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.

Chicago Tribune [12/6/2025 9:19 PM, Cam’ron Hardy and Olivia Olander, 4829K] reports an appearance by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the annual Christmas tree ship ceremony at Navy Pier led one of two downtown protests on Saturday — one targeting immigrant raids and the other the brewing military conflict in Venezuela. The Navy Pier Christmas ceremony is a tradition in which crew members offload approximately 1,200 trees from the USCGC Mackinaw onto trucks to donate to families in need. During a brief speech Saturday morning, Noem thanked everyone involved in organizing the event and wanted those in attendance to “recognize that we’re bringing them news of happiness and peace.” Dozens of protesters gathered more than an hour before Noem spoke, but were moved back to Polk Bros. Park by Chicago police officers before the event began. Although the group had been moved, they could be heard chanting from the other side of the park. Activist Andy Thayer said Noem “crashed” the ceremony as a publicity stunt. “I think it’s insulting that she came to our city after doing so much destruction, to not just our city’s residents, but also the city itself,” Thayer said. “It’s been a real huge economic hit. We’ve had families separated, we’ve had people losing their jobs because of what she’s done, and she’s got some nerve to show up.” Beatrix Hoffman, of the Gold Coast neighborhood, went to the protest after seeing a post about Noem coming to Chicago for the Christmas tree ceremony. “We don’t want her here,” Hoffman said. “I’m sick of this government coming into our city and abducting our neighbors.” Noem’s Christmastime visit comes after a fall in which thousands of Chicagoans and suburbanites protested, resisted and whistled at federal immigration agents who descended into their neighborhoods. Without immediate regard for citizenship or legal status, agents under Operation Midway Blitz repeatedly detained people first — sometimes in unmarked vehicles or after chasing them through neighborhoods — and sought information about them later. In one incident in September, an agent shot and killed a father of two who was from Mexico and had been living in the U.S. for nearly 20 years. Thousands of arrests resulted from immigration enforcement raids under the administration of President Donald Trump, as he called Chicago a “hellhole” and a legal fight ensued over Trump’s efforts to use the National Guard in enforcement efforts. In October, Noem criticized the media and politicians, including Gov. JB Pritzker, for “trying to demonize” federal immigration agents and the Trump administration’s enforcement operations. Earlier that month, she appeared at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in west suburban Broadview amid fierce protests there and met with ICE and Border Patrol agents. “It may seem like right here, when you’re in the middle of this chaos, that you’re not necessarily sure of it, but, boy, the American people are just thrilled to have you and to have you on the job and on the task of restoring and making America safe again,” she said, based on social media posts from a right-wing influencer who was embedded with ICE operations at the time. “We’re not just here, we’re here to stay, and we’re expanding and we’re going to make this city safe again.”

Chicago Tribune [12/6/2025 9:16 PM, Dominic Di Palermo, 4829K] reports Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was met by a small group of protesters as she made an appearance at the 25th anniversary voyage of Chicago’s Christmas tree ship, the USCGC Mackinaw. The Christmas trees, unloaded at Polk Bros. Park on Chicago’s Lake Michigan, are donated to local families in need. [Editorial note: consult photos at source link]

Chicago Tribune [12/6/2025 8:26 PM, Rebecca Johnson and Stacey Wescott, 4829K] reports federal immigration agents deployed tear gas and pepper spray Saturday on a crowd that gathered to protest a prolonged arrest in a northwest Chicago suburb, angering neighbors who said it was “uncalled for” and “tremendously disappointing.” The standoff began around 10 a.m. Saturday when about 15 agents showed up to arrest an unidentified man at an apartment building on the 1600 block of Maple Lane in Elgin. Elgin police said there had been a traffic crash that morning involving a federal agent and the man, who then fled to the building. The crowd, blowing whistles and shouting at agents to leave, grew throughout the morning, eventually swelling to at least 200 people by the afternoon. By 2:30 p.m., the man the agents were attempting to arrest was still on the second-floor balcony. About 30 agents tried to negotiate with him, while protesters told the man not to talk to them. About an hour later, agents reportedly arrested the man while he was inside an apartment. Afterward, videos taken by a witness at the scene showed some people throwing snowballs at the agents and their vehicles, while others yelled at them to stop. While driving away, agents hurled pepper spray and flash-bang grenades into the crowd. One agent told community members, “Back up or gas will be deployed,” seconds before he threw a canister, a video shows. U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem joined the U.S. Coast Guard for a Christmas tree event at Navy Pier on Saturday. Audrey Luhmann, 40, of West Chicago, said the pepper spray and tear gas went “everywhere” into the crowd and that she could still smell it about an hour later on her clothes. Luhmann said neighbors asked the agents to see a warrant, which they refused. “It’s almost as though they wanted things to escalate,” she said. “I don’t understand what goes through their mind to justify that kind of action. This could have been just a normal Saturday, and instead, this is what they have to do to our community.”Federal agents faced mounting scrutiny from fearful residents and the courts alike over their use of chemical crowd-control weapons during Operation Midway Blitz, which has tapered off since Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino left Chicago with hundreds of his agents in November. Body cameras repeatedly captured agents’ apparent glee in deploying tear gas and other munitions on residential streets. “It’s clear that Chicago and Illinois remain a target of the administration,” Brandon Lee, of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, told the Tribune recently after agents detained at least three people in the west suburbs. According to Elgin police, a federal agent reported that he was involved in the traffic crash while conducting enforcement activities, and that someone involved in the crash had fled to Maple Lane. The crash occurred around 9:15 a.m. in the 1600 block of West Highland Avenue, police said in a statement. About 45 minutes later, a separate caller in the 1600 block of Maple Lane reported that “subjects in masks were on their property stating they had a warrant.” However, the protest outside the building appeared to escalate around 12:30 p.m. A video taken by a witness at the scene shows at least two agents tackling a protester while other agents pushed the crowd back. Agents then deployed tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd, according to witnesses and videos. Tracy Howell, 58, said the agents tackled the man after he stepped closer to them off the sidewalk. At that point, agents shot the pepper balls, which Howell said “irritated” her nose and throat. She had arrived at the apartment building around noon, she said.

Bloomberg [12/7/2025 4:26 AM, Arsalan Shahla, 18207K] reports around 50 Iranians will return home in the coming days after being deported from the US for alleged immigration violations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Sunday. “Over the past year, racist measures targeting foreign nationals, especially those from the region, and in particular Iranians, have intensified,” Baghaei said in a televised press conference. “Iranian nationals have faced harassment under various pretexts.” This marks the second such transfer in recent months. In September, the ministry confirmed that 120 Iranians had been sent back as part of US plans to deport nationals who had allegedly entered the country illegally, most crossing through Mexico, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Reuters [12/7/2025 4:40 AM, Staff, 36480K] reports fifty-five Iranians deported from the United States will return to their home country in the coming days, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Sunday, in the second such deportation under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. In September, officials said the U.S. had identified about 400 Iranians to be deported, with a first flight carrying 120 people making its way to Tehran via Qatar’s capital. "In the coming days, about 55 nationals will return to Iran...This is the second group being returned to Iran in the latest months," Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, adding that U.S. deportations were based on "political grounds and anti-migrant policies that are against international law". The transfers mark an unusual moment of coordination between two nations at loggerheads over Iran’s nuclear programme, which Tehran says is purely civilian but Washington asserts is aimed at building a nuclear bomb. The two countries do not have a direct line of communication, Baghaei said, adding that they communicated through their respective interest protection offices or via intermediaries. Baghaei also criticised Washington for not facilitating visas for all of Iran’s soccer delegation for the World Cup draw held on Friday in Washington. "We have expressed our protest against the U.S.’s decision not to give visas for our team dispatched to the World Cup draw,” Baghaei said. While Iran had applied for nine visas for its delegation, Iranian soccer federation spokesman Amir Mehdi Alavi was quoted as saying that the U.S. had granted only four visas, including for coach Ardeshir Amir Ghalenoei. The United States has long-standing strict visa restrictions on Iranians.

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NewsMax [12/6/2025 4:48 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K]

CNN [12/6/2025 8:43 PM, Alaa Elassar, 18595K] reports the city of Charlotte is contending with another stabbing on its light rail system, months after the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee served as a flashpoint for the crime debate in major American cities. The stabbing on Friday, which left one person seriously injured, happened on Charlotte’s LYNX Blue Line – the same route where refugee Iryna Zarutska was killed. The Trump administration and conservative politicians cited her death as an example of the violent crime they say plagues many Democrat-led cities across the United States. The latest incident poses an early test for a new chief of police and a new targeted safety initiative and has captured the attention of President Donald Trump shortly after an immigration enforcement surge in the city made headlines. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) responded to a stabbing near the light rail station on 25th Street and North Brevard Street around 4:50 p.m., police told CNN in a statement. " The victim was transported… to a local hospital and is currently in critical but stable condition," police said. Officers "quickly apprehended" the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Oscar Solarzano, shortly after the incident. He was interviewed and later transferred to the custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, according to the statement. Solarzano allegedly attacked the victim with a "large fixed blade knife," according to the arrest warrant. He appeared intoxicated and challenged the victim "to a fight" and cursed and shouted at others while slurring, the warrant reads. Solarzano is facing charges of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon causing serious injury, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon, and being intoxicated and disruptive, the warrant says. In court records, a magistrate noted Solarzano is "an illegal and has been deported previously." He is being held without bond and a court appearance is scheduled for Monday. The stabbing drew comment from Trump, who posted on Truth Social Saturday, highlighting the suspect’s immigration status and asking, "What’s going on with Charlotte?". Immigrations and Customs Enforcement had lodged a detainer for Solarzano, who is from Honduras, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. Solarzano was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2018 and then deported by the Trump administration, according to McLaughlin. He was removed again after entering the US illegally in 2021 and then re-entered the country a third time at an unknown date and location, McLaughlin added. ABC News [12/6/2025 6:59 PM, Nadine El-Bawab, Victoria Arancio, and Mariama Jalloh, 30493K] reports that a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Solarzano is a native of Honduras, who was in the U.S. illegally and had twice been removed from the country. "This criminal illegal alien was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2018 and removed by the Trump Administration on March 9, 2018," Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, posted on X. "He was apprehended illegally crossing the border again in 2021 and was again removed. He entered the country illegally for a THIRD time at an unknown date and location." NewsMax [12/6/2025 7:49 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports [Solarzano] faced a hearing Monday morning in Mecklenburg County District Court. An arrest warrant filed in a North Carolina court says Solarzano appeared to be intoxicated and was slurring his words when he challenged the victim to a fight. Online court and jail records did not list an attorney for Solarzano. The attack comes less than four months after a 23-year-old woman from Ukraine was killed on a Charlotte commuter train in an apparently random assault captured on video. The victim, Iryna Zarutska, had been living in a bomb shelter in Ukraine before coming to to the U.S. to escape the war, her relatives said. A suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., has been charged first-degree murder for Zarutska’s killing in a North Carolina state court, and was also indicted in federal court on a charge of causing death on a mass transportation system.

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AP [12/6/2025 5:39 PM, Staff, 4722K]
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Daily Caller [12/6/2025 4:02 PM, Anthony Iafrate, 835K]
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Politico [12/6/2025 5:12 PM, Kyle Cheney, 2100K] reports it happened again. A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to quickly seek the return of a man it deported to Guatemala in violation of an immigration court’s finding that he was likely to face torture there. U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama scolded the administration for the “blatant lawlessness” of its decision to deport Faustino Pablo Pablo to Guatemala, despite the man’s urgent warnings to immigration officials that he faced serious danger in his home country. Guaderrama, an El Paso, Texas-based Obama appointee, ordered the administration to return Pablo by Dec. 12 and to provide daily updates about its efforts in the meantime. The judge noted that the administration repeatedly acknowledged the “unlawful” and “wrongful” nature of the man’s deportation and had, in recent days, suggested it would seek to bring him back to the United States. But despite a “tentatively scheduled” flight on Thursday, the judge said, Pablo was not returned to the country and appeared to remain in Guatemala. A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said that should Pablo return, he’ll be redeported somewhere else. “This illegal alien from Guatemala has a final order of removal from an immigration judge issued in 2015. He received full due process. One thing is certain: he is not going to be able to remain in the U.S. We will deport him to another country,” said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, in a statement on Saturday. “If a judge finds an illegal alien has no right to be in this country, we are going to remove them. Period,” she added. Pablo’s situation is strikingly reminiscent of the illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who the administration abruptly sent to El Salvador in March, despite an immigration judge’s 2019 order that he was likely to face persecution at the hands of a local gang.

