve all been talking to her as well, that she should probably not go," Escalante said, explaining that recent raids had kept everyone inside. Cruz’s arrest came amid an operation dubbed "Catahoula Crunch," a Department of Homeland Security effort that officials say targets "criminal illegal aliens" in the New Orleans area. Escalante said he does not know his mother’s immigration status, but does not believe she’s an American citizen. When asked if his mother had a criminal history, Escalante said he was not aware of any crimes she has committed. He’s not sure why ICE agents would target his mother for deportation. ICE officials did not respond to CBS News’ repeated requests for comment. ICE officials did not answer repeated requests for information on Cruz and why she was apprehended. Now, Escalante said he is the sole caregiver for his 9-year-old sister — something he never imagined would happen. Unlike their mother, the two siblings are both American citizens, but he still worries about being detained. He said he sometimes carries around his passport, just in case. "Because I am afraid of ICE agents just stopping me because they feel like it," Escalante said. That fear isn’t unfounded. More than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by immigration agents so far this year, according to a ProPublica report. Jacelynn Guzman, a U.S. citizen, was chased by ICE agents last week in New Orleans. "I immediately started telling him, ‘I’m born and raised here. I’m a U.S. citizen.’ And he did not care at all," Guzman said. "I didn’t know if I should run or not, I was scared, but then another car pulled up and I was like I’m out of here.” Agents later said she matched the description of a suspect. The League of United Latin American Citizens, a prominent civil rights group, is looking at legal action to stop the detention operations in Louisiana. A LULAC spokesman told CBS News that they have set up a GoFundMe page for the family to help with expenses and bills. The spokesman also added that LULAC officials believe Cruz is being held in a Mississippi detention facility. As the family waits for news, Escalante described the way his mother sounded on the phone before the line went dead. "She just sounded really worried, and her voice wasn’t shaky — I’m pretty sure she was forcing herself, because she probably didn’t want me to hear that from her," Escalante said, adding, "We’ve had bumps here and there, but she would never show me the side of her where she has to worry about bills and all that other stuff.”

Breitbart [12/9/2025 10:14 AM, Randy Clark, 2416K] reports a mob of agitators confronted ICE agents and pelted the immigration agents during the arrest of a suspected member of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang in Elgin, Illinois. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the agitators committed the assaults during the arrest of Luis Jesus Acosta-Gutierrez, a Venezuelan illegal alien accused of using his vehicle to ram into an ICE agent’s vehicle on Sunday. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin provided details of the assault on ICE agents in the greater Chicago area in a social media post on Tuesday. The post included a video of a portion of the arrest that showed ICE agents attempting to leave the scene as a crowd of demonstrators shouted at the immigration officers, as one waved a Mexican flag. According to McLaughlin, local police did not provide any help to the agents during the incident. A press release issued by DHS outlined the earlier pursuit of Acosta-Gutierrez after the suspected Tren de Aragua gang member allegedly rammed an ICE vehicle into a tree during an attempt to arrest him for being illegally present in the United States. According to the release, ICE agents attempted to stop a vehicle being driven by Acosta-Gutierrez on Sunday. Acosta-Guttierez resisted arrest by using his vehicle to ram into the ICE agent’s vehicle while the officer was still inside. The unidentified ICE agent was not injured.

DailySignal [12/9/2025 1:59 PM, George Caldwell, 549K] reports that in solidly blue Illinois, members of the state’s conservative Freedom Caucus are harshly criticizing the reinstatement of a non-citizen as a police officer who was recently arrested by Immigration Customs Enforcement. On Oct. 15, ICE arrested Radule Bojovic, an alleged "illegal alien from Montenegro who was recently sworn in as a police officer in the Chicago suburb of Hanover Park." The Department of Homeland Security alleged that "Bojovic overstayed a B2 tourist visa that required him to depart the U.S. on March 31, 2015. Over a decade later, he was still illegally in the U.S." After being released on bond Oct. 31, Bojovic went back to work for the Hanover Park police department, per Fox 32 Chicago. Now, conservative legislators in the state’s Freedom Caucus are calling for action. "You have a situation where a non-citizen is here with arrest powers over the citizenry of the folks here in the state of Illinois, and this is something that we cannot stand for," Rep. Adam Niemerg told The Daily Signal. "We’re having a full investigation with the DOJ, with ICE enforcement, with my Freedom Caucus colleagues and myself, and we’re going to get to the bottom of what’s going on." "This popped up, and we’ve been kind of trying to chase down the details and so we FOIA’d [filed Freedom of Information Act requests] to try to find out—we haven’t got this back yet—but we’ve tried to uncover the employment documents. Did he lie about his status? There’s more questions than we have answers right now," state Rep. Chris Miller told The Daily Signal.

NBC News [12/9/2025 3:58 PM, Doha Madani, 34509K] reports four people were arrested at a raid on a home in Burnsville, Minnesota, including a couple whose 7-year-old son has been left without his parents, family members told NBC affiliate KARE. The family alleges that ICE entered their private residence without presenting a warrant, they told KARE. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter Tuesday. It’s unclear if all the people inside the home are related to each other. The City of Burnsville released a statement on Sunday acknowledging that it was "monitoring federal immigration activity." The city said its officers are not "typically" informed of federal immigration activity and do not engage with enforcement. The Burnsville mayor’s office said in a statement Tuesday that public safety teams responded to two calls regarding immigration enforcement activity.

Daily Wire [12/9/2025 6:10 AM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports administrators from a university in Minneapolis tried to block ICE from arresting an illegal immigrant sex offender roaming their campus, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Federal immigration agents located Jesus Saucedo-Portillo, who also had a past arrest for a DWI, on Saturday as he was getting into his car at Augsburg University. The officers were quickly met by a school official and campus security who "attempted to obstruct the arrest," DHS said on X Monday. ICE officers told the school officials that they had a warrant for Saucedo-Portillo’s arrest, but a university administrator told them that they were "violating university policies," DHS said. "Our officers informed them that federal law supersedes any University policy and that if campus security would not stop blocking the law enforcement vehicle from exiting, they would be obstructing justice," DHS said. Still, the school administrator "continued" to block ICE’s vehicle, ordering campus security to stand in front of it, according to DHS. ICE was able to "use the minimum amount of force necessary" to arrest Saucedo-Portillo. School officials claimed that "masked ICE agents" showed up on campus and targeted an undergraduate student while also confronting individuals outside of a dorm, according to Fox 9. The feds, they said, pointed their weapons at students and school officials.

NBCNews [12/9/2025 11:14 AM, Staff, 34509K] reports that ICE agents detained four people from a Minnesota home during a raid caught on a Ring camera, according to family members, including a 7-year-old’s parents and the husband of a pregnant woman. KARE’s Heidi Wigdahl reports. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [12/9/2025 3:22 PM, Valerie Gonzalez, 182K] reports that Hundreds of immigrant children lingered in federal detention beyond a court-mandated limit, including some who were held more than five months, according to court filings that alarmed legal advocates who say the government is failing to safeguard children. Attorneys for detainees highlighted the government’s own admissions to longer custody times for immigrant children, contaminated food, a lack of access to medical care or sufficient legal counsel reported by families and monitors at federal facilities, as well as a renewed reliance on hotels for detention. The attorneys’ reports were filed late Monday in a civil lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation in 1997 of court-ordered supervision of standards and eventually established a 20-day limit in custody. The Trump administration is attempting to end the agreement. A Dec. 1 report from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit from August to September. They told the court the problem was widespread and not specific to a region or facility. The primary factors that prolonged their release were categorized into three groups: transportation delays, medical needs, and legal processing. Legal advocates for the children contended those reasons do not prove lawful justifications for the delays in their release. Through interviews with detained families, advocates identified five children held for 168 days. The report didn’t say how old those children were.

