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

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

The New York Times [12/2/2025 5:32 PM, Hamed Aleaziz, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Ernesto Londoño, 31753K] reports that the Trump administration is launching an intensive immigration enforcement operation primarily targeting hundreds of undocumented Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, according to an official with knowledge of the operation and documents obtained by The New York Times. The move comes as President Trump has fixated on Somalis living in the United States, using increasingly inflammatory language to attack them. He stepped up his rhetoric in the wake of last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, even though the man suspected in the attack is an Afghan national. The directive for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., came immediately after Mr. Trump’s remarks. The effort, which is beginning this week, focuses largely on Somalis with final deportation orders who are living in the Twin Cities, though the official said that others who are still seeking legal status could be swept up as well. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing operation. The plan calls for the deployment of so-called strike teams, which are made up of ICE officers, agents and other federal officials. Roughly 100 officers and agents from around the country have been brought in for the operation, the official said. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said in a statement that the agency did not discuss “future or potential operations.” “What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally,” she added. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota slammed the Trump administration’s plans on social media. “We welcome support in investigating and prosecuting crime. But pulling a PR stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem,” he said on X. The launch of the immigration operation came as Mr. Trump delivered a tirade against Somalis during a Tuesday cabinet meeting at the White House. “When they come from hell and complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country,” he said. “Let them go back to where they came from and fix it,” the president said, as Vice President JD Vance banged on the table in approval. The AP [12/2/2025 3:59 PM, Mike Balsamo and Steve Karnowski, 31753K] reports that the move comes as President Donald Trump again on Tuesday escalated rhetoric about Minnesota’s sizable Somali community, saying he did not want immigrants from the east African country in the U.S. because “they contribute nothing.” The enforcement operation could begin in the coming days and is expected to focus on the Minneapolis–St. Paul area and people with final orders of deportation, the person said. Teams of immigration agents would spread across the Twin Cities in what the person described as a directed, high-priority sweep, though the plans remain subject to change. The prospect of a crackdown is likely to deepen tensions in Minnesota — home to the nation’s largest Somali community. They’ve been coming since the 1990s, fleeing their country’s long civil war and drawn by Minnesota’s generous social programs. An estimated 260,000 people of Somalian descent were living in the U.S. in 2024, according to the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey. The largest population is in the Minneapolis area, home to about 84,000 residents, most of whom are American citizens. Ohio, Washington and California also have significant populations. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the agency would not discuss “future or potential operations.” “What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally,” McLaughlin said. Axios [12/2/2025 4:39 PM, Nick Halter, Torey Van Oot and Brittany Gibson, 12972K] reports Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said her agency will be targeting visa fraud in the state, where around 87,000 people with Somali roots live. The Somali community has seen recent scrutiny from national media covering fraud, as well as from Trump, who posted last week that he wanted to end temporary protective status for Somalis. "Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!" he posted. "When ICE agents interact with Somalis here, they will find what we’ve been saying for years: Almost all of us are U.S. citizens," state Sen. Zaynab Mohamed (DFL-Minneapolis), said in a statement. "This act of political theater is a waste of taxpayer money and will result in the harassment of peaceful American citizens trying to go about their day." CNN [12/2/2025 2:56 PM, Holmes Lybrand and Chris Boyette, 606K] reports that the latest federal immigration effort comes as President Donald Trump ended his Cabinet meeting on Tuesday by asserting he does not want Somali immigrants in the United States. He referred to the community and Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant, as "garbage" who should "go back to where they came from.". "I don’t want them in our country," he said. "Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country.". The president’s remarks represent an escalation of his attacks against Somalis, particularly in Minneapolis. He has repeatedly singled out Somalis since last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC, even though the alleged shooter is an Afghan who had nothing to do with Somalia. Somalia is one of 19 countries included in Trump’s sweeping travel ban, which imposes full or partial restrictions. Many of the countries on the list are either failed states or under repressive rule, and some are governed by groups that took control after years of US involvement, CNN has reported. Trump has described Somalia as a country that has "no laws, no water, no military, no nothing.". The president’s hostile rhetoric toward Somali refugees and Rep. Omar stretches back years. Since his first term, he has zeroed in on the Minnesota’s Somali population to tout his agenda to crack down on immigration. FOX News [12/2/2025 6:45 PM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports that at the White House, Trump lambasted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over a burgeoning scandal in St. Paul over what the Times said were "several fraud schemes proliferated in parts of Minnesota’s Somali community.". According to the report, multiple individuals allegedly created companies that billed the state for millions in fraudulent payments. Of claims ICE is going to target Somalis in the Twin Cities, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed such claims: "Every day, ICE enforces the laws of the nation across the country. What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally.". "We do not discuss future or potential operations," she said. In response to Trump, Omar said the president’s "obsession with me is creepy.". "I hope he gets the help he desperately needs," she said on X.

The Wall Street Journal [12/2/2025 8:41 PM, Michelle Hackman, Natalie Andrews, and Jack Morphet, 646K] reports President Trump lashed out against immigrants from Somalia, saying he didn’t want them in the U.S. and describing them in disparaging terms ahead of an expected federal operation against Somalis in Minneapolis. “I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you…their country is no good for a reason,” Trump said Tuesday, speaking at a cabinet meeting at the White House. “We’re at a tipping point,” he said, adding that the country would “go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.” The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning an operation in Minneapolis targeting the city’s Somali immigrant community, according to an administration official familiar with the matter. About 40,000 Minnesota residents were born in Somalia, according to 2024 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. ICE will send roughly 100 officers and agents from around the U.S. to help with the operation, which is intended primarily to target Somali immigrants with final deportation orders, the administration official said. The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area is home to the largest Somali-American community in the U.S.; most of its members are either citizens, permanent residents or hold other forms of legal status. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that the agency doesn’t “discuss future or potential operations.” The New York Times [12/3/2025 12:39 AM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Shawn McCreesh, 153395K] reports President Trump unleashed a xenophobic tirade against Somali immigrants on Tuesday, calling them “garbage” he does not want in the United States in an outburst that captured the raw nativism that has animated his approach to immigration. Even for Mr. Trump — who has a long history of insulting Black people, particularly those from African countries — his outburst was shocking in its unapologetic bigotry. And it comes as he started a new ICE operation targeting Somalis in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. “These are people that do nothing but complain,” Mr. Trump said at the tail end of a cabinet meeting at the White House, during which he sometimes appeared to be fighting sleep. But when the subject turned to immigration, Mr. Trump made a point of lashing out. “When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it,” Mr. Trump added as Vice President JD Vance banged the table in encouragement. He said Somalia “stinks and we don’t want them in our country.” He described Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, who came to the United States from Somalia as a refugee and became a citizen 25 years ago, as “garbage.” The Washington Post [12/2/2025 5:10 PM, Amy B. Wang and Caroline O’Donovan, 24149K] reports President Donald Trump ended a Cabinet meeting Tuesday with a rant against Somali migrants, accusing them of having “ripped off” Minnesota and using dehumanizing language to attack a group he has increasingly targeted in recent weeks. Trump was asked if he thought Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) should resign over reports of extensive fraud in Minnesota’s social services system, in which dozens of Somali individuals are accused of stealing millions in government funds over the past five years. The funds were intended for housing for disabled adults, food security for children and support for children with autism but allegedly were spent on personal luxuries, including cars and real estate. Trump answered the question by criticizing Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) — neither of whom have been implicated in the scandal — as “incompetent” politicians. He suggested that their state, which has the highest population of Somali people in the country, had taken in “garbage.” The president’s comments came amid reports that his administration is ramping up immigration enforcement efforts targeting undocumented Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Trump recently threatened to end temporary protected status for Somali immigrants in Minnesota and, without evidence, accused “Somali gangs” of terrorizing people there. At a news conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday afternoon, city leaders said they were not independently able to confirm news reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity there. Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, would not say whether the agency is conducting an operation in Minnesota or whether officers will focus on the Somali community.

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FOX News [12/2/2025 5:23 PM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports President Donald Trump called a bloc of Somali migrants to Minnesota "garbage" who rely too heavily on the U.S. welfare state, as ICE reportedly eyes ramped-up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities. Speaking at his ninth Cabinet meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, Trump said that Somalis have made a mess of Minneapolis-St. Paul, and characterized Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., as their political figurehead. His comments come as a New York Times report claimed ICE is prepared to launch an "intensive immigration enforcement operation" targeting the Twin Cities. The paper claimed it would target the Somali population, but a top DHS official told Fox News Digital the agency never prosecutes based on race – only immigration status. At the White House, Trump lambasted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over a burgeoning scandal in St. Paul over what the Times said were "several fraud schemes proliferated in parts of Minnesota’s Somali community." According to the report, multiple individuals allegedly created companies that billed the state for millions in fraudulent payments. Trump, meanwhile, said Somalia "is barely a country, where they run around killing each other." Trump also revisited allegations that Omar, who is from Mogadishu, allegedly "married her brother" to obtain U.S. citizenship. Of claims ICE is going to target Somalis in the Twin Cities, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed such claims. NBC News [12/2/2025 5:04 PM, Dareh Gregorian, 34509K] reports "I don’t want them in our country. I’ll be honest with you, OK. Somebody will say, ‘Oh, that’s not politically correct.’ I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. "I can say that about other countries, too," he added, as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sat nearby. In a social media post Monday night, Noem said, "I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies." A source familiar with the plan said today that about 30 countries will be on that list. Trump, however, focused most of his ire on Somalia and Omar. Trump’s remarks come as a senior law enforcement official told NBC News that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning an operation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area this week. The official said ICE officers are not specifically targeting the Somali community, but may be arresting some Somalis who are in violation of immigration laws. The president’s remarks on Somalia came at the end of the public portion of a more than two-hour Cabinet meeting, when a reporter asked him if Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz should resign over fraud related to Covid relief funds in the state.

NewsMax [12/2/2025 3:37 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of enabling widespread fraud tied to visas and government programs, saying the administration is moving to recoup taxpayer funds and to remove those she described as being in the country unlawfully. "You told me to look into Minnesota and their fraud on visas and their programs. Fifty percent of them are fraudulent," Noem told President Donald Trump during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, shown in full on Newsmax. She added during the meeting with President Donald Trump, "That wacko Governor Walz either is an idiot or he did it on purpose. And I think he’s both, sir." In her comments, she alleged immigrants living in Minnesota "were married to somebody who was their brother or somebody else" and described what she called "fraudulent visa applications" that she claimed were used to access government benefits. She said the administration would "remove them" and "get our money back" and vowed that next year, the government would place leaders in positions who "love this country and have its back." Noem’s remarks came as federal immigration authorities have recently pointed to Minnesota as a focus of enforcement targeting alleged immigration fraud.

Reuters [12/2/2025 9:13 PM, Brad Brooks, 36480K] reports officials in Minneapolis on Tuesday said they were not aware of imminent federal immigration raids targeting the area’s Somali community, which has come under blistering attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump in recent days. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, responding to a report in New York Times that upward of 100 federal immigration agents were poised to descend on his city and neighboring St. Paul to target undocumented Somali residents, said regardless of whether raids were coming, the Somali community would be supported in every way possible by local authorities. Frey, a Democrat, said local police would not work with federal agents on any immigration matters, and he strongly criticized Trump’s recent attacks on the Somali community, including on Tuesday when the president called them "garbage" and said "we don’t want them in our country.". The president has increased his attacks on Somalis in the U.S. since last week’s shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, a shooting that killed on of the troops and for which an Afghan national has been charged. Anti-immigration rhetoric was a major part of Trump’s campaign and since taking office in January he has overseen an aggressive campaign by masked federal agents across the country that has instilled fear in immigrant communities and prompted protests and backlashes in the cities targeted. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, did not confirm raids were imminent in Minneapolis, but said agents were enforcing immigration laws across the country every day. About 80,000 Somalis live in Minnesota, mostly in the Twin Cities metro region. Frey said the community had been an economic and cultural boon to the area and had been living in the U.S. for several decades. The vast majority of Somalis in the U.S., Frey said, are American citizens, and he said he’s convinced any immigration action would ensnare people in the country legally. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the president was "absolutely right to highlight the problems caused by the radical Somali migrants that the Democrats let invade our country and steal from American taxpayers.".

Breitbart [12/2/2025 10:29 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are targeting Somalis in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area amid reports of widespread fraud that targets state support programs. The ICE surge comes after President Donald Trump last week said he is ending temporary protected status for Somalis in Minneapolis, New York Times, CNN and KMSP reported on Tuesday. The surge is expected to start this week and mostly will focus on Somalis who have final deportation orders in place, but others who have applied for legal residency also might be detained pending deportation. About 100 ICE agents and other federal officers will be deployed in strike teams while undertaking the operation. Twin Cities officials on Tuesday held a news conference to address reports of the pending ICE deployment there and said they were not informed of the matter. "To our Somali community, we love you and we stand with you," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. "Minneapolis is proud to be home to the largest Somali community in the entire country," he said, adding that Minneapolis police will not assist the ICE operation. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter likewise expressed support for the local Somali community. "The last thing we need is federal agents coming in town to create chaos and challenge for us," Carter said. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told New York Times that the surge is intended to thwart illegal immigration. "What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity but the fact that they are in the country illegally," McLaughlin said in a statement. New York Times on Saturday reported dozens of Somali migrants were charged with crimes in which they are accused of creating businesses that defrauded the state by billing various Minnesota agencies for more than $1 billion in services for children that never were provided. Federal prosecutors said 59 people already have been convicted of related crimes. President Donald Trump, during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, said he does not want immigrants from Somalia to stay in the United States. He described Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who is from Somalia, and other Somalians as "garbage" and said they should "go back to where they came from," as reported by CNN. "Their country is no good for a reason," the president said. "Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country.” Trump included Somalia in a recently imposed travel ban on citizens from 19 nations. The Twin Cities surge comes as officials in New Orleans likewise prepare for a reported ICE surge there.

FOX News [12/2/2025 10:55 PM, Stephanie Samsel, 40621K] reports Trump "border czar" Tom Homan fired back at Minneapolis’ mayor Tuesday on Fox News for suggesting I.C.E. raids are "not American" and are "terrorizing certain groups.” "We’re going to enforce the laws of this country without apology, including in the Twin Cities," Homan vowed on "The Ingraham Angle.” His promise comes as Minnesota finds its visa program under scrutiny. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sounded the alarm Monday on an audit that found one-third of the state’s trucking licenses — also known as non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses — are illegal, asserting the finding is an example of "foreigners taking advantage of Minnesota services" in a statement. Minnesota has 30 days to revoke those licenses or risk losing up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding, according to the Department of Transportation. On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem added to the scrutiny, claiming 50% of Minnesota’s visas are "fraudulent" during the administration’s ninth Cabinet meeting of 2025. "[Gov. Tim Walz] brought people in there illegally that never should have been in this country," she said. Fox News host Laura Ingraham reported on Minnesotan taxpayers "being ripped off," with money being "sent to Al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization in Somalia" and other fraud schemes. She asked Homan when he expects I.C.E. to "make its presence really known" in the Twin Cities. While Homan could not disclose a specific date, the Trump administration has a greater focus on the Twin Cities, he warned. "Secretary Noem’s all over it," Homan said. "I know I.C.E. and CBP and other federal agencies — the FBI, DEA, ATF — President Trump’s been a genius on this.” "He brings the all-of-government to these operations," he continued. "So if we arrest an alien with drugs, you got the DEA right there, who can prosecute the case before we deport them. If you get them with a gun, you got ATF right there to prosecute the case before we deport them.” Homan scorned Minneapolis’ police chief for advising residents to call 911 on "folks that are masked" and "you don’t know if someone is law enforcement," suggesting they could be "kidnapping people.” "Shame on you," Homan replied. "I mean, your number-one responsibility is the safety and security of your communities, and I.C.E. is targeting criminals — criminals. So for you not to partner with I.C.E. to make your community safer is shameful. He ought to put his badge in the desk drawer and walk away because he stopped being a cop, became a politician." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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CNN [12/3/2025 4:09 AM, Emma Tucker, 18595K] reports when President Donald Trump was asked about how Afghans legally in the United States might feel about his decision to pause issuing visas for them after the suspected shooter of National Guard members was identified as an Afghan national, he took aim at another country in the same breath: Somalia. "They can’t be happy because what’s taking place between that and, if you look at Somalia, they’re taking over Minnesota," Trump said in remarks to reporters following his call to service members on Thanksgiving Day. Moments later, he clarified the alleged shooter had nothing to do with Somalia. But the president has nonetheless continued pushing hostile rhetoric toward the Somali population in Minneapolis in the days since. Over the past few months, the Trump administration has continued its sweeping deportation push of immigrants, with a surge of federal agents flooding the streets of blue cities such as Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Chicago; Charlotte and New Orleans, where Department of Homeland Security agents are expected to arrive this week. But a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation, a federal official told CNN on Tuesday, will specifically target undocumented Somali immigrants in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The community, one of the largest in the US, is one of the few the president has focused on directly for years. Trump singles out Somalis after National Guard shooting, funding scandal.

Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 9:48 PM, Brady Knox, 1394K] reports Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told residents to call 911 on anyone wearing a mask trying to detain individuals amid concerns that President Donald Trump would target Somali immigrants in the city. At a Tuesday press conference alongside Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other local officials, O’Hara complained that Trump’s enforcement of immigration law using unmarked, unmasked officers against illegal immigrants was creating a climate of fear in the city. Responding to a question originally posed to Frey as to how the city can meaningfully hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials accountable if they believe they are breaking the law, O’Hara referenced reports of locals calling 911 when witnessing the detention of people by masked individuals they weren’t sure were law enforcement or not. The police chief encouraged locals to call 911 when such situations were unfolding after earlier stressing that local law enforcement would never cooperate with federal law enforcement on immigration enforcement. "We have experienced reports in this city … where people call to say that there’s folks that are masked, that they’re not sure if they’re law enforcement, that they may be kidnapping people. We have had those reports," he said. "I want to be clear to the community — the community should know that if you see something like that, that that is legitimate, that you don’t know if someone is law enforcement, you should call 911, and you should provide as much information as possible." To try and justify his concern, O’Hara referred to the assassination of state lawmakers in June, allegedly carried out by Vance Boelter while wearing a silicon mask and police outfit.

The New York Times [12/2/2025 8:01 PM, Shawn Hubler, 153395K] reports a Los Angeles man was in federal custody on Tuesday after the authorities said he threatened security guards and lobbed two malfunctioning Molotov cocktails into a federal office building. Jose Francisco Jovel, 54, was charged with attempted malicious damage of federal property after being arrested in the incident, which occurred on Monday outside a complex of federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles that include local offices of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, Mr. Jovel, a U.S. citizen, complained about the government’s immigration policy and told investigators his actions were a “terrorist attack.” Prosecutors said surveillance cameras showed Mr. Jovel standing at the base of the steps of one of the federal buildings, outside the employee entrance, at around 8:20 a.m. Monday. The cameras showed him ranting at security guards and holding a bag of Nescafe jars that had been rigged with rags and hand sanitizer as homemade incendiary devices, according to documents filed in support of the federal complaint. As the doors to the employee entrance slid open, the complaint said, Mr. Jovel tossed a jar inside, where it shattered, and then threw another toward the public entrance nearby. At least one of the devices appeared to be lit, but neither exploded and no one was injured, authorities said. After officers from the Department of Homeland Security detained him, Mr. Jovel told them that “this is a terrorist attack anyways,” and that he “wanted to ‘get’ the people who ‘challenged’ him and ‘separated families’,” according to an affidavit filed in support of the complaint by an F.B.I. agent. “There can be zero tolerance for any targeting of law enforcement officials — let alone violent acts,” Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s Los Angeles field office, said in a statement. “We’re lucky that the devices allegedly thrown by the subject did not physically injure anyone.” The New York Post [12/2/2025 2:34 PM, Chris Nesi, 42219K] reports "This was a clear and deliberate attack on federal law enforcement, and it is emblematic of the constant attacks these brave men and women endure day in and day out as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, and gang members," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a Homeland Security statement. He had several other Molotov cocktails in his possession, as well as four knives and a Leatherman multi-tool, authorities said. Because the bottles were not lit, they never caught fire, and there were no injuries or damage to federal property. ICE agents have faced an unprecedented 1,150% uptick in assaults and a staggering 8,000% increase in death threats since the Trump administration launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration. "Our officers are facing mass assaults, vehicles used as weapons against them, and even targeted shootings. These attacks are the consequences of hateful and un-American rhetoric by sanctuary politicians, activists, and the media who smear our officers with misinformation and false narratives. Secretary Noem has been clear: anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," McLaughlin added.