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Telemundo [12/6/2025 9:41 AM, Staff, 2218K]

AP [12/6/2025 4:28 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports a federal judge has rejected a request from the Trump administration to toss a lawsuit challenging the detention of migrants at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case and has set a hearing for next week for the parties to discuss next steps in this case. President Donald Trump in January announced his administration would use a detention center at Guantanamo to hold tens of thousands of the "worst criminal aliens," as part of his wider immigration crackdown. Between February and June, the federal government held around 500 immigrants at Guantanamo, according to Sooknanan, as authorities used the base as a way station for immigrants with final removal orders. American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt, who argued the case, said in a statement Saturday that he hopes the ruling "will put an end to the Trump administration’s unlawful policy of sending immigrants to military bases in the middle of nowhere solely for the theatric value." In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said, "We look forward to a higher court’s vindication of our use of this facility to keep criminals off American streets."

CNN [12/6/2025 5:31 PM, Kaanita Iyer and Aleena Fayaz, 18595K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday defended the Trump administration’s military actions against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, saying they show “the strength of American resolve.” “Right now the world is seeing the strength of American resolve in stemming the flow of lethal drugs to our country,” Hegseth said at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. “Here, again, we’ve been focused and here we’ve been clear: If you’re working for a designated terrorist organization and you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you.” Hegseth’s remarks come as the administration faces mounting scrutiny over its counter-drug offensive, including for ordering a follow-up strike that killed survivors on an alleged drug boat. It is considered a war crime to kill shipwrecked people, which the Pentagon’s law of war manual defines as people “in need of assistance and care” who “must refrain from any hostile act.” The September follow-up strike has drawn bipartisan scrutiny — including a vow from the Senate Armed Services Committee to conduct oversight. Hegseth, his team at the Pentagon and the White House have pointed to Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, commander of US Special Operations Command, as the official who made the decision for a follow-up strike that killed survivors. Hegseth on Saturday defended Bradley’s decision. “From what I understood then and what I understand now, I fully support that strike,” he said. “I would have made the same call myself.” The incident was at the center of briefings Bradley gave to Congress this week, during which lawmakers were told that Hegseth made clear before the mission that the strikes should be lethal, CNN reported, but that he was not made aware of the survivors until after they were killed, one of the sources with direct knowledge said. Hegseth on Saturday denied giving a directive that everyone on board should be killed, calling the accusation “patently ridiculous.” “No, you don’t walk in and say, ‘Kill them.’ It’s just patently ridiculous. It’s meant to create a cartoon of me and the decisions that we make and how we make them,” he said. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said at the annual defense forum Saturday that it was his and Bradley’s idea to share information with Congress “so that we could continue to sustain and scale that trust that we must earn every day from the American people.”

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Wall Street Journal [12/6/2025 6:09 PM, Lara Seligman, 646K]

AP [12/6/2025 6:01 PM, David Klepper, 31753K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended strikes on alleged drug cartel boats during remarks Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, saying President Donald Trump has the power to take military action “as he sees fit” to defend the nation. Hegseth dismissed criticism of the strikes, which have killed more than 80 people and now face intense scrutiny over concerns that they violated international law. Saying the strikes are justified to protect Americans, Hegseth likened the fight to the war on terror following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. “If you’re working for a designated terrorist organization and you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you. Let there be no doubt about it,” Hegseth said during his keynote address at the Reagan National Defense Forum. “President Trump can and will take decisive military action as he sees fit to defend our nation’s interests. Let no country on earth doubt that for a moment.” The most recent strike brings the death toll of the campaign to at least 87 people. Lawmakers have sought more answers about the attacks and their legal justification, and whether U.S. forces were ordered to launch a follow-up strike following a September attack even after the Pentagon knew of survivors. Though Hegseth compared the alleged drug smugglers to Al-Qaida terrorists, experts have noted significant differences between the two foes and the efforts to combat them. Hegseth’s remarks came after the Trump administration released its new national security strategy, one that paints European allies as weak and aims to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere. During the speech, Hegseth also discussed the need to check China’s rise through strength instead of conflict. He repeated Trump’s vow to resume nuclear testing on an equal basis as China and Russia — a goal that has alarmed many nuclear arms experts. China and Russia haven’t conducted explosive tests in decades, though the Kremlin said it would follow the U.S. if Trump restarted tests.

CBS News [12/6/2025 9:33 PM, Staff, 39474K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday refused to say whether the Pentagon would release video of the early September operation that targeted survivors of a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean. "We’re reviewing the process, and we’ll see," Hegseth said in a Q&A session after addressing a defense forum hosted by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. "Whatever we were to decide to release, we’d have to be very responsible about reviewing that right now." Eleven people were killed in the Sept. 2 missile attack on an alleged drug boat, the first of several such assaults off Latin America’s coastal waters. The Trump administration has faced heavy criticism after the Washington Post reported last week that a second missile was launched on the boat, killing two survivors of the initial strike. The White House confirmed that the boat was struck by a second missile, but both the White House and Hegseth have denied that Hegseth ordered that second strike. Hegseth said earlier this week that the second strike was ordered by Navy Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley — head of Special Operations Command, who was leading the Sept. 2 mission — a claim he reiterated Saturday "In this particular case, it was well within the authorities of Adm. Bradley," Hegseth said. On Thursday, congressional lawmakers were shown video of the second strike and briefed on the incident by Bradley and Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a closed-door session. GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters after the briefing that Bradley told them that he had not been ordered to leave no survivors. The initial Post report quoted an anonymous source as saying that, before the first strike, Hegseth verbally ordered that everyone on the boat be taken out. "The order was to kill everybody," the Post’s story quoted the source as saying. Hegseth on Saturday vehemently denied having issued a kill order on survivors, as was reported by the Post. "You don’t walk in and say ‘Kill them all.’ It’s just patently ridiculous," he said, adding the reporting was "meant to create a cartoon of me and the decisions that we make." But he acknowledged that he does "fully support that strike. I would have made the same call myself." The two survivors were attempting to climb back onto the boat before it was struck by the second missile, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News on Wednesday. On Friday, two sources familiar with the video that was shown to lawmakers told CBS News that that the two survivors were waving overhead before the second strike killed them. One of the sources said the action could be interpreted as the survivors either calling for help or trying to wave off another strike.

FOX News [12/6/2025 6:28 PM, Jasmine Baehr Fox, 40621K] reports Secretary of War Pete Hegseth offered new details Saturday about how he personally authorized the Trump administration’s first strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel off Venezuela on Sept. 2, telling Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson he watched the strike live in the Pentagon after giving the green light. Earlier in his keynote remarks, Hegseth declared that President Donald Trump is the true heir to Ronald Reagan’s "peace through strength" doctrine, accusing past bipartisan leaders of drifting into endless wars. After his speech, Hegseth sat down with Tomlinson for a Q&A that revealed new details about the Sept. 2 operation, which he said was the first in a series of more than 20 U.S. strikes targeting cartel-linked narco-terrorist networks across the Caribbean. He also sharply rejected reporting that he had instructed U.S. forces to kill all individuals on the boat. "(Is) anybody here from The Washington Post? I don’t know where you get your sources, but they suck," Hegseth said when asked if he had ever issued such an order. "Of course not … you don’t walk in and say, ‘Kill them.’ It’s just patently ridiculous." Hegseth also said it took "a couple of weeks, almost a month" to build the intelligence required for the first strike. He said the Pentagon had to reorient assets that had been focused "10,000 miles around the other side of the world for a very long time." He kept strike authority at his level only for the initial operation due to its "strategic implications." "The briefing that I received before that strike was extensive, exhaustive," he said. "Military side, on the civilian side, lawyers, intel analysts, red-teaming … all the details you need to strike a designated terrorist organization." Hegseth said the target was part of an organization President Trump had formally designated as a terrorist group. "My job was to say execute or don’t execute," he said. According to Hegseth, he viewed the mission feed "for probably five minutes or so" before moving to other tasks once the strike shifted to tactical execution. Hours later, Hegseth said he was informed by commanders that a second strike was necessary. "There had to be a re-attack, because there were a couple of folks that could still be in the fight," he said, citing access to radios, a possible link-up point with another boat and remaining drugs on board. "I fully support that strike," he said. "I would have made the same call myself." He added that secondary attacks are common in combat zones and fell "well within the authorities of Adm. Bradley," who now oversees strike decisions. Hegseth said he no longer retains approval authority for subsequent missions. Addressing questions about survivor protocols, Hegseth pointed to a later incident involving a semi-submersible drug vessel. "In that particular case, the first strike didn’t take it out, and a couple of guys jumped off and swam," he said. After the vessel was struck again and sank, U.S. forces retrieved the survivors. "We gave them back to their host countries," he said, adding that the situation "didn’t change our protocol" but reflected different circumstances. Hegseth argued that the operations have already had a deterrent effect. "We’re putting them at the bottom of the Caribbean. … It will make the American people safer," Hegseth said.

NBC News [12/6/2025 6:47 PM, Courtney Kube, Julie Tsirkin and Gordon Lubold, 34509K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. military on Sept. 2 to kill all 11 people on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea because they were on an internal list of narco-terrorists who U.S. intelligence and military officials determined could be lethally targeted, the commander overseeing the operation told lawmakers in briefings this past week, according to two U.S. officials and one person familiar with the congressional briefings. Such a list includes individuals who are eligible for being targeted, including with lethal action, if given the opportunity. The commander who oversaw the Sept. 2 strikes, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, told lawmakers that U.S. intelligence officials had confirmed the identities of the 11 people on the boat and validated them as legitimate targets, then the military launched airstrikes as part of President Donald Trump’s military campaign against alleged drug-smuggling vessels, the U.S. officials and person familiar with the congressional briefings said. The detail that the 11 people on the boat were on an internal U.S. military target list has not previously been made public. It adds another dimension to the Sept. 2 operation that has been mired in controversy over the military’s decision to launch a second strike after the first left two survivors in the water. Lawmakers have raised questions about whether the second strike violated international law. Whether Hegseth directed Bradley, who is the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, to kill everyone on the boat has been key question in the controversy over the second strike. An administration official said Bradley made clear in his briefings with lawmakers that he acted in complete compliance with the law throughout the operation. “As with all such actions, a uniformed JAG provided advice and counsel every step of the way,” the official said in a written statement, adding that the boat was targeted because it was “carrying cocaine” and was “affiliated with a cartel designated by the president as a terrorist organization.” “The cumulative impact of these narcoterrorist shipments directly threaten Americans and the national security interests of the United States,” the official said. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. Special Operations Command declined to comment.

CNN [12/6/2025 9:44 AM, Natasha Bertrand] reports the alleged drug traffickers killed by the US military in a strike on September 2 were heading to link up with another, larger vessel that was bound for Suriname — a small South American country east of Venezuela – the admiral who oversaw the operation told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his remarks. According to intelligence collected by US forces, the struck boat planned to "rendezvous" with the second vessel and transfer drugs to it, Adm. Frank Bradley said during the briefings, but the military was unable to locate the second vessel. Bradley argued there was still a possibility the drug shipment could have ultimately made its way from Suriname to the US, the sources said, telling lawmakers that justified striking the smaller boat even if it wasn’t directly heading to US shores at the time it was hit. US drug enforcement officials say that trafficking routes via Suriname are primarily destined for European markets. US-bound drug trafficking routes have been concentrated on the Pacific Ocean in recent years. The new detail adds yet another wrinkle to the Trump administration’s argument that striking the boat multiple times, and killing survivors, was necessary in order to protect the US from an imminent threat.

