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

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

FOX News [12/8/2025 5:15 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports the Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced the launch of a "Worst of the Worst" webpage, which displays information on criminal illegal immigrants arrested during the Trump administration’s enforcement campaign. The page allows users to search hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal immigrants who have been arrested across all 50 states, the agency said. Many have criminal histories that include homicide, assault, rape, drug trafficking, child molestation, cruelty toward a child, battery, and armed robbery, among other crimes, a DHS news release states. The new page will feature 10,000 arrests upon launch and will be updated by DHS. The DailySignal [12/8/2025 1:55 PM, Virginia Allen, 549K] reports that Americans from Springfield, Ohio to San Diego to Boston can learn the identities of some of the illegal aliens Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained in their community, and what convictions or criminal charges those individuals face. "This new Worst of the Worst webpage allows every American to see for themselves the criminal illegal aliens that we are arresting, what crimes they committed, and what communities we removed them from," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, said. "This is all about transparency and showing results. As the media whitewashes the facts, day in and day out, our brave men and women of ICE risk their lives for the American people," McLaughlin continued. Through the "Worst of the Worst" webpage, McLaughlin says, "Americans don’t have to rely on the press for this information—with this transparent tool, they can see for themselves what public safety threats were lurking in their neighborhoods and communities." Of the illegal aliens ICE has arrested since the start of the Trump administration, 70% have either been charged with or convicted of a crime in the U.S., according to DHS. The new platform features 10,000 "worst of the worst" criminal illegal aliens. The website will continue to be updated, according to DHS. Since January, DHS reports nearly 600,00 illegal aliens have been arrested.

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NewsMax [12/8/2025 3:07 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports White House border czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration has rescued more than 62,000 migrant children from human trafficking. "Over half a million children were smuggled into this country under Joe Biden. They lost track of 300,000," Homan said Sunday on "Fox & Friends." Homan was referring to a Department of Homeland Security inspector general report that found nearly 291,000 unaccompanied minors had not yet been issued immigration court notices as of May 2024, and about 32,000 had missed hearings. The watchdog report did not state that those children were definitively "missing," but it warned that DHS lacked the tools to reliably track their whereabouts and respond to risks. Homan described President Donald Trump’s second-term response as immediate and aggressive. Federal agencies launched joint operations to locate kids released to sponsors who never followed up, disappeared from contact, or were flagged for potential criminal exploitation. DHS has also said it uncovered a backlog of tens of thousands of neglected child-safety leads and restarted investigations into suspect sponsors. The 62,000 figure cited by Homan has been widely reported in conservative media, though the administration hasn’t released a full public breakdown of how that number was calculated, such as how many of the children were newly located versus already in federal custody, or how many cases involved confirmed trafficking. Still, Homan framed the effort as a moral imperative tied directly to border enforcement. The Daily Wire [12/8/2025 1:03 PM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports that the Biden administration faced a record wave of migrant children crossing the border, bringing in roughly 500,000 of them. Federal authorities released many of them to poorly vetted sponsors, according to an inspector general’s report released last year. Several federal whistleblowers also came forward to raise the alarms about knowingly releasing children to "sponsors" they believed were trafficking the children. Some were reportedly known gang members and criminals. Now, the Trump administration is searching for the missing children and has made massive strides in its effort, Homan told Fox News. "President Trump saved over 62,000 children’s lives. Some of these children were in sex trafficking we found them, some were in forced labor, some were being mistreated … I can’t even discuss some of the mistreatment we found out about. President Trump again proves why he’s the greatest president in my lifetime. Over 62,000 children rescued by President Trump… children that were ignored and weren’t being looked for under President Biden," Homan said.

NewsNation [12/8/2025 12:35 PM, Jordan Perkins, 8017K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gave TSA employees at the Tampa International Airport a $10,000 bonus check for working through the government shutdown. During a news conference on Monday, Noem said the select employees, and more, were receiving the bonuses because they showed "exemplary service" during the 43-day shutdown. Noem said the individuals who received the checks have been nominated by their supervisors, and said more will be coming for employees at other airports. Last month, Noem handed out bonus checks to TSA employees at Boston’s Logan Airport and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport who worked throughout the shutdown without pay and did not call off. The shutdown put a strain on airports, as many TSA employees and air traffic controllers started to call out of work. As government employees, they do not get a paycheck in the event of a shutdown. As many as 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA employees worked without pay.

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FOX Business [12/8/2025 10:19 AM, Staff, 10085K] reports DHS Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at the Tampa International Airport to address TSA operations nationwide as holidays in full swing. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/8/2025 10:36 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports DHS Secretary Kristi Noem calls out the Left’s anti-ICE rhetoric and warns of the dangers on ‘Hannity.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [12/8/2025 4:35 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports Acting ICE director Todd Lyons discusses the impact of former President Joe Biden’s border policies after ‘another senseless violent act’ and vows to change course on ‘The Will Cain Show.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [12/8/2025 6:40 PM, Brad Brooks, 36480K] reports the developer of the most popular app used to share information about sightings of federal immigration agents sued the Trump administration on Monday, alleging free speech violations after Apple (AAPL.O) removed ICEBlock from its online store. The lawsuit was filed in federal court by Joshua Aaron, the developer of the ICEBlock app that had over 1 million users before it was removed by Apple in October following pressure from the Trump administration, a rare instance of a tech company removing an app based on a complaint from the U.S. federal government. Aaron named Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Director Todd Lyons among other administration officials as defendants. Aaron said he thinks the Trump administration is not just attacking his free speech rights, but those of all citizens when it goes after apps like ICEBlock, and that he hoped his lawsuit helps stop the administration "from eroding the Constitution." When it removed the app from its store, Apple said it took action based on information from law enforcement about safety risks. The Justice Department confirmed that it had contacted Apple to pull the app, and Bondi said in a statement at the time that ICEBlock was designed to put ICE agents at risk, which the developer strongly disputes. The New York Times [12/9/2025 3:38 AM, Tripp Mickle, 330K] reports that on Monday, the app developer, Joshua Aaron, sued top Trump administration officials, accusing them of pressuring Apple to stifle his free speech and his right to create, distribute and promote ICEBlock. The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claimed that Attorney General Pam Bondi abused the government’s power when the Justice Department contacted Apple and demanded it remove the app, which she said she had done in a statement to Fox News in October. She said Apple had removed the app after her request. The legal action could reveal more about Apple’s decision making and compliance with edicts from the Trump administration. According to Apple’s own public reports, it has removed apps at the request of authoritarian governments like China and Russia, but not from the U.S. government. ICEBlock was removed as tech companies took down other immigration-related apps and services. Apple removed an app called DeICER, which helped users report immigration action. Google removed a similar app, Red Dot. And Meta, Facebook’s parent company, removed the Facebook group ICE Sighting-Chicagoland for violating its policies “against coordinated harm.” Axios [12/8/2025 1:57 PM, Andrew Pantazi, 12972K] reports ICEBlock operated like Waze’s police-tracking feature. Users tapped locations where they saw ICE agents in public, alerting others within five miles. Apple’s lawyers vetted the app for five weeks, according to the lawsuit, before approving it for the App Store in April. Zoom in: Apple has routinely removed apps at the request of authoritarian governments, notably China and Russia. "ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs and violent criminal rings. Our law officers are facing more than a 1150% increase in assaults against them and an 8000% increase in death threats," Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a statement.

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FedScoop [12/8/2025 5:30 PM, Lindsey Wilkinson, 56K] reports the House Homeland Security Committee is investigating apps hosted by Big Tech companies that enable individuals to track law enforcement members, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., who leads the Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability subcommittee, sent letters Friday to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressing concern, warning of “serious risks” to Department of Homeland Security personnel and inquiring about the measures taken to remove these applications from their platforms. The apps work by users, often anonymously, reporting sightings of law enforcement in their area. The data is then shared to others on the platform. The majority members tasked the tech CEOs with providing a briefing no later than this Friday. “The Committee is concerned that these apps not only jeopardize the safety of DHS personnel but also enable malicious actors to incite violence and obstruct lawful government operations,” the Republican members said in the letters. Apple and Google did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.

The Los Angeles Times [12/8/2025 2:05 PM, Holly Ramer, 14862K] reports that a Brazilian woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will be released from ICE custody while she fights potential deportation, an immigration judge ruled Monday. Bruna Ferreira, 33, a longtime Massachusetts resident, was previously engaged to Leavitt’s brother, Michael. She was driving to pick up their 11-year-old son in New Hampshire when she was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere, Mass., on Nov. 12. Ferreira later was moved to a detention facility in Louisiana, where an immigration judge ordered that she be released on $1,500 bond, her attorney Todd Pomerleau said. "We argued that she wasn’t a danger or a flight risk," he said in a text message. "The government stipulated to our argument and never once argued that she was criminal illegal alien and waived appeal." The Department of Homeland Security previously called Ferreira a "criminal illegal alien" and said she had been arrested for battery, an allegation her attorney denied. Neither the department nor the White House press secretary responded to requests for comment Monday. Pomerleau said his client came to the U.S. as a toddler and later enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama-era policy that shields immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. He said she was in the process of applying for a green card. The Washington Examiner [12/8/2025 5:34 PM, Molly Parks, 1394K] reports that Ferreira, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, had been living illegally in the United States since she overstayed her visa after it expired in 1999. Her lawyers told the Washington Post that she has regularly tried to obtain legal citizenship. Ferreira has not been released yet, but her attorneys "expect that imminently within days," Jeffrey Rubin, attorney of the Boston-based law firm representing Ferreira, Rubin & Pomerleau PC, told the Washington Examiner. A DHS spokesperson previously said in a statement that Ferreira was being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and was under removal proceedings. "She entered the U.S. on a B2 tourist visa that required her to depart the U.S. by June 6, 1999," the DHS spokesperson previously said. "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation."

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The Hill [12/8/2025 2:11 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12595K] reports that Bruna Ferreira, the mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, is pushing back on the "disgusting" narrative from the Trump administration that she’s an absent mother and a criminal. Ferreira — who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last month and faces possible removal to Brazil — has garnered national attention in recent weeks because of her connection to Leavitt. The White House media office has sought to distance the press secretary from the Brazilian immigrant, who was arrested for living in the country illegally after overstaying a visa when she was a child. The White House said in a statement that Ferreira and Leavitt had not spoken in years and claimed that Ferreira never lived with her son. The White House also shared a statement from the Department of Homeland Security calling Ferreira a "criminal." But Ferreria, in a video interview with The Washington Post, disputed that narrative. She said Leavitt was once like a younger sister to her, noting she even selected Leavitt to be her son’s godmother. "I asked Karoline to be godmother over my only sister," she told the Post in a video interview Thursday. "I made a mistake there, in trusting… Why they’re creating this narrative is beyond my wildest imagination."

Politico [12/8/2025 5:10 PM, Kyle Cheney, 2100K] reports a federal judge is escalating his inquiry into whether Trump administration officials deliberately flouted his March 15 order to prevent immigration officials from delivering more than 100 Venezuelan men to a notorious prison in El Salvador. James Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, said Monday that it’s “premature” to recommend criminal prosecution of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who revealed last month that she gave the order to turn over the men to Salvadoran authorities on the advice of administration lawyers. Boasberg is now demanding that two of the top Justice Department lawyers involved in the March deportation operation — including one who has since been fired for resisting some of the administration’s moves — appear for questioning next week. The Justice Department declined to comment on Boasberg’s order. ABC News [12/8/2025 6:22 PM, Peter Charalambous, Laura Romero, and Ely Brown, 30493K] reports [Boasberg] wrote that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s brief sworn declaration recently submitted in the case did "not provide enough information for the Court to determine whether her decision was a willful violation of the Court’s Order.” Noem said in her sworn filing that she decided to continue the transfer of detainees after getting legal advice from DOJ leadership, including Joseph Mazarra, the acting general counsel of DHS. "As this declaration does not provide enough information for the Court to determine whether her decision was a willful violation of the Court’s Order, the Court cannot at this juncture find probable cause that her actions constituted criminal contempt," Boasberg wrote. "A referral for prosecution, consequently, would be premature.” NewsMax [12/8/2025 6:58 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Noem has said she acted based on legal guidance from attorneys at the Department of Justice — guidance protected by privilege and within the executive branch’s authority. Still, Boasberg is demanding testimony from two DOJ officials involved in the March operation, including one lawyer who was fired after refusing to carry out certain administration directives. The Department of Justice declined to comment on what many conservatives view as an escalating judicial overreach, the report said. The clash centers on Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, which allows the executive branch to detain and deport nationals of hostile or dangerous foreign groups in times of national threat. Trump used that authority on March 14 to order the immediate removal of Venezuelan gang members identified as part of a violent transnational organization. Federal agents quickly apprehended the men and began transporting them out of the country. Boasberg attempted to halt the flights the next day, inserting the judiciary into a national-security and immigration decision typically left to the executive branch. Despite his recall order, two flights were already airborne, and a third operated under standard immigration law — not the Alien Enemies Act — according to DOJ. CNN [12/8/2025 5:13 PM, Devan Cole, 18595K] reports US District Judge James Boasberg ordered Drew Ensign, a top DOJ lawyer involved in immigration litigation, to testify next week about decisions made by administration officials in mid-March that resulted in the deportation of migrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, despite the judge’s order for flights carrying the migrants to turn around pending a legal challenge to Trump’s use of the act. Boasberg also said he wanted to hear from Erez Reuveni, an ex-Justice Department lawyer who alleged in a whistleblower complaint earlier this year that a then-top DOJ official told his colleagues in March that the administration intended to ignore court orders as part of the President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation effort. The judge said the live testimony was necessary because Noem, who made the decision to allow the migrants to continue to be transferred to El Salvador, provided little information about the affair to the court in a sworn statement last week. The AP [12/8/2025 6:22 PM, Sudhin Thanawala] reports that the order for testimony ratchets up the extraordinary clash between the judicial and executive branches. Boasberg is trying to determine whether the administration willfully ignored his order and should be referred for prosecution on a contempt charge. In a written declaration submitted to the court Friday, Noem said she made the decision not to return the planes to the U.S. after receiving “privileged legal advice” from the Homeland Security Department’s acting general counsel and “through him from the senior leadership of the Department of Justice.” Boasberg, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, called Noem’s declaration “cursory.”

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Axios [12/8/2025 3:56 PM, Monica Eng, 12972K] reports in the heat of Operation Midway Blitz, officials at the Department of Homeland Security made several statements that were later disputed or disproven by video evidence and federal courts as recently as last week. We’ve compiled 12 of the biggest disputed allegations by DHS officials and the evidence or court actions that overturned them. We asked DHS officials to comment on the claims and refutations below, but they did not respond by press time.

AP [12/8/2025 6:25 PM, Aamer Madhani, 1538K] reports President Donald Trump on Monday justified the U.S. military’s decision to fire a second missile in a heavily scrutinized attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea by claiming that two suspected drug smugglers were trying to right the vessel after it had capsized in the initial strike. Trump also backtracked on whether he was open to releasing the video footage of the second strike. Last week, Trump told reporters he saw “no problem” in releasing the footage, but on Monday he said he would leave the decision to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Republican administration is facing calls from Democratic lawmakers to release footage of the Sept. 2 operation in the Caribbean Sea, which killed nine people aboard the boat in an initial strike and then two more who managed to survive. “They were trying to return the boat back to where it could float, and we didn’t want to see that because that boat was loaded up with drugs,” Trump said on Monday. When asked by a reporter about his comments last week suggesting he was open to releasing footage of the second strike, Trump denied that was his position and bitterly attacked the reporter as “obnoxious” and “terrible.” “Whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me,” Trump said. Trump, however, last Wednesday in an exchange with reporters about the strike footage said: “Whatever they have we’d certainly release.” Hegseth said in a Fox News interview Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California that officials were reviewing the video, but he did not commit to releasing it. “Whatever we were to decide to release, we’d have to be very responsible” about it,” Hegseth said. The Pentagon on Monday did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of Hegseth’s review or confirm Trump’s assertion that the suspects appeared to be trying to turn over the vessel before the second strike was fired.

