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

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

The New York Times [2/11/2025 5:51 PM, Luis Ferré-Sadurní, 161405K] reports the Trump administration said on Tuesday that it had fired four employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the agency’s chief financial officer, over their roles in disbursing federal funds to house migrants in New York City hotels. The firings capped a startling chain of events that began on Monday with an early-morning social media post by Elon Musk who claimed, misleadingly, that FEMA had recently sent $59 million meant for disaster relief to New York City to pay for “high end hotels” for migrants, and who called the expenditure unlawful. New York City officials raced to clarify that the federal money had been properly allocated by FEMA under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. last year, adding that it was not a disaster relief grant and had not been spent on luxury hotels. Nonetheless, just two hours after Mr. Musk’s post, FEMA’s acting director, Cameron Hamilton, announced that the payments in question “have all been suspended” — even though most of the money had already been disbursed — and that “personnel will be held accountable.” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, said that the four employees had been terminated “for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury N.Y.C. hotels for migrants.” Reuters [2/11/2025 11:36 AM, Brendan O’Brien, 48128K] reports President Donald Trump said on Tuesday in a Truth Social post that FEMA was under review and investigation, saying that the agency has spent tens of millions of dollars in Democratic areas, disobeyed orders and left North Carolina "high and dry." Parts of North Carolina and neighboring states were ravaged in September by Hurricane Helene, a storm that killed more than 200 people. FOX News [2/11/2025 10:57 AM, Greg Norman, 49889K] reports that the firings come after Elon Musk wrote on X Monday that "The DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants." "Firings include FEMA’s Chief Financial Officer, two program analysts and a grant specialist," the DHS also said. "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS will not sit idly and allow deep state activists to undermine the will and safety of the American people." Musk said in his message that the "money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!" and that "A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds." CNN [2/11/2025 4:14 PM, Priscilla Alvarez and Gloria Pazmino, 22417K] reports that the payments appear to stem from an existing program that was the target of Republican attacks during the 2024 presidential campaign. The Shelter and Services Program is administered by FEMA, in partnership with US Customs and Border Protection, to aid cities sheltering migrants. It is a separate pot of money unrelated to disaster relief. In fiscal year 2024, Congress appropriated $650 million for the program, according to the agency.

Reported similarly:
AP [2/11/2025 12:55 PM, Rebecca Santana, 47097K]
CBS Austin [2/11/2025 2:03 PM, Jackson Walker, 581K]
Newsweek [2/11/2025 5:03 PM, Natalie Venegas and Dan Gooding, 56005K]
Washington Examiner [2/11/2025 10:19 AM, Emily Hallas, 2365K]

FOX News [2/11/2025 11:31 AM, Julia Johnson, 49889K] reports that President Donald Trump’s newly sworn-in top Cabinet members are asking Congress to provide more resources to continue the administration’s full court press to secure the border and facilitate large-scale deportations. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi penned a letter to top appropriators in the House and Senate, pleading with them to designate more funds to the cause of securing the U.S. southern border. "The American people strongly support sealing our borders and returning to a lawful immigration system," Noem, Hegseth and Bondi told the lawmakers in the letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. "Even if the price of some of these measures may seem high, they are nothing when compared to the costs our country is facing in the long term of continuing the status quo," they explained. According to the Trump Cabinet officials, their departments need a variety of resources to continue securing the border at the current level.

AP [2/11/2025 11:02 AM, David Crary, 581K] reports more than two-dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans — ranging from the Episcopal Church and the Union for Reform Judaism to the Mennonites and Unitarian Universalists — filed a federal court lawsuit Tuesday challenging a Trump administration move giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, contends that the new policy is spreading fear of raids, thus lowering attendance at worship services and other valuable church programs. The result, says the suit, infringes on the groups’ religious freedom — namely their ability to minister to migrants, including those in the United States illegally. “We have immigrants, refugees, people who are documented and undocumented,” said the Most Rev. Sean Rowe, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. “We cannot worship freely if some of us are living in fear,” he told The Associated Press. “By joining this lawsuit, we’re seeking the ability to gather and fully practice our faith, to follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as ourselves.” The new lawsuit echoes and expands on some of the arguments made in a similar lawsuit filed Jan. 27 by five Quaker congregations and later joined by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh temple. It is currently pending in U.S. District Court in Maryland. Names as defendants in the new lawsuit are the Department of Homeland Security and its immigration enforcement agencies. The DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, offered this response via email: “We are protecting our schools, places of worship, and Americans who attend, by preventing criminal aliens and gang members from exploiting these locations and take safe haven there because these criminals knew that under the previous Administration that law enforcement couldn’t go inside.” “DHS’s directive gives our law enforcement the ability to do their jobs,” she added. A memorandum filed Friday by the Department of Justice, opposing the thrust of the Quaker lawsuit, outlined further arguments that may also apply to the new lawsuit. In essence, the memo contended that the plaintiffs’ request to block the new enforcement policy is based on speculation of hypothetical future harm — and thus is insufficient grounds for issuing an injunction. The memo said that immigration enforcement affecting houses of worship had been permitted for decades, and the new policy announced in January simply said that field agents — using “common sense” and “discretion” — could now conduct such operations without pre-approval from a supervisor. One part of that memo might not apply to the new lawsuit, as it argued the Quakers and their fellow plaintiffs have no basis for seeking a nationwide injunction against the revised enforcement policy. “Any relief in this case should be tailored solely to the named plaintiffs,” said the DOJ memo, contending that any injunction should not apply to other religious organizations.

Newsweek [2/11/2025 9:16 AM, Sean O’Driscoll, 56005K] reports President Donald Trump’s executive order to abolish automatic citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. has led to several major lawsuits that rely on cases that established birthright citizenship in U.S. law. If Trump succeeds, it could lead to deportation for illegal immigrants and their children, even those born in the U.S. Those who oppose Trump’s plan are relying on past precedents that could unravel his groundbreaking plan to tighten immigration into the U.S. Newsweek sought email comment from Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday. Possibly the most infamous case in Supreme Court history, Dred Scott established that slaves born in the U.S. were not citizens and could not rely on constitutional protections, even if they moved north with their owners. Scott was born in Virginia and was later sold to an army surgeon who took his slaves with him to northern non-slave states when he received a military posting there. Scott argued that he was not subject to slavery laws as he had moved out of slave state jurisdiction. The Supreme Court voted 7-2 against him, finding that slaves could never be citizens, even if they were born in the U.S. and even if they were living in non-slave states. After the civil war, Congress enacted the 14th amendment, which guaranteed citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. and who are "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," regardless of race, religion or social background. By far the most important case on immigration and birthright was Wong Kim Ark vs. the U.S. Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco in 1873, but was denied reentry to the U.S. after a trip abroad under the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese immigration. He challenged it at a federal level and in 1898 the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th amendment guaranteed citizenship to all children born in the U.S. Greg Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University in New York told Newsweek that Wong Kim Ark is "the only Supreme Court case to directly address the language in the 14th amendment.” He also noted that Wong’s parents, who were Chinese citizens, had previously been granted permanent resident status and were not illegal immigrants. "The Supreme Court held that Ark [Wong] was a citizen at birth, even though his parents were citizens of China," Germain said.

The Washington Post [2/11/2025 1:45 PM, David Ovalle and Maegan Vazquez, 40736K] reports that President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Terry Cole to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, elevating a longtime law enforcement official who spent more than two decades at the agency and now serves as Virginia’s top public safety official. The nomination came more than two months after Trump’s first selection, Florida sheriff Chad Chronister, announced his withdrawal amid withering criticism from conservative figures. The DEA’s main task is to handle complex investigations in the United States and abroad aimed at disrupting criminal organizations that traffic illegal drugs into the United States. If the Senate confirms him, Cole would be responsible for leading the effort to curb the enduring drug crisis fueled by fentanyl manufactured in Mexico with chemicals from China. Cole would replace Derek Maltz, a 28-year veteran of the DEA whom Trump picked to serve as acting administrator the day after Trump was sworn in as president. In a Truth Social post announcing Cole’s nomination, Trump described him as a “veteran” of the DEA “with tours in Colombia, Afghanistan, and Mexico City.” Cole currently serves as Virginia’s secretary of public safety and homeland security. The Washington Examiner [2/11/2025 1:38 PM, Haisten Willis, 2365K] reports [Cole] is currently Virginia’s secretary of public safety and homeland security, leading a state-level agency with more than 19,000 employees. If confirmed by the Senate, Cole would replace acting DEA Administrator Derek S. Maltz, who took over the job on Inauguration Day. Cole’s nomination is also the latest step in an unusual nomination cycle. Trump initially named Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister to the post before abruptly pulling the nomination amid controversy over reports that Chronister shut down churches during the COVID-19 pandemic. At first, Chronister said he withdrew the nomination himself, citing dedication to his constituents in Hillsborough County, but Trump didn’t let that go unchecked. "He didn’t pull out. I pulled him out because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters," Trump said in early December.

AP [2/11/2025 6:56 PM, Kevin Freking, Lisa Mascaro] reports citing warnings from President Donald Trump’s border czar, Senate Republicans vowed Tuesday to move quickly on a budget plan that could pave the way for the passage of about $340 billion in additional border security and defense spending. Meanwhile, House Republicans are trying to keep pace, hoping to unveil their own budget effort as soon as Wednesday that would also look to extend trillions of dollars in tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term. GOP senators are anxious to make progress on key aspects of Trump’s domestic agenda. They heard Tuesday from Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and Tom Homan, the former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, who is playing a key advisory role in Trump’s second term. Both stressed the urgent need for more border resources. Graham’s committee is taking up a budget plan for more border and defense spending on Wednesday and Thursday. The plan directs the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs to spend up to $175 billion and the Senate Armed Services Committee to spend up to $150 billion. Graham said other committees will be instructed to come up with spending reductions from other government programs to pay for the border and defense funds, but he was unwilling to discuss specifics or his preferences, saying "there are a bunch out things out there" that could be cut.

FOX News [2/11/2025 4:19 PM, Michael Lee Fox, 49889K] reports Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, is joining GOP colleagues in the Senate by introducing legislation to protect unaccompanied migrant children from human traffickers. Luttrell’s legislation is a companion to a bill introduced in the Senate by senators Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and aims to prevent further trafficking of migrant children by implementing proper vetting for adults who sponsor a child in the United States, including vetting for parents, immediate relatives and unrelated adults. The bill will also require that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) take steps to vet all adults who will live in the home of a migrant child. The bill aims to put multiple steps in place to prevent trafficking of children, including a prohibition on children being released to a sponsor who is in the U.S. illegally, unless the sponsor is the child’s legal guardian or a relative. The bill will also require authorities to complete a home visit prior to a child being released to the sponsor and calls for at least five additional unannounced home visits during the child’s first year in the country. The legislation will also require reporting to Congress on actions being taken to account for current missing children, according to the release.

Houston Chronicle [2/11/2025 3:21 PM, James Osborne, 2315K] reports Congress is weighing a plan to spend up to an additional $175 billion on the U.S.-Mexico border over the next ten years as they push to expand the nation’s deportation system under President Donald Trump. The Senate is set to consider a budget resolution Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that would direct the money to be spent on expanding the number of detention beds, hiring more Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and completing work on the border wall. If approved, the funding stands to dramatically increase federal immigration enforcement in South Texas and other border regions. It would amount to a more than twofold increase from the $16.9 billion currently budgeted each year for both the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump also spent an estimated $15 billion on building a portion of the border wall during his first term, according to the nonprofit American Immigration Council. While Senate Republicans have not specified how exactly the money would be spent, Trump’s "border czar," Tom Homan, told reporters last month ICE needed 100,000 detention beds to keep up with its increasing enforcement. Right now, the agency has fewer than 40,000 beds across 190 detention facilities. The Senate budget resolution also promises to "make investments" in state and local law enforcement to aid in the immigration crackdown. The House Budget Committee is scheduled to meet Thursday morning to consider its own budget resolution.

The Hill [2/11/2025 10:09 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 16346K] reports Pope Francis criticized President Trump’s mass deportation plans in a letter urging compassion and the preservation of dignity for migrants in the U.S. The pope, in his letter, recognized "the right of a nation to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival," but attacked the approach the Trump administration has taken. "That said, the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness," Francis wrote Tuesday. The Trump administration has prioritized mass deportations, a long-standing promise from the campaign trail. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that more than 8,000 people had been arrested in immigration enforcement actions since Trump took office Jan. 20, The Associated Press reported. Some migrants have been deported, while others are being held in federal prisons or at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. Francis, in the letter, wrote that laws are meant to preserve "the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized," and said "the true common good" protects the most vulnerable people in society. "This does not impede the development of a policy that regulates orderly and legal migration," the pope continued. "However, this development cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others.” "What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly," he added. Trump’s "border czar" Tom Homan, who oversees the mass deportation program, shot back at the pope’s criticism Tuesday morning. "I’ve got harsh words for the Pope. Pope ought to fix the Catholic Church. I’m saying this as a lifelong Catholic — I was baptized Catholic, my first Communion as a Catholic, confirmation as a Catholic," Homan said. "He ought to fix the Catholic Church and concentrate on his work and leave border enforcement to us.” Newsweek [2/11/2025 9:50 AM, Barney Henderson, 56005K] reports that Vance, a Catholic convert, has defended the administration’s hardline stance by invoking the medieval Catholic concept of ordo amoris, which he claims establishes a hierarchy of care prioritizing citizens over outsiders. Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, has long championed the rights of migrants, urging nations to welcome, protect, and integrate those fleeing violence, poverty, and environmental disasters. While acknowledging that governments have the right to safeguard their borders, he stressed that mass deportations targeting people for their legal status alone violate fundamental human dignity. Citing biblical narratives—including the Israelites’ exodus and Jesus Christ’s own experience as a refugee—Francis underscored the moral obligation to provide shelter and safety. He expressed grave concern over the situation unfolding in the U.S., directly challenging the administration’s conflation of illegal immigration with criminality. "I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations," Francis wrote. "The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.”