CBS Miami [12/9/2025 9:35 AM, Ivan Taylor, 39474K] reports a South Florida man being held at the immigration detention site known as "Alligator Alcatraz" told CBS News Miami he wants to be deported, as international human rights advocates raise concerns over conditions inside the facility deep in the Florida Everglades. Alexis Rodriguez, 59, a Cuban national, was detained last month after reporting for what his family says was a routine appointment at the Miramar immigration office — something he’s done for 25 years. His wife, Magda Berge, said Rodriguez appeared at the center on Nov. 5, when officers informed him he would not be returning home. "In Miramar they told him, ‘you’re going to be detained because we’re going to execute your deportation order,’" Berge said. Federal records show Rodriguez was convicted in the late 1990s on cocaine trafficking and smuggling charges. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lists his case - including a two-year federal sentence - on a recently launched public website. "I know he made a mistake, and he made it more than 25 years ago. He paid for that mistake," Berge said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo 48 El Paso [12/9/2025 4:09 PM, Staff, 10K] reports a 48-year-old man from Guatemala, who was in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), died on December 3 at 5:53 a.m. at The Hospitals of Providence East, following medical complications preliminarily attributed to liver and kidney failure. The deceased was identified as Francisco Gaspar-Andres, who had been hospitalized on November 16 and remained under continuous medical care. While the official cause of death is pending, medical personnel reported that his condition was due to natural organ failure. ICE stated that he received constant medical attention since his health crisis was reported. Gaspar-Andres told authorities he entered the United States by crossing the border on foot at an unauthorized point. He was arrested on September 1 by the Florida Highway Patrol during a scheduled operation and subsequently processed at the Krome South Detention Center in Miami. That same month, he was briefly hospitalized in Miami for alcohol withdrawal symptoms, though he was discharged and returned to the detention center. On September 19, he was transferred to El Paso, where he remained at the Camp East Montana detention center while his immigration proceedings continued. On November 14, an immigration judge ordered his deportation to Guatemala. In the following days, his health deteriorated significantly: fever, jaundice, severe edema in one leg, a chesty cough, and hypertension. He was hospitalized on November 16 with low sodium levels and was diagnosed with hyponatremia a few days later. On November 19, an MRI revealed pansinusitis. His condition continued to worsen; he remained septic and was intubated on November 21. He was subsequently placed on a liver transplant waiting list and received dialysis and palliative care.

DailySignal [12/9/2025 5:33 PM, Virginia Allen, 549K] reports an illegal alien from El Salvador shot a civilian and multiple police officers in Omaha, Nebraska last week. Juan Ayala Ramos, 28, is reported to have randomly shot 61-year-old Michael Kasper, critically injuring the man, outside a grocery store in Omaha as Kasper was loading groceries into his vehicle. Using his license plate number, police tracked Ayala Ramos to a local QuikTrip gas station where he barricaded himself in the bathroom. Body camera footage shows the Salvador national exiting a bathroom stall and firing at the police officers. Police returned fire, killing Ayala Ramos. Following the shooting, four police officers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Ayala Ramos’ criminal record included assault by strangulation in 2019 and burglary and possession of a stolen firearm in 2021, according to DHS. Ayala Ramos entered the U.S. illegally in June 2007 as an unaccompanied minor. Later the same year, DHS reports that an "immigration judge administratively closed his removal case." A total of six police officers were involved in the incident, according to the Omaha Police Department, three of whom sustained gunshot wounds and another a shrapnel injury.

Daily Caller [12/9/2025 1:54 PM, Hudson Crozier, 835K] reports that a legal group tied to the Antifa movement gave tech tips for anti-deportation activists to make it harder for law enforcement to investigate them in a Nov. 25 webinar. Protesters should take great care to secure or delete data on their electronic devices before, rather than after, they are threatened with arrest or charges, the Oregon-based Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC) told its audience in the public video call. Oregon, especially Portland, has become a hotbed of protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that have led to violence, arson and dozens of arrests since President Donald Trump took office. Slides in the webinar, titled "Your Right to Protest ICE," advised viewers to encrypt messages with apps such as Signal and Keybase, use virtual private networks (VPNs), stop using Google, lock devices with passcodes and even enable "remote wiping" to delete data from a seized device. "DELETE SHIT OFTEN!!!!" a slide in the webinar says. It also tells viewers to consider whether they really "need" to write something down via digital text or paper if it could potentially be used against them later. "If the ‘document’ doesn’t exist, there is no threat of it being turned over to the opponent or stolen/seized," the slide says.

NewsMax [12/9/2025 10:36 AM, James Morley III, 4109K] reports San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood is set to introduce legislation today that would prevent the Trump administration from using city property to conduct federal immigration raids, Politico reported Tuesday. Mahmood’s proposed legislation would bar ICE and other outside government agencies from using San Francisco city property for anything other than city services. If approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and signed by the mayor, the measure would prevent federal agents from staging operations on city-owned spaces such as parking lots, parks, and public buildings. The board is expected to vote on the proposal in January. President Donald Trump spoke with Mayor Daniel Lurie in October after the president called off a threatened surge of ICE officers to address San Francisco’s deteriorating conditions. "We have work to do, and we would welcome continued partnerships with the FBI, DEA, ATF, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to get drugs and drug dealers off our streets, but having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our city will hinder our recovery," Lurie wrote on X following his call with the president. "It was clear we needed something with teeth," Mahmood said. "A city purpose is not civil immigration enforcement. "This is a declaration of our local rights."

San Francisco Chronicle [12/9/2025 5:30 PM, Jessica Flores, 4722K] reports Santa Clara County supervisors on Tuesday passed an ordinance that will limit federal immigration officers from carrying out raids on municipal property — creating what was believed to be the Bay Area’s first official "ICE-free zone." The board voted unanimously to restrict federal immigration officials from using county-owned or controlled property — such as parking lots, vacant lots or garages — to stage enforcement operations. The new law won’t prevent immigration agents from making arrests if they have a judicial warrant or court order, but it could make it harder for agents to find a place to stage their operations. The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back at these plans, telling Newsweek in October that the agency "will not be deterred from enforcing immigration law."

San Francisco Chronicle [12/9/2025 5:29 PM, Bob Egelko, 4722K] reports they are among 13 U.S. citizens and one legal resident in California who are filing suit claiming they have been unlawfully arrested or detained by the Trump administration’s immigration officers in recent months. Their lawyers are seeking $1 million in damages for each of them. Nationwide, according to ProPublica, more than 170 U.S. citizens were arrested during the first nine months of President Donald Trump’s presidency this year. While U.S. courts have prohibited racial profiling by law enforcement officers — arresting people based on their racial or ethnic appearance — the Supreme Court appeared to ease that ban in a Los Angeles case in September. The court’s 6-3 conservative majority allowed federal agents to arrest suspected illegal immigrants based on how they looked, how they spoke or where they worked. The only explanation from the court’s majority was by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who said illegal immigrants tend to work in jobs like day labor and agriculture that require little paperwork, and often speak little or no English. Anyone who can show they’re a U.S. citizen "will be free to go after the brief encounter," Kavanaugh wrote. Kavanaugh’s assessment is also contradicted by the detentions of numerous California-based U.S. citizens. The current accusations have been indignantly denied by the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — and Customs and Border Protection. Those conflicting accounts will now head to court.

