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.

Breitbart [12/5/2025 11:33 AM, Bob Price, 2416K] reports U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks announced this week that illegal aliens age 14 and older who entered the country without inspection will be assessed a $5,000 apprehension fee. The warning came as CBP Air and Marine Operations cautioned would‑be migrants against attempting illegal sea crossings, and the Department of Homeland Security declared that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem have delivered seven straight months with zero Border Patrol releases — the longest stretch in history. Chief Banks announced this week that under 8 U.S.C. §1815, all illegal aliens age 14 and older who entered the country without inspection will be assessed a $5,000 apprehension fee. Banks emphasized that the penalties apply regardless of how long an individual has been in the United States or whether they are currently in immigration proceedings. Additional violations under 8 U.S.C. §§2339 and 1324 are also in play, the chief stated. CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) reinforced the warning with a blunt message to would‑be migrants: "If you cross the border illegally, you will be caught, deported, and banned from ever returning to the United States. Don’t take to the sea!" The statement highlights the growing use of maritime routes by smugglers and underscores CBP’s commitment to shutting down illegal entry attempts by air and water as well as on land. The Department of Homeland Security capped the week’s announcements by declaring that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem have delivered seven consecutive months with zero Border Patrol releases into the interior of the United States. DHS hailed the achievement as proof of the administration’s aggressive enforcement posture, calling it the "most secure border in history" and crediting coordinated efforts across agencies for unprecedented results. FOX News [12/6/2025 2:29 AM, Michael Sinkewicz, 40621K] reports "This message applies to all illegal aliens — regardless of where they entered, how long they’ve been in the U.S., their current location, or any ongoing immigration proceedings," Banks wrote. The warning came after a lawsuit was filed Thursday against the federal government on behalf of 21,500 immigrants facing daily penalties of $998, reaching up to $1.8 million each for staying in the U.S. illegally. Their lawyers argued they were attempting to comply with federal immigration laws. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in October that migrants paroled in the U.S. would also face a $1,000 fee "to institute accountability and prevent rampant fraud of the parole system.” DHS this week launched a "holiday deal of a lifetime," offering illegal immigrants a "Cyber Monday" incentive to self-deport. All illegal immigrants in the country could receive a free flight home and a $1,000 bonus for voluntarily leaving the country. The average cost to arrest, detain and deport someone is $17,000, according to DHS. People in the U.S. illegally may also qualify for forgiveness of any civil fines or penalties incurred for failing to depart, DHS said, allowing the possibility for them to return legally. The Trump administration previously announced it closed out fiscal year 2025 with 237,565 Border Patrol apprehensions, the fewest since 1970. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital in October that the administration was "on pace to shatter historic records" by tallying 600,000 deportations by the end of Trump’s first year back in office. More than two million illegal immigrants have left the U.S. this year, she said, including 1.6 million who self-deported, 515,000 deportations and another 485,000 were arrested. Trump deployed additional personnel to the southern border after taking office and ended "catch-and-release," the practice of releasing illegal immigrants as they wait for hearings. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
New York Post [12/5/2025 6:57 PM, Caitlin McCormack, 42219K]
Bloomberg [12/5/2025 3:31 PM, Alicia A. Caldwell, 18207K]
NewsMax [12/5/2025 4:45 PM, Jim Thomas, 4109K]

AP [12/5/2025 12:18 PM, Rebecca Santana, 31753K] reports the Trump administration will be expanding its ban on travel for citizens of certain countries to more than 30, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, in the latest restriction to come since a man from Afghanistan was accused of shooting two National Guard members. The expansion would build on a travel ban already announced in June by the Republican administration, which barred travel to the U.S. for citizens from 12 countries and restricted access to the U.S. for people from seven others. In a social media post earlier this week, Noem had suggested more countries would be included. Noem, who spoke late Thursday in an interview with Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham, would not provide further details, saying President Donald Trump was considering which countries would be included. In the wake of the National Guard shooting, the administration already ratcheted up restrictions on the 19 countries included in the initial travel ban, which include Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran and Haiti, among others. Ingraham asked Noem whether the travel ban was expanding to 32 countries and asked which countries would be added to the 19 announced earlier this year. "I won’t be specific on the number, but it’s over 30. And the president is continuing to evaluate countries," Noem said. "If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?" Noem said. The Hill [12/5/2025 9:41 AM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12595K] reports "Listen, if they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States," [Noem] told host Laura Ingraham. The Trump administration has already banned travel from 19 different countries it has deemed a security and public safety threat: Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen. Noem would not confirm the number posed by Ingraham, who asked whether the list would rise to 32 countries.

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Telemundo [12/5/2025 8:34 AM, Staff, 2218K]

Daily Caller [12/5/2025 3:04 PM, Jason Hopkins, 835K] reports the Trump administration will be dramatically enhancing its screening of all foreign nationals with the launch of a new vetting center. In response to a slate of high-profile arrests of Afghan men accused of committing or planning serious attacks on American soil, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is establishing a specialized unit intending to markedly upgrade the country’s vetting procedures of migrants, according to a memo exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The new vetting center will help federal officials identify terrorists, criminal aliens or other foreigners who pose a danger to the country. The new vetting center, when fully operational, will “draw on the full spectrum” of screening capabilities and leverage state-of-the-art technology when reviewing immigration applications and petitions, according to the memo. Headquartered in Atlanta, the center will also be tasked with reviewing already-approved applications for foreign nationals and prioritizing applications from designated countries of concern.

NewsMax [12/5/2025 10:19 AM, Staff, 4109K] reports Rep. Troy Downing, R-Mont., slammed the Biden administration, telling Newsmax on Friday that officials "flat out lied" to the American people about the vetting of Afghan nationals brought into the United States following the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. Downing told Newsmax’s "National Report" that Americans were repeatedly assured that those entering the country had undergone full background checks and could be accounted for — claims he now says were misleading and put the nation at risk. "We were guaranteed that these refugees or these Afghanis coming into the country were fully vetted," Downing said. "Now we’re looking at the fact that a lot of them had really no data and no way to follow up whether they were vetted." Downing’s comments come after an Afghan national — admitted under Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome — allegedly ambushed two National Guardsmen last month, killing one and seriously wounding the other. Downing stressed that many Afghan nationals did work alongside U.S. forces honorably and at great personal risk, and that those individuals deserve protection. But he argued that the administration blurred the distinction between trusted partners and individuals whose identities could not be verified. "But we were sold a false bill of sale here that these refugees coming over were ones that had worked with us, were fully vetted and that we didn’t need to worry. And clearly that’s not the case," he said. The congressman said the lack of reliable background information raises serious national-security concerns.

Breitbart [12/6/2025 6:20 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2416K] Audio: HERE reports on Friday’s broadcast of Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show,” Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) argued that people from Afghanistan should have had to go through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) process in order to come to the United States in the wake of the U.S.’s 2021 exit from the country and now, we “should go back and review all those people, and they should have to go through the Special Immigrant Visa process.” Tiffany said, [relevant remarks begin around 1:49:50] “[W]hen the Afghan pullout happened…August of 2021, over four years ago, I told the Biden administration, before they launched the first plane out of Kabul, do not do this, because these people, in the terrorism hotbed of the world, they should be going through something called the Special Immigrant Visa process. They did not do that. They just said, get them on the planes, we’ll sort out the immigration stuff later.” He added, “[W]e should go back and review all those people, and they should have to go through the Special Immigrant Visa process. After what happened in Washington, D.C. to those two West Virginia National Guard members, we can’t allow this to happen again in America.” [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Chicago Tribune [12/5/2025 6:58 PM, Laura Rodríguez Presa and Caroline Kubzansky, 4829K] reports federal immigration agents detained at least three people in the west suburbs Friday in a sudden burst of aggressive action, chasing workers who tried to hide on top of a truck before running through a Menards parking lot in Cicero and questioning people walking in Berwyn. Since Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino left Chicago in November with hundreds of his agents, aggressive enforcement tactics have largely subsided, but immigration advocates and other leaders say that federal enforcement from the Department of Homeland Security, whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol, has not stopped. "It’s clear that Chicago and Illinois remain a target of the administration," said Brandon Lee of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Advocates also note the high-visibility arrests may be intended to send a message ahead of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s scheduled visit to Chicago on Saturday morning. Noem is set to join the U.S. Coast Guard members offloading Christmas trees from the Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw for local families, according to a news release from DHS. DHS did not immediately respond to Tribune inquiries about whether Friday’s enforcement activity is part of Operation Midway Blitz, Operation at Large, or a new operation.

Bloomberg [12/5/2025 8:37 PM, Zoe Tillman, 18207K] reports facing a criminal contempt of court probe, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and two senior Trump administration lawyers offered bare bones accounts of their roles in a decision not to turn around planes of Venezuelan migrants in March per a judge’s directive. In a one-page, signed declaration filed in court on Friday evening, Noem said she “made the decision” to complete the transfer of the migrants to El Salvador after receiving legal advice from the department’s chief counsel. That lawyer had relayed guidance from “senior leadership” at the US Justice Department. Noem didn’t share details of those “privileged” conversations or any other information about what happened the day the flights took place. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Homeland Security Acting General Counsel Joseph Mazzara also submitted one-page declarations. The latest submissions are part of an extraordinary inquiry that has reached into the top levels of President Donald Trump’s administration. US District Chief Judge James Boasberg is probing whether administration officials should be held in contempt for defying his orders and potentially face criminal prosecution. Lee Gelernt, a lead attorney for the Venezuelan migrants who sued, said in a statement that the new declarations showed that “the Trump administration has once again chosen to be obstructionist with a federal court.” Boasberg had ordered the Justice Department to submit firsthand accounts from “all individuals involved in the decision.” The Washington-based judge next will decide whether to require in-person testimony from witnesses, a step the Justice Department has opposed. In Friday’s filing, department lawyers wrote that lawyers who advised Noem couldn’t testify unless she waived attorney-client privilege. Boasberg had “all the information” he needed to decide whether to refer her for prosecution, they said, “and further factual inquiry by the court would raise constitutional and privilege concerns.” Under federal court rules, a judge can refer a criminal contempt case for prosecution by the Justice Department. If the department declines, the judge can appoint an attorney to serve as a prosecutor. The contempt fight stems from Trump’s reliance on a rarely-used wartime powers law, the Alien Enemies Act, earlier this year to order the rapid removal of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members. An earlier ruling from Boasberg finding there was probable cause of contempt was tossed out by an appeals court, but recently he was allowed to resume the inquiry. The Venezuelans were sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador, and were later returned to their home country and released. Their lawyers have continued to argue that they should get a chance to retroactively challenge the lawfulness of their removal from the US.

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Washington Post [12/5/2025 7:55 PM, Steve Thompson, 24149K]

ABC News [12/6/2025 1:05 AM, Laura Romero, 30493K] reports Department of Justice officials, citing privilege, did not disclose details on the legal advice given to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the decision to continue the deportation of more than 100 Venezuelans to El Salvador in March. The declarations filed in court Friday are a response to a contempt inquiry initiated by U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, who is determining whether Noem or anyone else should be referred for potential contempt prosecution. The court filings Friday were submitted after DOJ lawyers said in a filing last week that Noem directed the deportation flights to continue despite Boasberg’s order to return the planes to the U.S. as he heard a legal challenge to the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport the Venezuelans, whom the Trump administration accused of being gang members. In her declaration, Noem confirmed she made the decision to continue the transfer of the detainees after receiving legal advice from DOJ leadership and from Joseph Mazarra, the acting general counsel of DHS. In the filings Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, a DOJ official in March who is now a U.S. circuit judge, declined to provide details on the "privileged" legal advice they gave to Noem. "DOJ has not authorized me to disclose privileged information in this declaration," Bove said. Mazarra, in his declaration, said that he analyzed Judge Boasberg’s order that sought to block the deportations and then provided Noem with legal advice. "DHS had removed these terrorists from the U.S. before this Court issued any order (or oral statement regarding their removal)," Mazarra wrote in the filing Friday. In a separate filing, DOJ attorneys said it would be "prejudicial and constitutionally improper" to compel testimony from the officials who submitted declarations in advance of a referral for prosecution. "[The] Court has all the information it needs to make a referral if it believes one to be justified, and further factual inquiry by the Court would raise constitutional and privilege concerns," the DOJ attorneys stated. In response to the declarations, Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which has challenged the AEA deportations in court, told ABC News "the Trump administration is again refusing to cooperate with a federal court.” In March, the Trump administration invoked the AEA -- an 18th-century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process -- to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a "hybrid criminal state" that is invading the United States.

New York Times [12/5/2025 8:36 PM, Carol Rosenberg, 135475K] reports a federal judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration exceeded its authority in holding migrants designated for deportation at the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., stopped short of ordering Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, to shut down the detention operation there. Instead, the judge rejected a government request to dismiss a class-action challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. A lawyer for the A.C.L.U. said the legal group would soon seek a closure order. Judge Sooknanan found that the law did not give the administration the power to hold detainees designated for deportation at offshore military bases. While successive administrations have for decades housed migrants at Guantánamo who have been intercepted at sea trying to reach the United States, Judge Sooknanan found that never before had the U.S. government used the base to hold people being deported from the United States. The White House began using Guantánamo as a way station for deportees in February after an order from President Trump to prepare the base to hold up to 30,000 migrants. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have held about 710 detainees there, all men, with support from hundreds of U.S. soldiers and Marines. No migrants have been there since mid-October, when the department sent 18 men with final deportation orders from the base to El Salvador and Guatemala, then ceased operations before Hurricane Melissa. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a question on whether the administration would still be sending immigration detainees who are designated for deportation to the base. The Justice Department also did not respond to a request for a comment. Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the A.C.L.U., said his group would now try to stop that for good. “The court squarely rejected the Trump administration’s legal claim that Congress gave it the extraordinary power to detain immigrants in military bases overseas,” Mr. Gelernt said. “We will now move promptly to end the policy based on this legal ruling.” The A.C.L.U. challenged the policy using the names of two men who were deported through the base, and framing it as a class-action lawsuit. They argued that detainees are held there in a form of limbo between deportation and detention on U.S. soil, where they have greater rights.

NewsMax [12/5/2025 7:06 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K] reports New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno has demanded that federal agents change tactics during the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration sting in the city. "Everything that you’ve been told by these federal agencies is about getting the most violent, the very ‘worst of the worst,’" Moreno — flanked by Rep. Troy Carter, D-La.; National Urban League CEO and former Mayor Marc Morial; and other local business and civic leaders — said Friday during a press conference. "But that’s not what’s happening. ... What is happening here, where people are disappearing off of our streets and we don’t even know where they went, this is many, many steps way too far.” Moreno issued five demands she says were sent in a letter to Border Patrol agent-in-charge Gregory Bovino, who is leading the New Orleans-area operation for DHS, dubbed "Operation Catahoula Crunch.” They include regular public updates and data reports on Border Patrol stops and detentions, including the legal basis for each encounter as well as any criminal charges or warrants involved. Additionally, Moreno asked that federal agents remove their masks and present clear identification as law enforcement. She also demanded that no one be stopped based on race, ethnicity, national origin, language, or perceived immigration status. Finally, she said she wanted a guarantee of humanitarian protections, including access to medical care, language interpretation, and family member notification of detention. "Our points are just very simple," Moreno said. "They’re centered around communication, transparency, accountability, and upholding people’s constitutional rights. "I don’t believe that we’re asking for too much here.” Bovino told Nola.com: "I think this is about as transparent as it gets right here.” DHS is aiming to make 5,000 arrests "or beyond" in New Orleans, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said earlier this week. "We’re talking about child pedophiles who are on our list of targets, burglars, gang members, rapists — those individuals we are highly targeting," McLaughlin said. Sarah Whittington, advocacy director for ACLU Louisiana, told Nola.com that citizens "have already been profiled because of the color of their skin, chased, hunted; and workers have even stared down the barrel of a rifle just trying to do their jobs.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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Axios [12/5/2025 5:13 PM, Chelsea Brasted, 12972K]

Washington Examiner [12/5/2025 6:06 PM, Emily Hallas, 1394K] reports Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) on Friday asked New Orleans police to cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other government agents targeting illegal immigrants in the city. The Trump administration sent ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents to Louisiana’s largest city earlier this week to detain illegal immigrants and violent criminals who were released from police custody as part of "Operation Catahoula Crunch." In response, Murrill sent a letter to the head of the New Orleans Police Department, warning Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick that some NOPD policies "appear" to conflict with state laws prohibiting sanctuary policies that extend certain protections to residents without legal status. The NOPD "must use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law," Murrill wrote, and abandon policies "specifically designed and implemented to frustrate, hinder, and prevent cooperation" with ICE. Murrill added a warning of possible penalties to follow if NOPD failed to heed the attorney general’s office: "Policies that fundamentally require officers and employees to refuse to cooperate with ICE, except in very limited circumstances, violate Louisiana law and could subject the offender to felony prosecution or malfeasance in office."