Reported similarly:
The Hill [2/11/2025 10:40 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 16346K]
USA Today [2/11/2025 2:51 PM, Fernando Cervantes Jr, 89965K]
Houston Chronicle [2/11/2025 12:25 PM, Benjamin Wermund, 2315K]

The Hill [2/11/2025 2:46 PM, Lauren Irwin, 16346K] reports that a group of House Democrats have introduced legislation in a bid to stop the Trump administration from dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The bill, led by Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), was introduced Tuesday and is called the Protect U.S. National Security Act. It aims to prove that USAID reform should abide by laws and "not harm American soft power" as the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) looks to cut federal spending at various agencies and departments. "Over the past 10 days, Elon Musk and DOGE have shut down USAID’s website, closed its headquarters, placed thousands of staffers on leave, and issued a stop work order on most foreign assistance – including life-saving humanitarian assistance," Jacobs said in a release. The future of USAID remains unclear after a federal judge temporarily paused the Trump administration’s plan to put thousands of its employees on leave. A preliminary injunction hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday. Jacobs, as the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that oversees USAID, introduced the bill with 15 other Democrats.

Reuters [2/11/2025 3:03 PM, Luc Cohen, 48128K] reports that a U.S. judge clarified on Tuesday that an order restricting billionaire Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting effort from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment systems does not apply to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer on Saturday temporarily blocked Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s access to the government systems used to process trillions of dollars in payments, granting a win to a coalition of Democratic attorneys general from 19 states who filed a lawsuit. That ruling sparked outcry from Trump allies - including Musk and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller- who said it blocked Bessent, who was confirmed by the Senate on January 28, from accessing the systems. The Justice Department then asked U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan, who is overseeing the case on a permanent basis, to revoke or modify Engelmayer’s order. The government lawyers said it could be read to cover all Treasury political appointees, including Bessent. Vargas on Tuesday kept Engelmayer’s temporary restraining order in place, but clarified that it did not apply to Bessent, other Senate-confirmed Treasury officials, or outside contractors who accessed the system before Trump’s January 20 inauguration to perform maintenance.

Washington Post [2/11/2025 10:47 PM, Dan Diamond and Emily Davies, 40736K] reports President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that requires federal agencies to work with the U.S. Doge Service to cut their existing workforce and limit future hiring — the most explicit statement yet by the president that he supports “large-scale” cuts to the federal workforce. The executive order gives billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE, tasked with finding government inefficiencies, even more power than it has amassed in the first three weeks of the new administration. The order installs a “DOGE Team Lead” at each agency and gives that person oversight over hiring decisions. DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency. The directive instructs agency heads, after the hiring freeze expires, to recruit no more than one employee for every four who depart from the federal government, with exemptions for personnel and functions “related to public safety, immigration enforcement, or law enforcement.” And it orders agency heads to “promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force, consistent with applicable law.” Eliminating 25 percent of federal employees would cut the overall budget by about 1 percent. Semafor first reported that Trump would sign the executive order.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/11/2025 8:14 PM, Theodore Schleifer and Madeleine Ngo, 161405K]

AP [2/11/2025 10:15 PM, Staff, 470K] reports President Donald Trump’s most powerful adviser, Elon Musk, made a rare public appearance at the White House on Tuesday to defend the swift and extensive cuts he’s pushing across the federal government while acknowledging there have been mistakes and will be more. Musk stood next to the Resolute Desk with his young son as Trump praised Musk’s work with his Department of Government Efficiency, saying they’ve found “shocking” evidence of wasteful spending. The Republican president signed an executive order to expand Musk’s influence and continue downsizing the federal workforce. Despite concerns that he’s amassing unaccountable power with little transparency, Musk described himself as an open book as he took questions from reporters for the first time since joining the Trump administration as a special government employee. He joked that the scrutiny over his sprawling influence over federal agencies was like a “daily proctology exam.” He also claimed that DOGE’s work was being shared on its website and on X, the social media platform owned by Musk. However, the DOGE website has no information, and the postings on X often lack many details, including which programs are being cut and where the organization has access. The White House has also been moving to limit independent oversight. The inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development was fired a day after warning that it had become nearly impossible to monitor $8.2 billion in humanitarian funds after DOGE began dismantling the agency. Musk defended DOGE’s work as “common sense” and “not draconian or radical.” “The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get,” he said. “That’s what democracy is all about.” Musk acknowledged, in response to a question about false statements that the U.S. was spending $50 million on condoms for Gaza, that some of the claims he’s made about government programs have been wrong. “Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected. So nobody can bat 1,000,” he said. He promised that he would act quickly to correct errors, and acknowledged that DOGE could be making errors as well. “We are moving fast, so we will make mistakes, but we’ll also fix the mistakes very quickly,” Musk said.

New York Times [2/12/2025 3:25 AM, Hurubie Meko and Jonah E. Bromwich, 740K] reports a long legal saga for Stephen K. Bannon, a longtime adviser to President Trump, ended Tuesday when he pleaded guilty in Manhattan criminal court to a single felony count of defrauding donors who had sought to help build a wall at the southern border. Mr. Bannon had been charged by the Manhattan district attorney’s office with five felony counts, including money laundering and conspiracy charges, and could have faced between five and 15 years in prison on the most serious charge. Instead, he received a three-year conditional discharge, meaning he will serve no prison time if he does not reoffend. It was the second time that Mr. Bannon had avoided a trial on charges connected to a group called We Build the Wall, a seeming grass-roots effort to fulfill a key promise of Mr. Trump’s first term. In 2021, in the hours before he left office, Mr. Trump pardoned Mr. Bannon in a similar federal case. To build the state case, the district attorney’s office would likely have needed to depend on those federal prosecutors, the documents they had gathered and the evidence they had presented to a federal grand jury in Manhattan. But those officials now answer to an attorney general, Pam Bondi, who has pledged to scrutinize the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, who won a felony conviction of Mr. Trump last year. Last week, Ms. Bondi said that Mr. Bragg’s case would be reviewed by a Justice Department working group aimed at rooting out “abuses of the criminal justice process.” There is no indication that Mr. Bragg’s case against Mr. Trump violated the law. Mr. Bannon’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, celebrated the deal on Tuesday. He said that had his client gone to trial as scheduled in March, he would have been hard pressed to win an acquittal before a Manhattan jury. Mr. Bannon’s co-defendants in the federal case were sentenced to years behind bars. Mr. Bannon “always put up a fight,” Mr. Aidala said, “but he realized that maybe this was a fight, because of the forum he was in, that he was never going to win.”

Reported similarly:
AP [2/11/2025 1:51 PM, Michael R. Sisak, 153K]
Reuters [2/11/2025 11:26 AM, Jack Queen, 48128K]
Washington Examiner [2/11/2025 10:11 AM, Christian Datoc, 2365K]

Bloomberg [2/11/2025 2:23 PM, Magdalena Del Valle, 21617K] reports that Eric Adams became the first sitting New York City mayor in modern history to be charged with a federal crime last year after being accused of soliciting illegal campaign contributions and accepting luxury bribes from foreign nationals. Now, after months of Adams courting President Donald Trump — including weighing changes to the city’s sanctuary laws — the administration has ordered federal prosecutors to drop the case against the mayor of the US’s largest city. In a memo on Monday from the Department of Justice, a high-ranking official said the case against Adams was politically motivated and that it was preventing him from tackling immigration and crime. The stunning intervention from the DOJ could clear an obstacle to Adams’ reelection bid. His embrace of Trump also stands in stark contrast to the city’s 2017 mayoral race, when former mayor Bill de Blasio won his re-election after campaigning on his vocal clashes with Trump. Adams’ rivals were quick to blast the move, with some calling on the embattled mayor to resign. “He’s effectively being extorted by the Justice Department,” City Comptroller Brad Lander, who plans to challenge Adams in this year’s primaries, told Bloomberg Radio. “He’s only looking out for the interests of one New Yorker, and that’s himself, not even speaking up when they come to take our lunch money.” Adams has continued to deny the charges, and in a press conference on Tuesday, he thanked the DOJ “for its honesty.”

NPR [2/12/2025 4:04 AM, Jon Campbell, 35747K] reports a DOJ letter demanding dismissal of charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams said the indictment undermined his ability to cooperate with Trump’s immigration crackdown. Immigrant communities are worried. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [2/11/2025 11:12 AM, Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman, 161405K] reports that, in one post, a rioter pardoned by President Trump after taking part in the storming of the Capitol expressed his “joy and happiness” at just how badly prosecutors who worked on cases like his own were “hurting right now” after some of them were fired. In a different post, another pardoned rioter taunted agents who worked on investigations linked to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, ridiculing them for worrying that they would be revealed and asking sarcastically, “Why would you be afraid of us knowing your names?” In a third post, yet another rioter granted clemency by the president featured the image of a document that clearly showed the name and cellphone number of the F.B.I. agent who oversaw his case. In the past few weeks, an increasing number of Jan. 6 defendants who benefited from Mr. Trump’s mercy have gone on the attack on social media, lashing out at the agents and prosecutors who worked on their criminal cases. The pardoned rioters have assailed these law enforcement officials as “traitors” or “evil,” often doxxing them by posting their names, photos and contact information online. Many of the messages are likely protected by the First Amendment and, at least for now, there is no indication that they have led to any violence. But the posts also suggest a mounting and disturbing desire for revenge on the part of the pardoned rioters, and experts have raised concerns that the frequency and number of the digital attacks could increase the risk that violence might eventually occur. “The bottom line is, it’s extremely dangerous,” said Robert Pape, a political scientist at the University of Chicago who has studied the Jan. 6 defendants for more than four years. “Research tells us that efforts like this help to make it seem as if targeted attacks are actually popular and have a mantle of legitimacy. That itself could nudge assailants over the edge.” The torrent of online anger comes as many of the federal officials subject to it were already under pressure from the Justice Department itself.

NPR [2/12/2025 5:15 AM, Ryan Lucas, 35747K] reports that, after a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Emil Bove led efforts by federal prosecutors in Manhattan to help the FBI aggressively investigate, identify and arrest rioters from the New York region. Four years later, Bove is now the acting No. 2 official in President Trump’s Justice Department. He has used that perch to denounce the Capitol riot investigation and spearhead a purge of prosecutors—and potentially of FBI agents—who worked on Jan. 6 cases. The disconnect between Bove’s aggressive stance to hold rioters accountable for the Jan. 6 assault and his current hostility around the investigation has troubled some former colleagues. "At no point did I ever hear him or anybody else express concern about these investigations and these arrests that we were making," said Christopher O’Leary, who was a top counterterrorism official in the FBI’s New York field office at the time. "We never heard any pushback from him or anybody in his office.” The Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to questions about the disconnect between Bove’s role in New York and his actions since entering the Department of Justice. When the Jan. 6 attack happened, Bove was the co-chief of the terrorism and international narcotics unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. In that role, he helped supervise all of the office’s work related to the Capitol attack, directing prosecutors to support the FBI in the investigation and overseeing efforts to obtain things like search warrants, according to O’Leary and a former prosecutor who worked with Bove. Like O’Leary, the former prosecutor said Bove never voiced any reservations about the riot investigation. To the contrary, the former prosecutor said, Bove "gave strong, direct encouragement to the line prosecutors to aggressively pursue the investigation, legal process, support FBI, etc.” The person spoke on condition of anonymity in order to describe the office’s internal dynamics. As the unit co-chief, Bove also took part in weekly meetings of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York, which gave him an overview of cases and operations in the New York region, including Jan. 6 investigations. Bove and his team, O’Leary said, "were intimately involved in all of these cases and very knowledgeable of it [the investigation].”

Washington Examiner [2/11/2025 12:33 PM, Jack Birle, 2365K] reports that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Republican leaders in the Florida legislature ended their weeks-long stalemate over how to support the Trump administration’s immigration policies with a new bill announced Monday. DeSantis had originally called a special session to help President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts with deportations, but GOP leaders in both chambers of the state legislature said his call for action was premature. When lawmakers went to Tallahassee last month for the governor’s special session, they immediately adjourned and gaveled into their own special session, passing a different bill focused on illegal immigration. The bill lawmakers passed featured a few key differences from what DeSantis had proposed, including vesting immigration authority in the state’s agriculture secretary rather than the governor. DeSantis threatened to veto the legislation, as both sides publicly fought for their proposals. Florida Senate President Ben Albritton and state House Speaker Daniel Perez, both Republicans, announced a new bill and special session beginning Tuesday after working with both the governor and the White House.

Newsweek [2/11/2025 9:02 AM, Khaleda Rahman, 56005K] reports Florida lawmakers will reconvene for a special session this week to discuss a sweeping immigration package that would require illegal immigrants convicted of capital offenses to be handed the death penalty. Newsweek has contacted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ office and lawmakers for comment via email. The Florida Legislature passed a sweeping bill—the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy, or TRUMP Act—through in a special session last month, after rejecting proposals from DeSantis. Lawmakers and DeSantis had sparred over whose proposals would be better to aid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. DeSantis criticized the bill as "watered down" and pledged to veto it if it was sent to his desk. During this week’s special session, lawmakers will consider modified bills that address the governor’s concerns. Democrats have slammed the bill process as rushed and criticized provisions in the bill. Lawmakers filed a proclamation stating the special session will begin on February 11. It is "for the exclusive purpose of passing legislation to combat illegal immigration," according to a memo to lawmakers from Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Danny Perez. The three bills under consideration, all sponsored by State Senator Joe Gruters and State Representative Lawrence McClure, include higher penalties for all crimes committed in Florida by people who are in the country illegally. "If an illegal immigrant is convicted of a capital offense, including murder or child rape, the death penalty is mandatory," the memo said. It also requires that illegal immigrants who are gang members receive the maximum sentence for crimes they are convicted of. The legislation would also create a state board of immigration enforcement made up of the governor, agriculture commissioner, attorney general and chief financial office, who must unanimously approve all decisions. The board will approve the release of grants to support local law enforcement in enforcing federal immigration laws.