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Wall Street Journal [12/8/2025 8:07 PM, Alexander Ward and Lindsay Wise, 646K] reports President Trump backed away from a vow to release video of a controversial Sept. 2 attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, including a portion showing the killing of two men who survived the initial strike. The president last week said he would “certainly release” the footage of the entire operation, but that was before the mounting uproar over the operation. Democrats said after viewing the video in closed briefings on Capitol Hill that the follow-up attack on the two survivors may have constituted a war crime. Republicans have defended the strike, but some have also joined in calling for the video to be released. Trump, who said Monday that he saw the video, told reporters he would leave the final decision on whether to make it public to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “Whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me,” the president said at the White House. Hegseth raised concerns with Trump last week that tactics and intelligence methods might be compromised if the video is released, officials said. Trump agreed and didn’t want the Pentagon to buckle under pressure from Democrats and press reports to disclose details of the operation, they said. The president has told aides he also doesn’t want to fuel criticism that Hegseth or Navy Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who commanded the attack, did anything wrong, according to the officials. Trump’s shift underscored the stakes for the administration, which has called the alleged drug-smuggling boats legal military targets but has released little evidence supporting its claims about the at least 20 strikes on such vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, other than brief excerpts of video showing the vessels being destroyed. Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, who leads U.S. military operations in Latin America, is expected to brief members of Congress on Tuesday in remarks delivered remotely, a defense official said. It will be lawmakers’ first opportunity to hear from Holsey, who is retiring this month as head of U.S. Southern Command, since they were shown the Sept. 2 attack video. Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will brief the four top Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate and House, along with the chairmen and ranking members of both intelligence committees, a defense official said.

Reuters [12/8/2025 7:18 PM, Nate Raymond, 36480K] reports a federal judge on Monday cleared the way for a Tufts University PhD student and pro-Palestinian activist Rumeysa Ozturk to work on campus after ordering the Trump administration to restore her status in a key database used to track foreign students. Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston issued an injunction, after concluding Ozturk was likely to succeed in proving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unlawfully terminated her record in the database the same day that masked, plainclothes agents took her into custody in March. That ICE-maintained database is called the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System and is used to track foreign students who enter on visas. The termination of a student’s record from that database prevents that person from being employed. Ozturk in a statement said she was grateful for the ruling and that she hopes "that no one else experiences the injustices I have suffered." The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ozturk’s arrest on a street in the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts, was captured in a viral video that shocked many and drew criticism from civil rights groups. She was detained after the U.S. Department of State revoked her student visa as the Trump administration moved to crack down on non-citizens who engaged in pro-Palestinian activism on campuses.

Breitbart [12/8/2025 8:27 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2416K] reports a report that traces the effects of former President Barack Obama’s pro-migrant "Welcoming Cities" program finds that crime by illegal aliens soared in areas where the program was instituted. The program did not define "sanctuary cities," but it did offer financial incentives and coordinated city governments with some 300 extreme, left-wing, non-governmental, non-profit groups that advocate for illegal aliens, according to the Center Square. The program, launched by Obama in 2014, maintained that "Certified Welcoming is a formal designation for cities and counties that have created policies and programs reflecting their values and commitment to immigrant inclusion," given by the nonpartisan nonprofit organization, "Certified Welcoming." The program added that it aimed to "build more inclusive and welcoming communities in the United States.” The effort claimed that local governments had "committed to adhering to inclusive policies and practices [in its] ‘Welcoming Standard,’" to educate "immigrants about their rights and responsibilities under the law.” In part, the program was meant to train local pro-illegal groups to inform illegal aliens how to avoid federal immigration laws and law enforcement. The report notes that 36 cities had signed onto Obama’s immigration law-busting initiative, which counted George Soros as one of its partners. However, the report adds that crimes by illegal aliens soared in many of the communities that signed onto the Obama initiative. The report cites rising crime rates in Chicago, Des Moines, Los Angeles, and others. In the interim between the 2014 Obama effort and today, though, the troubles with untrammeled migration, coupled with the soft-on-crime approach, have caused some communities to begin reversing course. "Earlier this year, Louisville’s mayor revoked the city’s sanctuary policies in the Certified Welcoming city after receiving legal threats from the DOJ. On Oct. 31, Baltimore County signed an agreement to cooperate with ICE and was removed from the DOJ’s sanctuary jurisdiction list," Center Square reported. The Department of Justice (DOJ) reports that 13 states, four counties, and 18 cities have openly declared themselves "sanctuary" localities. "Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. "The Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.” The 36 localities that have signed onto the Obama "Welcoming Standard" includes Boise, Idaho; Champaign and Oak Park, IL; Indianapolis and Allen County, IN; Emporia, KS; Louisville, KY; New Orleans, LA; Portland, ME; Baltimore, Anne Arundel, and Montgomery counties, MD; Detroit, MI; Minneapolis, MN; Crete and Lincoln, NE; Nashua, NH; Charlotte, NC; Dayton, Cuyahoga Falls, and Toledo, Cuyahoga, and Lucas Counties, OH; Tulsa, OK; Erie, Lancaster, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, PA; Austin and Dallas, TX; Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, UT; Roanoke, VA; and Seattle, WA.

Chicago Tribune [12/8/2025 7:28 PM, Laura Turbay, 4829K] reports the Department of Homeland Security on Monday said the man they took into custody after a prolonged arrest in Elgin Saturday, where agents sprayed tear gas against protesters, was a “suspected member of Tren de Aragua,” a Venezuelan street gang. Federal authorities identified the man as Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez, of Venezuela, who entered the country in April 2023 and was granted temporary protected status, DHS said in a news release. When asked about evidence of Acosta Gutierrez’s alleged affiliation to the Tren de Aragua gang, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group as of this year, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said, “DHS intelligence assessments go well beyond just gang affiliate tattoos and social media.” “Tren De Aragua is one of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet earth,” McLaughlin said. “We are confident in our law enforcement’s intelligence, and we aren’t going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one. That would be insane.” Records show that Acosta paid a fine for a 2023 traffic violation for driving without a license and the matter was closed in April 2024, according to McHenry County court. Federal authorities said Acosta Gutierrez resisted arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Saturday when they were conducting a vehicle stop, and that he rammed an officer’s vehicle into a tree. He then barricaded himself in an apartment while officers tried to negotiate with him to leave, according to DHS. At around 10 a.m. about 15 agents showed up to arrest a man authorities identified as Acosta Gutierrez in an apartment building on the 1600 block of Maple Lane in Elgin. Elgin police have said there had been a traffic crash that morning involving a federal agent and the man, who then fled to the building. The crowd grew to at least 200 people who blew whistles and shouted at agents to leave. By around 2:30 p.m. there were about 30 agents trying to negotiate with the man who was still on the second-floor balcony. DHS, which alleged people threw rocks and bottles at law enforcement, also claimed the “local police department refused to protect ICE law enforcement officers.” Hours later, Acosta Gutierrez was taken into custody by ICE officers, according to DHS. “We are grateful all of our officers are safe after yet another vehicle was used as a weapon against them and more rioters threw rocks and bottles at them,” McLaughlin said. “Our officers are experiencing a more than 1150% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. This violence against law enforcement must end.”

Axios [12/8/2025 7:20 AM, Chelsea Brasted, 12972K] reports as a federal immigration crackdown continues in New Orleans, both the Department of Homeland Security agents who are enforcing it and the activists protesting it are following what’s become a blueprint of actions. That blueprint is unfurling as the Border Patrol takes on a chaotic roadshow across Democratic-led cities that isn’t likely to stop anytime soon. Led by chief agent Greg Bovino, agents with the Border Patrol, who fall under DHS purview, have led unprecedented enforcement operations far from the U.S. border. That includes crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and, now, New Orleans and Minneapolis "All cities are on target, and this is just another one of those," Bovino said of New Orleans in a CBS News interview.

Zoom in: New Orleans officials and advocacy leaders have referenced and, in some cases, talked directly with their counterparts elsewhere to learn from their immigration crackdown experiences. "What we are hearing from our community members ... is exactly what we’ve seen happen in other cities," said Homero López, an immigration advocate and lawyer, in a press conference Friday. "Folks are being arrested indiscriminately, targeted for the color of their skin, the language they speak, the location where they’re working." Border Patrol officials have repeatedly denied Axios’ requests to discuss its mission scope, timeline, geographic focus and other operational details. DHS has also publicly shared only a fraction of its arrest details, both in New Orleans and elsewhere, despite requests from media and local public officials. Citing government documents, the AP reported Sunday that 38 people were arrested in the operation’s first two days, with less than a third having criminal backgrounds. Still, cities and activists have been able to prepare by observing Border Patrol’s consistent tactics from city to city.

New York Times [12/8/2025 3:40 PM, Shannon Sims and Allison McCann, 153395K] reports eateries with a largely Hispanic customer base are choosing to close down temporarily. Cooks and dishwashers are staying home out of fear. Delivery drivers are sitting out shifts. And customers are finding that some menu items are no longer available, because somewhere along the supply chain someone was afraid to report for work. As Border Patrol agents have fanned out across New Orleans over the past week to enforce the Trump administration’s deportation agenda, their presence has had a particularly chilling effect on the city’s many restaurants and their suppliers. Amarys Koenig Herndon, a co-owner of Palm and Pine, an upscale restaurant in the city’s French Quarter, said that a few of her employees had chosen to stay home, regardless of their immigration status. “They’re working legally, but they’re hunkered down and not coming to pick up their paychecks,” she said. The restaurant is struggling to keep offering all the items on its menu. “With the cuisine we do, we’re very dependent on our Latin markets for a lot of ingredients,” Ms. Herndon said, but many of those suppliers are short of staff and running out of inventory. “One of the stores we go to, they get a lot driven in from Houston, and those trucks aren’t coming in,” she said. “They don’t want to risk coming into our city right now. “There’s a lot of layers.” Those ripple effects lay bare just how heavily New Orleans has come to depend on an immigrant work force to be the backbone of its robust culinary industry, which in turn helps sustain the city as a bustling tourism magnet.

Univision [12/8/2025 7:10 AM, Staff, 5004K] reports state and federal authorities are closely monitoring online criticism and protests against the immigration crackdown in New Orleans, according to police records reviewed by The Associated Press. The record is being kept by monitoring online forums, reviewing messages 24 hours a day to detect threats to agents while gathering regular updates on public "perception" surrounding the arrests. The intelligence gathering comes even as officials have released few details about the first arrests made as part of the operation dubbed by the government ‘Catahoula Crunch’. The deployment prompted calls for greater transparency from local officials who say they have been kept in the dark about virtually every aspect of the operation. “Online opinions remain diverse: some support the operations, while others oppose them,” said a report distributed early Sunday to law enforcement. Previous bulletins indicated “a combination of groups urging the public to record ICE and the Border Patrol,” as well as “additional locations where agents may find immigrants.” Immigration authorities have insisted that the raids are targeting "criminal illegal immigrants." However, police records detail the criminal history of less than a third of the 38 people arrested in the first two days of the operation. Local leaders told the AP that those figures —which authorities were warned not to release to the media— undermined the stated objective of the raid.

FOX News [12/8/2025 9:59 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports New Orleans DHS immigration crackdown sparks protests, backlash from local officials. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

ABC News [12/8/2025 5:38 PM, Tesfaye Negussie and Sabina Ghebremedhin, 30493K] reports some of Minnesota’s Somali community said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents already begun enforcement operations in the state. Minneapolis Councilman Jamal Osman, who is of Somali descent, told ABC News in an interview last Wednesday that locations for English as a second language courses, places of worship and homes have been targeted. The deployment of ICE in Minnesota comes at a time after President Donald Trump brought up Minnesota’s large Somali community in last Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, saying he did not want those from the northeast African country in America because "they contribute nothing." ICE said on Thursday that agents had arrested 12 people in its Minnesota enforcement operation, the Associated Press reported. Of those, six are Mexican nationals, five are from Somalia and one is from El Salvador, according to the news gathering service.

AP [12/8/2025 6:00 PM, Steve Karnowski, 31753K] reports President Donald Trump has linked his administration’s immigration crackdown against Minnesota’s large Somali community to a series of fraud cases involving government programs in which many defendants have roots in the east African country. Trump last week labeled Minnesota Somalis as "garbage" and said he didn’t want them in the U.S. The president’s push comes as Republicans have stepped up their criticism of Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate, for his alleged failures in preventing the fraud. It’s already a major issue in the 2026 gubernatorial race as Walz seeks a third term. The extent of the losses from a series of major fraud cases being prosecuted by federal authorities in Minnesota isn’t certain. Prosecutors have put the losses from one case known as Feeding Our Future at $300 million alone.

Daily Wire [12/8/2025 8:23 AM, Amanda Prestigiacomo, 2494K] reports that Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN) has argued that Somalis in America are the real victims of the massive welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota, which has cost taxpayers at least $1 billion. When Omar was asked on Sunday how these fraud schemes got so out of hand in her state, the rep cast Somalis as victims. "I want to say this also has an impact on Somalis, because we are also taxpayers in Minnesota," the Democrat told host Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation. "We also could have benefited from the program and the money that was stolen. So it’s been really frustrating for people to not acknowledge the fact that we’re also, as Minnesotans, as taxpayers, really upset and angry about the fraud that has occurred." Last week, Omar said she feared Trump supporters would turn violent against Somalis in America, citing President Donald Trump’s comments about the massive fraud. "There is a possible danger that a lot of the people who follow the president have exhibited violence in many cases, especially in my case, whenever he has said something about me that is derogatory or says I’m a threat to the country, I have gotten death threats," Omar said on CNN airwaves. "There are so many people that have been incarcerated over the years that have been encouraged by the president’s words," she claimed. "And so there is fear for Somalis, not just in Minnesota, but across the country, that some of these people might attack and harm them."

NewsMax [12/8/2025 8:23 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Border Czar Tom Homan told Newsmax on Monday that the Trump administration is conducting an extensive review of visa fraud within Minnesota’s Somali community. His comments follow Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s recent guidance that 50% of visas in Minnesota are fraudulent. Homan said the administration has ordered a full-scale crackdown to identify illegal entrants, national security threats, and individuals who entered the country through improperly vetted visa programs. "We’re going to look at all of them," Homan told "Rob Schmitt Tonight.” He said the review includes "those here illegally of course," but also individuals "here under a visa or some sort of immigration process that are criminals," as well as anyone who poses public safety or national security risks. Homan emphasized that a major focus will be migrants who entered through what he described as lax Biden-era screening systems. "Those who came through a process that weren’t properly vetted — didn’t provide documentation, who slipped through Biden’s weak processes on giving visas ... we’re going the whole gamut," he said. "President [Donald] Trump has instructed us to go down, and we’re going to deep dive all of this, and we’re going to hold people accountable.” The former ICE director said the public should expect removals. "Yes, there are going to be multiple deportations coming. Absolutely," Homan said. He also underscored the administration’s renewed focus on assimilation and self-sufficiency, which are legal requirements for certain visa categories. "When they come here under [a] legal program, they’re required to be self-sufficient," he said. "A lot of them, the first thing they do when they get here is get on the public dole. President Trump put his foot down.” Homan dismissed accusations that the enforcement push targets immigrants based on race or ethnicity. "I’m so tired of them pulling the race card all the time," he said, noting that ICE has arrested people from "180 different countries — Europe, Asia, South America.” Immigration law, he stressed, "is colorblind. "There’s one thing that matters to us: Do they follow the immigration law? Are they here legally? Did they break the law once they came here legally or illegally, doesn’t matter.”