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The Washington Post [12/3/2025 12:20 AM, Kelly Kasulis Cho, 24149K] reports the Trump administration has paused all immigration applications from 19 countries it has deemed high risk, the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday evening, citing the shooting of two National Guard members last week by an Afghan national who once worked with a CIA-organized counterterrorism outfit. The nations from which all immigration applications have been put on hold are Afghanistan, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The list was pulled from a presidential proclamation in June that called for partial or total entry restrictions for all nationals from these countries, which has been referred to as a near-total travel ban. Immigration applications will be paused for all people who were born in these 19 countries or hold citizenship there, DHS said in its policy memorandum. “This memorandum mandates that all aliens meeting these criteria undergo a thorough re-review process, including a potential interview and, if necessary, a re-interview, to fully assess all national security and public safety threats,” the document states. The New York Times [12/2/2025 7:14 PM, Hamed Aleaziz and Jazmine Ulloa, 153395K] reports that the list includes some of the poorest and most unstable nations in the world. The move deepens the remarkable crackdown on immigration after a shooting of two National Guard members in Washington last week. Authorities have identified Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan who obtained asylum in April, as the suspect in that attack. The changes have already choked off many of the United States’ remaining legal immigration pathways, but the application pause indicated that the administration is not done. “The Trump administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right,” said Matthew Tragesser, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who confirmed the pause on Tuesday. “We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake.” The pause applies to various immigration processes, most consequentially green card applications and U.S. citizenship requests. Immigration lawyers reported cancellations of naturalization ceremonies and interviews for immigration status, and said they were left puzzled on Tuesday as immigrants were turned away from interviews for green cards and other forms of relief with no explanation. NBC News [12/2/2025 10:50 PM, Zoë Richards, 34509K] reports that the move comes less than week after two National Guard members were shot on patrol in Washington, D.C., leaving one dead and the other critically wounded. The suspect, who pleaded not guilty to murder Tuesday, is an Afghan national who entered the United States legally during the Biden administration and was granted asylum after President Donald Trump took office for a second time. According to USCIS, more than 1.4 million people have pending asylum applications that could be affected by the new pause. The application hold pertains to people from 19 countries the Trump administration designated as high risk who are trying to get their immigration statuses processed by the agency. The list primarily targets African and Asian countries. Trump signed a proclamation in June fully banning nationals from 12 countries — among them Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — from entering the United States and partially restricting the entry of nationals from seven others: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a Newsmax interview Monday that following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, he does not believe the Afghan nationals who came to the United States "were properly vetted.” His office said Monday on X, "Nothing is off the table until every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday on X that she met with Trump and recommended "a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”

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CBS News [12/2/2025 8:53 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 39474K] reports the Trump administration has halted all immigration applications filed by people from 19 countries, its latest move to restrict legal immigration pathways following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last week, according to internal government guidance and a source familiar with the move. The internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidance obtained by CBS News shows the agency directed employees on Monday to "stop final adjudication on all cases" involving individuals from 19 nations that are facing restrictions under a proclamation Mr. Trump issued in June. Colloquially, that proclamation is known as the travel ban. That pause includes the completion of citizenship ceremonies for legal U.S. permanent residents from the list of 19 countries who were on the cusp of becoming naturalized American citizens, the USCIS document said. It suggested the suspension is an interim step while the administration develops further guidance on the vetting of the affected immigrants. "This hold includes all form types and making any final decisions (approvals, denials) as well as completing any oath ceremonies," the guidance to USCIS offices said. Mr. Trump’s June proclamation imposed a near-total restriction on the entry of people from Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also partially suspended the entry of travelers and immigrants from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The new guidance indicates that the immigration crackdown directed by Mr. Trump following last week’s shooting of the National Guard soldiers is much broader in scope than previously reported. The man accused of shooting the two soldiers, one of whom has died, is an Afghan evacuee who entered the U.S. in September 2021, under the Biden administration, and who was granted asylum in April 2025, after Mr. Trump returned to the White House. The Trump administration has publicly announced a series of immigration restrictions since the attack, including a pause on all asylum decisions by USCIS, a categorical suspension of visa and immigration processing for Afghans and a review of green card cases involving immigrants from the 19 nations on the travel ban. But the administration had not publicly announced it had also frozen all USCIS cases — not just green card applications — involving nationals of the 19 countries on the list, including citizenship requests. To qualify for U.S. citizenship, immigrants typically must have been legal permanent residents for 3 or 5 years, depending on their cases. In a statement to CBS News Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, did not dispute the planned suspension of applications. The agency said "the Trump Administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best.” "We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake," DHS added. "The Trump Administration is reviewing all immigration benefits granted by the Biden administration to aliens from Countries of Concern.”

CNN [12/2/2025 12:46 PM, Priscilla Alvarez, 606K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is recommending that the Trump administration’s travel ban list include between 30 to 32 countries, marking an increase from the current list of 19 countries, according to a source familiar with the matter. Nationals of countries on the travel ban list face restrictions on travel to the United States. The source said the list could continue to expand based on ongoing assessments, but it is unclear which countries are being added to the list — and when they’ll be announced. The recommendation to the White House comes on the heels of the shooting in Washington, DC, that killed one National Guard member and critically wounded another. The shooting suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who previously worked with the US in Afghanistan, resettling in Washington state under the Biden administration and then being granted asylum under the Trump administration. Noem said Monday that, following a meeting with President Donald Trump, she recommended a “full travel ban” on “every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.” The current list of 19 countries with full or partial restrictions include Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Trump has previously said that some countries had “deficient” screening for passports and other public documents or have historically refused to take back their own citizens. The Trump administration has also ramped up its immigration crackdown, citing the shooting in Washington, DC. Senior Trump administration officials have accused the Biden administration of insufficiently vetting the suspect and argued the current immigration system needs to be overhauled.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg Law [12/2/2025 12:14 PM, Staff, 803K]
New York Post [12/2/2025 8:35 PM, Victor Nava and Josh Christenson, 42219K]
CBS News [12/2/2025 1:43 AM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Nicole Sganga and Jennifer Jacobs, 39474K]
NewsMax [12/2/2025 11:08 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4109K]

Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 11:27 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has advised President Donald Trump to implement a "full travel ban" from countries that are "flooding" the United States with criminals. Noem announced late Monday that she had met with Trump and called on him to ban people from an unspecified number of nations. "I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies," Noem wrote in a post to X. "Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom — not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS," Noem said. "WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE." Trump reposted her message on his social media platform, Truth Social, but did not add an additional comment.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [12/2/2025 6:14 AM, Simon Kent, 2416K]
DailySignal [12/2/2025 11:31 AM, Virginia Allen, 549K]
(B) KCBD 11 at Noon [12/2/2025 1:08 PM, Staff]

FOX News [12/2/2025 3:50 PM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s predecessor during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday at the White House. During Trump’s ninth Cabinet meeting of his second term — matching the number former President Joe Biden held across his entire four-year tenure — Noem spoke near the end of the panel-style session. Noem remarked to Trump that he had given her a "very interesting job." "If you think about what Joe Biden did with the Department of Homeland Security, he used this department to invade the country with terrorists. He opened up the borders, let anybody come in that wanted to," Noem fumed. Noem added that every other Cabinet member had, in some way, helped her in her role leading DHS over the past year.

FOX Business [12/2/2025 10:53 AM, Staff, 10085K] reports DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to explain the administration’s push for a travel ban, defend increased vetting measures and outline why national security demands stricter immigration controls. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/2/2025 3:47 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin comments on homeland security, the vetting process for migrants and more on ‘America Reports.’

FOX News [12/2/2025 9:22 PM, Stephanie Samsel, 40621K] reports FBI Director Kash Patel blasted the Biden administration’s "emblematic failure" in light of the Nov. 26 shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on "The Ingraham Angle.” The Justice Department on Tuesday formally charged Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal with four counts, including murder. "The problem with this case shows the emblematic failure of the Biden administration to vet anyone who came here from Afghanistan after the disastrous withdrawal," Patel told Fox News host Laura Ingraham Tuesday. One of the victims, 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, remains hospitalized after a fellow West Virginia National Guard soldier, 20-year-old U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, died from her injuries. Lakanwal is being treated at a hospital and held under guard, according to the Justice Department. A D.C. Superior Court judge said he will be held in custody without bond. The developments come as critics accuse the Biden administration of forgoing in-depth vetting for Afghan refugees after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. According to Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General report from Sept. 6, 2022, "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not always have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect the [Afghan] evacuees.” Meanwhile, Patel maintained that where and how Lakanwal was "radicalized" remains an "ongoing piece" of his agency’s investigation, addressing where it stands. "This is a sprawling international terrorism investigation that the FBI is leading out on," Patel said. "I’ve already issued dozens of pieces of legal processes, dozens of devices, already hit two houses and interviewed many individuals associated with the subject, and that investigation is going to continue on to anyone and everyone this person ever spoke to," Patel continued. "We are not going to leave any stone unturned.” The FBI director later vowed to vet "every single person that came in here — legally or illegally or otherwise — and make sure there is no derogatory or criminal information or terrorist ties.” Similarly, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced an "overhauling" of the vetting process for illegal migrants on Monday. "We are requiring the country of origin to cross-reference biometric data and criminal history, expanding our vetting to include social media screening, and directing individuals to check-in every year," Noem wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Ingraham separately touched on the Epstein files, asking Patel why it took the agency as long as it did to release them. "This FBI has produced 40,000 pages of documents to Congress," he said. "We’re putting out as much as we can that is lawful and that is not prohibited by court orders. And those are the things the DOJ is fighting still with judges in court to make sure we can reveal everything without breaking the law, and that’s what we’re committed to doing." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 5:00 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K] reports the Biden administration failed to vet Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national accused of shooting National Guard members in Washington, before admitting him into the country in 2021, according to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin revealed on Tuesday afternoon that the U.S. government "barely" screened Lakanwal before he was brought to the United States with more than 80,000 primarily Afghan nationals amid the August 2021 airlift out of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Nov. 26 attack in Washington, just blocks from the White House, has spurred new questions about the extent to which 82,000 evacuees from Afghanistan were screened and vetted before being brought into the U.S. four years ago, as well as whether U.S. immigration protocols at present are adequate given that Lakanwal obtained asylum in the U.S. in April. McLaughlin did not comment on the extent to which Lakanwal was vetted prior to his being approved as an asylum recipient in April. Lakanwal pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder on Tuesday.

FOX Business [12/2/2025 9:56 AM, Staff, 10085K] reports Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to support Kristi Noem’s push for a travel ban and warns that the border crisis, D.C. attack and the $1B Minnesota fraud scheme expose major lapses in national security and government oversight. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/2/2025 12:27 PM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports a n Afghan national who arrived during the same Biden administration Kabul evacuation effort as the West Virginia National Guard shooting suspect was federally charged Tuesday with planning to attack civilians. Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, 30, of Afghanistan but currently residing in Fort Worth, Texas, was charged at the state level last week with making a terrorist threat. On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Ryan Raybould, announced federal charges for Alokozay, whom he said was threatening to "build a bomb," "conduct a suicide attack," and kill Americans and others." The feds charged Alokozay with transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce. Raybould cited a video allegedly posted to social media by Alokozay that included Arabic lettering and the suspect "angrily gesturing and speaking Dari, a language commonly spoken in Afghanistan while conversing with two other males on a video call.". Alokozay arrived in the U.S. as part of Operation Allies Welcome under the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That effort resettled Afghans following the U.S. military withdrawal from Kabul at the end of August 2021.

New York Times [12/2/2025 4:51 PM, Zach Montague and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, 135475K] reports the man accused of shooting two members of the National Guard — one fatally — in Washington last week entered a plea of not guilty on Tuesday, appearing in court remotely from a hospital bed. The initial appearance in Washington was a first step in the government’s efforts to prosecute Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, a refugee from Afghanistan, days after the death of one of the National Guard members he is accused of shooting. Since the shooting, the Trump administration has seized on the attack to propose an extraordinary ban on legal immigration, barring people from much of the world from entering the United States. Appearing in the District of Columbia’s local city court, prosecutors said they would charge Mr. Lakanwal with first-degree murder, assault and two additional weapons charges. President Trump and Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, have pledged to pursue more serious federal charges that could carry the death penalty, including terrorism charges. Ms. Pirro said after the hearing that the government was still investigating and might later bring federal charges. According to court documents, Mr. Lakanwal was shot during a gunfight with a National Guardsman before his arrest. Ms. Pirro said that Mr. Lakanwal was expected to recover from his injuries, and that the government had not decided whether to seek the death penalty. She said that choice would be left to Pam Bondi, the attorney general. Terrence Austin, a public defender representing Mr. Lakanwal, told the judge presiding on Tuesday that the government had essentially politicized the case through its public comments about Mr. Lakanwal, potentially tainting the jury pool against him before he had a chance to defend himself in court. He asked that Mr. Lakanwal, who appeared to have no known criminal history before the shooting, be released while awaiting trial. Renee Raymond, a D.C. Superior Court magistrate judge, said the circumstances of the shooting left “no combination of conditions” by which Mr. Lakanwal could be released. Judge Raymond ordered Mr. Lakanwal to appear for a preliminary hearing on the morning of Jan. 14.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [12/2/2025 4:07 PM, C. Ryan Barber and Sadie Gurman, 646K]
Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 3:57 PM, David Zimmermann, 1394K]

Daily Caller [12/2/2025 3:57 PM, Hudson Crozier, 835K] reports the Afghan charged with shooting two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday nearly killed a third before he was captured, police said in court records. Rahmanullah Lakanwal was seen on surveillance video staking out the area near the Farragut West metro station for roughly a minute before shouting "Allahu Akbar" and opening fire, according to a charging document filed Tuesday. The charging document reveals Lakanwal shot soldier guardsman Beckstrom in the back of the head before delivering another headshot to guardsman Andrew Wolfe. Lakanwal then chased and shot at an unnamed National Guard major, the document alleges. Lakanwal, who made his first appearance in local court Tuesday, is charged with murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and assault with intent to kill while armed, leading a judge to order him jailed without bond. Beckstrom died from her wounds on Thanksgiving Day, and Wolfe is fighting for his life under medical care, officials said.

USA Today [12/2/2025 6:11 PM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 67103K] reports two National Guard members ambushed last week in a shooting blocks from the White House both suffered gunshot wounds to the head, according to new details released about the attack. U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe were on patrol near the intersection of 17th and I Streets NW in Washington "in full uniform" when shots rang out, according to an 8-page complaint filed by Metropolitan Police Department Detective Joshua Branson. Wolfe, 24, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, remained "fighting for his life" after the shooting that fatally wounded Beckstrom of Summersville, West Virginia. She was 20. She survived just over a day after the violence. The shooting suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, attended his first court appearance in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia virtually from a hospital bed on Dec. 2. He was charged with murder, assault with intent to kill and possession of a firearm during a violent crime, online court records reviewed by USA TODAY show.

Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 3:40 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1394K] reports Maryland election officials have released unredacted voter registration documents showing that Ian Andre Roberts, an illegal immigrant who rose to become superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district, claimed to be a U.S. citizen when he registered to vote in Prince George’s County. The disclosure came only after two conservative watchdog groups, Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections and the American Accountability Foundation, threatened legal action. The county initially turned over heavily redacted records that concealed Roberts’s answer to the citizenship question, his sex, date of birth, and other information that federal law requires to be made publicly available. Roberts, a Guyanese national who first entered the United States in 1994, was arrested by federal immigration agents in September while serving as superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools. Officials said he fled officers, abandoned his car, and was found with a loaded handgun, a hunting knife, and $3,000 in cash. He was later charged with being an illegal immigrant in possession of firearms and remains in federal custody. Watchdog groups say the real problem is structural. Roberts’s parallel conduct elsewhere deepened scrutiny. Records obtained in Iowa showed he also claimed U.S. citizenship on his administrator’s license application and denied having any criminal history — statements now under review by state licensing authorities. Roberts’s educator license has since been revoked, and he faces both federal prosecution and removal proceedings.

USA Today [12/2/2025 4:48 PM, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, 67103K] reports the Afghan refugee accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House on Nov. 26 had descended into severe depression and bizarre behavior, locking himself in his room for days and driving off suddenly on long, solo road trips, according to emails a community advocate sent out last year in a plea to help his family. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who served since he was a teenager with violent, CIA-backed "Zero Units" in Afghanistan, is charged with murder, assault and weapons possession in the shooting of two West Virginia National Guardsmen blocks from the White House. One soldier died, the other remains in critical condition. Lakanwal and his wife and five children entered the United States in 2021 in the wake of the Biden-era withdrawal from his home country that year. They were resettled in Bellingham, Washington. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Lakanwal was "radicalized" in the time since he came to the U.S. Officials have not announced a motive, and law enforcement investigations into the shooting are ongoing. The emails, sent by an advocate to Washington state service providers in January 2024 and obtained by USA TODAY, paint a picture of Lakanwal’s spiraling mental state, increasingly erratic behavior and neglect of his family.

Breitbart [12/2/2025 7:35 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports Afghan national Mohammad Dawood Alokozay has been charged with federal crimes after allegedly using social media to threaten to build a bomb to kill U.S. citizens. Alokozay, 30, is a resident of Fort Worth, Texas, and is charged with transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce in the U.S. District Court for Northern Texas. He faces up to five years in prison if he is found guilty. "This Afghan national came into America during the Biden administration and, as alleged, explicitly stated that he came here in order to kill American citizens," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a news release on Tuesday. "The public safety threat created by the Biden administration’s vetting breakdown cannot be overstated," Bondi added. "The Department of Justice will continue working with our federal and state partners to protect the American people from the prior administration’s dangerous incompetence.” The Justice Department said Alokozay on Nov. 23 participated in a video call in which he threatened to carry out a suicide attack on other participants in the call, "infidels" and U.S. citizens. He said he would build a bomb in his vehicle and would use a cooking oil container commonly used by the Taliban to build improvised explosive devices used in Afghanistan in the video call, which was recorded and shared on several social media platforms, according to the DOJ. Alokozay also expressed support for the Taliban, said he came to the United States to kill Americans and does not fear death or deportation. He is in custody pending an arraignment hearing before a federal magistrate judge in the case that U.S. Attorney for Northern Texas Vincent Mazzurco is prosecuting. Alokozay’s arrest occurred after Afghan citizen Rahmanulla Lakanwal, 29, allegedly ambushed two National Guard members from West Virginia on Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C. Lakanwal was shot and detained by other National Guard members and is hospitalized and facing a first-degree murder charge and other related charges. The attack killed Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and seriously wounded Airman Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, who remains hospitalized. The attack on the two National Guard members and Alokozay’s arrest prompted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to call for a travel ban on every nation that is "flooding our nation with killers, leeches and entitlement junkies.” Noem said she relayed her request to President Donald Trump, who already halted the processing of all visa applications from Afghan citizens and has proposed reviewing those who were approved after entering the nation during the Biden administration. USA Today [12/2/2025 6:09 PM, Marc Ramirez, 67103K] reports "Alokozay posted a video of himself on TikTok indicating he was building a bomb with an intended target of the Fort Worth area," U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a social media post. Alokozay was arrested on Nov. 25, McLaughlin said. In Texas, R. Joseph Rothrock, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, said the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force was able to apprehend Alokozay before he went through with his alleged plan after receiving public reports about the video. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office through the Fort Worth Resident Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, with the assistance of the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Fort Worth Police Department.