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [12/5/2025 3:21 PM, Staff, 4109K]

Telemundo [12/5/2025 7:52 PM, Staff, 2218K] reports that, known for directing the deployment of the Border Patrol in Los Angeles and Chicago, the officer supervised Operation Catahoula Crunch live and witnessed how many citizens reject their presence and warn potential victims with loudspeakers. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [12/5/2025 10:46 PM, Jack Brook, 31753K] reports New Orleans’ mayor-elect said Friday that a federal immigration crackdown launched this week is already causing harm as encounters between masked agents and residents, including some caught on video, has prompted public backlash in the blue city. Frustrated city officials pointed to the case of Jacelynn Guzman, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who was walking back to her Louisiana home from a trip to the grocery store on Wednesday when a truck pulled up beside her and two masked federal agents approached her, according to security footage obtained by The Associated Press. Guzman began running away as a second vehicle arrived and the agents pursued her down the sidewalk until she reached her family’s home in Marrero, a neighborhood across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans. Guzman’s mother has lived there her entire life. “We’re legal, we are from here, born and raised,” Guzman shouted back at the agents. “Don’t chase me, that is disgusting.” Guzman, who has no criminal record, told the AP that she panicked when agents approached. “That was my only thought that they were going to take me and I wasn’t going to get to have a say in that decision,” Guzman said. “Because most likely they didn’t care that I was saying I was a U.S. citizen. So why would they care what else I had to say?” Several hundred agents under Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino have converged on Southeast Louisiana this week as part of an immigration enforcement operation seeking to arrest 5,000 people. The Department of Homeland Security has touted dozens of arrests with only limited details released. Many Hispanic residents have said they feel their community is at risk of being abused or detained by agents regardless of their legal status. Alongside city council members, Democratic Congressman Troy Carter, Hispanic leaders and civil rights advocates, Mayor-elect Helena Moreno expressed “deep concern over recent actions” by federal agents. She said the operation is causing harm — forcing businesses to shutter and workers to stay home out of fear of mass arrests. While federal officials have repeatedly said the goal of the operation is to target dangerous criminals who entered the country illegally, Moreno argued “that does not appear to be the case.” Moreno said she is asking for regular public briefings from federal agencies, which she asks includes data on the stops, detentions, charges, warrants, outcomes and if any of the people detained have violent criminal histories. “Without this full visibility into these enforcement actions, it is impossible to determine whether this particular operation is actually targeting the most dangerous offenders,” Moreno said. Guzman’s stepfather, Juan Anglin, said he understood federal agents had a job to do but believed they were going about it in the wrong way. Anglin heard his stepdaughter screaming outside and went out to confront the agents. He told the AP that Guzman ran from the agents because she was a young woman surrounded by aggressive masked men. “I thought she was going to be kidnapped, honestly,” Anglin said. “I thought somebody was going to hurt her.” In response to the incident, the Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol had been searching for a “criminal illegal alien previously charged with felony theft and convicted of illegal possession of stolen property.” DHS said the agents “encountered a female matching the description of the target” and that agents “identified themselves” and left when they realized Guzman was not who they were seeking. Anglin disputes the government’s narrative and says she was stopped solely because of her appearance. “Just because you look brown, you look Hispanic, you’re going to get stopped,” he said. “Because now it doesn’t matter if you have papers, you speak English or you are a citizen, it’s not enough.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [12/5/2025 5:08 PM, Jack Brook and Sara Cline, 31753K] reports the doors of Carmela Diaz’s taco joint are locked, the tables are devoid of customers and no one is working in the kitchen. It’s one of many once-thriving Hispanic businesses, from Nicaraguan eateries to Honduran restaurants, emptied out in recent weeks in neighborhoods with lots of signs in Spanish but increasingly fewer people on the streets. In the city of Kenner, which has the highest concentration of Hispanic residents in Louisiana, a federal immigration crackdown aiming for 5,000 arrests has devastated an economy already struggling from ramped-up enforcement efforts this year, some business owners say, and had far-reaching impacts on both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. "Fewer and fewer people came," said a crying Diaz, whose Taqueria La Conquistadora has been closed for several weeks now with both customers and workers afraid to leave home. "There were days we didn’t sell anything. That’s why I made the decision to close the business - because there was no business." On Wednesday, convoys of federal vehicles began rumbling back and forth down Kenner’s main commercial streets as the Department of Homeland Security commenced the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations that have included surges in Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina. Bystanders have posted videos of federal agents detaining people outside Kenner businesses and at construction sites. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino also made an appearance in the city, surrounded by agents in tactical gear, to tout to reporters the launch of the operation dubbed Catahoula Crunch, a name derived from the big game hound that is the Louisiana state dog. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Thursday that federal agents have already made dozens of arrests, though the agency has not released a full list of people detained. "Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens harming them, their families, or their neighbors," McLaughlin said in a statement. "In just 24 hours on the ground, our law enforcement officers have arrested violent criminals with rap sheets that include homicide, kidnapping, child abuse, robbery, theft, and assault."

New York Times [12/5/2025 5:42 PM, Chris Hippensteel, 135475K] reports the Trump administration has made New Orleans the latest target in its crackdown on illegal immigration, with federal agents fanning out across the metropolitan area this week, raising fears in the city’s migrant community. The immigrant community in New Orleans, though, is distinct from others that have been swept up in the president’s deportation blitz, both in its unique history and its comparatively small size. It has been shaped by decades-old ties to countries like Vietnam and Honduras, as well as the monumental rebuilding effort that followed the city’s devastation from Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago.

New York Times [12/6/2025 5:02 AM, Eduardo Medina, 153395K] reports even before protesters flooded into the New Orleans City Council meeting on Thursday, Helena Moreno, the mayor-elect, had her hands full. Shortly after her election in October, she learned that the city’s budget deficit was far worse than expected. Then the Border Patrol arrived. And many residents have viewed the outgoing mayor, LaToya Cantrell, as essentially absent since her indictment on corruption charges in August, adding to the pressure on Ms. Moreno. At the Council meeting, protesters shouted that the city needed to push back more forcefully on federal immigration agents. The protesters became so rowdy that the Council called a recess, and police officers steered them out. “Happy Thursday, everyone,” said Councilman Oliver Thomas, moments before Ms. Moreno, a member of the Council since 2018, took her seat at the middle of the dais. New Orleans has had plenty of tough years, but 2025, which began with a terrorist attack in the French Quarter and is ending with a flood of federal agents in immigrant neighborhoods, has stood out. “As soon as I won the election — I mean, not 24 hours later — I think people were looking at me like, ‘OK, go to Helena now,’” Ms. Moreno said in an interview this week. “So I’ve been taking on a lot of the different responsibilities.” Those responsibilities now include voicing the frustration of many residents with the Border Patrol operation, which began on Wednesday. Ms. Moreno, who will be the city’s first Hispanic mayor, has defended immigrants who came here to work, with many helping to fuel New Orleans’s hospitality industry. She has asked the agents, led by Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official, not to wear masks, and to target only people with serious criminal histories. With the City Council, she created an online reporting system for people to upload videos showing possible abuses by federal immigration agents. Ms. Moreno said at a news conference on Friday that she and the City Council had written a letter to Mr. Bovino, requesting that he hold public briefings to share data on arrests and that his agents refrain from “discriminatory enforcement.”

New York Post [12/5/2025 5:04 PM, Josh Christenson, 42219K] reports an illegal immigrant with a history of drunk driving is now behind bars for allegedly causing a fiery, head-on crash while inebriated in San Diego that killed an 8-year-old girl and injured several others, The Post has learned. Brayan Alva-Rodriguez, 25, who is from Guatemala, was allegedly drunk behind the wheel of his Toyota Tacoma when he crossed the double-yellow line on San Felipe Road near Ranchita on Sunday — smashing straight into a Toyota Camry, the San Diego Union-Tribune first reported. Alva-Rodriguez, whose last name is reversed in county booking records as "Brayan Rodriguez Alva," was booked Thursday by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and charged with first-degree murder, two felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, as well as felony charges for driving under the influence and causing bodily injury to the seven in the accident. The Guatemalan national was previously charged with DUIs in San Diego and Vista on Sept. 6, 2020, and April 7, 2021, respectively, with the latter incident also including a hit-and-run charge, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. It’s unclear when Alva-Rodriguez entered the US. He’s currently being held on a more than $2 million bond at the San Diego Central jail. His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2026. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has since lodged an arrest detainer to eventually deport Alva-Rodriguez, but the San Diego sheriff’s office denied the same request in a separate case involving a Mexican migrant — who had been removed from the US four times prior — accused of killing an 11-year-old boy in a brazen hit-and-run on Thanksgiving eve.

AP [12/5/2025 6:35 PM, Terry Chea and Sudhin Thanawala, 31753K] reports a federal judge on Friday sharply questioned the Trump administration’s authority and need to maintain command of California National Guard troops it first deployed to Los Angeles in June following violent protests. At a hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer suggested conditions in Los Angeles had changed since the initial deployment, and he questioned whether the administration could control state Guard troops “forever” under its interpretation of federal law. He pressed an attorney for the government for any evidence that state authorities were either unable or unwilling to help keep federal personnel and property in the area safe and noted President Donald Trump had access to tens of thousands of active duty troops in California. California officials have asked Breyer to issue a preliminary injunction returning control of remaining California National Guard troops in Los Angeles to the state. Breyer did not immediately rule. He has previously found the administration’s deployment of the California National Guard illegal.

FOX Business [12/5/2025 8:58 AM, Staff, 10085K] reports DHS Public Affairs Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin discusses ICE crackdowns in Minneapolis and arrests of Afghan criminal migrants released under the Biden administration on ‘Mornings with Maria.’[Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [12/5/2025 1:36 PM, Amy Furr, 2416K] reports that nearly a dozen criminal illegal immigrants have been arrested during a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) crackdown in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and among those are five Somali nationals. Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have also caught individuals from Mexico and one from El Salvador, Fox News reported on Friday. In a statement regarding Operation Metro Surge, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticized the state’s leftist governor and the city’s mayor. She said, "Sanctuary policies and politicians like Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey allowed these pedophiles, domestic terrorists, and gang members to roam the streets and terrorize Americans. ICE law enforcement are risking their lives to protect Minnesotans while their own elected officials sit by and do nothing. No matter when and where, ICE will find, arrest, and deport ALL criminal illegal aliens." In a social media post on Friday, DHS shared photos of some of the suspects, calling the list of the arrestees the "worst of the worst": The agency shared details about one of the suspects, writing, "Abdulkadir Sharif Abdi, a criminal illegal alien from Somalia, was a former member of the Gangster Disciples and is a known current member of Vice Lord Nation. He has also been convicted of fraud, receiving stolen property, receiving a stolen vehicle, vehicle theft, and multiple probation violations.". FOX News [12/5/2025 9:37 AM, Greg Norman Fox, 40621K] Video: HERE reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it has rounded up at least a dozen criminal illegal immigrants — including "child sex offenders, domestic abusers, and violent gang members" — during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) latest "worst of the worst" list includes five Somali nationals, six from Mexico and one from El Salvador. "Sanctuary policies and politicians like Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey allowed these pedophiles, domestic terrorists, and gang members to roam the streets and terrorize Americans," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "ICE law enforcement are risking their lives to protect Minnesotans while their own elected officials sit by and do nothing. No matter when and where, ICE will find, arrest, and deport ALL criminal illegal aliens," she added. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/5/2025 7:00 AM, Lindsay Kornick Fox, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Thursday that there weren’t many "undocumented" Somali migrants in the U.S. as immigration agents reportedly plan to target Minneapolis in an upcoming operation. Omar spoke on the "Native Land Pod" podcast about the recent backlash against Somali migrants in her state amid reports of several fraud schemes tied to the community. Around the same time, a New York Times report claimed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is planning on launching an "intensive immigration enforcement operation" across the Twin Cities. She said most members of the Somali community, including herself, are U.S. citizens who arrived as refugees and therefore cannot be treated as "noncitizens.". "[ICE agents] are being met with people who are showing them that they are citizens, and they’re having a really hard time and making fools of themselves trying to find a noncitizen or somebody who is undocumented in our community because that is like a needle in a haystack," Omar said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [12/5/2025 5:47 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2416K] reports the Small Business Administration has discovered that the fraud among the Somali community in Gov. Tim Walz’s Minnesota is still growing with its finding of one million dollars in PPP loan fraud. Trump-appointed Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler took to her X account to report finding the massive fraud of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that was launched to save businesses struggling to survive the oppressive government policies meant to address the COVID crisis in 2020. For his part, Democrat Gov. Walz tried to spin the mounting number of federal investigations and prosecutions as evidence that he and Minnesota Democrats are putting scammers in jail. The governor’s claim is hard to support with the facts, since none of these scams were prosecuted, uncovered, or investigated by any Minnesota state authority or department even as the feds have moved in to convict a growing number of Somali scammers and put them in jail. Indeed, hundreds of state employees in several of the agencies that should have been the first to put an end to the fraud have alleged that Walz and his regime not only ignored reports of massive fraud, the gov and his allies actively punished whistleblowers for raising the alarm.

Reuters [12/5/2025 12:21 PM, Heather Schlitz, 36480K] reports crowds usually press shoulder-to-shoulder at Karmel Mall, a sprawling Somali shopping center in Minneapolis, where people often greet each other by name, speak Somali more than English and gather to browse for new hijabs and shop from hundreds of vendors lining the narrow hallways. On Wednesday night, however, only a handful of people milled around the mall after U.S. President Donald Trump called Somali immigrants “garbage” and said that "they destroyed our country." City officials say his remarks coincided with a surge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis. Minnesota’s Somali community has become an increasingly influential political constituency in the state, with U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar its most high-profile member. As a fraud investigation churns up convictions of community members, Trump has focused his ire on Omar and other Somalis. A stepped-up deportation campaign in the Twin Cities that began this week has forced some Somali residents into hiding and others to become hypervigilant, often carrying their passports with them out of fear of racial profiling by ICE officers, according to interviews with residents, local officials and immigrant advocates.

FOX News [12/5/2025 5:00 PM, Peter Pinedo, Bill Melugin, 40621K] Video: HERE reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a Somali illegal immigrant convicted of fraud and connected to several high-profile Minnesota politicians, including Gov. Tim Walz, the former Democratic vice presidential nominee. The illegal alien, Abdul Dahir Ibrahim of Somalia, has had a deportation order against him since 2004 and courts have rejected all of his appeals. Ibrahim has a criminal history that includes convictions in Canada for asylum and welfare fraud before he entered the United States, according to a Department of Justice document reviewed by Fox News Digital. On Jan. 23, 2002, Ibrahim was also convicted in Dakota County District Court for providing false information to police and driving without a valid license. He was fined and sentenced to a year of probation. Ibrahim has also been issued 12 traffic or parking citations in the U.S. Ibrahim is unmarried but at one point claimed his sister was his wife and her children were theirs, a claim later found to be fictitious, according to the document. According to ICE, Ibrahim entered the United States in 1995 in New York after his deportation from Canada. On April 3, 2004, an immigration judge ordered Ibrahim removed. In the decision, the judge highlighted the significant amount of fraud associated with him. His appeals were denied, and, in 2006, a circuit court upheld the immigration court’s decision. Despite this, Ibrahim was granted temporary protective status (TPS) for approximately 10 years. He has a pending TPS application that has still not been adjudicated since 2023. Ibrahim has been photographed with several high-profile politicians in Minnesota, including Walz; Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Minneapolis Democratic City Council Member Jamal Osman; and state Sen. Omar Fateh, who was unsuccessful in his recent Minneapolis mayoral race. Ibrahim has been photographed with Walz at least twice. Osman and Fateh both wrote letters of recommendation on behalf of Ibrahim during his immigration proceedings. President Donald Trump has recently announced a flurry of new actions to crack down and investigate fraud schemes in Minnesota, which he has assailed as a "hub of money laundering activity" and cited as the basis of his decision to terminate deportation protections for hundreds of Somali migrants. Senior Trump administration officials announced fresh investigations this week, including a new Treasury Department probe into how taxpayer dollars were allegedly diverted to the terrorist organization al-Shabaab, according to Secretary Scott Bessent. Last month, Trump cited fraud as driving his decision to terminate the temporary protected status designation for thousands of Somali migrants living in Minnesota, saying in a Truth Social post they should "go back to where they came from.” City officials in Minneapolis are bracing for an influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after the agency announced plans for a new operation in the state. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
New York Post [12/5/2025 9:23 PM, Victor Nava, 42219K]

Blaze [12/5/2025 10:10 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1442K] reports Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appears keen to clutch pearls and hold President Donald Trump to a different standard than Walz did the previous president — especially after Trump called Walz "seriously retarded.". During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump leaned into his criticism of Somalia, the rampant fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community, and Somalia’s top spokeswoman in Congress, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). "Somalia, which is barely a country, you know, they have no, anything. They just run around killing each other. There’s no structure," said the president. Somalia is a Sunni Muslim nation on the easternmost part of Africa with a population of just over 19 million, a high rate of female genital mutilation, a GDP of $12.94 billion, and an adult literacy rate of 54%. The country is a haven for crime and terrorism, ranking 34th out of 193 countries for criminality on the Global Organized Crime Index. With 10 being the most severe, Somalia scores 8.5 for human trafficking; 8 for human smuggling; 9.5 for extortion and protection racketeering; 9 for arms trafficking; 7 for financial crimes; and 7 for trade in counterfeit goods. Trump appears to suspect that America imported some of Somalia’s chronic problems when accepting its refugees. Following a report detailing instances of alleged and confirmed fraud perpetrated by numerous members of the Somali community in Minnesota, Trump announced on Nov. 21 that he was terminating the Temporary Protected Status designation for Somalia.

NewsMax [12/5/2025 5:46 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K] reports immigrants at a Florida immigration detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," were shackled and left outside in a 2-foot-high metal cage for up to a day without water, according to a report published Thursday by Amnesty International. The group visited the lockup in September. The 61-page report stated that immigrants were being held in "inhuman and unsanitary conditions, including overflowing toilets with fecal matter seeping into where people are sleeping, limited access to showers, exposure to insects without protective measures, lights on 24 hours a day, poor quality food and water, and lack of privacy." Critics — including some members of Congress, Florida Democrats, immigrant rights groups, and environmental advocates — call the camp a harsh, improvised detention operation in a fragile ecosystem, designed as much for deterrence and politics as for processing. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and state officials reject these characterizations, framing the camp as necessary surge capacity for federal deportation policy and calling outside reports politically motivated.

Reuters [12/5/2025 2:27 AM, Kritika Lamba, 2494K] reports the House Committee on Homeland Security has asked Google and Apple to detail what steps they are taking to remove mobile applications that allow users to track federal immigration officers. In letters sent on Friday to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple head Tim Cook, committee leaders singled out ICEBlock, an app previously used to monitor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, saying apps hosted on their app stores risk "jeopardizing the safety of DHS personnel." Lawmakers requested a briefing by December 12. The letters urged Google and Apple to ensure these apps cannot be used to target officers or obstruct lawful immigration enforcement. The committee noted that while free speech is protected, it does not extend to advocacy that incites imminent lawless action, referencing a landmark Supreme Court ruling. Google and Apple did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. The letters follow concerns that these tools allow users to anonymously report and track the movements of federal agents, including those from ICE and Customs and Border Protection. In October, Google said that ICEBlock was never available on Google’s Play Store and added it had removed similar apps due to policy violations. Apple also removed ICEBlock and other tracking apps from its App Store at the time. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the apps "put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs," while Apple cited violations of its policies against content that could harm individuals or groups. The removals followed a surge in downloads of ICEBlock, which had more than a million users before being pulled. (Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona).

Reported similarly:
FOX Business [12/6/2025 5:40 AM, Landon Mion, 10085K]

Breitbart [12/5/2025 10:18 AM, Randy Clark and Bob Price, 2416K] reports U.S. Southern Command announced Thursday that American forces carried out a lethal kinetic strike in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing four suspected narco‑terrorists and destroying their heavily laden smuggling vessel. The attack, directed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth under Operation Southern Spear, marks the 22nd strike against cartel‑linked traffickers in international waters and brings the total number of narco‑terrorists killed to nearly 90. The strikes continue despite harsh criticism from some lawmakers in Congress. U.S. Military forces launched an attack that killed four suspected narco-terrorists and destroyed the vessel they were using to transport illicit narcotics in the eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Southern Command announced the lethal kinetic strike in a social media post on X late Thursday afternoon. According to the U.S. Southern Command, the latest kinetic strike on a drug smuggling vessel occurred on Thursday in international waters. The strike was carried out at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Those killed in the strike were described as "Four male narco-terrorists" in the social media post. Thursday’s lethal kinetic military strike, carried out under Operation Southern Spear, is the 22nd such strike on a narco-terrorist-operated vessel operating in international waters within the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean. The number of narco-terrorists killed in Thursday’s strike brings the total number of fatalities to approximately 87.