CNN [12/8/2025 2:58 PM, Zoe Sottile, 18595K] reports in most ways, New Orleans and Minneapolis couldn’t be more different. One city, nestled on the Gulf Coast, is a 307-year-old metropolis where millions of tourists flock every year to celebrate Mardi Gras, sample Cajun and Creole cuisine and explore centuries-old French architecture. Follow the Mississippi River over 1,000 miles north and you find Minnesota’s largest city, which developed as an industrial powerhouse and made waves as the site of massive racial justice protests after George Floyd was murdered there by a police officer in 2020. But in both cities, a similar climate of fear has descended among immigrant communities as federal immigration enforcement operations begin. Once-bustling shops and restaurants are quiet. Immigrants are avoiding work and keeping their children home from school. And masked, armed federal agents in tactical gear have been seen questioning, chasing and detaining people. The dual operations, set amid the start of the holiday season, demonstrate the Trump administration’s sweeping ambitions to curb immigration and deport undocumented immigrants, in part with high-profile and elaborately produced, targeted campaigns in Democrat-led cities. In the New Orleans area, "Operation Catahoula Crunch," led by top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino after highly publicized stints in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Chicago, has already seen dozens of immigrants arrested, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In the Twin Cities metropolitan area, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement effort called "Operation Metro Surge" is specifically targeting Somalis, whom President Donald Trump has called "garbage" who should "go back to where they came from.” White House border czar Tom Homan defended the Minnesota crackdown, telling CNN’s Dana Bash on "State of the Union" Sunday US citizens "have nothing to fear" and "we’re concentrating on public safety threats and national security threats." But residents and local leaders in both cities tell a different story, describing communities paralyzed with fear and worried they could be swept up in the immigration operations.

NBC News [12/8/2025 1:58 PM, Minyvonne Burke, 34509K] reports that a man was arrested and charged in connection with a stabbing Friday on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina. The stabbing occurred on the LYNX Blue Line train, the same route where Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was fatally stabbed in August. Oscar Solarzano, 33, allegedly attacked the victim on Friday with a large knife, court documents state. The victim was taken to the hospital and was in critical but stable condition, the police said in a news release on Friday.. At a hearing on Monday, Solarzano was denied bond and appointed a public defender. The Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security said Solarzano, from Honduras, has had previous run-ins with the law and was deported twice. Charlotte Area Transit System’s Interim CEO Brent Cagle said in a statement that the incident began as a verbal altercation that "escalated to the point of a stabbing." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the stabbing "should have NEVER happened." "ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia is not released back into North Carolina neighborhoods," she said in a statement. "Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the county will honor the detainer since they have a history of not cooperating with ICE. Under President Trump, ICE is being unleashed to ensure public safety for all Americans. Make no mistake: We will not rest until every depraved criminal illegal alien is removed from our communities.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

New York Post [12/8/2025 6:49 PM, Jared Downing, 42219K] reports the man stabbed by a homeless illegal migrant on a light rail train in North Carolina last week was a good Samaritan who was just trying to protect people when attacked, prosecutors revealed Monday. The badly injured Charlotte passenger, Kenyon Dobie, 24, said in an online post that he is still in critical condition, with a tube pumping blood from his lungs. "My body has taken plenty damage,’’ Dobie said on a GoFundMe page. "Have a tube running from my chest to a machine pumping blood out of my lungs.’’. Prosecutors said Honduran national Oscar Solarzarno, 33, was swigging booze and yelling at riders when Dobie stood up and told him to stop on the Friday night train. Solarzano knifed him in the chest for his efforts, prosecutors said at a hearing Monday, according to WSOC-TV. Solarzano had already been banned from the light rail system before allegedly getting drunk on the train and attacking Dobie. The ban is part of a long rap sheet for Solarzano that includes multiple arrests, a robbery conviction — and two deportations. The grizzly assault occurred just four months after the horrific Iryna Zarutska killing by a homeless man on another Charlotte train. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia Lockwood said Solarzano had been deported from the US twice before illegally returning to the country again for a third time. "His criminal history includes prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, destroying evidence, resisting arrest, using a false ID, and convictions for robbery and illegally re-entry," she wrote on X.

AP [12/8/2025 12:17 PM, Erik Verduzco and Allen G. Breed, 31753K] reports a North Carolina judge on Monday ordered a Honduran man to be held without bond in a non-fatal stabbing on a Charlotte commuter train that drew comments from President Donald Trump pointing out the suspect is in the country illegally. Oscar Solarzano, 33, wearing an orange jumpsuit and appearing via video link, listened impassively as a translator read charges of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon and others. Mecklenburg County District Judge Keith Smith scheduled his next hearing for Dec. 30. The public defender in the courtroom declined to comment. Solarzano, also known as Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia, is charged with stabbing 24-year-old Kenyon Kareem Dobie in the chest during a fight Friday on the city’s Blue Line. It was revealed in court that Solarzano had been banned from Charlotte Area Transit Service property in October. CATS spokesman Brett Baldeck confirmed the ban, but did not have any further details. "Our security team is looking into this now," Baldeck said. The Department of Homeland Security says Solarzano had been deported twice and has previous convictions for robbery and illegal reentry, but details were not immediately available.

Daily Signal[12/8/2025 10:46 AM, Virginia Allen, 549K] reports an illegal alien from Honduras is reported to have stabbed a man on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Suspect Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia is in custody and has been charged with attempted first-degree murder. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has logged an arrest detainer for the man. The incident marks the second stabbing on Charlotte’s transit systems in five months. "Another stabbing by an Illegal Migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina," President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend. "What’s going on in Charlotte? Democrats are destroying it, like everything else, piece by piece!!!" Decarlos Brown Jr. was arrested over the summer and later indicted by a grand jury in the stabbing death of Ukrainian woman Iryna Zarutska. If convicted, Brown could face the death penalty. Charlotte is a Democrat-run city with Democrats holding the majority of city council positions and controlling the school board. Vi Lyles, a Democrat, currently serves as the mayor of Charlotte. The city has not had a Republican mayor in over 15 years. "Everyone deserves to be and feel safe in our city, and there is no room for violence in our community," Lyles wrote on X after the Friday stabbing incident. "There are several aspects of public safety that are outside of the city’s jurisdiction, including immigration policy and enforcement, but we will continue to focus on public safety and ensuring a safe and vibrant community," the mayor added. "This heinous stabbing by this twice removed illegal alien should have NEVER happened," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. "ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia is not released back into North Carolina neighborhoods. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the county will honor the detainer since they have a history of not cooperating with ICE," she said.

FOX News [12/8/2025 6:29 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports Fox News contributor Josh Ritter joined ‘Fox & Friends First’ to discuss why he considers the alleged migrant light rail stabbing a ‘complete breakdown in the system’ and the latest on the Luigi Mangione murder trial. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

(B) CNN News Central [12/8/2025 2:45 PM, Staff] reports that in Charlotte, North Carolina, Oscar Solarzano is accused of a stabbing on the light rail train line. This time, the victim survived, saying he was trying to protect another person when he was attacked. Solarzano is undocumented and had previously been deported. Prosecutors say Solarzano admitted to the stabbing but he was asked to not enter a plea when he was in court this morning. He was removed in 2018 and 2021. ICE put a detainer on Solarzano at this moment.

FOX News [12/8/2025 9:39 AM, Alex Nitzberg, 40621K] reports President Donald Trump’s administration has deported more Iranians, according to reports. A report published Monday by the Mizan news agency, the official mouthpiece of Iran’s judiciary, quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry official Mojtaba Shasti Karimi acknowledging the deportation of 55 Iranians. "These individuals announced their willingness for return following continuation of anti-immigration and discriminative policy against foreign nationals particularly Iranians by the United States," the foreign official reportedly claimed, according to The Associated Press. Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on Monday. "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 noted, according to Reuters. The New York Times reported that a U.S. official indicated that the aircraft departed on Sunday and that it was a routine deportation flight that also had people from other nations on board as well. An Iranian official said Arab and Russian nationals would disembark the aircraft when it touched down in Cairo, while the Iranians would head to Kuwait and move to a chartered Kuwait Airways aircraft for the flight to Tehran, according to the outlet. The Los Angeles Times [12/8/2025 10:10 AM, Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell, 14862K] reports that a report published Monday by the Mizan news agency, the official mouthpiece of the Iran’s judiciary, quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry official Mojtaba Shasti Karimi acknowledging the deportation of 55 Iranians. “These individuals announced their willingness for return following continuation of anti-immigration and discriminative policy against foreign nationals particularly Iranians by the United States,” Karimi reportedly said. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also said Sunday there were plans for 55 Iranians to return to the Islamic Republic. Based on the U.S. claims, “the Iranians were repatriated because of legal reasons and breach of immigration regulations,” Baghaei said.

ABC News [12/8/2025 3:05 PM, Laura Romero, 30493K] reports an asylum-seeker who fled Afghanistan last year after being persecuted by the Taliban is at risk of being deported back to his home country, according to his attorney. Attorney Elora Mukherjee told ABC News that despite having no criminal record and having future asylum hearings scheduled, her client was apprehended by immigration authorities last Wednesday during a routine "check in" at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City. The asylum-seeker’s arrest comes after President Donald Trump directed his administration to suspend all Afghan immigration cases in response to a shooting earlier this month that killed one National Guard member and left another in critical condition in Washington, D.C. Since the shooting, immigrant advocates and attorneys say Afghan asylum-seekers and refugees have been targeted for detention and deportation. Mukherjee told ABC News that her client applied to enter the United States through the Customs and Border Protection’s One app and received an appointment to enter the country in May 2024. According to a habeas petition filed by Mukherjee, her client fled Afghanistan "after being subject to forced eviction and threats of potential death by the Taliban." The man was held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for six months and then released on parole, according to court documents. Shortly after being released, he appeared before immigration court and applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture relief. Mukherjee said her client has attended all of his immigration hearings and has one scheduled for February 2026. But last Wednesday, Mukherjee told ABC News, her client received a notification from ICE to appear at 26 Federal Plaza, the government building that has become an epicenter for clashes between immigrants and immigration authorities, for a "check in." After the man entered the ICE waiting room, Mukherjee said, he was apprehended by immigration authorities and taken to a detention center in New Jersey. Mukherjee told ABC News she filed a habeas petition challenging his detention. During a hearing on Friday, a federal judge ordered the government to answer to the habeas petition by Wednesday and Mukherjee to respond by Thursday.

Telemundo52 [12/8/2025 12:47 PM, Alex Terreros, 76K] reports the federal government has begun applying a new $5,000 fee to undocumented immigrants who are detained after entering the United States without authorization. The measure, known as the “Apprehension Fee,” is supported by law 8 USC §1815, passed as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” promoted by the administration of President Donald Trump. The fee applies to any person 14 years of age or older who has entered the country without inspection and is arrested by immigration authorities. The fee will be collected at the time of arrest, without waiting for an immigration hearing or a final warrant. The announcement was recently made by Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks via his social media accounts. The "One Big Beautiful" law, according to the text approved by Congress, will come into effect on December 7. The law stipulates that 50% of the money collected for this purpose will be allocated to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the other half goes to the General Fund of the United States Treasury. This amount of $5,000 will be increased by an additional amount based on the year-over-year inflation rate. According to authorities, those who do not pay the fee will accrue a debt with the U.S. government, which could prevent them from obtaining immigration benefits or entering the country legally in the future. The same logic has been applied to other sanctions established by the government.

NewsMax [12/8/2025 7:13 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Democrat-led states are "obviously" leaning on federal funds to subsidize healthcare for immigrants in the country illegally, an unfair practice that should be stopped, said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. "I think it’s very obvious that states like California do everything they can to use federal dollars for free healthcare for illegal migrants," Marshall said Monday during an appearance on Newsmax’s "The Chris Salcedo Show.” He added that Republicans have tried to curb the spending but ran into procedural roadblocks in the Senate. "We tried to address it at different points, but we couldn’t get it done through reconciliation because the parliamentarian wouldn’t let us ... We’ll keep fighting at it, though.” Marshall’s comments come as California remains the highest-profile example of a blue-state push to widen public coverage regardless of immigration status. The state completed a multiyear expansion of Medi-Cal in January 2024, making low-income adults eligible for comprehensive coverage regardless of their immigration status. Supporters say the expansion improves access and public health; critics counter that it strains budgets and blurs lines between state and federal responsibility.

NewsMax [12/8/2025 9:17 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K] reports the Department of Homeland Security’s social media team has embraced the holiday season by unveiling a series of memes highlighting the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. A post on DHS’ X account Friday carried the caption "You’re going ho ho home," alongside altered photos of masked federal law enforcement agents wearing Santa hats and Christmas lights, as well as vehicles and a police shield decorated with holiday lights. DHS followed up by replying to the post with a GIF of President Donald Trump wearing a Santa hat while guiding Santa’s sleigh full of gifts. Another post Monday, captioned "Check out Santa’s naughty list," showed a cutout of a person wearing a Santa hat looking at a computer screen while mug shots of criminal illegal immigrants — those DHS describes as the "worst of the worst" — scroll in the background. "DHS will continue using every tool at its disposal to keep the American people informed as our agents work to Make America Safe Again," said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, according to Axios. The White House did not provide further comment. On Dec. 1, DHS boasted about what it called "the best Cyber Monday deal of the season" for illegal immigrants who leave the U.S. voluntarily: a free flight and $1,000. DHS also posted on Nov. 24: "Merry Christmas. Help report and deport illegal aliens: 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.” This is not DHS’ first foray into comedic messaging regarding the administration’s enforcement efforts. In June, it posted a video on Instagram that read: "Cartel party next door? Let us know. We’ll bring ICE.” The video showed a party followed by federal officers making arrests, set to Vanilla Ice’s "Ice Ice Baby.” In the caption, DHS wrote: "We’re bringing ICE to the party. At a nightclub run by the cartel in Charleston, SC @icegov arrested 72 criminal illegal aliens and seized narcotics and firearms. Report suspicious criminal activity to 866-DHS-2-ICE.” For Valentine’s Day, the White House posted a meme of the heads of Trump and Tom Homan, his point man for mass deportations and border security, floating on a pink, heart-themed background. The meme read, "Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally, and we’ll deport you.”

FOX News [12/8/2025 1:52 PM, Anders Hagstrom and Preston Mizell, 40621K] reports that the White House rejected claims that President Donald Trump is leaning toward firing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday. The denial comes in response to a report from MS Now stating that a White House official said Noem is on "very thin ice." The report claimed Trump was considering removing Noem as early as this January and that White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller was leading the campaign for her removal. "Everything about this is total Fake News. Secretary Noem is doing a great job implementing the President’s agenda and making America safe again. MS Now continues to beclown themselves by inventing narratives that simply are not true," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also weighed in on the report in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, saying, "I can’t speak for the President, but I’ve seen more credible reporting on Big Foot." The MS Now report claimed that some White House officials have been dissatisfied with the pace of Noem’s expansion of detention facilities and that multiple governors have complained about the federal response to disasters in their states. The anonymous officials quoted in the article claim that outgoing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is a top contender to replace Noem. The Washington Examiner [12/8/2025 8:31 AM, Emily Hallas, 1394K] reports that the [White House] statement responded to a recent Bulwark report claiming it was "made clear that Trump is indeed considering moving on from Noem," based on three former DHS officials who "are still in touch with current staff." Jackson denounced the outlet for relying on the sources to make the allegations. "Anonymous former staffers pretend to know what POTUS is thinking and the Bulwark treats them as credible?" she questioned. "This ‘report’ — and the Bulwark — is total FAKE NEWS!" the White House spokeswoman continued. The Bulwark report also noted that top Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, who serves under Noem, denied rumors that the president is contemplating moving on from the DHS secretary. "Lewandowsky called bulls*** on any talk of turnover. ‘None of that is true,’ he said Thursday evening," the outlet wrote.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [12/8/2025 12:20 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K]

Wall Street Journal [12/8/2025 5:44 PM, Staff, 646K] reports eight years ago, in his now-distant first term, President Trump laid out a national security strategy recognizing the new world of great power competition. It was a welcome effort to articulate emerging global threats. The new strategy Mr. Trump released Friday is an all but explicit retreat from that competition. It will please China and Russia but discomfit America’s allies. The 33-page paper is the Administration’s most complete attempt so far to explain its thinking on national security. Mr. Trump explains mainly in staccato social-media bursts, so this is the best insight so far into how the next three years might go. And maybe the next seven years, since the document bears the imprint of Vice President JD Vance. The strategy isn’t an isolationist document that you might read at a libertarian think tank. But it is clearly a declaration that America can no longer afford to, and shouldn’t in the national interest, bear the burden of global leadership. Most notably, the strategy puts the Western Hemisphere first, playing down the rest of the world. There’s a geographic logic to this but not a strategic one since the largest threats to U.S. security aren’t Brazil, or Colombia, or even Cuba. The strategy usefully highlights the importance of removing malign interests from the hemisphere—albeit without mentioning Russia or China or Cuba as those influences. It also suggests that migration and drugs are two of the gravest threats to America. But Mr. Trump has showed the U.S. can stop runaway migration, while reducing illegal drug flows requires slowing U.S. demand. Whether Nicolás Maduro remains in power in Venezuela will be the first test of this Americas focus. By any measure the largest threat to the U.S. is the hostile power across the Pacific that has tripled its nuclear arsenal in five years—China. Yet the document describes commerce as “the ultimate stakes” in the Pacific and treats trade imbalances as a bigger threat to U.S. prosperity than Beijing’s military buildup.