NPR [12/10/2025 5:00 AM, Ximena Bustillo, 34837K] reports the Trump administration is transforming the agency known for processing green cards and citizenship requests into one of its strongest anti-immigration policing arms. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, is one of the three branches of the Homeland Security Department that deals with migration. Traditionally, its more than 20,000 employees have focused on the various ways people can lawfully immigrate and stay in the U.S. — be that applying for asylum, a green card, citizenship, work visa, or another legal pathway. Since January, administration officials have taken an axe to that traditional mission by encouraging early retirements, shuttering collective bargaining agreements and drastically cutting back on programs that facilitate legal migration. New job postings lean into the rhetoric of hiring "homeland defenders" and tackling fraud. During his Senate confirmation, USCIS director Joseph Edlow proclaimed that "at its core, USCIS must be an immigration enforcement agency." The efforts come as President Trump seeks to curb illegal immigration but also reduce legal ways to get to the U.S. and stay here, especially for certain nationalities.

FOX News [12/9/2025 3:58 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports the State Department has revoked a record-breaking 85,000 visas as the Trump administration ramps up scrutiny on visitors to the United States. Of the revoked visas, more than 8,000 were students — more than double the number in 2024, a State Department official told Fox News. Some of the reasons for the revoked visas include DUIs, assaults, and theft, which together account for almost half of the revocations in the past year. It reportedly ordered U.S. consular officers to apply heightened scrutiny to H-1B visa applicants and reject anyone found to have participated in "censorship or attempted censorship" of protected speech in the United States. In addition, the administration announced last week that it will be pausing immigration from 19 countries that were already under partial or full travel restrictions.

Axios [12/10/2025 4:50 AM, Brittany Gibson, 12972K] reports President Trump promised the most deportations in decades to reverse illegal immigration. But the system for legal immigration is also buckling under his pressure. In just the last few weeks, the Trump administration has threatened to expand the travel ban list, paused all asylum decisions and signaled it will reopen cases from the Biden administration. Any of these changes in isolation would put strain on the system. Doing them all at once could overwhelm it. "[Y]ou’re effectively shutting down the legal immigration process," said Shev Dalal-Dheini, government relations director at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The policy changes announced after the National Guard shooting are expected to grow the caseload backlog at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the office that handles legal migration. Green cards and asylum claims will be re-reviewed, slowing down immigration processing for everyone, not just the targeted nationalities. There are roughly 1.5 million pending asylum cases in the pipeline at USCIS, according to the latest posted data. Overall, USCIS has 11 million pending cases across every form of immigration benefit, from asylum and green cards to work visas and family-based applications. The impact has been immediate for people from the 19 countries on the travel ban list, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Venezuela and Iran.

AP [12/9/2025 11:42 AM, Leah Willingham and KATHY McCormack, 31753K] reports a federal judge has allowed a Tufts University student from Turkey to resume research and teaching while she deals with the consequences of having her visa revoked by the Trump administration, leading to six weeks of detention. The arrest of Rümeysa Öztürk, a PhD student studying children’s relationship to social media, was among the first as the Trump administration began targeting foreign-born students and activists involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy. She had co-authored an op-ed criticizing her university’s response to Israel and the war in Gaza. Caught on video in March outside her Somerville residence, immigration enforcement officers took her away in an unmarked vehicle. Öztürk has been out of a Louisiana immigrant detention center since May and back on the Tufts campus. But she’s been unable to teach or participate in research as part of her studies because of the termination of her record in the government’s database of foreign students studying temporarily in the US. In her ruling Monday, Chief US District Judge Denise J. Casper wrote that Öztürk is likely to succeed on claims that the termination was "arbitrary and capricious, contrary to law and in violation of the First Amendment.”

Breitbart [12/9/2025 11:55 AM, John Binder, 2416K] reports that President Donald Trump says wealthy foreigners are abusing the nation’s birthright citizenship policy to bring their foreign relatives to the United States after having secured citizenship through their U.S.-born children. During an interview with Politico’s Dasha Burns, Trump said he hopes the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overturns the birthright citizenship policy, where the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens and other foreign nationals are rewarded birthright American citizenship though the parents have no ties to the U.S. "The case is very interesting because that case was meant for the babies of slaves and if you look at the dates on the case, it was exactly having to do with the Civil War," Trump said of the intended use of birthright citizenship: That case was not meant from some rich person coming from another country, dropping… putting a foot in our country, and all of a sudden their whole family becomes, you know, United States citizens. That case is all about slaves, the babies of slaves, and it was a good reason for doing it. And that’s all it was about, and people now are understanding it. It’s been explained to ‘em. And I think the court understands it, too. That would be a devastating decision if we lose that case. [Emphasis added]. Trump said the U.S. "cannot afford to house tens of millions of people that came in through birthright citizenship."

Univision [12/9/2025 4:59 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports a young Mexican man was arrested by ICE agents in Sal Lake City, during an interview considered the last step before obtaining his permanent green card. Immigration attorney Andy Armstrong, of the firm Stowell & Crayk in Salt Lake City, was the one who unveiled the case by pointing out that it is a client of his, whom he only identified as Jair. Fox News identified him as Jair Celis, and his wife, as Lexi. As cited by ABC, Armstrong said it was last week when the Mexican was arrested while at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) facility in Salt Lake City. Jair, who arrived in the country on a valid visa as a teenager, stayed longer in the United States than was allowed. His lawyer says he married a U.S. citizen five years ago; they both have a 4-year-old son born in Salt Lake City. Armstrong points out that since Jair came to the United States on a valid visa, and that he married a U.S. citizen, immigration laws allow him to try to obtain permanent residency, a process that can take anywhere from five months to several years.

NPR [12/10/2025 5:00 AM, Adrian Florido, 34837K] Audio: HERE reports almost as quickly as they descended on Charlotte, sending terror coursing through the city’s immigrant neighborhoods, the Border Patrol agents appeared mostly to be gone. After a weeklong enforcement surge in which the government said agents arrested hundreds of immigrants, nabbing many as they went about their daily lives, the Border Patrol set its sights on its next target, New Orleans. But as Charlotte’s immigrant communities regroup from what felt like a whiplash operation last month, they’re finding that its impacts on their lives and their city have endured, and could last a long time. "It’s like a hurricane came through," said Stephanie Sneed, chair of the Board of Education overseeing Charlotte’s public school system, "and then we have to deal with the aftermath, which is much longer than the event itself." During the week in mid-November that the Border Patrol was roaming Charlotte, about 20 percent of its public school children stayed home from classes. Attendance started bouncing back the week after the agents left, but Sneed said teachers had reported some Latino children arriving at school with notes pinned to their backpacks reading: "I am a citizen." "I would never think that’s something I would see," Sneed said. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

