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 AP [2/3/2025 10:14 PM, Josh Boak, Fabiola Sánchez and Rob Gillies, Neutral] President Donald Trump on Monday held off on his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada for 30 days after the two U.S. neighbors agreed to boost border security efforts. In a statement on X, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that on a call with Trump he pledged additional cooperation on border security. It follows similar moves by Mexico earlier Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump held off Monday on his tariff threats against Mexico for one month of further negotiations after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 members of her country’s national guard to the border to address drug trafficking. The Hill [2/3/2025 6:35 PM, Aris Folley and Taylor Giorno, 16346K, Neutral] reports that the announced delay on the 25 percent tariffs against Canada — set to start Tuesday — came after Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s second conversation Monday. Trump said Canada agreed to secure the northern border and work to combat the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., adding that it will implement its $1.3 billion border plan and agreed to take other steps to secure the border. "As President, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of ALL Americans, and I am doing just that. I am very pleased with this initial outcome, and the Tariffs announced on Saturday will be paused for a 30 day period to see whether or not a final Economic deal with Canada can be structured. FAIRNESS FOR ALL!" Trump posted online. Trudeau, while announcing the pause on social platform X, outlined Canada’s new plans, which will appoint a "Fentanyl Czar," list cartels as terrorists, "ensure 24/7 eyes" on the U.S.-Canadian border and launch a joint strike force with the U.S. to take on crime, fentanyl flow and money laundering. Trump and Trudeau both signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl with $200 million in funding, they said. The New York Times [2/3/2025 6:08 PM, Alan Rappeport, 161405K, Neutral] reports that the chaotic last-minute maneuvering demonstrated Mr. Trump’s willingness to use tariffs as leverage against America’s most important trading partners despite the potential for severe economic consequences. Imports from Mexico, China and Canada account for more than a third of the products brought into the United States, more than $1 trillion in goods a year. Economists projected that the tariffs and the anticipated retaliatory measures could fan inflation and disrupt global supply chains. That second call helped America avert tariffs with one of its closest allies, with Mr. Trump agreeing to a 30-day delay. “I just had a good call with President Trump,” Mr. Trudeau said in a social media post. He said Canada would push ahead with its $900 million border reinforcement plan, which had been previously announced, deploy additional technology and staff and appoint a “fentanyl czar.” FOX News [2/3/2025 10:58 AM, Anders Hagstrom, 49889K, Neutral] reports Mexico has agreed to deploy 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in exchange for a one-month delay on President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday. Sheinbaum made the announcement on social media Monday morning, roughly 12 hours before the tariffs were set to take effect. Trump and Sheinbaum spoke on Monday and agreed that Mexico will do more to combat drug trafficking into the U.S., and that the U.S. will step up efforts to block the flow of firearms into Mexico. Sheinbaum also said officials with the U.S. and Mexico were beginning talks on wider trade and security issues. Trump confirmed the deal in his own post on Truth Social, describing the call with Sheinbaum as a "very friendly conversation." "I just spoke with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico. It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States. These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country," Trump wrote. "We further agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one month period during which we will have negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico. I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a ‘deal’ between our two Countries," he added.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/3/2025 6:46 PM, Emiliano Rodríguez Mega and Annie Correal, 161405K, Neutral]
New York Times [2/3/2025 6:03 PM, Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Ian Austen, 161405K, Neutral]
Bloomberg [2/3/2025 8:03 PM, Josh Wingrove, Brian Platt, and Alex Vasquez, 21617K, Neutral
Bloomberg [2/3/2025 6:39 PM, Natasha Solo-Lyons and David Rovella, 21617K, Neutral]
NBC News [2/3/2025 9:18 PM, Matt Dixon, 50804K, Neutral]
FOX News [2/3/2025 5:48 PM, Louis Casiano, 49889K, Neutral]
US News & World Report [2/3/2025 5:35 PM, Laura Mannweiler, 30936K, Neutral]
Washington Examiner [2/3/2025 6:24 PM, Christian Datoc, Naomi Lim and Mabinty Quarshie, 2365K, Neutral]

