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

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

New York Times [12/27/2025 3:00 AM, Ana Ley, 135475K] reports that, at a warehouse in Avenel, N.J., workers assigned to stock Versace dresses, Swarovski crystals and Louis Vuitton sneakers had settled into their shift one gray October morning when dozens of immigration agents swarmed the building and surrounded them. Masked officers carrying long rifles blocked exits and used dogs and heat detectors to find employees who were hiding. A helicopter circled. Within hours, agents arrested 46 people, which federal officials said represented nearly one-fourth of the day’s work force. The raid targeted a building with a little-known yet significant relationship with the federal government. Facilities like it are guarded by customs officials who let businesses store products until import taxes are paid. In exchange, officials enter at will to inspect merchandise. On that day, they came for the workers. The facilities are known as bonded warehouses and are abundant in North Jersey because of its proximity to a major international port. Federal agents raided at least three of them during a span of four months this year, alarming worker rights activists who believe that President Trump’s immigration crackdown has ensnared the region’s import-export industry. Employees swept up in the raid said that they felt ambushed by the customs officers with whom they worked in the building, which is used by an Italian company called Savino Del Bene that moves fashion and luxury goods. Some of the people arrested said that they had work permits and open paths to legal status. Federal officials said that work permits and pending asylum applications do not grant people legal status, although migrants with those designations have not historically been a priority for deportation. Several of the workers arrested in the raids have since been released from detention, in some cases after spending weeks behind bars. Jhonatan Bello, 18, had worked at the warehouse for two months when he was arrested. He was released in December, after enduring what he described as inhumane conditions inside a migrant detention center. He said that he was served rotten food and taken outside in freezing temperatures without a coat. Mr. Bello, who emigrated from Colombia four years ago, had a work permit and a Social Security number and said that he had applied for legal status through his mother’s husband, who is a U.S. citizen. “No human being deserves this,” Mr. Bello said in Spanish. “We endured so much hunger and cold.” DHS officials said in a statement that Customs and Border Protection validates employee lists provided by bonded warehouses, and that failure to comply with the agency’s rules would “trigger immediate corrective action requirements and may result in suspension or removal from the program, loss of warehouse designation and referral to the authorities.”

The Hill [12/26/2025 12:57 PM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports a federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from deporting a British man who was recently placed on a visa ban after U.S. officials accused him and four other Europeans of online censorship. Center for Countering Digital Hate CEO Imran Ahmed filed a complaint on Thursday against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi to prevent "the imminent prospect of unconstitutional arrest," the suit reads. "The government’s actions are the latest in a string of escalating and unjustifiable assaults on the First Amendment and other rights, one that cannot stand basic legal scrutiny," it continues. "Simply put, immigration enforcement—here, immigration detention and threatened deportation — may not be used as a tool to punish noncitizen speakers who express views disfavored by the current administration.” The suit adds that Ahmed is a lawful permanent resident with a wife and son who are U.S. citizens. The complaint cites other recent cases where foreign nationals on student visas, including Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, were stripped of their documentation and faced with deportation as "part of a larger pattern of attempted repression of constitutionally protected speech.” "The government has no power to punish Mr. Ahmed for his research, protected speech, and advocacy, and Defendants cannot evade those constitutional limitations by simply claiming that Mr. Ahmed’s presence or activities have ‘potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States,’" the suit reads. The administration placed the visa ban on Ahmed, along with French former European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton, Global Disinformation Index CEO Clare Melford and HateAid leaders Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon, on Tuesday.

AP [12/26/2025 5:55 PM, Jesse Bedayn, 31753K] reports a federal judge this week canceled the trial of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man who was mistakenly deported, and scheduled a hearing on whether the prosecution is being vindictive in pursuing a human smuggling case against him. Abrego Garcia has become a centerpiece of the debate over immigration after the Trump administration deported him in March to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Facing mounting public pressure and a court order, the Trump administration brought him back to the U.S. in June, but only after issuing an arrest warrant on human smuggling charges in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia has denied the allegations, and argued that prosecutors are vindictively and selectively targeting him. Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. wrote in Tuesday’s order that Abrego Garcia had enough evidence to hold a hearing on the topic, which Crenshaw scheduled for Jan. 28. At that hearing, prosecutors will have to explain their reasoning for charging Abrego Garcia, Crenshaw wrote, and if they fail in that, the charges could be dismissed.

CNN [12/26/2025 8:00 AM, Whitney Wild, Norma Galeana, and Rachel Clarke, 18595K] reports Veronica Escobar didn’t get to celebrate her son’s 8th birthday. Victor Madrid missed picking up his children at school for the first time. Patricia Quishpe was forced to spend her first night ever away from her youngest child. Each parent was picked up in the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps around Chicago that later expanded to Charlotte and New Orleans. While none had permission to stay indefinitely in the United States, each had been involved in immigration court proceedings, were known to officials and had been allowed to wait for their next hearings at home. None of them appears to have a criminal history. But this time they were all seized off the street with no warning, taken far from home and detained for weeks, until separate district court judges ruled each detention unlawful. They’re just three of hundreds of people that courts have now ruled should not have been locked up. And with thousands more being detained and targeted for deportation, more cases are expected that could chip away at a key promise of President Donald Trump. "This is not about criminal justice. This is not about public safety, and it hasn’t been from the very beginning of this administration," said Mark Fleming, associate director of federal litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center. The Department of Homeland Security did not answer CNN requests for comment on Fleming’s assertion the arrests are designed to intimidate migrants into self-deporting. Officials also did not respond to questions about the migrants interviewed. DHS has said the targets of its raids are always "violent criminals," but adds agents also capture anyone else who is undocumented and who may be in the vicinity of its officers. DHS says it has the right to detain anyone in the country illegally. Now, many migrants are challenging that claim by filing habeas corpus cases in multiple courts and winning. Orders directing the government to release migrants from custody may ultimately undermine the impact of Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Reuters [12/26/2025 5:11 PM, Staff, 18595K] reports a group of Venezuelans who were sent to a maximum-security El Salvador prison from the US and then returned to Venezuela called on Friday for the United States to comply with a ruling that would allow them to challenge their deportation in US courts. US Judge James Boasberg ruled this week that President Donald Trump’s administration must urgently arrange for the return of the hundreds of Venezuelans who were deported to El Salvador, saying their expulsion violated their due process rights and that they have the right to challenge their deportation in court. Under the ruling, the Trump administration must present a plan to allow their return within two weeks. "The court ruling now orders that we be granted the opportunity for a fair hearing in accordance with the law in the United States," Ysqueibel Peñaloza, a former detainee, said on behalf of some 252 former prisoners. "We call on the governments of the United States and El Salvador to fully comply with the court order. We demand that the authorities of that country create the conditions that will allow us to participate in the hearing.” Peñaloza asked for national and international help in their defense, without specifying what help they needed.

Tampa Free Press [12/26/2025 9:44 AM, Danielle Shockey, 123K] reports federal authorities announced Wednesday that more than 17,5000 foreign nationals have been arrested and detained under the new enacted mandates of the Laken Riley Act. The figures were released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alongside the conclusion of "Operation Angel’s Honor," a specific two-week enforcement blitz that resulted in over 1.000 of those arrests. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem highlighted the conclusion of Operation Angel’s Honor, a 14-day nationwide sweep specifically targeting individuals who committed crimes covered by the new act. ICE agents arrest 1,300 individuals during this fortnight alone. "President Trump has empowered us to arrest and remove millions of violent criminal illegal alien unleashed on the United States by the previous administration," Secretary Noem said in a statement. "Now, these criminals will face justice and be removed from our country. We can never bring back Laken, but we can do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice."

Daily Caller [12/26/2025 11:57 AM, Harold Hutchison, 835K] reports that CNN host Dana Bash admitted Thursday that President Donald Trump had turned around the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border in his first year since returning to the White House. Upon taking office, Trump issued several executive orders to address illegal immigration, including designating Mexican drug cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and the El Salvadoran prison gang MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations. Bash put up a series of charts showing the difference on the border between the Biden administration and the Trump administration. "One of the things that you — many things that you’ve been covering in a very detailed way this year, Zolan, is what’s going on with immigration," Bash told CNN political analyst Zolan Kanno-Youngs. "And our producer, Tess, put together a fantastic illustration of the difference in what’s happening in the border now versus what happened just in the year beforehand, which was Joe Biden’s presidency. Joe Biden’s presidency is green and Donald Trump’s is the yellow." "I mean, that tells a story of an accomplishment for the president, one that he definitely ran on," Bash continued. "He definitely made a promise there, and yet there hasn’t been a lot of focus on that because of what he has been doing in the interior of the country, which he also promised to do, which is apprehend people who are in the United States illegally and deport them."

NewsMax [12/26/2025 1:45 PM, Charlie McCarthy, 4109K] reports that the FBI is on pace to arrest twice as many violent offenders as last year under former President Joe Biden, according to Director Kash Patel. In a Friday post on X, Patel said "President [Donald] Trump’s FBI" is on track for more than 28,000 violent offender arrests, and highlighted what he called record results in 17 major cities as the bureau intensifies its focus on crushing violent crime and defending the homeland. Deputy Director Dan Bongino echoed that message, arguing that the surge is the product of targeted, data-driven enforcement, and a clear shift away from what conservatives have long criticized as politicized, Washington-centered priorities. "An extremely small percentage of the population commits the majority of violent crimes," Bongino wrote Friday morning on X. "Most of these perpetrators have been arrested multiple times." Bongino said he and Patel "strategically moved around FBI assets" to parts of the country where violent crime was concentrated and paired the repositioning with "broken windows" policing and "target prioritization analysis." "The results were dramatic," Bongino said, crediting FBI field offices and local law enforcement partners with "record-breaking arrest numbers and historic drops in violent crime.” He added that the outcomes "defy armchair ‘analysis’" and thanked Trump for restoring a law-and-order approach. "Results matter," Bongino wrote.