NewsNation [12/9/2025 5:38 PM, Jeff Arnold, 8017K] reports a Customs and Border Protection officer working in Illinois has been indicted on federal civil rights charges after federal prosecutors allege he sexually assaulted and robbed multiple women in suburban Chicago in 2022. Luis Uribe, 44, was indicted on 10 counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, federal prosecutors said. Uribe, who lives in suburban Pingree Grove, was arrested Tuesday morning and pleaded not guilty during an appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon. Uribe is accused of sexually assaulting and robbing two women, and prosecutors allege he had a weapon during at least one of the assaults. Prosecutors also allege Uribe robbed two other women and attempted to sexually assault two other women. The alleged assaults and robberies happened in 2022 and took place in the Chicago suburbs of Schaumburg and Naperville, the indictment says. Court documents show Uribe performed customs and immigration duties for CBP in the Chicago area. As part of his role, he was authorized to carry a weapon and make arrests for felonies and other relevant offenses, the indictment shows. If convicted, Uribe faces a minimum of seven years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. He is scheduled to appear again in court Dec. 15. CBS Chicago [12/9/2025 5:55 PM, Jeramie Bizzle, 39474K] reports that prosecutors say all of the victims were of Chinese descent, and all the incidents occurred at hotels in Schaumburg and Naperville between February and October of 2022. Luis Urbie worked as an armed CBP officer and immigration officer at the time of each incident and was assigned to the O’Hare Airport. According to the indictment, on six separate occasions throughout 2022, Urbie allegedly forced his way into a hotel room where the victims were staying, and either robbed or attempted to sexually assault the victims, or both. Court documents said that Urbie used his service weapon, his credentials, and the power of his position to force each victim to perform sex acts or to give him money. Urbie was indicted on Dec. 4, 2025, by a federal grand jury on 10 counts of deprivation of rights and one count of brandishing a firearm. He was arrested while working at a CBP facility on Tuesday. He appeared in court on Tuesday for his arraignment, during which he pleaded not guilty and was ordered to remain in custody until his detention hearing. Urbie is due back in court Dec. 15. The Chicago Tribune [12/9/2025 2:34 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports that the indictment alleged Uribe was acting under his official capacity when he committed a series of robberies, sexual assaults, and attempted sexual assaults against four women in Schaumburg and Naperville. He was not on duty at the time of the alleged incidents, officials said. The conduct allegedly took place between February and October of 2022, well before this year’s “Operation Midway Blitz.” It was not clear whether Uribe took part in that federal effort. The Department of Homeland Security had no immediate comment on the case.

Reported similarly:
CBS Chicago [12/9/2025 7:12 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE

FOX News [12/9/2025 6:24 PM, Julia Bonavita, 40621K] reports a Texas man has been arrested after authorities discovered nearly two dozen illegal immigrants hidden inside a truck after the vehicle was pulled over for a routine traffic stop. The incident occurred in La Salle County, located roughly 105 miles from San Antonio, just after 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, when a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) pulled over a white Freightliner truck after the vehicle was observed driving on an improved shoulder along a central highway, according to DPS. During the stop, which was conducted as part of Operation Lone Star, the DPS trooper learned the driver, identified as 24-year-old John David Amaya, was allegedly operating the vehicle without a commercial driver’s license, according to authorities. In body camera footage of the encounter, Amaya could be heard claiming he worked for a private company and became defensive when the trooper requested permission to search the vehicle, asking, "Is that required?". Amaya continued to push back against a potential search, adding, "There’s no reason you should be searching the vehicle.” Shortly after, additional authorities arrived and began walking the K-9 around the truck, with authorities detaining Amaya after the dog had caught a scent. Additional footage shows officers opening the sleeper area of the truck, ultimately uncovering 23 illegal immigrants hidden inside the vehicle. Amaya was arrested and charged with 23 counts of smuggling of persons, DPS said. Additionally, Border Patrol took custody of the 23 illegal immigrants, who hailed from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Nicaragua.

Univision [12/9/2025 6:52 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports the Trump administration is calling on unaccompanied minors in its custody to sign voluntary deportation documents, pro-immigrant organizations denounced Tuesday at a news conference. In South Texas, they have counted at least 12 cases of children in that situation: they were able to help everyone but one, who was returned to their home country. "This summer (since August, he said) we began to see unaccompanied minors in local shelters of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) who had already signed the paperwork with which they agreed to be returned to their countries," said Laura Peña, director of the ProBar organization, the Probono Asylum Representation Project in South Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. "They were pressured, coerced and intimidated by Border Patrol agents to sign the documents from their voluntary departure. We found these children once they had been transferred from the Border Patrol to the custody of ORR, pending their removal flights," he said. Peña explained that none of the minors (whose ages did not specify) understood what he was accepting when signing. The organization was able to represent 11 of them on time, he said. But the speed with which the government operates to deport them did not allow them to defend one more. Peña said they still do not know the extent of this situation, but that they will continue to monitor it.

USA Today [12/9/2025 4:53 PM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 67103K] reports a South Carolina gubernatorial candidate recently came under fire after officials said she unleashed a barrage of profanity on Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, leaving airport employees "visibly upset." U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who represents the state’s first congressional district covering parts of Charleston, turned a "minor miscommunication" by police into a "spectacle," according to a conclusion documented by TSA officials in a 10-page report from the Charleston International Police Department. The 10-page finding, first reported by The Washington Post, is addressed to Charleston Regional Aviation Authority President Elliott Summey from airport police Chief James A. Woods, and yielded sworn statements from multiple TSA agents who witnessed the events. The event took place on Oct. 30 during this year’s federal government shutdown. According to the document, Mace claimed it was one of "repeated security breaches" allegedly threatening her safety at the Charleston International Airport. The report did not detail the profanity allegedly used.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [12/9/2025 1:01 PM, Josh Christenson and Geoff Earle, 42219K]

AP [12/10/2025 12:18 AM, Claire Rush, 2416K] reports Pacific Northwest residents braced for another round of heavy rain Wednesday after a powerful storm clobbered the region the day before, swelling rivers, closing roads and prompting high water rescues. The first in what is expected to be a series of damaging storms this week caused power outages, flooding and school closures in parts of Oregon and Washington on Tuesday. Drivers had to navigate debris slides and water that closed roads and submerged vehicles. Fire officials northeast of Seattle said rescue crews used inflatable kayaks to pull people from stranded cars, and carried another person about a mile (1.6 kilometers) to safety after they were trapped in the woods by rising water. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a post on the social platform X on Tuesday night that the state’s Emergency Operations Center had moved to its highest activation level because of the rain and wind. Forecasters warned that the worst was still to come, with some major rivers expected to crest later in the week. The Skagit River near Concrete, which is northeast of Seattle, was forecast to rise more than 15 feet (4.6 meters) above major flooding levels by Thursday, which would break a record, according to the National Water Prediction Service. Harrison Rademacher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Seattle office, described the atmospheric river soaking the region as "a jet stream of moisture" stretching across the Pacific Ocean "with the nozzle pushing right along the coast of Oregon and Washington.” The National Weather Service forecast several days of heavy rainfall along the coast and more than a foot (30 centimeters) of new snow in the northern Rockies in northwestern Wyoming. Flood watches were in effect, with scattered flash flooding possible along the coast and into the Cascade Mountains through midweek. Along Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland, firefighters conducted five rescues for people who tried to drive on flooded roads, including a semitruck driver, said Malachi Simper, spokesperson for Lewis County Fire Protection District #5. Authorities also rescued a family of six from their home in Chehalis, he said, adding that the road to the house was under about 4 feet (1.2 meters) of water at the time. None of those rescued were injured, he said. Police said deputies went door to door in certain neighborhoods to warn residents of imminent flooding, and evacuated a mobile home park along the Snohomish River, northeast of Seattle. The city of Snohomish issued an emergency proclamation due to flooding, while in Auburn, south of Seattle, workers installed temporary flood control barriers along the White River. On the Columbia River, farther south near the Oregon border, the city of Longview said it was opening a severe weather shelter Tuesday night.