Reported similarly:
AP [12/2/2025 1:11 AM, Staff, 31753K]

New York Times [12/2/2025 4:46 PM, Hamed Aleaziz and Nicholas Nehamas, 135475K] reports the Trump administration is prioritizing the deportation of Afghan nationals who were previously ordered to leave the United States, part of a broader crackdown on refugees from Afghanistan after last week’s shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, according to internal documents reviewed by The New York Times. “It has become vital to review the population of Afghanistan citizens,” an official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote to agency field offices in a Nov. 29 email. The email said ICE agents had been tasked with “locating and apprehending” more than 1,860 Afghans across the country who had been given final deportation orders by an immigration judge but who were not currently in detention. Those instructions rippled out into ICE field offices this week, and federal agents were told to focus on tracking down and arresting Afghan nationals, according to two people familiar with the directive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. In addition, officials at ICE and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have been working to ensure that Afghans admitted into the United States were “properly vetted,” the documents stated. The move is part of President Trump’s response to a shooting last week that killed one National Guard member and left another in critical condition. The man accused of the shooting is an Afghan refugee named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who served in a C.I.A.-backed paramilitary unit in Afghanistan. Mr. Lakanwal, who is said to have suffered from mental health issues after his combat experience, was one of the more than 190,000 Afghans resettled in the United States since 2021 through programs created by the Biden administration to assist U.S. allies fleeing the Taliban takeover.

FOX News [12/2/2025 1:27 PM, Anders Hagstrom, 40621K] reports that Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is reintroducing legislation that would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ramp up vetting for Afghan evacuees brought to America following the U.S. military’s 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. Hawley first introduced the legislation in the immediate aftermath of the withdrawal, but it failed to make its way through Congress. The bill, the Afghanistan Vetting and Accountability Act, would require DHS to verify the biometric and personal information of all Afghan evacuees, as well as conduct in-person vetting interviews with the same. The legislation would also cut off all federal aid to Afghan evacuees who have not undergone the vetting process, as well as require the DHS to provide Congress with quarterly updates on the vetting process. "Joe Biden didn’t just botch our withdrawal from Afghanistan, he put Americans at risk by allowing tens of thousands of refugees into our country without proper vetting," Hawley told Fox News Digital in a statement. "My bill is going to codify into law what President Trump started: we’re going to protect our heroes and ensure anyone allowed into our country is not a threat to our own citizens." The new bill comes roughly a week after an Afghan evacuee allowed into the U.S. under Biden was charged with shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

CBS News [12/2/2025 7:55 PM, Jacob Rosen, 39474K] reports the Trump administration fired eight immigration judges based in New York City on Monday, an official at the National Association of Immigration Judges said. All eight judges worked out of immigration court offices at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City, which is where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is headquartered in the city, the official told CBS News. One of the judges who was fired was Amiena Khan, an assistant chief immigration judge at 26 Federal Plaza, the official said. Khan oversaw other immigration judges there. According to the official, 98 judges have been fired nationally since January, including 12 assistant chief immigration judges. The official said that an almost equal number have taken early out options, retired or resigned since the start of the Trump administration. A spokeswoman at the Executive Office for Immigration Review at the Justice Department, which has control over immigration judges and courts, declined to comment Tuesday on personnel matters. New York Times first reported the firings on Monday. There were about 700 immigration judges in the country to start the year, and we are now down below 600, the National Association of Immigration Judges official said. A tax bill passed in Congress and signed by President Trump in July called for 800 permanent immigration judges and judge teams to support them. Since January, according to the official, the Justice Department has hired and placed 11 new permanent judges and 25 temporary judges with military backgrounds on six-month terms. In an emailed statement, a Justice Department spokesperson told CBS News: "After four years of the Biden Administration forcing Immigration Courts to implement a de facto amnesty for hundreds of thousands of aliens, this Department of Justice is restoring integrity to our immigration system and encourages talented legal professionals to join in our mission to protect national security and public safety.” In July, three immigration judges spoke out about their firings by the Justice Department, telling CBS News the firings were "arbitrary, unfair" and "an attack on the rule of law." The Justice Department had no comment at the time on the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers union’s allegations that several immigration judges had been fired without cause. New York Post [12/2/2025 11:11 AM, Priscilla DeGregory, 42219K] reports that about 200 immigration judges have resigned or been let go as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to trim inefficiencies and spending by encouraging federal employees to leave their jobs. Roughly 100 of those were fired, the NAIJ official said. The judges were terminated despite a backlog of 3.4 million immigration cases in the federal system, according to Syracuse University’s TRAC Reports. The War Department said in September it planned to send 600 military lawyers to serve temporarily as immigration judges — but so far only 25 have gone through the required training and have begun hearing cases, the NAIJ official said. Just 11 new permanent judges have been installed, despite Congress creating 800 federal immigration judiciary jobs as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Nemer’s suit, filed in Washington, DC, federal court, claims she was sacked on Feb. 5, in part, because she unsuccessfully ran for office earlier on in her career. She alleged this violated her Constitutional right to engage in political activity.

Reported similarly:
NPR [12/2/2025 6:10 PM, Ailsa Chang, Christopher Intagliata and Daniel Ofman, 28013K] Audio: HERE
NewsMax [12/2/2025 3:47 PM, Brian Freeman, 4109K]

NPR [12/2/2025 6:19 PM, Staff, 28013K] Audio: HERE President Trump is purging the immigration court system. About 140 immigration judges have been fired by the administration or resigned. Meanwhile, the case backlog is growing. What does it mean for immigrants caught in the middle? We speak with one of the judges recently let go. The firings are part of an ongoing effort by the White House to overhaul the U.S. immigration system. Now, those judges are being replaced by "deportation judges.".

(B) KTVU FOX 2 News at Noon [12/2/2025 3:05 PM, Staff] reports that the recent firings of several long serving immigration judges in the Bay Area and nationwide have left the bench severely understaffed. When asked for comment, the Executive Office for Immigration Review declined to comment on personal matters. Critics of the move say thousands of cases are now in limbo amid a growing backlog and say the Trump administration is looking to fill these roles with judges who roll back the policies. There are only nine judges now handling cases in the one of the busiest courts in the country. The terminations come as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is offering recruitment incentives for new judges.

Politico [12/2/2025 11:03 PM, Hassan Ali Kanu and Kyle Cheney, 2100K] reports a federal judge on Tuesday restricted the Trump administration’s ability to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants in Washington without a warrant, saying the arrests are only permissible if authorities have reason to believe the person is likely to escape. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote in an 88-page ruling that federal law allows warrantless arrests when officers have probable cause that the person is in the country illegally and is also likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. The ruling by Howell, an Obama appointee, is a win for an immigrant advocacy group that sued in September alleging that authorities instituted a new “arrest first, ask questions later” policy in the nation’s capital back in August, when President Donald Trump’s administration declared a “crime emergency” in the district. Government attorneys had disputed whether agents are using a lower standard than probable cause, but Hwowell ruled the plaintiffs’ accounts of their arrests and multiple public statements by high-ranking officials proved otherwise. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement in September that it uses a “reasonable suspicion” standard to make arrests. Officials, including Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, have also said publicly that authorities are or should be using a lower standard of suspicion, Howell wrote, calling those comments “blatant misstatements” of the law. “Rather than the possible alternative excuse that such public statements are the result of ignorance or incompetence on the part of DHS’s high-ranking officials and legal counsel, the better, straight-forward explanation is that DHS’s statements derive from an intentional policy and practice of conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests without the requisite probable cause findings,” the judge wrote. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The AP [12/2/2025 10:59 PM, Sudhin Thanawala, 30493K] reports that the American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs’ attorneys argued federal officers were frequently patrolling and setting up checkpoints in Washington, D.C., neighborhoods with large numbers of Latino immigrants and then stopping and arresting people indiscriminately. They provided sworn declarations from people they say were arrested without warrants or a required assessment of flight risk and cited public statements by administration officials that they said showed the administration was not using the probable cause standard. Attorneys for the administration denied it had a policy allowing such arrests. Howell, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, said the plaintiffs had "established a substantial likelihood of an unlawful policy and practice by defendants of conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests without probable cause.” "Defendants’ systemic failure to apply the probable cause standard, including the failure to consider escape risk, directly violates" immigration law and the Department of Homeland Security’s implementing regulations, she said. In addition to blocking the policy, she ordered any agent who conducts a warrantless civil immigration arrest in Washington to document "the specific, particularized facts that supported the agent’s pre-arrest probable cause to believe that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.” Howell also required the government to submit that documentation to plaintiffs’ attorneys. The ruling is similar to two others in federal lawsuits that also involved the ACLU, one in Colorado and another in California. Another judge had issued a restraining order barring federal agents from stopping people based solely on their race, language, job or location in the Los Angeles area after finding that they were conducting indiscriminate stops, but the Supreme Court lifted that order in September.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [12/3/2025 12:20 AM, Ashley Ahn and Zach Montague, 153395K]

AP [12/2/2025 4:15 PM, Sara Cline and Jack Brook] reports President Donald Trump said Tuesday that National Guard troops will soon head to New Orleans and bring another federal surge to the city that is already awaiting a separate immigration crackdown that is expected to begin this week. Trump did not say how many troops would be sent to New Orleans or exactly when they would arrive. Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who asked the Trump administration in September for up to 1,000 troops to fight crime, told reporters Monday that he expected the Guard to arrive in New Orleans before Christmas. Landry, a staunch Trump ally, has said he welcomes federal intervention in Democratic-run New Orleans, citing concerns about elevated violent crime rates even though local police officials say crime is down. Separately, Landry posted on social media this week that "We Welcome the Swamp Sweep in Louisiana," referring to the Border Patrol-led operation that aims to arrest 5,000 people over the coming weeks.

AP [12/2/2025 6:26 PM, Christine Fernando, Sophia Tareen, 31753K] reports a coalition of protesters, journalists and faith leaders moved Tuesday to dismiss their lawsuit challenging the aggressive tactics of federal immigration officers in the Chicago area, arguing that the Trump administration’s "Operation Midway Blitz" has largely ended. While plaintiffs characterized their move as a win, the case was headed toward a skeptical appeals court. The court filing Tuesday noted that the federal officers led by senior U.S. Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino "are no longer operating in the Northern District of Illinois." Bovino left the Chicago area last month for North Carolina, but sporadic immigration arrests have continued by other federal agents. The injunction was in response to a lawsuit filed by news outlets and protesters who claimed federal officers used excessive force during an immigration crackdown that has netted more than 3,000 arrests since September across the nation’s third-largest city and its many suburbs. Among other things, Ellis’ order restricted agents from using physical force and chemical agents such as tear gas and pepper balls, unless necessary or to prevent an "an immediate threat." She said the current practices violated the constitutional rights of journalists and protesters. DHS has defended its operation in Chicago, saying agents were going after criminals and faced hostile crowds. The case also precipitated a trove of new details about the immigration operation in the Chicago area, including through private interviews with Bovino, body camera footage and witness testimonies in court.

New York Times [12/2/2025 7:02 PM, Julie Bosman, 135475K] reports the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the tactics of federal immigration agents in the Chicago area moved to withdraw the suit on Tuesday, saying that since the Border Patrol has sharply diminished its presence in the city, there was no need to continue fighting in court. The lawsuit was brought in October in the early weeks of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Chicago area, known as Operation Midway Blitz. A coalition of media organizations, protesters and clergy members sued the Department of Homeland Security, accusing federal agents of “a pattern of extreme brutality” intended to “silence the press and civilians” in the Chicago area, including shooting pepper-spray balls and tear gas at protesters outside a federal detention facility in Broadview, Ill., and in residential neighborhoods. The plaintiffs were initially successful with their case. Judge Sara L. Ellis, of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, ruled last month that government officials, including Gregory Bovino, the senior Border Patrol official who led operations in Chicago and California, had repeatedly lied about their own tactics and the actions of protesters. Judge Ellis also placed restrictions on Mr. Bovino and the Border Patrol, ordering agents to wear body cameras, warn protesters before using tear gas and use riot control weapons only to “preserve life or prevent catastrophic outcomes.” “I see little reason for the use of force that the federal agents are currently using,” Judge Ellis, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama, said in her ruling. She added, “The use of force shocks the conscience.”

CBS Chicago [12/2/2025 5:49 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports attorneys for a group of protesters, clergy, and journalists have moved to drop a lawsuit seeking to restrict federal immigration agents’ use of force in Chicago, even as an appeals court weighs an injunction a judge issued last month. In moving to dismiss their lawsuit on Tuesday, the group said it appears the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement blitz in Chicago, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, "has ended" for now. Noting that Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and hundreds of agents under his command left Chicago last month, the attorneys also said they have "not received a single report of unconstitutional behavior that necessitated this case since November 8," two days after U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a preliminary injunction limiting the use of tear gas and other riot control weapons against people who do not pose an immediate threat. The plaintiffs’ attorneys said they are willing to dismiss the case with prejudice – meaning they could not refile it later – given the reduction in immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks. "With the Defendants no longer participating in Operation Midway Blitz, or other similar conduct under any moniker or other mission title in this District, this case is no longer needed to protect Class Members’ interests," attorneys wrote. The filing also states that the Trump administration has agreed to pause its appeal of Ellis’ injunction, and will move to dismiss their appeal, if Ellis dismisses the lawsuit with prejudice. In issuing her injunction limiting federal immigration agents’ use of force in the Chicago area, Ellis had ruled their repeated aggressive use of force against peaceful protesters "shocks the conscience." She also found the Trump administration’s testimony about agents’ use of force "to be simply not credible," saying that Bovino had lied in testimony about the threats protesters posed before he personally used force in certain instances.

Chicago Tribune [12/2/2025 6:38 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports a federal appeals judge on Tuesday had blunt criticism for a lower court’s order to release hundreds of immigrants on bond whose arrests during Operation Midway Blitz are being challenged under a consent decree that limits so-called warrantless detention. During arguments before a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Thomas Kirsch II called out U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings for failing to make a determination on who among the 450 or so detainees still locked up in the U.S. would qualify as a class member in the lawsuit. The Trump administration, meanwhile, immediately asked for a stay from the 7th Circuit, arguing Cummings made a "bevy of legal errors" that put public safety at risk and "cripple" immigration enforcement. At issue is a 2022 consent decree known as the Castañon Nava agreement, which bars agents from making warrantless immigration arrests unless they have probable cause to believe someone is in the U.S. unlawfully and that the person is a flight risk. U.S. Department of Justice attorney Benjamin Hayes said the government was seeking a stay on both the extension of the consent decree as well as Cummings’ release order pending a full appeal. The panel took the case under advisement and an opinion is expected to be fast-tracked.

Chicago Tribune [12/2/2025 6:17 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports in what appears to be a longer-term legal strategy, the plaintiffs in an injunction case limiting the use of force by immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz on Tuesday abruptly moved to dismiss the underlying lawsuit in the midst of an appeal by the Trump administration. In the request, lawyers representing a consortium of media outlets and other plaintiffs noted that the immigration enforcement surge "has ended" in Chicago — at least for now — and that "counsel has not received a single report of unconstitutional behavior that necessitated this case" since Nov. 8. If the dismissal is granted, it could effectively end a case that came to symbolize the havoc Midway Blitz caused in Chicago and led to U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issuing a scathing ruling limiting the use of tear gas or other munitions against journalists and protesters, among other restrictions. According to the motion to dismiss, the Department of Justice has agreed to drop its appeal as long as Ellis dismisses the lawsuit "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be refiled.

Chicago Tribune [12/2/2025 6:14 PM, Gregory Royal Pratt, 4829K] reports U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently claimed that no United States citizens have been caught up in Trump administration immigration raids. But that is false, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said in a six-page letter to Noem that demands answers about the department’s detention of U.S. citizens and cites Chicago Tribune reporting. Durbin disputed Noem’s contention about U.S. citizens citing press reports and his own office, which he said has documented "the reported detention of at least 40 U.S. citizens in Illinois alone between late August and early November 2025." Durbin closed his letter by requesting records showing the total number of U.S. citizens arrested during immigration enforcement activity since Jan. 20, related body-camera footage, complaints of wrongful arrests, and documents related to their training and records keeping practices, among other issues. He has requested a response by Dec. 16.

Univision [12/2/2025 7:55 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will renew the immigration emergency for another 60 days, arguing that a large number of undocumented immigrants remain in the state and continue to strain local resources. The order, which has been in effect since 2023, allows the governor to allocate resources and personnel and modify or partially repeal regulations. Democrats are denouncing abuses. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [12/2/2025 6:53 PM, Josh Funk, 19051K] reports the Trump administration’s latest move to enforce standards for commercial truck drivers, by flagging nearly half of the driving schools as noncompliant, doesn’t figure to disrupt the industry, experts say. But the heavy scrutiny on immigrant drivers might. The bigger, more reputable schools were not included in the list and many of the schools that were appear to have already been idle, leading trucking industry officials to predict minimal turmoil. Plus, these efforts to enforce training standards — and the previous moves to strengthen licensing particularly for immigrants — will take effect gradually over time as licenses come up for renewal and new drivers graduate from schools. The fact that there are probably more drivers than needed right now in the midst of a 10% drop in shipments since 2022 because of the economic uncertainty also helps, although trucking companies still struggle to find enough well-qualified drivers with clean records. Even before a truck driver that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says was not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people, the administration was focused on making sure truck drivers could meet English proficiency standards. The focus on immigrant drivers, who account for about 20% of all truckers, intensified after that August crash as the Transportation Department audited commercial driver’s license programs and Duffy proposed new restrictions that would severely limit which noncitizens could get a license to drive a semi or a bus. A court put the new rules on hold. But Duffy threatened to withhold millions from California, Pennsylvania and Minnesota after the audits found significant problems under the existing rules like commercial licenses being valid long after an immigrant truck driver’s work permit expired, That pressure prompted California to revoke 17,000 licenses. Some immigrant drivers are afraid to go on the road. Trucking company owner Dave Atwal said that as a result many of his drivers at Diamond Transportation in Lodi, California, are "just afraid to go to some of these other states where they might get harassed." Atwal has been able to assign some drivers to in-state routes, but he has lost more than 40 drivers who either walked away from the job or were unable to renew their licenses even though they have several years of safe driving on their records. Dave Laut said he has had a hard time finding all the drivers he wants to have behind the wheels of his 300 or so trucks at FBT Inc. Immigrant drivers are bearing the brunt of the government enforcement, according to Laut who is Sikh like the driver in the Florida crash and the driver of another fatal crash in California this fall. "A lot of (Sikhs) are quitting truck driving," he said. "They feel people target them, and they feel insulted and they are quitting jobs. They are hardworking guys. They stand out more.". Laut said his company underwent a Homeland Security audit of his drivers’ immigration statuses about two weeks ago. It passed that review, which many trucking firms in California are undergoing. But Duffy’s announcement Monday that as many as 7,500 trucking programs could soon be decertified will threaten the ongoing effort to attract and train new drivers — particularly if any schools doing things the right way get caught up with schools not playing by the rules.