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NewsMax [12/7/2025 6:45 AM, Staff, 4109K]

Telemundo [12/6/2025 11:13 PM, Courtney Kube, Julie Tsirkin and Gordon Lubold, 2218K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. military on September 2 to kill the 11 people on a vessel suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea because they were on an internal list of narco-terrorists that U.S. intelligence and military officials had determined warranted lethal attack, the commander who oversaw the operation told lawmakers in briefings this week, according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the meetings in Congress. The list includes individuals who can be targeted, even with lethal force, if the opportunity arises. The commander who oversaw the September 2 attacks , Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, told lawmakers that intelligence officials confirmed the identities of the 11 people on the vessel and validated them as legitimate targets. The military then launched airstrikes as part of President Donald Trump’s military campaign against suspected drug-smuggling vessels, officials and the person briefed on the congressional hearings said. The fact that the 11 people on the boat were on an internal U.S. military target list had not been made public before. This adds a new dimension to the September 2 operation, which has been mired in controversy due to the decision to launch a second attack after the first left two survivors in the water. Lawmakers have raised questions about whether the second attack violated international law. The question of whether Hegseth ordered Bradley, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, to kill everyone on the vessel has been a key point of contention in the controversy surrounding that second attack. A government official said Bradley made it clear in his briefings with lawmakers that he acted in full compliance with the law throughout the operation. “As with all such actions, a uniformed JAG (legal advisor) provided advice and guidance at every step,” the official said in a written statement, adding that the vessel was targeted because it was “carrying cocaine” and was “affiliated with a cartel designated by the president as a terrorist organization.” "The cumulative impact of these narco-terrorist shipments directly threatens Americans and U.S. national security interests," the official said. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Special Operations Command declined to comment. The Pentagon has said that 22 attacks on suspected drug vessels have killed 86 people—11 attacks in the Caribbean Sea and 11 in the eastern Pacific. The administration has not presented any evidence to support its allegations about the vessels or the people on board. On Thursday, Bradley spent more than eight hours on Capitol Hill briefing a dozen members of Congress and their staff about what transpired during the operation. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine also attended the briefings. This account of Bradley’s detailed timeline and his explanation of events throughout the September 2 operation, as presented to lawmakers in private sessions, is based on interviews with the two U.S. officials and the person familiar with those sessions. Bradley told lawmakers that the orders he received from Hegseth were to kill the individuals on the approved target list — which included everyone on the vessel — then destroy the drugs and sink the vessel, those sources said.

CNN [12/7/2025 5:20 AM, Angélica Franganillo Díaz, 18595K] reports when President Donald Trump has been asked about the reason he’s pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down and threatening military action against the country, he consistently blames the South American leader for two things: drugs and migrants. “We just have to take care of Venezuela. They dumped hundreds of thousands of people into our country from prisons,” Trump told reporters last month in the Oval Office, though there’s no evidence migrants from Venezuela disproportionately served prison time. As the Trump administration continues its strikes on alleged drug vessels at sea, the president has threatened that attacks against drug cartels on land in Venezuela would begin “very soon.” Experts who have modeled what would happen if Trump went ahead with even limited strikes warn Venezuela could see mass displacement and a new refugee surge like the 2017 crisis Trump blames on Maduro that led to thousands of Venezuelans moving to the US. A Niskanen Center study released last month modeling refugee movements based on different types of US military action found that strikes could spur 1.7 million to 3 million additional people to flee Venezuela within just a few years if the attacks triggered a brief internal conflict. If strikes triggered a protracted internal conflict, the study projected more than 4 million people could be displaced — overwhelming already-strained neighbors like Colombia and Brazil. “Any kind of military strike would cause panic and disrupt supply chains, and it would be very easy for rumors to spread and push people to flee — especially in a country where nearly everyone already has a family member abroad,” said Gil Guerra, an immigration policy analyst at the Niskanen Center and one of the study’s authors. If the US waged limited strikes not aimed at removing the Maduro administration and largely focused on drug-trafficking infrastructure, the refugee numbers could be limited to fewer than 20,000, the study found.

Politico [12/6/0525 12:00 PM, Eric Bazail-Eimil, Myah Ward, and John Sakellariadis, 2100K] reports immigration hardliners across Washington are using last week’s shooting of two National Guard members to push the Trump administration to further limit who can enter the U.S., well beyond restrictions the White House has taken in the immediate aftermath of the attack. A number of lawmakers and Trump administration officials view the shooting — by an Afghan man who’d been granted asylum — as an opportunity for an aggressive effort to load on new layers of screening of would-be migrants and asylum seekers across the world. Proposals range from mandatory in-person interviews for asylum applicants to deporting millions of people the administration says entered the U.S. without adequate vetting from the Biden administration. Other suggestions include a variety of additional checks to reveal any connections to terror groups. An administration official said to “expect a full overhaul of all adjudications,” adding: “We are at a critical moment of vetting foreign nationals, not just those from typical countries of concern.” The official, like others, was granted anonymity to speak freely about the evolving plans within the U.S. government to respond to the shooting of two members of the West Virginia National Guard that killed one soldier and left another in critical condition. “We need to screen and screen and screen some more because really and truly this is a tragedy beyond belief,” said West Virginia Republican Sen. Jim Justice. “If I were President Trump, I would say, ‘If you think there’s a better way, then fix it.’” Since the shooting, the Trump administration has moved to freeze visa and asylum applications from Afghan nationals, and said it will audit green cards issued to individuals from 19 countries. Trump has also said the U.S. must “reexamine” all Afghans who came to the U.S. under Biden, and vowed to “permanently pause” immigration from all “third world countries.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears eager to go further. She posted on X on Monday that she has recommended the president expand travel bans “on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”

FOX News [12/6/2025 11:59 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports Former Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf joins ‘Saturday in America’ to discuss former President Joe Biden’s Afghan migrant program and President Donald Trump’s immigration pause on 19 countries. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [12/6/2025 9:52 AM, Geoff Earle and Shane Galvin, 42219K] reports an Afghan man arrested in Virginia last week for allegedly providing material support to ISIS previously held a high-level national security position in his former country, The Post has learned. Jaan Shah Safi was booked in Waynesboro, VA, and branded an "illegal alien terrorist" by the Department of Homeland Security, which announced Dec. 3 he had provided support to ISIS-K and "provided weapons to his father who is a commander of a militia group in Afghanistan." What the DHS announcement did not reveal was that Safi, 48, previously served as the deputy director of the National Directorate of Security, the former Afghan government’s version of the CIA, in the province of Nangarhar. He was among thousands of Afghans who came to the US under the Biden Administration’s Operation Allies Welcome.

New York Post [12/6/2025 7:52 AM, Geoff Earle, 42219K] reports the Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members in DC shares a close military connection to a countryman busted a day earlier in Texas and accused of making suicide-bomb threats, The Post can reveal. Senior Trump administration members immediately disclosed details about Rahmanullah Lakanwal after he allegedly shot two National Guard members three blocks from the White House on Nov. 26, killing West Virginia Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed he worked in support of US troops at an Afghan Army special operations base in Kandahar. Yet the charging document for a second Afghan man, Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, 30, who was arrested on Nov. 25 and accused of making terroristic threats, said nothing about what he did in Afghanistan or how he made it to the US. The Post has learned that Alokozay worked at the very same counterterrorism base, serving as a security guard for Strike Force 03. Both men overlapped for years during their time there. A third Afghan man let into the US in 2021 under then-President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome was arrested last week in a separate case and charged with assisting ISIS terrorists. It was not immediately known if they had met or interacted while stationed at the base.

Washington Post [12/6/2025 7:51 AM, Victoria Bisset, 24149K] reports the National Guard member who was shot in a daytime attack that killed a colleague in D.C. last week is “slowly healing,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey has said. Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was hospitalized after a gunman opened fire on him and his colleague Spec. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, as they patrolled near the White House on Nov. 26. The following day, President Donald Trump said that Beckstrom had died of her injuries. Earlier this week, the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was formally charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of possessing a firearm during a crime of violence in the incident, which unfolded on the afternoon before Thanksgiving. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has said more charges are forthcoming. Prosecutors allege that Lakanwal, an Afghan national, drove across the country to D.C., armed with a .357-caliber revolver. He studied the National Guard contingent for about one minute before opening fire at Wolfe and Beckstrom outside the Farragut West Metro station, prosecutors said. Lakanwal pleaded not guilty through a defense attorney at the hearing Tuesday. He spoke through an interpreter to give brief responses and at one point said he was in pain.

CNN [12/7/2025 5:20 AM, Rob Kuznia and Alicia Wallace, 18595K] reports people of Somali descent in Minnesota have endured a dizzying week. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump called them “garbage” and sent immigration enforcement agents into the state, which is home to the nation’s largest Somali diaspora. By Thursday, officials in the Department of Homeland Security were touting the arrest of a handful of Somali men, whom the agency called the “worst of the worst.” Throughout, hate mail poured into inboxes at mosques and advocacy groups. And yet, the wave of vitriol during the Trump administration’s continued nationwide immigration crackdown has been met with an opposing wave of solidarity in Minnesota. State leaders have been quick to publicly embrace the community. And some of those emails flooding the inboxes of organizers were expressions of kindness. “People (were) saying that Minnesota Somalis are as Minnesotan as tater-tot hotdish,” said Suleiman Adan, deputy executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, describing the tone and content of some of the emails comparing the community to the state’s beloved casserole. “Somalis are as Minnesota as the state fair. That is, you know, we belong.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [12/6/2025 8:44 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement began conducting enhanced operations in Minnesota this week, focused primarily on the city’s Somali residents. Ali Bauman has the latest details on immigration efforts and reaction around the U.S.

New York Post [12/6/2025 10:32 AM, Geoff Earle, 42219K] reports the welfare fraud scam engulfing Minnesota’s Somali community is "the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars through welfare fraud in American history," White House Deputy Chief of Staff for policy Stephen Miller declared. Miller, who also serves as a homeland security advisor to President Trump, said the fraud operation apparently carried out by numerous Somali migrants in the state will "rock the core of Minnesota politics and American politics." Prosecutors have already charged dozens of state residents with ripping off a program designed to provide food for children during the pandemic. So far, 59 people have already been convicted in wide-ranging frauds totaling $1 billion. Overall, federal authorities have charged nearly 80 people. Small Business Sec. Kelly Loeffler has now ordered a fraud probe of pandemic era Paycheck Protection Program loans in the state, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is heading another investigation into whether state taxpayer money allegedly got diverted to al-Shabaab, a US-designated terrorist group.

FOX News [12/6/2025 6:20 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz on Friday warned Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz the state could lose federal Medicaid funding unless it restores "the integrity" of its program. In a post on X, Dr. Oz claimed more than $1 billion had been stolen through a massive Medicaid fraud scheme carried out by "bad actors" within Minnesota’s Somali community, alleging some of the funds "may have even made its way to the Somalian terrorist group (al-Shabab)." "Our staff at CMS told me they’ve never seen anything like this in Medicaid — and everyone from Gov. Tim Walz on down needs to be investigated, because they’ve been asleep at the wheel," Oz said. "If we’re unsatisfied with the state’s plans or cooperation, we’ll stop paying the federal share of these programs," Oz warned. The CMS administrator pointed to two Minnesota Medicaid programs launched in recent years, noting dramatic spikes in costs. The Housing Stabilization Services program, projected at $2.6 million annually, paid out over $100 million in 2024, according to Oz. The Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program grew from $3 million in 2018 to nearly $400 million in 2023, he said. "These scammers used stolen taxpayer money to buy flashy cars, purchase overseas real estate and offer kickbacks to parents who enrolled their kids at fake autism treatment centers," Oz said. "Some of it may have even made its way to the Somalian terrorist group al-Shabab. … So why didn’t Walz stop them? That’s simple: because he went all-in on identity politics." Minnesota officials previously reported the problem to CMS but failed to address it effectively, according to Oz. "We stepped in and shut down the worst program: housing. We also froze provider enrollment in a few of the most abused programs," Oz said. "The message to Walz is clear: either fix this in 60 days or start looking under your couch for spare change, because we’re done footing the bill for your incompetence."

Wall Street journal [12/6/2025 10:00 PM, Joe Barrett, 646K] reports nearly 30 years ago in this small agricultural town, resident Pablo Obregon did a double take at a group waiting for the bus downtown on the first day of school. They were Somali children. “Where did they come from?” he recalls wondering. Obregon, now Willmar’s director of community growth, is no longer surprised when he sees large numbers of Somalis. So many have settled here that a lively stretch downtown is called Little Mogadishu because Somalis run more than a dozen storefront businesses. In winter it isn’t uncommon to see Somalis in traditional dress bundled up in big American-style parkas and stocking caps worn over hijabs. Somalis represent about a quarter of production workers at the Jennie-O turkey plant, the economic engine of this community of nearly 22,000 some 95 miles west of Minneapolis. But in recent days, downtown’s strip of restaurants, groceries and clothing stores has been attracting only a few customers, shopkeepers say. ICE raids are ramping up in Minnesota, and President Trump has lashed out against immigrants from Somalia, calling them “garbage” and saying he doesn’t want them in the U.S. “They are not willing to go to work and not coming outside a lot because of fear,” said Abdiweli Yusuf, a 33-year-old Somali-American, as he swept up the grocery store he owns with family members. He wore a traditional robe-like khamiis under a long wool coat and a pink stocking cap against the below-zero windchill, which he didn’t seem to mind. “Minnesota is the most welcoming place in America,” he said. “I have five kids who were born here in Willmar hospitals. This is our forever home.” Many here, and across Minnesota, have been shaken by a sprawling fraud scandal that has put the state’s Somali community in the national spotlight and drawn Trump’s ire. Federal prosecutors say dozens of people bilked taxpayers by setting up scam social-services companies. It has hit home here.