FOX News [12/26/2025 10:04 AM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports a pro-police group will request the Justice Department investigate a Virginia prosecutor accused of being unfairly lenient to illegal immigrant suspects, using an oversight law the Biden administration used to scrutinize police departments like one in Kentucky after the Breonna Taylor incident. The law enforcement "pattern-or-practice" provision, under 34 USC 12601, was previously used to investigate alleged civil rights violations during the Biden era by police departments — including in Louisville after a no-knock warrant was served, leading to a shootout that killed Taylor. It has also been used against departments in New Jersey, Mississippi and Tennessee, as well as a division of the NYPD, for allegations ranging from excessive use of force, to gender bias and allegedly unlawful traffic stops. On Wednesday, the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF) told Fox News Digital it would ask the Trump Justice Department to use the same law in a different respect to investigate progressive Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano in Virginia. Descano, who received at least $600,000 from a George Soros-funded political action committee during his first election bid in Virginia’s largest jurisdiction in 2019, came under fire recently for the nonprosecution of an illegal immigrant who allegedly murdered someone the day after he was released. LELDF’s request "seeks to use established federal civil-rights tools to test whether a prosecutor’s office is operating a discriminatory system that endangers the public and erodes equal justice under law," the group’s president, Jason C. Johnson told Fox News Digital. LELDF officials will formally ask Deputy Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon to investigate Descano’s office under the same "pattern-or-practice" concerns as Biden’s DOJ had in Louisville. The group alleged the Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office "violat[ed] the civil rights of US citizens by favoring illegal aliens and non-citizens in charging, plea bargaining, and sentencing decisions." They pointed to the case of Marvin Morales-Ortez, who reportedly had first-degree murder charges stemming from a 2019 incident dropped by Descano’s office — which in turn told Washington’s ABC affiliate their evidence showed it was "clear that he was ultimately not the perpetrator who had killed Mr. [Jose] Guillen Mejia." Nick Minock, a reporter for the outlet, later obtained a transcript of Morales-Ortez’ preliminary hearing where Descano’s office posited that Morales-Ortez was present when Guillen Mejia was murdered and had ambushed the man on a walking path. A short time after he was released, Morales-Ortez allegedly went to a home on Fan Shell Court in Reston, Va. — near John F. Dulles International Airport — and allegedly shot a man inside. That chain of events enraged the Trump administration, with Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin saying that "Fairfax County politicians [who] push[ed] pushing policies that released this illegal alien from jail" have "blood on their hands." In the letter, LELDF argued that "dozens of illegal aliens like Morales-Ortez have repeatedly received excessive leniency from [Fairfax] under Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano.”

(B) Good Day Seattle at 10AM [12/26/2025 1:34 PM, Staff] reports Trump faces a major setback in the Supreme Court after it said that he cannot send troops to Chicago. The majority of the justices say so far, the government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois. The White House argues the troops are needed to protect federal property and personnel amid protests over the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. The head of the Border Patrol said agents will not be deterred. An appeals court has refused to step in.

Breitbart [12/26/2025 1:00 PM, Amy Furr, 2416K] reports that immigrant truckers are taking legal action against California officials for plans to revoke their commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), the news coming as the Democrat-controlled state faces heavy criticism after illegally issuing CDLs to foreign truck drivers. The group of immigrant workers are suing California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday. "California officials said last month that the state notified about 17,000 truckers that their commercial driver’s licenses would be revoked because the expiration dates went past when the drivers were legally allowed to be in the U.S. That number has since grown to 21,000," the outlet said. Now, the Sikh Coalition along with the Asian Law Caucus have filed a class-action lawsuit. In a press release Tuesday, the Coalition said: The suit challenges the CA-DMV’s unlawful cancellation of more than 20,000 non-domiciled commercial drivers’ licenses (CDLs) due to minor clerical discrepancies. It is a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of five CDL holders who have been deprived of their rights and livelihoods, as well as the Jakara Movement as an additional plaintiff. Beginning in November, the CA-DMV began issuing notices that it was cancelling these CDLs belonging to drivers who had minor paperwork discrepancies, including mismatches between the expiration dates on their CDLs and their work permits.

FOX News [12/26/2025 8:16 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., discusses a lawsuit against his state’s DMV over canceled commercial driver’s licenses on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’

FOX News [12/26/2025 7:49 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Fox News’ Jonathan Hunt discusses a group of migrant truck drivers that filed a lawsuit against a California DMV over the planned cancellation of approximately 20,000 commercial driver’s licenses on ‘Special Report.’

Washington Post [12/27/2025 5:00 AM, Arturo Torres, Samantha Schmidt, and Alex Horton, 24149K] reports the police arrived at the airport prepared to arrest a drug trafficker — a mariner whose crewmates the U.S. military had just killed. Andrés Fernando Tufiño Chila was one of only two people known to have survived a U.S. strike on a vessel that the Trump administration alleged was smuggling drugs from South America. President Donald Trump had described the Ecuadorian and a fellow survivor of the Oct. 16 strike in the Atlantic Ocean as “terrorists” who would be returned to their countries of origin “for detention and prosecution.” In Ecuador — a government closely aligned with Trump on counternarcotics enforcement — the administration had a willing partner, eager to learn, several officials here said, what the alleged trafficker could tell them about his employers. Tufiño, then 41, stepped off the U.S. military plane at the Quito airport on the morning of Oct. 18 in shackles, cut and bruised from the attack but walking on his own, according to Col. Carlos Ortega, then the director of anti-narcotics for Ecuador’s national police. He was already a known trafficker: He had pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to cocaine distribution conspiracy in 2021 and served more than three years in a U.S. prison before he was deported home to Ecuador last year. Now the U.S. military had picked him up amid the wreckage of a semisubmersible vessel — a “narco sub.” But in transferring him to Ecuadorian custody, three officials here said, U.S. forces didn’t provide any evidence that could be used to detain him — no seized drugs, no phone or GPS records, no videos, none of the intelligence that led them to target his vessel. On landing in Quito, U.S. officials told the Ecuadorians that the transfer was a “humanitarian” repatriation, Ortega said. Within hours, Tufiño was let go.

FOX News [12/26/2025 2:27 PM, Diana Stancy, 40621K] reports that President Donald Trump is taking his pressure campaign to the next level against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and making it clear he doesn’t believe the strongman should be leading the country — all while China and Russia are speaking out on the escalating conflict involving their ally. The Trump administration has launched a series of strikes targeting alleged drug boats off the coast of Latin America in recent months and announced this month a "complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela" as his administration has significantly beefed up its naval assets in the region. While the Trump administration has said that these efforts align with the administration’s effort to curb the influx of drugs into the U.S., the campaign also appears geared toward removing Maduro from power. This isn’t the first attempt by Trump to squeeze out Maduro. He previously imposed sanctions on Venezuela and backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó during his first term. As a result, Trump said Monday that Washington’s pressure campaign against Venezuela would "probably" be sufficient to coerce Maduro to step down and made it clear he believes that’s something Maduro should be doing.

FOX News [12/26/2025 1:34 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joins ‘America Reports’ to discuss U.S. military action against ISIS and Venezuela amid international terror attacks, killing U.S. soldiers and ongoing drug boats attempting to reach the homeland. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [12/26/2025 4:57 AM, Staff, 5004K] reports Venezuelan authorities announced on Thursday the release of 99 people detained during the 2024 protests following the disputed re-election of President Nicolás Maduro , the country’s Ministry of Popular Power for the Penitentiary Service reported on Instagram. Maduro’s proclamation for a third consecutive term sparked demonstrations that left 28 dead and at least 2,400 detained , whom the president himself described as "terrorists". The courts have released more than 2,000 people since then , according to official figures. "The national government and the justice system have decided to evaluate each case individually and grant precautionary measures in accordance with the law, which has allowed the release of 99 citizens, as a concrete expression of the State’s commitment to peace, dialogue and justice," the Ministry of Penitentiary Services said in a statement. According to the Venezuelan government, "they were deprived of their liberty for their participation in the acts of violence and incitement to hatred, following the election day of July 28, 2024."

New York Post [12/26/2025 1:06 PM, Steven Nelson, 42219K] reports that the tiny Pacific nation of Palau — a former filming location for "Survivor" — has agreed to take up to 75 third-country deportees from the United States who don’t have a criminal record — in exchange for a $7.5 million grant to support the roughly 18,000-person island chain. The $100,000 per-deportee fee, announced on Christmas Eve by Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. and the US embassy in Koror, introduces one of the most favorable venues yet for deportees if their recalcitrant homelands — such as China, Cuba, Russia or Iran — won’t take them. "Palau and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding allowing up to 75 third country nationals, who have never been charged with a crime, to live and work in Palau, helping address local labor shortages in needed occupations," the country’s president said in a statement. "In connection with this arrangement, the United States granted $7.5 million to help Palau meet related public service and infrastructure needs, while both countries continue close cooperation on immigration and security matters." The US embassy said, "The United States deeply appreciates Palau’s cooperation in enforcing U.S. immigration laws, which remains a top priority for the Trump Administration.” In addition to the new $7.5 million grant, the Trump administration agreed to provide $6 million "to prevent collapse of [Palau’s] civil service pension plan system" and $2 million for "new law enforcement initiatives." Palau, whose main industries include tourism and fishing, already was due $889 million in US aid over 20 years — or $44.45 million per year — under an agreement brokered by the Biden administration that took effect last year.

Washington Post [12/26/2025 2:16 PM, Azi Paybarah, 24149K] reports that top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration posted messages from their government accounts hailing Christmas in explicitly sectarian terms, such as a day to celebrate the birth of “our Savior Jesus Christ.” The Department of Homeland Security posted three messages on social media Thursday and Friday, twice declaring, “Christ is Born!” and once stating, “We are blessed to share a nation and a Savior.” One DHS video posted on X displayed religious images, including Jesus, a manger and crosses. The messages sharply diverged from the more secular, Santa Claus-and-reindeer style of Christmas messages that have been the norm for government agencies for years. The posts provided the latest example of the administration’s efforts to promote the cultural views and language of Trump’s evangelical Christian base. That drew criticism from advocates of a strict separation of church and state. Those social media posts are “one more example of the Christian Nationalist rhetoric the Trump administration has disseminated since Day One in office,” Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a statement. “Our Constitution’s promise of church-state separation has allowed religious diversity — including different denominations of Christianity — to flourish in America. “People of all religions and none should not have to sift through proselytizing messages to access government information,” she added. “It’s divisive and un-American.”