FOX News [2/11/2025 5:33 PM, Greg Wehner, David Spunt, 49889K] reports a high-ranking affiliate of a violent Mexican drug cartel faces a lifetime in prison after a Chicago grand jury returned an indictment accusing him of manufacturing and distributing drugs like fentanyl and heroin, and importing them into the U.S. The Department of Justice said 43-year-old Ceferino Espinoza Angulo has been charged with drug conspiracy and firearm offenses. According to court documents, Angulo allegedly employed dozens of gunmen in Mexico to protect and support leaders of the Joaquin Guzmán Loera, or "El Chapo," faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Angulo has been accused of conspiring to obtain fentanyl precursor chemicals, as well as conspiring to manufacture, distribute and import fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and ecstasy into the U.S. He also illegally possessed a machine gun, the DOJ added. Angulo is believed to be living in Mexico, where a U.S. warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Reuters [2/11/2025 5:40 PM, David Ljunggren, 48128K] reports Canada, fulfilling a promise made to U.S. President Donald Trump, on Tuesday appointed a senior intelligence official to the new post of fentanyl czar, saying he would coordinate the fight against smuggling of the drug. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on all imports from Canada unless the government does more to stop the flow of fentanyl across the border. The job is going to Kevin Brosseau, a former senior policeman who most recently was Trudeau’s deputy national security and intelligence advisor. White House officials say Canada and Mexico are conduits for shipments of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the U.S. in small packages that are not often inspected. Public data shows 0.2% of all fentanyl seized in the U.S. comes from the Canadian border, while the vast majority originates from the southern border.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [2/11/2025 5:27 PM, Erik Hertzberg, 21617K]
AP [2/11/2025 5:35 PM, Staff]

New York Times [2/11/2025 5:50 PM, Julie Turkewitz and Hamed Aleaziz, 161405K] reports Luis Alberto Castillo, a father of one from Venezuela, entered the United States on Jan. 19, one day before Donald Trump became president for a second term — swept into office on a promise to treat undocumented migrants with a heavy hand. By Feb. 4, Mr. Castillo was on a plane to a U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, best known for a detention center that has long held terrorism suspects accused of launching the deadliest attack on American soil. That day, the Department of Homeland Security declared that those who had been transferred to the island represented “the worst of the worst” and were all members of a Venezuelan criminal group, the Tren de Aragua. But in an interview from her home in Colombia, Mr. Castillo’s sister Yajaira Castillo said her brother was not a gang member to be feared, but rather an everyday Venezuelan who had fled his country because of its economic crisis. In an initial email, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said that Mr. Castillo was in the United States illegally and had final deportation orders issued by a federal judge.

VOA News [2/12/2025 5:02 AM, Donaldo Hernandez, 2717K] Video: HERE reports more Nicaraguans are prevented from returning to their country under a change in the immigration law that allows the denial of the entry of its citizens if they are considered threat to the peace and security of the country. Since 2023, nearly 500 Nicaraguans have been stripped of their nationality.

Miami Herald [2/11/2025 4:23 PM, Jacqueline Charles, 6595K] reports Jamaicans living in the United States who are at risk of being deported because of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown should consider returning home on their own and help build their nation’s wealth, the country’s leader says. Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness became the latest leader in the hemisphere to call on nationals to consider returning home.

AP [2/11/2025 10:12 PM, Huizhong Wu, 57114K] reports President Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign assistance has dealt a blow to organizations fighting human trafficking and forced labor in Cambodia, where tens of thousands of people are held captive and forced to work in call centers running telephone scams. Hundreds of thousands of people work in remote compounds in countries including Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos where they run online scams targeting people all over the world, including Americans, according to U.N. estimates. Some are trafficked and lured to the jobs under false pretenses and forced to work against their will. A shelter for people who manage to leave these compounds run by the Catholic charity Caritas recently let some victims go and may stop accepting further victims due to the funding squeeze, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said. The shelter, in the capital Phnom Penh is the only one not operated by the government which takes in victims of scam compounds, both foreign and Cambodian. The sources declined to be named because they were concerned about retaliation from the Trump administration. The funding freeze has also halted civil-society-assisted rescue work and related programs on preventing human trafficking. The compounds operate with support from some local elites. Last October, the U.S. sanctioned Ly Yong Phat, a leading member of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party of Prime Minister Hun Manet, for owning businesses that have trafficked people and forced to work in online scam centers. The blow to civil society efforts comes as a small network of society and independent media addressing Cambodia’s scam compounds are already under intense government pressure. Independent media outlets have been shuttered, and a prominent Cambodian investigative journalist who had reported on the issue was arrested. The Trump Administration froze U.S. foreign assistance in January, upending projects all over the world that ranged from providing medications to HIV patients to humanitarian assistance to people displaced by conflict. While there are other shelters in Cambodia, the one operated by Caritas “is the only qualified and competent shelter,” said Jake Sims, a co-founder of Shamrock, a public-private coalition working to combat transnational organized cybercrime. It offers victims trauma-informed care, as well as help with visas and legal support so they can go back to their home countries.

Wall Street Journal [2/11/2025 5:40 PM, Tarini Parti and Alan Cullison] reports listeners to Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast might want to know why he pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding donors who gave money to try to build a private border wall. Yes, this case was in blue New York. But the feds hit Mr. Bannon with similar charges in 2020. Mr. Bannon received a pardon in the last hours of President Trump’s first term. Mr. Bannon’s plea deal includes no jail time if he keeps his nose clean for three years. The indictment, announced in 2022 by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, alleged that a group called We Build the Wall had raised millions by promising that “100% of your money goes towards the wall,” and that its leadership would “not take a penny of compensation from these donations.” In reality, according to the indictment, “Unindicted Co-Conspirator 1 received over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in secret salary payments.” Some of that cash was allegedly routed through “entities controlled by Bannon,” it said. “Bannon was informed in a text message from Unindicted Co-Conspirator 2 that Unindicted Co-Conspirator 1 would be stating publicly that he would not be taking a penny from the donations. Bannon responded ‘[Unindicted Co-Conspirator Entity 1] can pay him.’” The Justice Department’s indictment made the scheme sound even sleazier. Federal prosecutors alleged that a nonprofit controlled by Mr. Bannon “received over $1,000,000,” a substantial portion of which was quietly used “to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in BANNON’s personal expenses.” Some donors to We Build the Wall said “they did not have a lot of money and were skeptical about online fundraising campaigns.” But because they trusted the cause, “they were giving what they could.” Mr. Bannon pleaded not guilty in the federal case, and he was then sprung from liability by Mr. Trump’s pardon. Two of the other defendants pleaded guilty and went to prison. A third was convicted by a jury and received 63 months. Mr. Trump’s pardon message called Mr. Bannon “an important leader in the conservative movement,” and it didn’t even attempt to grapple with the charges or justify invalidating them.

Washington Post [2/11/2025 10:11 AM, Catherine Rampell, 40736K] reports that, at a mosque in the Bronx, African immigrants who had been regulars have stopped attending prayer services. At a church just outside Boston, where most congregants are of Haitian descent, roughly two-thirds of parishioners have vanished. At multiple Baptist congregations in the South, pastors are considering locking church doors once services begin. Their common fear: That immigration agents will bust in and arrest congregants mid-prayer. That’s because President Donald Trump recently gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement the go-ahead to conduct raids at houses of worship. That directive is now the target of two major lawsuits, the second of which was filed Tuesday morning. Plaintiffs in the suits include dozens of faith groups, from Pentecostals to Sikhs to Quakers to Jews, who believe the Trump administration is trampling their religious freedom. This might seem ironic, given that Trump has signed multiple executive orders purporting to “reduce burdens on the free exercise of religion” and protect people of faith. In reality, he and his allies have launched an aggressive assault on religious liberty — or at least, the liberty to practice a religion that isn’t precisely their own. The offensive began with attacks on specific faith leaders. Trump lashed out at the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, Episcopal bishop of Washington, for having the gall to ask him “to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.” Rep. Mike Collins (R-Georgia) even demanded that she be deported. (Budde was born in New Jersey, which, to be fair, can sometimes feel like a foreign country.) Then, Vice President JD Vance accused the Catholic Church, without evidence, of improperly receiving “over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants.” Elon Musk laid into Lutheran organizations, declaring that DOGE would end allegedly “illegal” payments to the Lutheran groups that run food pantries and care for homeless people. But by far the most serious encroachment on religious liberty is Trump’s decision to overturn a long-standing directive against conducting immigration raids at “protected” or “sensitive” locations, such as schools, hospitals, day cares and churches. The guidance had been in place in some form since at least 1993, under Republican and Democratic administrations alike. It allowed enforcement actions at houses of worship only under exigent circumstances or with prior written, high-level supervisory approval. The new Trump policy instead gives ICE agents unfettered authority to storm religious sites, constrained only by individual agents’ own subjective “common sense.”

Washington Post [2/11/2025 9:16 PM, Nick Miroff, 40736K] reports two of the top officials at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been removed from their jobs amid frustration among Trump officials that officers aren’t ramping up arrests and deportations fast enough to meet the president’s goals and that some immigrant detainees have been released, according to three people with knowledge of the move. ICE staff were informed in an email Tuesday that Russell Hott and Peter Berg, the top two officials in the enforcement division of ICE, have been reassigned, according to the three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the internal memo. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed the demotions in an emailed statement. “ICE needs a culture of accountability that it has been starved of for the past four years,” she said. “We have a President, DHS Secretary, and American people who rightfully demand results, and our ICE leadership will ensure the agency delivers.” Senior officials have been under significant pressure from the White House since President Donald Trump took office promising “millions” of deportations. ICE quickly ramped up arrests, and Trump officials promoted their campaign on live television. But over the past week ICE has stopped issuing daily arrest figures, and the agency has struggled to keep pace with White House demands, even though officers are working six or even seven days a week at some locations, according to current and former ICE officials. Caleb Vitello, the acting director of ICE, told the agency’s top officials last month that each of ICE’s 25 field offices should be making 75 arrests per day for a total of 1,200 to 1,500 nationwide. Trump aide Stephen Miller told CNN that the quota was a “floor, not a ceiling.”

Newsweek [2/11/2025 12:15 PM, Dan Gooding and Billal rahman, 56005K] reports that President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan pledged Tuesday to double the manpower headed to sanctuary cities after a series of lawsuits against the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda. Homan was speaking after a judge blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from sending three Venezuelan immigrants to Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba on Sunday, and another blocked efforts to end birthright citizenship for a third time. "Before the President makes any executive order, before we take any enforcement action, we make sure that we are following the law as written by Congress, as is enshrined in statute," Homan told Newsmax. "We’re going to win these court cases, it’s just them stalling us." The Trump administration’s plan to tackle the immigration issue has been multi-faceted, including publicity around ICE raids across the country, the drafting of additional Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies, expanding detention space by opening beds at Guantánamo Bay, and undoing legal immigration routes set up during the Biden administration it sees as illegal. For Homan and the president, sanctuary cities, counties, and states are seen as a big barrier to this work.

Newsweek [2/11/2025 12:13 PM, Billal Rahman, 56005K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to deputize certain law enforcement officers, including IRS criminal investigators, to support immigration enforcement operations, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Newsweek has contacted the IRS, DHS and Treasury Department for comment. Border security and immigration are at the forefront of President Donald Trump’s policy agenda, as he has promised to conduct the largest deportation program in U.S. history. While large majorities of Democrats and Republicans agree that the immigration system is broken, as indicated in a recent New York Times/Ipsos poll, Americans disagree on how policies such as deportations should be carried out. In a memo dated February 7, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directed Bessent to deploy agents to investigate financial transactions associated with human trafficking networks and businesses employing undocumented immigrants. The agents would also be authorized to arrest, detain and transport individuals. Border czar Tom Homan appeared to confirm it was accurate on Fox News as he explained how IRS agents could be deployed to assist with the Trump administration’s ramped-up enforcement operations.

Reported similarly:
CBS Austin [2/11/2025 4:16 PM, Jackson Walker, 581K]

ABC News [2/11/2025 3:38 PM, Nathaniel Rakich, 33392K] reports it’s unclear how many violent criminals are among those ICE has arrested. One of President Donald Trump’s chief priorities — to conduct the "largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America" — is well underway. According to both media reports and official data, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been increasing the number of arrests of people allegedly in the country illegally. But a lot of that data is incomplete — and what we do know also suggests that Trump isn’t sticking literally to his campaign promises, either when it comes to prioritizing immigrants who have committed violent crimes or reaching the numbers promised. If ICE were to arrest 980 people and lodge 762 detainers per day every day going forward, it would take over 17 years to arrest or lodge a detainer against 11.0 million people. Furthermore, ICE hasn’t posted any public data about how many of the people it has arrested this year have been accused of crimes, violent or otherwise. Without this data, it’s impossible to know whether the Trump administration is prioritizing deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, as it has claimed.

Telemundo52 [2/11/2025 5:13 PM, Gabriel Huerta and Elizabeth Chavolla, 124K] reports fears generated by government immigration operations have led immigrant families to cancel medical appointments and visits to clinics and hospitals, according to health institutions and pro-immigrant organizations. But according to activists, it is not just the fear of immigration raids or operations; many immigrants are afraid that the information they provide could be shared with immigration services, which they say is an unfounded fear. Gochez said fear among immigrants increased substantially following the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement in the early days of the current administration, in which it gave the green light to immigration operations in sensitive locations such as schools, churches and hospitals.

Univision [2/11/2025 7:30 AM, Staff, 7281K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) corrupt after anonymous agents allegedly leaked plans for large-scale raids in Los Angeles to the Los Angeles Times later this month. Don’t miss: ICE plans raids against undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles, according to reports.