NBC News [12/7/2025 5:30 AM, Alicia Victoria Lozano, 43603K] reports the immigration enforcement operation launched Wednesday in Louisiana is pitting New Orleans’ sanctuary city policies against state laws favored by Republican lawmakers. Officials in New Orleans have expressed an unwillingness to aid the operation in a city rich with diversity. But unlike states like California and Illinois, where Democratic governors and lawmakers opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies have pushed back, Louisiana’s top officials welcome federal intervention. “Louisiana will not be a refuge for violent offenders. We stand with our federal partners and the law enforcement officers who protect our people every day,” Gov. Jeff Landry said in a social media post Wednesday. “Thank you to President [Donald Trump] and [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem] for ensuring Louisiana has the resources and coordination needed to keep our citizens safe.” “Operation Catahoula Crunch,” the name given by the Department of Homeland Security to immigration enforcement efforts in Louisiana, is the latest in a series of escalations unfolding in Democratic-led cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and, most recently, Minneapolis. It is unfolding, in part, at the behest of Landry, who has said an enforcement crackdown is key to fighting crime — even as police data shows violent crime, such as nonfatal shootings, burglary and assault, is on a downward trend in New Orleans. The city is on pace to have its lowest number of homicides in nearly 50 years, according to the New Orleans Police Department. As of early November, there have been 97 reported murders in 2025 compared to 124 in 2024.

Washington Post [12/7/2025 5:11 AM, Robert Klemko, 32099K] reports if you rolled past Bedrosian Park after the final bell rang at Waukegan High School on any given weekday this fall, you were likely to find Diego Rosales and his mop of unruly black hair, basketball in hand, permanently grinning and playing down to the level of local middle-schoolers. Until Oct. 6, when Rosales watched two dark SUVs come to an abrupt stop while he waited for the bus to school. Rosales brought his eyeglasses to his nose just in time to see three White men in green fatigues, cloth masks and body armor emerging from the vehicles with pistols on their hips. They stared and then rushed toward him. His first thought was to run home to his mother. She had warned him that even though he was a U.S. citizen, born in this city on the northern outskirts of Chicago 15 years ago, the streets were no longer safe for people who looked like him. Federal agents had arrived in the Chicago area and were arresting people first and asking questions later, she told him. Surveillance footage from a nearby school captured Rosales in full sprint, curving around a building and through a parking lot, backpack in hand, the agents trailing by a stride. After a three-block race, they tackled the teenager to the pavement and shouted a question: “Where were you born?” Rosales didn’t return to Bedrosian Park in October, refusing to leave his home for fear of meeting immigration agents again. The Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Midway Blitz was still in full force. And while Secretary Kristi L. Noem recently said no U.S. citizens were detained in the crackdown, Rosales and numerous other Latinos in the Chicago area say their experiences show that is not true. Some, like Rosales, were stopped for no apparent reason than for officers to question their status in the United States. How many U.S. citizens were stopped or arrested during Midway Blitz and other recent enforcement operations is not known. DHS did not respond to requests for comment on the incidents described in this story and has not provided any figures. The Washington Post identified several cases of U.S. citizens being targeted by immigration enforcement agents that are documented in video and witness accounts. Lawyers and community leaders said there are many others involving people too frightened to come forward. Some of those targeted now wonder if there is still a place for them in the U.S.

Chicago Tribune [12/7/2025 6:00 AM, Joe Mahr and Gregory Royal Pratt, 4829K] reports Operation Midway Blitz flooded Chicago with federal immigration agents, fueled frequent protests and — to policing experts — offered something else. The operation showed how not to police. In incident after incident, experts said, immigration and Border Patrol agents routinely took actions that not only infuriated civil libertarians and everyday residents but broke urban policing protocols meant to limit danger for suspects, protesters, passersby and even officers themselves. “They haven’t done anything that is anywhere close to a standard police practice,” said former Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, a former Seattle police chief and an Obama-era appointee. Added former Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson: “In my humble opinion, it’s a breeding ground for disaster, the way they apply their tactics and methods. … From what I see, they just seem to be just really reckless.” A Tribune review of the feds’ policing tactics follows a scathing, 233-page opinion by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis that called out many of the federal agents’ tactics from a constitutional perspective. And the subsequent release of footage from agents’ body cameras late last month not only contradicted claims they made in use-of-force reports but chronicled some of the chaos on the streets. While some of that chaos for sure could be blamed on the actions of some protesters and arrest targets, career urban policing leaders blamed much of that chaos — in both incidents cited by Ellis and others — on what the leaders described as shoddy policing tactics shunned by more advanced big-city police forces. The questionable tactics were on display in ways big and small, experts said, from the way agents regularly tossed tear gas, to how they pointed guns at protesters and the media, sped around town and handcuffed arrestees. When asked about criticism of its policing tactics, DHS said its agents are well-trained and did what they could to “mitigate dangers” in a place where it said agents routinely were assaulted as they fought “rioters” and “domestic terrorists.” “The disgusting attempts by the media and ‘experts’ to say these agents are not trained to enforce the law is shameful and laughable,” according to a statement by DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin issued Nov. 26, about two weeks after many federal agents left Chicago for other operations. The face of Operation Midway Blitz, Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, argued that his agents showed expertise and restraint in the face of constant confrontation with angry Chicagoans — one of whom allegedly put a bounty on him.

FOX News [12/6/2025 9:14 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports FBI Director Kash Patel discusses the investigation into the shooting of two National Guard members, migrant vetting and more on ‘My View with Lara Trump.’[Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/6/2025 9:26 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports FBI Director Kash Patel tells ‘My View with Lara Trump’ what he plans to do to earn back Americans’ trust in the agency and how he’ll help combat fentanyl trafficking. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Chicago Tribune [12/7/2025 6:00 AM, Staff, 4829K] reports most Americans are sick and tired of the kind of reactionary politics that does nothing to stop people stealing taxpayers’ hard-earned money. Take, for example, the circle-the-wagons responses to the scandal involving likely hundreds of Somali immigrants and descendants in Minnesota and the theft of more than a billion dollars from that state’s famously generous social safety nets over about the last five years. The crime ring here involved an outrageously widespread scheme to defraud Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program through the creation of dubious nonprofit entities (such as one called Feeding Our Future) that could sign up individuals and then bill the state for social service work they never actually did for those folks, thereby allowing nefarious connected individuals to pocket the loot. Reportedly, more than 86 defendants, almost all of Somali origin and many with U.S. residency or citizenship, have been charged, with some 60 already given felony convictions. But this widely ignored story (nationally, at least) only gained national traction in the last couple of weeks once those with pre-existing narratives found the right fit. The right realized several things. Here was an effective way to remind voters of the Democrats’ poorly managed money-spill at the tail end of the COVID-19 crisis and to attach blame for this scandal to Tim Walz, the state’s governor and recent vice presidential candidate, perhaps knocking him out of any future in national politics. The scandal also targeted one of the left’s most absurd and easily correctible weaknesses: a reluctance to call out crime when doing so might cause the whistleblower to be called a racist. So what if real harm is being done? Here there were clear echoes of a yet-worse scheme in the U.K. that involved the sexual abuse of hundreds of young, working-class British girls mostly by older Pakistani men, even as the authorities downplayed the scale of the abuse and soft-pedaled investigations for years, apparently due to a reluctance to sow “community” discord. Everyone in Britain now knows the country failed those girls. On the naturally defensive left, the Minnesota story was seen as necessitating firing back. Not against the crimes, but against anti-immigrant jingoism, as writ large by Donald Trump’s enraged and highly offensive statement that denigrated Somali immigrants as “garbage” and suggested they shouldn’t be in the country, declaring, “we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.” That’s why Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was breaking bread for the cameras with Somali Americans this past week, even as Trump was fuming about kicking them all out of the country. For his part, Walz said he has put in new safeguards. But he seemed to rage not against the unfathomable duration of the billion-dollar crime spree, which he said “was stopping,” but against Trump’s reactive tirade, a justifiable target but also much easier than cleaning out his own house. These are the words and actions of political leaders worried about the next election. We think most Americans understand what happened here and why, as well what is and is not appropriate to say and do.

FOX News [12/6/2025 10:10 AM, David Marcus, 40621K] reports President Donald Trump has seen recent setbacks in his polling numbers on many issues, but one bright spot in surveys has been his aggressive approach to Venezuela, including taking out drug cartel boats. But there is another purpose at work here, one that may help to end the war in Ukraine. What is important to understand is that Venezuela is a client state of Russia, as is Iran, and as was Syria until the recent overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. One by one, Trump has been proving that against American might, Putin cannot keep his sketchy global friends safe. "Russia’s track record with allies like Iran, Syria, and now Venezuela reveals a familiar pattern," Peter Doran, adjunct senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told me. "The Kremlin will make lavish statements of support, but provide minimal backing when real threats emerge to its clients.". Noting how thin PUtin is stretched by the war in Ukraine and U.S. sanctions, Doran said "keeping Maduro in power is a bridge too far for Moscow if President Trump presses the issue." One can almost see Trump’s main Ukraine negotiator, Steve Witkoff, saying to a Russian counterpart, "How’s your boy Maduro, doing? Seems to be having a tough time. I wish we could help ...".

USA Today [12/7/2025 4:30 AM, Nicole Russell, 67103K] reports it’s December. That means it’s time to head home for the holidays. After purchasing an expensive plane ticket, you pack your bags and arrive at the airport, excited to sip an overpriced latte and join your loved ones. But before you can get to your gate, you need to pass through an airport gauntlet, where a potential cacophony of catastrophe awaits. Included in that is a long line of tired travelers who are already burdened by bags, strollers and babies − and now are waylaid by the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA. There, any number of things could happen to you in these lines that snake down halls, distracting, discouraging − or even delaying – your trip, all in the name of safety precautions long since outdated, administered by a group of employees so burdened by bureaucratic bloat that they make an appointment at the Department of Motor Vehicles look like a trip to Disney World. Alas, it’s time for us to admit, as proud, free, exasperated Americans, that we need safety at U.S. airports, but that it should be efficient and cost-effective. The TSA is neither. It should be abolished and replaced with something better. The TSA is horrible. Let me count the ways. It’s widely discussed online that encounters with TSA can range from completely normal and uneventful to embarrassing and time-consuming. Don’t get me started on the fact that travelers were forced to remove their shoes in the security line for over two decades until this year. From invasive pat-downs and pre-dawn yelling to missing prohibited items in screenings, there have been enough problems over the past 20-plus years to question why such poor security permeates every U.S. airport. The TSA was originally founded in response to the devastating terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. It was a harrowing time in our nation’s history that I won’t forget. I empathize with the need that the Bush administration had for an emergency response to the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history, before or since. After what the terrorists did, hijacking multiple planes via box cutters, it made sense at the time to crack down on travelers’ identification and belongings. I applaud the speed and verve of this original goal. But like most government-led agencies or programs, it has slowly devolved into a costly, inefficient mess. The budget request for the 2025 fiscal year was almost $12 billion. Undercover tests run by the Department of Homeland Security in 2015 and 2017 found that TSA screeners often failed to find prohibited and dangerous items like weapons or simulated explosives, not that full-size bottle of shampoo you have brought and thrown away a few times. In 2015, TSA had a 95% failure rate; in 2017, it was still nearly 80% 2017. A 2024 Washington Post article revealed that in the previous year, at least 300 people covertly evaded airport security. In 2024, Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, sent a letter to the TSA administrator asking him how ammunition accidentally carried by Americans was missed by U.S. screenings. Don’t get me wrong: We need security at airports. TSA has likely been a deterrent of sorts, however costly and inefficient it is. Should airports have private security? I’m not alone in advocating for the TSA to be tossed out and replaced with something better. This year, Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, introduced the Abolish the TSA Act, "which would dissolve the bloated and ineffective Transportation Security Administration while allowing America’s airports to compete to provide the safest, most efficient, and least intrusive security measures, under a new Office of Aviation Security Oversight."