The AP [2/3/2025 8:16 PM, Rebecca Santana and Gisela Salomon, 153K, Negative] reports President Donald Trump’s administration is ending protections that shielded roughly 350,000 Venezuelans from deportation, leaving them with two months before they lose their right to work in the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s order affects 348,202 Venezuelans living in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status slated to expire in April. That’s about half of the approximately 600,000 who have the protection. The remaining protections are set to expire at the end of September. The termination notice will be published Wednesday and go into effect 60 days later. It’s among the latest Trump administration actions targeting the immigration system, as officials work to make good on promises of cracking down on people illegally living in the country and to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history. News of the decision threw Venezuelans living and working in the U.S. into turmoil. “I feel like I’m in limbo — I will be undocumented beginning in April,” said Henry Carmona, a 48-year-old Venezuelan who described leaving his country after receiving threats on his life. “I cannot go back to Venezuela. I can go to jail. I fear for my life.” In the decision, the Department of Homeland Security said conditions had improved enough in Venezuela to warrant ending protective status. Noem also said the TPS designation had been used to allow people who otherwise didn’t have an immigration pathway to settle in America. “The sheer numbers have resulted in associated difficulties in local communities,” the secretary’s decision says. She cited members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as among those coming to the U.S. Bloomberg [2/3/2025 1:36 PM, Alicia Clanton and Alicia A. Caldwell, 21617K, Neutral] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “determined it is contrary to the national interest to permit the covered Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States,” according to the document. Noem had already canceled an 18-month extension of TPS for 600,000 Venezuelans issued last month under former President Joe Biden. The new directive adds to a broader immigration crackdown that has included high-profile arrests of undocumented immigrants from New York to Denver, including people convicted of serious crimes. President Donald Trump has vowed to conduct the largest deportation in US history, ordered thousands of additional troops to assist with enforcement and cut off access to asylum. ABC News [2/3/2025 6:01 PM, Armando Garcia, 33392K, Negative] reports that the notice is set to publish Feb. 5 and says the termination of the 2023 TPS Venezuela designation will be effective 60 days from date of publication, however, protections were already set to expire April 2 without an extension. Reuters [2/3/2025 12:33 PM, Ted Hesson and Mariela Nava, 48128K, Neutral] reports Trump tried to end most enrollment in the temporary protection program during his first term but was stymied by federal courts. The status is available to people whose home country has experienced a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event. About 300,000 additional Venezuelans have Temporary Protected Status that expires in September and were not affected by Monday’s decision. The Department of Homeland Security said in the termination notice that while some challenging conditions remain in Venezuela, "there are notable improvements in several areas such as the economy, public health, and crime that allow for these nationals to be safely returned to their home country." NBC News [2/3/2025 6:39 PM, Suzanne Gamboa, 50804K, Negative] reports Venezuelan activist Beatriz Olavarria said that, for some, "returning would be almost suicidal." Many Venezuelans have fled amid brutal crackdowns on protests against the government and struggles for basic goods such as food and medicine. "Some of those people that are here, that have spoken about the situation in Venezuela on cameras and everywhere, they set foot in Venezuela and they will be jailed," Olavarria told NBC6 South Florida. TPS is granted to immigrants in the U.S. who can’t return to their countries because of natural disasters or political upheaval. TPS does not provide a path to citizenship and administrations can issue or end a country’s TPS designation. "Betrayed. We feel betrayed. More than betrayed. Beyond betrayed," said Adeyls Ferro, executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus in Doral, Florida, a south Florida suburb dubbed "Doralzuela" for its large Venezuelan population.

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Axios [2/3/2025 3:02 PM, Avery Lotz, 16349K, Neutral]
FOX News [2/3/2025 11:36 AM, Adam Shaw, 49889K, Negative] r
Washington Examiner [2/3/2025 12:08 PM, Timothy Nerozzi, 2365K, Negative]