USA Today [12/27/2025 5:01 AM, Rosanna Garcia, 67103K] reports in November, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the restaurant that my brother owns in Oregon. With disgust, he told me, “I have to carry my passport because ICE is just looking for brown-colored skin.” My brother, like myself, was born in the United States. We are Chicanos, Americans who identify with our Mexican ancestry, a lineage that traces back six generations to the Arizona territory. Currently, in the United States, to be any shade of Brown or Black is to be potentially profiled as a criminal, illegal or “alien.” ICE has arrested well over 200,000 individuals in 2025, who were overwhelmingly Black and Brown. Skin color has always played a role in ICE’s operations. Some may not realize that ICE was established in 2003, following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. One of ICE’s main responsibilities is to arrest and deport noncitizens with criminal convictions or who pose national security threats. In its origin, ICE stereotyped individuals based on the skin tones of Middle Eastern descent. It still targets based on skin color; however, its mission has shifted. Records from 2024 to now show that 65% of detainees have no criminal convictions, and 93% have never been convicted of violent offenses.

Daily Caller [12/26/2025 11:39 AM, Natalie Sandoval, 835K] reports Democratic Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s Christmas message may not be as innocuous as it seems at first glance. "From my family to yours, wishing you a Merry Christmas and a joyful, safe holiday season," reads a caption attached to an official portrait of Cherfilus-McCormick. That portrait, commenters noticed, appears to have been digitally altered to remove a yellow diamond ring from her finger. Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted in November for allegedly stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds. The indictment alleges Cherfilus-McCormick shelled out $109,000 in federal disaster relief money to purchase a "Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond" ring, according to the Miami New Times. That description would appear to match the ring featured in Cherfilus-McCormick’s official portrait. Cherfilus-McCormick denied the allegations of fraud on Nov. 20, saying in a statement, "This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment — and I am innocent. The timing alone is curious and clearly meant to distract from far more pressing national issues. From day one, I have fully cooperated with every lawful request, and I will continue to do so until this matter is resolved.

Wall Street Journal [12/26/2025 3:15 PM, Jim Trusty, 646K] reports Aug. 8, 2022, will stay imprinted in my memory like no other day. Donald Trump had retained me as his lawyer a few months earlier, and I was still getting to know the players who formed his legal team as well as the many others who offered advice or service to the former president. I knew there was a slow-burning issue about his retention of potentially sensitive documents. I had told my chief counterpart, Evan Corcoran, that on Monday the 8th I would participate in a charity golf tournament and would be unavailable for any work issues. My phone started ringing repeatedly at 10 a.m., just as the tournament was starting. After ignoring it a couple of times, I answered and angrily reminded Evan that I was off for the day. He responded: “The FBI is at Mar-a-Lago.” So much for my game. The fire drill for us lawyers began in earnest that day. I knew some core facts—that Mr. Trump had returned numerous boxes to the custody of the archivist (the head of the National Archives and Records Administration) earlier that year; that Evan had been talking about documents with Jay Bratt of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; that Evan had searched through a bunch of disorganized documents to pull potentially classified ones and give them to Mr. Bratt. I learned around the same time that three months earlier Mr. Bratt had issued a grand-jury subpoena for “any and all” documents bearing classification markings. He was engaging in the typical back-and-forth that occurs on document subpoenas when he suddenly reversed course on his pledge to give Evan more time. And I knew that after Mr. Trump allowed Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and Mr. Bratt to walk around the premises at Mar-a-Lago and see where any of these documents were housed, he graciously let them know that they should just “let me know about anything they need,” or words to that effect. The first and only response to that invitation was to ask him to put a padlock on the door to the storage room full of boxed documents. Mr. Trump immediately complied with that request. I later learned more about the irregularities that accompanied this case as well as the Jan. 6 investigation.

NewsMax [12/26/2025 8:38 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4109K] reports roughly 70% of illegal migrants arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the second Trump administration reportedly had been convicted of or faced charges for criminal offenses. New data provided to the Washington Examiner shows the Trump administration arrested about 595,000 illegal immigrants between Jan. 20 and Dec. 11, according to the Department of Homeland Security. ICE said 70%, roughly 416,000, had "criminal convictions or pending criminal charges" in the United States, underscoring President Donald Trump’s promise to prioritize the "worst of the worst" in immigration enforcement. ICE officials stressed that even those without U.S. criminal records can still pose major public safety threats, the agency said, noting many are wanted abroad for violent crimes or have ties to gangs, terrorism, or other serious offenses. "This statistic doesn’t account for those wanted for violent crimes in their home country or another country, INTERPOL notices, human rights abusers, gang members, terrorists, etc. The list goes on," an ICE spokesperson told the Examiner. White House border czar Tom Homan has said arrest and deportation numbers will "explode greatly" next year — a signal the administration believes it has both the mandate and resources to restore border control after the chaos of the Biden years. With crime, fentanyl trafficking, and public safety still top voter concerns, Trump’s team is betting that removing illegal immigrants, especially those tied to criminal activity, will remain a winning issue, even as critics escalate political and legal pushback ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [12/26/2025 7:00 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K]

Politico [12/26/2025 7:00 AM, Alfred Ng, 2100K] reports the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is buying millions of dollars’ worth of new surveillance tools at the same time President Donald Trump has scaled back protections for use of civilian data — a combination that could lead to a vast expansion of domestic surveillance that goes far beyond immigrants. Federal records show that ICE has increased its spending on surveillance technology, looking to spend more than $300 million under Trump for social-media monitoring tools, facial recognition software, license plate readers and services to find where people live and work. These upgrades are expected to be used in ICE’s push to help fulfill the president’s campaign promise of “the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America.” The high-tech capabilities are also coinciding with policy changes from the White House that lower the guardrails around the government’s use of data on millions of American residents and expand its potential surveillance targets. A set of executive orders is giving ICE workarounds for the decades-old federal standard that protects American residents’ privacy, and the agency itself is signaling a shift in its enforcement policy, looking beyond immigrants and toward American critics of its officers’ behavior. ICE’s new capabilities and legal flexibility are raising concerns among privacy and civil liberty advocates that it is expanding its remit with little supervision of its powers. “It’s very troubling, especially when you pair the ramp-up of these capabilities and the increasing exercises of these capabilities with the undermining of independent oversight,” said Sharon Bradford Franklin, who chaired a board tasked with independently scrutinizing government surveillance following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A White House spokesperson referred POLITICO to ICE for questions about the agency’s operations. ICE did not respond to questions about its protections against potentially excessive surveillance.

NewsMax [12/26/2025 12:27 PM, Jim Mishler, 4109K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expanding its use of advanced surveillance tools. Politico reported that critics warn the government’s actions could lead to a vast expansion of domestic surveillance that goes far beyond immigrants, but did not acknowledge that the same technology is also being used against ICE agents. Federal procurement records show ICE is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on technology such as facial recognition software, social media monitoring tools, license plate readers, drones, and data services designed to locate where people live and work. The investments align with President Donald Trump’s push for aggressive immigration enforcement, including what he has described as the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. The technology buildup is occurring alongside executive actions that have loosened restrictions on how federal agencies share and use civilian data, raising concerns from privacy advocates about government access to personal information. Civil liberties groups argue that the combination of expanded tools and relaxed safeguards increases the risk that surveillance could extend beyond immigration enforcement into monitoring American residents. Democrats in Congress and officials in several blue states have criticized ICE’s growing access to government databases and have moved to limit the agency’s use of state-level records. Some Republicans have expressed support for ICE’s acquisition of surveillance technology, stressing that its use must comply with constitutional protections and existing privacy laws.

NPR [12/26/2025 5:46 PM, Beenish Ahmed, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports immigrants who are detained by ICE often get deported out of state so quickly that their attorneys don’t have time to file petitions to keep them in the state where they were arrested.

Blaze [12/26/2025 1:00 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1442K] reports that a Pennsylvania resident returned from grocery shopping to discover a "WANTED" flyer affixed to the resident’s vehicle. The flyer, provided to Blaze News, features photographs of four Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and reads, "WANTED: ICE AGENTS TERRORIZING WORKING PEOPLE." It urged State College residents to share information about the federal officials, directing them to send details to a Proton Mail email address "if you see these ICE agents or have information about them." The flyer claimed that federal immigration officials "kidnapped 24 immigrant workers in State College [on] August 19." "THEY ARE ENEMIES OF WORKING PEOPLE AND ARE NOT WELCOME ANYWHERE IN OUR COMMUNITY," it read. "SHARE WIDELY TO DEFEND IMMIGRANT WORKERS! DRIVE ICE OUT OF CENTRE COUNTY!". It was unclear who created the flyer. The Department of Homeland Security has reported a drastic uptick in assaults against ICE agents amid the rise of far-left activists attempting to doxx federal authorities. The flyer’s mention of the August arrests appeared to refer to Enforcement and Removal Operations’ "targeted enforcement operation in Bellefonte," according to a press release from ICE. The agency noted that a suspected MS-13 gang member was among the 24 arrested as well as another individual with several criminal convictions, including for assault. Another seven individuals had final orders of removal, the agency reported. "ICE is focusing on the worst first through targeted enforcement. However, it is also a crime to live in this country illegally," ERO Philadelphia Field Office Director Brian McShane stated about the arrests. "Knowing this, ICE has been empowered to vigorously search out, arrest, and remove anyone violating federal immigration law."