Daily Wire [12/2/2025 6:30 AM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports a newlywed couple was tragically killed in a collision allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant truck driver with a California license, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Rajinder Kumar, of India, jackknifed his semi-truck and trailer on November 24. The disabled big rig blocked both lanes of a major highway in Deschutes County, Oregon, and led to the deaths of William Micah Carter and his wife, Jennifer Lynn Lower, after their vehicle "struck the trailer at highway speeds," according to local reports. The couple had been married for just sixteen days when the crash occurred, Jennifer’s father, Tom Lower, told The Bulletin. The truck driver crossed the southern border illegally into Lukeville, Arizona, in 2022 and was later released into the country at a time when the Biden administration was allowing entry of thousands of illegal immigrants each month, according to the Department of Homeland Security. From there, he received a work permit in 2023 and a California Commercial Driver’s License to drive trucks. "Rajinder Kumar, a criminal illegal alien from India, was released into our country under the Biden administration and issued a commercial driver’s license by Gavin Newsom’s Department of Motor Vehicles. “How many more senseless tragedies must take place before sanctuary politicians stop allowing illegal aliens to dangerously operate semi-trucks on America’s roads?" said Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "Our prayers are with William and Jennifer’s families. Under Secretary Noem, ICE will continue its efforts to get illegal alien truck drivers off America’s highways," McLaughlin added. The Indian national is charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also placed a detainer with the local jail, formally requesting that local authorities hand him over to federal custody if he’s ever to be released.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [12/2/2025 7:35 AM, Emily Crane, 42219K]

New York Post [12/2/2025 6:50 PM, Josh Christenson, 42219K] reports a Mexican migrant who has already been kicked out of the US four times is accused of killing an 11-year-old boy in a heinous hit-and-run on the outskirts of San Diego before Thanksgiving, The Post has learned. The suspect, Hector Balderas-Aheelor, is now on track for deportation. Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz was playing with another child and chasing his soccer ball at the end of a residential street outside his home on Nov. 26 in Escondido, Calif., when he was allegedly run over by Balderas-Aheelor, a Mexican migrant who sped away from the scene, NBC 7 first reported. The boy died from his injuries at Rady Children’s Hospital on the morning of Thanksgiving Day, according to family members. Balderas-Aheelor had no prior criminal history, according to DHS officials. The Escondido Police Department arrested and booked him on Nov. 29, charging him with a felony hit and run causing death or injury. He is currently being held by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office on a $100,000 bond at Rock Mountain Detention Facility in San Diego. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it has issued an arrest detainer, which officials are concerned will not be honored in the Golden State. Balderas-Aheelor was previously deported on March 19, 2004; June 10, 2004; June 15, 2004; and March 4, 2010, DHS officials said. Balderas-Aheelor has an arraignment hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 3, in North Division Court.

Univision [12/2/2025 8:05 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports nearly half of U.S. face the risk of closing after the Department of Transportation said DOTit found that thousands of schools do not meet the minimum requirements to certify new commercial drivers. The regulatory offensive accelerated after a fatal crash in Florida, in which a driver allegedly unauthorized to be in the country made an illegal U-spin and killed three people. The DOT reported that it plans to revoke the certification of nearly 3,000 driving schools if they do not correct their non-compliance within the next 30 days, including deficiencies in training quality, incomplete or altered records and failures in federal requirements verification. In addition, another 4,500 institutions were warned of possible future sanctions. If a school loses its certification, it will no longer be able to issue the document that applicants need to obtain a business license, which will likely lead students to drop out of those programs. That case has been repeatedly cited by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has vowed to curb “illegal and reckless practices” that allow unprepared drivers to get behind the wheel of trucks and school buses.

CBS News [12/2/2025 4:49 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports U.S.-operated flights returning deported migrants to Venezuela will continue despite President Trump’s assertion that the airspace of the South American country should be considered closed. The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday announced that the twice-weekly flights will go on following a request from the Trump administration. That reverses a Venezuelan government Saturday announcement indicating that U.S. immigration authorities had unilaterally suspended the flights. An overflight and landing application submitted Monday by U.S.-based Eastern Airlines requests permission for an arrival Wednesday. The agreement authorizes flights on a Boeing 777-200 from Phoenix, Arizona, to land at Maiquetía International Airport, the Venezuelan government said. The application was made public Tuesday by Venezuela’s foreign affairs minister. The U.S.-Venezuela repatriation deal has faced scrutiny from human rights organizations, though Trump administration officials point to the diplomatic deal as an important tool in reducing the influence of transnational criminal gangs. The flights have continued despite U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean and off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. Trump administration officials say the combination of targeted strikes and deportation flights reflect a multi-pronged strategy to disrupt the Tren de Aragua gang and other organized criminal networks, which have been linked to drug trafficking and violent crime throughout the Americas.

Reported similarly:
AP [12/2/2025 2:47 PM, Regina Garcia Cano, 31753K]
Reuters [12/2/2025 12:04 PM, Staff, 36480K]

CBS News [12/2/2025 6:40 PM, Joe Walsh, 39474K] reports President Trump said Tuesday his administration could attack accused drug traffickers who traverse Latin America by land "very soon," which would mark an escalation in the U.S. military’s campaign of lethal strikes on alleged drug boats. "We’re going to start doing those strikes on land, too," Mr. Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting when asked about the administration’s strikes at sea. "You know, the land is much easier ... And we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live. And we’re going to start that very soon, too.". Mr. Trump did not definitively say when or where any possible land strikes might take place. Officials have discussed possible military operations in Venezuela in recent weeks, CBS News has previously reported, as the Trump administration accuses Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of working with drug cartels — a charge Maduro denies. But Mr. Trump said Tuesday that land strikes would not necessarily be limited to Venezuela. He said any country where illicit drugs are produced or trafficked "is subject to attack," and singled out neighboring Colombia, which the U.S. has accused of failing to control the drug trade. The president has hinted for months that he may broaden his administration’s sea-based strikes to include accused drug targets on land, telling reporters in October that he is "totally prepared" to carry out land strikes.

AP [12/2/2025 3:44 PM, Staff, 31753K] Video: HERE reports President Donald Trump says that the U.S. would start doing military strikes on land soon, though he didn’t specify where and said attacks might occur in countries besides Venezuela, suggesting Colombia could also see strikes.

CNN [12/2/2025 9:49 PM, Mauricio Torres, Michael Rios, 606K] reports the family of a Colombian man believed to have been killed in a US strike in the Caribbean has filed what’s believed to be the first complaint against such attacks with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The petition, filed Tuesday by US human rights attorney Dan Kovalik, alleges that Colombian fisherman Alejandro Carranza was killed when the US struck his boat off the coast of Colombia on September 15. It claims that the United States carried out an extra-judicial killing in violation of Carranza’s human rights. Kovalik told CNN they are seeking compensation for his family and an end to such killings, but did not elaborate on how those demands would be met. "These killings are against international law. They are against US law. We want this to stop, and we think this is at least a first step to having that happen," he said. The complaint names US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as the perpetrator, saying he "was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza Medina and the murder of all those on such boats." It also claims that Hegseth’s conduct was "ratified" by US President Donald Trump. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House and CNN has reached out to the White House. Since early September, the US has carried out at least 22 strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing at least 83 people. The US has tried to legally justify its strikes by claiming the boats were carrying individuals linked to roughly two dozen drug cartels engaged in an armed conflict with the US. The White House has said repeatedly that the administration’s actions "comply fully with the Law of Armed Conflict," the area of international law that is designed to prevent attacks on civilians. Trump claimed the strike on September 15 had killed three "narcoterrorists from Venezuela" transporting drugs to the United States. But Kovalik says Carranza, a Colombian citizen, was simply fishing for marlin and tuna when he was killed in the strike. "That is what he was doing. That was his profession and his vocation.” Colombian President Gustavo Petro previously said that Carranza was a lifelong fisherman with no ties to the drug trade, and that his boat was displaying a distress signal because of engine damage. Petro later conceded that Carranza may have accepted money to carry prohibited goods due to his financial situation but said "never did his actions deserve the death penalty.” Petro announced on Monday that Kovalik had launched a "judicial defense" for Carranza’s family and said his country must convene a commission of Colombian lawyers to investigate what he considered "crimes" in the Caribbean.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [12/3/2025 4:06 AM, Frances Vinall, 32099K]

Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 8:55 AM, David Zimmermann, 1394K] reports as President Donald Trump hosts a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, War Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to receive ample attention from the press over his reported authorization of orders to kill narco-terrorists. Critics have accused Hegseth of committing "war crimes" for giving the order to kill all accused narco-traffickers on a vessel in the Caribbean. The first strike did not kill everyone on board the ship, prompting a subsequent strike that killed the survivors. Hegseth reportedly ordered the United States military to "kill everybody" aboard in the Sept. 2 strikes, according to a Washington Post report last week. Since then, he has been accused by lawmakers of violating international law. However, both Hegseth and the White House have been defending the embattled Pentagon chief by laying the responsibility for the orders in question on Navy Adm. Mitch Bradley, who was authorized by Hegseth to conduct the lethal strikes. Bradley was the one who ordered the second strike. "Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday. "He directed the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat of narco-terrorists to the United States was completely eliminated." Hegseth gave the admiral his full support later that day.

CNN [12/2/2025 5:29 PM, Adam Cancryn] reports President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday sought to distance themselves from the decision to launch a follow-up strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, insisting they weren’t aware of what the military had done after the first strike didn’t kill everyone on board. During a Cabinet meeting, Trump told reporters that he was not consulted ahead of time, and that even months after the strikes, he had not yet been fully briefed on the circumstances surrounding them. Trump added that he was relying on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to keep him apprised of the situation, and that Hegseth was "satisfied" with the September attack. But Hegseth on Tuesday also denied any direct role in targeting the survivors, saying he’d empowered Adm. Frank M. "Mitch" Bradley to make all of the operational decisions — and had left the room well before it became clear that some of the people on the boat had survived. The defense secretary did not learn about the second strike, he added, until hours later. Both Trump and Hegseth defended Bradley’s actions as correct and within the administration’s legal authority, with Hegseth vowing that the administration would "have his back." But the efforts to place responsibility for the second strike solely on Bradley, the commander of US Special Operations Command, come amid intensifying scrutiny from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over the legality of the strike. Some have even suggested that it amounts to a war crime. And Trump has said previously he "wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike."

FOX News [12/2/2025 3:27 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Secretary of War Pete Hegseth defended the Trump administration’s decision to conduct a second strike against an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.

CBS News [12/2/2025 11:10 AM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports the White House confirmed the U.S. military’s second Sept. 2 strike against an alleged Venezuelan drug boat as more claims emerge about the operation. Lawmakers have raised concerns over the legality of the strikes. CBS News senior national security correspondent Charlie D’Agata and White House reporter Olivia Rinaldi have the latest.

CNN [12/3/2025 5:02 AM, Haley Britzky, 18595K] reports as the US military’s September strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean has come under increased scrutiny by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and military legal experts, the Trump administration’s explanation has shifted. CNN and other outlets have reported that after an initial strike on a boat killed some of the crew and appeared to disable the ship, the military determined there were survivors and ordered at least one additional strike, according to sources. In total, 11 crew members were killed, the Pentagon has said. While President Donald Trump announced a strike on September 2, the details – including a follow-up strike – were not initially disclosed by the Trump administration. The day after the operation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he watched the operation live, emphasizing the level of planning behind the attack. But on Tuesday, he said he watched only the first strike live and then had to attend to other meetings, and learned of the rest of the operation hours later. Hegseth, his team at the Pentagon, and the White House have begun repeatedly pointing to Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, commander of US Special Operations Command, as the official who ultimately made the decision for a follow-up strike that killed survivors.

NewsMax [12/2/2025 10:18 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4109K] reports President Donald Trump used his social media platform to share a clip of Newsmax’s Carl Higbie explaining the capabilities of the U.S. military presence off Venezuela’s coast. In the Monday night "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE" segment that Trump posted on Truth Social, Higbie described the major U.S. naval deployment near Venezuela, stressing its scope and firepower as the Trump administration escalates pressure on the regime of Nicolás Maduro amid allegations the country is a launchpad for narcotics trafficking. "We just sent 11 warships down to the coast of Venezuela. That’s almost 15,000 troops on board," Higbie said, adding that the ships support "well over 100 aircraft" and carry "8 to 10 million pounds of munition, bullets, bombs, rockets.". He noted the capabilities of carrier strike assets, pointing to the USS Gerald R. Ford as a centerpiece of U.S. power projection and arguing that Venezuela’s leadership understands the imbalance. Higbie also cited what he called a U.S. warning order and a broader mission profile beyond intercepting drug boats.

Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 7:11 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 1394K] reports ‘I STAND BY THE DECISIONS HE MADE: Secretary Pete Hegseth has made no secret that he ordered the first strike on a suspected drug boat with the intention of killing everyone on board. In fact, he bragged about it. “These highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be lethal, kinetic strikes,” Hegseth wrote on X, defending the Sept. 2 attack. “Biden coddled terrorists, we kill them.” But while Hegseth and his chief spokesman Sean Parnell have torched the Washington Post for its “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory” reporting, which Parnell decried as a false narrative made up of “whole cloth,” the White House outlined a version of events that essentially matched the Post report, point by point.
The newspaper reported that Hegseth gave a verbal order to Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley, head of the Joint Special Operations Command, to destroy the boat with lethal force, in other words, killing the suspected narcoterrorists. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt didn’t dispute that. "President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially-designated narcoterrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war." The Post quoted two people as relating that Hegseth’s order to Bradley was to "kill everybody," which Bradley did under Hegseth’s command. "Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes." When the initial strike didn’t finish the job, the Post reported Bradley ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions. Again, no dispute from the White House. "Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated," Leavitt said.

Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 6:00 AM, Naomi Lim, 1394K] reports President Donald Trump’s actions against Venezuela are making some Republican lawmakers and members of his MAGA base nervous, but they are also ginning up the likes of South Floridians who ditched Democrats to support him last year in droves. The Trump administration has launched more than a dozen deadly strikes against alleged narcoterrorists, without providing evidence, in the Caribbean and Pacific oceans, including a disputed report that War Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a double-tap strike in September to kill two survivors from a first attack on a boat amid accusations the move constitutes a war crime. Art Estopinan, former chief of staff to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Cuban American elected to Congress in 1989, before the South Floridian Republican retired in 2019, welcomed the strikes. "Regardless of whether it was a Republican administration or a Democratic administration, Latin America played second fiddle in the United States’ foreign policy — the Middle East, Iran, China, Europe, and Russia were front and center," Estopinan told the Washington Examiner. "Now that President Trump has been able to resolve, in his administration, a lot of those conflicts, a focus of this administration is going to be Latin America."

NPR [12/2/2025 8:25 PM, Quil Lawrence and Tom Bowman, 28013K] reports the Trump administration is standing by its controversial campaign of targeting and killing the crews of small boats that are allegedly smuggling drugs from South America to the U.S. But in the face of charges that these strikes amount to execution without trial, the White House is sending a confusing message about who exactly gave each order to use deadly force. The details matter as some in Congress suggest the orders are illegal and could leave servicemembers facing eventual prosecution. In response to reports that the first of these incidents included a second round of strikes that killed two survivors on a burning boat, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that he authorized and watched the initial attacks but did not watch the second round. "I watched that first strike live," Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting at the White House. "As you can imagine, the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do. So I moved on to my next meeting." Hegseth said he did not see survivors of that Sept. 2 attack on the video and that the following strikes to sink the boat, which killed the survivors, were ordered by Adm. Frank M. Bradley. "A couple of hours later, I learned that that commander had made the [decision], which he had the complete authority to do," Hegseth said. "And by the way, Adm. Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat.".

Reuters [12/2/2025 5:45 PM, Staff, 36480K] reports that President Donald Trump on Tuesday said any country trafficking illegal drugs into the U.S. could be attacked. "Anybody that’s doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack," Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House, after raising the issue of cocaine from Colombia. Colombian President Gustavo Petro shot back at Trump in a post on X, arguing the South American nation destroys a drug-producing laboratory every 40 minutes - "without missiles." Trump has launched an offensive on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific in recent months, killing dozens through targeted missile strikes. U.S. military forces have built up in the Caribbean, with tensions ratcheting up between Trump and Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, which borders Colombia. The Trump administration alleges Maduro plays a key role in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans, which Maduro has denied. In recent days, Trump has flagged the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Venezuela. Trump on Tuesday told reporters that any country that was sending illegal drugs to the U.S. could be subject to land strikes, "not just Venezuela." "I hear the country of Colombia is making cocaine, they have cocaine manufacturing plants, and then they sell us their cocaine," Trump said. Petro, who has been personally sanctioned by the Trump administration, invited Trump to participate in the nation’s anti-drug offensive, but with a warning. "Do not threaten our sovereignty, or you will awake the Jaguar," Petro said. "Attacking our sovereignty is declaring war."

FOX News [12/2/2025 7:46 PM, Emma Bussey, 40621K] reports Pope Leo has spoken out about the dangers of military action by the U.S. in overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and appeared to ask President Trump to prioritize dialogue and diplomatic pressure, according to Vatican reports. The pontiff’s poignant appeal came as the White House intensified its campaign against Maduro this week, largely because of alleged involvement by his regime in illegal drug trafficking. "We are trying to find a way to calm the situation, seeking above all the good of the people, because in these situations it is the people who suffer, not the authorities," Leo told reporters on a flight home from Lebanon Tuesday. "The signals coming from the United States change, and so we must see. … On the one hand, it seems there has been a telephone conversation between the two presidents; on the other hand, there is this danger, this possibility, that there could be an action, an operation, including an invasion of Venezuelan territory.” The pope spoke after the U.S. deployed its largest military presence in the Caribbean, including strikes against vessels suspected of drug trafficking. This week, according to reports, Trump had delivered an ultimatum to Maduro in a phone call, demanding that he surrender power immediately. Maduro reportedly refused, insisting instead on a "global amnesty" for himself and his allies. "I again believe it is better to seek dialogue within this pressure, including economic pressure, but looking for another way to bring about change if that is what the United States decide to do," the Pope added. Speaking to 81 reporters aboard the papal plane, he appeared to express concern about the rising tensions. Leo, answering a reporter’s question, also said the signals coming from the U.S. administration about its policy toward Venezuela seemed unclear. The 70-year-old Chicago-born pontiff, elected in May after the death of Pope Francis, also used the in-flight news conference to speak about the role of the Holy See, which works "behind the scenes" in peace negotiations so that all parties may lay down arms. He also spoke about the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [12/2/2025 4:34 PM, Joshua McElwee, 36480K]
Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 6:51 PM, Brady Knox, 1394K]

CNN [12/2/2025 11:50 AM, Christopher Lamb, 606K] reports Pope Leo has said he believes the United States needs to find "another way" in handling the situation in Venezuela, warning against any military incursion and saying it would be better to pursue dialogue or apply economic pressure. "It seems there is the possibility that there be some activity, even an operation to invade Venezuelan territory," Leo, who spent several years as a missionary and bishop in Peru, told reporters on board the papal plane returning to Rome from Beirut on Tuesday. "I truly believe that it is better to look for ways of dialogue, maybe pressure, including economic pressure, but looking another way to change, if that is what they want to do in the United States.". The first American pope’s comments come at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Venezuela, with Leo saying church leaders in the South American country were looking for "ways to calm the situation.". He noted that US President Donald Trump and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro had spoken on the phone and that because "the voices that come from the US change, with some frequency sometimes, one needs to see.". During an in-flight press conference covering a range of topics, Leo also called for Europe and North America to be "a little less fearful" when it comes to immigrants of different faiths. Asked about Catholics who see Islam as a "threat" to Christianity in Europe, Leo said he is aware of people’s fears, but said they are often "generated by people who are against immigration and trying to keep out people who may be from another country, another religion, another race.". Instead, Leo said his visit to Turkey and Lebanon underlined that "dialogue and friendship between Muslims and Christians is possible" citing Lebanon as a country which teaches friendship between Christians and Muslims. He said the lessons from Lebanon need to be "heard in Europe or North America, that we should perhaps be a little less fearful and look for ways of promoting authentic dialogue and respect.". His comments on migration come less than a week after Trump said he was considering permanently banning immigration from what he called "third world countries.".