Wall Street Journal [12/8/2025 4:17 PM, Eugene Kontorovich, 646K] reports critics of the Trump administration say that U.S. strikes on drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, which have thus far destroyed 23 boats and killed 87 people, violate international law. They also claim the military isn’t needed since traffickers found in international waters were previously captured by the Coast Guard and prosecuted in federal courts. It’s true that prosecutions of foreigners on the high seas have become a mainstay of federal antinarcotics efforts under an obscure 1986 U.S. law known as the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act. But MDLEA prosecutions aren’t a legally innocuous alternative to military operations. They are a dubious one, whose constitutional basis in recent years has been questioned by federal judges. The MDLEA extends U.S. narcotics laws to foreigners on non-American vessels on the high seas, where criminal enforcement is traditionally reserved to the home country. Congress can certainly criminalize smuggling directed at our shores. What makes the MDLEA unique is that it extends jurisdiction to foreign vessels without requiring proof of any connection to the U.S. There have been cases in which the vessels were manifestly bound for other countries. The statute treats vessels as “subject to the jurisdiction of the United States” if they are “deemed stateless.” This can mean simply that the home state doesn’t immediately pick up the phone or affirm their nationality, which happens often with small boats. As a result, foreigners captured in international waters can be prosecuted under U.S. law and spend the rest of their lives in a U.S. prison.

Wall Street Journal [12/8/2025 5:39 PM, Walter Russell Mead, 646K] reports the White House’s 2025 National Security Strategy is unique. These documents reflect the views of a sitting president’s closest aides and usually result from a carefully choreographed bureaucratic process. Their intended audience includes national security bureaucrats in the U.S. and abroad and the think-tankers and journalists obliged by a sense of professional responsibility to at least scan these generally leaden, cliché-ridden products of groupthink. The 2025 NSS could not be more different. As chaotic, energetic and sometimes dysfunctional as the administration that produced it, the 33-page document voices the passionate convictions of the administration’s leading foreign policy thinkers. It is more manifesto than strategy document, expressing what its authors hope are the ideas that will guide American foreign policy for the next generation and giving us their interpretation of Mr. Trump’s underlying worldview. The commentariat has responded to the document in all the customary ways. Acolytes say they haven’t read such sparkling prose since Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians. The usual critics call it an incoherent but horribly dangerous assault on the foundations of democracy and peace and complain that it is offensive to our esteemed European allies and suspiciously soft on Russia. The shrewdest observations come from an unusual trio: David E. Sanger, the White House and national security correspondent at the New York Times; Ulrich Speck, the policy analyst who is leading a revival of German strategic thought; and the British-American historian Niall Ferguson.

Breitbart [12/8/2025 5:38 AM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2416K] reports the administration of President Donald Trump deported more Nicaraguan migrants during the first nine months of 2025 than all of 2024 and 2023 combined, the newspaper Confidencial reported on Sunday. Confidencial, citing data shared by an unnamed U.S. State Department spokesperson, said the United States deported 6,095 Nicaraguans between January and September. The outlet, also citing statistics from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), detailed Nicaragua has already received 52 percent more deportees this year than the 3,996 deported during 2024 and three times more than the 2,020 deported during 2023. Collectively, a combined total of 6,016 Nicaraguans were deported between 2023 and 2024, an amount that stands as lower than the amount of 6,095 deported as of September 30 according to the unnamed State Department Spokesperson’s information cited by Confidencial. In terms of deportation flights, the outlet found that, as of September 30, the United States carried out 54 Nicaragua-bound flights according to data from independent sources, marking the highest number in five years. In 2024, the United States reportedly conducted 26 such flights and only 24 in 2023. Confidencial noted that the communist regime led by "co-presidential" dictatorial couple Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo does not inform on the deportation flights and the amount of deportees that the United States has sent back to the Central American country.

AP [12/9/2025 12:03 AM, Sahar Akbarzai, Martha Bellisle, Rebecca Santana and Julie Watson, 31753K] reports that, on a recent afternoon, Giselle Garcia, a volunteer who has been helping an Afghan family resettle, drove the father to a check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She warned him and his family to prepare for the worst. The moment the father stepped into the ICE office in California’s capital city, he was arrested. Coming just days after the shooting of two National Guard troops by an Afghan national suspect, federal authorities have carried out increased arrests of Afghans in the U.S., immigration lawyers say as Afghans both in and outside the country have come under intense scrutiny by immigration officials. Garcia said the family she helped had reported to all their appointments and were following all legal requirements. “He was trying to be strong for his wife and kids in the car, but the anxiety and fear were palpable,” she said. “His wife was trying to hold back tears, but I could see her in the rearview mirror silently crying.” They had fled Afghanistan under threat by the Taliban because the wife’s father had assisted the U.S. military, and they had asked for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, Garcia said. She is not identifying him or his family for fear other members could be arrested. Since the Nov. 26 Guard shooting, The Associated Press has tracked roughly two dozen arrests of Afghan immigrants, most of which happened in Northern California. In Sacramento, home to one of the nation’s largest Afghan communities, volunteers monitoring ICE activities say they witnessed at least nine arrests at the federal building last week after Afghan men received calls to check in there. Many of those detained had requested asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border in the last two years. Others were among the 76,000 Afghans brought to the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome, created by former President Joe Biden’s administration after the chaotic withdrawal of the U.S. from their country. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Dec. 1 that the Trump administration is “actively reexamining” all the Afghan nationals who entered the U.S. during Biden’s administration.

Los Angeles Times [12/9/2025 3:01 AM, Iris Kwok and Howard Blume, 14862K] reports high school principals across California and nationwide say raids by Immigration, Customs and Enforcement have provoked a "climate of distress" among immigrant students who have been bullied on campus and whose attendance has dropped, according to a study released Tuesday. Seventy percent of public high school principals surveyed said students from immigrant families expressed fears for themselves or their families because of ICE crackdowns or political rhetoric related to immigrants, according to the report by researchers at UCLA and UC Riverside. The findings echo the narrative of what schools and districts have reported across Southern California since President Trump took office in January and began aggressive immigration raids. One California principal told researchers she has seen staff members "breaking down in tears about a student.” "It just doesn’t feel very American," she added. John Rogers, a UCLA education professor who co-authored the report, said it was "striking" that principals "across every region in the country spoke of fear and concern in their school communities related to immigration enforcement.” The researchers surveyed 606 public high school principals from May to August to understand how schools have been affected by Trump’s immigration enforcement. More than 1 in 3 principals, about 36%, said students from immigrant families have been bullied, and 64% said their attendance has dropped. A drop in attendance has been verified by other researchers who collected data from California’s Central Valley and the Northeastern states. There’s also been a decline in K-12 enrollment that appears to number in at least the tens of thousands, affecting cities including Los Angeles, San Diego and Miami, based on figures provided by school district officials. Principals, including in Minnesota, Nebraska and Michigan, noticed an uptick in students using hostile and derogatory language toward classmates from immigrant families. Some said a political climate that has normalized attacks on immigrants was to blame. The vast majority of principals surveyed, nearly 78%, said their campuses created plans to respond to visits from federal agents and nearly half have a contingency plan for when a student’s parents are deported. In this effort, schools in Los Angeles County have been leaders, taking quick and unprecedented steps to protect and reassure families. L.A. Unified, for example, has provided direct home-to-school transportation for some students. Their fears are not without cause. In April, Los Angeles principals turned away immigration agents who tried to enter two elementary schools, claiming to be conducting a wellness check with family permission. School district officials said no such permission had been granted. Earlier this year the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying ICE does not "raid or target schools." However, the Trump administration in January rescinded long-standing protections for "sensitive" locations that since 2011 had prevented ICE from arresting people in schools and churches.

ABC News [12/8/2025 5:05 AM, Arthur Jones II, 30493K] Video: HERE reports the Trump administration’s surge in law enforcement has created a chilling effect on student attendance in school districts nationwide, but it appears that preliminary data and attendance trackers from some districts do not show a large-scale enrollment plunge due to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations near school grounds. In September, President Donald Trump sent additional federal troops to aid immigration enforcement in Chicago. Despite this, the Chicago Public Schools system said its attendance remains "largely consistent" with last year as some student groups are seeing dips in attendance at "discrete points" -- referring to individual, separate events -- this fall. In Washington, D.C., the city’s local law enforcement has always worked alongside federal agencies. After it saw a surge in troops in August and September during a 30-day federal takeover, preliminary data shows the city’s attendance rate was within one percentage point of the same time period in the previous school year for "all students," according to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. That office said the preliminary data from Sept. 30 included each student group and racial ethnicity group. Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second largest school system after New York City’s, has a 94% attendance rate for the 2025-2026 school year, according to the district’s website. Falling birth rates, self-deportation, migration and other factors have caused a drop in K-12 enrollment and attendance in certain parts of the country so far this year, according to data from school districts around the country, including the Los Angeles and Miami-Dade County public school systems, which both saw 4% decreases in 2025-2026 enrollment. The Trump administration has lifted longstanding restrictions that kept ICE from conducting immigration enforcement raids on K-12 schools and other sensitive areas, including churches and hospitals, but this decision was made to ensure students and school communities are safe from criminal activity, according to Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. McLaughlin stressed that the agency is not invading or raiding classrooms, and shared a DHS memo outlining the department’s approach with ABC News. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Los Angeles Times [12/8/2025 11:08 AM, Suhauna Hussain, Andrea Castillo, and Rachel Uranga, 14862K] reports Sophia Nyazi’s husband, Milad, shook her awake at 8 a.m. "ICE is here," he told her. Three uniformed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were downstairs at the family’s home on Long Island, N.Y., on Tuesday, according to a video reviewed by The Times that she captured from atop the staircase. Nyazi said the agents asked whether her husband was applying for a green card. They told her they would have to detain him because of the shooting of two National Guard members a week earlier in Washington, D.C. "He has nothing to do with that shooting," Nyazi, 27, recalled answering. "We don’t even know that person." Her protests didn’t matter. The Trump administration has put into motion a broad and unprecedented set of policy changes aimed at substantially limiting legal immigration avenues, including for immigrants long considered the most vulnerable. Asked why Milad Nyazi was detained, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant public affairs secretary for Homeland Security, called him a criminal, citing two arrests on suspicion of domestic violence. "Under Secretary [Kristi] Noem, DHS has been going full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and criminal illegal aliens that came in through Biden’s fraudulent parole programs and working to get the criminals and public safety threats OUT of our country," McLaughlin said in a statement. Nyazi said the charges, which did not stem from incidents of physical violence, were dropped and his record was later expunged.

CNN [12/8/2025 11:56 AM, Lucia Isman, 18595K] reports nearly 75,000 people with no criminal record have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to data released by a University of California, Berkeley research group. CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez runs through the numbers. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

(B) NBC News Daily [12/8/2025 2:15 PM, Staff] reports that new data is giving a look at the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The data showed in the first nine months of the Trump administration Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 75,000 people who did not have criminal records. The University of California-Berkeley was able to get more arrest data in a lawsuit. It shows 90% of the arrests made from inauguration date to mid-October were male. The majority nationality arrested was Mexican. 60% were between the ages of 25 and 45. About a third were convicted criminals and a third had pending criminal charges. This data does not include arrests made by Border Patrol.

Blaze [12/8/2025 2:20 PM, Andrew Chapados, 1442K] reports that Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas has some interesting ideas on how law enforcement should be utilized. Crockett was speaking on the "Grounded" podcast when she was asked about the presence of military vehicles in cities like Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Host Jon Tester wanted to hear Crockett’s thoughts, asking the congresswoman if she thought it was good or bad to have military presence in those cities. "I think it’s terrible," the politician replied. "First of all, you know, I’m like, how is it that we have a government that is hostile towards its people? Because that’s what it is. I mean, we are in the midst of a hostile government takeover, and it is our government that is, like, bringing the hostility." Crockett prefaced her remarks, made in September but now going viral, by saying that she would need to go into "legal mode" to explain how agencies like ICE and the United States Armed Forces are being misused by the Trump administration. It was during that portion of her statements that Crockett made the odd claim about how local law enforcement is supposed to operate: "I want to be clear that, like, law enforcement isn’t to prevent crime. Law enforcement solves crime. OK? That is what they are supposed to do. They are supposed to solve crimes, not necessarily, um, prevent them from happening per se."

Washington Post [12/8/2025 4:27 PM, Maria Sacchetti, 24149K] reports a U.S. immigration judge on Monday ordered a Brazilian woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to be released from a detention center in Louisiana as she fights her potential deportation. Bruna Ferreira — who shares custody of her 11-year-old son with her former fiancé, Leavitt’s brother Michael — was arrested by immigration officers in Massachusetts on Nov. 12 while she was on her way to pick up her son from school and sent to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. Immigration Judge Cynthia Goodman ordered Ferreira, 33, to be set free on $1,500 bond, the lowest dollar amount possible, Ferreira’s lawyers said. One of those lawyers, Jason Thomas, told Goodman that the U.S. government’s characterization of Ferreira — whom the Trump administration described last month as a “criminal illegal alien” with a previous arrest for battery — is unfair. It was not immediately clear when Ferreira would be released. The White House had said in a statement that Ferreira had not spoken to Karoline Leavitt in years and that Ferreira had never lived with her son. Trump administration officials have not responded to requests for supporting documentation for the accusations about Ferreira.

New York Times [12/8/2025 11:10 PM, Jenna Russell, 135475K] reports leaders of a Catholic church near Boston kept a Nativity display with an anti-ICE message in place on Monday, defying an order from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to remove it. The display, outside St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Mass., includes the traditional shepherds, sheep and wise men gathered around a hay-filled manger. But Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus are missing, replaced by a sign reading “ICE WAS HERE” in bold blue letters. “The Holy Family is safe in the Sanctuary of our Church,” adds a smaller note inside the Nativity scene, which is protected by a plastic shield. “If you see ICE please call LUCE.” The display includes a phone number for LUCE, an immigrant advocacy group, which tracks the activity of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Massachusetts. ICE began a major immigration enforcement campaign in the Boston area in September, the forefront of a wave of similar efforts in other major cities. Speaking to reporters late Monday outside the brick church, the Rev. Stephen Josoma said the intent of the display was to “evoke dialogue,” not cause a furor. He said parish leaders would confer with leaders of the archdiocese before making a final decision on its fate. But, he added, “that some do not agree with our display does not render it sacrilegious.” Last week, the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston told the parish to take down the signage in its Nativity display. In a statement, archdiocesan leaders said that churchgoers “have the right to expect that they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship — not divisive political messaging.” That statement also cited church norms prohibiting “the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than the devotion of God’s people.” Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, added his own criticism in recent days, telling The Boston Herald that the Nativity scene was “absolutely abhorrent” and part of “a dangerous narrative” responsible for a sharp increase in assaults on ICE officers. Some members and supporters of the Dedham parish said they were confused by the demand from the archdiocese, which came one month after a rare and nearly unanimous statement from U.S. Catholic bishops condemning the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign. “We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants,” the November statement from the bishops said. “We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status.” The display at St. Susanna, on a busy street in a well-off suburb south of Boston, is the latest in a series of nontraditional Nativity scenes staged by the parish. A version in 2018 sparked similar controversy for depicting the infant Jesus in a cage, a scene church leaders said was a reflection on immigration policy at that time. A year later, the parish focused on climate change, showing some of the figures partly submerged in water.