Univision [12/26/2025 4:51 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports a Hispanic mother in Georgia spoke with Univision about her concerns regarding the $3,000 offered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to those who voluntarily return to their country. She has decided to return to El Salvador, stating that she lacks the funds to maintain housing and food in the United States for herself and her three children after ICE detained her husband. Laura described that, in addition to the lack of money, she is worried about the situation her children might be in if she is detained by ICE. The lawyer described irregularities that have been seen in the distribution of the amount promised by DHS.

Chicago Tribune [12/26/2025 8:45 PM, Gloria Casas, 4829K] reports Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser has asked Elgin police to further investigate two complaints filed in a Dec. 6 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation at which bystanders were pepper-sprayed. While she wouldn’t confirm the incidents involve ICE agents or that charges would be filed, she did say the cases center on aggravated battery and criminal trespass to a residence. “There’s more investigation that definitely needs to happen,” Mosser said. She also said she would like to propose amendments to the state’s TRUST Act, which right now prevents local police officers from intervening in cases involving ICE agents. Elgin police received 11 complaints stemming from an ICE operation Dec. 6 in which a car crash occurred when they tried to take a man into custody. That man was able to flee their vehicle and barricaded himself inside an apartment on Maple Lane, where a six-hour standoff ensued and a large group of protesters gathered. After the incident was resolved, ICE released a statement alleging the man was a member of a Venezuelan gang, something his family disputes, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a news release in which they accused Elgin police of not protecting agents from protestors throwing “rocks and bottles.” Police responded with a statement in which they said they found no evidence ICE agents were attacked after reviewing the body camera videos shot by police officers at the scene but did have footage of agents throwing pepper gas into the crowd. There was one video in which protestor threw a water bottle at an ICE vehicle as it drove away, the statement said. Mosser said a decision on charges will be made after additional investigative work is done, possibly by the end of the year. The state’s attorney’s office can file charges anytime a state crime is committed, regardless of whether it involves a protestor or an ICE agent, she said. While she’s not heard of any cases being filed against federal immigration agents, she will not hesitate to pursue a case if she believes they have evidence of a federal agent violating the law, she said.

Washington Examiner [12/26/2025 3:39 PM, Jack Birle, 1394K] reports a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from making arrests of illegal immigrants at immigration courthouses, adding to restrictions that courts have placed on federal authorities making such arrests. U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts issued a ruling Wednesday finding the 2025 Immigration and Customs Enforcement courthouse arrest policies, which revised federal policy to allow for broader immigration arrests at courthouse, are "arbitrary and capricious" and were not properly implemented under federal rulemaking procedures established in the Administrative Procedure Act. Pitts also expressed concern over the "chilling effect" the policy would have on asylum-seekers and other migrants’ attendance at appointments at immigration court. The ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California only affects "ICE’s San Francisco area of responsibility," but creates a split from a ruling on the matter in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York earlier this year. In September, U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel ruled that the ICE courthouse arrest policies did follow proper federal rulemaking procedure and were not arbitrary or capricious. The split between two federal courts could provide a reason for review at the Supreme Court, should these two cases and others make their way through federal appeals courts.

Washington Post [12/26/2025 5:00 AM, David Nakamura, 24149K] reports the Trump administration is widening efforts to screen visa applicants for online speech considered dangerous and “anti-American” as the government moves to restrict legal migration and remove people from places the president has called “garbage.” The State Department earlier this month expanded new regulations requiring foreign students and people on academic and cultural exchange programs to disclose five years of their social media histories and make all of their posts public. All applicants for H-1B employment visas and their dependents will now also be subject to the more rigorous online review. “A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right,” officials said in announcing the expansion. The administration is also considering a similar rule for visitors from countries whose citizens are allowed to enter the United States for up to 90 days without a visa, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan. Trump administration officials said they are acting to protect public safety against terrorist sympathizers and those who wish harm upon Americans. In a statement, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin disputed the suggestion that the administration is stifling free speech. “DHS takes its role in addressing threats to the public and our communities seriously, and the idea that enforcing federal law in that regard constitutes some kind of prior restraint on speech is laughable,” she said.

New York Times [12/26/2025 2:30 PM, Miriam Jordan, 153395K] reports Benjamin Schoonwinkel took President Trump at his word. The United States would welcome South Africans like Mr. Schoonwinkel, white Afrikaners who Mr. Trump said had become victims of government discrimination in the decades since apartheid ended and the country’s Black majority gained political power. Afrikaners who claimed past persecution or fear of future harm could come to the United States as refugees, Mr. Trump declared, even as his administration was closing that door to the rest of the world. In September, Mr. Schoonwinkel boarded a flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta, and on arrival told U.S. border agents that he was seeking asylum. But he hadn’t come through the refugee program, as the Trump administration had intended. Rather, Mr. Schoonwinkel, 59, had chosen to travel on a tourist visa and to seek asylum. Instead of being allowed to enter the country, he found himself in handcuffs. Within two days, he was in a federal detention center in rural Georgia, where about 2,000 people who have been swept up in Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown are being held. He has been there for almost 100 days. “I never expected this to happen,” Mr. Schoonwinkel said in a video interview this month from the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga. “I expected a little bit of red tape.” Mr. Schoonwinkel’s case may represent one of the more curious effects of Mr. Trump’s sweeping reshaping of American immigration. An Afrikaner, excited by the president’s public embrace of his community, travels to the United States expecting a warm welcome, but instead confronts the other side of Mr. Trump’s policies: long detentions that have typically entangled migrants from Latin America. Mr. Schoonwinkel’s immigration case has played out haphazardly in a court system straining under tens of thousands of new proceedings. For a while, his lawyer struggled to get the government to respond or even mount a case against him. Eventually, ICE officials said his tourist visa had been rescinded when he requested asylum. “Anyone who claims asylum at a port of entry is subject to mandatory detention while the government investigates their claims,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department. “If their claims are found to be valid, they will be granted relief,” she said in a statement. “If they are found to not be valid, they are swiftly removed.” She said that Afrikaners continued to arrive in the United States through the refugee program after being “strictly vetted.” Mr. Schoonwinkel, she stressed, had not entered as a refugee.

Breitbart [12/26/2025 5:56 AM, Kurt Zindulka, 2416K] reports a New York federal judge has intervened to block the Trump administration from deporting Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) CEO Imran Ahmed after the State Department announced sanctions against him and four other Europeans for waging censorship campaigns against Americans. In a Christmas Day ruling, Judge Vernon S. Broderick, of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued a temporary restraining order barring Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers, among others, from detaining Imran Ahmed. Ahmed, a British citizen of Afghan heritage, is a current resident of the United States on a Green Card. The former Labour Party advisor was among five Euro-area citizens to be sanctioned this week with visa bans and deportation orders by the State Department for their role in leading “organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.” Announcing the visa ban on Tuesday, Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers said, “if you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you’re unwelcome on American soil.”

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [12/26/2025 12:13 PM, Jack Birle, 1394K]

FOX News [12/26/2025 11:36 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports Fox News chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt reports on migrant truckers’ lawsuit against the California DMV to keep their CDLs. Former DHS senior advisor Chuck Marino discusses the Trump administation’s transportation crackdown. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [12/26/2025 6:05 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports a group of immigrant truck drivers filed a class action lawsuit against the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to stop the cancellation of nearly 20,000 commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), a move that directly threatens their livelihood and could lead to mass shutdowns in transportation beginning Jan. 5, 2026. The lawsuit was filed this week by the Asian Law Caucus and the Sikh Coalition, along with the Weil firm, Gotshal & Manges LLP, representing the Jakara Movement and five affected commercial drivers, the New York Post notes. Drivers allege that the DMV violated their rights by canceling licenses without offering a way to correct what they qualify as administrative errors. According to the lawsuit, on November 6, the California DMV sent 60-day cancellation notices in advance of 17,299 immigrant drivers and business owners, informing them that their “undomed” business licenses would be canceled on January 5, 2026. The move was taken after a federal audit that found that some licenses had been issued with expiration dates after the period in which drivers were legally authorized to remain or work in the United States. “The sudden loss of their ability to work threatens not only their livelihoods, but also the stability of our supply chains and services on which the public depends. Neither individuals nor our communities can bear the damage that will occur if these drivers lose their licenses, their jobs and their economic stability,” the lawsuit says. “The state of California must help these 19,000 drivers because, at the end of the day, administrative errors that threaten their livelihoods are the responsibility of California’s own DMV,” said Munmeeth Kaur, legal director of the Sikh Coalition, an organization fighting for civil rights in the Sikh community, Los Angeles Times said. Recently, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy tightened the rules for processing a license after conducting a national audit of business licenses. The new rules for business licenses that Duffy announced in September greatly complicate an immigrant from obtaining a trucker’s license, because only three specific classes of visa holders will be eligible. States will also need to verify an applicant’s immigration status in a federal database. These licenses will be valid for up to one year unless the applicant’s visa expires earlier. Under the new guidelines, only 10,000 of the 200,000 foreigners with business licenses would be eligible to obtain one of these licenses, which would only be available to drivers who have an H-2a, H-2b or E-2 visa. The H-2a visa is for temporary day laborers, while the H-2B is for temporary non-agricultural workers.

NewsMax [12/26/2025 10:42 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4109K] reports new immigration enforcement protocols and visa travel restrictions aimed at modernizing border management and strengthening national security took effect Friday. The new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rules now in force expand biometric screening at U.S. entry and exit points, and impose tougher reviews of green cards issued to citizens from 19 countries flagged for elevated security concerns, Newsweek reported. Supporters argue the changes represent a long-overdue modernization of border controls, leveraging technology to prevent fraud, deter overstays, and close gaps exploited by criminal networks and potential terrorists. At the center of the policy is a nationwide biometric entry-exit system. Under the updated procedures, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will photograph all non-U.S. citizens, including lawful permanent residents, every time they enter or leave the country. CBP may also collect fingerprints and iris scans when warranted and match them against existing travel documents through the Traveler Verification Service. CBP has argued that an integrated biometric system strengthens security by reducing document fraud and identifying those who overstay visas or attempt to enter under false identities. In the Federal Register, CBP said the system helps address threats including terrorism, fraudulent travel documentation, visa overstays, and incomplete traveler data.