New York Times [12/6/2025 5:02 AM, Staff, 153395K] reports should the United States launch military strikes against people suspected of smuggling drugs in international waters? That has been the subject of fierce debate. To date, the Trump administration has struck more than 20 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing 87 people. The administration has not put forward specific evidence to back up its claims that these boats have been smuggling drugs. Democrats and many legal experts have been highly skeptical of the military campaign, arguing that the boat attacks amount to extrajudicial killing or even murder. But the Trump administration says the strikes are legal because President Trump “determined” that the United States was in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels — even though Congress has not authorized one — and that people suspected of running drugs are “combatants.” Top military officials briefed Congress on Thursday over a strike that has further inflamed the issue. On Sept. 2, the military ordered a second strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea, which killed two people who had survived the initial blast. Military officials have argued that the follow-up strike was lawful because the two survivors could have been trying to communicate with other alleged drug traffickers to rescue them. But legal experts have said that second strike could be a war crime, citing the laws of armed conflict that forbid targeting enemies who have been shipwrecked and are out of the fight.

Washington Post [12/5/2025 8:21 PM, Theodoric Meyer and Noah Robertson, 24149K] reports Democrats have stepped up their demands to expand the inquiries underway in Congress into a U.S. military attack that killed two alleged drug smugglers who survived an initial strike on their boat. The push comes after a select group of lawmakers Thursday reviewed a video of the Sept. 2 operation in the Caribbean Sea and were briefed on Capitol Hill by Adm. Frank M. Bradley, the commander who oversaw it. Democrats said they want a public hearing and access to documents related to the incident. Republicans — who control the Senate and the House — joined Democrats in seeking answers from the Defense Department after The Washington Post reported last week that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given a verbal order before the strike to kill all of the boat’s crew members. But as of Friday evening, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Alabama), his counterpart in the House, have yet to signal how they will proceed. Republicans have neither ruled out nor committed to launching a fuller investigation. Spokespeople for Wicker and Rogers did not respond to requests for comment, and neither made any public statements after meeting with Bradley on Thursday.

AP [12/5/2025 5:09 PM, Stephen Groves, Lisa Mascaro] reports the U.S. military opened fire on two people clinging to the wreckage of a boat allegedly carrying drugs, congressional lawmakers learned this week as they seek more answers about the attack and the legal underpinnings of President Donald Trump’s military campaign in international waters near Venezuela. The Sept. 2 strikes on an alleged drug boat were the first foray by the U.S. military into blowing up vessels allegedly carrying drugs. But this particular attack and the broader military campaign, which so far has destroyed more than 20 boats and killed more than 80 people, is now under intense scrutiny. Lawmakers who oversee national security committees heard this past week from the Navy admiral who ordered the initial strikes, including the follow-up that killed the two survivors. While Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley stated clearly that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not issue a “kill them all” order on the survivors, Democratic lawmakers say the scope of the mission was clear — to destroy the drugs and kill the 11 people on board. The lawmakers and military experts say the sequence of events is alarming, potentially violating the laws of armed conflict that safeguard human rights and protect American troops. What lawmakers learn in the weeks ahead, and how far they are willing to press the administration for answers, presents a defining moment for the U.S. military under Trump’s second-term command. It is testing the scope of laws that have long governed soldiers on the battlefield and will almost certainly influence the course of the tense standoff between Trump’s White House and the government of Venezuela.

CBS News [12/5/2025 10:15 PM, Eleanor Watson, Olivia Gazis, and Joe Walsh, 39474K] reports two people who survived an early September U.S. attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean were waving overhead before they were killed in a now-controversial second strike, according to two sources familiar with a video that was shown to lawmakers this week. One of the sources said the action could be interpreted as the survivors either calling for help or trying to wave off another strike. The additional details were first reported by New York Times. The Sept. 2 operation was the first of more than 20 attacks on alleged drug-carrying vessels by the Trump administration in recent months — a campaign that officials argue is necessary to stem narcotics trafficking, but critics believe is legally unjustified. More than 80 people have been killed in the strikes, including 11 people on Sept. 2, the military has said. The operation has drawn fresh scrutiny since a report last week that the U.S. military carried out a follow-up strike on the vessel, killing two people who survived the initial attack. Some Democrats and legal experts have argued a strike to kill shipwrecked survivors could constitute a war crime. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed there was a second strike, but argued it was lawful and warranted to "ensure the boat was destroyed." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/5/2025 7:30 AM, Peter Pinedo Fox, 40621K] Video: HERE reports as tensions between the United States and Venezuela escalate, a national security and foreign policy expert revealed what it would take for the Trump administration to deploy American boots on the ground. Victoria Coates, former Trump national security advisor and vice president of the Heritage Foundation’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, told Fox News Digital during an interview that while deploying troops inside Venezuela is unlikely at this time, it remains "possible." "The president has fairly sweeping authorities under Article II of the Constitution to defend the American people from what he has defined as a real and present danger in the form of the drug cartels coming up from Venezuela," Coates said. The Trump administration has ordered an increasingly significant military buildup in the Caribbean region around Venezuela since August, including the most sophisticated aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, concentrated in the region. Coates called the buildup "the most significant since Iraq." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [12/6/2025 5:00 AM, Michael Williams, 18595K] reports federal agents deployed during the Trump administration’s law enforcement surge in American cities have shot two Christian clergy members in the head with chemicals or projectiles. One was meditating while holding a sign, and the other had his arms outstretched in prayer. The administration says both were among groups of protesters impeding law enforcement. Other protesters have been shoved to the ground by immigration or border agents, been chased after taunting them, or had their phones snatched away. One person wearing an animal costume was pepper sprayed while trying to assist someone who had fallen. Another person was detained by local police after trolling National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC, by playing "The Imperial March" from Star Wars. Border agents chase cyclist who taunted them in Chicago. President Donald Trump says his crime and immigration crackdown, which hit New Orleans and the Twin Cities in Minnesota in recent days, is meant to address "anarchy," describing Democrat-led cities as violent warzones that demanded a militarized response. But in several of those cities, federal agents deployed by the president have detained, chased, shoved, sprayed or shot with projectiles people who seemed to be protesting peacefully. In a couple of cases, state or local authorities have taken the unusual step of investigating the federal agents’ actions. CNN has reviewed more than a dozen videos posted to social media that show federal officers, primarily working for the Department of Homeland Security, manhandling people who did not appear to be posing an immediate threat. The videos are snapshots and don’t necessarily capture all of the circumstances before and after the confrontations. DHS has consistently defended its officers’ tactics against protesters, whom they accuse of trespassing, assaulting officers or otherwise disobeying orders. The administration has also highlighted threats to law enforcement personnel who are doing their jobs. Since this summer, several DHS facilities have been targeted with gunfire. The agency also says its officers have had to contend with threats and doxxing against them and their families. In Washington, DC, just before Thanksgiving, two members of the West Virginia National Guard deployed in the nation’s capital as part of Trump’s crackdown were shot while patrolling their streets. One later died from her injuries. The motivation of the alleged shooter, an Afghan who entered the US in 2021 after previously working with US military forces in Afghanistan, is not yet known. "Despite these grave threats and dangerous situations our law enforcement is put in they show incredible restraint in exhausting all options before any kind of non-lethal force is used," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. Michael Hughes, the executive director of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which advocates for officers working for DHS and other federal agencies, said during a congressional hearing this week that "constructive criticism of law enforcement is healthy, and accountability is essential.” "But," he added, "what we are seeing today from some public figures, segments of the media and even some elected officials is not accountability, it is vilification.” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said Black and other protesters were blocking an ICE vehicle from leaving the facility — even though video does not appear to show any vehicle attempting to leave at the time he was shot. "Over and over again, law enforcement ordered these agitators to move off of federal property so the vehicle could move. Law enforcement verbally warned these agitators that they would use force if they did not move and stop impeding operations," McLaughlin said. "They did not comply.”

Daily Caller [12/5/2025 10:16 AM, Nicole Silverio, 835K] reports Border czar Tom Homan fired off at a heckler who accused him of being a "racist" and a "traitor" during a Turning Point USA event in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday. Protesters shouted at Homan as he spoke about his concerns for the safety of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and illegal immigrants. Other hecklers shouted at Homan over his crackdown on illegal immigration. "Call me what you want, I don’t care," Homan told the protester. "Traitor," the heckler shouted. "You know, I want to take questions, I’ll take questions a little bit, but once you grow a backbone, put a Kevlar vest and a gun on your hip and go secure this border," Homan said. Another attendee accused Homan of inspiring Patrick Crusius to kill nearly two dozen people inside a Walmart in 2019, according to the New York Post. Crusius is serving a life sentence for the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting that killed 23 people and injured 22 others.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [12/5/2025 8:23 AM, Samuel Chamberlain, 42219K]

Federalist [12/5/2025 12:08 PM, M. D. Kittle, 785K] reports Americans are paying dearly for the Biden administration’s open-border policies that indiscriminately allowed rapists, murderers, and terrorists to walk right in. We’re paying the bill daily. Just ask the families of the two National Guard members that federal officials say were shot by an Afghan national in an ambush-style attack while they were helping protect the nation’s capital. As The Federalist has reported, Joe Abraham and his family have, too, paid the highest price for the politically-driven decisions by federal, state, and local politicians who thought little of — or worse, didn’t care — what might happen following the flood of illegal immigrants during Joe Biden’s presidency. As Abraham goes through the inadequate legal process in search of some semblance of justice for the daughter he lost at the hands of an illegal alien, he grows more frustrated by what he has learned. And by what he hasn’t. The suburban Chicago man sees plenty of blame to go around, much of it on the shoulders of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a far-left Democrat who has treated criminal immigrants better than the victims they’ve claimed. "Just because the Biden administration was reckless does that mean the states individually have to become just as reckless? That’s what I don’t understand," Abraham told The Federalist in an interview this week.

Washington Post [12/5/2025 6:01 PM, Staff, 24149K] reports no one thinks President Donald Trump is going to consult his National Security Strategy as he considers how to respond to international crises, but the document still provides important insights into how the administration sees the world. And the latest iteration, like much of his foreign policy, is a mixed bag. The 33-page document released Thursday night by the White House is overflowing with sweeping aspirations and generalizations but short on details. What it aims to offer instead is a corrective to what this administration sees as undisciplined moralizing by foreign policy elites that led the United States into a kind of strategic insolvency. By being everything all at once, it risks being nothing at all. “America First,” the document explains, means being “pragmatic without being ‘pragmatist,’ realistic without being ‘realist,’ principled without being ‘idealistic,’ muscular without being ‘hawkish,’ and restrained without being ‘dovish.’” Good luck with all that.

New York Post [12/5/2025 6:19 PM, Peter Doran, 42219K] reports the White House’s just-released National Security Strategy wisely jettisons the Biden administration’s misguided emphasis on sexual identity and climate change as security priorities, but what emerges in its replacement is a mixed bag. Its combination of muddled rhetoric and limited ambition, for starters, will keep America’s allies jittery about our plans, as rivals like Beijing and Moscow probe for weaknesses. The best National Security Strategies accurately describe the world as it is, align finite national resources to potentially unlimited aims and, most important, inform decision-making in a crisis. The Trump 1.0 strategy largely accomplished all three of these objectives, declaring in no uncertain terms that China and Russia were overt challengers to American power and influence. The Trump 2.0 strategy is less clear. Instead of decisive language and a bold recognition of immediate dangers from China, Russia or the clerical regime in Iran, the new strategy buries Trump’s priorities under layers of befuddling rhetoric.

USA Today [12/6/2025 5:04 AM, Frank Kendall, 67103K] reports six Democratic legislators, all with strong national security experience and credentials, recently took the extraordinary step of sending a video message to officers in the United States military, reminding them of something they already know: They should not follow unlawful orders. The reaction from the Trump administration has been explosive. The legislators have been called traitors and seditious. President Donald Trump has called for their deaths on social media. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Sen. Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and the only retired military officer in the group, is under investigation for possible court-martial, and the others may be under FBI investigation. What the hell is going on here? This is not a political sideshow or a stunt. Both groups involved ‒ those posting the video on one hand, Trump and Hegseth on the other ‒ are deadly serious about what they’re doing. The news media has reported that U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin organized the video. She is a personal friend, former colleague and someone I admire greatly. I have not discussed the video with her, but I know firsthand what she’s worried about. The senator from Michigan has been very public about her concerns.

The Hill [12/5/2025 10:00 AM, Tonya Golash-Boza, 12595K] reports the Deportation Data Project — a set of data on immigration enforcement maintained by concerned academics and lawyers — has just confirmed what many in Washington have been warning for months: ICE apprehensions aren’t simply rising — they’re exploding. The data show that between September 2023 and December 2024, ICE agents directly apprehended just 31 people in D.C, — half of whom had criminal convictions. From January through July 2025, that number jumped to 88 — nearly three times as many apprehensions in half the time. Then, at the end of the summer, something changed. Between Aug. 1 and Oct. 16, 2025 (which is as far as the data currently go), ICE arrested 1,147 people in D.C. That is an average of 15 people taken every single day, a more than 200-fold increase. And despite White House assurances that ICE is after "the worst of the worst," fewer than 100 of these people have criminal convictions. Meanwhile, the numbers are still climbing. This surge in enforcement is due to a shift in strategy away from targeted enforcement and toward racial profiling. For years, ICE deportation officers relied on targeted enforcement. They would identify specific individuals, build a case, stake out a residence, and making a planned arrest — usually of someone with a criminal conviction. It was invasive and deeply harmful, but it was also slow and constrained by evidence and planning. That model is now gone. ICE’s new playbook is built on racial profiling and street-level dragnet tactics previously used by the Border Patrol in border towns, not by ICE officers in U.S. cities. And now. those tactics have arrived in the nation’s capital.

Blaze [12/5/2025 12:00 PM, Daniel Horowitz, 1442K] reports if anyone from a backward and unstable country could be vetted for anti-American hostility, it would have been someone like Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan national who allegedly shot two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., the day before Thanksgiving. He had been vetted by the CIA, worked with our military in Afghanistan, and was later approved for asylum alongside his wife and five children. And still, he turned his gun on the very country that took him in. How many more reminders do we need before we shut off the spigot? In response to the attack, President Trump vowed to "permanently pause migration from all third world countries." Many Americans hoped this meant fulfilling the pledge he made nearly a decade ago: "A total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.". On Thanksgiving Day, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow announced a "full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every green card" holder from "every country of concern." When pressed, Edlow pointed to the 19 countries listed in Trump’s June 4 proclamation, "Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats."

Washington Post [12/6/2025 6:00 AM, Jason Willick, 32099K] reports since The Post’s blockbuster report that the U.S. military executed a follow-on strike on an alleged drug boat on Sept. 2 — hitting the boat once, then hitting it again after survivors were seen in the wreckage — the administration’s allies have offered two lines of defense. The first is that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth never specifically ordered the killing of survivors of the first strike. The order for the follow-on strike was given by Adm. Frank M. Bradley, as The Post reported. But that’s only a defense of Hegseth if he’s trying to pin blame on Bradley. He’s not. The secretary of defense is fully backing Bradley and emphatically endorsing his decision to strike again at the disabled boat and its survivors. Whatever the wording of Hegseth’s orders at the start of the operation, Bradley’s decision apparently complied with them. The second defense is therefore that the follow-on strikes were justified. Republican and Democratic congressmen who watched videos of the strikes Thursday offered differing accounts. While Democrats say the survivors of the first strike were helpless or shipwrecked, Republicans argue that they were not: The men might have been trying to save their cargo, or trying to communicate with other drug traffickers, or trying to flip the bombed-out boat. Therefore, Republicans argue, they were still active “narco-terrorists” subject to further attack under the laws of war. That legal question is a rabbit hole. Even if the Pentagon releases the full footage of the attacks, partisans will see what they want to see. The Defense Department manual forbids attacks on people who are “incapacitated by wounds, sickness, or shipwreck, such that they are no longer capable of fighting.” Were the survivors “incapacitated”? It’s a subjective judgment, and pundits can spend hours arguing both sides of the question in TV studios based on the men’s movements in the video. That legalism risks becoming the focus of this scandal. But it’s beside the point: Nobody is going to be criminally prosecuted. The legal advice the military acted on probably confers a measure of immunity, and President Donald Trump can pardon those involved anyway.

FOX News [12/5/2025 5:27 PM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports after more than 120 House Democrats signed onto a bill from a top progressive lawmaker to seek what they define as "dignity" for federal immigration detainees, critics sounded the alarm that the legislation could forever transform how illegal immigrants are treated in the U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., is spearheading the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, along with fellow Evergreen State lawmaker Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. They say it would curb the "shocking surge" of allegedly wrongful detentions and inappropriate conditions, particularly at jails run by private companies under government contract. The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act would lead to the repeal of mandatory detention for those captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a summary posted by Jayapal, and create a presumption of release, imposing a higher burden of proof to detain primary caregivers and "vulnerable populations." It also would phase out the use of private detention centers, like those Day 1 Alliance members may work in or with, by about 2029. In apparent response to Democrats being iced out of ICE centers earlier in 2025, including a case in Newark, New Jersey, where Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was accused of accosting officers, it also would mandate that the Department of Homeland Security admit members of Congress to detention facilities for unannounced inspections. Homeland Security officials torched the new bill later Friday. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital Jayapal’s claims of overcrowding, mistreatment and wrongful detention are "false."

CNN [12/5/2025 6:59 PM, Camila Moreno-Lizarazo, 18595K] reports Elaine Miles joins The Lead. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The New York Times [12/5/2025 1:09 PM, Jonathan Wolfe, 153395K] reports federal officials said they had arrested a visiting professor at Harvard on Wednesday, weeks after he fired a pellet gun near a synagogue and officials accused him of antisemitism. The professor, Carlos Portugal Gouvea, who lived near the synagogue, said he was hunting rats nearby, and local police and leaders of the synagogue have said they did not believe antisemitism played a role in the event. He faced several charges but none related to bias. But federal officials, who revoked the professor’s visa last month, have continued to assert a belief that the attack was antisemitic. “There is no room in the United States for brazen, violent acts of antisemitism like this,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a news release on Thursday. The Department of Homeland Security said in the release that after he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Boston, the visiting professor, who is a law professor in Brazil, had voluntarily agreed to leave the United States rather than be deported. “It is a privilege to work and study in the United States, not a right,” Ms. McLaughlin said. “We are under zero obligation to admit foreigners who commit these inexplicably reprehensible acts or to let them stay here.” National Review [12/5/2025 9:50 AM, Kamden Mulder, 109K] reports that the State Department revoked Gouvea’s visa, a temporary non-immigrant visa, two weeks after the shooting incident occurred outside of Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, Massachusetts. Gouvea was arrested Wednesday by ICE Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations, and rather than facing deportation, agreed to self-deport. After the incident, Harvard Law put Gouvea on administrative leave but did not release any public statement regarding further punishment. The professor was confronted by synagogue security after he fired two shots, one of which shattered a car window. Police reported a brief “physical struggle” before Gouvea ran to his home, which was located near the synagogue. Gouvea was facing four charges, one felony for vandalism, and three misdemeanors. His misdemeanor charges included illegally discharging a pellet gun, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace, The Harvard Crimson reported.