New York Times [12/8/2025 6:15 PM, Ana Ley, 135475K] reports at a government building in Lower Manhattan, masked federal agents have spent months arresting immigrants who are showing up for routine court hearings and check-ins, a tactic that has sown fear and mistrust in migrant communities. On Monday, Democratic lawmakers from New York introduced legislation that would halt the practice by prohibiting Department of Homeland Security officers from detaining anyone who appears at an immigration court to attend or participate in a hearing, except in cases in which officials have obtained a judicial warrant. The measure would also restrict the arrests of people showing up for or leaving check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with some allowances. “You cannot sandbag people who are trying to do this the right way,” said Representative Daniel Goldman, who represents parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. He added, “These are nonviolent, noncriminal people, often escaping terrible conditions in their country, seeking refuge here.” Migrants have been so afraid of being arrested at their appointments that the vast majority of them — 80 percent — have not been showing up, Mr. Goldman said at a news conference outside 26 Federal Plaza, the site of immigration courtrooms that has become the epicenter of migrant arrests in New York City. Many of those who are detained there are then taken to detention centers across the United States and quickly deported. Their failure to show up is a violation of federal orders that compromises their path to living in the country legally. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security, denied Mr. Goldman’s assertion that people’s due process rights were being violated. She said that it was safer for federal agents to arrest immigrants in court, where they are screened for weapons, than out in the community. “Rep. Goldman needs to stop defending violent criminal illegal aliens as he demonizes and dehumanizes American law enforcement,” Ms. McLaughlin wrote in an email. She added, “No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States.”

Reported similarly:
CBS New York [12/8/2025 6:08 PM, Marcia Kramer, 39474K]
Univision [12/8/2025 2:33 PM, Staff, 5004K]

New York Times [12/9/2025 3:00 AM, Ana Ley, 135475K] reports the 23-year-old man arrived at immigration court in New York City this spring with no obvious signs of illness. That changed after federal immigration officials took the man, Javier Tomas Muñoz Materano, into custody. For more than three months, he was held in detention and not allowed to bathe or change clothes for days at a time as he was transferred 10 times to eight facilities across four states. He eventually began feeling excruciating pain and discomfort in his genitalia. At times his legs became numb, and he lost the ability to walk. A judge ordered his release in September, agreeing with his lawyers that he had “a sufficiently serious medical condition” to be let out. In his decision, the judge chronicled the graphic details of what Mr. Muñoz Materano had gone through, saying that that ICE officials had acted “with deliberate indifference” toward his medical needs. Across the United States, several other judges have also criticized conditions at federal immigration detention centers or released migrants who lacked access to adequate medical care. In August, a federal judge directed the Trump administration to fix what detainees have called squalid and overcrowded conditions inside migrant holding cells in New York City. In October, a judge in Detroit ordered that a Michigan man who had leukemia be released from custody or at least be given a bond hearing in immigration court as he faced the prospect of deportation. And in November, a judge in Chicago imposed restrictions on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that he said had subjected migrants to “conditions that are unnecessarily cruel.” Their actions highlight tension over what migrants and human rights advocates have denounced as inhumane treatment by the Trump administration. ICE officials have denied mistreating detainees. The case of Mr. Muñoz Materano offers an especially telling example of the neglect cited by judges. The skin on his legs became itchy, and his genitalia began to swell, according to court records. He felt a burning sensation when he urinated. The apparent infection also seemed to spread to his face. Later, when he could not walk, he was given a wheelchair. While in detention, he had nearly two dozen medical appointments with nurses and physician assistants who prescribed medication, according to federal immigration officials. But U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos wrote in his Sept. 9 decision that “as a result of the frequent, haphazard transfers to which he was subjected,” Mr. Muñoz Materano was not allowed to consistently take the medicine, and his symptoms worsened. In an interview, Mr. Muñoz Materano said that he pleaded for the medicine, including an antifungal and antibiotic. He said he explained to prison officials that he was in pain, but he was told that ICE had not authorized them to give him the medicine.

NBC News [12/8/2025 7:44 PM, Nicole Acevedo, 34509K] reports more than 200 people rallied Sunday in support of a Chinese father who is in immigration detention while his 6-year-old son is in being held by the Office of Refugee Resettlement following a routine immigration appointment in New York City. Fei Zheng and his son, Yuanxin, showed up to the offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York City on Nov. 26 for a routine check-in, according to Jennie Spector, a community activist who coordinated two volunteers to accompany Zheng and Yuanxin to the appointment. The volunteers waited for Zheng and his son outside the ICE offices, since they’re not allowed inside check-ins. "They never heard from him," Spector told NBC News on Monday. "After a number of hours, we kind of assumed that they had been arrested.” Zheng was taken to the Orange County Correctional Facility, where he remained in immigration custody as of Monday, and his son was transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which holds unaccompanied immigrant children, according to the Department of Homeland Security. A child taken into ORR custody is placed with an ORR-approved guardian, similar to a foster family, or taken to an ORR facility. It is unclear exactly where ORR is holding the boy. Spector, who receives calls from Zheng while he is in detention, said the father was able to briefly speak with his son over the weekend. That was his first time hearing his son’s voice since they were separated on Thanksgiving eve, Spector said. "He was able to be put in touch with his son, but he doesn’t know exactly where he is or what kind of place he is living in," Spector said. "No one has confirmed that to him.” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told NBC News in an email that "ICE does not separate families," but places minors and adults in custody as "consistent with past administrations immigration enforcement.” According to McLaughlin, Zheng and Yuanxin are Chinese nationals who are living in the United States without authorization and "were given a lawful order of removal as a family unit.” Mike Gao, an attorney for Zheng, previously told New York Times that his client had refused to board an ICE flight to China in September because he feared government retribution there. Gao did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News. "Mr. Zheng refused to board the plane and was acting so disruptive and aggressive that he endangered the child’s wellbeing," McLaughlin said, adding that the father "had the right and the ability to depart the country as a family and willfully choose to not comply.” "To be clear, refusing a judge’s deportation order is a crime. As a result, the child was placed with ORR Custody," McLaughlin said.

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Telemundo [12/8/2025 9:55 PM, Nicole Acevedo, 2218K]

CBS New York [12/8/2025 11:09 AM, Renee Anderson, 39474K] reports New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani shared a video Sunday reminding New Yorkers about their rights when it comes to interacting with federal immigration agents. In the video posted online, Mamdani vowed to protect the city’s 3 million immigrants, saying, "We can all stand up to ICE if you know your rights." Breitbart [12/8/2025 11:50 AM, Amy Furr, 2416K] reports New York City’s Democratic Socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is telling illegal immigrants in his area how to "stand up" to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (ICE) agents. The news comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has been working to safeguard American communities from illegal alien crime and as federal officials have been arresting the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal aliens. In a video posted Sunday, Mamdani talked about a recent ICE raid in Chinatown, adding when he officially becomes mayor he will protect all New York residents’ rights, the New York Post reported. "And that includes the more than 3 million immigrants who call this city their home. But we can all stand up to ICE if you know your rights," he said, then gave points about avoiding ICE agents. "ICE cannot enter into private spaces like your home, school, or private area of your workplace without a judicial warrant signed by a judge," he explained, adding they had a right to keep their door shut: "ICE is legally allowed to lie to you. But you have the right to remain silent. If you are being detained, you may always ask, ‘Am I free to go?’ repeatedly until they answer you. You are legally allowed to film ICE, as long as you do not interfere with an arrest," Mamdani said, adding it was important for people to remain calm during interactions with police or ICE, not to run from them, to avoid resisting arrest, and to refrain from impeding their investigations. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
CBS News [12/8/2025 6:23 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE
Washington Times [12/8/2025 1:02 PM, Staff, 852K]

FOX News [12/8/2025 1:15 PM, Staff, 40621K] reports that ‘Outnumbered’ reacts to New York City mayoral-elect Zohran Mamdani’s recent video giving New Yorkers advice on avoiding ICE capture. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Free Beacon [12/8/2025 5:00 AM, Jon Levine, 411K] reports New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s (D.) transition team includes a man whose organization is under congressional investigation for allegedly teaching illegal aliens how to evade ICE officers, the Washington Free Beacon has learned. Mamdani named Wayne Ho, who has served as president and CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) nonprofit since 2017, to his Committee on Social Services last month. The House Committee on Homeland Security opened an investigation into CPC in April based on a video showing a member of CPC’s leadership "explaining strategies for avoiding and potentially impeding immigration officials during a seminar in New York," according to a letter from then-committee chairman and former congressman Mark Green (R., Tenn.). Green wrote that the committee was "deeply concerned that CPC and other NGOs that receive taxpayer dollars may be advising or training illegal aliens on strategies to avoid cooperation with immigration officials." Though Green no longer leads the committee, a staff member confirmed to the Free Beacon that the investigation is ongoing. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R., N.Y.), who has served as chairman since July, told the Free Beacon in a statement that he and the rest of the Committee on Homeland Security plan to hold those who work to impede ICE’s mission accountable. The revelation that a Mamdani appointee is under congressional investigation comes after a campaign in which the mayor-elect vowed to prevent ICE from carrying out deportations of illegal aliens in New York City. President Donald Trump sued the city in July of this year, arguing its sanctuary policies interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration law. Trump said during an Oval Office press conference with Mamdani that the pair did not discuss immigration enforcement at length in their recent meeting. The confirmation that the investigation has continued, though, suggests Republicans will fight the democratic socialist’s efforts to impede ICE, as does a statement provided to the Free Beacon by Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS.

Breitbart [12/8/2025 4:57 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports the sanctuary state of Illinois has released almost 1,800 illegal aliens, charged with crimes such as murder, assault, burglary, robbery, and sex crimes, back into communities since President Donald Trump took office in late January, new data reveals. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons released the data on Monday while urging Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to honor more than 4,000 active ICE detainers that the agency has lodged against criminal illegal aliens in the sanctuary state. In particular, Lyons said Illinois officials have already failed to honor 1,768 ICE detainers and released the illegal aliens back into neighborhoods. Among those illegal aliens released back into communities are five charged with murder, 141 charged with assault, 23 charged with burglary, 10 charged with sex crimes, four charged with robbery, 24 charged with drug crimes, and 15 charged with weapons offenses. Meanwhile, the crimes of the more than 4,000 illegal aliens with active ICE detainers in Illinois include 51 charged with murder, 1,134 charged with assault, 107 charged with burglary, 36 charged with robbery, 275 charged with drug crimes, 120 charged with weapons offenses, and 813 charged with sex crimes. Blaze [12/8/2025 2:05 PM, Cooper Williamson, 1442K] reports that the DHS reported on Monday in a press release that Democrat politicians have repeatedly defied ICE by ignoring arrest detainers. The press release singled out Illinois and Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, one of the most vocal political opponents of ICE operations under President Trump. The press release stated that 1,768 criminal illegal aliens have been released in Illinois alone since January 20, 2025. The crimes committed by these illegal aliens include homicide, assault, burglary, robbery, dangerous drug offenses, weapons offenses, and sexual offenses, according to the press release. There are currently 4,015 aliens in Illinois’ custody, the majority of whom have committed crimes such as those listed above. "Governor Pritzker and his fellow Illinois sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and kidnappers back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "We are calling on Governor Pritzker and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 4,000 criminal illegal aliens in Illinois’ custody," McLaughlin continued. "It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans."

FOX News [12/8/2025 10:00 AM, Christina Shaw, 40621K] Video: HERE reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is warning that Illinois officials are releasing violent criminal illegal aliens despite active immigration detainers, a move the agency says is putting the public at risk. In the letter shared with Fox News Digital, Todd Lyons, ICE’s senior official performing the duties of director, said Illinois has "tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens" in custody – individuals who, he noted, have committed crimes ranging from murder and rape to child pornography and armed robbery. Lyons said these offenders "should be swiftly removed from the United States … and not be returned to our streets to wreak havoc on law-abiding citizens." According to data provided by ICE, Illinois has released 1,768 criminal aliens with active detainers since January 2025. ICE said the crimes tied to those offenders include homicides, assaults, burglaries, weapons offenses and sexual-predatory crimes. The agency also said another 4,015 criminal aliens with pending detainers remain in state or local custody, including individuals linked to 51 homicides and more than 800 sexual-predatory offenses. ICE provided a list of some of the detainers that were not honored, requiring federal officers to track down offenders after their release.

Washington Examiner [12/8/2025 2:19 PM, Molly Parks, 1394K] reports that Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, called on Illinois to honor immigration detainers in a letter to Democratic state Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Monday. As the Trump administration continues its surge in immigration enforcement in the Chicago area through Operation Midway Blitz, it continues to clash with Gov. JB Pritzker’s (D-IL) administration as Pritzker attempts to stiff-arm what he has called a federal "power grab." The Department of Homeland Security said the state’s refusal to honor immigration detainers has led to the release of 1,768 illegal immigrants from criminal custody in the state since Jan. 20. "Governor Pritzker and his fellow Illinois sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and kidnappers back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk," DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "We are calling on Governor Pritzker and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 4,000 criminal illegal aliens in Illinois’ custody.” DHS said there are currently 4,015 illegal immigrants in custody in Illinois with an active immigration detainer. Raoul did not respond to Lyons’s last letter from September, in which the acting ICE director requested Raoul and the attorneys general of California and New York to confirm cooperation with ICE’s immigrant detainers, according to DHS. Neither Raoul nor Pritzker’s office responded to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.

New York Post [12/8/2025 4:33 PM, Chris Nesi, 42219K] reports the illegal immigrant whom Chicago anti-ICE protesters tried to protect by hurling rocks and snowballs at the feds is an alleged Tren de Aragua gangbanger who had rammed an officer as they tried to arrest him, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday. ICE arrested Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez — who entered the US under former President Joe Biden — following the impromptu riot on a snowy residential street in Elgin, Illinois, in which dozens of protesters lobbed rocks, bottles and icy snowballs at federal agents who had been chasing Gutierrez, according to DHS. Immigration agents had attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Gutierrez, when he smashed his car into one of the agency’s vehicles, sending it careening into a tree. He then fled the crash on foot before barricading himself in a stranger’s apartment. The illegal immigrant from Venezuela then went out on the balcony and spoke to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who tried to get him to exit the apartment and surrender. Meanwhile, a large crowd of anti-ICE protesters amassed and began assailing the agents with snowballs and other projectiles, but DHS said local police "refused" to assist in protecting them. Gutierrez was taken into custody after several hours of negotiating — and it wasn’t his first run-in with immigration authorities. He was arrested at the border after entering the country illegally in April 2023, but was released by the Biden administration — which took the added step of granting him Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Gutierrez’s TPS was terminated last month, and DHS says he’s now facing deportation proceedings.

Chicago Tribune [12/8/2025 7:00 AM, Jennifer Johnson, 4829K] reports dozens of Glenview residents urged elected officials recently to ban federal agencies—particularly U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE—from using village-owned properties for enforcement activity. But Village President Michael Jenny questioned this request, asking if such an action is under the local government’s purview. “Is it our role to pass an ordinance we know is not enforceable, largely for symbolic purposes?” he asked. “I don’t know.” The residents addressed the Glenview Village Board for more than an hour on Nov. 18, one week after an email signed by nine residents was sent to elected officials. The email contained two requests: Follow neighboring communities like Wilmette, Skokie and Evanston by prohibiting federal agencies from conducting enforcement operations on municipal properties, and provide clear information to Glenview residents about their rights and what action they can take if they observe ICE activity in their neighborhood and believe their safety is at risk. The village is collaborating with the Glenview Public Library to share information with the public on their rights, Jenny said. As for an ordinance restricting federal activity, it remains unclear if discussion will take place at a future board meeting.