Yahoo! News [2/11/2025 6:00 AM, Luna Reyna, 57114K] reports tribes across the U.S. are responding to reports of Indigenous people being racially profiled, stopped, questioned and mistakenly detained by federal agents targeting undocumented immigrants as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping immigrant crackdown. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a Jan. 24 news release that his "office has received multiple reports from Navajo citizens that they have had negative, and sometimes traumatizing, experiences with federal agents targeting undocumented immigrants in the Southwest.” "We now know that Navajo people and enrolled members of other tribes are being detained in Phoenix and other cities by ICE," Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley said during a Naabik’íyáti’ committee meeting on Jan. 23. Navajo Nation President, Buu Nygren, released a statement addressing urban Dine relatives with guidance on "What to do if confronted by immigration agents.” The Trump administration issued 10 executive orders and proclamations to change U.S. immigration law and policy on the president’s first day in office as part of what it calls "the largest mass deportation operation in American history of illegal criminals.” Following rising reports of their citizens being harassed and detained by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Native nations and Native leaders from across Turtle Island have been working diligently to ensure their citizens’ safety. While more Native nations have been working toward enhanced tribal identification cards, the vast majority of tribal enrollment identification cards aren’t recognized by the federal government, which leaves Indigenous people vulnerable during encounters with ICE agents. Several Native nations, including The Yankton Sioux Tribe and Rosebud Sioux Tribe, are temporarily waiving tribal ID card fees for enrolled citizens, while the Ho-Chunk Nation is reimbursing costs for passports and the Navajo Nation continues to release resources and guides on what to say if you are stopped and questioned by ICE.

Washington Post [2/11/2025 1:52 PM, Dan Morse, 40736K] reports that a former teacher at a small church in Montgomery County, Maryland, pleaded guilty Monday in four sexual assault cases amid allegations he abused four girls ages 6 through 12, including two he fondled while their eyes were shut during prayers, authorities said in court. Ervin J. Alfaro-Lopez, 34, faces up to 25 years in state prison at his sentencing in August. Federal immigration authorities, who have said Alfaro-Lopez unlawfully entered the United States three times and has been the subject of two removal proceedings, indicated they will seek his deportation after he serves his Maryland sentence. Alfaro-Lopez, who recently lived in Germantown, said little in court Monday besides answering standard plea-hearing questions on whether he understood his decision and its ramifications. He pleaded guilty to one count of sex abuse of a minor and three counts of third-degree sex offense. State sentencing guidelines, while not binding, recommend a prison term somewhere between 5.75 and 22 years, according to Monday’s proceedings. In exchange for the guilty pleas, prosecutors agreed to cap his maximum sentence at 25 years. Last year, James Covington, a spokesman for the Baltimore office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said Alfaro-Lopez had been arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol near Lake Charles, Louisiana, on March 23, 2015, issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge and released on a $7,500 bond.

Houston Chronicle [2/11/2025 6:24 PM, John Lomax V, 2315K] reports agents with FBI Houston and the Department of Homeland Security arrested two Venezuelan nationals Tuesday accused of trafficking migrants in exchange for sex work, according to federal court records. The arrests were part of a larger case filed against eight Venezuelan migrants accused in the Middle District Court of Tennessee of facilitating the transportation of women from Central and South American countries to Nasvhille, where they were forced into prostitution, according to court documents. The women were allegedly told they needed to pay off their travel debts, which prosecutors alleged were deliberately inflated. Federal prosecutors alleged two of the individuals charged, a mother and her son who were identified in court documents as spearheading the operation, used ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren De Agua to intimidate women’s families to ensure the they complied with their demands. The indictment alleged members of the trafficking ring also threatened to withhold immigration documents and separate victims from their children if they did not agree to work as prostitutes. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said two of the eight — Morales-Rivero and Gutierrez-Carrillo — were arrested in Houston. FBI Houston said in a post on X that they had arrested three in connection to the trafficking charges, but the spokesperson was unable to corroborate their claim.

Newsweek [2/11/2025 6:40 AM, Billal Rahman, 56005K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have conducted a raid on a taco truck in Memphis. Newsweek has contacted ICE for further comment. Immigration was a key element of President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and helped Republicans sweep to power on a national level. While large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agree that the immigration system is broken, as indicated in a recent New York Times/Ipsos poll, Americans disagree on how policies such as deportations should be carried out. A video shared on social media shows a group of unidentified men taking the employees from the TACOnganasbusiness without identifying themselves as immigration authorities. The City of Memphis confirmed Monday night that federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) detained the employees, but did not immediately clarify whether ICE was involved. The men in the video posted by TACOnganas on Monday did not display any badges or IDs and wore no uniforms identifying them as ICE agents. ICE averaged 787 arrests per day between January 23 and 31. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that ICE arrested 11,000 criminals in the last 18 days. It comes after reports emerged that a Florida middle-school science teacher was reportedly detained by immigration officials and now faces deportation, despite being part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The unnamed middle school teacher in Miami-Dade County was taken into custody by ICE at an immigration hearing. Meanwhile, administration officials confirmed that some detainees were released back into the U.S. after their arrest.

Reported similarly:
Telemundo Amarillo [2/11/2025 4:00 PM, Staff, 1K]

USA Today [2/12/2025 2:57 AM, Evan Mealins, 89965K] reports eight Venezuelan nationals have been indicted in connection with sex trafficking women from South America in Middle Tennessee, federal prosecutors and law enforcement announced Tuesday. The multi-person indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday, accused the defendants of luring dozens of victims to the U.S. on the "promise of a better life” before burdening the women with outrageous debts that far exceeded the costs of their travel, prosecutors said. Prosecutors alleged that the sex trafficking was part of a "scheme to promote an unlawful prostitution enterprise." Blackmailed with the debts, the women were forced to have sex with strangers for the profit of the defendants, acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire said at a news conference. The scheme is alleged to have been active from at least July 2022 through March 2024, according to prosecutors. The eight defendants were in federal custody as of Tuesday morning, according to McGuire. "The arrests of the defendants today is a demonstration of our full commitment to end human trafficking wherever and whenever we can fight it, and to do whatever it takes to hold traffickers accountable for their crimes," McGuire said. "We will do whatever it takes to try to save the lives of victims that we serve," McGuire added. He said he could not comment on if any of the victims who were in the U.S. without legal documentation could face deportation, but he said "It’s an interest of our office that any survivor of sex trafficking has the ability to hold their offender accountable in court." The defendants were identified as: Yilibeth Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera, Kleiver Daniel Mota Rivero, Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca, Wilmarys Del Valle Manzano Soloranzo, Endrik Alexander Morales-Rivero, Ariannys Beatriz Gutierrez-Carrillo, Frankyanna Del Valle Romero-Rivero, and Jesus Enrique Castillo Rodriguez. The Nashville Tennessean [2/11/2025 4:52 PM, Evan Mealins] reports that the multi-person indictment was unsealed Tuesday, and officials from the attorney’s office, the FBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Metro Nashville Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations gathered in the federal courthouse in downtown Nashville to make the announcement that afternoon.

FOX News [2/11/2025 4:32 PM, Madison Colombo, 49889K] reports that President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan says he is closing in on the individual believed to be responsible for leaking details of a major ICE operation in and around Aurora, Colorado, that tipped off violent gang members and derailed planned arrests. "We think it’s coming from inside. And we know the first leak in Aurora is under current investigation. We think we’ve identified that person," Homan said on "Hannity," Monday. The leaked information reportedly allowed members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA) to evade capture last week as federal agents were met with mostly empty apartments and buildings. In the end, about 30 people were taken into custody. "It’s just not giving the bad guys a heads-up so they can escape apprehension," he said. "You’re putting officers’ lives at risk. It’s only a matter of time before we walk into a place where there’s going to be a bad guy [who] doesn’t care. He’s going to be sitting in wait to ambush an officer. This is not a game." In response to the latest leak, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem took to social media, accusing the FBI of corruption. "The FBI is so corrupt," Noem wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "We will work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law.” Homan confirmed Monday that "some of the information we’re receiving tends to lead toward the FBI" and promised consequences for whoever is found responsible. "I talked to the deputy attorney general all this weekend. They’ve opened up a criminal investigation, and they have promised that not only this person lose their job and lose their pension, they will go to jail."

FOX News [2/12/2025 5:05 AM, Elizabeth Pritchett, 49889K] reports a police force in a small Alabama town uncovered illegal aliens trafficking a large amount of cocaine after an officer stopped their car for a minor violation. Calera Police Chief David Hyche said a patrol officer stopped a vehicle traveling through the town last week for not having a tag. During the stop, Hyche said "probable cause for a search was evident," which ultimately led to the discovery of 46 pounds of cocaine. He said the monetary value of the drugs will be determined after Homeland Security Investigations is done examining what was seized. The driver and the passenger, both men who are from Colombia and in the U.S. illegally, were arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine. Hyche said one of the men is wanted in Atlanta for drug trafficking and failure to appear. "We didn’t initially know where these two were from, what they had in their car or their immigration status," Hyche said. "The choices these two men made led to this outcome.” Hyche also said the department is working with federal agencies who are pursuing charges against the men for drugs and immigration violations. Police believe the men were traveling from California to Miami, and took an unusual route to avoid the typical drug interdiction areas. "If they chose I-65 to avoid heavy drug interdiction areas, it didn’t work out for them," Hyche said. Though traffic stops for minor violations have become unpopular in recent years, Hyche advocated for them, describing instances where minor traffic violations led to the rescue of two children in danger. "Many departments around the U.S. have ceased making stops for minor traffic violations. I have repeatedly spoken out against this and other instances where law enforcement leaders apologize for enforcing the law or change policy to appease critics," Hyche said. "We in law enforcement don’t make laws, we enforce them.” The police chief also said criminal activity is encouraged by "weak and passive law enforcement.” Hyche also compared today’s presence of drugs to when he began his law enforcement career decades ago, stating that drugs like cocaine and heroin are now cheap and easy to find because they’re pouring across the border. "If we control the borders, the dope would be expensive," Hyche said. "The solution has to be at the border. It can’t be here.” Shelby County District Attorney Matt Casey thanked the police department "for their great work protecting our community" and said the two men are being retained on $10 million bond. The police chief said he believes this bust is the largest in Shelby County history.

Yahoo! News [2/11/2025 1:51 PM, Gloria Rebecca Gomez, 57114K] reports that an opponent of the Arizona ICE Act displays a poster referencing the message welcoming refugees inscribed on the Statue of Liberty at the Arizona Capitol on Feb. 10, 2025. Republican lawmakers have moved to require cooperation between ICE officials and every law enforcement agency in the state, which critics say could help facilitate President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans. Democratic lawmakers and immigrant rights advocates rallied at the state Capitol on Monday in opposition of a Republican push to require police departments across the state to work with federal immigration officials, potentially facilitating President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans. The GOP-backed legislation, dubbed the Arizona ICE Act, instructs all of Arizona’s law enforcement agencies to use their "best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration laws" and requires them to enter into 287(g) agreements, or join similar federal programs, by next year. The bill mandates that at least 10% of officers in every law enforcement agency in the state participate in the program. Under a 287(g) agreement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials train and deputize local police officers to carry out specific immigration enforcement duties in order to expand the reach of ICE officials and increase the rate of deportations.

Telemundo 48 - Area de la Bahia [2/11/2025 4:10 PM, Marian Caraballo, 70K] reports police arrested a man suspected of human trafficking in San Jose. The investigation began when officers received reports of a possible case of human trafficking involving a minor under the age of 16. Detectives collected evidence and identified the suspect as Dante Price. Price was arrested on February 7 for crimes related to human trafficking. The minor was rescued and offered resources for his recovery.

Univision [2/11/2025 5:54 PM, Staff, 7281K] reports authorities are investigating the appearance of fake Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signs in West Hollywood, causing fear and outrage among residents. The signs were first seen on the evening of Friday, February 7, on Santa Monica Boulevard in the heart of the Rainbow District. According to witnesses, they were posted on trees and sidewalks. City Council member Danny Hang said the signs were put up to instill fear in the immigrant community, and stressed that this type of intimidation has no place in the city.

FOX News [2/11/2025 8:41 PM, Bill Melugin and Greg Wehner, 49889K] reports the daily average number of known gotaways — illegal migrants who successfully entered the U.S. without apprehension — at the southern border since the beginning of February has plummeted to just 132 per day, down 93% from the highest numbers when former President Joe Biden was in office, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) source. During the Biden administration, Fox News submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for FY 2023 statistics and learned there were 670,674 known gotaways recorded that year, a jaw-dropping average of more than 1,800 per day. President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, and has taken extensive measures to secure the southern border, resulting in a 93% drop in the daily average of known gotaways, who are "known" because they are seen/tracked on cameras, sensors, or other means, but border patrol agents were not able to apprehend them. These numbers are kept internally by CBP and are typically not released to the public. "Delivering consequences has results. Illegal crossings are down, gotaways are down. Criminal prosecutions are on the rise," the senior DHS official told Fox News. "Daily reports of large groups in Mexico, Guatemala, turning back south and surrendering to authorities, requesting to go home, and we have only just begun. Policy matters.”

NBC News [2/11/2025 5:10 PM, Sahil Kapur, Melanie Zanona, Kate Santaliz and Frank Thorp V, 50804K] reports President Donald Trump’s "border czar," Tom Homan, and budget director, Russell Vought, met with Senate Republicans on Tuesday afternoon and pleaded with them to send the administration more money to carry out their immigration crackdown plans. Graham said the Trump administration is asking for an additional $175 billion for immigration enforcement, including ICE agents, detention beds and deportation resources. The price tag has gone up. Before Trump was inaugurated, Republicans were discussing $80 billion to $100 billion for immigration enforcement funding. Last week, Graham said it would be around $150 billion. On Tuesday, he embraced the $175 billion figure. After the meeting, Homan said his message was "more money, more success." Asked whether he was worried the administration would run out of money to continue their immigration operations, he replied: "Hopefully, we won’t run out of money. The more money we got, the more bad guys we take off the street, the safer America is." The Senate Budget Committee, which Graham chairs, is eyeing a hearing and a vote on a budget resolution Wednesday and Thursday to begin the "reconciliation" process, in which Republicans can pass the funding without Democratic votes. He also plans to approve $150 billion to expand military spending.