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New York Post [12/5/2025 7:11 AM, Samuel Chamberlain, 42219K]
Breitbart [12/5/2025 9:11 AM, Awr Hawkins, 2416K]
Free Beacon [12/5/2025 3:02 PM, Jessica Schwalb, 411K]
NewsMax [12/5/2025 4:37 PM, Sam Barron, 4109K]

CBS News [12/5/2025 10:55 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports a 19-year-old college student was detained at Boston’s Logan Airport while traveling home to Texas for Thanksgiving. Despite a judge’s order blocking removal, she was deported to Honduras two days later. Her attorney criticized the government for ignoring court authority, calling it “lawless.” The Department of Homeland Security said the student had a 2015 removal order, while her attorney noted she came to the U.S. at age 8 with her mother, who was seeking asylum.

CBS New York [12/5/2025 6:03 PM, Jennifer Bisram, 39474K] reports a New York City woman was illegally detained by federal immigration officials for nearly two weeks after being taken into custody at LaGuardia Airport, a federal judge in New York ruled. Aissatou Diallo, who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement just before Thanksgiving, was nearly in tears Friday after the judge ordered her immediate release. Diallo, a grandmother and home health aide from Queens, was detained at LaGuardia on Nov. 25 while traveling to see her son in Texas, we’re told. The 55-year-old was held at Federal Plaza in New York City and facilities in Texas, Louisiana and New Jersey before Friday’s emotional hearing, after which she was able to walk out of the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan. "Ms. Diallo was lucky because she comes from a very hearty activist family and was able to quickly mobilize support. This is not the case for everyone," said Murad Awawdeh, president of New York Immigration Coalition. Diallo fled her home country of Guinea sometime around 2001 out of fear of political persecution. "The government acknowledged in 2012 that she could not be deported to her country because she feared persecution or torture there," immigration attorney Rosa Cohen-Cruz said. Diallo’s niece, Adama Bah, founded the nonprofit Afrikana and is part of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team. Bah said she fought tirelessly to get her aunt home with help from immigration and community advocates. "I’ve been doing this work for 20 years, and I’m always calling families and saying, ‘Hey, your relative has been detained.’ And this time it was my sister who called me and said I think Aunty is detained," Bah said. "There’s no reason that grandmother should have been shackled in a courtroom, or that grandmother should have been detained for weeks," New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said. In addition to Diallo’s immediate release, the judge ruled the government cannot try to detain her again. ICE has not responded to CBS News New York’s request for comment on this story. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/5/2025 6:00 AM, Emma Colton Fox, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Maryland’s voter rolls are coming under House Republican scrutiny after it was discovered that an illegal immigrant serving as a superintendent of a massive school system in Iowa was fraudulently registered to vote in Maryland, Fox News Digital learned. House Committee on House Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wisc., and Vice Chair Laurel Lee, R-Fla., sent a letter to Maryland State Board of Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis on Thursday demanding answers regarding Ian Andre Roberts’ registration to vote in the state despite not holding U.S. citizenship. The House Administration Committee oversees House operations and oversight and also is charged with considering proposals to amend federal election law. Roberts’ voter registration documents have faced intense scrutiny from conservatives, including when a Maryland county board of elections released redacted versions of the files in November that blacked out how Roberts answered the citizenship question. "The Committee is concerned about the integrity and accuracy of Maryland’s citizenship verification processes, and therefore the state’s voter rolls. To assist the Committee’s oversight of this matter, please provide the following information as soon as possible," the letter read, hitting the election chief with 10 questions related to the state’s voter role vetting process and the prevalence of illegal immigrants on voter rolls. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [12/5/2025 10:14 AM, Ryan J. Foley and Julio Cortez, 31753K] reports Northwest Arkansas has emerged as a hot spot in the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, the result of one county’s partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and aggressive traffic stops by police. The region offers a window into what the future may hold in places where law enforcement agencies cooperate broadly with ICE, as the Department of Homeland Security offers financial incentives in exchange for help making arrests. The Associated Press reviewed ICE arrest data, law enforcement records and interviewed local residents. Here are some takeaways from that reporting. More than 450 people were arrested by ICE at the Benton County Jail from Jan. 1 through Oct. 15, according to ICE arrest data from the University of California Berkeley Deportation Data Project analyzed by AP. That’s more than 1.5 arrests per day in the county of roughly 300,000 people. Most of the arrests were made through the county’s so-called 287(g) agreement, named for a section of immigration law, that allows deputies to question people who are booked into the jail about their immigration status. In fact, the county’s program accounted for more than 4% of roughly 7,000 arrests nationwide that were attributed to similar programs during the first 9 1/2 months of this year, according to the data.

FOX News [12/5/2025 4:34 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is recommending New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick direct the agency to cooperate with federal immigration authorities following a major federal enforcement operation that resulted in the arrest of dozens of criminal illegal immigrants. In a letter dated Friday to Kirkpatrick, Murill said the department’s policies appear to conflict with state law and could be interpreted as "sanctuary" policies, which generally prohibit local authorities from cooperating with federal law enforcement in immigration matters. In 2024, Louisiana enacted a law banning jurisdictions from adopting and implementing sanctuary policies. The letter came amid a major federal immigration crackdown in the Louisiana region, as well as backlash from anti-ICE advocates.

DailySignal [12/5/2025 1:14 PM, Rebecca Downs, 549K] reports that Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has introduced a bill that would outlaw dual citizenship in the United States. Moreno, who was born in Colombia, legally immigrated with his family at age 5, and became a naturalized citizen at 18, recently introduced The Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, which would require those who are citizens of the United States and a foreign country to choose a single citizenship rather than remain dual citizens. The bill would make it so that "an individual may not be a citizen or national of the United States while simultaneously possessing any foreign citizenship." Currently, Americans are permitted to hold foreign citizenship, but a press release from Moreno’s office upon the introduction of the bill claimed that dual citizenship "could create conflicts of interest." "One of the greatest honors of my life was when I became an American citizen at 18, the first opportunity I could do so," Moreno told Fox News Digital. "It was an honor to pledge an Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America and only to the United States of America. 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."

USA Today [12/5/2025 12:19 PM, Jeanine Santucci, 67103K] reports a Nativity scene on display at a Chicago-area church depicts baby Jesus with zip-tied wrists and Mary and Joseph in gas masks in what its organizers called "a scene of forced family separation" amid a federal crackdown on crime and undocumented immigrants. The display at the Lake Street Church of Evanston, about 15 miles outside Chicago, also shows the infant in a mylar-style emergency blanket and immigration agents with covered faces in helmets and robes to make them look like Roman soldiers. "This installation is not subtle because the crisis it addresses is not abstract," the church said in a social media post. The church said the depiction is supposed to match the experience of migrants in detention facilities and of community members, including children, who were detained during raids. The gas masks on Mary and Joseph represent the use of tear gas by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents against protesters, the church said. The Department of Homeland Security has denied that children’s wrists were zip-tied. "By placing the Christmas story (Christianity’s central narrative of refuge, sanctuary, and sacred family) within the visual language of immigration enforcement and detention, this work asks viewers to confront the disconnect between professed religious or moral values and immigration policies," the church said in its post.

AP [12/5/2025 3:15 PM, Sarah Raza] reports federal agents have arrested a dozen people in Minneapolis since launching an enforcement operation this week primarily focused on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., but fewer than half of those detained are Somali. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that agents had arrested 12 people. Of those, six are Mexican nationals, five are from Somalia and one is from El Salvador. In a statement, ICE called the 12 people arrested some of the "worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens." Eight of them had been charged or convicted of crimes, including assault, fraud, domestic violence and driving under the influence, according to ICE. President Donald Trump recently targeted Somali immigrants in public remarks, calling them " garbage " and saying "they contribute nothing." He also blamed Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for allowing alleged fraud in government programs to happen on his watch, which a conservative publication claimed was funneling money to a Somali militant group. The crackdown has drawn intense criticism from local and state officials who have denounced Trump’s rhetoric and pledged to protect the Somali community. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said city police would not participate in federal immigration enforcement.

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Axios [12/5/2025 7:50 AM, Torey Van Oot and Kyle Stokes, 12972K]

FOX News [12/5/2025 9:44 PM, Michael Sinkewicz, 40621K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested seven more criminal illegal immigrants, including "pedophiles, gang members and drug traffickers" during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday announced its latest "worst of the worst" list, with offenders coming from Somalia, Venezuela, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala. "Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey protected these criminals at the expense of the safety of Americans," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for criminal illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW. If you don’t, we will find you, arrest you, and deport you.” The arrests included Abdi Gelle Mohamed and Sahal Osman Shidane of Somalia, who DHS said were convicted of sexual abuse of a minor and sexual conduct of a victim aged 13–15 years old, respectively. Mukhtar Mohamed Ali, also from Somalia, was convicted of robbery and domestic assault, the DHS said. DHS said Andriu Javier Padron-Chacare from Venezuela is a Tren de Aragua gang member convicted of theft who was previously deported. Job Catani Cardenas of Ecuador was convicted of domestic assault, and Humberto Disla Sarita of from the Dominican Republic was convicted of conspiracy to import at least 50 kilograms of cocaine, the DHS said. An illegal immigrant from Guatemala, Ernesto Vides-Cabrera, was convicted of driving under the influence and assault, according to DHS. The arrests came after DHS said Thursday it rounded up at least a dozen illegal immigrants in Minneapolis, including five Somali nationals, six from Mexico and one from El Salvador. The Justice Department also filed federal charges this week against Abdimahat Bille Mohamed, 28, a convicted sex offender in Minnesota who allegedly kidnapped and raped a woman he met on Snapchat in September. He had been sentenced in May in two unrelated sexual assault cases, but a judge allowed him to serve no prison time under a plea agreement. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Wire [12/5/2025 12:46 PM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports federal immigration authorities nabbed violent Somali offenders, including a gangbanger and a pedophile, as part of a recent operation targeting Minneapolis. More than 100 ICE officers from across the country were deployed to Minneapolis this week to target roughly 500 Somalis with deportation orders, Homeland Security sources recently revealed to The Daily Wire. Within less than a week, ICE took several violent offenders off the streets. Among them was Abdulkadir Sharif Abdi, a former member of the Gangster Disciples and current member of the Vice Lord Nation gang, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Abdi also had convictions for fraud, receiving stolen property, receiving a stolen vehicle, vehicle theft, and multiple probation violations. The feds also snatched pedophile Sahal Osman Shidane, who was convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a minor aged 13-15, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The Trump administration placed the blame on the "sanctuary" leaders in Minnesota who allow illegal immigrant criminals to walk out of jails and onto the streets. "Sanctuary policies and politicians like Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey allowed these pedophiles, domestic terrorists, and gang members to roam the streets and terrorize Americans," Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Friday. "ICE law enforcement are risking their lives to protect Minnesotans while their own elected officials sit by and do nothing. No matter when and where, ICE will find, arrest, and deport ALL criminal illegal aliens," McLaughlin added.

Houston Chronicle [12/5/2025 12:47 PM, Ahmed Humble, 3866K] reports that a Harris County woman from Colombia is suing the federal government after she says ICE detained her at a routine check-in and moved to deport her despite a pending asylum case and her humanitarian parole status. The petition, filed Wednesday in the Southern District of Texas, identifies the woman as Laura Lorena Rios-Viveros, 28. She was arrested Tuesday after appearing for a scheduled reporting appointment at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe. Rios-Viveros arrived in the U.S. in May 2022, according to the lawsuit, and the same day was granted humanitarian parole—a status that allowed her to live and work legally in Texas while her asylum case moved forward. Court filings show she submitted her asylum application within the required one-year window, attended all biometrics and ICE appointments and received federal work authorization in March 2024. But during her annual ICE check-in on Oct. 29, the lawsuit says, she was told without warning that her parole had been "terminated" and that she would be placed into expedited removal, a rapid-deportation process typically used for recent border arrivals. Her attorneys argue that federal law bars DHS from using expedited removal against parolees who have lived continuously in the U.S. for more than two years. When she returned for a follow-up appointment on Tuesday, she was taken into custody, the lawsuit explained. She remains at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile. Neither ICE, nor DHS, returned a request for comment Friday morning.

The Los Angeles Times [12/5/2025 10:36 PM, Susan Montoya Bryan, 14862K] reports a federal law enforcement operation at a Tucson taco shop resulted in a fracas Friday, with agents deploying pepper spray as a group of protesters tried to stop authorities. Two agents were injured, federal officials said, and U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) posted on social media that she was sprayed in the face by a substance she could not identify. She accused immigration enforcement officers of operating without transparency or accountability. "While I am fine, if that is the way they treat me, how are they treating other community members who do not have the same privileges and protections that I do?" she said in a statement. It was less than a month ago that Grijalva was sworn in as the newest member of Congress. She won special election in September to fill the House seat last held by her late father, Rep. Raul Grijalva. In a video posted to social media, Grijalva said she, two members of her staff and members of the media were harassed and sprayed by agents during what appeared to be a federal immigration raid. She said they interrupted because they "were afraid that they were taking people without due process, without any kind of notice.” The video shows a staffer stepping in front of Grijalva, raising his arm and turning the congresswoman away as a federal agent sprays nearby protesters. Later in the video, as Grijalva continues walking in the street, a projectile is seen landing near her foot. She said that she did not know what substance she was sprayed with but that it was "still affecting" her and causing her to cough. Federal officials said Grijalva was not pepper-sprayed and that agents with Homeland Security Investigations were targeting multiple Tucson restaurants as part of a years-long investigation into immigration and tax violations. Several search warrants were served across southern Arizona on Friday as part of the operation. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement describing the group gathered in Tucson as a "mob." She disputed Grijalva’s account and said that two agents were seriously injured in the clash. "If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel. But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed. She was in the vicinity of someone who *was* pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement," McLaughlin wrote. "Presenting one’s self as a ‘Member of Congress’ doesn’t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement.” Authorities used yellow tape to cordon off the restaurant and its parking lot as agents removed boxes from the building early Friday. By midmorning, protesters had gathered outside with signs and whistles. Video shows Grijalva approaching the agents and asking where they were taking people. She asked them to stop being aggressive. Some in the group were hit with pepper spray as they tried to keep federal vehicles from leaving the area. Tucson police said federal tactical agents responded to extract investigative special agents from the area where the protesters were gathered. After deploying chemical munitions, police said federal agents then requested emergency support from local authorities to help exit the area. Politico [12/5/2025 4:53 PM, Jacob Wendler, 13586K] reports Arizona Democrats were quick to criticize ICE, with Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) writing on social media that “Pepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful, unacceptable, and absolutely not what we voted for. Period.” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes — who sued Johnson for failing to seat Grijalva in a timely manner — also called the incident “unacceptable and outrageous,” writing in a statement that “Effective law enforcement requires restraint and accountability, not unchecked aggression.” Grijalva is the latest Democrat to see resistance from ICE when attempting to conduct oversight of ICE raids or inspect detention centers, with DHS forcibly removing Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) from a DHS press conference in June. The agency has defended the arrests, with McLaughlin promising more arrests after federal agents arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) at an ICE facility in New Jersey in May. “I think that this is one of the problems, the biggest problem that we have in this community is that we have Trump, that has no regard for any due process, the rule of law, the Constitution,” Grijalva said in the video.

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Washington Post [12/5/2025 9:15 PM, Amy B. Wang, 24149K]
NBC News [12/5/2025 6:51 PM, Zoë Richards, 34509K]
CNN [12/6/2025 12:38 AM, Ellis Kim, 606K]
Washington Examiner [12/5/2025 5:27 PM, Rachel Schilke, 1394K]

The Daily Caller [12/5/2025 9:16 PM, Mariane Angela, 835K] reports Democratic Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva interfered in an active immigration enforcement operation Friday in Arizona and posted the footage online. Grijalva took office just last month after winning a special election in September to succeed her late father. Grijalva filmed herself confronting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they attempted to carry out their duties, stepping between officers and their vehicle while demanding information about the operation. "ICE is a lawless agency under this Administration – operating with no transparency, no accountability, and open disregard for basic due process. No family in our community should live in fear, and I will not rest until we get clear answers and accountability," Grijalva wrote. Grijalva posted a lengthy video accusing ICE agents of spraying her, manhandling community members and "disappearing people," after she interfered. "We just came up on a community that was protecting their people. We had, I would say, maybe 40 ICE agents, most of them masked in several vehicles that the community had stopped right here, right in the middle of the street, because they were afraid that they were taking people without due process, without any kind of notice," Grijalva said. "And so I was here. This is like the restaurant I come to literally once a week and was sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent, pushed around by others when I literally was not being aggressive.” Grijalva further expanded on her allegations, saying ICE agents ignored basic due process as officers detained two individuals. "We saw people directly sprayed, members of our press, everybody that was with me, my staff member, myself, two staff members, we have like remnants of whatever they sprayed on us. Excuse me, it’s bothering me," Grijalva said. "And I think that this is one of the problems, the biggest problem that we have in this community is that we have Trump that has no regard for any due process, the rule of law, the Constitution. They’re literally disappearing people from the streets. They arrested two people. We have no idea where they’re going. And I want to thank Tucson Police Department for coming and taking care of the space, making sure that everyone was safe once ICE left.” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded by rejecting Grijalva’s account and saying the congresswoman was not pepper-sprayed during the incident. McLaughlin added that two officers were seriously injured by the crowd Grijalva joined and added that identifying oneself as a member of Congress does not grant the right to obstruct law enforcement. "If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel. But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed. She was in the vicinity of someone who *was* pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement," McLaughlin wrote. The New York Post [12/6/2025 4:00 AM, Sophia Compton, 42219K] reports McLaughlin also said two law enforcement officers were "seriously injured" during the incident. "In fact, 2 law enforcement officers were seriously injured by this mob that [Grijalva] joined," she added. "Presenting oneself as a ‘member of Congress’ doesn’t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement. More information forthcoming.” The clash also prompted the Congressional Progressive Caucus — which includes nearly 100 Democratic lawmakers — to call for a congressional investigation. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a deputy chair of the caucus, denounced the incident as a "disgusting display of violence" against Grijalva and warned that it reflects "a dangerous moment for American democracy.” The dispute unfolded a day after DHS announced it had rounded up at least a dozen criminal illegal immigrants — including "child sex offenders, domestic abusers, and violent gang members" — during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. "No matter when and where, ICE will find, arrest, and deport ALL criminal illegal aliens," McLaughlin said.
Reported similarly:
FOX News [12/5/2025 11:10 PM, Sophia Compton, 40621K]

The Hill [12/5/2025 5:33 PM, Surina Venkat, 12595K] reports Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said Friday a “very aggressive” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer used pepper spray against her during a raid in Tucson, Ariz. According to Grijalva, community members in Tucson had stopped approximately 40 ICE officers, most of whom were masked, in the middle of a street near Taco Giro, which Grijalva described as a small mom-and-pop restaurant. She said the community members stopped the officers “because they were afraid they [the agents] were taking people without due process.” “I was here — this is like the restaurant I come to literally once a week — and was sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent, pushed around by others, when I literally was not being aggressive,” Grijalva said in a video posted to social platform X. “I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress.” ICE conducted raids at multiple restaurants across Tucson early Friday morning. The raids ended with multiple people in custody, according to a public statement made by an ICE spokesperson.