CNN [12/9/2025 12:26 AM, Priscilla Alvarez, Michael Williams, 18595K] reports immigrant families held at a detention facility in Texas describe prolonged stays, despondent children, limited access to potable water and agents offering money for families to voluntarily leave the country, according to new court declarations filed early Tuesday morning. The filings paint a portrait of the inside of the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility where, as of November, there were around 160 families who had either crossed the US-Mexico border or been picked up by authorities in the United States as part of the administration’s sweeping crackdown. Administration officials have boasted of thousands of arrests since President Donald Trump took office, often categorizing those targeted as public safety and national security threats. But among those taken into custody, at places like ICE check ins and vehicle checkpoints, are families who are undocumented. Family detention, which expanded under former President Barack Obama, had been paused under the Biden administration before resuming this year. The Dilley facility – intended to be a residential detention center, not a criminal facility – is designed to house families, with a series of beige trailers with dedicated spaces for a library, gym and classroom. Children at Dilley range from infants to teenagers. But immigrant advocates and attorneys have routinely raised alarm over detaining children. "When we were at Dilley a few weeks ago, conditions of confinement and treatment of families appear to have worsened with families reporting horrific concerns, such as denial of critical medical care, worms and mold in the food that result in children becoming ill, and threats of family separation by officers and staff," said Leecia Welch, deputy litigation director at Children’s Rights, who has been to Dilley six times this year. "Families tell us that their children are weak, faint, pale and often crying because they are so hungry," she added. CNN reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment. The government has said in recent court filings that it’s already addressing some of the issues raised by detainees. The new court documents show detainees at Dilley allege their medical conditions are poorly treated, their children are unable to eat provided food, the rooms are packed, and the lighting makes it difficult to sleep. "It’s a prison here – it is truly a living hell. It’s not a good place for anyone. All of the children here are suffering. The mothers are crying – especially for their children. We are all suffering," said N.G.C., a 29-year-old mother detained with her 5-year-old daughter. (The court documents identify detainees only by their initials.). More than 100 families have shared testimonies with immigration attorneys between May and November as part of the 1997 Flores settlement. That settlement requires the government to release children from government custody without unnecessary delay to sponsors, such as parents or adult relatives, and dictates conditions by which children are held.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [12/8/2025 5:43 PM, Staff, 10K] reports human rights organizations today sent a letter urging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end the detention of immigrants at Camp East Montana, a military base at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The advocates summarized in their letters accounts of poor conditions, including various abuses by agents against detained immigrants, beatings and coercive threats of forced deportation to third countries, medical neglect, hunger and insufficient food, and the denial of meaningful access to a lawyer, among other rights violations. The letter comes just weeks after Representative Veronica Escobar pointed out that people detained at Ft. Bliss were provided with foul-tasting drinking water, rotten food, and inadequate health care. The letter follows months of interviews with more than 45 people detained at Ft. Bliss and is accompanied by 16 affidavits from immigrants detained at the facility. Numerous detainees told lawyers that officers have engaged in a widespread and unreasonable pattern and practice of excessive use of force, including the use of abusive sexual contact by officers when employing force.

Washington Post [12/8/2025 6:00 AM, Douglas MacMillan, 24149K] reports four Cuban immigrants being held at a Texas detention center claim they were among dozens who were driven to the Mexican border and pressured by masked officials to cross it or face imprisonment and beatings, according to a letter that civil liberties groups sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday and shared with The Washington Post. Two said they were beaten inside the detention facility when they initially declined to be transported to the border. The letter draws on interviews the American Civil Liberties Union and other nonprofit groups conducted last month with 45 detainees at ICE’s makeshift Fort Bliss detention camp in El Paso. It claims the Trump administration tried to illegally coerce many of these people into leaving the United States for a country where they are not citizens — violating its own guidance for “third country” deportations by failing to give some of them written notice or a hearing with an ICE officer. The Post independently obtained internal ICE records verifying that the four Cubans resisted removal on or around the dates they said the events took place. The Post could not verify other details about the allegations, because the detainees had little means to document their experiences. ICE has declined The Post’s requests to visit the facility. “These actions by federal officers are clear violations,” the civil liberties groups said in the letter. ICE officers have approached non-Mexicans held at Fort Bliss and “informed them orally that they will be deported to Mexico. When detainees state that they fear being removed to Mexico and decline third country deportation, officers have subjected them to physical abuse, and threats of criminal prosecution and lengthy imprisonment.” Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said that “no detainees are being beaten or abused” and that all people being deported to third countries are given due-process protections. These deportations “are essential to the safety of our homeland and the American people,” McLaughlin said. “If you break our laws and come to our country illegally, you could end up in any number of third countries.”

Chicago Tribune [12/8/2025 3:12 PM, Sydney Barragan, 4829K] reports on Oct. 18, Caceres had been headed to Texas to photograph a wedding when he was detained while going through security at John Wayne Airport. Caceres and his wife of a year and a half, who is a U.S. citizen, had been wary of travel as mass deportations increased nationwide under the Trump administration. Still, he had clients counting on him. And he believed he would be safe: Caceres said he had fled to the United States as a teenager seeking asylum and had continued following immigration requirements over the years, including completing biometrics and updating his address the previous year. But his immigration case had grown complicated years earlier. In 2018, Caceres was issued a deportation order — something both he and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed. However, Caceres said he never received the order to appear in immigration court, as it was sent to an incorrect address, and he was not notified by the legal counsel he’d retained at the time. Caceres’ current attorney filed a motion to stay his removal on Oct. 22, four days after he was detained, asking the immigration court to halt any deportation until the motion was decided. Caceres said he was deported days later without meeting a judge or being allowed to appeal. Caceres said he was never advised of his rights throughout the eight days of his detention, and was misled into signing paperwork he was told was related to his belongings. He later learned it was an agreement barring him from reentering the United States for five to ten years, he said. Caceres is one of over 527,000 people who have been deported under the Trump administration as of November 2025, according to DHS. Despite claims the administration would go after "the worst of the worst," data shared by DHS showed that 73.6% of people in ICE custody do not have a criminal record. A search for any criminal records for Adan Caceres in Orange or Los Angeles counties turned up nothing. DHS, in a Nov. 28 email, said that "Caceres will remain in ICE custody pending removal." He had already been in El Salvador for over a month by then.

Telemundo Amarillo [12/8/2025 5:17 PM, Staff, 4K] reports ICE confirms that it carried out 16 tax and immigration search warrants, some of them to Mexican food restaurants. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [12/8/2025 4:46 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports an illegal alien is accused of drunk driving and causing a crash that left an 8-year-old girl dead in the sanctuary state of California. Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents lodged a detainer against 25-year-old illegal alien Brayan Alva-Rodriguez of Guatemala after he allegedly caused a head-on collision on a San Diego highway that resulted in the death of an 8-year-old girl. According to local police, Alva-Rodriguez was driving a 2005 Toyota Tacoma drunk when he crossed lanes and hit a Toyota Camry head-on. The driver of the Camry, a 26-year-old man from Yuma, Arizona, suffered major injuries as did his front passenger, a 28-year-old woman. Three children in the back of the Camry, a 5-year-old boy, a 4-year-old boy, and an 8-year-old girl, were taken to a nearby children’s hospital. The girl did not survive her injuries and died there. ICE officials said Alva-Rodriguez has a history of drunk driving, including a 2020 arrest for driving under the influence and a 2021 arrest for driving under the influence and hit-and-run.

NBC News [12/8/2025 4:06 PM, Jeanette Quezada, 34509K] reports a San Diego man is pleading for help to get his wife released from the Otay Mesa Detention Center after ICE officials detained her following the completion of her green card interview. Last Thursday, Viktoriia Bulavina, a Ukrainian refugee, and her husband, Viktor Korol, came to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for what was supposed to be Bulavina’s green card appointment. But Korol left without her because she was detained by immigration officials. Now, he’s trying to figure out a way to get her released and back home. Bulavina arrived in the U.S. in 2022 as a refugee, with a humanitarian parole, fleeing from the war in Ukraine. In October 2023, Bulavina filed for and was granted Temporary Protective Status. In January, three months before her TPS status was set to expire, she applied for a renewal, Korol said. According to her attorney, the online portal said a decision on that extension would have been made within two weeks. In March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services scheduled Bulavina for a green card interview on December 4. Right now, Bulavina is being held at the Otay Mesa Immigration Detention Center, Korol said.

Post Millennial [12/8/2025 11:35 AM, Ari Hoffman, 519K] reports the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged an immigration detainer for Brayan Alva-Rodriguez, a Guatemalan national who the agency says is in the country unlawfully and is suspected of driving under the influence in a crash that killed an 8-year-old girl in the San Diego area. He has been charged for the girl’s death and injuries caused to others in the crash. According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Alva-Rodriguez was driving a 2005 Toyota Tacoma with a 24-year-old passenger when authorities allege, he crossed a solid double-yellow line into oncoming traffic and struck a 2018 Toyota Camry head-on. The release said multiple people were injured; five were taken to hospitals by helicopter and three by ambulance. An 8-year-old girl in the crash later died from her injuries. Alva-Rodriguez has been charged with first-degree murder, two felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, as well as felony charges for driving under the influence, per the New York Post. In a statement included in the release, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticized California’s sanctuary policies and called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to comply with ICE’s request. “How many deaths of children…need to happen before Governor Newsom and sanctuary politicians will prioritize the safety and security of American families?” McLaughlin said, adding that the department is “praying for the family of this child” and urging state officials to honor the detainer.

NBC News [12/8/2025 1:28 PM, Thea DiGiammerino, 34509K] reports that several immigrants ready to take their citizenship oaths at Boston’s Faneuil Hall this week were told they could not proceed because of their countries of origin. The same situation is playing out across the country. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has instructed its employees to halt immigration pathways to people from 19 countries deemed high risk, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Somalia. The naturalization ceremony is the final step to becoming a U.S. citizen, a process that takes years to complete. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu expressed outrage at the situation over the weekend. "It’s despicable and it is deeply painful to see this happening across the country but to feel it at the cradle of liberty in Boston at Faneuil Hall a place that represents the foundation of this country and the very values that have made our nation who we are," Wu said. Several people said they received cancellation notices through an online portal but the notices provided no further guidance. USCIS has said this pause is part of an effort to strengthen its screening processes and keep criminals from entering the U.S. "We changed that approach on day one of the Trump administration. Under President Trump, we are building more protective measures that ensure fraud, deception, and threats do not breach the integrity of our immigration system," USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow wrote Friday in a press release announcing a new screening center headquartered in Atlanta.

CNN [12/8/2025 8:30 PM, Jennifer Hansler, 606K] reports the Trump administration has revoked 85,000 visas of all categories since January, more than double the number pulled last year, according to a State Department official. The high number of revocations, which includes more than 8,000 student visas, come amid a broader push by the Trump administration to both target immigrants within the United States and limit who can come to the country. The department official said Monday that offenses like driving under the influence, assaults, and theft accounted for "almost half of the revocations in the past year." They did not detail the reasons for the other half of the visa revocations this year, however, the department has previously also pointed to visa expirations and "support for terrorism" in justifying pulling visas. The revocations have raised some First Amendment concerns, as administration officials have particularly targeted international students active in protests against the war in Gaza, accusing those students of antisemitism and of supporting terrorism, and the State Department said in October it had revoked some visas from those who allegedly "celebrated" Charlie Kirk’s murder. The latest numbers come after a State Department official said in August that the agency planned to implement a policy of "continuous vetting" of "all of the more than 55 million foreigners" who held valid US visas. "The State Department revokes visas any time there are indications of a potential ineligibility, which includes things like any indicators of overstays, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity, or providing support to a terrorist organization," that official said at the time. "We review all available information as part of our vetting, including law enforcement or immigration records or any other information that comes to light after visa issuance indicating a potential ineligibility," they said. Under President Donald Trump’s second term, the State Department significantly broadened the criteria under which visa applicants can be scrutinized or denied a visa. The State Department, under the terms outlined in a diplomatic cable last week, can deny visas to those who worked on things like content moderation and fact-checking as part of an "enhanced vetting" of H1-B visas for highly skilled workers, according to Reuters. It comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May announced a policy to restrict visas from foreign nationals who "censor" Americans. In June, the State Department told its embassies and consulates they must vet student visa applicants for "hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles." Under the new guidance, applicants are asked to set their social media profiles to public as part of the vetting, and a diplomatic cable noted that "limited access to, or visibility of, online presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity.”

FOX News [12/8/2025 11:16 AM, Efrat Lachter, 40621K] Video: HERE reports the Trump administration has reportedly ordered U.S. consular officers to apply heightened scrutiny to H-1B visa applicants and reject anyone found to have participated in "censorship or attempted censorship" of protected speech in the United States, according to an internal State Department cable. Reuters reported that the directive, sent to all U.S. missions on Dec. 2, instructs consular officers to review resumes, LinkedIn profiles and any publicly available information to determine whether an applicant — or family members traveling with them — previously worked in areas including misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance or online safety. According to the cable cited by Reuters, officers should "pursue a finding that the applicant is ineligible" if they uncover evidence the individual was "responsible for, or complicit in, censorship or attempted censorship of protected expression in the United States." While the directive applies to all visa categories, the cable calls for special scrutiny of H-1B applicants because they "frequently work in the technology sector, including in social media or financial services companies involved in the suppression of protected expression." The vetting requirements apply to both new and repeat applicants. Reuters also reported that the cable, not previously disclosed, instructs consular officers: "You must thoroughly explore their employment histories to ensure no participation in such activities.”

Washington Examiner [12/9/2025 4:28 AM, Staff, 1394K] reports the Department of Justice took action to revoke the citizenship of a court-martialed former Marine for previous alleged sexual misconduct involving a minor. Nicholas Eshun, originally from Ghana, immigrated to the United States in 2011 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He became a citizen of the country in 2013 through the use of a provision that expedited U.S. naturalization process for those who enlisted in the military, according to the DOJ. While on a deployment two years later, Eshun was busted for exchanging inappropriate and “lewd” messages with “someone whom he believed to be a fourteen-year-old girl” and “attempting to sexually abuse her.” “As alleged, this defendant betrayed the uniform, abused the trust of this nation, and targeted [someone] who he believed was a child,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Under strong leadership, this Department is using every lawful tool to protect the American people and to ensure that citizenship is not a shield for criminals who never deserved it in the first place.” The minor Eshun believed he was texting was, instead, an undercover Naval Criminal Investigative Service officer. He was court-martialed and convicted for his crimes, according to the DOJ. In May 2016, he was dishonorably discharged from the USMC.

Washington Post [12/8/2025 5:00 AM, David Ovalle, 24149K] reports the overworked kidney doctors in this small town were supposed to get reinforcement this fall with the arrival of a new colleague from India. Patients already had appointments scheduled with the incoming nephrologist. Then the Trump administration demanded that companies pay a $100,000 visa fee to bring highly skilled workers from abroad, including doctors and medical professionals urgently needed in health care deserts. Nephrology Associates of the Carolinas could no longer afford to sponsor the Indian kidney specialist, and it has not found an American well suited for the job. After President Donald Trump signed the executive order restricting H-1B visas in September, soaring costs are roiling rural health care facilities that have long struggled to find staff. The fee increase for visa applicants, coupled with broader crackdowns on legal pathways for foreign-born workers, threatens a growing industry and jeopardizes patients who need timely care, according to labor experts and immigration lawyers. In Shelby, about an hour’s drive west of Charlotte, the three kidney doctors came from abroad, two working on H-1B visas. But retaining talent in a rural region can be hard: Another H-1B doctor decamped to Los Angeles last summer, increasing the others’ workload. José Mena, who came to the practice from Ecuador on an H-1B visa, hopes to stay long-term in Shelby with his wife and young daughter. But Mena, 35, said he is taxed by frequent week-long on-call rotations, which involve phone consultations and hospital visits throughout the night, depriving him of family time. The new nephrologist, Vijaya Chelikani, 30, remains with her parents in Hyderabad, India, while the practice awaits a response to its request for the Trump administration to waive the fee under a vague “national interest” exemption. In a statement, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said the visa fee discourages companies “from spamming the system and driving down wages” and gives certainty to those who want to “bring high-skilled workers into our great country but have been trampled on by abuses of the system.”

Federalist [12/8/2025 2:56 PM, Brianna Lyman, 785K] reports that on Friday the Supreme Court agreed to review a case that could finally force a long, overdue reckoning with how the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause has been interpreted for more than a century. The case arises from leftist challenges to President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship. Democrats have responded to the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case as expected. "For more than 150 years, our Constitution has spoken plainly: everyone born on American soil has an equal claim to the rights of citizenship from their first breath," Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi posted. New York Attorney General Letitia James posted: "Birthright citizenship is a fundamental right of our Constitution, and it’s under attack by the Trump administration." Former California Rep. Katie Porter said: "Birthright citizenship is literally written into the Constitution. There is no debate to be had: if you are born here, you are a citizen." But "birthright citizenship" is not "literally written into the Constitution," and the framers of the amendment would likely be aghast to see how their work has been exploited by the left to facilitate and legitimize a mass invasion.