Breitbart [12/6/2025 2:37 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested an illegal alien convicted of forcing young girls into sex trafficking using violence and death threats. On Thursday, ICE officials announced the arrest of illegal alien Rafael Alberto Cadena-Sosa of Mexico, who, along with his family members, ran a sex trafficking ring in Miami, Florida. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Cadena-Sosa and members of his family would approach girls as young as 14 in Veracruz, Mexico, and promise them jobs in the United States. Once they got to the U.S., Cadena-Sosa would force them into sex trafficking — prostituting them for 12 hours a day, six days a week, authorities said. In 2015, Cadena-Sosa pleaded guilty to involuntary servitude. In addition to arresting Cadena-Sosa, ICE agents similarly arrested Lucia Sanchez-Barrientos of Mexico, convicted of human smuggling in Texas, as well as Jose Luisa Vazquez-Olvera of Mexico, convicted of manufacturing and delivering drugs in Texas.

NBC News [12/7/2025 5:00 AM, Laura Strickler and Julia Ainsley, 43603K] reports more than a third of the roughly 220,000 people arrested by ICE officers in the first nine months of the Trump administration had no criminal histories, according to new data. The data, which includes ICE arrests from Jan. 20 to Oct. 15, shows that nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records have been swept up in immigration operations that the president and his top officials have said would target murderers, rapists and gang members. “It contradicts what the administration has been saying about people who are convicted criminals and that they are going after the worst of the worst,” said Ariel Ruiz Soto, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. The figures provide the most revealing look to date into the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. They were shared by the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project, which obtained them through a lawsuit brought against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The data is compiled by an internal ICE office that handles arrest, detention and deportation data. The administration stopped regularly posting detailed information on ICE arrests in January. For arrestees with criminal histories, the data doesn’t distinguish between those with a history of minor offenses and those who have committed more serious crimes, like rape and murder, whom the administration has said it is targeting. And the figures do not include arrests made by Border Patrol, which has launched aggressive immigration operations in several cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina. Border Patrol sweeps are currently underway in New Orleans.

NPR [12/7/2025 3:00 AM, Staff, 28013K] reports that, with increased immigration enforcement under President Trump, many families with undocumented members are living in fear of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Many are afraid to leave their homes and families are having to face the reality that they may be separated, detained and even deported. This week on The Sunday Story, NPR immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd, reporting for the Code Switch podcast, takes us into the lives of the immigrant families who are facing immense pressure in the United States. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [12/7/2025 6:05 AM, Maria Sacchetti and Todd Wallack, 32099K] reports from her confinement in a remote detention center in Louisiana, Bruna Ferreira recounted all the ways she said she has tried to maintain a friendly relationship with the family of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. After all, Ferreira shares a child with Leavitt’s brother. The Brazilian immigrant selected Leavitt to be her son’s godmother. She signed off on her son’s trip to the White House Easter egg hunt this spring. And she said she “moved mountains” to ensure he could attend Leavitt’s wedding in January. Arrested Nov. 12 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ferreira, 33, said it is insulting to sit in orange prison scrubs facing possible removal to Brazil after spending most of her life in the United States while the Trump administration paints her as a criminal. She is being detained for being in the United States illegally, a civil violation, after overstaying a visa when she was a child. “I asked Karoline to be godmother over my only sister,” she said Thursday in a video interview with The Washington Post. “I made a mistake there, in trusting. … Why they’re creating this narrative is beyond my wildest imagination.” Since her arrest, the White House media office has portrayed Ferreira as an absentee mother who had not been in Karoline Leavitt’s orbit in years. The White House issued a statement that said Ferreira had not spoken to Leavitt in years and that Ferreira had never lived with her son. The White House also shared a Department of Homeland Security statement that called Ferreira a “criminal,” with a previous arrest for “battery,” though it has not responded to repeated requests for supporting documentation. Court records, family photos and Ferreira’s account tell a different story.

The Hill [12/6/2025 1:59 PM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports the White House on Friday posted a video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests spliced with an altered clip of pop musician Sabrina Carpenter on "Saturday Night Live," days after using one of her songs in a similar video. The video, pulled from her Oct. 18 appearance on SNL, starts with Carpenter on stage alongside cast member Marcello Hernández. Her voice is altered to say, "I think I might need to arrest someone for being too illegal," with Gucci Mane’s "I Get the Bag" playing in the background. In the original monologue, the pop artist said, "I think I might need to arrest someone for being too hot." Hernández, reaching out with his wrists, replied, "Oh well, I turn myself in.". The new post comes days after the White House released a similar montage of ICE arrests set to Carpenter’s song "Juno." The video repeats the lyric "have you ever tried this one?" a reference to different sexual positions. "This video is evil and disgusting," the musician replied to the White House’s now-deleted post. "Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda." White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson clapped back with "a Short n’ Sweet message" for Carpenter, a reference to her 2024 album. "We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country," Jackson said. "Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?".

NewsMax [12/6/2025 3:47 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Carlos Portugal Gouvea, a visiting law professor whom Harvard University suspended in October after he was arrested for firing a pellet gun near Temple Beth Zion, an "independent, inclusive" congregation in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Yom Kippur, has agreed to leave the country, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said. "It is a privilege to work and study in the United States, not a right," stated Tricia McLaughlin, assistant U.S. secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs. "There is no room in the United States for brazen, violent acts of antisemitism like this.". "They are an affront to our core principles as a country and an unacceptable threat against law-abiding American citizens," McLaughlin said. "We are under zero obligation to admit foreigners who commit these inexplicably reprehensible acts or to let them stay here." Kristi Noem, the U.S. Homeland Security secretary, has "made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and commit anti-American and antisemitic violence and terrorism should think again," she added. "You are not welcome here." According to the department, Gouvea agreed to leave the country "rather than be deported" after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement re-arrested him on Wednesday. That came after accepting a plea deal on Nov. 13 "on the charge of illegal use of the air rifle while his other charges for disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and vandalizing property were dismissed," the department said.

New York Post [12/6/2025 10:53 PM, David Spector, 42219K] reports the Boston Archdiocese has condemned a Church’s controversial nativity display featuring an "ICE was here" sign in a Christmas manger scene that had Jesus, Mary and Joseph missing. The anti-ICE nativity scene was placed outside the St. Susanna Catholic church in Dedham, Mass., a suburb outside Boston. The display also had a sign with the contact number for a group that monitors immigration operations. The Archdiocese of Boston blasted the display as "divisive political messaging" and called for it to be removed, saying it violated Catholic doctrine. "The display should be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose," the Archdiocese said in a statement. "The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship — not divisive political messaging, the Church’s norms prohibit the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than the devotion of God’s people," the spokesman said. Acting ICE director Todd Lyons slammed Josoma as an "activist reverend," and said it could lead to assaults on ICE officers. "The actions of the activist reverend, Stephen Josoma, are absolutely abhorrent and add to a dangerous narrative responsible for a more than 1,150% increase in assaults on ICE officers," Lyons told Fox News Digital. There have been over 250 attacks on ICE officers this year, along with an increase in doxxing, stalking and death threats. Father Stephen Josoma, the pastor at St. Susanna’s, told Fox News Digital that the purpose of the nativity scene is to "try to see what would it be like if Christ was born into the context of the world today.” Josoma defended the display as "religious art" and said it was intended to provoke "emotions in people.” "It’s supposed to affect people deeply, it’s supposed to move people, it’s supposed to change people, so, if this evokes a strong reaction, it’s maybe good to take a look at that," Josoma said. This is not the first controversial nativity scene the pastor has erected in front of his church. In 2018, he placed Baby Jesus in a cage away from his parents to protest Trump’s immigration policies. More than 5,400 children were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border during Trump’s first term. The pastor has also erected nativity scenes that touched on gun control and climate change in years past. "[Josoma] has become infamous for using his pulpit to advance his activist agenda and has now caught the attention of the Archdiocese of Boston, which has publicly condemned his most recent political stunt… I applaud the Catholic Church and the Archdiocese for taking a stand against such a dangerous and extremist narrative," Lyons said.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [12/6/2025 7:00 PM, Rachel del Guidice Fox, 40621K]

FOX News [12/6/2025 3:00 PM, Marc Tamasco Fox, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., on Saturday criticized New York Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly failing to honor ICE detainers for nearly 7,000 criminal illegal immigrants in New York City, resulting in their release from prison, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). On "Saturday in America," host Kayleigh McEnany asked the congresswoman what she thought of the situation, noting that this occurred before New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s "socialist takeover" of the city Jan. 1. "This is a sanctuary state, as you know, still is a sanctuary state run by the Democrats completely. Even the governor faces a veto-proof majority in the legislature, and now we’ll end up having a pro-sanctuary mayor coming on the first of January," Tenney responded. "There are thousands, almost 7,000 people with these advanced criminal records, like murder, homicide, rape, extortion, you name it — just about every crime — child sex crimes, that are let into our state every single year, at least this last year. "Letitia James, our attorney general, was alerted. She doesn’t care. She even goes after and is trying to prosecute any of the local governments who want to cooperate with what is called the 287(g) program," the congresswoman added.

Breitbart [12/6/2025 4:08 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports an illegal alien released into the United States by former President Joe Biden’s administration is accused of leaving a Maryland woman in critical condition and fleeing the scene following a head-on collision in the sanctuary jurisdiction of Prince George’s County, Breitbart News has exclusively learned. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested illegal alien Kevin Alexis Mendez-Ortiz of Honduras on November 25 while conducting a targeted raid in Oxon Hill, Maryland. According to ICE officials, on November 9, Mendez-Ortiz was driving on a road in Prince George’s County when he crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a vehicle head-on. The woman, who has remained anonymous, was left with life-threatening injuries, including a broken vertebra, a broken collarbone, a broken wrist, fractured ribs, injury to her intestines and uterus, a ruptured diaphragm, a collapsed lung, and a concussion, among other injuries. Mendez-Ortiz allegedly fled the scene of the crash. "This tragic incident underscores why ICE remains steadfast in its mission to identify, apprehend and remove illegal aliens who pose a threat to public safety," ICE Baltimore Acting Field Office Director Jeremy Bacon told Breitbart News. "A U.S. citizen suffered devastating injuries because of the reckless behavior of an illegal alien who had no lawful right to be in our country," Bacon said. "The Baltimore field office extends our deepest hopes for our fellow citizen’s full and speedy recovery. We will continue working tirelessly to keep our communities safe from individuals who endanger the public through irresponsible and unlawful actions.".

Univision [12/6/2025 12:08 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports a man who was charged with vehicular homicide for driving under the influence in a crash that killed three young people in 2022 was deported to Honduras due to a government error in September 2024. This Friday, at a hearing, a Miami-Dade judge was awaiting a report on what happened, but the Department of Corrections said once again that it is not ready. Paola Sabillón, 19, her boyfriend Jason Meza and his cousin Giselle Reyes, died in 2022 after Erwin Recinos hit them with his vehicle in western Miami-Dade. Authorities accuse Recinos of driving drunk and speeding at the time of the accident. Contrary to the wishes of the young men’s families, he was placed under house arrest, and on the day the trial date was supposed to be announced, the victims’ families learned that Recinos had been deported to Honduras. This Friday, at a criminal hearing, the judge wanted to see the report of what happened, but again the Department of Corrections said that the report is not ready. Apparently, Resinos violated his house arrest, so he had to go change the battery in his ankle monitor. But immigration officials were waiting for him there, arrested him, and weeks later, on September 6, 2024, he was deported to Honduras. The family also told News 23 that the man fled from Honduras to Spain, where he was captured by Interpol and they are now waiting for his extradition.

Telemundo [12/7/2025 1:06 AM, Staff, 2218K] reports Belixa Cubena has been inconsolable since her husband, Daniel Escobar, was arrested by ICE in a Miami court. They both crossed from Mexico in 2022 and received I-220A documents, but now their dreams are fading as they face the possibility of deportation. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo [12/7/2025 1:12 AM, Staff, 2218K] reports tense moments between agents and residents of Elgin ended with the use of tear gas. This is one of the few operations against immigrants in Illinois since the Border Patrol left the area. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [12/6/2025 10:56 AM, Amy Furr, 2416K] reports Minneapolis police officers are reportedly in danger of losing their jobs if they do not intervene in certain situations involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Police Chief Brian O’Hara reportedly said if any of his officers see ICE agents using "unlawful force" against people in his area, they are expected to take action, MS Now reported on Friday. When asked how his officers were expected to respond to excessive force from the federal agents, the outlet quoted O’Hara as saying, "If unlawful force is being used by any law enforcement officer against any person in this city and one of our officers is there, absolutely, I expect them to intervene, or they’ll be fired." The news comes amid President Donald Trump’s efforts to safeguard American communities from illegal alien crime after former President Joe Biden’s open border policies brought all kinds of violence and danger to the United States. The MS Now article also stated that "O’Hara noted that cases of ‘excessive’ force that were ‘readily apparent’ would merit officer intervention. A sergeant from O’Hara’s department later clarified that while Minneapolis Police Department officers may physically intervene in the case of unlawful force, they would stop short of arresting ICE agents."