Reported similarly:
AP [12/5/2025 9:29 PM, Susan Montoya Bryan, 31753K]

Blaze [12/5/2025 6:45 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1442K] reports a Democratic U.S. representative appeared to undermine her own accusations against federal agents when she posted a video of herself claiming to have been pepper-sprayed at a protest. The newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials pepper-sprayed her during a raid at a taco restaurant in Tucson on Friday. "ICE just conducted a raid by Taco Giro in Tucson — a small mom-and-pop restaurant that has served our community for years," reads a post from the politician. "When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed-aside and pepper sprayed." She said in the video that there had been about 40 agents in vehicles, most of them masked, but that the community stopped them. She claimed she and her staffers were pepper-sprayed and she was pushed, despite identifying herself as a member of Congress. "While I am fine, if that is the way they treat me, how are they treating other community members who do not have the same privileges and protections that I do?" she added. Many on social media pointed out that she didn’t have the appearance of someone who had been pepper-sprayed. Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, gave a spirited response to the Democrat’s claims. "If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel. But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed. She was in the vicinity of someone who *was* pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement," McLaughlin wrote. She went on to say that two agents were seriously injured by the mob that Grijalva joined.

FOX News [12/5/2025 6:02 PM, Michael Ruiz, 40621K] reports protesters swarmed a Mexican restaurant in Tucson, Arizona, Friday morning, briefly locking a group of federal agents in a gated parking lot as they were executing a search warrant in connection with a sprawling tax and immigration fraud investigation. It happened outside a Taco Giro restaurant on North Grande Avenue in Tucson. A SWAT team responded after protesters surrounded the feds and allegedly used a bike lock to block the exit with agents inside. Authorities arrived at the restaurant around 9 a.m. It wasn’t open yet. Between 100 and 200 protesters began gathering outside an hour later, chanting "Go home ICE" and other slogans, some including profanity. Among them was a more confrontational group of about a dozen. Shortly after 11, someone threw a bottle at an ICE vehicle. Another placed a bike lock around the gate, locking the agents inside. Authorities deployed flash bangs and pepper spray and arrested at least two people in the mob in front of a photographer. ICE said the raids were part of a sprawling investigation into immigration and tax fraud.

FOX News [12/5/2025 7:10 PM, Alexandra Koch, 40621K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Friday agents arrested an illegal immigrant from Azerbaijan, who has multiple convictions for crimes, including cruelty to animals. Rafael Vladimirovi Sarkisyan of Azerbaijan was arrested by ICE Los Angeles Nov. 25 and will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, according to officials. Sarkisyan was previously convicted of cruelty to animals, causing a structure fire and manufacturing a controlled substance, ICE wrote in a statement. It is unclear when he arrived in the country or where he entered. The U.S. Department of State issued a travel advisory May 21 advising U.S. travelers to exercise increased caution in Azerbaijan "due to terrorism.” "Terrorist groups continue to plan attacks and are a risk in Azerbaijan," according to the advisory. "Terrorists may attack with little or no warning. They may target: Tourist locations; transportation centers (airports); markets and shopping malls; local government buildings; hotels, clubs and restaurants; places of worship; parks; major sporting and cultural events; educational institutions; and other public areas.” There are also concerns in the former Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and surrounding territories due to landmines after armed hostilities in 2023. President Donald Trump was praised in August for a U.S.-brokered peace accord that ended three decades of war and hostility in the South Caucasus. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

San Francisco Chronicle [12/5/2025 8:36 PM, Megan Cassidy, 4722K] reports U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged a man with assaulting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and destroying government property, marking at least the second criminal case to stem from clashes between protesters and federal agents in San Francisco this summer. Caleb Ranney faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine for each of the two charges, which are misdemeanors, if convicted. Prosecutors allege that on Aug. 8, Ranney "forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated and interfered" with a federal agent who was performing his official duties near the ICE field office at 630 Sansome St., but provided no further details of the allegations in court records. Ranney is also accused of damaging a sally port on the Jackson Street side of the building, causing less than $1,000 in damages. Court records filed on Friday stated that Ranney had not been arrested. His initial court appearance was scheduled for Dec. 19 in San Francisco. Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search. The Chronicle was not able to reach Ranney for comment, and it was unclear whether he had retained an attorney. Video footage of the Aug. 8 incident, published by Mission Local, showed ICE officers tackling and handcuffing two protesters before marching them into the nearby building. It’s unclear whether Ranney was one of the people seen in the video, or what happened immediately prior to the confrontation. Some of the earlier protests resulted in violent clashes between protesters and ICE agents. Ranney faces the same charges as Angelica Guerrero, another person who was arrested during a San Francisco ICE protest this summer. Officials said Guerrero slashed the tires of an ICE van on Aug. 20 while agents were attempting to put an arrestee in it, and "made repeated threats" to one agent, including threatening to stab the agent. Guerrero was held on a $10,000 bond and detained for a day in Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail before being released. She is due back in court Dec. 15.

Wall Street Journal [12/5/2025 3:34 PM, Lydia Wheeler, 646K] reports the Supreme Court will decide if President Trump can limit the practice of granting citizenship to children born in the U.S., setting up a potential landmark showdown over one of the president’s signature policies. The justices on Friday agreed to hear the Trump administration’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that found the president’s executive order ending birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. It will be the second time the Supreme Court has considered litigation over the birthright citizenship order. In June, the court’s conservative majority limited the power of lower-court judges to issue nationwide injunctions after the Trump administration challenged the scope of rulings blocking the president’s order. Now the court will weigh a different question—whether Trump can deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil if neither parent is a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident. A handful of courts have said Trump’s order, issued at the start of his second term, violates the 14th Amendment, which has long been understood to grant citizenship at birth to all but the children of foreign diplomats and foreign military forces in the U.S. The Trump administration argues that reading is wrong. U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer said the 14th Amendment was adopted to confer citizenship on Black Americans and their children newly freed from slavery, not on the children of illegal immigrants or people temporarily visiting the U.S. Allowing illegal immigrants to obtain the privilege of citizenship for their children “through wrongdoing—cutting ahead of those who seek entry and citizenship through lawful means—degrades that gift and dilutes its meaning,” he said. The case the justice agreed to hear stems from a class action brought by the parents of two babies born in the U.S. and a pregnant woman who has since given birth. They urged the justices to reject the administration’s appeal, saying the court already settled this question in 1898 in a case known as United States v. Wong Kim Ark.

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Axios [12/5/2025 6:00 PM, Jason Lalljee, 12972K]
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Washington Examiner [12/5/2025 2:49 PM, Jack Birle, 1394K]
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SFGate [12/5/2025 3:03 PM, Morgan Marietta, 13945K] reports the Supreme Court on Dec. 5, 2025, agreed to review the long-simmering controversy over birthright citizenship. It will likely hand down a ruling next summer. In January 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order removing the recognition of citizenship for the U.S.-born children of both immigrants here illegally and visitors here only temporarily. The new rule is not retroactive. This change in long-standing U.S. policy sparked a wave of litigation culminating in Trump v. Washington, an appeal by Trump to remove the injunction put in place by federal courts. When the justices weigh the arguments, they will focus on the meaning of the first sentence of the 14th Amendment, known as the citizenship clause: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Both sides agree that to be granted birthright citizenship under the Constitution, a child must be born inside U.S. borders and the parents must be "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. However, each side will give a very different interpretation of what the second requirement means. Who falls under "the jurisdiction" of the United States in this context? As a close observer of the court, I anticipate a divided outcome grounded in strong arguments from each side. Simply put, the argument against the Trump administration is that the 14th Amendment’s expansion of citizenship after the eradication of slavery was meant to be broad rather than narrow, encompassing not only formerly enslaved Black people but all persons who arrived on U.S. soil under the protection of the Constitution.

New York Times [12/6/2025 5:02 AM, Jazmine Ulloa and Orlando Mayorquín, 153395K] reports Raouf Vafaei followed all the rules. He obtained his green card, passed his civics test and his naturalization interview, and underwent multiple background checks. After eight years in the United States, Mr. Vafaei, an Iranian-born mental health worker who emigrated from Austria, was just days away from becoming an American citizen when he learned in a four-sentence email that his naturalization ceremony scheduled for Friday had been canceled. “I was so excited,” Mr. Vafaei, 41, said in an interview this week, referring to the honor of officially calling himself an American. His mother had even bought a new dress for the occasion. “This is one wish that many people have all over the world.” That honor is now paused, indefinitely. After an Afghan refugee was charged in last month’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, the Trump administration has made sweeping changes to limit legal immigration, including halting the entire process for people from 19 countries that the White House put under a travel ban earlier this year. From Massachusetts to California, people seeking citizenship and their lawyers say, federal immigration officials are canceling naturalization interviews and oath ceremonies for immigrants from Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, Haiti, Somalia and other countries restricted by Mr. Trump in June. Those almost-new citizens have been left in uncertainty about their futures in the United States, with some making sure they carry their documents in case they are questioned by immigration authorities as they go about their daily lives. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that oversees the immigration system, has not released data on the number of people affected, but the new wave of actions is likely to affect thousands from some of the poorest and most unstable nations in the world. Mr. Trump and his administration officials have argued their ban against these targeted nations is necessary to secure the country from “foreign terrorists” and those who overstay U.S. visas.

Bloomberg [12/5/2025 4:44 PM, Erik Larson, 18207K] reports President Donald Trump is fighting to end automatic citizenship for children born to parents who are in the country unlawfully or on temporary visas, part of his broader crackdown on undocumented immigrants and a change that could overturn more than a century of legal precedent.

Lower courts have uniformly said the executive order runs afoul of the Constitution, federal immigration law and Supreme Court precedent. But on Dec. 5, the Supreme Court said it will hear an appeal from the Trump administration.

ABC News [12/5/2025 5:29 PM, James Sample, 30493K] reports when the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Trump administration’s petitions seeking to resurrect Executive Order 14160 -- the president’s sweeping attempt to gut the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship -- it effectively placed one of the Constitution’s most settled commitments on the docket. The administration frames the dispute as a long-overdue "correction" to an overly generous citizenship regime, but the legal reality is far clearer: the executive order is an impossible fit with the text, history, and precedent surrounding the Citizenship Clause.

AP [12/5/2025 1:57 PM, Rebecca Santana, Dake Kang and Gisela Salomon, 31753K] reports when President Donald Trump suspended the refugee program on day one of his current administration, thousands of people around the world who had been so close to a new life in America found themselves abandoned. Many had already sold possessions or ended leases in preparation for travel. They had submitted reams of documents supporting their cases, been interviewed by U.S. officials and in many cases already had tickets to fly to America. As part of Trump’s crackdown on both legal and illegal migration, the Republican president has upended the decades-old refugee program that has served as a beacon for those fleeing war and persecution. In October, he resumed the program but set a historic low of refugee admissions at just 7,500 — mostly white South Africans. A litany of new restrictions was announced after an Afghan national became the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members last week. The Trump administration also plans a review of refugees let in during the Democratic Biden administration. Trump’s administration has cited economic and national security concerns for its policy changes. About 600,000 people were being processed to come to the U.S. as refugees around the world when the program was halted, according to the administration. Dozens of white South Africans have been let in this year. But only about 100 others have been admitted as a result of a lawsuit by advocates seeking to restart the refugee program, said Mevlüde Akay Alp, a lawyer arguing the case. “It’s important that we don’t abandon those families and that we don’t abandon the thousands of people who were relying on the promise of coming here as refugees,” said Akay Alp, with the International Refugee Assistance Project.

Bloomberg [12/5/2025 6:00 AM, Hadriana Lowenkron, 18207K] reports President Donald Trump’s team is grappling with how to welcome the world for next year’s World Cup as he battles with countries — including co-hosts in Canada and Mexico — over his America First policies. Trump’s preparations for hosting the world’s most popular sporting event are reaching a key milestone Friday with the tournament draw, a glitzy ceremony in which match-ups will be chosen that also serves as a televised celebration of global soccer. That spirit is colliding with Trump’s migrant crackdown — featuring masked agents rounding up people in aggressive, public operations — as well as with stricter visa rules, which have created concerns about the ability of international fans, players and staff to attend. Trade tensions with Ottawa and Mexico City have further cast a cloud over an event that was supposed to embody North American integration. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are expected to attend even as negotiations over North American trade have stalled for weeks as Trump has recently insinuated he could withdraw from a joint pact with the countries.

New York Times [12/5/2025 5:39 PM, Adam Crafton, 153395K] reports Haiti head coach Sebastien Migne has said the attendance of his side’s fans at the 2026 World Cup finals was dependent on U.S. President Donald Trump. The Caribbean nation are in the tournament for the first time since 1974, but the U.S. government currently do not allow the entry of nationals of Haiti as both immigrants and non-immigrants. Haiti was one of the 12 countries against which Trump signed a travel ban in June, a step he described as being essential to “protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people.” When Haiti head coach Migne was asked about any improvement politically ahead of next summer’s tournament, the 53-year-old reiterated it was in the hands of the U.S. President. “It depends on Mr. Trump,” Migne told The Athletic after Friday’s World Cup draw, when his side were drawn into Group C alongside Brazil, Morocco and Scotland. When put to him that Trump is a peace prize winner now (Trump won the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize ahead of Friday’s draw), Migne said: “Yeah, maybe he will continue with that (spirit) and he will open the possibility for the fans to come here. “I know we have a lot of Haitians in the States. So if we play in the Eastern part, maybe it would be interesting for us. We will find a solution and adaptation.

Reuters [12/5/2025 6:12 AM, Staff, 36480K] reports Afghans stranded in Pakistan while awaiting U.S. resettlement said Thursday (December 4) that Washington’s decision to pause immigration applications has shattered their expectations of relocation and left them vulnerable to possible mass deportations by Islamabad. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Bloomberg [12/5/2025 3:54 PM, Matthew Boesler, 18207K] reports spending in the US by foreign students fell in the 12 months through September by the most on record, excluding the pandemic, according to monthly figures published Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The 5.3% decline — amounting to about $3 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate — follows a crackdown by the Trump administration on visas for foreign students, which led to a plunge in enrollment in the 2025 fall semester. Such a drop in spending is unprecedented in data going back to 1982, outside of the Covid period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Friday’s report also showed overall spending in the US by foreigners — which includes travel and medical expenditures — was down 7.6%, or $16.6 billion, from a year earlier.

New York Times [12/5/2025 5:02 AM, Madeleine Ngo, 153395K] reports the Trump administration has made sweeping changes to the immigration system in the wake of last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan who received asylum in April, has been charged in the attack, which killed Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and seriously wounded Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe. Mr. Lakanwal has pleaded not guilty. President Trump has cited the shooting to deepen his crackdown on immigration. In the last week, officials have issued a number of policies upending the legal pathways for immigrants to enter or live in the United States, particularly for Afghans and other people from countries subject to Mr. Trump’s travel ban. For now, the new rules halt the ability of Afghans to obtain visas to come to the United States. But they also indefinitely prevent a broader swath of migrants already in the country from moving ahead with efforts to obtain benefits like green cards and citizenship. And they have halted decisions on asylum applications for people regardless of their nationality. It is unclear how long the administration will pause decisions on asylum and other benefit applications. On Tuesday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the hold would be “lifted by the U.S.C.I.S. director through a subsequent memorandum.”

Telemundo Washington DC [12/5/2025 11:30 PM, Staff, 61K] reports an international operation in the United States, El Salvador, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Colombia led to the arrest of 19 members of a criminal network that defrauded more than 700 people in 15 countries with fake US work visas, the Colombian Attorney General’s Office reported on Friday. "In this operation, various police agencies and the respective prosecutors’ offices arrested 19 people accused of coordinating to defraud citizens, mainly from Central America, who were interested in obtaining US visas," said Aura Liliana Trujillo, the Colombian Attorney General’s Office’s delegate for criminal finance, at a press conference. The official explained that the detainees posed as officials from U.S. agencies and led the victims to believe that they were participating in a process to obtain work visas to be hired in activities such as hospitality, construction, and gardening. In the case of Colombia, the prosecutor’s office delegate for criminal finance pointed out that they found that Medellín had "all the necessary infrastructure for forging these documents, such as a manual iron press with the seal of the US Department of State." The gang used fake government IDs, including social security cards and permanent US residency cards. The victims had to transfer between $50,000 and $90,000 in Miami, Houston, Boston, and Chicago to alleged US officials who were going to help them schedule visa appointments and obtain the document. In this way, the network defrauded 700 people from 15 countries in South America and the Caribbean and obtained at least $2.5 million. In Colombia, Danna Pamela Porras Marín, Andrés Giraldo Ospina, and Edwin Alberto Correa David were arrested and are being sought for extradition by the Southern District Court of Florida on charges related to wire fraud, money laundering, visa fraud, identity fraud, and foreign labor fraud.

Breitbart [12/5/2025 2:07 PM, Neil Munro, 2416K] reports that President Donald Trump’s promised $100,000 fee for importing H-1B workers next year will be a trivial fee for Silicon Valley companies, says the Iran-born CEO of a recruiting company. "$100k is a rounding error compared to the value each member of our team creates," said Shahriar Tajbakhsh, CEO of MetaviewAI, which sells software to help automate job interviews. The company also hires workers in India. "Make it per day," he taunted later. "I’ll set up a recurring payment." "That’s the arrogance," responded Hany Girgis, the chairman of Skillstorm, a company that trains Americans for jobs. He added: This is how lightly they take a $100K visa fee. That’s the message to American grads. And people still wonder why there’s a backlash. In September, for example, Trump revealed that 2.5 million white-collar foreign workers — not immigrants — hold "STEM" jobs sought by Americans and also imposed a $100,000 fee on the arrival of some H-1B workers for 2026. Since then, his deputies at the Department of Labor have begun investigations into the endemic fraud throughout the sector. An official at the Department of State promised to check the online history of H-1B candidates, and the Department of Homeland Security is drafting rules to reduce the share of lower-skilled migrants that arrive each year.

Telemundo20 [12/5/2025 3:50 PM, Guillermo Méndez, 57K] reports a judge grants conditional release to the wife of a Navy veteran, arrested by ICE during an interview at the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office. Chanidaphon Shasteen spent more than two weeks detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. She was arrested on November 18 during her interview to obtain legal permanent residency through her husband. The Thai native is married to Samuel Shasteen, a 20-year Navy veteran, including a couple of tours in Afghanistan. However, this Thursday in court, inside the same detention center, a judge approved the bail request in his case, setting the payment at $1,500. Samuel says his wife must wear an ankle monitor to fight her case from outside. Shasteen’s next hearing is scheduled for January 7.