Washington Examiner [12/8/2025 12:08 PM, Paul Bedard, 1394K] reports the Trump administration is proposing to close the door left wide open by former President Joe Biden to migrants who can’t take care of themselves without going on U.S. taxpayer-funded government assistance programs. In a rule change meant to echo 140 years of federal law before the Biden administration’s open border policies, the Trump administration would more strictly require that migrants seeking green cards show that they can live here without soaking up programs set aside for America’s poor. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that the proposed change, now out for public comment, could result in federal budget savings of $8.97 billion annually and up to $76.48 billion over 10 years. The Trump plan would track an 1882 law that excluded from entry "any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge." While "public charge" wasn’t specifically defined, immigration officials were given general guidelines on what to look for when evaluating whether a migrant would require welfare and thus be banned from entry. According to an analysis from the Center for Immigration Reform, President Donald Trump, in his first administration, sought to define "public charge," but the courts rejected it. Biden, in 2022, followed up by ordering immigration officials to ignore some benefits migrants get when evaluating their applications to live in the country. Biden lowered the bar by changing the language to "likely at any time to become a public charge." That change led to the green-lighting of many more poor and undereducated immigrants being let into the United States or allowed to stay.

Telemundo [12/8/2025 6:44 PM, Staff, 2218K] reports several immigrants who were ready to take the oath of citizenship this week at Boston’s Faneuil Hall were told they could not continue because of their home country. The same situation is being repeated across the country. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has instructed its employees to halt immigration proceedings for people from 19 countries considered high-risk, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Somalia. The naturalization ceremony is the last step to becoming a U.S. citizen, a process that takes years to complete. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu expressed outrage over the weekend. “It is despicable and deeply painful to see how this happens across the country, but to feel it in the cradle of freedom, in Boston, in Faneuil Hall, a place that represents the foundations of this country and the values that have made our nation what we are,” Wu said. Several people said they received cancellation notifications via an online portal, but notifications did not provide further information. USCIS has stated that this pause is part of an effort to strengthen its screening processes and prevent criminals from entering the United States.

USA Today [12/8/2025 5:04 AM, Staff, 67103K] reports Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno’s attention-grabbing stunt to eliminate dual citizenship in the United States is unimaginative, jingoistic nonsense that seeks to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. For that reason, I hesitated to give this small-minded schmuck’s vindictive idea any air. I’d rather we focus just a bit longer on his newfound senatorial moniker as "creepy" for obtaining the vehicle identification numbers of his Democratic colleagues. Besides, the Supreme Court already settled the dual citizenship matter in 1952’s Kawakita v. United States, stating that "the concept of dual citizenship recognizes that a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both." Clear enough language, even for Sen. Moreno. Alas, headlines have already popped up across the country. So now that it’s out there, it’s important to call this bill out for the criminal waste of ink that it is.

San Diego Union Tribune [12/8/2025 8:17 PM, Alexandra Mendoza, 1538K] reports a Ukrainian woman was arrested by federal immigration agents last week while attending her scheduled green card interview at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building in downtown San Diego, an occurrence that immigration attorneys say is becoming increasingly common. Viktoriia Bulavina first entered the country in 2022 through a Biden-era humanitarian parole program for Ukrainians displaced by the war. Her daughter was participating in a gymnastics competition in the U.S. when the war started, and they were later reunited through the Uniting for Ukraine program. As of Sept. 30, 2023, more than 158,000 people arrived in the United States as part of that process, according to the Department of Homeland Security. She later met her husband, Victor Korol, who is a U.S. citizen, in San Diego. On Thursday, they went to what was supposed to be their final marriage-based green card appointment. Near the end of the interview, she was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in front of her husband. Though the couple had heard on the news that some people had been detained at their appointments, Korol said they had hoped that wouldn’t happen to them. "We were worried about that," he said. "We give it a thought that she has a good status. And you can’t really not go to the interview if you want to get the green card.” A USCIS official referred questions to ICE. Neither ICE nor DHS responded to inquiries Monday. Bulavina’s application for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, was approved in June 2024 and was set to expire in April 2025, according to her lawyer. However, the secretary of Homeland Security announced an 18-month extension for Ukrainians who re-registered in the program, lasting through October 2026. In January, months before her status was set to expire, she applied to renew it, along with her work authorization, within the USCIS-required timeframe. Under federal regulations, her status continues while her renewal is pending, which means she is in a period of authorized stay, her lawyer said. The couple married in November 2024, and in late March, she and her husband petitioned for a green card for her. Then last week, what should have been a routine appointment ended with her being taken away in handcuffs. "This is basically a widespread daily occurrence in San Diego right now," said her attorney, Caroline Matthews, with Pathway to Citizenship San Diego, a local nonprofit organization that provides affordable and pro bono legal services to immigrant families. "The violation of people’s basic right to liberty, due process rights, to be on notice of why you’re being put into an arrest situation, a detention situation, and a removal proceeding," she added. Since mid-November, a number of immigration attorneys in San Diego have reported that their clients were arrested during green card interviews. "Our communities deserve better," Michelle Celleri, legal rights director with the organization Alliance San Diego, said at a silent vigil held by immigration advocates outside the USCIS building last month. "They have done everything that has been asked of them, and that is how they made it to the very last stage of their process. This is unacceptable.”

Washington Examiner [12/9/2025 5:00 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K] reports management within Border Patrol may soon receive a long-overdue pay raise, following the border crisis that gripped the country for much of the Biden administration. New legislation put forward by Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) would give Border Patrol’s thousands of supervisory agents the ability to receive time-and-a-half pay when they work overtime, something they were ineligible for. The Border Patrol Supervisors Retention Act would require overtime pay for an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 agents in management roles. “Border Patrol supervisors are among the hardest-working federal employees in the service, yet they aren’t afforded the same enhanced overtime pay that has been authorized for other agents,” Gonzales said in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner on Monday. “At a time when we need to retain as much talent as we can, my bill makes it possible for Border Patrol supervisors at the GS-13 level and above to have more pay equity with their peers.”

The Daily Caller [12/8/2025 11:58 AM, Jason Hopkins, 835K] reports President Joe Biden reportedly ignored early warnings from advisors that his immigration platform could create a border crisis and dragged his feet on solutions as crossings reached historical levels. Before Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, experts were already cautioning his transition team that his immigration positions would likely stir chaos at the Mexico border, according to administration insiders who spoke to the New York Times. Biden and his team rebuffed these warnings, concerned they would lose Latino support and underestimating how much Americans would care about the issue. "A potential surge could create chaos and a humanitarian crisis, overwhelm processing capacities, and imperil the agenda of the new administration," read a memo created by several aides before the 2020 presidential election, which was obtained by the NYT. That memo proved prophetic after Biden immediately got to work on dismantling the border enforcement apparatus established by the first Trump administration and overseeing the largest spike in illegal immigration. Biden undertook a total of 296 executive actions on immigration in the first year of his presidency, according to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute. Of these executive actions, 89 reversed or began the process of reversing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. The Democrat scrubbed major initiatives undertaken by the first Trump administration, such as ending border wall construction, the shutdown of the Remain in Mexico program and ending the COVID-era Title 42 health order that quickly expelled migrants. Those actions quickly paved the way for a flood of illegal migrants descending into the country. FOX News [12/8/2025 8:29 AM, Hanna Panreck, 40621K] reports that the memo cautioned that Biden’s promises, along with the pandemic and demand from Trump’s first term would cause a spike in crossings. The advisers gave the president some options, according to the Times, including one that would have made it easier to reject asylum claims quickly, holding migrants in "reception centers" and requiring some to wait in Mexico. A representative for former President Biden did not immediately return a request for comment to Fox News Digital. Biden’s quick action upon entering office included a 100-day pause on deportations, halting the construction of the border wall, suspending President Donald Trump’s "Remain in Mexico" policy and limiting the categories of illegal immigrants that could be arrested. New York Times reported that Biden’s team shared disagreements on how quickly the president pushed these immigration actions. Breitbart [12/8/2025 11:11 AM, Lowell Cauffiel, 2416K] reports that "A potential surge could create chaos and a humanitarian crisis, overwhelm processing capacities, and imperil the agenda of the new administration," the advisers wrote, according to a copy of the August, 2020 memo viewed by the Times. But Biden and his closest confidants ignored the warning. According to the Times: Former Biden administration officials told The Times that Mr. Biden and his circle of close confidants — including Ron Klain, who was chief of staff during the president’s first two years, Mike Donilon, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon and Anita Dunn — made two crucial errors. First, they underestimated the scale of migration that was coming. Second, they failed to appreciate the political reaction to that migration — believing that stronger enforcement would alienate Latino and progressive voters, and also that a border surge would not be an important issue to most voters. Those calculations would later prove to be mistaken, with many voters, including Latinos, citing immigration as a reason for supporting Mr. Trump in 2024.

FOX News [12/8/2025 7:22 AM, Anders Hagstrom, 40621K] reports jurors who deliberated on the case of a man who threw a sub sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in Washington, D.C., said the courtroom was often filled with giggles as witnesses testified and lawyers bantered. One juror told CBS News that many in the packed courtroom struggled to keep a "straight face" during the proceedings. The accused, Sean Dunn, was ultimately acquitted on his misdemeanor charge of simple assault. "I mean," the juror said, "it was a thrown sandwich." "I thought we’d be out of there quickly. This case had no ‘grounding.’ He threw a sandwich at the agent because he knew it wouldn’t hurt," another juror said. "A reasonable person wouldn’t think a sandwich is a weapon." "It seemed to me like an open and closed type of thing," a third juror told the outlet. "It was kind of ridiculous." "We asked each other: If we only look at this case, can someone really do harm to someone wearing a ballistic vest by throwing a sandwich?"

Washington Examiner [12/9/2025 4:00 AM, Robert Schmad, 1394K] reports in June, President Donald Trump’s effort to reduce the number of Chinese vapes entering the United States appeared to be progressing well. Chinese export data showed that in April, the month Trump’s pick for Food and Drug Administration commissioner took over the agency, China exported roughly 7.8 million kilograms worth of vapes and electronic cigarettes to the U.S. By May, that figure had declined to 4.7 million kilograms, falling further to just 2.2 million kilograms in June. Then, just as FDA Commissioner Martin Makary was announcing the details of an initiative designed to further stem the flow of Chinese vapes, the country’s trade authorities recorded a spike in exports to the U.S. In July, China reported exporting 5.9 million kilograms of vapes to the U.S. That figure continued to rise month-over-month until October, the most recent point for which data is available, when it reached one of its highest levels ever at 14.8 million kilograms in vape exports to America. Chinese-manufactured vapes and e-cigarettes have attracted the ire of lawmakers and activists owing to their popularity among minors, spurring concerns that they are contributing to nicotine addiction and other health complications, such as cancer and lung disease. To address these fears, former President Joe Biden’s FDA issued floods of warnings and lawsuits to retailers regarding the sale of vapes not explicitly approved by the agency, which included virtually all flavored e-cigarettes manufactured in China. “CBP is continuously strengthening enforcement against illegal imports of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS),” a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection told the Washington Examiner.

Washington Post [12/8/2025 6:46 PM, Dylan Wells, Brianna Tucker and Aaron Schaffer, 24149K] reports Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) berated airport police and Transportation Security Administration officers with profanity and demeaning insults during a chaotic airport encounter in October, leaving airport employees “visibly upset,” according to an internal investigation by the Charleston Airport Police Department. The Nov. 12 investigation report, transcripts of interviews with officers and officials, and video related to their encounters were obtained by The Washington Post on Monday through a public records request. They offer more details from the Oct. 30 confrontation, which was initially disclosed in a police incident report. Mace made national headlines over the October eruption at her home district’s airport when she was said to lose her temper after a misunderstanding during her drop-off led to a delay in her meeting with an official escort. Mace was traveling to Chicago. Members of Congress are routinely escorted through airport security, but the process does not normally result in testy exchanges. Mace has said she will not walk through airports without an escort because of security threats. A delay in finding her police escort led to the heated reaction. A police supervisor incorrectly said she would be arriving in a white BMW when she in fact arrived in a silver BMW. The airport holds “a certain level of responsibility” for a “minor miscommunication” about the color of the vehicle that Mace would arrive in, airport police chief James A. Woods wrote in the new report. But Mace’s “continued failure to follow established procedures at the checkpoint” escalated the situation into “a spectacle” and negatively affected airport staff, the report concluded. The investigation, which included several interviews with TSA staff and police officers, found Mace told officers “I’m sick of your s---,” said that they were “f---ing idiots” and “f---ing incompetent” and yelled in front of TSA officers and police using similar expletives as she proclaimed that she is a “f---ing representative.” One airport employee described Mace’s tone as “very nasty, very rude” and described her behavior as “very unbecoming if she’s representing us” as a member of Congress. Others who were involved or directly witnessed the incident described the employee as “visibly upset” after the interaction and others as “downtrodden” by the encounter. Mace’s office called the report “a full exoneration” and said they “look forward to remaining fully focused on the issues that actually matter to South Carolinians: affordability and law and order.” Mace is running for governor of the state.

New York Times [12/8/2025 5:03 AM, Christine Chung, 153395K] reports imagine you’re preparing to board an international flight at a U.S. airport. Instead of juggling your belongings as you pull out your passport for the gate agent, you barely break your stride as you head onto the jetway. The agent reviews your identity on a computer screen. This swift identity-confirmation process, powered by facial recognition, could someday be coming to airports across America. But travelers will see it first at Orlando International Airport, which will test new biometric technology for select international departures next month. Passengers leaving the United States from Orlando could encounter one of three 90-day pilot programs, including a “contactless corridor,” a subtly defined zone with several mounted cameras that can simultaneously process several people in motion. The corridor is a collaboration among three biometric technology companies — Paravision, AiFi and Embross — and pairs cameras and artificial intelligence with facial-recognition and movement-tracking software. “Our goal is that you don’t have to tell travelers to do anything specific at all,” Joey Pritikin, Paravision’s chief product officer, said during a recent demonstration of the product at the airport’s innovation lab. “The idea is to make the technology disappear,” he added. “We know exactly who is where, when.”

Axios [12/8/2025 6:18 AM, Karri Peifer, 12972K] reports the Capital Region Airport Commission recently shared renderings of the consolidated checkpoint in the works at the Richmond airport. The new screening area will transform RIC and somehow make its already speedy TSA process even faster. Plans call for the airport to combine its four-lane A and B checkpoints into a single 10-lane station with room for up to 14, BizSense reports. The security point will move to the front of the terminal, just past ticketing. All that extra room in the back means more space for food or retail options, other than Applebee’s and Hudson News. Plus, the consolidated checkpoint is a critical step toward more international flights out of Richmond, Axios reported last year.

MeriTalk [12/8/2025 10:07 AM, John Curran, 22K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) – along with Australian and other international government partners – released on Dec. 3 a new guide for the secure integration of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into operational technologies (OT). The guide “provides four key principles that will help critical infrastructure OT owners and operators mitigate unique risks and achieve a balanced integration of AI into OT environments,” CISA said. “This joint guide focuses on machine learning – and large language model-based AI, and AI agents,” CISA said in a press release. “However, this guidance may also be applied to systems augmented with traditional statistical modeling and other logic-based automation.” CISA Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala said, “OT systems are the backbone of our nation’s critical infrastructure, and integrating AI into these environments demands a thoughtful, risk-informed approach. This guidance equips organizations with actionable principles that AI adoption strengthens – not compromises–the safety, security, and reliability of essential services.”? Nick Andersen, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, added, “The integration of AI into critical infrastructure brings both opportunity and risk.” “While AI can enhance the performance of OT systems that power vital public services, it also introduces new avenues for adversarial threats,” he continued.