Houston Chronicle [12/6/2025 12:48 PM, Ashley Soebroto, 2983K] reports police in Chambers County on Thursday seized more than 200 pounds of methamphetamine hidden behind a fake wall in a Houston home. The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office, in a Friday social media post, said that along with the drug seizure, authorities arrested two individuals "who were illegally present in the United States." It’s unclear what led police to finding the drugs and whether the sheriff’s office will be turning over the arrested individuals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The sheriff’s office didn’t identify the exact address of the home. The county sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

New York Times [12/7/2025 5:00 AM, Allison McCann, 153395K] reports the inmates housed at the minimum-security state prison in McCook, Neb., could often be seen around town, working on road paving, weeding cemeteries, taking down Christmas lights and mowing the high school football field before games. They took classes at the local community college, and an art gallery displayed work from 13 prisoners this summer. For more than two decades, the prison, known as the Work Ethic Camp, was Nebraska’s only state prison geared solely toward rehabilitation. The facility held nonviolent felony offenders who were nearing the end of their sentences and prepared them, with counseling, schooling and job training, to return to the outside world. That changed this fall, after state officials announced that the Work Ethic Camp would be replaced with a 300-bed, high security Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center to support President Trump’s national crackdown on illegal immigration. And so a place that had been devoted to second chances now had a very different mission, and a new name to go with it: “The Cornhusker Clink.” In McCook, a conservative town of about 7,500 that voted overwhelmingly for President Trump, some residents have objected. Many said they support Mr. Trump’s stance on illegal immigration but also liked what they had before: A prison that didn’t feel like a prison. With its close ties to the community, it was a place that helped Nebraskans get back on their feet. Other residents said they were in favor of the new ICE facility, viewing McCook as doing its part for the president’s agenda and potentially benefiting from 50 to 60 added jobs. But opponents said they were frustrated by the governor’s unilateral decision to change the facility and turn it into a place to detain immigrants. City officials are also worried about the potential strain on resources if hundreds of detainees are transported in and out through the town’s small airport, which has one full-time employee. “Now when people think of McCook, this is all it is — it’s ICE detention,” said Nate Schneider, the city manager and a registered Republican who said he has voted for both parties over the years. “But for us, it’s a lot more than that. McCook is home. McCook is a place that I want my kids to think is a good place to live. We’ve been working so hard to make McCook a draw, and now this.”

FOX News [12/7/2025 2:56 AM, Michael Sinkewicz, 40621K] reports Idaho bar owner Mark Fitzpatrick said his saloon has been flooded with both praise and outrage after a promotion offering "free beer" to anyone who helps Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) identify and deport an illegal immigrant went viral. The Old State Saloon’s promotion, which was posted Nov. 29 on X, was viewed nearly 8 million times. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also reposted it, generating both excitement and online attacks, including threats to burn down the business and kill its outspoken owner. "At Old State Saloon, we really aren’t strangers to speaking out boldly about conservative Christian values and truth and putting the truth out there," Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital, adding that speaking in a world with "deception" and "evil" causes people to get "really upset.” Fitzpatrick said his bar’s first controversial promotion came in 2024 when he launched "Heterosexual Awesomeness Month," featuring discounts and free beer for heterosexual men, women and couples throughout June in response to Pride Month. The saloon owner said his latest idea was inspired by four years of former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, describing them as a "complete disaster" that incentivized "some of the worst of the worst people in the world to come into this country.” While his promotion was meant to promote the efforts of law enforcement and ICE, Fitzpatrick said it was quickly attacked online, and the saloon has posted several social media exchanges this week with individuals strongly disagreeing with its conservative ideology. "What liberals want to do is they attack you," he said. "They go on attack and they start calling you names.” Fitzpatrick said his family has been threatened, and he has received "disgusting" messages and voicemails, including threats to torch his saloon. "People are just outright saying I should die for this," he said. "It’s really, really despicable.” Fitzpatrick urged anyone dismissing his promotion to visit his bar, asserting that "if any of those liberals actually came in and were willing to talk," they would meet someone who "would sit down with them and talk and listen to what they have to say.” Fitzpatrick remains unfazed, saying the negative comments only make him want to "double down." His saloon has also continued to offer new promotions throughout the month, including "Manly American Monday," where men who support ICE get a free beer just for walking through the door. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [12/6/2025 4:11 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pushed and pepper-sprayed Rep. Adelita Grijalva during an immigration enforcement action outside a Tucson restaurant on Friday, she alleges. Grijalva, D-Ariz., said she identified herself and was "asking for clarification" after finding about 40 ICE agents and their vehicles in the street outside a restaurant that she frequents, NBC News reported. The recently elected Congresswoman in a social media post said she was "sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent [and] pushed around by others." Grijalva said she was "afraid they were taking people without due process." "I literally was not being aggressive," she added. "I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress." A video posted by Washington Post shows Grijalva telling ICE agents, "Don’t push me," that they "better get out" and repeatedly yelling, "Let her go." The video shows protesters physically engaging with ICE agents, who deployed tear gas and pepper spray. Some pepper balls are seen landing near Grijalva’s feet. Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin denied Grijalva’s version of events in a post on X on Friday. "If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel, but they’re not true," McLaughlin said, as reported by CNN. USA Today [12/6/2025 9:45 AM, Laura Gersony, 67103K] reports protesters had assembled near Taco Giro, a Mexican restaurant that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had raided earlier that day. Grijalva, a progressive Democrat and a vocal critic of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, was in the area at the time of the protest, according to aide Nate Sigal. She headed to the scene after her staff was notified of the commotion taking place, Sigal said. Videos by a local television affiliate showed protesters carrying signs critical of ICE, and yelling at the officers as they detained people. Grijalva can be seen walking toward the officers, speaking with the officers, and coughing. In another video, which Grijalva posted online, a cloud of smoke can be seen bursting near the congresswoman’s feet while she walks toward an officer. Protesters can be heard yelling in the background. It’s unclear, based on the videos, whether the officers’ actions were aimed specifically at Grijalva or part of a wider crowd control effort. The Friday morning raid that sparked the protests was part of a wider sweep of the region. ICE spokesperson Fernando X. Burgos said officers from ICE Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, and other federal agents were executing 16 search warrants in southern Arizona "as part of a years-long investigation into immigration and tax violations." Multiple individuals were in custody, Burgos wrote.

NewsMax [12/6/2025 1:01 PM, Jim Morley, 4109K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is pushing back on claims by newly sworn-in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, who alleged Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used pepper spray on her during a protest. Grijalva said she saw about 40 masked ICE agents in multiple vehicles near the restaurant and that they were confronted by people raising due process concerns. DHS promptly disputed her account. "If these claims were true, this would be a medical marvel," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote Saturday in response to Grijalva’s accusation. "But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed." McLaughlin said Grijalva was near a protester who was pepper sprayed and was not the intended target. McLaughlin added, "Presenting oneself as a ‘Member of Congress’ doesn’t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement. More information forthcoming."

NewsMax [12/6/2025 6:43 PM, Jim Thomas, 4109K] reports federal authorities on Saturday rejected claims that agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ran over a man’s leg during a Dec. 4 arrest in Vancouver, Washington, but local law enforcement has launched a traffic-related inquiry after eyewitness video surfaced, fueling public concern. On Thursday afternoon in Vancouver, Washington, ICE agents detained 27-year-old Jose Paniagua Calderon in what his family alleges was a violent arrest. The family claims the agents shattered his car windows, dragged him to the ground, and drove over his leg before placing him into an unmarked van. Eyewitness videos posted to social media appear to show the man being carried and then loaded into the vehicle. On Saturday, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the allegation, calling it "Pure theatre.". In a Saturday post to X, she wrote: "Never happened. ICE did NOT run over this illegal alien’s leg. Pure theatre. No Injury. After ICE officers applied wrist restraints, Paniagua launched into an Oscar-level performance, dramatically screaming while officers simply moved his vehicle off the roadway. He walked around normally immediately after without issue and received a full medical evaluation, including multiple X-rays that showed ZERO fractures, dislocations, or injuries.". Meanwhile, the Vancouver Police Department has opened a traffic investigation because the video appears to show a vehicle striking a person while under law-enforcement detainment. The department said it will "determine the facts" based on the bystander video. Calderon’s family described him as a churchgoing construction worker with no criminal record. They say he was detained at the northwest ICE facility in Tacoma, where they have limited or no access, and they remain uncertain about whether he has received adequate medical care. The issue arises amid surging immigration enforcement efforts across the region under the Trump administration. Many residents and advocacy groups are watching closely for how ICE and DHS respond to public allegations of misconduct following widely circulated videos of arrests. As of now, ICE has not publicly released footage from its own body-cams or vehicle cameras, and no independent third-party medical verification has been presented to confirm or contradict either the family’s or DHS’s account. The investigation by Vancouver police remains ongoing.

Los Angeles Times [12/6/2025 11:00 AM, Rebecca Ellis and David Zahniser, 14862K] reports supervisors voted 4-0 on a law barring immigration officials from wearing masks when conducting raids in unincorporated parts of the county. The rule would also require all law enforcement officers, including local ones, to clearly identify themselves. ICE has shown zero interest in complying. The supes will have another perfunctory vote next week. Assuming it passes, the ban will take effect in early January. Even then, legal scholars and the county’s own lawyers say the federal government is almost certainly not going to listen — and they likely don’t have to. Under the supremacy clause of the Constitution, legal scholars say federal law takes precedent when there’s a conflict with local law. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin already told reporters she believes the ban is invalid under the supremacy clause, teeing up a likely challenge. The legal battle looming in L.A. County is already playing out at the state level. Earlier this year, the California Legislature passed a similar bill requiring agents to identify themselves and barring on-duty officers from covering their faces. The U.S. Department of Justice moved swiftly to block it, arguing officers needed the masks to "provide an extra layer of security" given the "personal threats and violence" they face on the job. The government has claimed that assaults against ICE officers jumped by more than 1,150% compared to last year. But recent Times reporting suggests the severity of those threats may be dramatically overstated. The Times reviewed thousands of pages of court records and found most officers were not injured by alleged assaults. In more than a third of those cases, federal law enforcement officers were either shoved, spat on, flailed at, or the target of a hurled water bottle, The Times found.

Telemundo [12/6/2025 3:56 PM, Eduardo Orbea, 76K] reports the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will launch a specialized center to deepen investigations of applicants for visas and immigration benefits and better detect immigrants associated with terrorism and crime. “Once fully operational, the Atlanta-based USCIS Research Center will centralize enhanced alien vetting and enable the agency to respond more nimbly to changes in an ever-evolving threat landscape,” USCIS said on its website. “The role USCIS plays in the nation’s immigration system has never been more crucial. In the wake of several recent incidents of violence, including an attack by a foreign national on members of the National Guard on U.S. soil, the establishment of this investigative center will give us even greater capabilities to safeguard national security and ensure public safety,” said USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow. “Under the Biden administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was forced to expedite immigration and naturalization processes without regard for how that impacted national security and the safety of our communities,” Edlow added. Once the new research center is fully operational, it will draw on the full spectrum of classified and unclassified research and verification capabilities and provide a more comprehensive, complementary review of immigration applications and petitions, according to USCIS.

Houston Chronicle [12/6/2025 7:00 AM, Jeremy Wallace, 2983K] reports it’s been a year now since President Donald Trump said he wanted to protect young, undocumented immigrants — known as "dreamers" — from deportation. But nothing has materialized, and U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, for one, is getting impatient. Well, the border is secure, Garcia said, and Trump still hasn’t done anything to support her legislation to give a pathway to citizenship for the approximately 100,000 people living in Texas who were children when they were brought to the United States. U.S. Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Miami, used a press conference in July to say that, with border security addressed, it was time to give dreamers and others living in the shadows a pathway to legal status. On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., reintroduced his legislation in that chamber to also protects dreamers from deportation. He’s introduced similar legislation for 24 years, picking up Republican cosponsors along the way, but never getting the bill signed into law. ​If anything, the administration is making it easier to deport dreamers to their birth countries, even if they haven’t been in those places since they were infants. Department of Homeland Security has said in court documents that dreamers are not protected from deportation and that even if they had been granted protections as part of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals under former President Barack Obama, it does not give them "legal status" now.