Breitbart [12/5/2025 11:33 AM, Bob Price, 2416K] reports U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks announced this week that illegal aliens age 14 and older who entered the country without inspection will be assessed a $5,000 apprehension fee. The warning came as CBP Air and Marine Operations cautioned would‑be migrants against attempting illegal sea crossings, and the Department of Homeland Security declared that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem have delivered seven straight months with zero Border Patrol releases — the longest stretch in history. Chief Banks announced this week that under 8 U.S.C. §1815, all illegal aliens age 14 and older who entered the country without inspection will be assessed a $5,000 apprehension fee. Banks emphasized that the penalties apply regardless of how long an individual has been in the United States or whether they are currently in immigration proceedings. Additional violations under 8 U.S.C. §§2339 and 1324 are also in play, the chief stated. CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) reinforced the warning with a blunt message to would‑be migrants: "If you cross the border illegally, you will be caught, deported, and banned from ever returning to the United States. Don’t take to the sea!" The statement highlights the growing use of maritime routes by smugglers and underscores CBP’s commitment to shutting down illegal entry attempts by air and water as well as on land. The Department of Homeland Security capped the week’s announcements by declaring that President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem have delivered seven consecutive months with zero Border Patrol releases into the interior of the United States. DHS hailed the achievement as proof of the administration’s aggressive enforcement posture, calling it the "most secure border in history" and crediting coordinated efforts across agencies for unprecedented results.

NewsMax [12/5/2025 3:24 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports a New York state woman was an active cog in a dangerous human-smuggling pipeline pumping illegal aliens across the northern border — and now she’s finally facing the consequences, the Department of Justice announced Friday. Stacey Taylor, 42, of Plattsburgh, was arraigned this week on charges that she helped run an organized illegal-alien trafficking route from Canada into the United States, a route that prosecutors say put American communities at risk while she profited. U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped Taylor’s vehicle near Churubusco, New York, on Jan. 20. Inside, agents found four illegal aliens — "three Indian nationals and one Canadian national" — who "had just crossed the U.S.-Canadian border illegally, without inspection, in the freezing cold," according to the DOJ. Federal authorities say she was also intercepted in August in yet another suspected smuggling run and "was implicated in alien smuggling as recently as September 2025." The indictment charges Taylor with conspiracy and four counts of alien smuggling for profit, including three repeat offenses. If convicted, she faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison per count of alien smuggling for profit, meaning she could spend decades in federal prison. Homeland Security Investigations, CBP, and the U.S. Border Patrol Champlain Station worked the case with support from elite DHS and CBP interdiction teams.

NPR [12/5/2025 5:11 PM, Adrian Florido, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports the Border Patrol’s aggressive immigration operation in Charlotte, N.C., took the city by surprise. It lasted about a week, but immigrants and other residents say their city won’t ever be the same.

Telemundo [12/6/2025 12:17 AM, Staff, 2218K] reports "You have to get out of here right now," she shouted at them, holding the baby in one hand and recording with her cell phone in the other. The scene took place in Lafayette Park, where dozens of drivers honked their horns to force the officers to leave. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/5/2025 7:58 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports two men were arrested after authorities found 30 handguns allegedly destined for Mexico hidden in a spare tire during an inspection on the southern border in Texas, officials said Friday. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) seized the weapons this week at the Anzalduas Port of Entry in Mission, a town on the Texas-Mexico border, the agency said. DPS special agents searched a 2015 Chevy pickup as part of a multi-agency task force with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. "During the inspection, special agents discovered 30 handguns, including a 5.7-caliber FN Herstal, 60 magazines and one speed loader concealed inside the vehicle’s spare tire," a DPS news release states. According to a DPS official, the 5.7-caliber FN Herstal is known as a "cop-killer" weapon because the ammunition can pierce body armor. Investigators later discovered one of the handguns was reported stolen out of Austin, authorities said. The firearms were allegedly destined for Guanajuato in Mexico, where gun ownership is heavily restricted. The driver, Luis Torres Mujica, 30, a resident of Guanajuato, and his passenger, Jesse Joe Camacho, 28, of McAllen, Texas, were arrested and charged with theft of property and firearm smuggling, a second-degree felony.

San Diego Union Tribune [12/5/2025 10:18 PM, Alexandra Mendoza, 1538K] reports that, with illegal border crossings at their lowest in decades, the public can expect to see more Border Patrol agents stepping up their presence within the interior of the region, the new chief of the agency’s San Diego sector said Friday. Justin De La Torre takes the reins of the sector where he began his own career. It’s a border that looks very different now. Last month, the number of migrant encounters along the San Diego sector was 960, which is a 93% decrease compared to October 2024. At that time, much of the border agents’ work involved processing people arriving at the border, many of whom were seeking asylum. With this reduction in numbers as a result of the Trump administration’s policies to crack down on illegal immigration, agents can more proactively patrol along the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as farther north into San Diego County communities, he said Friday in a meeting with reporters. Community groups that closely monitor immigration enforcement operations throughout the county said this week that they have noticed an increased presence of Border Patrol agents working with federal immigration agents in the neighborhoods. “When we had 900 people a day illegally entering, we did not have the time and the ability to patrol, whether it’s in the United States, whether it’s in San Diego, or whether it’s all along the border,” he said. “Now we have the ability to do that.” Both Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement fall under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. De La Torre said that last fiscal year, there were about 324,000 apprehensions along the San Diego sector. He also acknowledged that “several thousand more got away from us.” “Our job is to make sure that we hold them accountable,” he said. “Whether someone entered the country unlawfully yesterday or five years ago, we are still focused on holding them accountable. “… That’s why you see Border Patrol agents more so now throughout the country doing that job. Working closely with our partners at ICE to ensure that we can hold people accountable.” De La Torre said one goal in particular is to combat criminal organizations that profit from human smuggling. Three weeks ago, four people died when a panga carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Imperial Beach. Those who survived said they had paid around $15,000 to be smuggled into the country. De La Torre noted that many people cross the border illegally for economic reasons, and many don’t have the money to pay the smugglers at the time of the arrangement. For this reason, people often agree to pay later. He said that cartels force people to work off their smuggling debts, which can take months or years. De La Torre said that the sector still records about 30 migrant encounters per day, and his goal is to bring that number down to zero.

Telemundo [12/6/2025 1:25 AM, Marinee Zavala, 57K] reports the Border Patrol in San Diego has a new chief, and amid the political climate and detentions experienced by the migrant community, TELEMUNDO20 asked him more about how he addresses this perception and even how much migrants are paying to cross irregularly into the United States. Justin De La Torre, chief of the Border Patrol in San Diego, who had been stationed at Imperial Beach since 2000, later worked in Washington, D.C., and Arizona, and is now returning to San Diego, explained that migrants pay an average of $15,000 to cross by sea and up to $10,000 to cross by land—fees that, according to reports, are demanded by cartels, sometimes even in installments. “People have told me directly, people I’ve arrested have told me they’ve had to work and pay up to $800 a week to human smugglers for six months, a year, for five years, until they’ve paid off that debt,” said Justin de la Torre, chief of the Border Patrol in San Diego. Many of these payments are made after crossing, when migrants get a job and begin to pay off the debt through electronic money transfers. “People told me that the smugglers threatened them and said they would hurt their families in Mexico or wherever they came from if they didn’t pay that debt,” said Justin de la Torre. In San Diego, four people died during the month of November while trying to cross into the United States by sea, and according to the Border Patrol, approximately 30 people attempt to cross each day. All of this is happening while ICE operations have drawn international attention. The new chief said that more Border Patrol agents will be seen on the county’s streets. He also mentioned collaboration with agencies ranging from the National Guard to the new head of ICE in San Diego, with whom he said he had already been in contact. Brightman, he confirmed, is listed on the San Diego Sector Chiefs and Sheriff’s Deputies Association website as Chief of Operations and Removals. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Signal [12/5/2025 8:00 AM, Kevin Stocklin, 549K] reports as Americans adapt to new regulations requiring Real ID to board flights, critics assert that these documents are more than upgraded driver’s licenses; they are the latest component in the creation of national biometric databases and surveillance systems. "Most people look at the card and they say, ‘This is just a driver’s license with a star,’ but that’s not true," Twila Brase, president of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, told The Daily Signal. "It is a federal ID masquerading as a state driver’s license." Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., posted on X in April that "Real ID is a national standard and database of IDs that is primarily a tool for control of Americans." On May 6, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that more than 80% of Americans had already complied with Real ID, and that airline passengers who did not have Real ID or U.S. passports would be subjected to extra security steps—and potentially fees as well. Real ID advocates say it is necessary to fight terrorism and illegal voting, but critics dispute this. Former Rep. Ron Paul wrote in April that "REAL ID does nothing to protect the American people’s safety. It does, though, do much to endanger their liberty. REAL ID could even be the final piece of the transformation of America into a total surveillance society where government monitors, and thus controls, our actions." Paul added that the DHS secretary could require new biometrics in the future, including retina scans, fingerprints, and DNA.

The Hill [12/5/2025 4:54 PM, Rachel Frazin, 12595K] reports Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) said Friday he will lift his remaining holds on President Trump’s nominees to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the department approved disaster recovery funds for his state. Budd had holds on Sean Plankey, who was nominated to be director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Pedro Allende, who was nominated to be under secretary for Science and Technology. His announcement comes after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved $29 million in reimbursements for Hurricane Helene recovery projects in North Carolina. He previously lifted his hold on James Percival, who was nominated to be the agency’s general counsel, after FEMA approved another $155 million. However, he also noted that there’s still more funding that has yet to be approved.

AP [12/5/2025 7:51 PM, Jim Vertuno, 13945K] reports that, in an instant, frantic voices overwhelmed the two county emergency dispatchers on duty in the Texas Hill Country as catastrophic flooding inundated cabins and youth camps along the Guadalupe River. A firefighter clinging to a tree who watched his wife be swept away. A family breaking through their roof, hoping for rescue. A woman calling from an all-girls camp, waters swirling around and unsure how to escape. Their panic-stricken pleas were among more than 400 calls for help across Kerr County last summer when unimaginable floods hit during the overnight hours on the July Fourth holiday, according to recordings of the calls released Friday. "There’s water filling up super fast, we can’t get out of our cabin," a camp counselor told a dispatcher above the screams of campers in the background. "We can’t get out of our cabin, so how do we get to the boats?". Amazingly, everyone in the cabin and the rest of campers at Camp La Junta were rescued. Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search. The flooding killed at least 136 people statewide during the holiday weekend, including at least 117 in Kerr County alone. Most were from Texas, but others came from Alabama, California and Florida, according to a list released by county officials. One woman called for help as the water closed in on her house near Camp Mystic, a century-old summer camp for girls, where 25 campers and two teenage counselors died. "We’re OK, but we live a mile down the road from Camp Mystic and we had two little girls come down the river. And we’ve gotten to them, but I’m not sure how many others are out there," she said in a shaky voice. A spokesperson for the parents of the children and counselors who died at Camp Mystic declined to comment on the release of the recordings. Many residents in the hard-hit Texas Hill Country have said they were caught off guard and didn’t receive any warning when the floods overtopped the Guadalupe River. Kerr County leaders have faced scrutiny about whether they did enough right away. Two officials told Texas legislators this summer that they were asleep during the initial hours of the flooding, and a third was out of town. Using recordings of first responder communications, weather service warnings, survivor videos and official testimony, The Associated Press assembled a chronology of the chaotic rescue effort. The AP was one of the media outlets that filed public information requests for recordings of the 911 calls to be released. Many people were rescued by boats and emergency vehicles. A few desperate pleas came from people floating away in RVs. Some survivors were found in trees and on rooftops. But some of the calls released Friday came from people who did not survive, said Kerrville Police Chief Chris McCall, who warned that the audio is unsettling.

AP [12/5/2025 9:44 PM, Heather Hollingsworth, Claudia Lauer and Jim Vertuno, 31753K] reports a man clinging to a tree on the Guadalupe River and screaming for a helicopter rescue. A father hustling his family into the attic to escape the rising waters. A Camp Mystic staffer pleading with a 911 operator to send help immediately. Five months after catastrophic flooding killed more than 100 people in a single hard-hit county in the Texas Hill Country, hundreds of 911 audio files released Friday give a new glimpse into the terror and panic that surrounded the July 4 floods. Here are the stories of desperate victims of the catastrophic deluge in Kerr County: Water was rising in a home near the river on Highway 39 when a dispatcher asked a terrified caller if he needed police, fire or emergency medical services to help him. "I need everything sir," the man said. "My house is so flooded. The water is 3 feet (1 meter) up. I’ve got children here. I just need somebody to be aware. I am afraid this is all going to go.” The dispatcher urged the caller to get as high above the ground level as he can. "Let’s go," the man tells his family. "Get in there. Get up there.” "We don’t know what to do," a woman calling from Camp Mystic told a dispatcher as she begged them to send help soon. The frantic-sounding dispatcher cut her off and said they were fielding "tons of calls about the flooding" and advised the woman to go to the highest point that she could. "We’re working on it as fast as we can," she said. The woman calling for help appeared confused. "There is water everywhere, we cannot move. We are upstairs in a room and the water level is rising," the woman responded. "If the water will be in our room, what should we do?". After getting disconnected, the woman called back to repeat her increasingly frantic questions. "How do we get to the roof if the water is so high?" she asked. Asked when help would arrive, the dispatcher responded, "I don’t know. I don’t know.” Minutes later, sounds of screaming can be heard in the background as an employee at the camp called, telling a dispatcher that a wall had been destroyed. "We need help," the woman says frantically. The flood killed 25 girls and two teenage counselors at Camp Mystic, and the owner of the all-girls camp also died. A woman who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Camp Mystic tells a dispatcher that they found campers. "We’ve already got two little girls who have come down the river," the woman says. "And we’ve gotten to them but I’m not sure how many others are out there," she says in a shaky voice. She says the girls are at her house, and they’re the only ones she’s seen at this point. A man tells a dispatcher he’s in a building stuck in a room, with the water almost up to his head. The dispatcher asks if he can get on top of the building. "No, I can’t!" the man says frantically. He tells the dispatcher a window is broken and there’s water rushing in. "I’m inside the building. I’m stuck in this room. I can’t get out," the man yells. The dispatcher tells him they’re sending people, trying to get them there soon. He leaves the call saying, "The best I can say is to try to keep your head above the water.”

Politico [12/5/2025 4:31 PM, Jeremy B. White and Liam Dillon, 2100K] reports Gavin Newsom accused the Trump administration of rebuffing a meeting request as the California governor seeks more wildfire recovery aid in Washington, casting the refusal to make a staffer available as an unprecedented breach. The Democratic governor’s staff said the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Resources Management Agency, told them FEMA’s acting director was unavailable and did not offer another official to meet with as Newsom presses Congress for $33.9 billion. The Newsom administration framed that freezeout as part of a larger abandonment of the Los Angeles area, arguing the White House has broken with precedent by not sending a funding proposal to Congress. “The Trump Administration refused a routine wildfire recovery meeting — a rejection we’ve never seen before — even as LA families near a year without long-term federal financial help,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement. “The message to survivors is unmistakable: Donald Trump doesn’t care about them.” A Department of Homeland Security official did not immediately offer a response to the Newsom administration’s claims.

Los Angeles Times [12/5/2025 6:39 PM, Ana Ceballos and Melody Gutierrez, 14862K] reports Gov. Gavin Newsom kept a low profile as he swung through the nation’s capital this week, holding meetings with a handful of lawmakers Friday on Capitol Hill as he renewed calls for billions in federal recovery aid following the Los Angeles fires. Newsom told The Times that the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied his request for a meeting, a setback that underscored the political friction with the Trump administration surrounding California’s $33.9-billion appeal for long-term disaster funding nearly a year after the devastating Los Angeles fires ignited. The governor said his visit was meant to make "the universal case for support for recovery," not just for California, but for other states that were hit with disasters, such as Texas and North Carolina. Newsom noted that the funding is vital for fire victims. Newsom is urging the Trump administration to send Congress a formal request for $33.9 billion in recovery aid needed to rebuild homes, schools, utilities and other critical infrastructure destroyed or damaged when the fires tore through neighborhoods beginning Jan. 7. The governor said there is bipartisan support in Congress for long-term aid. But, he said, the Trump administration has not advanced any recovery proposal since his initial request was filed in February. That request was for nearly $40 billion, but has since been decreased by what has already been paid out, according to a letter Newsom sent to Congressional leaders Wednesday.

New York Post [12/6/2025 12:14 AM, Victor Nava, 42219K] reports the White House tore into Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday after he claimed the Trump administration refused to meet with him Friday during a visit to Washington aimed at securing more wildfire recovery aid. More than $7 billion in federal funds have been issued to California since January, when the Palisades and Eaton fires torched thousands of acres of land and high-priced homes, but the Golden State governor wants a lot more. Newsom formally requested an additional $34 billion from Congress earlier this week – down from his initial $40 billion ask in February – and met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to push for the additional funds. Officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), however, rebuffed Newsom’s meeting request, according to the governor’s office. "Today, I had productive meetings with leaders on both sides of the aisle who agreed that recovery funding is vital, while federal officials from the Trump administration turned their backs on survivors by refusing to even meet with us," Newsom said in a statement. "President Trump’s promise to ‘take care’ of survivors was clearly a lie," the governor charged. "He isn’t here for the people of Los Angeles, just like he isn’t here for everyday Americans. "That’s not just disrespectful, it’s a disgrace – and it’s time for him to wake up and do his job.” Newsom’s office described the request to meet with FEMA Acting Administrator Karen Evans as "routine," and the alleged rejection as unprecedented. DHS informed Newsom’s team that Evans was "not able to accommodate a meeting" and offered no alternatives with other Trump administration officials, according to the governor’s office. Newsom’s team claimed the Trump administration’s unwillingness to push for more wildfire recovery funds for California is "abnormal" and a sharp break from how his predecessors have responded to natural disasters. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Post that "Newscum has no idea what he’s talking about," using Trump’s derisive nickname for the Golden State governor. "President Trump’s historic leadership following the LA wildfires led to the fastest hazardous debris removal operation in history," Jackson said. "This has played a critical role in helping communities recover from tragedy. "And when Democrat politicians and bureaucrats said something like this was impossible, President Trump found a solution.” The White House spokeswoman argued that Trump "expedited" the wildfire recovery process, while Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass "made the disaster worse than it needed to be.” "They drained the Santa Ynez Reservoir and failed to prepare to utilize pumps and aqueducts. Then, they slowed the recovery process with permit approvals dragging on despite the President’s tremendous efforts to help the overall process," Jackson said. FEMA and DHS did not respond to a request for comment.

FOX News [12/5/2025 4:18 PM, Diana Stancy, 40621K] reports the Coast Guard cutter Munro seized more than 20,000 pounds of cocaine in a single drug interdiction mission Tuesday, the largest seizure a national security cutter had completed involving a go-fast vessel. New video footage shared with Fox News Digital depicts Coast Guard forces, including a sniper from the service’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) based in Jacksonville, Florida, utilizing disabling fire against a go-fast vessel as it completes a drug interdiction mission for Operation Pacific Viper. The amount of cocaine seized in the mission, which occurred in the Eastern Pacific south of Mexico, amounts to more than 7.5 million potentially lethal doses, according to the service. As of October, the Coast Guard reported it had snatched 100,000 pounds of cocaine in the eastern Pacific Ocean under Operation Pacific Viper. That translates to roughly 1,600 pounds of cocaine nabbed daily, according to the service.