The New York Times [2/3/2025 8:25 PM, Reyes Mata III and Eric Schmitt, 161405K, Neutral] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed during a visit to the southwestern border on Monday to use thousands of U.S. active-duty troops to help stem migrant crossings, a top priority for President Trump. Mr. Hegseth and Thomas D. Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, toured El Paso by air Monday morning in a line of Army Black Hawk helicopters, landing near a section of border wall. They then drove to a remote desert hilltop where soldiers, Border Patrol agents and reporters gathered for a news conference. “The charge that the president has given us,” Mr. Hegseth said, is “to get 100 percent operational control of the southern border.” “That means setting the right policy, which we’re doing, having the right procedure in place, the right personnel and, ultimately, the platforms and systems to maintain it.” Motioning to the Army troops gathered nearby, he added, “They’re motivated to be here because they’re defending their friends, their family, their communities, their church, their schools, their loved ones, from an invasion of people whose intentions we don’t know.” About 1,600 Marines and Army soldiers have been rushed to the U.S. border in California and Texas in the past two weeks to help build barriers and help law enforcement authorities, joining 2,500 Army forces already there. On Monday, Pentagon officials said that about 500 additional soldiers from the headquarters of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., were deploying to Texas to oversee the border operations. The deployments come even as the state of the border is fairly calm, with crossings having fallen sharply in recent months after the Biden administration took steps to limit migration. Mr. Trump has issued an executive order that gives the military an explicit role in immigration enforcement. It also directed the Defense Department to come up with a plan “to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion.” The Hill [2/3/2025 6:56 PM, Ellen Mitchell, 16346K, Neutral] reports Hegseth was briefed by U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command leaders on homeland defense and security priorities at the border, according to an update on the trip posted to X. “Any assets necessary at the Defense Department to support the expulsion and detention of those in the country illegally are on the table,” he said. USA Today [2/3/2025 9:26 PM, Lauren Villagran and Tom Vanden Brook, 89965K, Neutral] reports "We have defended other places and other spaces. We will defend this line," said Hegseth, an Army veteran, gesturing to the border fence behind him. Hegseth was joined by newly appointed Border Czar Tom Homan, a 40-year veteran of U.S. immigration enforcement. Pete Hegseth’s motorcade stirred a cloud of dust around dozens of troops and border agents waiting in the desert to greet the new defense secretary. Pete Hegseth’s motorcade stirred a cloud of dust around dozens of troops and border agents waiting in the desert to greet the new defense secretary. It was his first visit to the U.S-Mexico border and the 30-foot steel border fence loomed tall behind him as he shook hands. The symbolic moment was a show of force by the new Trump administration and a made-for-media opportunity to show active-duty troops and Border Patrol agents working together. "We have defended other places and other spaces. We will defend this line," said Hegseth, an Army veteran, gesturing to the border fence behind him. Hegseth was joined by newly appointed Border Czar Tom Homan, a 40-year veteran of U.S. immigration enforcement. He also directed the Defense and Homeland Security secretaries to deliver a joint report about the conditions at the southern border and a recommendation about whether he should invoke the Insurrection Act. The Act grants the president powers to use the military for civilian law enforcement, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Invoking the act would let soldiers arrest migrants – something soldiers are currently forbidden from doing. "What they do is relieve Border Patrol," Hegseth said. "They’re calling in observation to Border Patrol, who then interdict," apprehending migrants or intercepting drug shipments. The massing of combat forces, whose actions are limited to supporting roles under current law, comes amid record-low illegal crossings. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported about 1,000 migrant encounters border-wide, per day in early January at the end of the Biden administration – down about 75% from the previous year. The Washington Examiner [2/3/2025 7:46 PM, Mike Brest, 2365K, Neutral] reports "Because of President Donald Trump, this is a new era at the southern border, a new era of determination, a new era of cooperation. And at the Defense Department, we are proud to be a part of it," he added. The Department of Defense has deployed about 1,500 troops to the southern border, bringing the total number of U.S. forces assigned to the mission to roughly 4,000. Defense officials have said the tally could increase over the coming weeks and months. The Air Force is also using aircraft to aid in the transportation of undocumented migrants to repatriating countries. One of those flights went all the way to India on Monday, according to Reuters. "We are reoriented," Hegseth said last week. "This is a shift. This is not the way business has been done in the past. This is the Defense Department will support the defense of the territorial integrity of the United States of America at the southern border, to include reservists, National Guard, and active duty in compliance with the Constitution for the laws of our land.” As a part of the administration’s broader immigration policy, Trump signed an executive order calling for the use of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to temporarily hold up to 30,000 migrants awaiting repatriation.