NewsMax [12/9/2025 10:19 AM, Staff, 4109K] reports with the Pentagon facing renewed pressure to release video from a controversial Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, current and former U.S. Coast Guard sources tell Newsmax that they doubt survivors of the initial hit could have posed the threat cited as justification for follow-up attacks. "Current and former Coast Guard sources have told me that there was no way that two-strike survivors could have flipped the targeted drug boat back over on Sept. 2, and there was likely no way that they could have reloaded the drugs on board," Newsmax national security correspondent Carla Babb reported on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren.” She noted that the sources based their assessment on familiarity with the vessels and the realities of at-sea smuggling operations. Babb’s reporting follows claims by President Donald Trump on Monday, when he sought to justify the military’s decision to fire a second missile while attacking a boat in the Caribbean Sea by saying two suspected drug smugglers were trying to right the vessel after it capsized in the initial strike. But Babb reported that Coast Guard personnel with drug-interdiction experience question whether two survivors could have restored the boat’s capability after the first strike.

MarineLink [12/9/2025 6:30 PM, Staff, 105K] reports the Coast Guard authenticated the keel for the future Coast Guard Cutter Pickering during a ceremony Monday in Mobile, Alabama. Keel authentication is a time-honored shipbuilding tradition marking the formal start of a vessel’s construction. During the ceremony, the sponsor’s initials are applied to a ceremonial keel plate that will be installed on the cutter, symbolically indicating the keel is “truly and fairly laid.” Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, attended the event along with Rep. Mike Ezell of Mississippi, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation; Michelle Kruger, president of Austal USA; and more than 100 guests. Ravi Khamsourin, an advanced welder with Austal USA, placed the initials of the sponsor, Dr. Meghan Pickering Seymour, on the ceremonial keel plate. Pickering Seymour is Pickering’s great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter.

MeriTalk [12/9/2025 1:56 PM, John Curran, 22K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has unveiled a new Industry Engagement Platform (IEP) that the agency said is aimed at improving communications between CISA and developers of security technologies. “The IEP enables CISA to better understand emerging solutions across the technology ecosystem while giving industry a clear, transparent pathway to engage with the agency,” CISA said in a Dec. 4 announcement. CISA said it wants “organizations with new, emerging, or advanced technology solutions”?to use the new platform. The agency said current areas of interest run the gamut from IT and security controls, communications technologies, data, analytics, storage, and data management, and “any emerging technologies that advance CISA’s mission, including post-quantum cryptography and other next-generation capabilities.” The platform, CISA emphasized, provides organizations including industry, nonprofits, academia, government partners, and the research community “with a structured process to request conversations with CISA subject matter experts to describe new technologies and capabilities.” “Through customizable technology profiles, the IEP helps connect organizations to the right CISA experts by capturing areas of expertise and specific topics organizations wish to discuss,” the agency said. “With the launch of this new platform, we’re opening the door wider to innovation – giving industry a direct line to share the tools and technologies that can help CISA stay ahead of evolving threats,” commented Madhu Gottumukkala, CISA’s acting director. “Strategic collaboration is essential to strengthening national security and resilience,” Gottumukkala continued, adding, “The IEP is one of the ways CISA is aligning innovation with mission needs to advance the defense of our nation’s cyber and critical infrastructure.”

Seapower Magazine [12/9/2025 4:40 PM, Staff, 27K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday it has seized more than 150,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since launching Operation Pacific Viper in early August. With a dose of 1.2 grams of cocaine being enough to kill a person, the amount seized through Operation Pacific Viper equates to over 57 million potentially lethal doses. “Operation Pacific Viper has proven to be a crucial weapon in the fight against foreign drug traffickers and cartels in Latin America and has sent a clear message that we will disrupt, dismantle and destroy their deadly business exploits wherever we find them,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. “In cutting off the flow of these deadly drugs, the Coast Guard is saving countless American lives and delivering on President Trump’s promise to Make America Safe Again and reestablish our maritime dominance.” Through Operation Pacific Viper, the Coast Guard has been accelerating counter-drug operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, where significant transport of illicit narcotics continues from Central and South America. The Coast Guard surged additional assets — cutters, aircraft and tactical teams — to interdict, seize and disrupt transshipments of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs. Operation Pacific Viper continues the Coast Guard’s efforts to protect the Homeland, counter narco-terrorism and disrupt Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Transnational Criminal Organizations and cartels seeking to produce and traffic illicit drugs into the United States. 80% of all U.S.-bound narcotics seizures occur at sea, highlighting the impact of maritime drug interdiction. “This milestone is a testament to the vigilance and tenacity of our crews,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant. “When we say we own the sea, it reflects our relentless pursuit to securing the maritime domain and disrupting the criminal networks that threaten our communities.”

Reported similarly:
Stars and Stripes [12/9/2025 3:40 PM, Gary Warner, 1400K]

Reuters [12/9/2025 8:29 PM, Mike Scarcella, 36480K] reports the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday unveiled additional federal criminal charges against a Ukrainian national accused of participating in cyberattacks and other computer intrusions against key infrastructure in support of Russian interests. The defendant, Victoria Eduardovna Dubranova, 33, was charged in a second indictment in the federal court in Los Angeles for her alleged support for a group the Justice Department identified as NoName057(16). Dubranova earlier this year was extradited to the United States on charges tied to a group federal authorities named as the CyberArmyofRussia_Reborn (CARR). Dubranova has been charged in the indictments with conspiracy to damage protected computers. She has pleaded not guilty in both cases, the Justice Department said, and is scheduled for a February 2026 trial in the NoName matter and April for the matter involving CARR. A defense lawyer for Dubranova was not immediately reachable for comment. "Today’s actions demonstrate the Department’s commitment to disrupting malicious Russian cyber activity - whether conducted directly by state actors or their criminal proxies," John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s national security division, said in a statement. Prosecutors have alleged Russia backed CARR and NoName with financial support. A representative from the Russian embassy in the United States was not immediately reached for comment. Federal officials said the alleged cyberattacks targeted services including food and water systems, and posed national security risks. NoName has claimed credit for hundreds of cyberattacks around the world, prosecutors said. The U.S. State Department is offering potential rewards of up to $2 million for information on individuals associated with CARR and up to $10 million for information on individuals associated with NoName.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [12/10/2025 12:09 AM, Jane Lanhee Lee, 18207K] r

Axios [12/9/2025 1:18 PM, Sam Sabin, 12972K] reports that President Trump wants to drive a hard line against nation-state cyber hackers. There’s just one — pretty significant — obstacle in his way: China. The big picture: China is America’s biggest cyber adversary, but it’s also the country that wields the most economic leverage over the U.S. For the Trump administration, keeping its promise to strike back against nation-state cyber spies, including China’s, is a lower priority than managing trade ties with Beijing. Driving the news: The Trump administration has paused plans to sanction China over last year’s Salt Typhoon intrusions, according to a Financial Times report last week. Officials worry sanctioning China over Salt Typhoon would hurt the trade deal framework the U.S. and China struck in October. Thus, the administration has still yet to mount any public response to one of the most sweeping cyber espionage campaigns ever to hit the U.S. A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment on the sanctions pause. A U.S. official said the administration is "committed to ushering mutually beneficial trade relations with China without compromising on our national and economic security." What they’re saying: "We’ve made ourselves into a big target," Matt Pearl, director of the strategic technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Axios. "It would be unfortunate if this was more than a short-term, tactical decision."