FOX News [12/2/2025 4:19 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Fox News senior strategic analyst Ret. Gen. Jack Keane weighs in on President Donald Trump’s push for regime change in Venezuela amid his drug crackdown on ‘The Story.’

Politico [12/2/2025 5:25 PM, Connor O’Brien, Joe Gould, and Leo Shane III, 2100K] reports Republicans have largely marched in lockstep with President Donald Trump’s campaign to kill alleged drug smugglers off the coast of Latin America. But after the recent revelation of potential war crimes, that unity is starting to show significant cracks. GOP lawmakers have backed the president amid months of legally questionable strikes against suspected drug boats and increasing tensions with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. But top Republicans now say they must investigate a second follow-up strike in September that killed survivors wounded in the first hit. Even some of Trump’s most ardent backers, while dismissive of a drawn-out probe, are questioning the purpose of the attacks. The situation is testing GOP fealty to a president who demands loyalty — and could further divide a Republican party that’s already split over foreign policy. “I didn’t give a damn who it was … whoever knowingly violated — that was a violation of ethical, moral and legal code,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) about the second strike. “If the facts play out the way they’re currently being reported, then somebody needs to get the hell out of Washington.” The growing frustration follows a Washington Post report over the weekend that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order to kill all aboard. The White House on Monday acknowledged a second strike, but largely placed responsibility on the military commander of the operation, Adm. Frank Bradley, rather than Hegseth. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Navy admiral was acting within his legal authority. The Senate and House Armed Services committees have promised an investigation into the second strike, which blew up alleged drug traffickers who were dangling from a boat.

Politico [12/2/2025 6:42 PM, Ian Ward, 2100K] reports the looming threat of U.S. military intervention in Venezuela is once again exposing the rift between the Republican Party’s foreign policy hawks and its anti-interventionist wing. But the fault lines are unfamiliar — a vivid illustration of the fluid nature of foreign policy alliances inside the Trump coalition. In one corner of the right, Trump’s increasingly menacing posture toward Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is garnering support from traditional foreign policy hawks like Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has urged on Trump to expand his controversial strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers, and former Vice President Mike Pence, who has called on Trump to go even further and oust Maduro from power. Both men are long-standing hawks who have backed Trump’s past foreign interventions — most recently the administration’s decision to join Israel’s bombing campaign in June targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities. At the same time, Trump’s pressure campaign has earned the backing of a handful of Republicans from South Florida, including Reps. María Elvira Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez. Though all generally hawkish in their foreign policy outlook, the three have been especially outspoken in their support for removing Maduro from power — an indication of the weight that the issue continues to carry for South Florida’s small but influential Venezuelan expat community. On the other side of the issue, Trump’s saber-rattling is meeting resistance from the GOP’s “restrainers,” a group that includes both “America First” nationalists like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson as well as more conventional anti-interventionist libertarians like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. Many members of the camp opposed Trump’s decision to bomb Iran in June on the grounds that it risks dragging the U.S. into another costly regime-change war in the Middle East, and they are raising similar concerns about toppling Maduro’s government in Venezuela. Yet each coalition is subtly different than the ones that formed in other recent intra-right skirmishes over the Trump administration’s interventionist forays.

CNN US [12/2/2025 10:01 AM, Zachary B. Wolf, 606K] reports the US military has killed scores of people — 83 and counting — in unprecedented military strikes on alleged drug boats. But it is new revelations about the fate of nameless individuals who ultimately were killed in September in the first acknowledged military attack on a boat that have reignited a debate about the legality — or lack thereof — of the unprecedented US military campaign. If it is true that an order was given specifically to kill the people as they clung to the side of a damaged boat, then Americans could be guilty of a war crime or murder, some military and legal experts say. If it is true that an order was given specifically to kill the people as they clung to the side of a damaged boat, then Americans could be guilty of a war crime or murder, some military and legal experts say. It sounds like something from a mafia hit, but in military terms, a double tap can be the practice of following an initial attack with a second strike. Russia has been accused of using the practice in Ukraine to target first responders. The US military was criticized during former President Barack Obama’s administration for utilizing the practice with drones attacks during the war on terrorism. Trump told reporters that he “wouldn’t have wanted a second strike” and that Hegseth told him “that didn’t happen” as described in media reports. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday the strikes were ordered by Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, the commander of US Special Operations Command.

FOX News [12/2/2025 8:35 AM, Taylor Penley Fox, 40621K] Video; HERE reports Border czar Tom Homan delivered a bold response when asked if he’s concerned that Democrats could eventually target him with prosecution for overseeing the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies. "They already said they’re going to, so come get some," he said Monday night on "Jesse Watters Primetime.". "The bottom line is I’m not going to let them forget what they did the last four years," he continued. "A half a million children were separated from their families and smuggled across this border. A quarter million Americans died from drug overdoses that came across that border, and what has President Trump done? He gave us the most secure border in the history of this nation, which means sex trafficking plummeted, terrorists coming across the borders plummeted, criminal cartels are going broke [and] record deportations. Every promise he made to [the] American people, he’s getting done." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that although asylum was formally granted to Lakanwal during the Trump administration in April, the vetting process happened under the Biden administration. "We’re going to find every one of these people that weren’t vetted, and we’re going to make sure that they are properly vetted, and if not, they’re going home," Homan said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [12/2/2025 3:06 PM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports White House border czar Tom Homan on Monday taunted Democrats who have said they want to prosecute him over immigration raids conducted across the country. "Well, they’ve already said they’re going to," Homan told Fox News’s Jesse Watters. "So come get some.". Watters said Democrats are "chomping at the bit" to go after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, with them accusing the administration of "war crimes.". Homan responded, "Bottom line is, I’m not gonna let them forget what they did the last four years.". "A half a million children were separated from their families and smuggled across this border," he continued. "A quarter of a million Americans died from drug overdoses that came across that border.". Washington Post reported last week that Hegseth gave the order to "kill everybody" aboard a vessel reportedly carrying narcotics. Two survivors held on to the side of the wreck before the commanding officer, identified as Navy Adm. Frank Bradley, called for a second strike, complying with the Pentagon chief’s order. The Defense secretary originally called the reporting "fake news" and insisted the strikes were "lawful." However, the White House confirmed Monday that Hegseth authorized the second hit and defended the legality of the ongoing strikes that have thus far killed 83 people.

New York Times [12/2/2025 4:42 PM, Jenny Gross, 31753K] reports Costco has sued the Trump administration for a refund of the tariffs it has paid on imported goods, should the Supreme Court rule them illegal, becoming one of the largest companies to challenge President Trump’s sweeping levies in court. The complaint, filed on Friday in the U.S. Court of International Trade, argues that Mr. Trump misused a 1977 law in his move to implement tariffs on products from more than 100 countries. The lawsuit asserts that Congress, not the president, has the authority to set tariffs, and that Mr. Trump exceeded the authority granted to him by the law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. “The text of IEEPA does not use the word ‘tariff’ or any term of equivalent meaning,” Costco states in the lawsuit, which was reported earlier by NBC News. The act allows the president to regulate or prohibit foreign transactions during a national emergency, but does not authorize the imposition of tariffs, according to the lawsuit. Kush Desai, a spokesman for the White House, said in a statement that the “economic consequences of the failure to uphold President Trump’s lawful tariffs are enormous and this suit highlights that fact. The White House looks forward to the Supreme Court’s speedy and proper resolution of this matter.” It has said in the past that its use of the IEEPA is lawful because the law gives the president the authority to “regulate” the “importation” of foreign property to deal with emergencies. The challenge by Costco, the largest warehouse club chain in the United States, echoes arguments that a number of small businesses have already made before the Supreme Court in lawsuits against Mr. Trump’s tariffs.

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [12/2/2025 5:04 PM, Nilesh Christopher, 14862K]
CNN [12/2/2025 5:02 PM, Elisabeth Buchwald]
NPR [12/2/2025 4:03 PM, Alina Selyukh, 28013K]

NBC News [12/2/2025 6:55 PM, Raquel Coronell Uribe, 34509K] reports the Trump administration indicated Tuesday that it will begin withholding SNAP benefits from recipients in most Democratic-led states starting next week after those states refused to provide the Agriculture Department with data including recipients’ names and immigration statuses. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that 29 Republican-led states have complied but that 21 states, including California, New York and Minnesota, have refused to provide the data, which was requested in February. Rollins has said her department requested the info to "root out … fraud.". "So as of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states, until they comply and they tell us and allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud and to protect the American taxpayer," Rollins said at the White House meeting. Close to 42 million people in the U.S. receive benefits for food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Reacting to Rollins’ remarks Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on X: "Genuine question: Why is the Trump Administration so hellbent on people going hungry?". Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called Rollins’ remarks a move to "punish ... political rivals.". "It’s nothing short of ridiculous that the Trump administration is once again trying to withhold SNAP funding over data sharing after a court clearly barred them from doing so," Ellison said in a statement.

CBS News [12/2/2025 6:30 AM, Staff, 39474K] reports armed men entered through a window to ambush Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the most elusive of the Sinaloa cartel’s leaders, who was then loaded onto a plane, drugged and spirited across the border to the United States, according to details revealed Monday in the plea hearing of the drug trafficker who abducted him. Joaquín Guzmán López, the 39-year-old son of former Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise in federal court in Chicago after admitting his role in overseeing the transport of tens of thousands of pounds of drugs to the U.S. As part of that plea agreement, U.S. prosecutors shared what had been one of the central questions in the hours and days immediately after Zambada fell into U.S. hands in July 2024. How did the wily drug capo who had stayed ahead of authorities for decades end up in the United States like a present tied with bow? The plea agreement did not name Zambada, but in the days after his arrest, one of his lawyers shared a letter from him that explained he had been called to a meeting with Guzmán López and there he had been abducted. Andrew Erskine, an attorney representing the U.S. government, said Monday the alleged kidnapping of an unnamed individual was part of an attempt to show cooperation with Washington, which he said did not sanction those actions. He also said Guzmán López would not receive cooperation credit because of that.

Wall Street Journal [12/2/2025 8:00 AM, Steve Fisher and Santiago Pérez, 646K] reports dozens of Mexico’s most dangerous prisoners, cuffed hand and foot, boarded army jets under heavy guard this year, a rogue’s gallery of cartel leaders responsible for smuggling tons of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine to insatiable U.S. buyers. The men were rousted from prisons, where money and corruption provided them with weapons, cocaine, booze, women and phones to run their lucrative underworld empires from behind bars, coordinating drug shipments as well as ordering killings and kidnappings, U.S. and Mexican officials said. The prisoners had no idea of their destination. “Welcome to America!” said Derek Maltz, interim head of the Drug Enforcement Administration when he greeted the first batch of prisoners as they disembarked nine months ago. A second group arrived in August, a total of 55 men who face charges that could keep them locked in maximum-security prisons for the rest of their lives. The prisoners represent the top echelons of Mexico’s biggest criminal organizations—the Sinaloa, Jalisco New Generation and Zetas cartels. They include Rafael Caro Quintero, who is charged with killing DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985 and has dodged extradition to the U.S. for decades. All are in custody without bail. U.S. officials expect many of the prisoners will share firsthand knowledge about the operations of Mexico’s underworld—from smuggling secrets and money-laundering operations to the names of officials in government, the military, law-enforcement and finance who are paid to serve the drug-trafficking industry.

ABC News [12/2/2025 1:03 PM, Bill Hutchinson, et al., 30493K] reports former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted in 2024 of trafficking drugs into the United States, has been freed from prison after he was granted a pardon by President Donald Trump, officials said. The 57-year-old Hernandez was released from a federal prison in West Virginia, where he had been serving a 45-year sentence, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Hernandez’s attorney. "After nearly four years of pain, waiting, and difficult trials, my husband Juan Orlando Hernandez RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump," Hernandez’s wife, Ana Garcia de Hernandez, said in a social media post. Hernandez’s wife added, "Today we give thanks to God, because he is just and His timing is perfect. Thank you, Mr. President, for restoring our hope and for recognizing a truth that we always knew.". Trump formally granted Hernandez a full pardon on Monday evening, Hernandez’s attorney, Renato Stabile, told ABC News. "True to his word, I can confirm that President Trump has issued a full and unconditional pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez," Stabile said. Stabile said Hernandez, a two-term president of Honduras, was released early Tuesday morning from the U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton, a high-security prison in West Virginia. "On behalf of President Hernandez and his family, I would like to thank President Trump for correcting this injustice," Stabile said. "President Hernandez is glad this ordeal is over and is looking forward to regaining his life after almost four years in prison.". Trump’s pardon of Hernandez came as a surprise to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, who said the decision appears to contradict the Trump administration’s crackdown on drug trafficking from the Caribbean. "Why would we pardon this guy then go after [Venezuelan president Nicolas] Maduro for running drugs into the United States? Lock up every drug runner! Don’t understand why he is being pardoned," Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said in a social media post over the weekend.

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Breitbart [12/2/2025 11:35 AM, Staff, 2416K]
USA Today [12/2/2025 9:53 AM, Zac Anderson and Nick Penzenstadler, 67103K]

New York Times [12/3/2025 3:03 AM, Jonah E. Bromwich, 153395K] reports when President Trump pardoned the former leader of Honduras this week, he erased the crowning achievement of years of work by one of his own former criminal defense lawyers and top Justice Department officials, Emil Bove III. Mr. Bove, a firm believer in the prerogatives of executive power, became known for defending Mr. Trump against several prosecutions, and his profile rose further when, at the Justice Department, he oversaw the firing of dozens of prosecutors and F.B.I. agents Mr. Trump perceived as enemies. In May, the president nominated him as a federal appeals court judge and the Senate confirmed him in July. But before that, Mr. Bove was a hard-charging prosecutor in Manhattan bent on convicting members of a Honduran drug-trafficking conspiracy. From 2015 to when he left the job in 2021, Mr. Bove helped lead the investigation that identified Honduras as a key conduit for cocaine shipments into the United States. The inquiry revealed the violence that had cleared a pathway for the drugs through Honduras, as the country’s officials mowed down anyone who sought to thwart them. And it ultimately led to the conviction in 2024 of President Juan Orlando Hernández, who prosecutors said had been at the center of the conspiracy.

Reuters [12/2/2025 4:42 PM, Jeff Mason, Andrew Hay, and Diego Oré, 36480K] reports President Donald Trump, who has cast himself as a relentless foe of illegal drugs, pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, freeing him from a 45-year sentence for conspiring to import tons of cocaine into the United States. Trump’s extraordinary move risks weakening U.S. credibility in Latin America, could embolden corrupt actors, and is likely to draw criticism that he is undercutting decades of U.S. efforts to fight transnational drug networks. Trump told reporters at the White House that he had freed Hernandez in response to pleas from Hondurans and that he felt "very good" about the decision. He asserted without evidence that Hernandez had been the victim of a witch hunt by the administration of his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. Democrats rebuked the Republican president, accusing him of hypocrisy in claiming to have stepped up the fight against the flow of illicit drugs into the United States while freeing a man convicted of using his office to aid drug traffickers. Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said evidence presented at Hernandez’s trial had established that the former president had "orchestrated a vast trafficking conspiracy" that raked in millions of dollars for drug cartels. "This is not an action by a president trying to keep America safe from narcotics," Durbin said. "It is a strange understanding of his power that he would use this and not penalize those responsible for the narcotics coming into the United States."

Breitbart [12/2/2025 8:57 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreed in a phone call Tuesday to intensify cooperation in the fight against organized crime, the Brazilian presidency said. Lula phoned Trump after the two men in October held their first official meeting, ushering in improved ties after months of growing animosity between Brasilia and Washington. During the 40-minute conversation, Lula said greater cooperation was needed between the two countries to fight organized crime, the presidency said in a statement. The conversation comes amid tensions over US strikes on alleged drug traffickers near the Venezuelan coast, which have killed at least 83 people since early September. Lula highlighted recent police operations in Brazil aimed at financially suffocating organized crime that had identified branches of criminal groups operating from abroad. Trump "expressed complete willingness to work with Brazil" in fighting these organizations, the Brazilian statement said. For his part, the US president said that he and Lula had "a great talk" on the phone. "We talked about trade. We talked about sanctions, because, as you know, I sanctioned them having to do with certain…things that took place," Trump told reporters during a charity event at the White House on Tuesday. "But we had a very good talk.” Brazilian authorities have recently carried out several operations against one of the country’s largest crime groups, the First Capital Command (PCC). Investigators revealed that the crime group was laundering huge amounts of money through gas stations that was then moved into digital banks and payment apps. In Rio de Janeiro, police have stepped up operations against another major criminal faction, Comando Vermelho, or the Red Command, one of which left 122 people dead in October. The two criminal groups control cocaine trafficking in Brazil, with a reach spreading across Latin America and, in the case of the PCC, to Europe. Lula and Trump also discussed trade tariffs. After a flurry of negotiations, Washington last month removed a punitive 40-percent tariff placed on some Brazilian goods, including meat, coffee and fruit. Trump imposed the additional tariff in response to the trial of his ally, far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup. Lula said the removal of the tariff was "very positive" but other products are still impacted by tariffs and need to be discussed. "Brazil wants to move quickly in these negotiations," Lula stressed to Trump, according to the statement. The two presidents agreed to speak again soon.

NPR [12/3/2025 3:00 AM, Christina Cala, Gene Demby, Jess Kung, Ximena Bustillo, and Anna Yukhananov, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports though there’s a massive backlog of immigration cases that need rulings, the Trump administration has been firing immigration judges. Ximena Bustillo, NPR’s immigration and DHS reporter, has spotted a trend – many of the judges let go have previous experience in immigration defense. At the same time, the Trump administration has allocated $3 billion to beef up ICE as an agency and hire “deportation judges.” [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Wall Street Journal [12/2/2025 8:48 PM, Staff, 646K] reports Congress is mostly a media circus these days, so credit the members who take their duties seriously. Lawmakers are doing a public service by trying to get to the truth on whether the Trump Administration killed defenseless survivors of a drug-boat strike. The controversy involves a Washington Post report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered that no one survive a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. The story cites unidentified sources claiming that the U.S. military, on Mr. Hegseth’s orders, conducted a second strike to finish off survivors clinging to the destroyed boat. Mr. Hegseth called the story “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory,” and said U.S. actions have been “in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command.” President Trump added Sunday that the Secretary “said he did not say that, and I believe him, 100%.” Mr. Trump added that he’ll “look into it, but no, I wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike.” The Pentagon is certainly full of people who might leak a derogatory story because they’d like to see Mr. Hegseth fired. The U.S. campaign against drug boats has also riled civil libertarians and progressives who want to constrain the President’s ability to conduct military action. But the charge of deliberately killing the defenseless is serious enough to warrant a close look from Congress. That includes Mr. Hegseth giving an account under oath. The Administration so far seems to think it can ride out the story with ritual denunciations of the media.