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Bloomberg [2/3/2025 6:14 PM, Courtney McBride, 21617K, Neutral]
CBS Austin [2/3/2025 10:03 AM, Jamel Valencia, 581K, Neutral]
NBC News [2/3/2025 6:46 PM, Staff, 50804K, Neutral] Video: HERE
FOX News [2/3/2025 5:26 PM, Adam Shaw, 49889K, Positive]

BorderReport [2/3/2025 8:23 PM, Julian Resendiz, 153K, Neutral] reports the thousands of troops coming to the Southwest border will be a "force multiplier" for immigration agents to finally stop illegal immigration and drugs from coming into the county between ports of entry. So says Pete Hegseth, the newly confirmed Secretary of Defense, who visited with troops on a border mission in El Paso and southern New Mexico on Monday. "What President Trump has done – whether it’s Border Patrol, (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or the military – is it’s going to take the handcuffs off our ability to do our job," Hegseth said after shaking hands with troops and border agents near Monument 3 at the border wall in Sunland Park. "And that allows us to get at the problem in ways the previous administration was not serious about.” Several hundred troops have landed in Fort Bliss in the past few weeks to join about 2,500 already working on a border mission. Hegseth on Wednesday gave some insight as to what those solders are doing. "Federal troops … what they do is relieve Border Patrol to have the opportunity to do the interdiction, to do their duty. They are calling their observations to Border Patrol who then interdict," the secretary of Defense said. Even prior to the latest deployment, federal troops were monitoring security cameras for the Border Patrol and gathering intelligence. This was Hegseth’s first trip to the border while in office. He came with Trump’s "border czar" Tom Homan and U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks. The visitors spent time with members of Joint Task Force Alpha in Fort Bliss, toured the border wall on helicopter, shook hands and took pictures with agents and soldiers at the border wall in Sunland Park.

FOX News [2/4/2025 4:00 AM, Taylor Penley, 49889K, Neutral] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is letting Border Patrol know she’s willing to ride alongside them as they clamp down on the illegal immigration crisis plaguing the country. "Fox & Friends" co-host Lawrence Jones caught up with Noem in Del Rio, Texas, to take a helicopter and horseback tour to survey the southern border. "Some of the agents we rode with today were the ones that were falsely accused of whipping those Haitian migrants," she said, referring to a 2021 incident that prompted former President Biden and other top Democrats to falsely accuse border agents of the heinous act. "So, to ride with them today and have them know that their leadership has their back, I think is critically important," she continued. "The last leadership team at DHS and Mayorkas, he rode over them. I think it’s important today that they know I ride with them.” Trump officials – including Noem – have been spearheading crackdowns on illegal immigration in the U.S., particularly measures to round up illegal migrant criminals for deportation. Shortly after being confirmed to her post, she joined immigration raids in New York City to nab such criminals. A lack of funding and government’s previous unwillingness to listen, she said, made things more difficult for ICE agents, something the Trump administration aims to rectify. "The hundreds of billions of dollars this country spends, and we’re not giving our law enforcement the tools they need to be successful. These guys need more assets for their horse patrol program. They’d like to be able to train their agents to be more nimble," she said, explaining that border agents near Canada are in need of snow tires for their vehicles. "For God’s sakes, they’re in Vermont in the middle of wintertime. They can’t get snow tires on their vehicles. Talking to some of the investigators within ICE and they need their thermals so they can operate at night and truly see what’s going on," she told Jones. Noem said she’s meeting with agents on the ground to learn what they need to protect the borders. "That will help me do a better job making sure we’re keeping America safe and fulfilling what President Trump has promised.”

Reuters [2/3/2025 1:21 PM, Julia Harte, 48128K, Negative] reports that the U.S. Justice Department formed a multi-agency task force on Monday to fight antisemitism, with its first priority "rooting out" antisemitic harassment in schools and universities. The task force follows an executive order and fact sheet from President Donald Trump last week in which he warned "resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests" that they would be deported, referring to pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. college campuses. Trump also pledged to revoke the student visas of what he called "Hamas sympathizers" and directed his cabinet to familiarize U.S. universities with immigration law against foreigners who pose security threats. If the task force "weaponizes the power of the federal government to suppress the speech of college kids who have advocated for Palestinian rights, then that is going to run into a wall called the U.S. Constitution," warned Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The task force, which includes representatives from the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, will coordinate its efforts through the Justice Department’s civil rights division. The Council on American Islamic Relations has stated that it will monitor the actions of the task force before deciding on any potential legal challenges.