Univision [12/26/2025 7:24 AM, Staff, 5004K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will expand the collection of biometric data from foreigners visiting the United States starting this Friday, December 26, after eliminating a series of exemptions and adding different entry and exit methods. Last November, the DHS announced the rule on "Collection of Biometric Data of Foreigners Entering and Leaving the United States," which, according to authorities, "will improve national security and streamline the identity verification processes for foreign visitors." The final rule, which will take effect this Friday, December 26, 2025, modifies existing DHS regulations to authorize U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect facial biometric data from all non-citizens entering and leaving airports, land ports, seaports, and other authorized points of departure. Previously, biometric collection exceptions were in place for some types of visitors, such as diplomats and most Canadian visitors. The new DHS rule eliminates the limitation on pilot tests, and establishes the expansion of biometric data collection to other modes of transportation such as departure by sea, private planes, vehicle entry and exit, and pedestrian exit. "This rule simply modifies DHS regulations to establish that it can require that all foreigners be photographed upon entering or leaving the United States," Hilton Beckham, Deputy Commissioner for Public Affairs at Customs and Border Protection, told Univision News in an email. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Wall Street Journal [12/26/2025 5:30 AM, Esther Fung, 646K] reports backpacks from Japan, Milka chocolate biscuits from Europe and other goods shipped to the U.S. aren’t just being blocked from entering the country. Some are smashed to bits. Tens of thousands of imports have been blocked from entering the U.S. in recent months and stacked in vast warehouses. Many get to their destinations after buyers complete government paperwork. Yet some that can’t clear customs because of missing or incomplete information are returned—or destroyed. The stranded parcels are casualties of shifting new U.S. tariffs, tougher customs enforcement and other import restrictions that carriers and consumers said are tough to navigate. “It was impossible for all of us to turn on a dime,” said Joseph Costigan, chief executive of IBC Customs Brokerage, which helps process imports and calculates duties and fees for products. Matthew Gallo was waiting for an automotive part from the U.K. for his vintage Jaguar when he got an email from his carrier saying the $1,600 air-conditioner condenser had been destroyed. United Parcel Service was shipping the condenser. Gallo said he and his supplier provided UPS the information it requested for the part to clear customs, including its size, brand and model number. They also provided a description of its composition, use and true value. UPS later said U.S. Customs and Border Protection wanted even more information such as the country of origin of the condenser’s steel and aluminum, which Gallo and the supplier said they didn’t know they had to provide. More than one billion packages shipped individually to the U.S. each year, rather than in bulk on pallets, are potentially subject to the customs holds. These shipments include goods valued at $800 or less that had entered the U.S. tariff-free until the Trump administration scrapped the “de minimis” exception in August. In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which polices most imported goods, collected $33 billion in revenue from reviews of import documents, up from $668 million the previous year. The Food and Drug Administration blocked more than 32,900 items from entering the U.S. during fiscal year 2025, up about 60% from the year prior. Food and tobacco products made up much of the FDA’s refusals.

(B) NBC News Daily [12/26/2025 3:25 PM, Staff] reports that starting today, a new federal rule goes into effect requiring biometric data collection for non-US citizens leaving or entering the United States. The Department of Homeland Security says the measure is part of a long-planned effort to close security gaps and combat fraud. Under the new rule, all non-US citizens including tourists, visa holders, and temporary workers must provide biometric information at land, air, and maritime exit and entry points. US citizens are not required to submit to these biometric exit checks. The Department of Homeland Security says this is a long-term security initiative and full implementation and screening may take several years to be completed nationwide.

NewsMax [12/26/2025 6:28 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K] reports hundreds of Marines have been deployed to Yuma, Arizona, to assist in the Trump administration’s efforts to strengthen security along the border with Mexico. The deployment followed a July announcement by the Department of the Interior that it transferred jurisdiction of about 285 acres of public land in Yuma County along the border to the Navy for three years. The land was designated a National Defense Area to support border security operations. The zone, adjacent to the Roosevelt Reservation along the Barry M. Goldwater Range and the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge, allows military personnel to temporarily detain people who enter the restricted area unlawfully, according to Customs and Border Protection. Detainees are then turned over to Border Patrol agents to face criminal charges for violating defense property regulations and entering military property, as well as charges related to illegal entry. They then face removal proceedings. The Marine Times reported Tuesday that about 450 Marines from Camp Pendleton in Southern California were set for deployment. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Dec. 19 that about 500 Marines would be sent. A spokesperson for Joint Task Force-Southern Border, which oversees nearly 2,000 miles of the border from San Diego to McAllen, Texas, told the Marine Times that the service members will primarily work on construction-related projects.

NewsMax [12/26/2025 10:37 PM, Sam Barron, 4109K] reports Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said a report on the rising number of Hispanics joining the Border Patrol made her sad. Appearing on CNN’s "The Situation Room," Bass, a Democrat, was responding to a segment that profiled people who have joined the Border Patrol since President Donald Trump took office. The segment interviewed Hispanic Border Patrol agents, who dismissed criticism that they were rounding up their own kind. "I think it’s sad," Bass said to host Wolf Blitzer. "I think that those Border Patrol agents are going to have a difficult time when they’re out in the field and they see what actually happens in real life, separate from their training.” Bass said many people are joining U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement simply for the money. "I do understand that their primary incentive is financial," Bass said. "I think it just speaks to the financial situation that millions of Americans find themselves in," Bass added. More than half of Border Patrol agents are Hispanic, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "They didn’t come in the right way. So they aren’t my kind," Border Patrol recruit Juan Peralta told CNN in the segment. Another Border Patrol agent said he was protecting his community. "I’m protecting both sides of the border," Claudio Herrera said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said applications have risen 70% compared with a year ago, as the Trump administration has offered incentives to attract more Border Patrol agents as part of its initiative to secure the border.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [12/26/2025 6:58 PM, Victor Nava, 42219K]

NBC News [12/26/2025 6:40 PM, Staff, 34509K] Video: HERE reports the northeast is bracing for the biggest snowfall it’s seen in years, as the winter storm coming across the US is already causing widespread delays and cancellations at major airports. NBC News’ Sam Brock has the story.

Univision [12/26/2025 6:53 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports airlines canceled more than 1,500 flights in the United States on Friday, in the midst of high Christmas travel season, with warnings of severe winter storm and forecast of heavy snowfall in the Midwest and northeast regions. More than 40 million Americans were under snowstorm warnings or weather alerts a day after Christmas. Another 30 million people were facing flood or storm warnings in California, where an atmospheric river caused a flood. New York was preparing to receive up to 10 inches of snow overnight, the worst snowfall in four years. Cold weather could drag on over the weekend in the country’s largest city. At least 1,560 flights had been cancelled and 6,700 delayed until 6:30 PM ET, according to the website FlightAware, which reported that New York and Chicago airports were among the hardest hit.

CBS Miami [12/26/2025 7:43 AM, Staff, 39474K] reports travelers are facing long waits at Miami International Airport as record holiday travel continues, with AAA warning of heavy TSA lines, busy roads and peak travel times through the day. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Chicago Tribune [12/26/2025 6:00 AM, Staff, 4829K] reports imagine a future where you board an American Airlines flight without a gate agent scanning a boarding pass. That could be your reality during your next trip at DFW International Airport, where the Fort Worth-based carrier is testing electronic boarding gates. The gates are being piloted on certain mainline domestic flights departing from gate A13 at DFW Airport, the airline’s central hub. Video footage provided by American showed how the electronic gates work. Customers approach the gates and scan their boarding pass for their assigned flight and the gates open, allowing them to proceed to the jet bridge. The gates are designed to pace the boarding process for better flow on the jet bridge and streamline tasks for airline employees, the airline said. The gates, American said, are the latest in a series of investments the airline has made to streamline its boarding procedures. In May, American added five additional minutes to boarding time and rolled out updated boarding groups. The airline said the changes improved on-time departures and reduced gate-checked bags by 25%.

CBS News [12/26/2025 7:19 PM, Giles Hudson, 39474K] reports American Airlines announced significant changes to its planned operations at DFW Airport on Friday including making adjustments to its flight schedules. The airline expects the adjustment to improve the ability for passengers to make connecting flights. "American...is fundamentally changing the way it does business at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport," the carrier said in an announcement posted to its website Friday. "The airline’s customers will soon benefit from those changes in a meaningful way.” DFW Airport is the carrier’s largest hub, with more than 30% of the 700,000 people who fly American each day connecting through the airport. The plan includes expanding the number of flight groups, called "banks", that the airline has at DFW from 9 to 13. The move, which begins in April, will "provide more certainty" to the 100,000 customers who travel on the 930 flights at peak times at DFW, the carrier said. "With this structural schedule change, customers will also benefit from more improved early-morning departure times compared to 2025," American said. "Specifically, they will experience more departure options in highly desired time windows and fewer early morning departures to DFW, which is especially good news for customers making morning connections through DFW.” American said it is also increasing the scheduled time between pushback from the departure gate to arrival at the destination gate to help guarantee more on-time arrivals. The longer flight blocks will lead to improved efficiency for baggage service, the airline said, helping make sure customers’ luggage makes it to connecting flights on time. American said it is committed to streamlining the airport security experience and is already working with the Transportation Security Administration to use facial recognition technology for more secure identity verification.