HS Today [12/8/2025 12:05 PM, Staff, 38K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) launched a new Industry Engagement Platform (IEP) designed to facilitate structured, two-way communication between the agency and companies developing innovative and security technologies. The IEP enables CISA to better understand emerging solutions across the technology ecosystem while giving industry a clear, transparent pathway to engage with the agency. “With the launch of this new platform, we’re opening the door wider to innovation—giving industry a direct line to share the tools and technologies that can help CISA stay ahead of evolving threats,” said CISA Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala. “The private sector drives innovation and this collaboration is essential to our national resilience.”

FOX News [12/8/2025 8:00 AM, Julia Bonavita, 40621K] reports a new wave of organized crime maneuvers is taking aim at Americans’ holiday shopping purchases – and their wallets. Hackers leveraging malware systems and other cybercriminal tools are infiltrating online freight marketplaces to make off with high-value cargo while items are in transit. "I think the criminals have identified that the weak point between point A and point B is in transportation, right?" Michael Evanoff, chief security officer and strategic advisor for AI-security company Verkada, told Fox News Digital. "So instead of putting yourself in harm’s way by going to a depot or a distribution center, why not capture it in transit?". Since 2020, both freight companies and law enforcement have seen an alarming uptick in criminal groups utilizing remote, online methods to hijack cargo deliveries and make off with valuable loot.

Breitbart [12/8/2025 12:57 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports that President Donald Trump said Monday he will attempt to strip states of the right to regulate the surging AI industry, arguing centralized rulemaking is vital to maintain US dominance. "There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI," he posted on his Truth Social platform, announcing an executive order that would seek to prevent state-level regulation. Trump has made a major play to position the United States at the head of the global race to build and control AI tools predicted to transform everything from the way the economy works to military technology. However, the White House is running up against deep skepticism in Congress and within his own MAGA movement, where many voices are wary of the technology’s potential economic and social harms. They point to polls that show increasing concern about AI, especially among young people who are nervous about getting or keeping a job. Figures within his own MAGA movement, such as strategy guru Steve Bannon, complain of Trump’s closer ties to Big Tech that put the president out of touch with his political base. The announcement that he will sign an executive order centralizing AI regulation comes after Congress has twice refused to vote for allowing the overriding of state-level laws on AI. The order is likely to stir more political opposition and legal challenges even if no details are yet known about what it would say.

CyberScoop [12/8/2025 5:30 PM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports the State Department is seeking help to locate a pair of hackers allegedly working for Shahid Shushtari, a malicious cyber unit operating under Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber-Electronic Command. Officials are offering a reward up to $10 million for information about Mohammad Bagher Shirinkar and Fatemeh Sedighian Kashi. “Help us take the smile off their faces,” the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program posted in a bulletin about the reward on social media last week. Shahid Shushtari has targeted multiple critical infrastructure operations, causing financial damage and disruption to businesses and government agencies spanning the news, shipping, travel, energy, financial and telecom sectors in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, officials said. The pair are accused of maintaining a close relationship planning and conducting cyberattacks of interest to the Iranian government. “Shahid Shushtari is the latest name for Emennet Pasargad which has undergone several front company renames over the last few years,” said Josh Atkins, tech leader of Middle East threat operations at Google Threat Intelligence Group, which tracks the group as UNC5866. The unit, which is allegedly overseen by Shirinkar, was also previously known as Aria Sepehr Ayandehsazan, Ayandeh Sazan Sepehr Arya, Eeleyanet Gostar and Net Peygard Samavat Co.

CyberScoop [12/8/2025 1:30 PM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports ransomware is on the decline, according to a study the Treasury Department released Thursday, pointing to fewer attacks and payments following an all-time spike in activity in 2023. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) report on ransomware trends concluded more positive development in payments — the critical and most visible layer of attacks that have fueled the rise of these financially-motivated crimes for years. Total payments slid 33% from about $1.1 billion in 2023 to $734 million last year, federal researchers found. Cybercrime experts and authorities have consistently pointed to payments as the most important measure of ransomware activity, asserting that cutting off the main driver of these crimes provides the best chance for creating a lasting deterrence of future attacks. Dwindling ransomware payments from 2023 to 2024 is a positive sign, but it’s too early to celebrate the shift as an enduring decline. Payments previously jumped 77% year-over-year in 2023 and total ransomware payments during the three-year period ending in December 2024 topped $2.1 billion. The three-year payments total is just slightly below the $2.4 billion in ransomware payments FinCEN attributed to the previous nine-year period ending in 2021.

Blaze [12/8/2025 6:30 PM, Staff, 1442K] reports almost five years after the pipe bombs were found on January 6, the alleged pipe bomber has been caught. "We’re learning a lot more, a lot more," BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments. "And the more we learn, the more it stinks.” The suspect is 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr., who lived in Woodbridge, Virginia, with his mother — and is described as a loner who had anarchist leanings and worked for his father’s bail-bond company. "This isn’t just any bail-bonds company, OK? This is a company that has worked to free illegal immigrants from ICE facilities. So, this is a bail-bonds company with an agenda. And it happens to be a radical, liberal, leftist agenda because we also find out the family company also sued President Trump and DHS over illegal immigration and asked Biden — the Biden DOJ — to address racism," Gonzales explains. "They hired Black Lives Matter and George Floyd’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump, to address racism. ... So, this family that this man worked for, family company, had a whole hell of a lot of social justice activism as it turns out," she continues, joking, "I’m sure it’s nothing.” And according to FBI Director Kash Patel, none of the evidence now coming to light is new. Rather, it was hidden. "The prior administration sat on the evidence for four years. There wasn’t any production of new evidence from five years ago. Here’s what we did. We went out to the country, brought in our experts, and Deputy Director Bongino led the charge and said, ‘We are going to look at every single piece of evidence again,’" Patel said in a segment on Fox News. "We looked at 3 million lines of evidence. We went back and looked at the cellphone tower data dumps. We went back and looked at the providers and what information they provided pursuant to search warrants at the time and asked questions such as, ‘Why weren’t all the phone numbers scrubbed, and why weren’t they connected, and why wasn’t there any geolocational data done?’ Now, that is either sheer incompetence or complete intentional negligence, and neither of which is acceptable for this FBI," Patel added.

Axios [12/8/2025 11:53 PM, Rebecca Falconer, 12972K] reports Florida has designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist organizations, "EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY," Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced Monday evening — prompting CAIR to vow it’ll sue his administration. CAIR, the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the U.S., has already filed a lawsuit against Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last month designated the two groups as foreign terrorist organizations. Neither group features on the U.S. government’s list of designated foreign terrorist organizations. "Florida agencies are hereby directed to undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support," DeSantis said in a post that shared the order on the governor’s social media accounts. Separately, DeSantis wrote on his personal X account that members of the Forida Legislature "are crafting legislation to stop the creep of sharia law, and I hope that they codify these protections for Floridians against CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood in their legislation." DeSantis’ order says CAIR was "founded by persons connected to the Muslim Brotherhood," which the order connects to Hamas and the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. CAIR denies ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, a loose-knit transnational Sunni Islamist movement with international chapters across multiple Arab nations that was founded in Egypt. The grassroots organization that was founded in 1994 has said that it "unequivocally" condemns all acts of terrorism, including by Hamas. CAIR in a statement accused DeSantis of signing a "defamatory and unconstitutional order baselessly smearing" the group and prioritizing "serving the Israeli government over serving the people of Florida." It noted that DeSantis held his "first official cabinet meeting in Israel" and a bonds deal with Israel’s government.

Washington Examiner [12/9/2025 2:44 AM, Staff, 1394K] reports the Trump administration is set to hold a private meeting with congressional leaders known as the "Gang of Eight.” The briefing comes at a crucial time in President Donald Trump’s first year, just days after the administration released its national security strategy, and as geopolitical tensions escalate between the United States and Venezuela. The "Gang of Eight" refers to the majority and minority leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Speaker of the House and the House Minority leader, and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine will discuss a variety of topics with the lawmakers, according to ABC News. Included in the classified briefings are expected discussions about U.S. military strikes on suspected drug cartels in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and potential operations against Venezuela and the regime of its president, Nicolas Maduro, according to various reports. Furthermore, the meeting comes as the Trump administration is mired in the so-called "double-tap" controversy stemming from Sept. 2 military strikes against a suspected drug-trafficking boat from Venezuela. Additionally, on Tuesday, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, is expected to separately meet with Admiral Alvin Holsey, according to ABC News. Halsey was previously the commander of the U.S. Southern Command, starting his position in November 2024, before unexpectedly announcing his resignation in October 2025 due to reported policy disagreements with Hegseth, less than a year in the position. Typically, commanders of Southern Command serve a three-year term. Holsey had served in the Navy since 1988.

FOX News [12/8/2025 11:41 AM, Morgan Phillips Fox, 40621K] reports congress is moving to limit the Pentagon’s ability to pull forces out of Europe and South Korea, easing concerns among allied governments. The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, finalized by House and Senate negotiators and released Sunday evening, keeps force presence at roughly its current levels in both regions. It states that the U.S. cannot reduce its forces in Europe below 76,000 without submitting an assessment and certifying to Congress that such a move would not harm U.S. or NATO security interests. The bill places restraints on reductions below 28,500 in South Korea. Any drawdown would require the Pentagon to assure Congress that deterrence against North Korea would not be weakened, confirm that allies were consulted, and provide both a national security justification and an assessment of regional impact. The legislation also requires the U.S. to retain the position of Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), NATO’s top military post, codifying into statute a role traditionally held by an American general.

Free Beacon [12/8/2025 5:00 AM, Jessica Costescu, 411K] reports a string of national security breaches at the University of Michigan was linked to the school’s research partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, an elite Chinese engineering institution with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. More than two dozen major U.S. universities hold similar connections to Shanghai Jiao Tong, creating vulnerabilities that Beijing may be gearing up to exploit, national security experts and China hawks told the Washington Free Beacon. Since October 2024, the Department of Justice has charged at least 12 University of Michigan students, researchers, and recent graduates—all Chinese nationals—with national security-related offenses, a scale far outpacing any other U.S. school. Five of them were accused of taking photographs of military drills at Camp Grayling. They all belonged to an engineering partnership between Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong, which House Select Committee on China chair Rep. John Moolenaar (R., Mich.) said "was helping the CCP modernize its military" and allegedly sits on a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) base. Michigan, under pressure from Moolenaar, went on to end its 20-year partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong in January. But other top U.S. universities maintain ties to the Chinese school.

The AP [12/8/2025 2:28 PM, Jill Lawless and Illia Novikov, 31753K] reports President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met British, French and German leaders in London on Monday in a show of European support for Ukraine at what they called a “critical moment” in the U.S.-led effort to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Prime Minister Keir Starmer held talks with Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence to try to strengthen Ukraine’s hand amid mounting impatience from U.S. President Donald Trump. After the meeting, Starmer, Zelenskyy and the other leaders called Kyiv’s European allies, urging them to keep up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war,” Starmer’s office said in a statement. “This is the furthest we’ve got in four years, and we welcome the fact that these talks are continuing at every level,” said Starmer’s spokesman, Tom Wells. He added that “intensive work” will continue in the days ahead, although “there are still outstanding issues.” Macron’s office said the session allowed the leaders “to continue joint work on the U.S. plan in order to complement it with European contributions, in close coordination with Ukraine.” CBS News [12/8/2025 11:35 AM, Duarte Dias and Ramy Inocencio, 39474K] reports that, speaking Sunday evening to reporters on the red carpet before the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, Mr. Trump said he was disappointed in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s response to the plan to end the nearly-four-year Russian invasion, while claiming Russia had backed the proposal. "I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago," Mr. Trump said, adding: "His people love it. But he hasn’t — Russia’s fine with it. Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it." Zelenskyy has not made any public comments about Mr. Trump’s remarks. C

AP [12/8/2025 6:45 PM, Staff, 31753K] Video: HERE reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s residence in Brussels on Monday to discuss efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also joined the meeting.

Bloomberg [12/8/2025 1:56 PM, Daryna Krasnolutska and Kudrytski, 18207K] reports that Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies agreed to continue working on security guarantees for Kyiv following discussions in London, suggesting the talks failed to deliver a breakthrough paving the way to a peace settlement with Russia that Ukraine can accept. European leaders “aligned a shared position on the importance of security guarantees and reconstruction, and agreed on the next steps,” Zelenskiy said on X after meeting for talks in London with his British, French and German counterparts. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said in a separate statement that “the leaders underscored the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, which includes robust security guarantees.” The London meeting took place against a backdrop of concern in European governments that a US-brokered peace initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine risked making too many concessions to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “What is crucial today is unity between Europe and Ukraine, as well as unity between Europe, Ukraine, and the United States,” Zelenskiy said. Control over eastern regions of the war-ravaged country as well as security guarantees from allies are among a number of “sensitive issues” that require further discussions, Zelenskiy told Bloomberg News Monday before heading to London.

Reuters [12/8/2025 8:26 PM, Stephen Nellis, Karen Freifeld and Michael Martina, 42219K] reports the United States will allow Nvidia’s (NVDA.O), H200 processors, its second-best artificial intelligence chips, to be exported to China and collect a 25% fee on such sales, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday. The decision appears to settle a U.S. debate about whether Nvidia and rivals should maintain their global lead in AI chips by selling to China or withhold the exports, though Beijing has told companies not to use U.S. technology, leaving it unclear whether Trump’s decision would lead to new sales. Nvidia (NVDA.O), shares rose 2% in after-hours trading after Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, following a 3% rise during the day on a report by Semafor. Trump said in his post that he had informed President Xi Jinping of China, where Nvidia’s chips are under government scrutiny, about the move and that he "responded positively." He said the U.S. Commerce Department was finalizing details of the arrangement and the same approach would apply to other AI chip firms such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O),and Intel (INTC.O). The AP [12/8/2025 8:21 PM, Josh Boak, 2416K] reports "This policy will support American Jobs, strengthen U.S. Manufacturing, and benefit American Taxpayers," Trump said in his post. Nvidia said in a statement that it applauded Trump’s decision, saying the choice would support domestic manufacturing and that by allowing the Commerce Department to vet commercial customers it would "strike a thoughtful balance" on economic and national security priorities.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [12/8/2025 9:35 PM, Amrith Ramkumar and Robbie Whelan, 646K]
Washington Examiner [12/8/2025 10:16 PM, Brady Knox, 1394K]

Daily Caller [12/8/2025 6:28 PM, Mariane Angela, 835K] reports President Donald Trump announced Monday that his administration will allow U.S. chipmaker NVIDIA to ship its advanced H200 artificial intelligence processors to approved buyers in China and other countries. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he personally informed Chinese President Xi Jinping of the decision, adding that Xi reacted positively. Under the arrangement, Trump said a 25% payment will go to the United States, which he argued will benefit taxpayers while supporting domestic jobs and manufacturing. "I have informed President Xi, of China, that the United States will allow NVIDIA to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China, and other Countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security," Trump wrote. "President Xi responded positively! $25% will be paid to the United States of America. This policy will support American Jobs, strengthen U.S. Manufacturing, and benefit American Taxpayers.” Trump added that the Biden administration forced major U.S. tech firms to spend billions developing so-called degraded chips to comply with export restrictions. "The Biden Administration forced our Great Companies to spend BILLIONS OF DOLLARS building ‘degraded’ products that nobody wanted, a terrible idea that slowed Innovation, and hurt the American Worker," Trump continued. "That Era is OVER! We will protect National Security, create American Jobs, and keep America’s lead in AI. NVIDIA’s U.S. Customers are already moving forward with their incredible, highly advanced Blackwell chips, and soon, Rubin, neither of which are part of this deal. My Administration will always put America FIRST.” The Biden-Harris administration in December 2024 imposed new restrictions barring exports of certain advanced chips and semiconductor equipment to China, citing national security concerns. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said the rules aim to curb Beijing’s ability to produce semiconductors used in weapons systems, artificial intelligence, and advanced computing, adding 140 Chinese firms to a restricted trade list. Washington and Beijing have battled for years over dominance in cutting-edge semiconductor technology that powers modern computing. China escalated that push in August 2024 by announcing limits on antimony exports, a material vital to the manufacture of some weapons systems.

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