SFGate [2/11/2025 9:02 AM, Marni LaFleur, 14282K] reports President Donald Trump closed much of the activity at the U.S.-Mexico border in January 2025, making it impossible for migrants who arrive at a U.S. port of entry to apply for asylum. Trump’s border policies are likely to make it far more difficult and dangerous for migrants trying to reach the U.S. – but won’t deter all people who want to cross the U.S.-Mexico border without legal authorization. The number of migrants crossing from Mexico into the U.S. without legal authorization dropped dramatically in 2024. But for a long time, crossing the U.S.-Mexico border by land has been the world’s deadliest migration route. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recovered the remains of 10,784 migrants from 1988 through 2024. This figure is an estimate of the total number of migrants who have died trying to cross from Mexico into the U.S. – there is no centralized system or organization that tracks migrant deaths, or any federal laws guiding authorities on how to manage the remains of migrants. Many other dead migrants are also never found. I am a professor of anthropology and have spent the past several years trying to understand how and why migrants die trying to enter the U.S. Stranded migrants who are now staying in Mexican border towns and others with plans to still try to illegally cross into the U.S. might pursue increasingly dangerous ways to enter the country. Research shows that there are three main reasons why migrants die trying to reach the U.S. from Mexico. First, migrants are often exposed to extreme weather conditions. Second, they drown in rivers or other bodies of water. Third, they could also experience blunt force trauma because of falls or motor vehicle accidents.

CBS Austin [2/11/2025 4:13 PM, Ariana St. Pierre, 581K] reports Border Patrol agents said they recently captured five people in northern Maine after they crossed the border illegally. The U.S. Border Patrol Houlton Sector said agents in Van Buren caught four Indian nationals and one Algerian national. They said some of them trudged through the snow during frigid temps in light clothing and tennis shoes. Agents also recently captured two Romanian nationals in Caswell after they crossed the border illegally.

Miami Herald [2/11/2025 4:36 PM, David Goodhue, 6595K] reports a boater found a burlap sack full of bricks of cocaine floating in the ocean off Fort Lauderdale, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. In total there were 25 bricks of cocaine weighing about 65 pounds, or almost 30 kilograms, the Border Patrol said in a statement posted on X. The bricks found Saturday were wrapped in plastic with a scorpion logo on the package, according to a photograph released by the agency.

Border Report [2/12/2025 2:48 AM, Sandra Sanchez, 153K] reports Sam Vale’s family has owned the Starr-Camargo International Bridge for decades in this remote border town in Starr County, Texas. They were elated last year when they received congressional and presidential approval to expand the bridge from two to six lanes. Now, as president of the Starr-Camargo Bridge Company, Vale is worried he might have to alter his plan designs after President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on steel Monday. Vale, 82, spoke with Border Report on Tuesday at the company’s new offices next to the bridge in Rio Grande City. He said the tariffs were more harmful than helpful. "You’re punishing the wrong people," he said. "It’s useless. It’s just a tax. It’s just like, you know, ‘I got to pay more money to do the same thing I did yesterday,’" said Vale. "You’re just increasing the cost of doing business with no additional benefits.” Vale sits on the boards of the nonprofits Border Trade Alliance, and Mexican Border Trade Alliance. He says the Trump’s tariffs on steel, as well as a 25% tariff on imports of aluminum, will hurt the South Texas border region economically. This could also affect maquiladoras — manufacturing plants that operate on both sides of the Rio Grande — especially automotive producers that depend on steel. "The pickup truck that they crossed in Laredo to San Antonio. They start with the frame on one side of the country of the border. They send it to the other side of the border, and they do anywhere from 8 to 12 trips across the border to have the efficient part of the material added," Vale said. In Pharr, the border town with the country’s No. 1 commercial crossing for fresh produce, large steel refrigerators are also used to warehouse shipments. Dante Galeazzi, president of the Texas International Produce Association, told Border Report the tariffs could affect those that are just beginning to build, but he doesn’t believe the they will affect his industry too much since many warehouses are well-established. "I don’t believe we are anticipating an impact as far as the fresh produce industry," Galeazzi said. "That impact would likely be felt by those who were building facilities, but that would be a very small percentage of our folks.”

CBS Austin [2/11/2025 2:23 PM, David Crary, 581K] reports the Texas National Guard has been granted new authority to make immigration arrests under specific circumstances, marking a significant shift in their role at the border. This change is part of a memorandum of understanding between Texas and the U.S. Border Patrol, which allows select National Guard members to arrest migrants if they are accompanied by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official or can reach one via phone or radio. Jon Taylor, Chair of Political Science and Geography at UTSA, described the agreement as unprecedented. "This is the first time this has ever been invoked. So we’re in kind of uncharted territory," Taylor said. Despite the new authority, the agreement does not include training requirements for the National Guard members, who are traditionally trained for military operations rather than law enforcement. Taylor noted, "National Guard members are not trained to be police officers, in essence, or to be county sheriffs.” The decision comes as the Texas Department of Public Safety reports a significant decrease in border crossings, with just over 300 reported on Sunday, February 9. DPS has also been authorized to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as they conduct operations around Texas. Taylor suggested that while the National Guard may not make many arrests because of the drop in crossings, the move sends a strong message to the federal government. "We’re helping yet again with border control and border enforcement, and we’re spending yet more money to do this. We need to be reimbursed for it before you guys take over," Taylor explained. The Texas National Guard agreement stipulates that Texas is responsible for all associated costs but encourages good recordkeeping in case CBP opts to reimburse. Governor Abbott is seeking federal reimbursement for $11 billion spent on border efforts in recent years. He is scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., this week to continue those discussions. The governor said in an interview that the chances taxpayers are on the hook for another $6.5 billion in spending toward border security in this year’s budget are contingent on whether the federal government reimburses Texas for its spending on border security initiatives over the last four years. "What we will have to learn over the course of this session is exactly what all the Trump administration will be doing, how that may be able to reduce what Texas is having to spend on the border," Abbott said. "One thing that we’ve seen is that illegal immigration across the border is slowed to just a trickle. If we’re able to maintain that, it means that the border is going to be more secure. If the border is more secure, we can recalibrate exactly what we need to spend."

Border Report [2/11/2025 12:11 PM, Melissa Luna, 153K] reports that a sex offender with an active warrant was arrested on Saturday, Feb. 8 by Santa Teresa Border Patrol agents after he tried to cross into the U.S. illegally, according to U.S. Border Patrol. Border Patrol says at around noon that Saturday, a man was apprehended by Santa Teresa agents after he tried to cross into the U.S illegally. The man was arrested and taken to a Santa Teresa station for processing. During fingerprinting, it was discovered that the man was facing a charge of sexual battery of a child back in 2020 in California, according to Border Patrol. The case was turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico for prosecution. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS Austin [2/11/2025 11:32 AM, Erika Esquivel, 581K] reports that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was arrested in El Paso, Texas on criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle undocumented noncitizens for financial gain and alleged drug trafficking activity. According to court documents, between on or about Dec. 21, 2023, and Feb. 5, 2025, Manuel Perez Jr., 32, of El Paso, allegedly smuggled and attempted to smuggle undocumented noncitizens into the United States for commercial advantage and private financial gain. The indictment alleges that, in multiple instances, Perez Jr. admitted a vehicle driven by an undocumented noncitizen at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso as part of human smuggling operations. Additionally, Perez Jr. allegedly conspired to possess a substance containing at least 5kg of cocaine from on or about Nov. 1, 2019 through and including Feb. 5, 2025, to distribute throughout Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and elsewhere. Perez Jr. is charged with one count of conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States for financial gain, three counts of bringing aliens to the United States for financial gain, an one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

Border Report [2/11/2025 3:29 PM, Julian Resendiz, 153K] reports two U.S. citizens and a Mexican national face arraignment this week for allegedly transporting 24 migrants inside a "cloned" Border Patrol K-9 vehicle. A Feb. 4 indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona alleges Uriel Perez, Jovani Sanchez and Keven Valdez Ramirez conspired to transport migrants from a breach in the border wall near Andrade, California, to a residence across the state line in Yuma, Arizona. A white Ford F-150 pickup customized to match a local federal K-9 unit down to the license plate number was used to pick up migrants at the wall on Jan. 8 and may have been used on a previous smuggling run last Dec. 10, according to court documents. The driver of the truck allegedly used a dark green shirt and hat resembling a Border Patrol uniform. The Explorer stopped at a nearby residence and that’s where agents with the Anti-Smuggling Unit arrested them. Court documents describe a chaotic scene following the arrests. The Border Patrol requested medical assistance and conducted a sweep of the home, finding additional people. At the end of the day, agents had in their custody 24 people found to be illegally present in the United States. Court documents state the agents requested a search warrant and later found clothing resembling Border Patrol uniforms inside.

Yahoo! News [2/11/2025 7:20 AM, Annabel Kusnitz, 57114K] reports TSA agents at Leahy BTV found two guns on a 49-year-old passenger during a security screening February 9. Authorities spotted the man with two P365 pistols and three loaded magazines. The passenger reportedly told agents that he forgot the firearms were on him. This is the first firearm detection at Leahy BTV this year, and the last one was September 7, 2024. In a release, Vermont TSA Federal Security Director Chuck Woyat said "When an individual shows up at a checkpoint with a firearm it can slow or shut down security screening until the police resolve the incident. "There are clear and simple rules for flying with firearms, and we want to make sure passengers understand them to avoid delays, fines, and potential legal consequences.”

FOX News [2/11/2025 10:52 AM, Greg Norman, 57114K] reports a New Jersey airline passenger allegedly told a flight attendant "I will really break your f----- jaw n----!" before threatening a pilot "six inches from his face" after the plane he was traveling on landed in Newark, federal prosecutors say. Luis Vaquero, 27, of Passaic County is now facing a federal charge following the "harrowing flight" Sunday from Miami, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. Federal prosecutors say the alleged passenger meltdown began shortly after takeoff when Vaquero started "threatening and harassing various passengers, including making threats of physical violence toward a disabled minor and mocking a group of Jewish passengers. "Vaquero also threatened a flight crew member who declined to serve Vaquero alcohol after the beverage service window closed, telling her, "You better watch out, s--- is gonna happen to you," the attorney’s office said. "Upon landing at Newark Liberty International Airport, flight attendants alerted law enforcement. After hearing the announcement that the airplane was awaiting the arrival of law enforcement, Vaquero forced his way to the front of the plane and began banging on the flight deck door, demanding, "I need the pilot to come outside!" federal prosecutors said. "When a flight attendant attempted to intervene, Vaquero yelled, ‘I will really break your f----- jaw n----!’ Vaquero also yelled, ‘I wanna see that f----- captain! Come outside you b---- a-- n-----!’ When the captain emerged, Vaquero continued to make threats to the captain while six inches from his face until law enforcement intervened," they added. Vaquero was charged with one count of interference with flight crew members and attendants by assault or intimidation. He made an initial court appearance Monday before being released. If convicted, Vaquero faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

The Hill [2/11/2025 2:35 PM, Rebecca Beitsch and Zack Budryk, 16346K] reports that the Office of the Special Counsel has found a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employee’s directive to avoid houses with Trump campaign signs during Hurricane Milton violated Hatch Act prohibitions on electioneering. Then-FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell testified before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the episode last November, shortly after the presidential election. Criswell has denied Washington was enacting any wider policy within FEMA or the Department of Homeland Security and said the agency would investigate the incident. Questioning at the hearing fell largely along partisan lines, with Trump allies such as Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) demanding answers on Washington’s claims about FEMA policies, while Democratic members including Rep. Maxwell Frost (Fla.) expressed concerns about the spread of misinformation around federal disaster relief efforts. But Washington argued FEMA was denying the conditions experienced by workers. "It would be nice if Ms. Criswell would be human and come to terms with the fact that FEMA has not addressed the safety concerns that the crew leads and the specialists experience out in the Field," Washington said. "There are plenty of reports that discuss hostile encounters, is how FEMA describes it, and our method is avoidance. I don’t understand why we’re hiding that from the American people." Democratic members of the Oversight Committee pointed to those same fears during the Criswell hearing, particularly in light of the misinformation concerns and threats against FEMA personnel. Both President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have signaled support for the outright abolition of FEMA and the outsourcing of its mission to state entities. The Hill has reached out to FEMA for comment.

Reported similarly:
AP [2/11/2025 5:44 PM, Alanna Durkin Richer]

NBC News [2/11/2025 12:49 PM, Jonathan Allen, 50804K] reports that a senior official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency instructed subordinates to freeze funding for a wide array of grant programs Monday, just hours after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration — for the second time — to stop such pauses. In an email with the subject line "URGENT: Holds on awards," Stacey Street, the director of the agency’s Office of Grant Administration, told her team to freeze funding for grant programs going back several years, including those focused on emergency preparedness, homeland security, firefighting, protecting churches from terrorism and tribal security. "For all awards FY23 and prior: put financial holds on all of your awards — all open awards, all years (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)," Street wrote, using the shorthand "FY" for fiscal year. NBC News obtained screenshots of the email from a recipient, who requested anonymity out of fear of reprisal. "There’s a lot of people who are running scared and trying to appease [the new administration]," the recipient said. "This is a violation of the court order." Street did not immediately return a request for comment. Earlier Monday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell had said the Trump administration continued to implement a White House memo — which has since been rescinded — blocking federal grant programs despite his directive restraining the implementation of that order. Four FEMA officials were fired Tuesday. Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, declined to name the four officials. When asked why they were let go, McLaughlin referred to New York grants.