Telemundo [12/5/2025 11:22 PM, Staff, 2218K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard seized more than 20,000 pounds of cocaine during an operation that took place last Tuesday in the Eastern Pacific, south of the coast of Mexico, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In a message on social media on Friday, DHS posted a video showing a sniper from the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Tactical Interdiction Squadron opening fire on a boat during Operation Pacific Viper. The sniper manages to hit the boat’s engine, which is left adrift and without its propulsion system. After the incident, a Coast Guard vessel approaches the speedboat and members of the agency board it to seize the drug shipment. The message posted by DHS on X states: "Operation Pacific Viper eliminates narco-terrorists in the Eastern Pacific. On Tuesday, the Coast Guard Cutter Munro intercepted more than 20,000 pounds of cocaine in a single mission, equivalent to more than 7.5 million potentially lethal doses." The text, however, makes no direct mention of any occupants of the vessel. The Coast Guard reported in November that during fiscal year 2025, which began on October 1, 2024, and ended on September 30, 2025, it seized 510,000 pounds of cocaine, the largest amount of this narcotic ever confiscated in the agency’s history. In a separate operation, the Coast Guard reported Friday that three people were arrested by U.S. authorities on Tuesday after seizing 1,685 kilograms (1.7 tons) of cocaine, valued at about $28 million, which was found on a boat during the operation on the high seas off Miami Beach. The drugs were found on a cargo ship about two miles east of Government Cut, the channel connecting Biscayne Bay to the Atlantic Ocean, the Coast Guard reported on Friday. The operation was led by that agency, with support from Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Maritime Operations (CBP AMO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The agents carried out the initial interdiction and used specialized maritime units and advanced search tools. "This was the largest cocaine seizure made by a Coast Guard small boat station since 1995," said Lieutenant Matthew Ross, commander of the Miami Beach station. Once the vessel was brought to the dock, the Port of Miami’s Field Operations Office (FOO) alerted authorities to multiple hiding places inside the ship. An inspection led to the discovery of more than 1,000 packages of cocaine. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS Miami [12/5/2025 6:18 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports officials said the cocaine was packed in 1,000 packages and carry a street value of around $28 million.d

The Hill [12/5/2025 11:31 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12595K] reports that a rescue helicopter was returned to Newport, Ore., on Thursday after local leaders filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for repositioning the aircraft and thus prolonging emergency response times. "Some great news: I just got off the phone with the U.S. Coast Guard, who has returned the rescue helicopter to Newport and promised to keep it there," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote in a Thursday post on social platform X, confirming the move. "This is a big win to keep fishermen and the Newport community safe." Last month, the state’s Lincoln County and the nonprofit Newport Fishermen’s Wives sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Coast Guard for stationing the helicopter approximately 70 miles south of Newport in North Bend, according to OregonLive. The two plaintiffs cited concerns for frigid water temperatures that can cause people to drown within one to three minutes of immersion, according to court records obtained by the outlet. By shifting the helicopter’s base farther south, plaintiffs said it would impede on critical rescue missions. The lawsuit added that search and rescue crews would need 60-90 minutes to respond rather than the 15-30 minutes it would take if stationed in Newport. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken issued a temporary restraining order Nov. 24 noting "the danger presented by the lack of rescue helicopter."

Daily Caller [12/5/2025 10:03 AM, Hudson Crozier, 835K] reports Attorney General Pam Bondi instructed federal law enforcement agents on Thursday to form a list of Antifa groups for potential prosecution, according to multiple reports. Bondi’s order is part of a broader counterterrorism plan after President Donald Trump’s directives targeting the Antifa movement and organized political violence, Reuters and Bloomberg Law reported, citing a Thursday memo from Bondi. The FBI must provide within 30 days a list of groups "engaged in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism" along with strategies to disrupt them, with an emphasis on left-wing extremists, the memo reportedly says. "These domestic terrorists use violence or the threat of violence to advance political and social agendas, including opposition to law and immigration enforcement; extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders; adherence to radical gender ideology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity," Bondi wrote, according to Reuters. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces, comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, "shall prioritize the investigation of such conduct," Bondi reportedly said. The Trump appointee also told the bureau to work with state and local law enforcement partners to form the list of extremist groups, Bloomberg Law reported.

AP [12/5/2025 6:31 PM, Dave Collins and Michael R. Sisak, 31753K] reports a former high-level agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and an associate have been charged with conspiring to launder millions of dollars and obtain military-grade firearms and explosives for a Mexican drug cartel, according to an indictment unsealed Friday in New York. Paul Campo, 61, of Oakton, Virginia, who retired from the DEA in 2016 after a 25-year career, and Robert Sensi, 75, of Boca Raton, Florida, were caught in sting involving a law enforcement informant who posed as a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, prosecutors said. The cartel, also known as CJNG, was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. in February. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said Campo betrayed his DEA career by helping the cartel, which he said was responsible for “countless deaths through violence and drug trafficking in the United States and Mexico.” Campo and Sensi appeared Friday afternoon before a magistrate judge in New York, who ordered them detained without bail. Their lawyers entered not guilty pleas on their behalf. Campo’s lawyer, Mark Gombiner, called the indictment “somewhat sensationalized and somewhat incoherent.” He denied the two men had agreed to explore obtaining weapons for the cartel.

Reuters [12/5/2025 1:50 PM, Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch, 36480K] reports the man suspected of planting pipe bombs in Washington the night before the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack appeared in court on Friday to face federal criminal charges, a day after his arrest in a case that long vexed investigators. Brian Cole Jr., 30, of Virginia, appeared in Washington federal court with his attorney to face two explosives-related charges. Wearing a tan prison jumpsuit, Cole calmly answered "yes" to a series of questions from a federal magistrate judge about whether he understood his rights. Cole has been cooperating with the FBI since his arrest and has told agents he believes conspiracy theories spread by President Donald Trump about the 2020 election, according to two sources briefed on the investigation. Trump continues to falsely claim that his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud, a view that inspired the attack on the Capitol by his supporters. Investigators are also exploring indications that Cole may hold anarchist views, one of the sources added.

FOX News [12/5/2025 11:53 AM, Michael Dorgan, Jake Gibson, David Spunt, and Bill Mears, 40621K] Video: HERE reports the accused D.C. pipe bomber has been speaking with investigators for hours, admitting he planted the devices and expressing doubts about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, a source close to the investigation tells Fox News. The explosive devices were placed near the Republican and Democratic National Committees’ headquarters on Capitol Hill just hours before the Jan. 6, 2021 congressional certification that erupted into riots by demonstrators. The suspect, Brian Cole Jr., is scheduled to make a federal court appearance later Friday for a first appearance before a magistrate as FBI interviews with him continue. He has not yet entered a plea. Cole was arrested on Thursday outside his Virginia home and has since made multiple statements to federal law enforcement, said the source. A second source tells Fox News that the suspect’s possible motivation is just one piece of information developed early in an active, ongoing investigation and that no full picture of the suspect has emerged. But the suspect’s statements about the 2020 election and his apparent support for President Donald Trump may offer a hint at a possible motive for allegedly planting the pipe bombs, which did not detonate. FBI and DOJ officials have been officially mum on a motive, but indicated more information would be released soon, along with possibly more criminal charges. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [12/5/2025 1:25 PM, Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Kunzelman, 13945K] reports the man accused of planting a pair of pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of the U.S. Capitol attack told investigators he was "disappointed" in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election lost by President Donald Trump, the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital said Friday. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told ABC News Live that she believes it is "unmistakable" that Brian Cole Jr. was responsible for placing the pipe bombs based on evidence collected by investigators. Pirro also suggested Cole may have been motivated by claims by Trump and his Republican allies that the 2020 election was stolen from him. "He was disappointed in various aspects of the election, but this guy was an equal opportunity bomber," Pirro said. "He was disappointed to a great deal in the system. Both sides of the system.” Cole confessed to planting the devices on Jan. 5, 2021, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Cole also indicated that he believed conspiracy theories around the 2020 election and expressed views supportive of Trump, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss by name an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. Cole spoke to law enforcement officers for more than four hours after his arrest, a federal prosecutor, Charles Jones, said Friday during Cole’s initial court appearance. The details add to a still-emerging portrait of the 30-year-old suspect from Woodbridge, Virginia, and it was not immediately clear what other information or perspectives he may have shared while cooperating with law enforcement following his arrest Thursday. Surveillance video captured the suspect’s movements through the area where the pipe bombs were placed and the surrounding neighborhood. The suspect, whose face was obscured by a mask, was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, gloves and Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes. "He told us that he had those sneakers and that he got rid of them after he placed the pipe bombs," Pirro said. The FBI said a comparison of records from nearby cell towers and for Cole’s cellphone indicate he was near the RNC and DNC around the same time that the pipe bombs were placed there. "In my mind, they were on the right path when it was clear that the cellphone was pinging in the exact locations where we had the video of the suspect walking along the area," Pirro said. "Everywhere he walked, his cellphone was pinging at the cell tower. So it is unmistakable that he was the guy who was walking along and placing those items.” Investigators also obtained credit card records that show Cole bought items consistent with components used to make the pipe bombs placed at the RNC and DNC, according to the FBI. U.S. Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya ordered Cole to remain in jail after his first court appearance. He did not enter a plea and is due back in court Dec. 15 for a detention hearing.

Breitbart [12/5/2025 6:51 PM, Olivia Rondeau, 2416K] reports the man accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington, D.C. ahead of the January 6, 2021 Capitol protest reportedly confessed to the crime and told the FBI that he believed President Donald Trump was the rightful winner of the 2020 election — though his family’s company had lost a lawsuit they filed against the Trump administration just weeks before the bombs were placed. Brian Cole Jr., 30, was arrested by FBI officials at his family home in Northern Virginia on Thursday before confessing to placing the devices, which did not explode, outside the Republican and Democrat national party headquarters near the U.S. Capitol on January 5, 2021, sources told MS NOW. The two people familiar with Cole Jr.’s FBI interview also told the outlet that the suspect said he was a Trump supporter who thought he had actually beat then-President-elect Joe Biden, though his social media posts appearing to "express anarchist leanings" have made determining a motive complicated for investigators, the outlet reported. "It’s not yet clear what the drivers were," an anonymous law enforcement official said. Investigators have not found any evidence that the Virginia man colluded with any militant groups or other Trump supporters who breached the Capitol building the day after the bombs were planted, the sources added. One of "several" of StateWide’s lawsuits was filed in 2018 against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and administration officials including then-acting ICE Director Tom Homan. "Hundreds of Plaintiffs’ clients fail to appear because Defendants fail to (1) provide said person with a specified date, time, and location to appear in court," the complaint stated. "Then, only after the subject immigrant fails to appear, these Defendants expect Plaintiffs to find the person in less than 10 days (many times less than 48 hours), or suffer the penalty of paying the sum total of millions of dollars."

FOX News [12/5/2025 8:21 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley breaks down the potential for terrorism charges against the D.C. January 6 pipe bomb suspect and the validity of an insanity plea from the defense on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [12/5/2025 5:21 PM, Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer, 135475K] reports Dan Bongino, the No. 2 official at the F.B.I., spent much of Thursday basking in praise for his role in catching a man charged with planting two pipe bombs near Republican and Democratic party headquarters on the eve of Jan. 6, 2021. He ended with a stunning suggestion that his previous claim that the case was an “inside job” abetted by a federal cover-up had been fodder for his lucrative podcast. That the case appeared to involve a set of facts utterly at odds with his prior narrative did not seem to bother Mr. Bongino. But others on the right were not nearly as willing to move on so quickly. Investigators have found no evidence that the man charged in the case, Brian Cole Jr., 30, of Virginia, has any connection to the government, foreign countries or political groups, according to people familiar with the situation. At a brief appearance in Federal District Court in Washington on Friday, prosecutors said that Mr. Cole spoke with law enforcement officers for more than four hours after his arrest. He is set to return to court on Dec. 15 to determine his bail.

USA Today [12/5/2025 7:46 AM, Hannah Workman and Jeanine Santucci, 67103K] reports authorities in California are offering rewards totaling $80,000 for information leading to the arrest of one or more suspects who opened fire on a child’s birthday party last weekend, killing four and wounding 13. The reward money is offered by multiple community organizations and law enforcement agencies. Authorities have not publicly identified any suspects in the Nov. 29 shooting in Stockton, about 50 miles outside of Sacramento, and the investigation remains ongoing. The FBI announced it is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information that leads to the suspects’ capture. Authorities are asking anyone with photos or videos of the incident to submit them to tips.fbi.gov, along with a description of the file’s location and the time it was recorded. Stockton Crime Stoppers is offering another $25,000, a number that rose after Mayor Christina Fugazi contributed $10,000 and District 2 Councilmember Mariela Ponce pledged $5,000. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling (209) 946-0600 or visiting stocktoncrimestoppers.org. The Young Peace and Justice Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending the epidemic of violence and advocating for the welfare of youth and community safety across the United States, is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of the suspects.

Los Angeles Times [12/5/2025 6:00 AM, Kate Linthicum and Jared Olson, 14862K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly insisted that she will not allow the U.S. military to fight drug cartels inside her nation’s borders. "It’s not going to happen," Sheinbaum said last month after President Trump yet again threatened such an operation. "We don’t want intervention by any foreign government." But while Sheinbaum passionately defends her nation’s sovereignty, recent polls and interviews from across Mexico show that a significant number of people here in fact welcome more American involvement in their country’s battle against organized crime — including having U.S. boots on the ground. Slightly more than half of Mexicans surveyed by polling firm Mitofsky said they believe "U.S. authorities should enter Mexican territory to fight organized crime and arrest its leaders." A third of respondents to a poll by El Financerio newspaper said they support the deployment of the U.S. military to Mexico to combat cartels. Let the Americans come, so this hell that so many families in Mexico are experiencing can finally end.

FOX News [12/5/2025 2:05 PM, Rachel Wolf Fox, 40621K] reports that President Donald Trump put forward a sweeping set of national security goals in which he vows to enforce the Monroe Doctrine while adding his own corollary aimed at expanding U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere and countering adversaries’ growing footprint. In the 33-page blueprint, the Trump administration asserts that a "reasonably stable" Western Hemisphere where governments work together to fight malign foreign influence is key to U.S. national security. To achieve this, the administration vows in the document to "assert and enforce a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine." Former President James Monroe issued the doctrine in his seventh annual address to Congress on Dec. 2, 1823, warning European powers against interfering in the Western Hemisphere through political influence or colonization. The U.S. Office of the Historian, part of the State Department, notes that although European nations initially paid little attention to Monroe’s declaration, it eventually became "a longstanding tenet of U.S. foreign policy." "After years of neglect, the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere, and to protect our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region," the document reads. "This ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine is a common-sense and potent restoration of American power and priorities, consistent with American security interests."

Axios [12/5/2025 7:04 AM, Andrew Childers, 12972K] reports the Trump administration blamed much of America’s and the world’s current woes on immigration in an explosive new national security document that accuses Europe of undermining peace in Ukraine and China of ripping off the U.S. The National Security Strategy, released Friday morning, asserts a "‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine" that declares the U.S. will assert its political, economic and military will across the Western Hemisphere. The strategy lays out President Trump’s vision for the global order, where America asserts dominance over its hemisphere, refocuses on competing with China while avoiding war, and deprioritizes engagement with large parts of the globe, including Africa. "The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over," the strategy says. There is a gap between the strategy and Trump’s actual policy a year into his second administration. His plan to head a governing board for Gaza, for example, seems misaligned with the strategy of shifting away from nation-building in the Middle East. At the root of many of the world’s problems lies immigration, according to Trump. Mass migration is changing the culture and economies of the world’s traditional powers, undermining their dominance. "In countries throughout the world, mass migration has strained domestic resources, increased violence and other crime, weakened social cohesion, distorted labor markets, and undermined national security. The era of mass migration must end," the strategy says.

AP [12/5/2025 11:40 AM, Michelle L. Price, 31753K] reports President Donald Trump’s administration has set forth a new national security strategy that paints European allies as weak and aims to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The document released Friday by the White House is sure to roil long-standing U.S. allies in Europe for its scathing critiques of their migration and free speech policies, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilizational erasure” and raising doubts about their long-term reliability as American partners. At the same time the administration is sharply critical of its democratic allies in Europe and carrying out a pressure campaign of boat strikes in South America, it chides past U.S. efforts to shape or criticize Middle Eastern nations and seeks to discourage attempts for changes in those countries’ governments and policies. The strategy reinforces, in sometimes chilly and bellicose terms, Trump’s “America First” philosophy, which favors nonintervention overseas, questions decades of strategic relationships and prioritizes U.S. interests. The U.S. strategy “is motivated above all by what works for America — or, in two words, ‘America First,’” the document said. This is the first national security strategy, a document the administration is required by law to release, since the Republican president’s return to office in January. It is a stark break from the course set by President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, which sought to reinvigorate alliances after many were rattled in Trump’s first term and to check a more assertive Russia.

Daily Wire [12/5/2025 6:35 AM, Hank Berrien, 2494K] reports the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS), released by the White House under President Trump, frames his second administration as a decisive restoration of American strength following what he describes as years of drift and weakness. The document opens with a triumphant narrative of renewal: the border secured through military deployment, the Armed Forces purged of "woke" influences, a trillion-dollar rearmament launched, and NATO allies compelled to raise defense spending up to 5% of GDP — an unprecedented level. The document also emphasizes a bold direction for the Trump administration. "It is not grounded in traditional, political ideology. It is motivated above all by what works for America—or, in two words, ‘America First,’" it states. These measures, alongside the elimination of Iran’s nuclear program under "Operation Midnight Hammer" and the classification of transnational cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, are presented as proof that American power and deterrence have been revived. The strategy positions these moves within a broader "America First" framework — assertive, self-sufficient, and unapologetically sovereign — designed to usher in a "new golden age" of national vigor and global influence. The NSS justifies this approach by arguing that previous post-Cold War strategies overstretched the United States. According to the document, earlier administrations assumed that perpetual global dominance was sustainable and morally imperative, leading to open-ended commitments, economic dependence, and undue deference to multilateral institutions that eroded U.S. sovereignty.

CNN [12/5/2025 4:13 PM, Haley Britzky, 18595K] reports the US Army officially stood up a new command on Friday to oversee the Army’s activities in the Western Hemisphere in the latest signal of increasing focus on homeland defense. The new command, called Army Western Hemisphere Command, will combine US Army Forces Command, US Army North, and US Army South into one organization, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The combined organization will oversee Army operations like that at the southern border, disaster response, and Army mobilizations in support of federal law enforcement around the country. Army leadership said in May that it would merge the commands in a letter to the force following a directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said the Army "must prioritize defending our homeland and deterring China." The ceremony on Friday comes just hours after the White House released the new National Security Strategy, which directs a "readjustment" of the US military’s presence in the Western Hemisphere. The new strategy calls for "[t]argeted deployments to secure the border and defeat cartels, including where necessary the use of lethal force to replace the failed law enforcement-only strategy of the last several decades."