ABC News [2/3/2025 2:02 PM, Laura Romero and Peter Charalambous, 33392K, Negative] reports that President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship will face its next legal hurdle this week when three separate federal judges hold hearings to consider whether to block the order. Ahead of the hearings, lawyers with the Department of Justice argued in legal filings that birthright citizenship creates a "perverse incentive for illegal immigration" while claiming that Trump’s executive order attempts to resolve "prior misimpressions" of the Fourteenth Amendment. "Text, history, and precedent support what common sense compels: the Constitution does not harbor a windfall clause granting American citizenship to, inter alia, the children of those who have circumvented (or outright defied) federal immigration laws," Acting Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate wrote in a recent filing. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour blocked the order last month -- describing it as "blatantly unconstitutional " -- with a temporary restraining order that is set to expire this week. Coughenour scheduled a Thursday morning hearing to consider whether to issue a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to stop enforcing the order. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [2/3/2025 12:45 PM, Jamie Joseph, 49889K, Neutral] reports that Republican attorneys general from 18 states are pushing back against lawsuits filed by Democrat AGs and legal groups nationwide challenging the Trump administration’s executive order on birthright citizenship through an amicus brief filing set to be filed Monday, Fox News Digital has learned. "If someone comes on a tourist visa to have an anchor baby, they are not under that original meaning of the United States Constitution," Iowa AG Brenna Bird told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday. Bird is the lead AG leading an amicus brief filing in support of the executive order on Monday. "Oftentimes, when this has happened. It’s the taxpayers that are paying for the health care through Medicaid or through hospitals, paying for care for someone to have a child, or the state child health insurance system as well," Bird said. "Each state has a system that helps kids without insurance, and so the taxpayers are on the hook here for all the costs.” Attorneys general from California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine and others signed on to the suit, along with the city and county of San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Bird’s brief – signed by Republican AGs from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming – focuses on several arguments.

Reuters [2/3/2025 11:30 AM, Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke, 48128K, Neutral] reports President Donald Trump is set to test the limits of his immigration crackdown by invoking a wartime law to deport immigrants alleged to be gang members without court hearings, a broad authority that could supercharge his mass deportation push and potentially sweep in people not charged with crimes. After taking office, Trump ordered military and immigration officials to be ready by Feb. 3 to implement the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, last used to justify internment camps for people of Japanese, German and Italian descent during World War Two. The move - which would almost certainly face legal challenges - could allow him to bypass due process rights and rapidly remove migrants. Trump, a Republican, stormed back into the White House promising to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally - an action he said was necessary after high levels of illegal immigration under Democrat Joe Biden. Trump issued a flurry of executive actions to redirect military resources to support the mass deportation effort and empowered U.S. immigration officers to make more arrests, including at schools, churches and hospitals - even though those specific measures, are unpopular and highly contested by civil and immigrant rights groups. But even with Trump’s sweeping early actions, his administration will have to contend with overwhelmed immigration courts where asylum cases can take years to resolve. Trump expanded a fast-track deportation process known as expedited removal, but it only applies to those in the U.S. for two years or less and still gives migrants the ability to claim asylum. The Alien Enemies Act could allow Trump to rapidly deport migrants deemed part of an "invasion or predatory incursion" - a novel use of a law previously only invoked in wartime. Republicans frequently refer to illegal immigration as an invasion and portray migrants as dangerous criminals and "military-aged.” The White House said, on Jan. 20 that it was beginning a process to designate criminal cartels and gangs, including the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, as terrorist organizations and to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans arrived in the U.S. during Biden’s presidency, many via legal humanitarian pathways, and deporting them has been challenging due to frosty U.S.-Venezuela relations. On Saturday, Trump said Venezuela had agreed to accept all deportees, but provided few details. One Trump official who requested anonymity to discuss plans told Reuters in November that the administration would have "a willingness to be creative" when it came to unlocking new enforcement powers. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [2/3/2025 6:03 AM, Staff, 30936K, Negative]
Newsweek [2/3/2025 12:19 PM, Billal Rahman, 56005K, Neutral]

FOX News [2/3/2025 2:49 PM, Morgan Phillips, 49889K, Neutral] reports unmanned sea drones are on the prowl to interdict drug smugglers in America’s waters as part of a new Navy operation. The operation will test the Navy’s use of maritime drones, in its early stages, and apply lessons learned to missions all across the globe. Dubbed Operation Southern Spear, the Navy’s 4th Fleet will use "a heterogeneous mix of Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) to support the detection and monitoring of illicit trafficking while learning lessons for other theaters," a news release said on Monday. Southern Spear will operate as part of Joint Task Force South – a Defense Department task force made up of Navy, Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection, as well as 20 partner countries focused on counter-narcotics and maritime security in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