Reuters [12/9/2025 5:51 PM, Brad Brooks, 36480K] reports a shooting at Kentucky State University on Tuesday left one person dead and another in critical condition, according to police, who said the suspected assailant was taken into custody. Local police in Frankfort, the state capital, and county sheriff’s deputies made the arrest and secured the campus soon after reports of an active shooter, authorities said on social media. The Frankfort Police Department did not provide further details. A spokesperson for Kentucky State University, a historically Black school, declined comment, but said the school - which had an enrollment of 1,700 students as of the fall of 2023 - would release a statement later on Tuesday. The New York Times [12/9/2025 7:49 PM, Michael Levenson, Rylee Kirk, Corinne Boyer, 135475K] reports that the shooter was not a student, Assistant Chief Scott Tracy of the Frankfort Police Department said at a news conference. He did not offer additional details or information about what set off the shooting. The Kentucky State University Police took the suspect into custody minutes after the shooting was reported at 3:10 p.m., Chief Tracy said. Koffi C. Akakpo, the president of the university, a historically Black college, called the shooting a “senseless tragedy.” “As a parent I cannot imagine receiving the call I placed today to the parents,” Mr. Akakpo said at the news conference. The university said in a statement that the shooting, which occurred during finals week, happened near Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall, a dormitory on the south side of the campus. The Frankfort Police Department said that it had responded to “an active aggressor” and that the authorities secured the campus. Chief Tracy said that officials from the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had also responded. Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear, said in a video statement, “This was not a mass shooting or a random incident,” though he did not elaborate. “Pray for a world where these things don’t happen,” he said, “and I’ll keep trying to build a Kentucky that we don’t see arguments ended in violence.”

NewsNation [12/9/2025 11:13 AM, Ali Bradley and Jeff Arnold, 8017K] reports that federal immigration agents are just beginning their latest enforcement operation in New Orleans, but the city is also being seen as a major hub for Mexican drug cartels to move fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine. Drug Enforcement Administration officials tell NewsNation that two of Mexico’s most dangerous transnational criminal organizations are behind the surge of illicit drugs entering New Orleans. Members of the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel are pushing a variety of dangerous drugs into the region, using Louisiana’s largest city as a major entry point from Mexico. The New Orleans Department of Health reports that 816 people in the area have died from drug overdoses over the past two years. Of those deaths, 80% have been connected to fentanyl. DEA officials say that many of the drug deals being conducted by cartel members are taking place on social media platforms. In many cases, local low-level drug dealers don’t realize that they are dealing with groups that have been designated by the Trump administration as foreign terrorist organizations. That designation allows the DEA to invest more tools and resources to combat the influx of dangerous and illicit drugs into Louisiana. Since January, DEA agents working in New Orleans have seized nearly $10 million in assets, including cars and homes. In addition, federal agents have seized 20 kilograms of fentanyl, 140 kilograms of cocaine and about 400 kilograms of marijuana, which officials say have been laced with fentanyl. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Free Beacon [12/9/2025 1:30 PM, Jameson Mitrovich, 411K] reports that Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R.) on Monday designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist organizations in his state, following Texas’s lead. DeSantis’s executive order says the Muslim Brotherhood’s "Islamist ideology" is "irreconcilable with foundational American principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution." The order alleges that the Muslim Brotherhood created Hamas, explicitly intending to destroy Israel, and uses a network of organizations and chapters to support terrorism. And it says a brotherhood-affiliated organization formed CAIR as "‘an official U.S. cover representing the Islamic community’ to conceal ties to Islamic extremist groups." DeSantis’s move allows law enforcement to investigate both organizations’ activities in the state and "undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities in Florida by the terrorist organizations." Texas governor Greg Abbott (R.) made a similar designation last month, saying that the "Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia Law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world.’" It is unclear if DeSantis’s designation bans the Islamic groups from owning land in Florida, as Abbott’s does in Texas.

Reported similarly:
Daily Wire [12/9/2025 11:50 AM, Kassy Akiva, 2494K]

FOX News [12/10/2025 3:18 AM, Landon Mion, 40621K] reports the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says it plans to take Gov. Ron DeSantis to court after the Republican governor issued an executive order labeling the Muslim civil rights organization a "foreign terrorist organization.” Hiba Rahim, the chapter’s deputy executive director, said during a news conference that the order was an attack rooted in conspiracy theories and compared it to historical efforts that targeted Jewish, Irish and Italian American communities. "We are very proud to defend the founding principles of our Constitution, to defend free speech," Rahim said at a news conference. "We are proud to defend democracy, and we are proud to be America first.” Rahim argued that the governor’s support for Israel played a role in the order, saying the group’s activism had caused "discomfort" to the U.S. ally. She said CAIR does not intend to back down. Governor DeSantis, meanwhile, defended the move, saying his administration had sufficient grounds for the designation. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, he said he welcomed CAIR’s legal challenge and described the designation as "a long time coming.” DeSantis’ order also lists the Muslim Brotherhood as a "foreign terrorist" organization. Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to begin a federal process to consider designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. The governor said he expects Florida lawmakers to pursue related legislation when the legislature reconvenes in January, calling the executive order "the beginning.” Under DeSantis’ directive, state agencies are barred from awarding contracts, employment or funds to CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, or any groups deemed to have materially supported them. At the Tampa news conference, attorney Miranda Margolis criticized the order and argued DeSantis had exceeded his authority by unilaterally designating a nonprofit as a terrorist organization. "This designation is without legal or factual basis and constitutes a dangerous escalation of anti-Muslim political rhetoric," Margolis said. Florida’s action comes after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a similar proclamation. CAIR has challenged Abbott’s designation in federal court, arguing it violates the U.S. Constitution and Texas law. Muslim and interfaith organizations have urged Abbott to rescind the order. State-level designations do not carry the same legal weight as federal Foreign Terrorist Organization classifications, which can only be issued by the U.S. State Department. CAIR argues the Florida order violates its First Amendment rights and due-process protections and that terrorism designations fall under federal jurisdiction, not state power. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/9/2025 1:24 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports that an MS-13 leader believed to have overseen a kill squad for the bloodthirsty gang — and who is linked to the killing of the son of the former president of Honduras — was arrested in Nebraska on Monday, the agency said. Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto, 33, aka "Fantasma," was taken into custody in Grand Island, 150 miles west of Omaha, on immigration-related charges, the FBI said Tuesday. Cuadra is believed to have overseen "El Combo," an MS-13 kill squad designated to carry out assassinations on behalf of the gang. He has been charged in Honduras with four homicides, authorities said. Authorities suspect he played a role in the July 2022 killing of Said Lobo Bonilla, the son of former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa. Bonilla and three other men were killed as they left a nightclub in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. Cuadra fled Honduras following the quadruple murder. He and two co-defendants were released from jail after government officials were paid $125,000 in bribes, federal prosecutors said, according to an unsealed affidavit. Authorities allege that Cuadra entered the United States in November by crossing from Mexico into Texas and later obtained a California driver’s license. He is charged by the Justice Department with racketeering conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of and conspiracy to possess machine guns.

CBS San Francisco [12/9/2025 3:54 PM, Esteban Reynoso, 39474K] reports more than a week after the Stockton mass shooting that left four people dead, the investigators and city leaders gave an update about the investigation. Tuesday, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office announced that investigators found around 50 bullet casings at the scene, indicating the use of multiple guns. Investigators also revealed they are officially looking for multiple suspects who were wearing dark clothing and face coverings at the time of the shooting. After the update from the sheriff’s office, Stockton’s Vice Mayor Jason Lee held a press conference with the family of Amari Peterson, the 14-year-old boy killed. All four victims who died after the shooting have been identified as 21-year-old Susano Archuleta, 14-year-old Amari Peterson, 8-year-old Maya Lupian and 8-year-old Journey Rose Guerrero. Thirteen others were injured in the Nov. 29 shooting, which happened during a child’s birthday party.