FOX News [12/5/2025 3:10 PM, Morgan Phillips, 40621K] reports the Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy marks a sweeping shift in America’s defense priorities, downplaying Islamic terrorism and decades of Middle East–centric policymaking in favor of asserting U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere and treating mass migration as the top national security threat. In language that departs from every post-9/11 strategy document, the White House argues that the Middle East is no longer the primary driver of global instability and says the "era of mass migration must end," elevating border security and counter-cartel operations to core national defense missions. The strategy introduces a "Trump Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine to block foreign powers from gaining influence in the Americas and calls for shifting military resources away from long-standing theaters abroad. The original Monroe Doctrine warned European powers against interfering in the Western Hemisphere; its revival — and expansion — signals one of the clearest hemispheric doctrines in modern U.S. foreign policy. The move reflects a broader effort to redefine U.S. national security around hemispheric threats, migration pressures and great-power competition instead of Islamist extremism, either at home or abroad. The document argues that instability in Latin America — from record migration flows to cartel violence to expanding Chinese and Russian influence — now poses more direct risks to the U.S. homeland than conflicts in the Middle East. Whether the administration will translate the document’s rhetoric into policy remains uncertain; previous presidents have struggled to align national security strategies with real-world deployments. The document does not offer any specific insight into force posture changes. Even as the strategy emphasizes the Western Hemisphere, it dedicates several pages to China and the Indo-Pacific and the importance of domestic supply chains and strengthening military deterrence in the South China Sea.

FOX News [12/5/2025 8:29 AM, Rachel Wolf Fox, 40621K] reports President Donald Trump unveiled a new national security blueprint in which he declares "the era of mass migration is over" and paints China as a central threat to the U.S. In the 33-page document released Friday morning, the president sets the stage for a foreign policy overhaul. "This document is a roadmap to ensure that America remains the greatest and most successful nation in human history, and the home of freedom on earth. In the years ahead, we will continue to develop every dimension of our national strength," Trump’s letter at the top of the document reads. In the section on mass migration, the document underscores the importance of who is let into the country, saying that those who are allowed into our borders will "inevitably define the future" of our nation. It points out that nations throughout history have prohibited unregulated migration and employed strict standards when determining who should be granted citizenship. "In countries throughout the world, mass migration has strained domestic resources, increased violence and other crime, weakened social cohesion, distorted labor markets, and undermined national security. The era of mass migration must end. Border security is the primary element of national security," the document reads. The blueprint emphasizes the dangers that come with uncontrolled migration, such as terrorism, drugs, espionage and human trafficking.

Breitbart [12/5/2025 5:07 PM, Neil Munro, 2416K] reports President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy rejects the establishment’s much-repeated claim that diverse migration makes the nation stronger. The statement echoes Trump’s zig-zag push to grow the economy and prosperity via high-tech productivity and innovation. That is a big shift from President Joe Biden’s disastrous and deadly effort to grow the economy by extracting millions of young migrants from poor countries. The Trump strategy also talks about the need to suppress foreign influence on the United States, including influence via imported populations of Chinese, Indians, Somalis, and Muslims. The strategy document is prepared by staffers, refined by top officials, and confirmed by Trump’s signature. The process ensures it does not conflict with the President’s many statements, policies, and strategic dilemmas.

Daily Caller [12/5/2025 11:16 AM, Audrey Streb, 835K] reports the Trump administration released its National Security Strategy late on Thursday, featuring an energy policy that sharply diverges from the Biden-era climate agenda. President Donald Trump’s defense strategy includes ramping up baseload power sources like oil, gas and nuclear while detaching from the Middle East. While the Biden administration’s October 2022 National Security Strategy mentioned climate 63 times, the Trump-era defense plan only mentioned it once to note that America is condemning Europe’s "disastrous" climate change policy. "We reject the disastrous ‘climate change’ and ‘Net Zero’ ideologies that have so greatly harmed Europe, threaten the United States, and subsidize our adversaries," the plan states. "Restoring American energy dominance (in oil, gas, coal, and nuclear) and reshoring the necessary key energy components is a top strategic priority. Cheap and abundant energy will produce well-paying jobs in the United States, reduce costs for American consumers and businesses, fuel reindustrialization, and help maintain our advantage in cutting-edge technologies such as AI. Former President Joe Biden’s national security energy plans aimed to combat climate change and decouple from Russian oil and gas. However, the plan ignored the American oil and gas industry as Biden burdened the sector with crippling regulations.

Bloomberg [12/5/2025 5:20 PM, Courtney McBride, 18207K] reports President Donald Trump’s new national security strategy codifies the disruptive foreign policies he’s pursued since taking office — including railing against allies as often as traditional foes — but also veers inward with an emphasis on domestic and culture war issues. Unlike previous national security documents, the one released overnight into Friday highlights the administration’s views about the perils of immigration and the need to re-industrialize the US economy. It lambastes “American elites,” seeks the “restoration and reinvigoration of American spiritual and cultural health,” uses terms like the “Anglosphere,” and calls for “growing numbers of strong, traditional families that raise healthy children.” The document emphasizes defense of the US homeland but focuses not on state-level adversaries such as China or Russia, but on unchecked migration and transnational criminal organizations. It also warns of international organizations “driven by outright anti-Americanism” and “transnationalism.” All those elements highlight how the strategy sets down in writing the most detailed articulation of the norm-shattering foreign policies of Trump’s second term. The document veers away from traditional US priorities such as supporting democracy, instead castigating Europe for its supposed cultural decline.

Wall Street Journal [12/5/2025 6:40 AM, Michael R. Gordon and Laurence Norman, 646K] reports President Trump has issued a new national-security strategy that sharply criticizes the “unrealistic expectations” of European leaders for settling the war in Ukraine and calls for an end to NATO expansion. The long-awaited document sets out the core principles of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy, underscoring its priorities of addressing dangers in the Western Hemisphere, including the use of “lethal force” to stop drug cartels, and competing economically with China. The document underscores the growing rifts between the U.S. and Europe. It fuses the criticism by top Trump administration officials of Europe’s domestic policies with Washington’s peace push in Ukraine, which many European leaders fear will come at Kyiv’s expense. Trump’s new strategy document, which was issued late Thursday, says the U.S. “finds itself at odds with European officials who hold unrealistic expectations for the war perched in unstable minority governments, many of which trample on basic principles of democracy to suppress opposition.” In recent days, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other European leaders have urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to yield to Russia’s demand without obtaining firm security commitments from the U.S. European and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly pushed back since the summer on some of the Trump administration’s ideas for ending the war, which in an initial 28-point plan included core Russian demands, such as barring the deployment of a European peacekeeping forces, capping the size of the Ukrainian military and handing over territory in eastern Ukraine that the Russian military hasn’t occupied. They are now pressing the U.S. to say what its role will be in safeguarding Ukraine from a future Russian attack, arguing that is critical to what they can offer to Kyiv in terms of security guarantees. That will also be key to persuading Kyiv to make compromises, they say.

Reuters [12/5/2025 11:59 AM, Gram Slattery and Humeyra Pamuk, 36480K] reports the United States wants Europe to take over the majority of NATO’s conventional defense capabilities, from intelligence to missiles, by 2027, Pentagon officials told diplomats in Washington this week, a tight deadline that struck some European officials as unrealistic. The message, recounted by five sources familiar with the discussion, including a U.S. official, was conveyed at a meeting in Washington this week of Pentagon staff overseeing NATO policy and several European delegations. The shifting of this burden from the U.S. to European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would dramatically change how the United States, a founding member of the post-war alliance, works with its most important military partners. In the meeting, Pentagon officials indicated that Washington was not yet satisfied with the strides Europe has made to boost its defense capabilities since Russia’s expanded invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The U.S. officials told their counterparts that if Europe does not meet the 2027 deadline, the U.S. may stop participating in some NATO defense coordination mechanisms, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. Some officials on Capitol Hill are aware of and concerned about the Pentagon’s message to the Europeans, one U.S. official said.

Washington Post [12/5/2025 6:27 AM, Michael Birnbaum, Frances Vinall and Victoria Bisset, 24149K] reports the Trump administration unveiled a new National Security Strategy late Thursday that took sharp aim at traditional U.S. allies in Europe, declaring that their governments were ignoring the will of their people in their support for Ukraine’s attempts to repel Russian invasion, as it vowed to reorient Washington’s attention to the Western Hemisphere. The plan amounted to a distillation of nearly a year of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy efforts as he has taken an approach to world affairs that prioritizes business deals and narrowly defined U.S. interests over shared values. And it focused on what it said was a threat to the ethnic composition of European nations, saying that because of migration, it was likely that “within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European” and that Europe faced “civilizational erasure.” The strategy provoked sharp frustration from Europe’s centrist leaders, many of whom read it as a U.S. plan to embrace their challengers and break up the institutions such as the European Union that the United States once promoted to prevent generations of conflict on European soil. Instead, the plans turn Washington away from the global superpower role it has held since World War II, embracing an older form of might in which the militarily strongest nations carve up the world into spheres of influence defined mostly by their ability to control their neighbors.

Wall Street Journal [12/5/2025 11:00 PM, Daniel Michaels, David Luhnow, and Max Colchester, 646K] reports for years, the U.S. government has published an annual National Security Strategy that lays out how Washington sees the world and its approach to dealing with looming threats, from China to Russia to drug-traffickers in Latin America. This week, the Trump administration’s version seemed to reserve its harshest tone for a new target: America’s closest allies in Europe. The 30-page document painted European nations as wayward, declining powers that have ceded their sovereignty to the European Union and are led by governments that suppress democracy and muzzle voices that want a more nationalistic turn. It says the continent faces “civilizational erasure” through immigration that could render it “unrecognizable” in two decades—as well as turning several North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies into majority “non-European” countries. It concludes the region could grow too weak to be “reliable allies.” The document underscores how radically the Trump administration is reshaping traditional American foreign policy, and it is likely to deepen divisions in the trans-Atlantic alliance, which has largely kept the peace in Europe since World War II and promoted Western values across the world. The document landed like a bucket of cold water in European capitals. European leaders reading the document need “to assume that the traditional trans-Atlantic relationship is dead,” said Katja Bego, a senior researcher at Chatham House, a think tank in London. Timothy Garton Ash, a prominent British historian, described the document “as the mother of all wake-up calls for Europe.”

Bloomberg [12/5/2025 1:34 PM, Iain Marlow, 18207K] reports the fracture between the US and Europe in a relationship that has defined global politics since the second World War was crystallized in a White House national security release, which also lambasted Europe along economic and cultural lines. President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy, published overnight and personally signed by the US leader, veers significantly from the mid-20th century global order, warning that the continent faces “civilizational erasure” due to decades of economic decline as well as political and cultural failures. “The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over,” it said. The document essentially codifies what’s been clear for months since Trump returned to the White House: The US has turned its focus closer to its own backyard and sees a misalignment between Trump’s “America First” doctrine and the European nations that help comprise the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Trump’s strategy barely mentions the Russia-Ukraine war until the end, and echoes a familiar justification for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion by saying the US must focus on “ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance.” When the document mentions China, it mainly calls on US allies in Asia to spend more on defense including to help defend Taiwan. It was released late into the US evening, the early hours of the European morning. The strategy — a typically anodyne document that carries no legal weight — is short on fresh policy directives, but puts into official Washington policy-speak the often-shocking, unorthodox and economically disruptive approach to world affairs that’s included tariff volleys, musings on invading Canada, tirades against Ukraine and constant outreach to Beijing and Moscow. The document doesn’t deploy the coarser language Trump used earlier this year at the United Nations when he warned “your countries are going to hell,” but the message is much the same. The strategy also emphasizes commercial diplomacy and foreign policies that revitalize the US economy, which it calls “the bedrock of our global position and the necessary foundation of our military.”

Daily Caller [12/5/2025 4:08 PM, Derek VanBuskirk, 835K] reports there are nearly 2,000 Afghans in the U.S. with ties to known or suspected terrorists, and the Biden administration failed to vet many Afghans under its Operation Allies Welcome program, a senior official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) told the Daily Caller. "Among 2021 Afghan evacuees, approximately 3,000 known jihadists have been located in the United States, and approximately 17,000 individuals with suspected terrorist ties have been located in the U.S.," the senior ODNI official stated, citing a National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) intelligence analysis. Over 1,400 Afghans with links to various terrorist organizations, including ISIS, entered into the U.S. under Biden, the official noted. Additionally, more than 4,000 migrants from Central Asia were transported into the U.S. through an ISIS-affiliated smuggling network, the official added. The official said that although eight of those migrants were arrested, several hundred more were released into the U.S., including 600 Tajiks and Uzbeks with ties to ISIS. The 3,000 "known jihadists" and the 17,000 with suspected ties to terrorism accompanied the unvetted immigration of nearly 190,000 Afghan aliens who were allowed onto U.S. soil before authorities could determine what their intentions were, according to a DHS statement. NCTC is attempting to identify more terrorists in the U.S. by vetting individuals of concern and providing DHS with a list of migrants with known or suspected links to terrorists to help with removal efforts.

New York Post [12/5/2025 12:30 PM Steven Nelson, 42219K] reports the Trump administration’s latest "National Security Strategy" is slamming European countries for their environmental and anti-free-speech policies — and warning that the continent’s current path risks "civilizational erasure.". "We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence, and to abandon its failed focus on regulatory suffocation," reads the Trump-signed document, posted online Friday. "We will oppose elite-driven, anti-democratic restrictions on core liberties in Europe, the Anglosphere, and the rest of the democratic world, especially among our allies," the report says. "We reject the disastrous ‘climate change’ and ‘Net Zero’ ideologies that have so greatly harmed Europe, threaten the United States, and subsidize our adversaries." The annual assessment, which typically dwells on US adversaries, warned Europe’s trajectory is weakening the NATO alliance. "American officials have become used to thinking about European problems in terms of insufficient military spending and economic stagnation. There is truth to this, but Europe’s real problems are even deeper," the document says.

AP [12/5/2025 4:50 PM, Will Weissert, 2983K] reports that President Donald Trump is finally meeting with his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum. Their long-delayed first face-to-face discussion is focusing on next year’s World Cup — and side discussions about tariffs — but not immigration. That’s despite Trump’s push to crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border being his centerpiece issue, and the driving force in the relations between both countries. Trump has been in office for more than 10 months and his taking so long to see Sheinbaum in-person is striking, given that meeting with the leader of the country’s southern neighbor is often a top priority for U.S. presidents. Trump and Sheinbaum had been set to meet in June on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada, but that was scrapped after Trump rushed back to Washington early amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was also at the Kennedy Center in Washington for Friday’s 2026 World Cup draw. The U.S., Mexico and Canada are co-hosting the tournament, which begins in June.

Axios [12/5/2025 12:40 PM, Barak Ravid, 12972K] reports U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators are holding a second day of talks in Miami around President Trump’s peace plan on Friday, U.S. and Ukrainian officials say. The talks are expected to continue on Saturday, according to Ukrainian official. While the Ukrainian and Russian public positions appear irreconcilable, U.S. officials continue to believe compromise could be within reach even on the most sensitive issue of territory. The talks in Miami take place after a five-hour meeting between Trump’s advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Russian President Putin on Tuesday. President Trump said the talks in Moscow were "very good" and stressed his envoys came back with the impression that Putin wants to make a deal. No immediate breakthroughs were announced, and both Moscow and Washington kept mum on the details of the discussion. The Ukrainian delegation in Miami is headed by chief negotiator and national security adviser Rustem Umerov and Ukrainian military chief of staff Gen. Andrii Hnatov. They met with Witkoff and Kushner on Thursday evening for two hours and resumed on Friday morning. Witkoff and Kushner briefed the Ukrainians in detail about the meeting with Putin and about new ideas to try and bridge the gaps between the parties, according to a source with knowledge. A U.S. official told Axios the talks on Thursday were "positive." The talks are likely to continue into the weekend.

AP [12/5/2025 6:44 PM, Aamer Madhani and Illia Novikov, 4829K] reports President Donald Trump’s advisers and Ukrainian officials said Friday they’ll meet for a third day of talks after making progress on creating a security framework for postwar Ukraine and are urging Russia to commit to peace. The officials, who met for a second day in Florida on Friday, issued a joint statement that offered broad brushstrokes about the progress they say that’s been made as Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a U.S.-mediated proposal to end nearly four years of war. "Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," the statement said. "Parties also separately reviewed the future prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, joint U.S.–Ukraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects.” U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s talks in Floriday with Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s lead negotiator, follow discussions between President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. envoys at the Kremlin on Tuesday. Friday’s session took place at the the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, Florida, a high-end private golf and lifestyle destination owned by Witkoff’s real estate development company. Previous diplomatic attempts to break the deadlock have come to nothing and the nearly four-year war has continued unabated. Officials largely have kept a lid on how the latest talks are going, though Trump’s initial 28-point plan was leaked. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s delegation in Florida wanted to hear from the U.S. side about the talks at the Kremlin. Zelenskyy, as well as European leaders backing him, have repeatedly accused Putin of stalling in peace talks while the Russian army tries to press forward with its invasion. Zelenskyy said in a video address late Thursday that officials wanted to know "what other pretexts Putin has come up with to drag out the war and to pressure Ukraine.” Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Friday, Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov praised Kushner as potentially playing an important role in ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ushakov also took part in Tuesday’s talks at the Kremlin. "If any plan leading to a settlement is put on paper, it will be the pen of Mr. Kushner that will lead the way," Ushakov said. The flattering comments about Kushner by the senior Russian official come as Putin has sought to sow division between Trump and Ukraine and Europe at a moment when Trump’s impatience with the conflict is mounting. Putin said his five-hour talks this week with Witkoff and Kushner were "necessary" and "useful," but some proposals were unacceptable. Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, was a senior adviser to Trump during his first term and was the president’s point person on developing the Abraham Accords, which formalized commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and a trio of Arab nations. Kushner has played a more informal role in Trump’s second go-around, but he helped Witkoff close out ceasefire and hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas this fall. Trump tapped Kushner again to pair up with Witkoff to try to find an endgame to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

AP [12/5/2025 8:28 AM, Omar Albam and Abby Sewell, 31753K] reports a raid by U.S. forces and a local Syrian group aiming to capture an Islamic State group official instead killed a man who had been working undercover gathering intelligence on the extremists, family members and Syrian officials have told The Associated Press. The killing in October underscores the complex political and security landscape as the United States begins working with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in the fight against remnants of IS. According to relatives, Khaled al-Masoud had been spying on IS for years on behalf of the insurgents led by al-Sharaa and then for al-Sharaa’s interim government, established after the fall of former President Bashar Assad a year ago. Al-Sharaa’s insurgents were mainly Islamists, some connected to al-Qaida, but enemies of IS who often clashed with it over the past decade. Neither U.S. nor Syrian government officials have commented on al-Masoud’s death, an indication that neither side wants the incident to derail improving ties. Weeks after the Oct. 19 raid, al-Sharaa visited Washington and announced Syria would join the global coalition against IS.

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