Washington Examiner [12/26/2025 1:32 PM, Mia Cathell, 1394K] reports that federally indicted Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), who is accused of spending stolen disaster relief funds on a $109,000 diamond ring, has edited out what appears to be the jewelry in question from her congressional headshot. Cherfilus-McCormick posted a photoshopped picture of herself on Christmas Day. Noticeably missing from the photo, an un-doctored version of which serves as Cherfilus-McCormick’s House portrait, is a yellow diamond ring with an accompanying band previously seen on her left hand. In November, Cherfilus-McCormick was charged with stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, laundering the proceeds, and then making illegal campaign contributions to herself with those gains. Cherfilus-McCormick’s family-run healthcare company allegedly received an accidental $5 million overpayment from FEMA during the pandemic and proceeded to reroute the money through multiple accounts to disguise its source before funneling "a substantial portion" of the misappropriated funds to her 2021 congressional campaign. According to the 15-count indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly cashed a cashier’s check worth approximately $109,000 to buy a ring with the laundered money on or about Sept. 1, 2021. Elsewhere, the charging documents allege that Cherfilus-McCormick purchased an estimated 3.14-carat "Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond" ring using the stolen FEMA funds from an unnamed jewelry store, only identified as a jewelry design house headquartered in New York City. The Washington Examiner contacted Cherfilus-McCormick’s office for comment.

AP [12/26/2025 2:03 PM, Austyn Gaffney, 31753K] reports that for Sue Minter, Vermont’s newly appointed climate superfund specialist, the floods started early. Back in 2011, when Tropical Storm Irene thrashed Vermont, Minter — serving as the state’s deputy secretary of transportation — helped rebuild the 600 miles of destroyed road and hundreds of damaged bridges. Just over a decade later, as executive director for Capstone Community Action, a regional anti-poverty nonprofit, she helped low-income and vulnerable Vermonters displaced by the 2023 and 2024 floods. With a history of public service dating back to the 1990s, Minter was tapped in September to be the program manager for the state’s new Climate Superfund Act. That legislation, overshadowed by a pair of federal lawsuits seeking to dismantle the law, seeks to hold major oil companies accountable for their pollution. Now, Minter is pushing the law forward while the courts consider whether the state law will survive. On Monday, the federal government again asked the courts to void the law. The Vermont law imposes a one-time fee on fossil fuel companies for emissions between 1995 and 2024. A company qualifies as a payee if its extraction or refining of fossil fuels caused at least one billion metric tons of carbon emissions over the last two decades. Those payouts would help the state finance adaptation to climate change, largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels. A big part of Minter’s job in emergency response was to convince the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to pay for resilient investments to mitigate future floods. The resiliency built with federal and state dollars after Irene helped reduce the impacts of floods in 2023 and 2024, Minter and Pieciak said. The damages from those two flooding events cost more than $1 billion, according to the resilience strategy report.

USA Today [12/26/2025 10:21 AM, Julia Gomez, 67103K] reports a post-Christmas winter storm is expected to hit the Great Lakes and Northeast areas, creating hazardous ice and heavy snowfall, according to the National Weather Service. While record warmth sticks around in places like the Tennessee Valley, other parts of the US are facing an "impactful post-Christmas winter storm" on Dec. 26, according to the NWS. "This fast-moving storm will pack a punch in the Northeast right after Christmas. Holiday travelers should prepare for major slowdowns on roads and at airports," said Tyler Roys, an AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist. The winter storm is expected to bring a mix of freezing rain and sleet to the Great Lakes, the north-central Appalachians, and a large area of the Mid-Atlantic throughout the night of Dec. 26. Heavy snowfall is also expected across Central New York and northeast Pennsylvania, including New York City and the tristate area. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will all receive snow heavy enough to shovel and plow, according to AccuWeather. Over a quarter-inch of freezing rain is expected to accumulate in the area between northwest Pennsylvania and western Maryland, according to the NWS. Power outages and tree damage are possible due to the storm. "The winter storm is likely to generate treacherous travel conditions and delays following Christmas Day," the NWS said in a post. "Stay up-to-date on the latest forecast information."

CBS News [12/26/2025 2:26 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports that Catastrophic flooding and mudslides in California have turned deadly. CBS News’ Andres Gutierrez reports. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

San Francisco Chronicle.com [12/26/2025 12:37 PM, Jessica Flores Lucy Hodgman, 4722K] reports the Christmas week storms that slammed into California buried Tahoe in snow and one Southern California town in mud, while knocking down trees, flooding roads and cutting power in many communities, but the Bay Area emerged on Friday in fairly good shape — having dodged disaster but still watching for trouble. More showers hit the Bay Area on Friday and were expected to linger into Saturday morning, though the most severe weather had subsided, meteorologists said. The National Weather Service reported a 15% to 20% chance of thunderstorms through late Friday, with up to 2 to 5 inches of rain expected in the valleys and 6 to 8 inches in the coastal mountains. Gusts were forecast to reach 30 to 45 mph for higher elevations and 20 to 35 mph for the rest of the region. Hundreds of flights at San Francisco International Airport were delayed Friday due to strong winds.

CNN [12/26/2025 4:29 PM, Kevin Liptak] reports the United States hasn’t given up its pursuit of the massive, rusted oil tanker it chased into international waters near Venezuela last weekend, and officials are now contemplating moving additional resources into the area to forcibly board the ship, people familiar with the matter said. Officials no longer expect the Bella 1 to return to the country to load up with oil as the US military and Coast Guard chase it, and the people familiar with the matter said it was possible the administration would decide to abandon its effort to seize the ship. But for now, the US is contemplating sending a specialized Maritime Special Response Team with experience in boarding vessels that do not submit to seize control of it. The White House has said the Bella 1 is a "dark fleet vessel" covered by US sanctions that is sailing under a false flag. Officials said it was under a judicial order that would allow for its seizure. It refused to stop when the Coast Guard tried to interdict it last weekend, instead making a U-turn and sailing into the Atlantic Ocean. It has been on the run ever since. For now, however, officials said the priority is enforcing the restrictions on Venezuelan oil, including the ship interceptions that have led some tankers to avoid the region. While the US is still pursuing the Bella 1, there isn’t a major rush to board the ship as it continues to sail away from Venezuela, one official said. The ship is currently empty.

CBS News [12/26/2025 10:28 PM, Faris Tanyos, 39474K] reports three people were wounded, including an officer, when a gunman opened fire Friday afternoon at the headquarters of a sheriff’s office in rural northwest Idaho, authorities said. The suspect was later fatally shot by law enforcement inside the building. The incident unfolded at about 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time outside the headquarters of the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office in Wallace, Idaho, Shoshone County Sheriff William Eddy said in a Friday night news conference. Eddy said the suspect shot two women who were sitting in a pickup truck outside the building. "Two ladies got shot, they were sitting in a pickup," Eddy said. "The guy shot through the windshield, and it struck a lady in the leg in the front seat, and a lady in the leg in the backseat." At some point, the suspect "entered the sheriff’s office lobby and began firing," Eddy said. One officer was struck in the ear by the gunfire, but it was unclear if he was inside the building at the time. All three victims sustained minor injuries, the sheriff disclosed. "He just walked in," Eddy told reporters. "...The lobby is always open so people can walk in and fill out reports, or make contact with dispatch, or get ahold of us." Several local and federal law enforcement agencies responded, including the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service. The suspect was shot and killed by officers in the lobby area, Eddy said. He was pronounced dead at 4:15 p.m. The sheriff indicated that no one was held hostage during the incident. The suspect, whose name was not released, was armed with multiple firearms, Eddy said. He declined to provide a possible motive for the shooting. Wallace is located about 45 miles southeast of Coeur d’Alene, which is located near the Idaho-Washington border. NewsMax [12/26/2025 10:32 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K] reports law enforcement agencies from Idaho, Montana, and Washington state responded to reports of an active shooter at the sheriff’s office. Eddie said the suspected shooter was killed by law enforcement, describing the incident as an officer-involved shooting. He did not identify the officer involved. According to Eddie, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and Coeur d’Alene Police Department are handling the criminal investigation, while Idaho State Police will investigate the officer-involved shooting. Witnesses told local media they heard at least seven gunshots around 2:30 p.m. local time. A source close to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office told the Shoshone News-Press that the alleged shooter was “holed up” inside the building’s attorney visitation room during the attack. The county courthouse, sheriff’s office, and county jail are all located in the same building in downtown Wallace.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [12/26/2025 9:14 PM, Hannah Ziegler and Mark Walker, 135475K]
ABC News [12/26/2025 10:15 PM, Meredith Deliso and Jack Moore, 30493K]
Telemundo [12/26/2025 7:27 PM, Staff, 20K]

AP [12/26/2025 3:16 PM, Will Weissert, 31753K] reports President Donald Trump said the United States launched a “powerful and deadly” strike against forces of the Islamic State group in Nigeria, after spending weeks accusing the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians. In a Christmas evening post on his social media site Thursday, Trump did not provide details or mention the extent of the damage caused by the strikes in the northwestern state of Sokoto. A Defense Department official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss details not made public, said the U.S. worked with Nigeria to carry out the strikes and that they’d been approved by Abuja. Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the cooperation included exchange of intelligence and strategic coordination in ways “consistent with international law, mutual respect for sovereignty and shared commitments to regional and global security.” The Associated Press could not confirm the extent of the strikes’ impact.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [12/26/2025 10:15 AM, Staff, 40621K]

The Hill [12/26/2025 2:25 PM, Julia Mueller, 12595K] reports that the U.S. launched strikes against ISIS militants in Nigeria on Thursday, a Christmas Day attack amid tensions between the West African nation and the U.S. “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” President Trump wrote Thursday in a post on Truth Social. Details are still emerging about the strikes, which come after Trump threatened military action in Nigeria last month over violence against Christians in the region. Though Nigeria has said it coordinated with the U.S. on the attacks, its officials have resisted the characterization of a religious conflict. U.S. Africa Command (Africom) announced Thursday that “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed by the strikes against ISIS camps in Sokoto State, a predominantly Muslim area that borders Niger to the north. The Department of Defense (DOD) released a video on social media that appeared to show a missile launch, but specific details about the strike targets and impacts remain unclear. Africom “will continue to assess the results of the operation and will provide additional information as appropriate,” according to a release, but “specific details about the operation will not be released in order to ensure operational security.” Trump in November had labeled the African nation a “country of particular concern” (CPC) because of religious violence, threatening to take military action.