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [12/9/2025 5:25 PM, Salvador Hernandez, 14862K]

San Francisco Chronicle [12/9/2025 1:15 PM, Anna Bauman, 4722K] reports that multiple suspects and firearms were involved in a mass shooting last month in Stockton that left three children and a 21-year-old man dead and 13 more people injured, officials said. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tuesday that investigators were seeking multiple suspects, who wore all black clothing and face coverings, in connection with the Nov. 29 shooting, they said. Detectives recovered roughly 50 casings from at least five different firearms at the shooting scene, according to the sheriff’s office. Officials did not provide photos or more details about the suspects. Ten days after the shooting, no arrests had been made in the case. Instead, officials continued calling on community members to provide information in the shooting, which authorities said was targeted. "We know there were known gangs members at this party, but we do not know whether that was the reason or motive of this shooting," said Sheriff Patrick Withrow. Gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. Nov. 29 inside an event venue in the northern outskirts of Stockton where more than 100 people had gathered for a 2-year-old’s birthday party. Seventeen people were shot at the party, including 8-year-olds Journey Rose Reotutar Guerrero and Maya Lupian, 14-year-old Amari Peterson and 21-year-old Susano Archuleta, who died from their injuries, according to their families.

Reuters [12/9/2025 10:12 AM, Daphne Psaledakis, 36480K] reports that the U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on actors it accused of fueling the war in Sudan, taking aim at what it said was a transnational network that recruits former Colombian military personnel and trains soldiers, including children, to fight for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement seen by Reuters said that it imposed sanctions on four individuals and four entities that were part of the network, which it said was largely comprised of Colombian nationals and companies. The Treasury said that since at least 2024, hundreds of former Colombian military personnel have traveled to Sudan to fight alongside the RSF, which the U.S. has accused of committing genocide. The Colombians have provided the RSF with tactical and training expertise and served as infantry and artillerymen, drone pilots and instructors, among other roles, with some training children to fight for the paramilitary group, according to Treasury, which added that Colombian fighters have participated in battles across Sudan, including in the capital Khartoum and al-Fashir. “The RSF has shown again and again that it is willing to target civilians—including infants and young children. Its brutality has deepened the conflict and destabilized the region, creating the conditions for terrorist groups to grow," Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, John Hurley, said in the statement.

Reported similarly:
AP [12/9/2025 12:48 PM, Fatima Hussein, 31753K]

NewsNation [12/9/2025 12:38 PM, Staff, 8017K] reports that President Trump on Tuesday argued that national security is at risk if the Supreme Court decides to rule against his sweeping tariff agenda. "The biggest threat in history to United States National Security would be a negative decision on Tariffs by the U.S. Supreme Court. We would be financially defenseless," the president wrote in an early morning Truth Social post. "Now Europe is going to Tariffs against China, as they already do against others. We would not be allowed to do what others already do!" he added. Last month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for a case related to the president’s use of emergency powers to implement tariffs, which was met with a frosty reception from the conservative court. The Trump administration’s heightened levies on foreign partners have hit the auto and retail industry with unprecedented costs. If the tariffs are struck down by the high court, companies could be entitled to refunds from the government. Dozens of corporations have filed lawsuits seeking reimbursements for the sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs on foreign trade partners. "Because of Tariffs, easily and quickly applied, our National Security has been greatly enhanced, and we have become the financially strongest Country, by far, anywhere in the World," Trump wrote in a follow-up Truth Social post Tuesday morning. He added that only the "dark" and "sinister forces" would want to see his police end.

AP [12/9/2025 1:19 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports that the House is expected to vote this week on a bill authorizing $900 billion for military programs, including boosting pay for service members, cutting Pentagon diversity efforts and requiring footage to be released of forces blowing up alleged drug boats. The National Defense Authorization Act is traditionally a strong bipartisan bill that lays out the nation’s defense policies. But it’s coming up for a vote as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faces mounting scrutiny over the boat strikes off Venezuela’s coast. Lawmakers’ concerns are apparent in the compromise bill released Sunday by the House Armed Services Committee. While it incorporates many of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, the defense bill demands more accountability over the administration’s campaign against Latin American drug cartels. It also reasserts a U.S. commitment to Europe following intense criticism of allies in Trump’s recently released national security strategy. The House could vote as early as Wednesday on this year’s NDAA. Here are key things to know about the bill: Lawmakers are demanding the Pentagon hand over unedited video of strikes against drug cartels, threatening to withhold a quarter of Hegseth’s travel budget if it doesn’t.

Reuters [12/9/2025 12:58 PM, Staff, 36480K] reports that Europe must accelerate its rearmament in response to a stark shift in U.S. military doctrine, a French government official said on Tuesday, calling Washington’s new security strategy "an extremely brutal clarification" of its ideological posture. The U.S. National Security Strategy, made public last week, caused shock across Europe, with a broadside that said the continent was facing "civilisation erasure" and that U.S. policy should include "cultivating resistance" within the European Union. "The new American security strategy is an extremely brutal clarification of the United States’ ideological posture," Junior Army Minister Alice Rufo told lawmakers at the National Assembly’s weekly question-and-answer session. "We live in a world of carnivores, Europe is no island, and Europe will be respected only if it knows how to make itself respected," she said. The remarks from Rufo, who has previously served as President Emmanuel Macron’s deputy national security adviser, are the strongest public comments to date from French officials following the release of the U.S. National Security Strategy.

Rufo, who met Pentagon and other U.S. security officials over the weekend in Washington, said she knew the document was causing internal "debates" within the U.S. administration, especially as to how Russia is described.

CNN [12/9/2025 1:02 PM, Katelyn Polantz, 606K] reports that the Justice Department said in court documents on Tuesday that it plans to continue its efforts to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey. The department’s stance was revealed in a lawsuit brought by the former FBI’s director’s friend and former lawyer Dan Richman. It comes two weeks after Comey’s previous indictment was dismissed and after a judge put temporary limits on the evidence prosecutors can use in future grand jury proceedings. In the documents filed Tuesday — in a fast-moving court battle over evidence used to investigate Comey over his statements to Congress five years ago — the Justice Department refers to the situation as both a "pending criminal investigation" and "a potential federal criminal prosecution.” The DOJ wrote to a federal judge that Richman’s lawsuit shouldn’t be able to stymie a criminal prosecution. The lawsuit, the Justice Department wrote, "is actually a collateral motion aimed at hindering the government from using (Richman’s) property as evidence in a separate criminal proceeding." The court that temporarily locked down evidence the Justice Department had from Richman "has effectively enjoined the government from investigating and potentially prosecuting Comey."

Reuters [12/9/2025 1:17 PM, Laura Garcia, 36480K] reports that Honduras’ conservative presidential candidate, Nasry Asfura, held a lead of just over 40,000 votes on Tuesday against centrist rival Salvador Nasralla, as the preliminary count from last month’s election neared completion amid allegations from all sides of fraud and irregularities. With 99.40% of tally sheets processed, official results showed Asfura, a 67-year-old former mayor of Tegucigalpa openly backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, had 40.52% of the vote. Nasralla, a 72-year-old television host running for the Liberal Party, had 39.20%. A distant third was ruling LIBRE Party candidate Rixi Moncada, a former leftist minister, with 19.29%. About 14.5% of tally sheets showed inconsistencies and will be reviewed in a special count expected to begin in the coming hours, with party representatives, electoral authorities and independent observers present. Those disputed sheets could contain hundreds of thousands of votes, enough to alter the current trend, prolonging uncertainty in the impoverished Central American nation. Results will remain preliminary until the review is complete. The National Electoral Council (CNE) has until December 30 to declare a winner, who will take office in January for the 2026-2030 term.