The Hill [12/6/2025 11:37 AM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) sent a letter Wednesday urging Trump administration officials to ramp up oversight on large corporations’ use of H-1B visas for foreign workers. In his letter, Gallego expressed support for high-skilled immigration programs that "spur economic growth that creates good-paying jobs for American workers.". "At the same time, we must ensure such programs are not used to undercut or replace U.S. employees, especially as the American dream continues to grow further out of reach for young people," he wrote. Gallego noted that as large tech companies have laid off hundreds of thousands of employees, they have also hired over 30,000 foreign workers under the H1-B program. This impact, specifically on recent college graduates, suggests "that there are young American workers eager to be trained for and to fill these roles.".

NewsMax [12/6/2025 4:53 PM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4109K] reports Rep. Randy Fine told Newsmax on Saturday that the Trump administration’s move to halt asylum and immigration benefit applications for applicants from high-risk countries is necessary because vetting in some places "is a lie." The Florida Republican, speaking with Newsmax’s "The Count," added that some countries lack the systems needed to reliably screen applicants. "They don’t have databases," he said, adding that even with records, "you can’t know what’s in someone’s heart and you can’t know what’s in someone’s head." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said this week that President Donald Trump’s administration is moving to expand the number of countries covered by its travel ban from the current 19 to include more than 30 countries. Fine said the administration’s immigration crackdown should extend beyond illegal border crossings to legal pathways as well. "In the same way that President Trump has stopped illegal immigration into this country, now we need to stop undesirable legal immigration into the country," he said. Fine added said removals should not be limited to those who entered illegally. "Now we’ve got to be sending home legal immigrants who came here for the wrong reasons," he said. Fine tied his position to broader concerns about public benefits and assimilation, saying welfare policy can create dependency and resentment. "One of the big lies about welfare is that it is compassionate when you give someone something they didn’t earn," he said. "You actually corrode their soul and you create a greater sense of entitlement." He said importing large numbers of migrants from troubled societies carries long-term consequences for the United States. "If you import the third world, you become the third world," Fine said, adding, "This isn’t about racism, it is about culture."

NBC News [12/6/2025 8:31 PM, Colin Sheeley, Marlene Lenthang and Matt Lavietes, 34509K] Video: HERE reports masked immigration authorities were recorded on video this week following a woman back to her Louisiana home during what the Department of Homeland Security is calling a "targeted immigration enforcement operation.” Jacelynn Guzman, 23, was walking home Thursday from a corner store in Marrero, a New Orleans suburb, when a silver, unmarked SUV pulled up next to her and two masked agents exited, she said. "I was walking and the first car pulled up on the side of me and I thought it was an Uber," she said. "They said, ‘Wait don’t run, Ma’am.’ That’s all I heard before I blasted off," Guzman told NBC News on Saturday. Guzman said she repeatedly told the agents she’s a U.S. citizen. "I just kept repeating it — I’m a U.S.-born citizen. I was born and raised here. This is my home. My baby’s waiting for me," she recalled. She said an agent responded by saying, "OK, that’s fine, come here," but she kept running. She said a second SUV pulled up shortly after. "As soon as I started running, one of the cars started speeding up with me, but then he went ahead of me and I felt like he thought maybe I was going to keep running," Guzman said. Security footage shared with NBC News by Guzman’s mother, Ramona Anglin, showed an SUV pulling up next to Guzman before two masked agents appeared on foot tailing behind Guzman as she ran to her property. She screamed "Leave me alone" and then disappeared out of view, apparently into the home. The two masked men chased after her but stopped running at the property line, the video shows. A second video Anglin shared with NBC News showed Guzman’s stepfather shouting at five agents from inside the property line. "Get the f--- out of here," he shouted. The agents left in two SUVs shortly afterward, the video shows. On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security reposted the security footage published by a local news outlet and offered an explanation of the events. "U.S. Border Patrol was conducting a targeted immigration enforcement operation against a criminal illegal alien previously charged with felony theft and convicted of illegal possession of stolen property," the agency said. "As the agents exited their vehicle, they encountered a female matching the description of the target. Agents identified themselves and the individual ran toward her residence," the department wrote. "Agents immediately stopped upon reaching the property, determined the individual in question was not the target, and all agents departed the area.” No arrests were made, DHS added. A spokesperson for DHS did not immediately return a request for further comment. Guzman said she’s doing "OK" since the ordeal. "I keep playing over different things I could have done. But I think in that moment it was just panic and my first thought was I have to get home to my baby," she said. She said she was aware of federal immigration operations detaining people, adding, "I kind of was always watching my back, but not as much I guess.” She urged people to "be strong" amid the immigration crackdown. "I know it’s hard to be strong in such difficult times, but just be safe, watch over your family," she said.

Univision [12/7/2025 1:37 AM, Staff, 5004K] reports that, as Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino continues his tour of several New Orleans neighborhoods as part of Operation Catahoula Crunch, dozens of people gathered in a suburb to protest the presence of federal agents. According to some residents, many people are crowded into their homes, children are not attending school, and businesses have decided to close.

Univision [12/6/2025 2:57 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports new Border Patrol operations in the Cicero and Berwyn area increased fear among the immigrant community, leaving its streets empty Friday afternoon and evening. The community, hoping for a respite from these operations after Greg Bovino left the area , was surprised by operations and videos on social media of Border Patrol agents chasing immigrants. “ It’s awful because everyone is afraid. It affects us all, our families, our communities,” said Sandra Luna, who lives in Cicero. In a video shared on TikTok, officers could be seen running after people in the parking lot of a Home Depot located at 2800 South Cicero Avenue. In response, citizens indicated they were surprised and concerned about these operations , adding that they believed the low number of people in the streets and businesses was due more to the presence of the Border Patrol than to the cold weather. “Yes, it’s bad because things had already improved, and now people are isolated again. It feels more isolated, and it’s not just the cold, it’s everything,” said Silvestre Valladares, a resident of Cicero.Immigration operations were repeated on Friday in residential areas of Cicero and the neighboring town of Berwin. At least three people were detained during these operations. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [12/6/2025 11:38 AM, Staff, 5004K] reports after losing a foot on the train known as ‘La Bestia’ (The Beast) on his way to the United States, a Guatemalan immigrant now faces a deportation order and a fine of nearly $400,000. The Hispanic man, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he entered the United States illegally in 2021, for the second time. In January 2025, he was notified that he had to leave the country after his case was closed. However, by not doing so, he has now been notified that he has to pay $336,326 as a fine for not leaving the country on the stipulated date. Meanwhile, this Guatemalan man will seek ways to appeal his case, as he claims that his life would be in danger if he returned to his country.

The Center Square [12/6/2025 11:09 PM, Bethany Blankley] reports Texas law enforcement officers working through Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, continue to apprehend illegal border crossers, tracking them through brush, rugged terrain, and on barren ranchland. Integral to their efforts are four-legged team members with paws and hooves who graduated from new classes or celebrated a new year of service this November. The Texas Department of Public Safety has long used K9 teams, considered essential for narcotics and explosive detection and tracking fugitives. But they’ve also been integral to border security operations, working with DPS brush teams and federal and local law enforcement, DPS says. In November, DPS graduated nine new K-9 teams and four certified K-9 Tech Trainers who deployed across Texas. This fall, Texas DPS’s newly created Border Mounted Patrol Unit celebrated one year of operation in Texas border counties. Its first BMPU class graduated last November and has since been providing additional support to Texas DPS brush teams, Border Patrol, and local partners to pursue illegal border crossers in remote and challenging terrain. Both the BMPU and K-9 units are primarily pursuing gotaways – those who illegally enter between ports of entry to evade capture, don’t make immigration claims, and don’t return to Mexico. More than two million gotaways were reported by Border Patrol agents during the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported.

CBS Pittsburgh [12/6/2025 7:05 PM, Garrett Behanna, 39474K] reports that a Morgantown, West Virginia, man has been charged after a loaded gun was found at the Pittsburgh International Airport security checkpoint, Allegheny County police said. Transportation Security Administration officers found the weapon within a passenger’s carry-on bag around 4:45 a.m. Saturday. County police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were subsequently notified. The passenger, 37-year-old Donovan Pearson, did not possess a valid concealed carry permit, police said. Pearson is charged with carrying a firearm without a license. Airport officials and county police remind passengers that if they bring firearms into an airport security checkpoint, they can face federal civil fines from the TSA up to $10,000. Repeat offenders can be fined up to $13,910.

New York Times [12/6/2025 6:26 PM, Amy Graff, 135475K] reports that a potent storm is set to soak the Pacific Northwest this week, bringing heavy rain that is likely to cause some flooding on rivers and in urban areas. Western Washington and the northern half of western Oregon, from the foothills of the Cascade Range to the coast, are expected to record up to five to seven inches of rain from Monday through Thursday, with more than 10 inches possible in the higher elevations of the mountain ranges. Flood watches, which ask people to prepare for potential flooding, were issued across this area. Minor to moderate flooding is forecast to occur on more than a dozen rivers in Washington and Oregon. The Snoqualmie River in Washington is predicted to spill its banks, reaching major flood stage in Carnation, a town in the Snoqualmie Valley, about 40 miles east of Seattle, according to the Northwest River Forecast Center. “The valley is going to flood. It just depends on how bad it’s going to be,” said Cliff Mass, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington. This storm will also bring snow to the highest elevations of the region’s mountains, including the Cascade Range and Olympic Mountains. This storm will pull an atmospheric river of moisture off the Pacific Ocean that “extends down to just west of Hawaii,” according to the Weather Prediction Center. These plumes of water vapor, which travel across oceans and are wringed out by the mountains over land, are common during the rainy season on the West Coast. They provide an outsized portion of annual precipitation to West Coast states. National Weather Service forecasters in Seattle called the moisture source for this particular storm “very impressive.” As it interacts with the coastal ranges across southwest Washington and northwest Oregon and the west-facing slopes of the Cascades, the rainfall is expected to be heavy. What’s more, this storm is slow moving and could sit over Washington and Oregon for several days. When an atmospheric river stalls, it can unload rain for long periods in the same area, increasing the chance of flooding. “This is not the worst storm that has come through in recent years but it will certainly be a formidable event,” said Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. The storm is poised to move onshore over the Pacific Northwest early on Monday, with an initial pulse of moisture expected to bring strong winds and continuous rain, particularly over Western Washington and the northern half of western Oregon, Mr. Bann said.

AP [12/6/2025 6:48 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports a powerful, magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck in a remote area near the border between Alaska and the Canadian territory of Yukon on Saturday. There was no tsunami warning, and officials said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury. The U.S. Geological Survey said it struck about 230 miles (370 kilometers) northwest of Juneau, Alaska, and 155 miles (250 kilometers) west of Whitehorse, Yukon. In Whitehorse, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Calista MacLeod said the detachment received two 911 calls about the earthquake. “It definitely was felt,” MacLeod said. “There are a lot of people on social media, people felt it.” Alison Bird, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, said the part of Yukon most affected by the temblor is mountainous and has few people. “Mostly people have reported things falling off shelves and walls,” Bird said. “It doesn’t seem like we’ve seen anything in terms of structural damage.”

Reported similarly:
USA Today [12/6/2025 6:29 PM, Jonathan Limehouse, 67103K]

CBS News [12/6/2025 11:54 AM, Kerry Breen, 39474K] reports a U.S. Coast Guard ship seized more than 20,000 pounds of cocaine from a single ship this week, making the largest at-sea interdiction in nearly 20 years, officials said. The Coast Guard said the crew of the Munro, a cutter that patrols the Pacific and is based in Alameda, California, made the seizure during "counter-narcotics operations" in the Eastern Pacific. The incident was part of Operation Pacific Viper, an effort by the Trump Administration to stop the flow of illicit drugs through the Pacific Ocean. Video shows Coast Guard vehicles pursuing a go-fast vessel that appears to have multiple people aboard. A helicopter crew disabled the "non-compliant" vessel, the agency said. The Munro then arrived on scene to seize the drugs. The Coast Guard did not say what happened to the people who appeared to be aboard the vessel.