New York Post [12/2/2025 7:46 PM, Staff, 42219K] reports Gov. Kathy Hochul claims New York helps the feds catch illegal-immigrant criminals, yet the state has sprung 7,000 killers, sexual predators and other horrors just since January without even notifying ICE; how is that helping? State and local "sanctuary" policies shouldn’t protect these goons, period. Refusing ICE detainers, and so forcing the feds to go after these menaces in the community, clearly creates needless risks for law enforcement and innocent civilians. Per Homeland Security data, New York has released thousands of perps who account for 29 homicides, thousands of assaults and hundreds of weapons offenses, drug crimes, sexual predations, burglaries and more. Yet authorities freed them anyway, thanks to sanctuary laws and policies that stop courts and cops from cooperating with the feds. "Virtually all Americans agree that people like this should be swiftly removed from the United States when they leave New York’s custody and not be returned to our streets to wreak havoc on law-abiding citizens," fumes Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons in a letter to state Attorney General Letitia James. What a no-brainer: No one wants foreigners who commit horrific crimes here cut loose. No one who enters illegally has a preemptive right to remain in-country, and those who attack anyone on US soil should booted in a New York minute. Yet (in a trend compounded by the state’s cashless-bail laws and softie judges) New York authorities keep springing truly villainous border-hoppers: New York prosecutors charged Jose David Hernandez Hernandez with rape, strangulation and assault; despite an ICE detainer, he was turned loose anyway. Anderson Smith Satuye Martinez, a Crip convicted of assault and later arrested again for criminal possession of a weapon and a controlled substance, was sprung via cashless bail, also despite a detainer. In January, DHS charges, the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office refused to honor a federal detainer and warrant for Jesus Romerio Hernandez, who’d been kicked out of the country six times and served 179 days behind bars for attacking an Ithaca police officer with a machete. ICE eventually picked up all three of these guys, but others remain in the wind. And forcing agents to confront thugs on the streets creates a far more dangerous situation than a simple courthouse, jail or prison handover. Hochul should repeal, or at least soften, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2017 executive order barring state employees from giving the feds info "for the purpose of federal civil immigration enforcement, unless required by law.”

Washington Examiner [12/3/2025 5:00 AM, Staff, 1394K] reports Urias-Orellana v. Bondi is not a case name that history will remember in the way it does Roe v. Wade or Obergefell v. Hodges. The question presented to the Supreme Court is narrow and legalistic, but the facts demonstrate just how broken our asylum system is. On or about June 28, 2021, Douglas Humberto Urias-Orellana, his wife, Sayra Iliana Gamez-Mejia, and their child were arrested by Border Patrol after illegally crossing the southern border. They were promptly processed and released by the Biden administration before moving to Boston, where they asserted asylum as a defense to deportation, as many illegal immigrants do. Neither Urias-Orellana nor Gamez-Mejia is a member of any race, religion, or nationality persecuted in their native El Salvador, nor do they hold any political opinions that make them targets of the government or any other violent group. Urias-Orellana’s half-brother, Juan, however, got into an argument with a drug-lord hitman about a romantic relationship between their parents. The hitman shot Juan and tracked Urias-Orellana across El Salvador, demanding money. Urias-Orellana claimed in court that his relationship to Juan and the hitman’s grudge against Juan made his entire family a "particular social group" that qualified him for refugee status under the Refugee Act of 1980. The immigration judge in Boston denied Urias-Orellana’s claim, reasoning that his fear of returning to El Salvador was not well-founded because "similarly situated" members of his family still "live in El Salvador without [facing] further harm and mistreatment." The question before the Supreme Court was whether a federal appeals court should review the immigration judge’s finding de novo (from scratch), or if the appeals court should defer to the immigration judge’s finding that Urias-Orellana’s fear wasn’t well-founded.

Wall Street Journal [12/2/2025 5:21 PM, Jason L. Riley, 646K] reports when the little boy in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” blurts out that the emperor is naked, he says what people already knew. He says what his fellow townsfolk were thinking but were too afraid to utter themselves. Sometimes it can seem as though we’re all living in Andersen’s fairy tale, where too few people are willing to state the obvious. Parents of school-age children are expected to watch their daughters play competitive sports with boys and not notice the physical differences. Law-abiding citizens are expected to believe that police pose a greater threat to public safety than violent criminals. We’re told that asking someone to show identification before casting a ballot is “voter suppression.” Last month, the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal published an investigative report by Ryan Thorpe and Christopher Rufo about Covid-related welfare fraud in Minnesota, which happens to be centered in the state’s Somali community. Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of people with setting up fictitious nonprofits that billed state agencies for services that were never provided. More than $1 billion was stolen. Instead of being used to provide housing or Medicaid services, “the money was being used to fund lavish lifestyles, purchase luxury vehicles, and buy real estate.” According to the New York Times, “Minnesota’s fraud scandal stood out even in the context of rampant theft during the pandemic, when Americans stole tens of billions through unemployment benefits, business loans and other forms of aid.” Fifty-nine people have been convicted so far, and most of them are of Somali descent. Of those charged in the cases involving alleged fraud against meals, housing and autism programs, 78 of the 86 defendants are of Somali ancestry. Since the 1990s, when civil war broke out in the East African nation, Minnesota has welcomed tens of thousands of Somali refugees. Today the state’s Somali diaspora numbers about 80,000. The massive fraud was an open secret. Merrick Garland, who served as U.S. attorney general under Joe Biden, called it the largest pandemic-relief hustle in the nation. Democratic state officials also suspected wrongdoing but didn’t want to upset an important voting bloc or be accused of racism. A former state senator told Messrs. Thorpe and Rufo: “The media does not want to put a light on this. And if you’re a politician, it’s a significant disadvantage for you to alienate the Somali community. If you don’t win the Somali community, you can’t win Minneapolis. And if you don’t win Minneapolis, you can’t win the state.” In a follow-up article, Mr. Rufo wrote that critics on the left were accusing him and his co-author of “racist” reporting. Apparently, no one is supposed to notice that Minnesota’s welfare fraud was heavily concentrated among people who are relatively new to the country and share an ethnic identity. “A description of the facts,” Mr. Rufo wrote, “should not be measured as ‘racist or not racist,’ but rather as ‘true or not true.’ And in this case, the truth is that numerous members of a relatively small community participated in a scheme that stole billions in funds.”

OutKick [12/2/2025 9:05 PM, Tomi Lahren] reports migrants, foreign nationals, mostly of Somali descent, defrauded the state of Minnesota, in a lot of ways, but for brevity’s sake, let’s just touch on the "Feeding our Future" scheme. It’s one of the largest COVID-era frauds in the entire country…and a masterclass in what happens when you allow a "diversity" obsessed absolute Nimrod to run your state. When the SCAMdemic hit, federal officials rushed billions into emergency child-nutrition programs and that money was meant to feed low-income kids. But the folks who should’ve had an eye out for fraud decided to take a siesta and that’s when Feeding Our Future, a Minnesota nonprofit, started approving an explosion of meal sites, sites that prosecutors say mostly didn’t exist. Shell companies claimed they were serving tens of thousands of children, but they had fake rosters, fake invoices, fake everything. Oh, but the government paid anyway. Not thousands… not millions… but around $250 million in taxpayer money. And according to the account "Minnesota Department of Human Services" - Tampon Tim was flagged on this fraud early on and instead of stopping it, he retaliated on the whistleblowers sounding the alarm. He also allegedly disempowered the Office of the Legislative Auditor, allowing agencies to disregard their audit findings and guidance. So in other words, let it continue and try to keep others from noticing. His office was more concerned with offending the Somalis. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [12/2/2025 8:00 AM, Christopher F. Rufo, 1442K] reports last week, my colleague Ryan Thorpe and I broke a story about widespread fraud committed by Somalis in Minnesota. Members of the state’s Somali community allegedly participated in complex schemes related to autism services, food programs, and housing, which prosecutors estimate have stolen billions of taxpayer dollars. Even worse, some of the cash has ended up in the hands of Al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization in Somalia. The story quickly reached the White House. Within days, President Trump announced that he was revoking Temporary Protected Status for all Somali migrants in Minnesota. Progressives have suggested that our reporting and the subsequent policy change were "racist." While many of those indicted in these schemes are Somali, these critics argue, the federal government should not hold Minnesota’s Somali community corporately responsible for the actions of individuals. This criticism is superficially appealing, but it isn’t persuasive on closer inspection.

San Diego Union Tribune [12/2/2025 9:00 AM, Alex Nowrasteh, 1538K] reports ten years ago, Pakistani-born terrorist Tashfeen Malik and her U.S.-born husband Syed Farook murdered 14 people in an Islamist terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. It was the deadliest foreign-born terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11 and inspired then-candidate Donald J. Trump to call for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on." We figured it out a long time ago: Very little was going on. Donald Trump won the 2016 election with a victory almost unimaginable without the threat of terrorism that he and his supporters inflated at every opportunity. But terrorism was a small threat then and is even smaller today. How do I know? I’ve conducted many of the most thorough analyses of the threat of foreign-born and native-born terrorism on U.S. soil since then. From 1975 until today, about 3,576 people have been murdered in all, not just Islamist, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. More than 83 percent of those deaths were from the 9/11 attacks. Of those total, only 218 have been killed since the San Bernardino attack – and only 16 of them murdered by foreign-born terrorists. As tragic as each of those are, it’s a far cry from the panic that Tom Homan, the border czar under Trump, predicted. He claimed that a 9/11 style attack is "coming" in a hysterical interview with conservative host Sean Hannity in June. A few years earlier, Homan claimed that no one was talking about the "national security crisis of immense proportions" along the border, even though it was all the political rage. And he could barely resist ending an interview by saying, "These 2 million known gotaways scare the hell out of me…I’m convinced something’s coming unless we can find them." Illegal immigration during the Biden administration was "the biggest national security vulnerability this country’s ever seen," he claimed. None of Homan’s worries metastasized.

FOX News [12/2/2025 2:56 PM, Alexandra Koch, 40621K] reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday arrested a series of criminal illegal immigrants with convictions ranging from sexual assault of a child to armed robbery, as attacks on its officers have surged more than 1,150%. An El Salvadorian national was convicted of numerous counts of child rape in Massachusetts, while other illegal immigrants were convicted of violent crimes in New Jersey, New York, Texas and California. "Despite a more than 1,153% increase in assaults against our law enforcement officers, they continue to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens," Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. She added Monday’s arrests included "pedophiles, sexual predators and armed robbers." "Violence against our law enforcement will not slow us down from removing criminal illegal aliens for American neighborhoods," McLaughlin wrote.

USA Today [12/2/2025 3:05 PM, Bart Jansen, 67103K] reports that two million immigrants without legal authority to remain the country have gone home during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "Two million have gone home already, people that were here illegally you have removed and sent home," Noem said at a Cabinet meeting Dec. 2. "We’re going to send more home for the holidays, too." The push to reduce illegal immigration was a top priority for Trump. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has hired 10,000 officers, with the latest to arrive within 10 days, Noem said. The reduction in 2 million immigrants is a difficult figure to corroborate and could include immigrants who were deported and who left the country voluntarily. The right-leaning Center for Immigration Studies estimated a decline of 2.2 million foreign-born people during the first six months of the year, based on projections in the Current Population Survey of the U.S. Census. The figure represents the largest drop in one year in decades. ICE statistics say 320,000 people were deported during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, which includes more than three months of removals during the Biden administration. ICE also shows 56,000 deportations during October and November. Trump said deportations focus on the worst immigrants. "The focus is on the bad ones," Trump said. Noem had said on social media Dec. 1 she recommended to Trump the travel ban be expanded to 30 or more countries "flooding our nation with killers, leeches and entitlement junkies."

Washington Post [12/3/2025 5:00 AM, Eva Dou, 32099K] reports for years, Alex Karp, Palantir’s CEO, had declared the data-mining company to be “involved in supporting progressive values,” saying he has repeatedly “walked away” from contracts that targeted minorities or that he found otherwise unethical. Even as Palantir took on extensive data-management contracts for the federal government, the company said it was not willing to allow its powerful tools to broadly track immigrants across America. That commitment no longer holds. Palantir’s software is helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement track undocumented immigrants and deport them faster, according to federal procurement filings and interviews with people who have knowledge of the project and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details. The software, Immigration OS, plays a key role in supporting the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. Karp, formerly an outspoken Democrat who a decade ago said that he respected “nothing” about Donald Trump and that a deportation drive made “no sense,” has staunchly defended the president’s immigration policies. Declaring Palantir to be “completely anti-woke,” he has repeatedly praised Trump’s ongoing crackdown on immigrants, thrusting the company into one of the country’s most contentious issues. That shift in political alliances in no way signals a change in his core beliefs, Karp said in a statement to The Washington Post, portraying his commitment to controlling immigration as of a piece with his long-standing devotion to social justice. “For over two decades, I have implored our political elite to take seriously the truly progressive position on immigration: one of extreme skepticism. To no avail,” Karp said. “Unfettered immigration in Europe, where I lived for well over a decade, has been a disaster — depressing wages for the working class and resulting in mass social dislocation. I remain an economic progressive, isolated among self-proclaimed progressives that are anything but.”

Breitbart [12/2/2025 7:30 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports a social media video posted by the White House shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents chasing and handcuffing alleged immigrants to the music of Sabrina Carpenter’s "Juno," and the pop star is responding on social media. She responded with: "This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda." this video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.— Sabrina Carpenter (@SabrinaAnnLynn) December 2, 2025. The lyrics highlighted from the song are, "Wanna try out some freaky positions? Have you ever tried this one?" over video of people in handcuffs. On Monday, the publisher of the Canadian cartoon Franklin the Turtle condemned Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s use of the Canadian cartoon character in a meme supporting the Trump administration’s attacks on boats in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. "Franklin the turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy and inclusivity," Kids Can Press said in a statement. "We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values.” In the past, the President Donald Trump administration has taken backlash from performers for using their intellectual property in videos. Some include Olivia Rodrigo, Kenny Loggins, Taylor Swift, comedian Theo Von, MGMT and Nintendo. Some have been fully removed or their music tracks stripped. The Nintendo Pokemon video is still live on the Department of Homeland Security’s X account.

FOX News [12/2/2025 3:48 PM, Stephanie Giang-Paunon, 40621K] reports the White House unleashed a scathing response to pop star Sabrina Carpenter after she blasted the administration for using her music without permission in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) video. Carpenter called the video, set to her hit song "Juno," "evil and disgusting," writing on X, "Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.". When asked about the singer’s comment, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital, "Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?". The clash erupted after the official White House account posted a video on X showing what appear to be ICE raids set to Carpenter’s song. The caption — a play on her lyrics — read, "Have you ever tried this one? Bye-bye," followed by a waving emoji and a heart-eyes emoji. Fans quickly rallied behind Carpenter, praising her for speaking out.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [12/2/2025 11:08 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2416K]

Breitbart [12/2/2025 10:22 AM, Randy Clark, 2416K] reports Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blasted New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday, accusing the state of releasing 6,946 criminal illegal aliens back onto city streets since January while refusing to honor ICE detainers. McLaughlin warned that another 7,169 criminal aliens remain in New York City jails and could soon walk free under sanctuary policies, despite convictions for violent crimes, including homicides, assaults, sexual offenses, robberies, and drug trafficking. On Monday, Assistant Secretary McLaughlin called out the governor in a social media post on X, saying, "Under @KathyHochul, New York has refused to honor @ICEgov detainers and RELEASED back onto New York’s streets 6,947 criminal illegal aliens since January 20." McLaughlin went on to list the crimes committed by the illegal aliens who were released onto the streets rather than being handed over to ICE agents as requested. The crimes included 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 207 sexual predatory offenses, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drug offenses and 300 weapons offenses. As reported by Breitbart News, McLaughlin told Fox News that more than 7,000 criminal illegal aliens remain in New York City Jails that may also be released due to the state’s sanctuary policies. In a social media post by McLaughlin early Monday, she chided New York City officials, saying, "New York City sanctuary politicians need to STOP playing politics and start protecting their citizens. We’re seeing a revolving door of justice.". McLaughlin was critical of other sanctuary jurisdictions that are refusing to honor ICE detainers, adding, "These criminal illegal aliens are exiting the jails and going back onto New York, Chicago, or these other sanctuary streets to re-perpetuate their crimes.". McLauglin’s jabs at state leaders will likely fall short of having the desired impact without significant changes to New York state officials’ stance on cooperating with ICE. Legal guidance issued by New York State Attorney General Letitia James to law enforcement agencies clearly discourages cooperation and limits the sharing of information with ICE in almost all circumstances.

FOX News [12/2/2025 1:47 PM, Rachel Wolf, 40621K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security is calling on New York Attorney General Letita James to take action against New York City over its handling of illegal immigrants. "New York City’s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens since January 20. There are another 7,000 still in the custody of a New York jurisdiction with an active detainer," DHS wrote on X. "We are calling on NY Attorney General Letitia James to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring our ICE arrest detainers. It’s common sense.". In response to a request for comment, James’ office referred Fox News Digital to a letter that the state attorney general sent to Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons in September. The letter from James was sent in response to a Sept. 10 message from Lyons. First, she stated that the New York Attorney General’s Office does not receive detainer requests "as we rarely take custody of individuals." She said "detainer requests are sent to a variety of entities within the State of New York, many of them local police department and local jails, each of which may have applicable laws and policies with respect to whether, to what degree, and under what circumstances to respond to federal detainer requests.". "This creates a range of lawful practices that we cannot address in our capacity as the attorney general," James’ letter reads. "Attorney General James and her fellow New York Sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, terrorists, and sexual predators back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.

Washington Examiner [12/2/2025 4:09 PM, Staff, 1394K] reports the sanctuary state of New York hasn’t honored roughly 14,000 detainer requests for criminal foreign nationals held in local and state jurisdictions, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday. More than 7,000 current detainer requests are being ignored after nearly 7,000 criminals were released onto the streets statewide this year, DHS said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued detainer requests for gang members, known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) on the federal terrorist watchlist, convicted felons, including child sex offenders, rapists, murderers, and others – but they haven’t been honored, ICE said. New York’s cashless bail policies for serious crimes have facilitated violent offenders being released, including criminal foreign nationals wanted by ICE. In September, ICE Director Todd Lyons warned New York that noncompliance with federal immigration law was harming citizens, The Center Square reported. He also called on the state’s attorney general to comply with federal law and for the state to stop prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials. Since then, DHS says there are currently "7,113 aliens in the custody of a New York jurisdiction with an active detainer." Their combined criminal charges include "148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses.". Since Jan. 20, New York law enforcement authorities have released 6,947 criminal foreign nationals onto the streets, DHS says. Their combined criminal charges include "29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drugs offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual predatory offenses.". "Attorney General [Letitia] James and her fellow New York Sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, terrorists, and sexual predators back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "We are calling on Letitia James to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 7,000 criminal illegal aliens in New York’s custody. It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.".