The Hill [12/9/2025 9:28 AM, Laura Kelly, 12595K] reports the Honduran attorney general on Monday announced an international arrest warrant against Juan Orlando Hernández, the country’s former president who was recently pardoned by President Trump and released from prison. Johel Antonio Zelaya Alvarez, attorney general of Honduras, wrote in a post on X that he had instructed the national security offices and international security agencies (INTERPOL) to execute an arrest warrant against Hernández, who is accused of money laundering and fraud. The charges stem from the "Pandora II" investigation, Alvarez said, referring to a case surrounding a network of corrupt lawmakers and others diverting public funds through private foundations and then into political campaigns, including Hernández’s 2013 campaign, New York Times reported. "We have been lacerated by the tentacles of corruption and by the criminal networks that have deeply marked the life of our country," Alvarez said in a post on X that was translated from Spanish. "Our commitment is to the truth and to justice, as I promised on my first day at the helm of this institution." Renato Stabile, Hernández’s lawyer, told the Times that the warrant announcement was "obviously a strictly political move" by the governing Libre Party, whose candidate is trailing as ballots are being counted in the recent presidential election. Zelaya was nominated to his post by the Libre Party, which is opposed to Hernández.

Reuters [12/10/2025 3:26 AM, Guy Faulconbridge and Lucy Papachristou, 36480K] reports Russia on Wednesday said it was still awaiting a formal answer from Washington on President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to jointly stick to the last remaining Russian-U.S. arms control treaty, which expires in less than two months. New START, which runs out on February 5, caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy, and the deployment of land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them. Putin in September offered to voluntarily maintain for one year the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons set out in the treaty, whose initials stand for the (New) Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Trump said in October it sounded "like a good idea.” "We have less than 100 days left before the expiry of New START," said Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, which is like a modern-day politburo of Russia’s most powerful officials. "We are waiting for a response," Shoigu told reporters during a visit to Hanoi. He added that Moscow’s proposal was an opportunity to halt the "destructive movement" that currently existed in nuclear arms control. Russia and the U.S. together have more than 10,000 nuclear warheads, or 87% of the global inventory of nuclear weapons. China is the world’s third largest nuclear power with about 600 warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists. The arms control treaties between Moscow and Washington were born out of fear of nuclear war after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Greater transparency about the opponent’s arsenal was intended to reduce the scope for misunderstanding and slow the arms race. Now, with all major nuclear powers seeking to modernise their arsenals, and Russia and the West at strategic loggerheads for over a decade - not least over the enlargement of NATO and Moscow’s war in Ukraine - the treaties have almost all crumbled away. Each side blames the other. In the new U.S. National Security Strategy, the Trump administration says it wants to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia" - shorthand for reopening discussions on strategic nuclear arms control. Rose Gottemoeller, who was chief U.S. negotiator for New START, said in an article for The Arms Control Association this month that it would be beneficial for Washington to implement the treaty along with Moscow. "For the United States, the benefit of this move would be buying more time to decide what to do about the ongoing Chinese buildup without having to worry simultaneously about new Russian deployments," Gottemoeller said.

Bloomberg [12/9/2025 6:45 AM, Staff, 18207K] reports Donald Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia Corp. to sell advanced chips to China marks more than just a shift in US tech policy. It also raises questions about how far he’ll go to steady ties with Xi Jinping. The Republican leader granted America’s most-valuable company permission on Tuesday to export its high-end H200 chip to China, watering down years of US national security safeguards. While he pledged Nvidia’s top products would remain off bounds, the move gives China access to semiconductors at least a generation ahead of its best technology. Justifying that decision, Trump vowed to simultaneously “protect National Security, create American Jobs, and keep America’s lead in AI.” That philosophy echoed Nvidia chief Jensen Huang’s claims that depriving Beijing of US chips only helps Chinese firms such as Huawei Technologies Co. catch up, and calls from within Trump’s own cabinet to get China “addicted” to American tech. It’s the latest example of Trump putting national security controls once deemed off limits in trade talks on the negotiating table with China. That reversal will test how the US president handles other contentious issues such as Chinese investment into the US and even America’s position on Taiwan, as Beijing ramps up pressure on the self-ruled democracy it claims as its own.

Wall Street Journal [12/9/2025 2:30 PM, Amrith Ramkumar, Alexander Ward, and Robbie Whelan, 646K] reports the artificial-intelligence chips that Nvidia is allowed to ship to China will undergo a special security review in the U.S. before they are exported, according to administration officials. The unorthodox step highlights the national-security pressure on the Trump administration following its decision to allow the controversial sales. Nvidia’s H200 AI chips that are part of the deal would mainly be manufactured in Taiwan. From there, they would travel to the U.S. for a national-security review, people familiar with the matter said. The chips would then be sent on to China. The complex supply-chain journey and unusual security review for the chips highlights the unprecedented nature of the agreement, experts said. The U.S. is supposed to receive a 25% cut from the sales and faces legal obstacles structuring the deal without it appearing like an export tax, another potential explanation for the unusual setup, they said. The Constitution forbids the U.S. government from imposing export taxes. Some analysts say the AI-chip company is pursuing profits while national-security considerations take a back seat. “The interests here are not really those of the country, they are those of Nvidia,” said Chris McGuire, who worked on export controls in the Biden administration and is now a senior fellow for China and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations. He and other analysts in favor of export restrictions argue that large-scale H200 sales could erode the U.S. advantage in AI-computing power. Trump administration officials, including White House AI Czar David Sacks, and Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang say China’s domestic chip companies are improving more quickly than much of the world realizes, meaning Nvidia needs to be in China to compete with companies such as Huawei Technologies. “We shouldn’t concede the entire market to them,” Huang said last week while in Washington to discuss chip exports with President Trump and lawmakers.

The Hill [12/9/2025 11:14 AM, Julia Shapero, 12595K] reports that a group of Senate Democrats slammed President Trump’s decision Monday to allow sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, calling it a “colossal economic and national security failure.” Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) warned the H200 chips are “vastly more capable than anything China can make” and could cost the U.S. its advantage on AI. “Access to these chips would give China’s military transformational technology to make its weapons more lethal, carry out more effective cyberattacks against American businesses and critical infrastructure and strengthen their economic and manufacturing sector,” they said in a statement. “Chinese AI giant DeepSeek said as recently as last week that the lack of access to advanced American-designed AI chips is the single biggest impediment to its ability to compete with U.S. AI companies,” the senators continued. “With this decision, President Trump is poised to remove that barrier.” Trump said Monday evening he had informed Chinese President Xi Jinping that he would allow sales of the H200 chips, a more powerful version of Nvidia’s H20 chips.

FOX News [12/9/2025 2:05 PM, Greg Norman, 10085K] reports that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused President Donald Trump on Tuesday of "selling out America" for announcing that the U.S. will allow Nvidia to export its artificial-intelligence chips to China and other countries. Trump said Monday that the U.S. will gain a 25% share from the H200 chip exports and that the trade will be closely monitored to safeguard national security. "Donald Trump is just selling out America for his own ego and his own gain. That’s what he’s doing on chips," Schumer said Tuesday. "When yesterday, Donald Trump announced he was giving the green light to Nvidia to send even more powerful AI chips to China, the H200, which are used to train AI models." "Let’s be clear. You can’t claim to be tough on China if you willingly sell them some of the most advanced chips in the world, so they can use it to strengthen their military," Schumer added. FOX Business has reached out to the White House for comment. In a statement to Fox News, Nvidia welcomed Trump’s announcement. "We applaud President Trump’s decision to allow America’s chip industry to compete to support high paying jobs and manufacturing in America," an Nvidia spokesperson said. "Offering H200 to approved commercial customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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