Breitbart [12/6/2025 6:40 PM, Ian Hanchett, 2416K] reports that on Friday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) responded to arguments that the United States should just let the Coast Guard interdict drug boats like it has done by saying that “they don’t have the same capabilities as other arms of the Department of Defense, including the capabilities in the sky” that are used in strikes to take things out and “U.S. Coast Guard will work in collaboration as we get closer” to the U.S. Co-host Sara Sidner asked, “Our Kate Bolduan was talking to a member of JAG who said this is murder. But also said look, the Coast Guard has been doing this job for a very long time, why not just leave it to them? What do you say to that?” Alford responded, “Well, the Coast Guard does have capabilities, but they don’t have the same capabilities as other arms of the Department of Defense, including the capabilities in the sky, which I won’t get into, that are used in these takeout strikes of narcoterrorists. And so, the U.S. Coast Guard will work in collaboration as we get closer to our home shores, but overseas and [in] international waters in particular, it’s going to be the Department of Defense under the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.”

FOX News [12/6/2025 2:42 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin details discussions at the Reagan National Defense Forum covering national security strategy, defense funding and survey results on U.S. military confidence. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [12/6/2025 3:16 PM, Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker] reports after the arrest of a man charged with placing two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties on Jan. 5, 2021, the warning from the Trump administration was clear: If you come to the nation’s capital to attack citizens and institutions of democracy, you will be held accountable. Yet Justice Department leaders who announced the arrest were silent about the violence that had taken place when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol and clashed with police one day after those bombs were discovered.

Breitbart [12/6/2025 6:24 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports Paul Campo, who previously served as a high-ranking Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official in the Obama administration, is accused, along with a friend, of agreeing to launder millions for the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) — one of Mexico’s largest drug cartels. Campo, who served as the deputy chief of financial operations at the DEA under Obama, is accused alongside Robert Sensi in an unsealed 15-page indictment of working to launder $12 million to CJNG, which controls huge swaths of the drug trade throughout the United States and is also involved in human smuggling at the U.S.-Mexico border. After President Donald Trump was elected to his first term in 2016, Campo was among many federal employees who left their posts. According to federal prosecutors, Campo and Sensi started meeting with a confidential source posing as a member of CJNG in late 2024. In later meetings, prosecutors allege, Campo and Sensi agreed to launder about $12,000,000 of CJNG narcotics and, a news release states: “… laundered $750,000 by converting cash into cryptocurrency, provided a payment for approximately 220 kilograms of cocaine on the understanding that the payment would trigger the distribution and sale of the narcotics worth approximately $5,000,000, for which CAMPO and SENSI would (i) receive directly a portion of the narcotics proceeds as profit; and (ii) receive a further commission upon the laundering of the balance of the narcotics proceeds.” Perhaps most shocking, the indictment alleges that Campo and Sensi began advising the confidential source on procuring drones and weaponry so that CJNG could carry out its drug trafficking and human smuggling using state-of-the-art military weapons like AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, M4 carbines, M16 rifles, grenade launchers, and rocket-propelled grenades.

Wall Street Journal [12/6/2025 2:27 PM, Sune Engel Rasmussen, 646K] reports when Abdul Malik Wafa scrambled onto an evacuation flight out of Kabul amid the chaotic U.S. withdrawal, he was assured that his newlywed wife, unable to get inside the airport, would be put on a plane as soon as possible. Four years later, the former NATO air-traffic controller is still waiting for her to join him in Pennsylvania. President Trump’s immigration crackdown following a deadly shooting in Washington means he will wait indefinitely. Wafa’s wife is one of hundreds of thousands of Afghans who, even before an Afghan veteran was charged with opening fire on two National Guard members in the U.S. capital, were struggling to make their way to safety in the U.S. They helped the U.S. mission in Afghanistan in one way or another, as interpreters or drivers, or had loved ones who did. Others, like Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the alleged shooter, fought in combat missions against the Taliban and al Qaeda. Now the Trump administration has moved to shut down any remaining pathway to America for its Afghan wartime allies and their dependents. The government says it will pause all asylum applications for Afghans, including those qualifying for Special Immigrant Visas. It will reopen cases approved under the Biden administration, potentially stripping residents and green card holders of their legal status—as many as 200,000 people, including the 120,000 the U.S. evacuated in the first airlift out of Kabul in August 2021. Some 265,000 Afghans are still being processed abroad, including about 180,000 in the Special Immigrant Visa pipeline for those who worked for the U.S. government, according to AfghanEvac, a nonprofit working to resettle Afghan nationals. Wafa, now 28, qualified for humanitarian parole, which grants individuals access to the U.S. temporarily for urgent humanitarian reasons, and later received asylum. Late last year, he was told his petition to have his wife join him had been approved. She traveled to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for an interview with the U.S. Embassy. Then Trump imposed a travel ban on Afghans and, months later, Wafa received an email saying the visa had been denied. His wife still lives with his mother in Helmand province. The Taliban have burned his old house down, he said. “I am so scared. After four years, they sent me an email without any proper reason rejecting the visa for a woman at high risk in Afghanistan,” Wafa said. “She is at risk because of me.”

CNN [12/6/2025 8:20 PM, Max Saltman, Jennifer Hansler, Billy Stockwell, 18595K] reports talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators over a proposed peace deal with Russia ended in Miami this weekend, with few new developments and lingering questions over security guarantees and territorial issues, according to Ukrainian officials. As the talks concluded, the Kremlin welcomed US President Donald Trump’s new security strategy, saying it dropped the language of past US administrations describing Russia as a threat. The marathon Miami meeting began on Thursday between US special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Ukrainian officials Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov. After three days of talks, "difficult issues remain," Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Olga Stefanishyna said Saturday, "but both sides continue working to shape realistic and acceptable solutions.” "The main challenges at this stage concern questions of territory and guarantees, and we are actively seeking optimal formats for addressing them," Stefanishyna said. "More details will be provided once all information is compiled.” Territory and security guarantees are long-standing sticking points for any possible deal. Ukraine maintains that a just end to the war would include reliable security guarantees and would not force it to surrender more territory to Russia. As the meetings kicked off earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters in India that his country intends to seize Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region by any means. The Miami talks had been preceded by a visit to Moscow by Kushner and Witkoff. Trump said Wednesday the US delegation had a "very good meeting" with Putin, and that they believed the Russian president "would like to see the war ended" — though the talks failed to yield a breakthrough. In a social media post on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had a "long" and "constructive" phone conversation with Witkoff and Kushner, as well as his Ukrainian delegation in Miami. "We covered many aspects and went through key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the threat of a new Russian full-scale invasion," Zelensky said. "We agreed on the next steps and formats for talks with the United States.” Also discussed on the call was "the risk of Russia failing to honor its promises, as has happened repeatedly in the past," he said. Zelensky said that Hnatov and Umerov are expected to deliver him a "detailed in person report" on the negotiations. "Not everything can be discussed over the phone," Zelensky said. "So we need to work closely with our teams on ideas and proposals.” Peace and its conditions will also be the subject of a meeting on Monday between Zelensky and French, British and German leaders in London. The discussion will cover "the situation and the ongoing negotiations within the framework of the American mediation," French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday. Separately, the Kremlin has welcomed the new US national security strategy, released on Friday, which sets out the Trump administration’s realignment of US foreign policy and takes an an unprecedentedly confrontational posture toward Europe. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Trump administration’s document has dropped language describing Russia as a threat, state-owned news agency TASS reported. "We considered this a positive step," Peskov told the news agency.

New York Times [12/6/2025 8:42 PM, James Wagner and Jeff Ernst, 135475K] reports that, before Honduras’s presidential election on Nov. 30, José Ignacio Cerrato López, a retiree, had mostly made up his mind. Although Mr. Cerrato López, 62, normally backed the right-wing National Party, he said he had planned to vote for another right-wing candidate, Salvador Nasralla, who was leading by a small margin in some polls, in hopes of kicking the governing left-wing party out of office. But when President Trump threw his support behind the National Party’s candidate, Nasry Asfura, just days before the vote, and suggested he wouldn’t work with the other top two candidates, Mr. Cerrato López said he was surprised but pleased. He said he switched his vote to Mr. Asfura. Mr. Trump “said he was going to make things worse,” said Mr. Cerrato López, citing fears that the immigration and economic relationships between the countries could deteriorate if the U.S. president’s preferred candidate did not win. And when Mr. Trump announced that he would pardon a notorious former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, a member of Mr. Asfura’s party who was convicted last year of working with cartels to flood the United States with cocaine, Mr. Cerrato López said he was more confident in his decision because he believed Mr. Hernández had helped the military when in office. Honduras, a small Central American country that is among the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, has weathered a political storm over the past week and a half. Mr. Trump’s intervention in the country’s elections — backing one candidate, denouncing others as “communists,” pardoning a convicted former president and claiming election fraud without evidence — has sparked fears that he has tipped the scales in favor of his preferred candidate. And the contest itself remains unresolved. Problems with the tabulation of results have fueled doubts about the integrity of the election and brought back memories of the 2017 election which had widespread allegations of fraud and led to unrest. And the top two candidates shunned by Mr. Trump have claimed fraud and unjust interference. As of Saturday afternoon, the Honduran election authority said that Mr. Asfura led Mr. Nasralla by 0.7 percentage points, or roughly 20,000 votes, with nearly 75 percent of tally sheets counted. “We will not allow them to alter the popular will,” Mr. Nasralla said on Saturday, suggesting, without presenting evidence, that Mr. Asfura’s party was messing with the results and calling for election authorities to release more of them. (This is Mr. Nasralla’s fourth time running for president, and he has claimed fraud in other instances.) On Saturday, the Organization of American States, which observed the elections and noted concerns about the election system, called for the remaining stages of the process to be “carried out with total clarity, maximum efficiency and without any type of delay.” Over 2,400 tally sheets have been flagged for inconsistencies by the electoral body — which represents enough votes to sway the election to either of the leading two candidates. An adviser for Mr. Nasralla, Arísitides Mejía, said that the campaign would contest many more for what it said were irregularities.

FOX News [12/6/2025 10:03 AM, Greg Norman Fox, 40621K] reports the final report from a government watchdog tasked with overseeing Afghanistan reconstruction efforts declared that "U.S. taxpayer-funded equipment, weapons, and facilities" left behind during the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal have now "formed the core of the Taliban security apparatus.". The 137-page document released this week from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) states that Congress provided approximately $144.7 billion for Afghanistan reconstruction between 2002 and 2021 as part of a mission promising to bring stability and democracy to the country, "yet ultimately delivered neither." "Due to the Taliban takeover, SIGAR was unable to inspect any of the equipment provided to, or facilities constructed for, the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) following the Afghan government’s collapse," the report said. "However, DOD determined that the United States left behind approximately $7.1 billion in material and equipment it had given to the ANDSF. "Similarly, any remaining ANDSF facilities that were not destroyed, can be assumed to be under Taliban control. These U.S. taxpayer-funded equipment, weapons, and facilities have formed the core of the Taliban security apparatus."

Wall Street Journal [12/6/2025 10:00 AM, Jonathan Cheng, 646K] reports the White House’s new national-security strategy signals a softer approach to competition with Beijing, playing down ideological differences between the two superpowers and marking a break from years in which China was singled out as posing the U.S.’s greatest challenge. On Friday, the Trump administration released a much-anticipated, 30-page document that sets out Washington’s foreign-policy priorities. The paper harshly criticizes the U.S.’s traditional allies in Europe, while emphasizing the overriding importance of the Americas in the White House’s “America First” approach. Under the Biden administration, China was explicitly named as the U.S.’s primary foreign-policy challenge. That administration was especially vocal in its support for Taiwan, the self-ruling island that Beijing has pledged to take by force, if necessary. The new national-security strategy maintains the language of “strategic competition” when discussing Taiwan’s status and calls for working more closely with partners and allies in the Pacific to deter any attempt to seize Taiwan. But the document also plays down ideological differences between the U.S. and China, instead placing economics and trade front and center in the relationship. It names China only a handful of times—almost exclusively in terms of the economic relationship. It makes other indirect references to the country, for instance mentioning unnamed competitors to the U.S. from outside the Western Hemisphere. Most notably for Beijing, the White House document drops the Biden administration’s declaration that the U.S. does “not support Taiwan independence.” And while it signals general continuity with Biden’s opposition to “unilateral changes to the status quo from either side,” it softens that language somewhat to a statement that it “does not support any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.” Taken together, the new document represents what Beijing’s leaders are likely to see as “a relatively favorable turn in U.S. grand strategy,” said Jessica Chen Weiss, a professor of China studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

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