Reported similarly:
ABC News [12/26/2025 8:00 PM, Staff, 30493K] Video: HERE
NBC News [12/26/2025 7:07 PM, Staff, 34509K] Video: HERE

Washington Examiner [12/26/2025 2:40 PM, Rachel Schilke, 1394K] reports that Congressional Republicans are widely supporting President Donald Trump’s strikes against ISIS in Nigeria, with many who had recently been on a delegation to the foreign country praising the president for protecting Christians. Trump ordered strikes on Christmas Day against the Islamic State group’s terrorists in northwest Nigeria, claiming ISIS "terrorist scum" were killing Christians. The strike came after the president declared Nigeria a "country of particular concern," leading several House lawmakers to travel on a bipartisan delegation to the West African country to examine anti-Christian violence and persecution. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) and Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) and Riley Moore (R-WV), who helped lead the delegation, praised the president’s actions in a statement Friday, saying "red lines are kept under President Trump." "Nigeria is the most dangerous place on Earth to follow Christ, and faith and humanity must be protected," the lawmakers wrote. "Islamic terrorists will not overrule national security, religious freedom, and the right to worship. We were on the ground – we heard and saw firsthand of the failures to stop extremism and systemic violence against innocent people." "These strikes send a clear and unmistakable message: America will stand with persecuted believers, confront evil, and hold terrorists accountable," the Republicans continued. Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee issued a similar statement of support in a post to X, saying ISIS is "now the hunted" under Trump’s leadership. "America stands firmly with our partners in eliminating the TERRORISTS who have targeted innocent Christians for extermination," the committee said. The Washington Examiner [12/26/2025 12:33 PM, Mabinty Quarshie, 1394K] reports that President Donald Trump praised the U.S. military strikes against Islamic State terrorists in northwest Nigeria as a "very bad Christmas present," during a surprise Friday appearance on WABC 770 AM. "I told Nigeria, and I told the people around Nigeria that if you do it, you’re going to get hit. And I said yesterday, I said, hit him on Christmas Day. It’ll be a Christmas present," Trump told John Catsimatidis, host of WABC’s Sid & Friends in the Morning. "We hit ISIS, who have terrible — they’re butchers. Then we really hit them hard in different locations, and they really got hit hard yesterday. So they got a very bad Christmas present," the president continued. Trump ordered deadly military strikes against "ISIS Terrorist Scum" in Nigeria on Christmas evening for allegedly targeting "innocent Christians." "I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. A War Department official told the Washington Examiner that Nigeria’s government was aware of the U.S. strikes. "The Department of War worked with the government of Nigeria to carry out these strikes. These strikes were approved by the government of Nigeria," the official said. For months, the Trump administration and evangelicals in the U.S. have accused Islamic State terrorists of intentionally targeting Christian Nigerians. Last month, the president said he was "really angry" about the anti-Christian violence in Nigeria and ordered armed forces leaders to prepare for action in the West African nation to tackle Islamist militant groups.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [12/26/2025 11:26 AM, Julia Mueller, 12595K]

CNN [12/26/2025 8:06 PM, Nimi Princewill, 18595K] reports a day after part of a missile fired by the United States hit their village, landing just meters from its only medical facility, the people of Jabo in northwestern Nigeria are in a state of shock and confusion. Suleiman Kagara, a resident of this quiet and predominantly Muslim farming community in Tambuwal district of Sokoto state, told CNN he heard a loud blast and saw flames as a projectile flew overhead at around 10 p.m. on Thursday. Soon after, it came crashing down, exploding on impact with the ground and sending the villagers fleeing in fear. "We couldn’t sleep last night," Kagara said. "We’ve never seen anything like this before.” Kagara did not realize it at the time, but what he was witnessing was part of a US strike that President Donald Trump would later refer to as a "Christmas present" for terrorists. Not long after the impact in Jabo, Trump declared on Thursday that the US had carried out a "powerful and deadly strike" against ISIS militants in the region, who he accused of "targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even centuries!". According to US Africa Command, the operation neutralized multiple ISIS militants. But Trump’s explanation has left Kagara and his fellow villagers scratching their heads. While parts of Sokoto face challenges with banditry, kidnappings and attacks by armed groups including Lakurawa – which Nigeria classifies as a terrorist organization due to suspected affiliations with Islamic State – villagers say Jabo is not known for terrorist activity and that local Christians coexist peacefully with the Muslim majority.

NewsMax [12/26/2025 7:30 PM, Sam Barron, 4109K] reports Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., who recently returned from a trip to Nigeria, told Newsmax Friday about his firsthand experiences seeing Christians persecuted in the African nation. Baumgartner was appearing a day after President Donald Trump ordered strikes on "ISIS Terrorist Scum" in Nigeria after the president said they killed Christians in the African country’s northwest region. The Washington congressman said he returned three days ago from Nigeria, where he met with both government officials and leaders of the Christian community. "They very much felt like they were under attack," Baumgartner said on "Carl Higbie: FRONTLINE.” "They told us personal stories of people they knew being attacked by Islamist militants, and they were very pleased that President Trump and Republicans were taking note, and that they felt like they were not alone, and that going into the Christmas season, their pleas were being heard.” Baumgartner said media coverage downplaying the persecution of Christians in Nigeria was "Trump derangement syndrome.” "These people that are saying this isn’t happening should go to the same lunch where I went to where we were meeting with pastors and ministers," he said. "Nigerians on the ground that talk about how their communities are not safe and that Islamic extremists are targeting them with kidnappings and killings.” "It’s unfortunate that these detractors that are saying this stuff is fake can’t remove themselves from their own partisan political binders and just look at the facts on the ground and the facts that are being Christians attacked," Baumgartner continued.

Breitbart [12/27/2025 4:00 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2416K] reports that, on Friday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) stated that the strikes in Nigeria are the administration “making sure they sow chaos and distraction.” Co-host Kate Bolduan asked, “[T]he Foreign Minister of Nigeria was on this morning and said that this [was] coordinated and it was collaborative and cooperative between the United States and Nigeria. But he did say, when asked, that this is not about religion, he said this is not a Christian or Muslim problem. It’s a regional terrorism problem. What do you do with that disconnect? And what does Congress — what do you think, in a traditional sense, even though there has been kind of a trend of less briefing of Congress rather than more, what should the Congress learn of this?” Dean responded, “Well, traditionally, we would have been told in advance, and we would have been basing it on the facts. I’m thinking back to just, I guess, about 10 days ago, when we had a classified briefing by Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth on the Venezuelan boat strikes. And while I can’t tell you what they did brief us on, I can tell you what they didn’t brief us on, which were the facts. This is what’s missing constantly with this administration, and it is extremely dangerous. At a time, Christmas season, a time of joy, a time to try to give gifts to others, this administration is hell-bent on making sure they sow chaos and distraction. They should be coming to Congress.”

The Hill [12/26/2025 10:31 AM, Julia Mueller, 12595K] reports Nigeria said its response to terrorism threats "goes beyond borders" after the U.S. launched airstrikes against Islamic State militants in the West African country on Thursday. "Nigeria’s focus remains the protection of innocent lives and the defeat of terrorism through coordinated action with partners who respect sovereignty and regional stability. This challenge goes beyond borders, and so must the response," Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar wrote Friday on the social platform X. "Our approach is firm, collaborative and grounded in the understanding that security in Nigeria is inseparable from security across the wider region," he added. Tuggar also stressed that "terrorism in Nigeria is not a religious conflict; it is a regional security threat," cautioning against "simplistic labels" after President Trump cited the targeting of Christians in the region.

Breitbart [12/27/2025 4:00 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2416K] reports that, on Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Early Start,” Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar stated that the American strikes in the country on Christmas were “coordinated with the U.S.,” and the fight in the area is “not about religion. It is about Nigerians, innocent civilians, and the wider region as a whole.” Tuggar stated, “Terrorists are being targeted. This has always been Nigeria’s approach. And this also…puts to rest any doubt with regards to the Tinubu administration’s resolve to fight terrorism. This was coordinated with the U.S., the same way that we’ve been saying we are ready, willing, and able to collaborate, to coordinate with any foreign government that is committed to the fight against terrorism.” He continued, “This is not about religion. It is about Nigerians, innocent civilians, and the wider region as a whole. And even before the strike was carried out, I had a 90-minute phone call with Secretary of State — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after which I discussed with President Tinubu, and I later spoke again to President Tinubu. He gave the go-ahead. And then Marco Rubio called me, once more, for a five-minute discussion, and, subsequently, the attacks were carried out.”

Breitbart [12/27/2025 4:00 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2416K] reports that, on Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Early Start,” Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar argued that the Nigerian government has the will to fight terrorism but “We may have institutional challenges, partly due to, for instance, the Leahy law that stopped the sale of military equipment, both kinetic and non-kinetic, to countries like Nigeria.” And noted that the first Trump administration allowed some military aircraft to be sold to Nigeria. Tuggar said, “What took place yesterday clearly underscores the fact that Nigeria is not lacking in will and a commitment to the fight against terrorism. We may have institutional challenges, partly due to, for instance, the Leahy law that stopped the sale of military equipment, both kinetic and non-kinetic, to countries like Nigeria.” He continued, “And I have to say here, also, that even when the Leahy law was in effect, President Trump, in his first administration, acquiesced to the sale of aircraft, military aircraft, the Super Tucano, to Nigeria. And we appreciate that. And you could see that it was — the aircraft were put to work, and this is the sort of collaborative effort that is required in the fight against terrorism and securing the region.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [12/26/2025 11:29 AM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4109K] reports Republican leaders in Texas and Florida are escalating efforts aimed at Muslim advocacy groups — a campaign that civil rights advocates describe as a coordinated push to frame Islam as a "national security threat.” Advocates say state and federal lawmakers, along with GOP Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, have sought to restrict support for Muslim-led groups by tying them to terrorism, particularly after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. One central focus has been the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which bills itself as the largest Muslim advocacy group in the United States. "The way that we see this is as a coordinated, multipronged attack on Muslims in the United States through legal, executive and legislative measures aimed at silencing dissent, aimed at weakening and putting on the defensive Muslim-led organizations," Tuqa Nusairat, executive director for the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding, said. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., has repeatedly targeted CAIR through legislation, linking the group to Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood. "CAIR, as a Muslim terror organization, has been allowed to act with impunity, using taxpayer dollars effectively because of its tax-exempt status," Fine told The Hill. Fine said his efforts have influenced the governors’ actions.