Washington Examiner [2/11/2025 3:49 PM, Gabe Kaminsky, 2365K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is set to be a key target of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, is facing a complaint for reportedly deleting a group chat on the taxpayers’ dime. The national security watchdog group is pressing for an investigation into whether employees at FEMA violated federal law when they apparently deleted an LGBT "pride" chat on the Microsoft Teams software just as President Donald Trump took office in January. The complaint comes as DOGE, the Trump administration’s cost-cutting effort that counts businessman Elon Musk as its leader, takes aim at FEMA.

Bloomberg [2/11/2025 11:32 AM, Josh Wingrove, 21617K] reports that President Donald Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be eliminated, widening his fight against the federal bureaucracy that he has denounced as a “deep state” working against his interests. Trump lacks the authority to unilaterally disband FEMA; the agency is authorized by Congress and has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. Such a move would dramatically transform how the US government handles disaster assistance. “FEMA should be terminated,” Trump said in Tuesday post on his social media network, reiterating his belief that shifting disaster response and recovery to individual states would save the government money and be more efficient. The president’s comments Tuesday are his most direct yet on abolishing FEMA. In his post, Trump said FEMA “is now under review and investigation.” The president’s latest broadside against FEMA comes after Elon Musk, whom Trump handpicked to root out the federal bureaucracy, attacked the agency for sending payments to New York City to house migrants, which the billionaire said defied Trump’s immigration policies. FEMA is terminating four employees “for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments,” the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency, said Tuesday in a statement.

Newsweek [2/11/2025 5:30 PM, Jesus Mesa, 56005K] reports President Donald Trump has once again called for the termination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), stating that the agency has been ineffective and biased in its disaster relief efforts. Trump escalated his attack on FEMA after his administration fired four of its employees, including the agency’s chief financial officer, for their roles in disbursing payments with federal funds to house migrants in New York City hotels. FEMA and other officials denied his claims, providing evidence to refute them. While Trump could order an internal review of FEMA and propose structural changes, dismantling the agency would require congressional approval.

FOX News [2/11/2025 11:54 AM, Taylor Penley, 49889K] reports that North Carolina residents are slamming FEMA after DOGE lead Elon Musk claimed the agency recently spent nearly $60 million on illegal immigrants in New York City, despite reportedly running on empty when it comes to helping American citizens affected by Hurricane Helene. "It is absolutely infuriating to see millions and millions of dollars going to someone that doesn’t have a Social Security number, did not pay taxes, is not an American citizen getting all of this money to go live in a luxury hotel in New York when people we’re working with can’t even get the bare minimum from FEMA. It’s crazy," Weaverville, North Carolina resident Matt Van Swol told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday. After driving by people living in tents for months on end, waiting for FEMA’s help, he accused the agency of leaving them "high and dry." The nearly $60 million given to illegal migrants is "mind-blowing," he added. The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Tuesday that "four employees are being fired today for circumventing leadership and unilaterally making the egregious payment for hotels for migrants in New York City."

AZ Central [2/11/2025 4:47 PM, Lauren De Young, 6018K] reports that a 400-acre fire blazed in the Prescott National Forest, forcing nearby residents in Pine Flats to evacuate. The Brady Fire west of Mayer, Arizona, was at 0% containment Tuesday morning, officials said in a Facebook post. Little growth was reported overnight as cooler temperatures moderated fire behavior, officials said. Smoke was visible in the surrounding communities including Prescott, Chino Valley, Prescott Valley and Crown King. Officials responded to the fire near Pine Flats off Forest Road 67 around 3 p.m. Monday, and by 5:30 p.m., the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office ordered an evacuation of Pine Flats. The Sheriff’s Office also closed County Road 177 into Pine Flat. Five crews, 15 engines and one bulldozer were deployed to fight the fire. Officials from the Prescott National Forest and the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, as well as the Prescott Hot Shots, were on the scene. The fire swallowed brush and chaparral, a type of shrub, authorities said in the Facebook post. Ansgar Mitchell, a public information officer with the Forest Service, said that having a fire this early in the year is "relatively abnormal." "(The dryness) is one of the factors," Mitchell said. But other factors, such as the wind, have fueled the fire. Mitchell also mentioned the fire was in a rural, mountainous area. Officials said the cause of the fire was under investigation, but it was not due to a prescribed burn. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Newsweek [2/11/2025 6:49 PM, Anna Skinner, 56005K] reports in the past 24 hours, at least five earthquakes have struck California. Hundreds of people felt shaking from the quakes over the past 24 hours. Around 2 p.m. Monday afternoon, a 2.7-magnitude quake struck about 6.2 miles north-northeast of Ocotillo Wells in Southern California. There were no reports of shaking. A 3.3-magnitude quake struck about 9.3 miles northeast of Little Lake, California, just before 2:30 p.m. local time Monday. One person reported that they felt the shaking. A 3.0-magnitude quake struck around 26 miles north-northeast of Toms Place, California, around 4:32 p.m. Pacific time Monday. No reports of shaking were filed with the USGS. Just before 10 p.m. Monday, a 3.4-magnitude earthquake struck roughly 3 miles north/northeast of San Bernardino, California. More than 500 people felt the shaking, the USGS reports said, as it was reported in Riverside, Victorville and Hemet. A 2.6-magnitude quake hit near Los Banos, California, around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. No one reported on the USGS site that they felt the shaking. In addition to the five quakes that have struck in the past 24 hours in California, several also struck offshore northwest of Petrolia, California. The strongest of those quakes was a 4.1-magnitude one just after midnight Tuesday, felt by at least 137 people, according to the USGS reports.

CBS News [2/11/2025 6:16 PM, Nicole Sganga, 52225K] reports U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe, who formerly served as acting director of the agency, announced Tuesday he’s retiring. Rowe led the agency until Sean Curran was appointed director last month. The current intergovernmental and legislative affairs assistant director, Darryl Volpicelli, has been assigned to be acting deputy director in the interim, according to the message to the workforce. Richard Giuditta, Jr., a political appointee and former partner at a New York based boutique law practice, will serve as a senior adviser for the agency. Giuditta is the first "Schedule C" political appointee to serve as senior adviser to the Secret Service. Curran also revealed that the agency will onboard a senior official from the Intelligence Community to help shape the agency’s protective mission with "both technical and covert expertise to strengthen our strategic intelligence posture," though that intelligence official has not yet been named.

UPI [2/11/2025 5:53 PM, Mike Heuer, 57114K] reports the Potomac River is open again after federal recovery teams concluded their salvage operations following the deadly collision between a commercial airliner and a U.S. Army helicopter on Jan. 29. Officials for the unified command consisting of the Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District, U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving on Tuesday announced the completion of the recovery effort on Tuesday and six days sooner than expected. "With wreckage removal and demobilization behind us, the Potomac is once again safe for navigation," said USACE Baltimore District Commander Col. Francis Pera. "It is our hope that this helps provide the region a small sense of normalcy following this tragic event." Dive operations on Monday confirmed all major components from the two aircraft were recovered. "We are proud of the unified efforts and partnerships that endured through this response and helped make this mission successful," Pera said of the recovery effort. "Each day, we thought of those who lost their lives, their loved ones and the many incident responders impacted by this tragic event."

FOX News [2/11/2025 7:34 PM, Greg Wehner, 57114K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard apprehended 11 Mexican fishermen in federal waters off southern Texas, while seizing roughly 1,600 pounds of illegally caught red snapper and nine sharks. Last Thursday, Coast Guard Station South Padre, along with several other Coast Guard divisions and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) located and stopped four boats, or lanchas, off the Texas coast, which were in federal waters just north of the maritime boundary line. Lanchas, the Coast Guard said, are slender fishing boats used by Mexican fishermen that are about 20 to 30 feet long and outfitted with an outboard motor and capable of traveling at speeds over 30 mph. Oftentimes, lanchas are used to transport illegal narcotics into the U.S., but also for illegal fishing in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone near the U.S. and Mexico border in the Gulf of America. When Coast Guard crews encountered the lanchas in federal waters, they discovered there were about 1,600 pounds of red snapper on the boats, as well as nine sharks. The fish were seized along with the fishing gear and highflyers, which are used to mark the beginning and end of long fishing lines. Authorities also took all 11 fishermen into custody and transferred them to CPB officials for further processing. "Our crews will not pull back from efforts to end illegal fishing and trafficking of valuable natural resources on the maritime border. We remain committed to enforcing the laws of this nation," said Lt. Shane Gunderson, commanding officer of Station South Padre Island. "Whether on the southern border or along the maritime boundary line in the Gulf of America, the Coast Guard will detect, deter, and interdict illicit activity that threatens our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity."

CyberScoop [2/11/2025 12:00 PM, Tim Starks] reports governments of the United States’ chief adversaries in cyberspace, especially Russia, have increasingly been relying on cybercriminals and their tools to advance their goals, according to a Google report published Tuesday. There’s long been overlap between government and criminal cyber operators, but governments are now enjoying the benefits of collaboration and borrowing more — both for the general boons they can provide, but also in response to some specific conditions, the Google Threat Intelligence Group report concludes. “Google assesses that resource constraints and operational demands have contributed to Russian cyber espionage groups’ increasing use of free or publicly available malware and tooling, including those commonly employed by criminal actors to conduct their operations,” it states. The war in Ukraine has driven Russia in particular. For instance, since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military intelligence-sponsored hackers known alternately as APT44, Sandworm and by other names have used cybercriminal malware like Radthief and Warzone, the latter of which was the target of a U.S. operation to seize internet domains used to sell it last year. But Google has watched similar trends from China, Iran and North Korea. In May of last year, Google saw an Iranian hacking group also using Radthief. “The vast cybercriminal ecosystem has acted as an accelerant for state-sponsored hacking, providing malware, vulnerabilities, and in some cases full-spectrum operations to states,” said Ben Read, senior manager for the group. “These capabilities can be cheaper and more deniable than those developed directly by a state.” Sometimes the overlap is more direct. China has used cybercriminal gangs to hide its espionage efforts, for example, Google said. Other cyber firms, such as Trellix, have likewise noticed an increase in the blurriness of the lines between nation-states and criminals. “Recent evidence suggests an unsettling convergence of tactics, techniques, and even objectives, making it challenging to distinguish between them,” Tomer Shloman, a security researcher at the company, wrote last month. It all leads to the notion that cybercrime is a threat to national security, not just wallets, according to Google. “Cybercrime has unquestionably become a critical national security threat to countries around the world,” said Sandra Joyce, vice president of Google Threat Intelligence. “The marketplace at the center of the cybercrime ecosystem has made every actor easily replaceable and the whole problem resilient to disruption.”

Yahoo! News [2/11/2025 11:40 AM, Carly Page, 57114K] reports the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has placed several members of its election security team on administrative leave, the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed to TechCrunch. The Associated Press, citing a person familiar with the situation, reported on Tuesday that 17 CISA employees have been placed on leave pending review. In a statement to TechCrunch, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), confirmed that CISA employees working on foreign influence operations and disinformation had been placed on administrative leave. McLaughlin did not confirm how many employees had been placed on leave but did not dispute the 17 figure reported by the Associated Press. "As Secretary Noem stated during her confirmation hearing, CISA needs to refocus on its mission, and we are starting with election security," McLaughlin said to TechCrunch. "The agency is undertaking an evaluation of how it has executed its election security mission with a particular focus on any work related to mis-, dis-, and malformation. "While the agency conducts the assessment, personnel who worked on mis-, dis-, and malinformation, as well as foreign influence operations and disinformation, have been placed on administrative leave.” The affected employees had worked with election officials to counter a range of cybersecurity threats, including ransomware and the physical security of election workers. According to the Associated Press, 10 of the employees were regional security election officials hired to bolster election security ahead of the 2024 election. The reported move comes amid uncertainty about the future of CISA, which was formed in 2018 during the first Trump administration. President Trump has not yet named a replacement for former CISA director Jen Easterly, who departed the agency on January 20. When reached for comment, CISA deferred to the DHS.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [2/11/2025 7:46 PM, A.J. Vicens, 48128K]

NPR [2/11/2025 7:47 PM, Jenna McLaughlin, 21K] reports the new Trump administration is moving quickly to roll back long-standing work to counter foreign influence in U.S. elections, work that began in the first Trump term after revelations about the extent and ambition of Russia’s efforts to sway the 2016 election. Staffers working on countering foreign mis- and disinformation as well as a team of 10 regional election security advisers at the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have been put on administrative leave, according to two sources directly familiar with the matter who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. In addition to the disruption to CISA’s work, Attorney General Pam Bondi also ordered an end to an FBI task force to combat foreign influence campaigns in American politics by Russia, China and other countries. The order seeks to "free resources to address more pressing priorities, and end risks of further weaponization and abuses of prosecutorial discretion, the Foreign Influence Task Force shall be disbanded." She also rolled back the Justice Department’s enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act that has been used to prosecute Americans receiving covert funding from other countries. Experts working on technology, human rights and digital governance at the United States Agency for International Development can no longer do their work during a Trump administration effort to shut down the agency, leaving a vacuum for Russia and China to step in, experts have argued. In his first term, President Trump frequently aired his frustrations about the allegations that Russia interfered on his behalf. U.S. government officials have also outlined attempts by adversaries like Iran to damage Trump’s candidacy for office. Trump has also repeatedly alleged that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was "stolen" without any evidence, claims that CISA directly countered at the time and led to the dismissal of the agency’s head at the time.