Univision [12/2/2025 8:24 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports officers from the Philadelphia Enforcement and Removal Operations ( ERO ) arrested Arnoldo Antonio Prieto-López , a 51-year-old man originally from El Salvador, on October 20. He was considered deportable under federal law and had an extensive criminal record in multiple states, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ). Prieto-López, who previously held legal permanent resident status, was located by ERO Philadelphia’s Alien Criminal Program on July 30, 2024, at the Allenwood Low Federal Correctional Institution in White Deer, Pennsylvania. That same day, authorities issued an immigration detainer and an arrest warrant. On October 20, ERO agents executed the arrest during a secure transfer. “This foreign criminal has repeatedly abused minors, victimized communities, and taken advantage of his immigration status ,” said Michael T. Rose, acting field office director for ERO Philadelphia. Rose also cited a history of child cruelty and neglect, as well as a conviction for fentanyl trafficking.

FOX News [12/2/2025 12:06 PM, Emma Colton Fox, 40621K] Video: HERE reports a Maryland board of elections backed down in the face of legal threat from conservative groups and released unredacted voter registration records belonging to an illegal immigrant who served as the superintendent of Iowa’s largest school system, Fox News Digital has learned. The records showed illegal immigrant Ian Andre Roberts, who is originally from Guyana, claimed to be a U.S. citizen. "The records show us what we all know - Maryland is not serious about keeping noncitizens off the voter rolls," American Accountability Foundation (AAF) chief Tom Jones, a conservative research group that advocated for the release of the voter registration records, said in a press release provided to Fox News Digital. "Sadly, there are likely thousands more non-citizens on Maryland’s voter rolls." The Prince George’s Board of Elections provided conservative legal group Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) and AAF with unredacted versions of Ian Andre Roberts’ registration documents after initially releasing heavily redacted versions of the documents that blacked out Roberts’ sex, whether he checked the citizenship box, his date of birth and other information. The fresh documents, RITE said in a press release provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, show "Roberts affirmatively claimed U.S. citizenship on his voter-registration application, and that Maryland election officials took his word for it." A copy of the unredacted documents reviewed by Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning show Roberts checked the "yes" box when asked "Are you a U.S. citizen?" [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NBC News [12/2/2025 3:29 PM, Natasha Korecki, 34509K] reports Illinois state officials have given national rental car companies official notice that immigration enforcement agents using their vehicles are not allowed to swap the rental’s assigned license plates for other plates to disguise the vehicles, and if they do, the rental car companies could be held liable. According to documents obtained by NBC News via the Freedom of Information Act, the Illinois secretary of state’s office sent letters to at least 19 national car rental headquarters stating that they had received public complaints of immigration agents switching license plates on rented vehicles when Operation Midway Blitz, an extensive government deportation operation, was active in the Chicago area. The letters were sent to Alamo, Enterprise, Budget, Hertz, Ace and other vehicle rental companies. The office’s review of more than 600 public complaints alleging the practice has so far led to one license plate revocation, according to another letter obtained via the FOIA.

Reuters [12/2/2025 7:55 PM, Renee Hickman, 36480K] reports a suburban Chicago police officer who was detained during a high-profile federal immigration enforcement surge in the area has returned to duty, his police department said in a statement on Tuesday. Radule Bojovic, an officer with the Hanover Park Police Department, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during "Operation Midway Blitz," a months-long deportation campaign launched by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump in the Chicago area in September. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, announced Bojovic’s arrest with much fanfare in a press release on October 16, saying he had overstayed a tourist visa after arriving in the U.S. from Montenegro. But the Hanover Park Police Department quickly responded with a statement saying Bojovic was working in the country legally, having presented a work authorization card and passed FBI and Illinois State Police background checks. There was no immediate response to a request seeking comment from ICE. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told Reuters as of November 19, ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers had arrested more than 4,200 people in the Chicago area during Operation Midway Blitz. The Chicago Tribune [12/2/2025 7:57 PM, Tess Kenny, 4829K] reports Customs and Immigration Enforcement officers arrested the Montenegro native in mid-October for allegedly overstaying a B2 tourist visa that expired in March 2015. However, the village, in turn, has maintained that Bojovic was authorized to work in the country. Citing that authorization, Hanover Park police in a news release Tuesday stated that Bojovic returned to full-duty status this week as he awaits the outcome of his court proceedings. After his arrest, Bojovic was released on bond on Oct. 31, according to the village. "Given that his bond was not contested and he remains authorized to work by the federal government, the Hanover Park Police Department determined that he may return to work," the release stated. According to village records obtained by the Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act Request, Hanover Park apparently had two work authorization cards on file for Bojovic. It is unclear when the cards were issued or what their expiration dates are due to village redactions on records. Alongside the department’s statement, a police spokesperson said neither Bojovic nor village officials were taking requests for further comment. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for a comment.

CBS News [12/2/2025 5:54 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been directed by the Trump administration to target undocumented Somali immigrants in the Twin Cities, a person familiar with the planning confirmed. A U.S. official says ICE is planning to surge resources to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to launch immigration enforcement operations there targeting individuals with deportation orders. The region has the largest population of immigrants from Somalia in the U.S., some of whom have deportation orders. The enhanced ICE operations in the Twin Cities are expected to begin this week, the official said. Hundreds of people are expected to be targeted, the person familiar with the planning said. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the agency would not discuss "future or potential operations." In the midst of Tuesday’s reports, President Trump took further aim at Minnesota’s Somali community, the country of Somalia and the diaspora at large. As head of the Minneapolis police, O’Hara reiterated that his police officers do not work with federal law enforcement who are conducting immigration enforcement.

FOX News [12/2/2025 6:58 PM, Stepheny Price, 40621K] reports an illegal immigrant is accused of killing a 27-year-old Colorado woman in a high-speed, drunk-driving crash, a case fueling outrage over the state’s sanctuary-style policies and drawing sharp criticism from prosecutors and elected officials. Police say 19-year-old Eduardo Parra-Corral was driving more than 100 mph early on November 9 when he ran a red light and slammed into the woman’s vehicle in Greeley. She died five days later from her injuries. Parra-Corral was initially arrested on charges including driving without a valid license, underage possession of alcohol and vehicular assault. After the victim’s death, prosecutors added a vehicular homicide charge. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Fox News Digital that Parra-Corral was in the United States illegally and had been deported. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called Parra-Corral "a criminal illegal alien from Mexico" and detailed the timeline of events. "On November 9, Eduardo Parra-Corral, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested by local police after he was allegedly driving under the influence at a speed of more than 100 miles per hour when he ran a red light," DHS shared in a statement with Fox News Digital. "He hit and killed a 27-year-old woman. ICE took him into custody on November 10. He was deported on November 25 and no longer poses a threat to Americans," McLaughlin said. She added: "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, if you come to our country and break our laws, we will find you, arrest you, and remove you. Criminals are not welcome in the U.S.” Parra-Corral’s passenger, 20-year-old Omar Perea-Burciaga, was also taken into custody for allegedly providing false identifying information and on a prior hit-and-run warrant. The Weld County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim as 27-year-old Jasmine Faith Carpio of Windsor, according to KUSA. A spokesperson for the Greeley Police Department told Fox News Digital, "The accident resulted in the tragic loss of a member of our community, Jasmine Carpio. While we will not be making any statements on the immigration status of Mr. Parra-Corral, we remain fully committed to conducting a thorough and impartial investigation.”

FOX News [12/2/2025 3:26 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports John Paul Carr, who reportedly goes by Walid al-Amriki on social media, was rebuked by DHS after his arrest when obscene videos of him surfaced on Instagram.

Los Angeles Times [12/2/2025 4:00 PM, Rebecca Ellis, 14862K] reports Los Angeles County supervisors advanced an ordinance Tuesday that would prohibit law enforcement officers — including immigration enforcement agents — from wearing masks while working in unincorporated parts of the county. The ordinance would also require all law enforcement officers to wear identification and make clear their agency affiliation. The ban is a response to concerns from residents over unidentifiable agents conducting immigration enforcement operations across the region. Officers often refuse to identify themselves as working with federal immigration enforcement. Legal experts say federal immigration agents would not be required to follow a county mask ban. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has said immigration agents need to disguise themselves to avoid having their names publicized or being "doxed." The motion passed 4-0, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger abstaining. Per county policy, the ban must be approved once more, and the vote is scheduled for next week. The ban would go into effect in January 2026.

FOX News [12/2/2025 3:00 PM, Morgan Phillips Fox, 40621K] reports the State Department is yanking visas from Mexican executives it says helped move unlawful migrants toward the U.S. border, Fox News Digital has learned. The department revoked visas and imposed travel restrictions on six individuals who worked at an air travel company, along with their immediate family members. U.S. officials say the group collaborated with smuggling networks to coordinate transportation and provide fraudulent travel documents for migrants — including minors — from the Caribbean and other regions, routing them through Central America before many attempted to reach the United States. The department did not name the company involved. Mexican officials were notified of the revocations, which were carried out under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. That authority allows the U.S. to bar foreign nationals when their entry is deemed to carry potential foreign-policy risks. Any previously valid visas held by the individuals have been canceled, and they are now prohibited from entering the country. A State Department official said investigators determined the executives "actively supported operations that facilitated the movement of aliens, including minors," enabling travel that ultimately fed illegal border crossings. Deputy principal spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the United States "will not allow those who enable or profit from illegal immigration to evade responsibility," calling the actions part of a broader push to disrupt smuggling networks and protect the integrity of U.S. borders. The State Department has revoked some 80,000 non-immigrant visas since the start of the Trump administration as of last month. Visa restrictions that extend to immediate relatives are part of a strategy to cut off the benefits of U.S. travel — schooling, shopping, business — that many upper-tier executives rely on. It’s intended to signal consequences for the individuals directly involved.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [12/2/2025 5:52 PM, Staff, 40621K]

FOX News [12/2/2025 10:29 AM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports after an Afghan asylee allegedly shot two West Virginia National Guardsmen on Wednesday, President Donald Trump ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow to commence a "full-scale, rigorous reexamination" of green-card holders from "countries of concern.". The directive highlights the legal avenues through which a green card — lawful permanent residence granted through an Adjustment of Status application — can be withdrawn, and those through which it cannot. There are several major ways lawful permanent residency can be revoked. Several immigration law firms — including Sedki and Rebecca Black — cite similar orders and descriptions on their sites, and related details appear across various federal webpages, but Fox News Digital did not find any single official source that consolidates them.

Breitbart [12/2/2025 11:46 AM, Lucas Nolan, 2416K] reports Tesla CEO Elon Musk voiced his strong support for the H-1B visa program in a recent podcast interview, while also expressing concerns over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which he believes "distort" markets. In a recent podcast interview with Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath, Elon Musk shared his views on the H-1B visa program and the United States’ tariff policies under President Donald Trump’s administration. Musk, who formerly was a Trump ally, defended the H-1B visa program, stating that the U.S. has been a beneficiary of talent from India and that shutting down the program would be "very bad.". Musk acknowledged that some American companies have misused the H-1B visa program by hiring foreign employees at a fraction of the cost of American citizens. However, he emphasized that his companies, including Tesla, recruit foreign talent to make up for the scarcity of skilled individuals in certain areas. "I’m certainly not in the school of thought that we should shut down the H-1B program," Musk said, highlighting his deep love for H-1B workers over hiring Americans. Breitbart News previously reported that Tesla replaced laid-off Americans with lower-paid H-1B workers in 2024.

Federalist [12/2/2025 7:39 AM, M. D. Kittle, 785K] reports the illegal alien who ran Iowa’s largest public school district before being apprehended by ICE claimed to be a U.S. citizen on his Maryland voter registration forms, according to records obtained by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF). Ian Andre Roberts’ apparent false claim of citizenship exposes Maryland’s election integrity vulnerabilities and proves the need for better immigration status vetting, a foundation official asserts. The case also screams for congressional passage of a bill requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections. On Monday, Prince George’s County finally released to PILF Roberts’ unredacted registration files, showing that — on at least two occasions — the foreign national from Guyana facing multiple criminal charges appears to have attested that he was a U.S. citizen on regular voter registration applications. As PILF notes, regular registration includes all elections, not just elector rights Maryland has extended to foreign nationals to vote in some local elections. Roberts lived in Maryland for several years, working as a teacher and a school administrator. He wasn’t a U.S. citizen then, just as he wasn’t when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested the Des Moines Public Schools superintendent in late September. "Maryland could have prevented this had it used SAVE for voter registration verification when the Obama Administration first offered it," wrote Logan Churchwell, research director for the nonprofit election integrity watchdog, in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "It is incumbent on Maryland and DHS work together to protect citizens and immigrants alike."

CBS Miami [12/2/2025 7:20 PM, Bri Buckley, 39474K] reports Haitian immigrants with Temporary Protected Status are bracing for possible deportation after the Trump administration announced it will end protections for more than 350,000 people living in the United States. "I don’t know what I’m going to do," Luce Janvier said in Creole. Janvier was granted TPS 22 years ago and fears being sent back to Haiti, where gangs destroyed her home and stole her belongings. Now, she said, she is terrified to return, describing Haiti as a country with no sense of safety or security. Local leaders and activists condemned the move outside the Haiti Cultural Center on Tuesday, calling it immoral and pledging to sue the Trump administration in federal court. They argue conditions in Haiti are too dangerous for deportees. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acknowledged Haiti’s political upheaval and humanitarian crisis but said the termination was driven by national interest. "All these people are going to go to Haiti, they’re going to become a target to a terrorist group. So you’re just sending them to their death, you’re sending them to rape, to extortion and to kidnapping," said Farrah Larrieux, who has held TPS for 20 years. Emmanuella Telfort, an immigration attorney and president-elect of the Haitian Lawyers Association, said families should consult reputable attorneys and make contingency plans, including guardianship for U.S.-born children. "We’re talking about mixed-status individuals, parents who may not have immigration status in the country, but children who are U.S.-born citizens," Telfort said. "You need to sit down and actually have a plan.” "As a 69-year-old, I would not mind being in my country of origin living out my older years, but there’s no possibility because there is no security," Janvier said. "The conditions do not exist for us to live, to work, to thrive in Haiti; therefore, we cannot go back under these circumstances.” TPS for Haitian immigrants is set to expire Feb. 3, 2026. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [12/2/2025 9:39 AM, Marty Burke, 12595K] reports Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) has introduced a bill to establish that citizens of the United States "must have sole and exclusive allegiance to the U.S." The "Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025" would make it so that no one may be a citizen or national of the U.S. while simultaneously having any foreign citizenship. If passed, a U.S. citizen who voluntarily acquires foreign citizenship would have to relinquish their U.S. citizenship after the date of enactment. Those who have dual citizenship would have to submit a written renunciation of foreign citizenship to the secretary of State or a written renunciation of U.S. citizenship to the secretary of Homeland Security no later than one year after the enactment of the act. An individual who doesn’t comply will be deemed to have voluntarily relinquished United States citizenship for purposes of section 349(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the bill states. The secretary of State would also be required to create regulations, procedures for declaration, verification and recordkeeping for exclusive citizenship, as well as coordinate with the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to ensure any individual deemed to have relinquished citizenship is "appropriately recorded in Federal systems and treated as an alien for purposes of the immigration laws." "Being an American citizen is an honor and a privilege — and if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing. It’s time to end dual citizenship for good," Moreno said.

Federalist [12/2/2025 7:34 AM, John and Andy Schlafly, 785K] reports President Trump is ending the gravy train of fraud in Minnesota, much of it perpetrated by Somalis who have been relocated here and who have allegedly used some of the money to fund terrorism back in Africa. Trump vows to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis, which has lasted many years longer than it should have. Joseph H. Thompson, who served as Trump’s acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota until October, recently indicted six individuals from Somalia and two others for wire fraud. They allegedly defrauded Minnesota’s Medicaid-funded housing stabilization program. This comes as 56 people, mostly from Somalia, have pled guilty in connection with a federal investigation into a Minnesota nonprofit organization called Feeding Our Future. Even Washington Post editorial board expressed its outrage at the vast extent of fraud in this state run by Gov. Tim Walz, who was the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee last November. Trump observed that "Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of dollars are missing. Send them back where they came from.". A total of 78 defendants associated with Feeding Our Future have been charged with crimes. In just two years, the organization increased its take of government funding from $3 million in 2019 to nearly $200 million in 2021, as Ryan Thorpe and Christopher Rufo reported for City Journal. Meanwhile, Medicaid payments on autism claims increased by nearly $400 million in Minnesota between 2018 and 2024, and federal charges have been filed based on alleged kickbacks to the Somali community.

Houston Chronicle [12/2/2025 8:58 AM, Julián Aguilar, 2983K] reports Houston immigration attorneys are urging their clients to be patient following the holiday weekend announcement by the White House that all asylum decisions have been placed on hold until further notice. On Friday, the director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said in a post on social media that the agency halted decisions until it "can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible." The move came in the aftermath of the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, where authorities have alleged the gunman is 29-year-old Afghan Rahmanullah Lakanwal. The announcement did not include details on what the additional vetting or screening mechanisms will include or how they will be carried out. "I’ve been getting a lot of calls and freak-out emails over the weekend from all of the stuff that Trump’s been saying," said Ruby Powers, an immigration attorney and the secretary of the Texas chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

AP [12/2/2025 10:07 AM, Staff, 31753K] reports Kharon today announced the expansion of its agreement with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to protect U.S. trade and the American worker through the enforcement of laws prohibiting the importation of goods made, wholly or in part, with forced labor. Kharon and CBP first announced the signing of a contract in 2023. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and investigators continue to use Kharon’s global risk analytics platform to facilitate CBP’s enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and other customs and trade laws. Kharon’s data, trusted by leading corporations, banks, professional services firms and public sector agencies worldwide, delivers actionable intelligence that strengthens decision-making across compliance, investigations, and risk management. "CBP’s mission is critical, and we are proud that Kharon’s advanced analytics and patented technology are helping to strengthen enforcement against goods suspected of being connected to forced labor practices," said Howard Mendelsohn, President, Global Business Development and Engagement at Kharon. "By extending our collaboration, we are equipping investigators with the tools they need to identify risks at scale and protect the U.S. marketplace from tainted goods.".

Breitbart.com [12/2/2025 9:44 AM, Randy Clark, 2416K] reports in just a few short weeks, a Border Patrol-led task force arrested more than 400 illegal aliens in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to Border Patrol Commander Greg K. Bovino, illegal aliens targeted and arrested during "Operation Charlotte’s Web" were found to be in the company of others who also had a significant criminal history in more than 50 percent of all cases. Breitbart Texas spoke to Chief Bovino on Monday about the number of arrests since the operation began on November 15. According to Bovino, 274 illegal aliens were arrested exclusively by the Border Patrol cadre sent to Charlotte, North Carolina. Bovino says the collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the same time frame nearly doubled that number to more than 400, bringing the total to more than 400 since the operation commenced. Most notable, according to Bovino, is the number of collateral arrests of illegal aliens that occurred during the targeted enforcement actions in North Carolina that involved illegal aliens who also had significant criminal histories. According to Bovino, when his group of Border Patrol agents executed targeted enforcement actions against a specific criminal illegal alien, more than 50 percent of collateral arrests of non-target illegal aliens found in the company of the target had significant criminal records. Bovino told Breitbart Texas, "We are going after the worst of the worst in Charlotte. If you are in the company of an illegal alien on our target list and are here illegally as well, there are no free passes." Bovino finds he number of illegal aliens with significant criminal records that are found in the company of those on the target list surprising. According to Bovino, Border Patrol agents in Charlotte noted nearly 67 percent of illegal aliens apprehended just one day in November were found to be in the company of a targeted criminal illegal alien and had a significant criminal history. "We are sending a clear message that we are here to make Charlotte a safer city for those that live here, we are demonstrating that by taking hundreds of people off the street who have serious criminal histories," Bovino exclaimed. The immigration enforcement operation inside the Tar Heel State is designed to target illegal aliens drawn to North Carolina due to sanctuary protections that would allow them to move within the state without fear of apprehension by immigration authorities, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin commented on the effort to enforce immigration laws in the state, saying, "Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors. We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.".