Washington Examiner [12/26/2025 7:28 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 1394K] reports FBI Director Kash Patel announced Friday that the agency’s longtime headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, will close permanently. The agency said earlier this year that it would abandon the building in favor of the former U.S. Agency for International Development headquarters. "After more than 20 years of failed attempts, we finalized a plan to permanently close the FBI’s Hoover headquarters and move the workforce into a safe, modern facility. Working directly with President Trump and Congress, we accomplished what no one else could," Patel wrote on X. Patel explained that taxpayers would’ve paid about $5 billion for a new headquarters that wouldn’t open until 2035, with the move to the USAID’s Reagan building saving billions and allowing the transition to begin immediately. "This decision puts resources where they belong: defending the homeland, crushing violent crime, and protecting national security. It delivers better tools for today’s FBI workforce at a fraction of the cost. The Hoover Building will be shut down permanently," he concluded. Patel announced in July that the Hoover building would be closed, but the building’s future was unclear. The building’s restoration would’ve cost taxpayers at least hundreds of millions. The bureau had previously selected a site in Greenbelt, Maryland, to build a new headquarters during the Biden administration, but the proposal was pulled under Trump. Maryland has since sued the administration for its effort to "unlawfully divert funding that Congress designated" for the new site.

AP [12/26/2025 1:56 PM, Illia Novikov, 31753K] reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend. Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks, and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.” An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.” The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues”, he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice. “We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said. The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Daily Caller [12/26/2025 2:21 PM, Wallace White, 835K] reports that as Ukraine and the U.S. try one more time to reach agreement on terms for a peace deal to end the war with Russia, questions remain about whether a resolution is still possible after multiple stalled rounds of negotiations. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is set to meet with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday to discuss the current proposal for ending the war. The terms and language of the proposed deal have undergone substantial revisions since it was first presented in November, largely due to objections from Ukraine and other European powers. Despite multiple rounds of peace negotiations fizzling out over the past year, foreign policy and defense experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Trump still has a chance to make peace if he can convince Putin that the cost of waging war outweighs the benefits, but that it’s unlikely any of the parties will leave the table satisfied. "The President’s team sees that stark reality, but also envisions a golden future for Ukraine once the fighting stops—a prosperous, strong, independent nation could rise from the ashes we see today," Morgan Murphy, former Trump White House official and current Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, told the DCNF. "To get there will take a deal that likely leaves all parties—Ukraine, Russia, and Europe—unhappy when they leave the negotiation table."

New York Times [12/27/2025 3:19 AM, Abdi Latif Dahir and Hussam Hammoud, 330K] reports at least eight people were killed and about 20 others injured in an explosion during Friday Prayer at a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs, a spokesman for the country’s Interior Ministry said. The blast struck the Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dahab neighborhood, the spokesman, Noureddine al-Baba, said in an interview with Syria’s state-run television. The neighborhood is predominantly populated by the Alawite minority, two residents said in interviews. A group calling itself Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the blast. Counterterrorism analysts say it appears to be a splinter group of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. The United States carried out strikes against ISIS this month after President Trump accused the group of killing three Americans during an attack in central Syria. The Trump administration said on Thursday that it had struck Islamic State targets in Nigeria. In a post on social media, Ansar al-Sunna said it collaborated with “jihadists from another group” to detonate explosives inside the mosque, but did not say who it was affiliated with. The group previously claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing attack on a church in the capital, Damascus, in June that left 25 people dead. Photos and video published by the SANA news agency on Friday showed debris scattered across the mosque’s carpets, black soot on the walls and red stains on the ground that appeared to be blood. The Interior Ministry said in its statement that the internal security forces had imposed a cordon on the mosque and had begun “investigating and collecting evidence to prosecute the perpetrators of this criminal act.” The explosion underscored the mounting security challenges facing the country a year after the ousting of Mr. al-Assad and the end of his family’s five-decade tyrannical rule. Since the fall of Mr. al-Assad, who was himself an Alawite, Syria’s new government has struggled to protect minority communities, as sectarian, ethnic and political tensions have repeatedly flared. In March, a series of ambushes on the Syrian security forces by supporters of Mr. al-Assad ignited days of retaliatory sectarian violence, which killed more than 1,600 civilians, most of whom were Alawites. In November, members of the Alawite community staged protests after they were attacked by members of the Bedouin Sunni community in Homs following the brutal killing of a Bedouin couple, which was blamed on Alawites. After an investigation, the Interior Ministry said the killing was of a criminal nature and not a sectarian one. The violence has unfolded against a broader backdrop of persistent instability across the country. Militant groups, among them the Islamic State, have intensified their operations in recent weeks, carrying out attacks against Syrian security personnel.

FOX News [12/26/2025 12:16 PM, Benjamin Weinthal, 40621K] reports that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar blasted the Palestinian Authority (PA) for emboldening terrorism with its infamous "Pay-for-Slay" program after a Palestinian on Friday murdered two Israelis. Palestinian terrorists murdered 19-year-old Aviv Maor from Kibbutz Ein Harod and Mordechai Shimshon, 68, from Beit She’an on Friday in northern Israel. The Palestinian Authority "Pay-for-Slay" policy gained wide public attention when Taylor Force, a West Point graduate who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, was savagely knifed to death by a Palestinian terrorist on March 8, 2016, while on a tour of Israel. President Donald Trump signed the Taylor Force Act into law in October 2018, after a vigorous campaign by Force’s parents, Robbi and Stuart Force. Prior to Friday’s terrorist attacks, Sa’ar issued warnings to the international community about alleged Palestinian leadership deception. He wrote on X: "Don’t believe Mahmoud Abbas’ lies. The Palestinian Authority’s payments to terrorists and their families haven’t stopped. The PA decided to continue its ‘Pay-for-Slay’ policy. This includes payments to the families of ‘martyrs’ and injured terrorists, jailed terrorists and released terrorists. The PA is also disguising the payments to the released murderers as payments to pensioners of the Palestinian Security Services! This is distorted. End ‘Pay-for-Slay’ now!" Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, told Fox News Digital that contrary to Palestinian Authority claims about stopping the "Pay-for-Slay" program, there has been "no substantial change in Palestinian Authority policy with regard to the payments to terrorists."

Reuters [12/26/2025 2:40 PM, Jonathan Landay, 36480K] reports that Moscow is likely stationing new nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missiles at a former airbase in eastern Belarus, a development that could bolster Russia’s ability to deliver missiles across Europe, two U.S. researchers have found by studying satellite imagery. The researchers’ assessment broadly aligns with U.S. intelligence findings, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share information not authorized for public release. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear his intention to place intermediate-range Oreshnik missiles, with an estimated range of up to 3,400 miles (5,500 km), in Belarus, but the exact location has not been previously reported. Deployment of the Oreshnik would underscore the Kremlin’s growing reliance on the threat of nuclear weapons as it seeks to deter NATO members from supplying Kyiv with weapons that can strike deep inside Russia, some experts said. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Belarus Embassy declined to comment. The state-run Belta news agency quoted Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin on Wednesday as saying that the Oreshnik’s deployment would not alter the balance of power in Europe and was "our response" to the West’s "aggressive actions." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the CIA declined to comment.

Reuters [12/26/2025 10:12 AM, Staff, 36480K] reports a court in Moscow court sentenced a former Russian diplomat to 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony for selling secrets to U.S. intelligence while on a posting to the United States, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday. The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that Arseniy Konovalov, born in 1987, had been found guilty of treason. "It was established that A.S. Konovalov, an employee of the Russian Foreign Ministry, during a long-term foreign assignment in the United States, proactively transferred secret information to American intelligence for money," the FSB said in a statement. Konovalov was detained by the FSB, which leads Russian counter-intelligence, in March 2024. The TASS news agency published video of a shocked-looking Konovalov being detained while travelling in a van and told he was suspected of treason. The FSB did not say what information Konovalov had passed to U.S. intelligence, or which U.S. agency he was accused of working with. There was no immediate comment from U.S. spy agencies. Russia’s Kommersant newspaper said Konovalov had served as second secretary of the Russian Consulate General in Houston. He worked in the United States from 2014 to 2017, Kommersant said.

AP [12/26/2025 8:59 PM, Staff, 4K] reports that Beijing imposed sanctions on Friday against 20 U.S. defense-related companies and 10 executives, a week after Washington announced large-scale arms sales to Taiwan. The sanctions entail freezing the companies’ assets in China and banning individuals and organizations from dealing with them, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. The companies include Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, L3Harris Maritime Services and Boeing in St. Louis, while defense firm Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey is one of the executives sanctioned, who can no longer do business in China and are barred from entering the country. Their assets in the East Asian country have also been frozen. The announcement of the U.S. arms-sale package, valued at more than $10 billion, has drawn an angry response from China, which claims Taiwan as its own and says it must come under its control. If approved by the American Congress, it would be the largest-ever U.S. weapons package to the self-ruled territory. “We stress once again that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China－U.S. relations,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday. “Any company or individual who engages in arms sales to Taiwan will pay the price for the wrongdoing.” The ministry also urged the U.S. to stop what it called “the dangerous moves of arming Taiwan.” Taiwan is a major flashpoint in U.S.-China relations that analysts worry could explode into military conflict between the two powers. China says that the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan would violate diplomatic agreements between China and the U.S.

{End of Report} RETURN TO TOP