Miami Herald [2/11/2025 7:21 PM, Gabe Whisnant, 6595K] reports a North Carolina man pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday after officials said he attempted to board an international flight last year to join the Islamic State (ISIS) group. Federal prosecutors said Alexander Justin White, a U.S. citizen from Durham, was arrested at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on December 4 following a months-long investigation that uncovered his plan to travel to Morocco to align with the terrorist organization. On January 1, 2025, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar executed a deadly attack in New Orleans’ French Quarter, driving a rented Ford F-150 Lightning into crowds on Bourbon Street during New Year’s celebrations. The assault led to 15 fatalities, including Jabbar, who was later killed by police, and injured at least 57 others. An ISIS flag was discovered in his vehicle, and subsequent investigations revealed that Jabbar had pledged allegiance to the group in videos posted shortly before the attack. The FBI concluded that Jabbar was inspired by the ideology but acted independently without direct foreign support. White pleaded guilty in the U.S. Eastern District of North Carolina court to conspiring to provide and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Washington Post [2/11/2025 6:28 PM, Holly Bailey, 40736K] reports a Georgia man facing murder and manslaughter charges after his teenage son allegedly shot and killed four people at an Atlanta-area high school was granted a $500,000 bond Tuesday, potentially paving the way for his release five months after his arrest. Colin Gray was indicted in October on 29 charges, including second-degree murder, manslaughter, cruelty to children and reckless conduct, in connection with the Sept. 4 attack at Apalachee High School where his son, Colt, is accused of killing two classmates and two teachers and wounding several others. The elder Gray was arrested and charged two days after the shooting and has been detained without bond at the Barrow County Detention Center. The case marks the first time nationwide that the parent of an alleged school shooter has been charged with murder. On Tuesday, the elder Gray took the stand on his own behalf during an hour-long bond hearing, where he swore under oath that he would “absolutely” attend court hearings and abide by bail conditions if released. Prosecutors have sought to portray Gray, 54, as a negligent father who ignored his son’s deteriorating mental health and growing obsession with school shootings. They allege he gave Colt Gray the AR-style rifle used in the attack even as he had “knowledge” that his son was a “threat to himself and others.” The elder Gray has pleaded not guilty to all charges and faces upward of 180 years in prison if convicted.

The Hill [2/11/2025 1:47 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 16346K] reports that a California teenager was sentenced to 48 months in prison on Tuesday following a series of interstate threats to injure individuals across the country. Alan W. Filion, 18, of Lancaster, Calif., made more than 375 swatting and threat calls to authorities in which he claimed to have planted bombs, threatened to detonate bombs or conduct mass shootings at those locations between August 2022 and January 2024, according to the plea agreement. He is said to have targeted religious institutions, high schools, colleges and universities, as well as government officials and numerous individuals across the U.S. Filion said some of the calls were self-motivated and that he was paid for other instances, according to the Department of Justice. The teenager was arrested in California on Florida state charges in late January following a May 2023 threat he made to a religious institution in Sanford, Fla., where he claimed to have an illegally modified AR-15, a Glock 17 pistol, pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails. Filion said that he was going to imminently "commit a mass shooting" and "kill everyone" he saw. He pleaded guilty in federal court to making that threat. He’s pleaded guilty to several other similar crimes in Washington, Texas and Florida. CBS Los Angeles [2/11/2025 2:01 PM, Marissa Wenzke, 52225K] reports federal prosecutors said he intended for the calls to result in major emergency responses by law enforcement. This led to some calls that left law enforcement officers unavailable to respond to real emergencies while they were busy responding to the fake threats being reported by Filion, according to prosecutors. Meanwhile, some calls resulted in officers arriving to a given location with their weapons drawn and detaining people, prosecutors said. The teenager was arrested in connection with Florida state charges on Jan. 18, 2024. In that case, he said he was going to "commit a mass shooting" and "kill everyone" — making the threat against a religious institution in Sanford, Florida in May 2023 while claiming to have pipe bombs, an illegally modified AR-15, a Glock 17 pistol and Molotov cocktails, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to making that threat in federal court. In a statement, the Justice Department details three other swatting calls which Filion has pleaded guilty to.

CBS News [2/11/2025 9:43 AM, Kaia Hubbard, 52225K] reports the Senate is expected to vote late Tuesday or early Wednesday on Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation for director of national intelligence, after her nomination survived a crucial committee vote last week and cleared a key procedural hurdle Monday. Gabbard, 43, is a former Democratic congresswoman who represented Hawaii in the House from 2013 to 2021, and sought the party’s nomination for president in the 2020 election. In 2022, she opted to leave the party, and she endorsed President Trump’s 2024 White House bid. Gabbard was previously seen as one of the most unlikely of Mr. Trump’s picks to get through the Senate. Though she served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, Gabbard doesn’t have a background in intelligence. And she faced scrutiny for meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2017, as well as her comments about Russia’s war in Ukraine, her previous opposition to renewing a key government surveillance authority and a push to pardon National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden. During her hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee last month, Gabbard was grilled by both Democrats and Republicans on many of the actions and positions that have sparked controversy, with the most contentious moments of the hearing surrounding whether she would characterize Snowden as a "traitor." Gabbard declined to say so. But as the committee prepared to hold a vote on whether to advance Gabbard’s nomination last week, possible GOP opposition fell by the wayside. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Todd Young of Indiana both pledged to back Gabbard, and her nomination eked through with a 9-8 vote along party lines to recommend her confirmation. The full Senate went on to advance Gabbard’s nomination 52-46 in a party-line procedural vote Monday night, though Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania did not vote. The vote started the clock on up to 30 hours of debate before a vote on final passage. Senate Majority Leader John Thune praised Gabbard ahead of the procedural vote Monday, calling her "a patriot" who is "motivated by service.” "The intelligence community needs to refocus on its core mission — collecting intelligence and providing unbiased analysis of that information," Thune said. "That’s what Tulsi Gabbard is committed to ensuring if she is confirmed to be DNI. And I believe she has the knowledge and leadership capabilities to get it done.”

CNN [2/11/2025 9:45 AM, Veronica Stracqualursi and Jamie Gangel, 57114K] reports the FBI has discovered about 2,400 new records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy from a new records search following an executive order from President Donald Trump. The FBI said in a statement Monday that it performed a new search of records following Trump’s January 23 executive order, which directed the release of more documents related to the assassinations of JFK, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. "The search resulted in approximately 2,400 newly inventoried and digitized records that were previously unrecognized as related to the JFK assassination case file," the bureau said in a statement. Axios first reported on the discovery. The statement does not provide additional information about what the records say. Since 2020, the FBI began collecting closed case paper files from FBI field offices across the country to be housed in its "Central Records Complex" in Virginia. The FBI said it can now more quickly comb through and find records as a result of the "more comprehensive" inventory and "technologic advances in automating" its record-keeping processes. The FBI said it is working to turn over the documents to the National Archives and Records Administration to be included in the "ongoing declassification process.” During Trump’s first term, the US government released more than 2,800 records related to JFK’s assassination to comply with a 1992 law mandating the documents’ release. Roughly 300 files, however, were classified out of concern for US national security, law enforcement and foreign relations. Another document release came in 2018. In 2023, the Biden administration said the National Archives had concluded its review of the classified JFK assassination documents, with 99% of the records having been publicly released. Trump vowed during his 2024 campaign to unseal all the documents related to the JFK assassination, which has been the subject of several conspiracy theories. Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963, while riding in an open convertible limousine through downtown Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and charged in Kennedy’s assassination but was killed before he could stand trial.

FOX News [2/11/2025 1:47 PM, Bonny Chu and Danielle Wallace, 49889K] reports that President Donald Trump has paused the enforcement of a law that criminalizes American businesses that bribe foreign officials in an executive order signed on Monday. The order, which directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to stop enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), is intended to further American economic growth by eliminating excessive barriers to American commerce abroad. "It sounds good on paper, but in practicality, it’s a disaster," Trump said about the FCPA. "It means that if an American goes over to a foreign country and starts doing business over there illegally, legitimately or otherwise, it’s almost a guaranteed investigation indictment. And nobody wants to do business with the Americans because of it," Trump continued. According to the DOJ, the FCPA was enacted in 1977 to make it "unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business.” However, the act has been "stretched beyond proper bounds and abused in a manner that harms the interests of the United States." Enforcing the FCPA also "actively harms American economic competitiveness and, therefore, national security," the order states.

The Hill [2/11/2025 1:06 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 16346K] reports that a coalition of 30 House Democrats is asking Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose Kash Patel’s nomination to lead the FBI. The letter comes just days before the panel is set to advance Patel’s nomination out of committee. "The nomination of Mr. Patel, an individual with almost no law enforcement experience and a history of politically charged and inflammatory statements is clearly a break from tradition and one that deserves extensive scrutiny as a result," wrote Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), who spearheaded the letter. "He has published a list of political opponents in his book and has promised to shut down the FBI headquarters on his first day in office. The FBI Director is not a position for an erratic political actor focused on retribution." While Democrats have been staunch in their opposition to Patel, Republicans have been enthusiastic in their support for him. The House Democrats pointed to "demonstrated inconsistencies" in Patel’s testimony to the panel, including one in which the nominee misrepresented his role in promoting a song recorded by a group of jailed Jan. 6 defendants. He also said he had no insight into potential firings at the FBI, comments made the day before a purge of FBI officials.

Wall Street Journal [2/11/2025 10:07 AM, Sam Schechner and Stacy Meichtry] reports the Trump administration wants the U.S. to dominate the artificial-intelligence revolution and is warning American allies to get on board with its light-touch approach to tech regulation or risk being left out. The U.S. is winning the race to build the best AI-training chips and the most advanced AI algorithms, and “intends to keep it that way,” Vice President JD Vance told a collection of world leaders—including French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi—gathered Tuesday for an AI summit in the French capital. Vance’s remarks stood in contrast to the push by other leaders at the summit to agree on a common set of principles that they say will lead to safe AI systems that are energy efficient and available to the developing world. Dozens of governments attending the summit signed a joint declaration on those goals that the U.S. and U.K. declined to endorse, delivering a major setback to the summit’s ambition to build an international consensus around the new technology. The divisions were thrown into relief as Vance left the summit before its conclusion, skipping the customary group photo with other leaders. U.S. willingness to join with foreign capitals to build AI systems, Vance said, will require a regulatory landscape that “fosters the creation of AI technology rather than strangles it.” “We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off,” Vance said, before citing European regulations that he said pose an unfair burden on American companies. “We need our European friends in particular to look to this new frontier with optimism rather than trepidation.” The European Union’s executive arm has used new digital competition and content-moderation laws to target U.S. tech companies including Meta Platforms, Elon Musk’s X and Apple for alleged violations that could lead to billions of dollars in fines.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/11/2025 3:26 PM, David E. Sanger, 161405K]
USA Today [2/11/2025 11:41 AM, Jeffrey Dastin and Ingrid Melander, 89965K]

Wall Street Journal [2/11/2025 9:21 PM, Tarini Parti and Alan Cullison] reports President Trump is dispatching Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky, as the new administration takes on his pledge to end the nearly three-year-old war. “This War MUST and WILL END SOON—Too much Death and Destruction,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. “The U.S. has spent BILLIONS of Dollars Globally, with little to show. WHEN AMERICA IS STRONG, THE WORLD IS AT PEACE.” Trump has said he is open to supplying Ukraine with more weapons in exchange for access to the country’s mineral resources. “They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas, in terms of other things,” Trump said in a Fox News interview, which aired in full on Monday. “They may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday. But we’re going to have all this money in there and I say, I want it back,” he said. Trump said he wants the equivalent of roughly $500 billion in rare earth minerals. Ukraine’s lithium and titanium reserves are estimated to be among Europe’s largest. The country also holds substantial deposits of cobalt and nickel, vital for high-performance batteries and aerospace superalloys used in the defense industry, said Heidi Crebo-Rediker, a senior fellow at the Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. Ukraine has indicated it is interested in an exchange of aid for its resources. But putting the plan into practice might not be so easy because many of the minerals of greatest interest to the U.S. are in areas under Russian occupation or threatened by Moscow’s advance. Access to some of the resources could depend on Ukraine’s success on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces are advancing. Zelensky plans to meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference later this week, Zelensky’s spokesman said. Trump has also indicated he had been in touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he declined to tell reporters on Air Force One on Sunday when and how often he has spoken to him since taking office. “I do believe we’re making progress,” Trump said. “We want to stop the Ukraine-Russia war, and I want to stop it, just because I hate to see all these young people being killed.”

Newsweek [2/11/2025 7:13 AM, Brendan Cole, 6595K] reports Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina, has proposed reauthorizing a lend-lease agreement to provide Ukraine with weapons to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he described as a "war criminal.” Newsweek has contacted Wilson’s office and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for comment. In 2022, Congress passed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act to facilitate the supply of materiel to Kyiv to fight Russia. The bill expired in September 2023 without being used. The legislation was akin to the World War II Lend-Lease Act, in which equipment is supplied at no cost and is to be used until returned or destroyed. As questions hang over U.S. aid for Ukraine, a new lend-lease deal could give Kyiv weapons without drawing on American taxpayer dollars. On Monday, Wilson announced on X, formerly Twitter, that he would introduce the first lend-lease act to give President Donald Trump the authority to arm Ukraine against Russia. The $895 billion U.S. defense bill that Congress passed in December did not include a provision to extend the lend-lease act for Kyiv. However, Ukrainian diplomats have been lobbying for its reintroduction as it would allow the U.S. president to loan or lease arms to Ukraine while cutting through congressional red tape. Wilson, who chairs the U.S. Helsinki Commission and the National Security and Foreign Affairs Task Force, wrote that he would introduce the Freedom First Lend-Lease Act to "give President Trump flexible authorities to send war-winning weapons to our partners including Ukraine.” The representative said the move could help bring Russia "to the table through American strength.” U.S. weapons approved for supply by former President Joe Biden are still being supplied to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, told Reuters. However, amid speculation over Washington’s military aid for Ukraine, the Trump administration intends to get allies in Europe to start buying American weapons for Ukraine, the news agency reported.