CNN [12/2/2025 7:01 AM, Michelle Krupa, 18595K] reports this city’s new mayor-elect prays many times a day, for big things and small ones and often, she says, to a holy guardian known for helping defy lost causes. "My favorite patron saint is St. Jude," Helena Moreno explains. "I don’t know what that says about me." More than 40 days before she is due to take her oath, Moreno faces a double-barrel of city crises that indeed may seem impossible. The first is crushing and categorically local: a projected $222 million city budget deficit left by a term-limited mayor largely absent from public view since she pleaded not guilty this summer to federal conspiracy and fraud charges. The other is unfolding on a far bigger stage: the expected arrival of a key Border Patrol official and some 250 of his agents as part of a coast-to-coast enforcement campaign that has terrified immigrant communities and spurred grassroots resistance in Democratic-led cities from Los Angeles to Charlotte, North Carolina. Until January 12, Moreno’s official power to tackle either problem goes only as far as her at-large seat on the City Council. But she already has begun tugging at the somewhat-risky levers within her reach to enact her priorities, including nudging back against a White House agenda that hits close to home while stretching far beyond the Crescent City. Her approach, some political heavyweights note, aligns with how Moreno has taken on obstacles across her life and public service. "She’s basically the de facto leader of the city right now," University of New Orleans Assistant Professor of Political Science Ed Chervenak says. "The voters gave her the mantle of power, and even though she’s not the mayor, she’s out there at the forefront."

Chicago Tribune [12/2/2025 8:33 AM, Joe Mahr and Gregory Royal Pratt, 4829K] reports for one day in September, Jose Coronado Meza became the Trump administration’s poster child for why Chicago needed to be flooded with federal agents. Coronado Meza had been ordered deported. But the Biden administration let him live in Chicago, where he got arrested for murder. Democrats’ "sanctuary" ways had coddled a would-be killer. Or so the argument went. But a deeper look at the case offers a window into the erratic nature of immigration enforcement — even in eras when administrations tout crackdowns. The case shows how someone like Coronado Meza can slip through the cracks of both Democratic and Republican administrations, once the facts get separated from the bluster and politics. Democratic policies for sure helped him stay on the streets despite a string of arrests, the Tribune found, such as ignoring a formal request to hold him for immigration agents. But so did choices made by the Trump administration in its first five months before the killing, including not seeking a warrant that could have forced local cops to hold him.

Washington Post [12/2/2025 6:30 AM, Karin Brulliard, 24149K] reports Juan Manuel Fleischer’s ancestors ranched on the borderlands before the United States existed, and the Arizona resident’s business importing Mexican cattle across the modern-day frontier has survived decades of immigration politics and the construction of a towering steel wall. But that work has collapsed over the past year as an insidious threat shakes U.S.-Mexico relations and the American beef industry: the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that has resurged south of the border 60 years after it was mostly eradicated in U.S. livestock. Around 1.2 million young Mexican cattle cross each year through a half-dozen entry ports to bulk up in American pastures or feedyards. But the gates have been shut to livestock for most of the past year, since a cow in southern Mexico tested positive in November 2024 for New World screwworm — maggots that burrow into warm-blooded animals, creating foul-smelling wounds and sometimes fatal weight loss. Mexican cattle imports have plunged to about 230,000 in 2025 as additional cases have emerged farther north, including one in September only 70 miles south of the border. “We’re hurting,” Fleischer said. “We’re basically going broke.” The unprecedented closure, when a shrinking American cattle herd is contributing to near-record-high beef prices, represents both a rare agreement on science and trade between the Biden and Trump administrations and the intense alarm shared by federal officials and the broader U.S. livestock industry. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has called keeping the parasite out of the country “a national security priority.” The blockade, however, has upended cross-border relationships forged over generations and has financially strained Texas cattle feeders, New Mexico importers and Arizona ranchers.

Breitbart [12/2/2025 5:43 AM, Staff, 2416K] reports the Transportation Security Administration said it screened more than 3.1 million people at U.S. airports on Sunday, setting a new single-day record. The record-setting figure of 3,133,924 individuals screened was published by the TSA in a statement on X on Monday. The number was more than 100,000 higher than the second-highest total of 3,096,797 set on June 22. Each of the top 10 busiest days was recorded in the last two years, with all but two having occurred this year — and all involved more than 3 million people screened. The record was also set about two weeks after the end of the United States’ longest government shutdown, a 43-day impasse that had impacted air travel.

(B) CBS Mornings Plus [12/2/2025 10:19 AM, Staff] reports that the TSA broke its own record during Thanksgiving travel. The administration says it screened more than 3.1 million passengers on Sunday alone, breaking its previous record by 37000 people set this summer. The TSA says any travelers without a REAL ID or valid passport will get charged beginning February 1. It will cost $45 for what is called TSA Confirm.ID. The system will verify people based on biometric data and they can use it for a ten-day period.

Axios [12/2/2025 6:16 AM, Sabrina Moreno, 12972K] reports people on TikTok are documenting how long it takes to get through Richmond airport’s short TSA lines. They all cleared security in four minutes or less. The videos, all four taken in November, have led to an outpouring of love for the airport in the comments, with one commenter saying "Richmond TSA is literally the most efficient in the country." Others shouted how nice the TSA agents are, saying they’re the "most polite TSA staff I have ever dealt with." Some joked that the line moves so quickly that "I’m pretty sure I have gained time back in my day."

The Hill [12/2/2025 9:53 AM, Rachel Frazin, 12595K] reports Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staffers who signed a letter critical of the Trump administration were unsuspended, then resuspended when the administration learned about their reinstatement. "CNN reporting revealed that 14 FEMA employees previously placed on leave for misconduct were wrongly and without authorization reinstated by bureaucrats acting outside of their authority," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. "Once alerted, the unauthorized reinstatement was swiftly corrected by senior leadership. The 14 employees who signed the Katrina declaration have been returned to administrative leave," the spokesperson said. It’s not clear how long the staffers will be suspended for or if they will eventually be reinstated. In August, a group of current and former FEMA employees signed a letter criticizing the Trump administration’s policies at the agency, saying it is weakening disaster response. Their "Katrina Declaration" specifically criticized a policy under which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has to personally review major expenditures, saying that it "reduces FEMA’s authorities and capabilities to swiftly deliver our mission."

NPR [12/2/2025 3:06 PM, Joe Hernandez, 28013K] reports getting around could be a challenge for millions of people in the Northeastern U.S. on Tuesday as the region’s first winter storm of the season intensifies. A low-pressure system moving from Pennsylvania to Maine is expected to drop 6 inches of snow or more in multiple states and tie up the Tuesday evening commute, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters also say parts of Appalachia — specifically areas along the border between Virginia and West Virginia — will see widespread icing that could create dangerous conditions on roadways and sidewalks. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency for five counties in the northern tip of the state expected to be hardest-hit by the storm system. The frigid forecast for the Northeast comes after heavy snow fell across multiple states in the Midwest over the busy travel weekend. Between 6 and 11 inches of snow came down in northwestern Indiana and northern Illinois, where Chicago set a new record for the most snowfall in one November day. In Milwaukee, where local officials declared a snow emergency, snowfall totals ranged from 6 inches to a foot. Federal forecasters now say parts of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine could see at least a half inch of snow by Wednesday morning. The heaviest snowfall could occur in a swath of land from the Poconos in Pennsylvania to coastal Maine, where 5 to 10 inches are expected. More than an inch of snow could fall per hour, the NWS warned. The system will move out of the Northeast and into Canada by Wednesday morning. Across the country, a separate winter storm system was expected to bring snow to parts of Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming from Tuesday evening through Thursday morning. The NWS office in Boulder warned locals to prepare for a "slow, slick, and hazardous Wednesday morning commute."

CyberScoop [12/2/2025 1:23 PM, Tim Starks, 122K] reports a House Republican introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at deterring cyberattacks against the United States at a time when the Trump administration is prioritizing the punishment of malicious hackers. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, revived legislation he first sponsored in 2022, the Cyber Deterrence and Response Act. The legislation would direct the executive branch to formally designate foreign parties behind major cyberattacks against the United States as a “critical cyber threat actor” who would be subject to sanctions. It also would establish a framework for attributing who’s behind cyber attacks, including contributions from cyber agencies and threat intelligence companies. “As cyberattacks in the United States grow more sophisticated and widespread, we must ensure the Trump administration and all future administrations have a strong framework to hold bad actors accountable and safeguard our national security,” Pfluger said in a news release. “Protecting America’s critical infrastructure from malicious cyberattacks is essential, and this bill does exactly that.” The legislation is the latest reflection of congressional dismay that began growing last year in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberespionage campaign that infiltrated telecommunications networks, and the sense that the United States wasn’t doing enough to make hackers pay for their behavior.

CyberScoop [12/2/2025 2:20 PM, Derek B. Johnson, 122K] reports when news broke approximately a year ago that Chinese hackers had systemically penetrated at least nine major U.S. communications networks, the level of alarm from policymakers was clear. At a hearing held Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Commerce, experts offered differing assessments of the threat. While intelligence officials have characterized the Salt Typhoon operation’s targeting of high-level U.S. politicians as falling within the bounds of traditional geopolitical espionage, other experts argued that the unprecedented scale of China’s hacking activity in the U.S. telecom sector — and the country’s pursuit of broader, long-term access — constitutes a more systemic attack on critical infrastructure that poses a serious threat to national security. Jamil Jaffer, executive director of the National Security Institute at George Mason University, noted before the committee that “the reality is that our adversaries don’t know where our red lines are” when it comes to intrusions like Salt Typhoon, because the U.S. has failed to effectively communicate its boundaries to adversary nations in cyberspace. “They don’t know what we would do if those red lines are crossed, and to the extent that we do enforce them…in the cyber or telecommunications domain, we do it in a way that other adversaries can’t see,” said Jaffer. Jaffer also criticized the U.S. government for both not doing enough to stop the attack ahead of time and relying too heavily on regulation to strengthen telecommunications cybersecurity. Instead, he advocated for closer voluntary cooperation and more information sharing between government and industry.

Nextgov [12/2/2025 5:20 PM, David DiMolfetta, 115K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a Friday email to staff telling them to not speak to news reporters in an unauthorized capacity. “In today’s culture of information saturation, it is imperative that we ensure all official information communicated on behalf of CISA is current, accurate, unbiased, and authoritative. This includes any official information communicated to the media,” reads part of the note issued by agency acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala. CISA is “committed to a culture of transparency” but also has a “responsibility to ensure we meet the imperative laid out above and to that end, the Office of the Chief External Affairs Office (OCEAO/ /EA) is the only office authorized to facilitate official communication with the media,” it adds. The email later states that internal products like memos, official correspondence, working documents, chat logs and town hall materials are not approved for external release. The email was first reported by Politico and confirmed to Nextgov/FCW by three people familiar with its contents. “CISA does not comment on leaked internal emails, especially when they’re about leaking internal emails,” CISA Director of Public Affairs Marci McCarthy told Nextgov/FCW when asked for comment.

CyberScoop [12/2/2025 1:20 PM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports the University of Pennsylvania joined the steadily growing number of victim organizations impacted by the widespread data theft and extortion campaign involving a notorious ransomware group’s exploitation of a zero-day vulnerability and other defects in Oracle E-Business Suite earlier this year. The university filed a data breach notification in Maine Monday, confirming nearly 1,500 Maine residents were affected by an intrusion into its Oracle EBS environment over a three-day period in early August. The Ivy League school and dozens of other victims were not aware of the attack until Oracle acknowledged the critical vulnerability after members of the Clop ransomware group sent extortion emails to alleged victim organizations in late September. Attackers exploited multiple vulnerabilities to steal large amounts of data from several Oracle EBS customers in August, according to Mandiant. The university said it determined some personal information was stolen from its Oracle EBS system on Nov. 11, but did not provide details about how many people were impacted and what type of data was stolen during the attack.

CBS Chicago [12/2/2025 11:14 PM, Jeramie Bizzle, 39474K] reports all Zion Elementary District 6 schools will be closed on Wednesday, for the third day in a row, following a cybersecurity incident over the weekend. In addition, all activities before and after school will also be canceled. The district became aware of the incident on Sunday and closed all schools and offices on Monday and Tuesday after the incident was said to have possibly impacted some systems and servers. It’s unclear what kind of cyber-attack it was or if any personal information has been compromised. The district said they are working with a third-party cybersecurity specialist to find the root of the incident and restore things to normal. Staff will still be in the school buildings on Wednesday, according to the district. All schools will reopen on Thursday, and all before and after activities will also resume as normal. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [12/2/2025 6:14 PM, Alana Mastrangelo, 2416K] reports the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Monday that would bar from the United States anyone involved in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel. The "No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act of 2025" — cosponsored solely by Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Ann Wagner (R-MO) — passed overwhelmingly through the House. The bill seeks to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to ban "any alien who carried out, participated in, planned, financed, afforded material support to or otherwise facilitated" the attacks against Israel, beginning on October 7. The legislation also explicitly states that it includes members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. While Democrats expressed support for the bill, they took issue with amending the Immigration and Nationality Act to cite specific terrorist attacks, with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) arguing that all members of Foreign Terrorist Organizations are already barred from entering the United States. Ultimately, the bill passed the House by voice vote with no objections. It is now on its way to the Senate, where an earlier version of the legislation failed.

FOX News [12/2/2025 7:30 AM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports a manhunt is still underway for a suspect in a Stockton, California, mass shooting that left four people dead this weekend, including three children, with police saying there likely were multiple shooters. The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect. The victims in Saturday’s shooting were 8, 9, 14 and 21 years old. They were attending a birthday party for a 2-year-old, and attendees said the group was gathering around the cake when the gunshots began. "As we got ready to start cutting her cake, everyone started gathering around and cutting the cake and all we heard were gunshots. Everybody just dove to the ground. It was just unexpected. I don’t know what happened. I’m just so shocked and lost and speechless," said Patrice Williams, who organized the party for her daughter. "I just want to say I’m sorry to all the mothers out there that lost their kids at my birthday party," she added. Eleven people were injured in the attack, in addition to the four fatalities. Williams said that among those injured were her sister, a cousin and three of her friends. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [12/2/2025 7:31 AM, Emily Crane, 42219K] reports the mass shooting in California that killed four people, including three kids, erupted just as a toddler was cutting cake at her 2nd birthday party, according to her mom — who said the shooters "deserve to go to hell." The birthday girl’s mother, Patrice Williams, said partygoers dropped to the floor as soon as the gunshots rang out inside the packed banquet hall in Stockton on Saturday. "I actually thought it was my balloons popping. It was gunshots," Williams said. "It was just unexpected. I don’t know what happened, and I’m just so shocked and lost." Three children — ages 8, 9 and 14 — were killed along with a 21-year-old, authorities said. Another 11 were wounded, including one who is in critical condition.

Washington Post [12/2/2025 8:01 PM, Noah Robertson and Dan Lamothe, 24149K] reports the Pentagon’s inspector general is set to release in the coming days a redacted report scrutinizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the commercial messaging app Signal to share sensitive U.S. military plans, according to four congressional aides familiar with the matter. The full, classified document has been shared already with the House and Senate Armed Services committees, as well as Hegseth’s office. The aides, who declined to discuss the inspector general’s findings, spoke on the condition of anonymity citing the issue’s sensitivity. Spokespeople for the inspector general’s office and for Hegseth did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The report’s impending release was reported earlier by NBC News. Top lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee requested the report in March after revelations that Hegseth, or a subordinate acting on his behalf, had used Signal group chats to divulge to other top Trump administration officials the details of a forthcoming U.S. attack in Yemen. That information derived from a classified email that Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, then the commander overseeing U.S. operations in the Middle East, had shared with senior defense officials, according to people familiar with the inspector general’s inquiry.

Bloomberg [12/2/2025 9:34 AM, Andrea Palasciano, 18207K] reports US negotiations with Russia over a plan to end its war in Ukraine will not make unilateral decisions about NATO’s future, Secretary General Mark Rutte said. Instead, those issue will be settled in another channel, Rutte told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday, ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Wednesday. “When it comes to the NATO elements of a deal to end the war against Ukraine, that will be dealt with separately and that obviously will include NATO,” he said. But Rutte declined to confirm whether another forum existed already, only saying he was “closely coordinating” with the US. Rutte’s comments come as a US delegation arrives in Moscow for negotiations over a potential plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. US envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, following discussions over the weekend between the US and Ukrainian officials. The US push has forced NATO into existential discussions about its own future. Throughout the talks, Washington has unilaterally floated ideas that would alter the military alliance’s foundation — offering to restrict NATO expansion, shift European forces and alter the transatlantic security arrangement. “There are some items of the peace plan that need to rest with other organizations, including NATO,” Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said Tuesday in a Bloomberg TV interview. NATO allies were hoping to hear from Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday about the negotiations, according to people familiar with the matter, but the US diplomat is skipping the meeting. Rutte insisted that he’s in “constant contact” with Rubio. “I totally accept him not being able to be here.” Still, NATO leaders are wary that Washington will ignore the military alliance and pressure Ukraine to accept Russia-friendly concessions. They were startled last month when a US-drafted peace plan suggested Ukraine concede Russian-desired territory, cap its military and never join NATO.

FOX News [12/2/2025 5:59 AM, Efrat Lachter, 40621K] reports as Hamas uses the ceasefire to regroup and reassert control across parts of Gaza, a small number of emerging Palestinian militias say they are trying to form an alternative force inside the enclave. One of their leaders, Shawqi Abu Nasira, told Fox News Digital the pause in fighting has become a "kiss of life" for Hamas and warned the group is rebuilding. "Hamas works for Iran," he said. "They got weakened, yes, true, but the ceasefire, they gave them a kiss of life, and they are now preparing themselves better, trying to equip themselves. They are opening their own centers," and added, "I’d like to thank President Trump for freezing the assets of Hamas and for labeling the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization." Abu Nasira, a former senior Palestinian Authority police official who spent 16 years in an Israeli prison, is now operating with a small band of fighters on the eastern side of Gaza’s "yellow line," in territory under Israeli military control. "I moved to the east of a yellow line, to the area that is now [controlled by the] Israeli Army. I was forced to move because I had no other option but to flee Hamas," he said. According to Jusoor News, a pan-Arab media outlet that recently launched an English-language channel reporting on Gaza, Abu Nasira’s defection began years ago when Hamas killed his only son and "dragged his body through the Strip." He told Jusoor that the killing and public display of the body solidified his decision to oppose Hamas. Abu Nasira told Fox News Digital he acknowledged his own faction is small. "I have dozens of fighters now fighting with me," he said. "We lack a lot of equipment, and we need better assistance." But he argued that many Gazans share his view. "People that are now living in tents, people that are starved, people that are living in the street. They have no medication. These people don’t want Hamas.". The ceasefire has exposed a chaotic landscape of militias, clan groups and local networks that have emerged as Hamas’s control weakened. Although none rival Hamas in size or capability, several factions have gained visibility.

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