New York Times [2/11/2025 1:18 PM, Constant Méheut, 161405K] reports that Ukrainian Parliament on Tuesday passed a contentious bill allowing the government to purchase two unused, Russian-made nuclear reactors from Bulgaria for at least $600 million — a project that has faced sharp criticism over its high cost and yearslong timeline. The Ukrainian government plans to install the two reactors at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in western Ukraine, arguing they will help reinforce a grid crippled by relentless Russian attacks. Bulgaria bought them more than a decade ago from Russia’s state-owned nuclear giant, Rosatom, but they never went into operation. Energy experts and anti-corruption activists say the reactors will take years to install and that the funds would be better spent on weapon procurement or on immediate solutions to strengthen Ukraine’s energy resilience, such as installing small gas turbines across the country. There are also concerns that the project could serve as a front for money laundering, given the history of corruption cases tied to Ukraine’s energy ministry and Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear company overseeing the purchase. Several top officials and employees have been arrested in recent months and charged with taking bribes.

Wall Street Journal [2/11/2025 11:07 PM, Alan Cullison, Louise Radnofsky and Victoria Albert] reports American Marc Fogel arrived in the U.S. on Tuesday night after his release from Russia, where he was arrested in 2021 on marijuana charges, in a deal brokered by President Trump’s special envoy. The Trump administration hailed Fogel’s release as a harbinger of improving relations with Russia and possible progress on talks to end the war in Ukraine. The private plane of the envoy, Steve Witkoff, had been spotted by online flight trackers in Moscow earlier Tuesday. The Kremlin had denied knowledge of his presence there. Fogel was personally greeted by Trump at the White House later Tuesday, arriving on the South Lawn, with an American flag draped around his neck. He thanked the president, his staff, and the Fogel family as he walked under an awning and into the White House. “I feel like the luckiest man on earth right now,” Fogel said. “I will forever be indebted to President Trump, to Steve over there.” “It’s great to have you back,” Trump replied. “I appreciate very much what they did in letting Marc go home…We got a man home whose mother and family wanted him desperately, whose state wanted him.” Trump didn’t directly answer a reporter’s question about the deal that freed Fogel, characterizing it as “very fair” and suggesting that an additional prisoner would be released as early as Wednesday, without saying whether that was an American or a Russian. Instead, he focused on goodwill “in terms of the war…It’s a very important evening for ending that war,” he said, referring to the war in Ukraine. Fogel’s release highlights the unusual style of negotiating with Russia by Trump, who apparently shunned formal diplomatic channels and instead relied on his personal envoy, Witkoff, in the handoff.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/11/2025 1:11 PM, Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, Julian E. Barnes, and Anton Troianovski, 161405K]
Washington Post [2/11/2025 1:59 PM, Karen DeYoung and Sabrina Rodriguez, 40736K]
The Hill [2/11/2025 2:06 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 16346K]
FOX News [2/11/2025 6:57 AM, Anders Hagstrom, 49889K]

Reuters [2/12/2025 5:11 AM, Dmitry Antonov, 5.2M] reports the Kremlin said on Wednesday that a Russian citizen was freed from a U.S. prison in exchange for Moscow’s release of jailed American schoolteacher Marc Fogel. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian will return home in the coming days, at which point Moscow will release their name. Fogel, 63, landed back in the U.S. on Tuesday after serving three and a half years in a Russian prison for a drug conviction.

Newsweek [2/11/2025 7:14 AM, Amir Daftari, 56005K] reports Hamas has dismissed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning that "all hell" will break loose if the group does not release the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza by Saturday. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri reiterated that hostages would only be freed if Israel abides by a ceasefire agreement reached last month. "Trump must remember there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties," he said. Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment via email. The fragile ceasefire, which has facilitated hostage exchanges and humanitarian aid deliveries, is at risk of collapse. The failure to secure a lasting agreement could reignite violence and escalate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Trump’s call for Israel to abandon the truce if Hamas does not comply adds further uncertainty to an already volatile situation. Hamas has threatened to delay the scheduled release of three Israeli hostages on Saturday, alleging that Israel has breached the ceasefire by blocking humanitarian aid, including tents and shelters, from reaching civilians. Zuhri warned that threats from U.S. officials would not alter Hamas’s stance. Trump declared on Monday that Israel should cancel the ceasefire if Hamas fails to release all hostages by midday Saturday, though he acknowledged that the final decision rests with Israeli leadership. His comments have fueled concerns about an imminent return to military operations. As part of the first phase of the truce, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages taken during its 2023 attack in exchange for Israel freeing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Since January 19, five exchanges have taken place, resulting in the release of 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian detainees. However, the second phase of the ceasefire—requiring Hamas to release all remaining hostages in exchange for a prolonged truce—remains unresolved. If no deal is reached, military operations could resume as early as March, Israeli officials have warned.

New York Times [2/11/2025 5:22 PM, Adam Rasgon and Aaron Boxerman, 161405K] reports that for years, the Palestinian administration in the occupied West Bank has doled out hundreds of millions of dollars in stipends to the families of Palestinians jailed or killed by Israel — including those involved in violent attacks. The United States and Israel have long condemned the payments and pressured the Palestinian Authority to end them. And on Monday, the Authority announced that it was backing away from the practice — a shift that analysts saw as an attempt to curry favor with President Trump and bring much-needed foreign aid into Palestinian coffers. Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue, said the move was aimed to bring the Palestinian administration into compliance with American law and to allow for more foreign aid to flow. A U.S. law banned direct American economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority as long as it carried out the practice. The ban has only deepened the economic distress of the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority in recent years and it has increasingly struggled to make ends meet and to pay its employees’ monthly salaries. Mahmoud Abbas, the aging Palestinian Authority president, issued a decree on Monday night that overhauled the payment system. The stipends have been one of the most emotionally charged issues in Palestinian politics.

Wall Street Journal [2/11/2025 2:00 PM, Carrie Keller-Lynn and Summer Said] reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Hamas release Israeli hostages by noon Saturday or face a return to war, a deadline President Trump said he didn’t think the militant group would meet. Hamas set off a rupture in the talks Monday by saying it would postpone the release of the three hostages scheduled to be freed this weekend to protest delays in deliveries of humanitarian goods. Trump, commenting on the possible delay, warned Hamas on Monday that he would “let hell break out” if the hostages weren’t returned Saturday. “I don’t think they’re going to make the deadline personally,” Trump said Tuesday. “I think they, they want to play tough guy, but we’ll see how tough they are.” Netanyahu picked up on Trump’s threats, issuing an ultimatum of his own after a security cabinet meeting Tuesday. “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the cease-fire will end and the IDF will resume intense fighting until the final defeat of Hamas,” Netanyahu said, referring to Israel’s military. The security cabinet met to discuss the snags in the deal and expressed support for Trump’s comments, an Israeli official said. Israel said it also would pause efforts to implement the agreement and suspend negotiations for follow-on phases of the deal, in which more hostages would be released in exchange for an end to the war. The terms of the deal call for 33 hostages to be released during the first phase, with three coming out every Saturday in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas has already released 16, and eight are believed to be dead, leaving nine alive and still captive. Talks were supposed to begin last week on a transition to phase two, where a release of the rest of the hostages and a permanent end to the war were to be discussed. Those talks have yet to happen.

Reported similarly:
AP [2/11/2025 5:05 PM, Josef Federman and Sam Metz, 47097K]

Reuters [2/11/2025 2:03 PM, Michelle Nichols, 30936K] reports that Iran alerted the United Nations on Tuesday to what it described as "reckless and inflammatory statements" by U.S. President Donald Trump threatening the use of force, and warned that "any act of aggression will have severe consequences." In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, seen by Reuters, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani referenced remarks made by Trump in interviews with the New York Post and Fox News, in which he spoke of a preference to do a deal to stop Tehran getting a nuclear weapon over bombing the country. "These reckless and inflammatory statements flagrantly violate international law and the U.N. Charter," Iravani wrote to the 15-member council. "The Islamic Republic of Iran warns that any act of aggression will have severe consequences, for which the U.S. will bear full responsibility," he said. "Iran will resolutely defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests against any hostile action." Trump last week restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He also said he was open to a deal and expressed a willingness to talk to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian. Pezeshkian on Monday questioned the United States’ sincerity, while Iravani wrote in his letter that the U.S. policy "reinforces unlawful, unilateral coercive measures and escalates hostility against Iran." Iravani urged the U.N. Security Council to condemn Trump’s "brazen rhetoric."

New York Times [2/12/2025 12:01 AM, Mujib Mashal, 161405K] reports that, as he prepared to go to Washington this week, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, spoke of building on the warm relations he shared with President Trump during his first term in the White House. But Mr. Trump can be a fickle friend. So when Mr. Modi meets with him on Thursday, he is expected to bear offerings designed to ease emerging points of friction and preserve growing U.S.-India ties. One major focus is trade. Indian officials have said that domestic companies are in talks to increase purchases of American energy supplies, particularly liquefied natural gas. The two leaders are also expected to discuss expanded spending on U.S. defense equipment and potentially announce new deals. In addition, Mr. Modi can point to recent reductions in Indian tariffs on high-end American motorcycles — namely Harley-Davidsons — and the prospect of lower duties on goods like bourbon and pecans, which are produced mainly in Republican states. These moves, though largely symbolic in some cases, are intended to placate Mr. Trump’s irritation over the American trade deficit with India and the high import duties that make India a difficult market to enter. On another big source of tension, illegal immigration, Mr. Modi has already offered concessions. India accounts for the largest group of illegal migrants to the United States outside Latin America. The Indian government has made clear it will cooperate with Mr. Trump’s deportation drive, even as it caused a political headache for Mr. Modi last week. The arrival of 100 shackled and handcuffed Indians on an American military plane, just days before Mr. Modi was to go to Washington, left his government scrambling to play down the episode and contain a domestic backlash. India is acutely aware that the trade and immigration issues are a potential double whammy in Mr. Trump’s universe of preoccupations. So far, while Mr. Trump has threatened even close allies with punitive tariffs over these issues, India has managed to stay out of his cross hairs. If any country can walk the tightrope of Mr. Trump’s hurricane-force return to power, India believes it is the one.

The Hill [2/11/2025 12:30 PM, Brahma Chellaney, 16346K] reports that Bangladesh’s recent descent into lawlessness poses a foreign policy challenge for President Trump, especially because his predecessor supported last August’s regime change there. The world’s most densely populated country (excluding microstates and mini-states) risks sliding into jihadist chaos, threatening regional and international security. Bangladesh has also emerged as a sore point in U.S.-India relations, with the issue likely to figure in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s discussions with Trump at the White House this week. New Delhi is smarting from the overthrow of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s India-friendly government and the installation of a new military-chosen "interim" administration with ties to Islamists whom India sees as hostile. The new regime is led by the 84-year-old Muhammad Yunus, who publicly lamented Trump’s 2016 election win as a "solar eclipse" and "black day." Yunus received the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize after former President Bill Clinton lobbied for him, a fact the Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman acknowledged in his award ceremony speech. The lawlessness in Bangladesh was on stark display last week as regime supporters went on a rampage, setting ablaze or demolishing properties in a coordinated manner, including the national memorial to Hasina’s assassinated father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s charismatic founding leader. Mobs also looted and burned down Hasina’s private residence and the homes of several leaders of her Awami League party.

Reuters [2/12/2025 4:28 AM, Andrius Sytas, 30936K] reports China is helping Russia’s military drone production by becoming a hub for the smuggling of critical Western components for Moscow’s armed forces, Estonia’s foreign intelligence said in its annual national security report published on Wednesday. Some 80% of such components reaching Russia now come from China, it said. Previous Ukrainian reports have suggested that roughly 60% of foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine have come via China. China is Russia’s "primary hub" for importing high-tech and dual-use goods, evading Western sanctions, according to the report. "Chinese interests here lie in preventing Russia from losing the war in Ukraine as such an outcome would represent a victory for the United States, which is the main rival for China," Kaupo Rosin, director general of the service, told reporters in a video call. Reuters has sought comment on the report from China’s embassy in Tallinn. NATO member Estonia closely tracks Russian military capabilities as it regards Moscow as the major threat to its security, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022. Estonia, like its Baltic neighbours Latvia and Lithuania, was forcibly annexed by Moscow during World War Two, regaining its independence only in 1991 as the Soviet Union fell apart. Russia does not have domestic alternatives for drone parts, so these are largely sourced from the West, said the report. "The Chinese government... facilitates bilateral cooperation and covert transfers of dual-use components through private companies," it said. "This approach will likely decrease Russia’s dependency on Western components and, in the long term, could undermine the West’s ability to leverage influence in this domain," it said. The offices of Western companies in China are likely involved in the schemes, said Estonian intelligence. Russia is investing heavily in expanding its drone production, including producing an advanced domestic version of Iranian one-way drones, said the report. The Kremlin is on track to expand its military to 1.5 million personnel, up from 600-700 thousand in autumn 2022, with new units sent to Ukraine for combat experience, it said. They will be deployed along borders with NATO countries - which include the Baltic states - after the war, said Rosin, adding that the alliance should reinforce its presence there.

Newsweek [2/11/2025 12:39 PM, Ryan Chan, 56005K] reports that the United States increased its spy flights over the South China Sea near China last month, a Chinese think tank said on Monday, amid tensions over Beijing’s claims in the region. Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) for comment by email. China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, which overlap with those of neighboring states, including the Philippines, a treaty ally of America. The strategically important sea is rich in oil and natural gas reserves and is a crucial global trade corridor. The Pentagon has dispatched reconnaissance aircraft to the South China Sea, where they have been tracked flying near China’s coast. In the past, Beijing had demanded the U.S. military put an end to what it called dangerous "close-in reconnaissance" of Chinese territory. The Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) reported that 79 sorties by American land-based RC-135 and P-8A reconnaissance aircraft were tracked over the South China Sea in January. The Chinese think tank said it utilized Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data to record the U.S. spy flights. Aircraft use ADS-B to broadcast their position, altitude, speed and other data to ground stations and other aircraft for air traffic control. According to the think tank, 65 U.S. spy flights were tracked last December, which was also an increase compared with the number from the previous month.

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