The Washington Post [2/3/2025 3:57 PM, Maria Sacchetti, 40736K, Neutral] reports Trump declared an emergency on the U.S. southern border immediately after taking office and has invoked an executive power that he says enables him to suspend admission to foreigners he deems "detrimental" to U.S. interests. Trump used the same power, Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, during his first term to bar foreigners from certain Muslim-majority countries from coming to the United States under a travel ban. His supporters say he is on solid footing because after multiple legal challenges and rewrites of the ban, the Supreme Court upheld it by a 5-4 vote. But lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigrant Justice Center and others leading the lawsuit said the Supreme Court never ruled on whether the travel ban authorized the president to block people from seeking asylum. Roll Call [2/3/2025 5:41 PM, Chris Johnson, 440K, Negative] reports the ACLU and a coalition of immigrant rights advocates filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the federal government from implementing the Trump administration’s new asylum policies, which they argue attempt to wipe away long-standing laws and protections "by fiat." The groups contend in the lawsuit that President Donald Trump unlawfully invoked a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act with a presidential proclamation on his first day in office that suspended the entry of asylum seekers. The proclamation blocks asylum seekers from making claims even at lawful points of entry, the lawsuit states, which bypasses laws Congress sets up to ensure they have a legal path to enter the United States. The 34-page complaint was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The defendants named in the case include Trump, federal agencies and top officials, such as Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The New York Times [2/3/2025 5:12 PM, Hamed Aleaziz, 161405K, Negative] reports Mr. Trump’s order argued that infrastructure there was not equipped to adequately screen people’s backgrounds. He determined that there was an “invasion” that required him to block migrants from entering through the southern border until it was stopped. The lawsuit filed on Monday argues that Mr. Trump’s order has led to the quick deportation of migrants, denying them any meaningful access to asylum in violation of U.S. law.

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Los Angeles Times [2/3/2025 5:15 PM, Rachel Uranga, 17996K, Negative]
The Hill [2/3/2025 4:36 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 16346K, Negative]
NPR [2/3/2025 5:33 PM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Neutral]
AP [2/3/2025 6:29 PM, Rebecca Santana, 47097K, Negative]
Reuters [2/3/2025 4:11 PM, Ted Hesson and Jack Queen, 48128K, Negative]
CBS News [2/3/2025 3:48 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 52225K, Negative]
Newsweek [2/3/2025 6:15 PM, Dan Gooding, 56005K, Neutral]

The Hill [2/3/2025 1:25 PM, Tara Suter, 16346K, Neutral] reports that restaurants in multiple cities are closing for one day to mark a "day without immigrants." "Tomorrow (Mon 2/3) we’ll be CLOSED in solidarity with the Day Without Immigrants protest. DC depends deeply on immigrants, who work vital jobs in our local economy, pay taxes & make the city a vibrant place to live," a post on Instagram by Washington, D.C., restaurant Republic Cantina reads. "We’ve been dismayed to see the rollout of policies that tear immigrants from their homes — which is both inhumane & will cause massive harm to communities and to small business." During his first week in office, President Trump released multiple immigration actions. He signed a series of orders aimed at the border and increasing enforcement. The president has long vowed to address illegal immigration, but a number of his actions were aimed at longstanding legal pathways. "As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do," the president said during his inaugural address. USA Today [2/3/2025 1:43 PM, Taylor Ardrey, 89965K, Neutral] reports that participants encourage people not to shop, go to school or work in their respective communities. on Feb. 3. The day follows Trump’s recent executive orders on immigration, including one that could end birthright citizenship, opposing the 14th Amendment. Multiple businesses in the greater Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area are participating in the demonstration, including La Casita Pupuseria, a multi-location Salvadoran restaurant in Maryland. Businesses in Colorado, Minnesota, and Illinois are reportedly following suit, according to reports. Speaking to WLS, Carmen Montoya, the owner of a Chicago Mexican restaurant, told the news station that "there are many, many people that need the opportunity to work without being afraid."

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Washington Examiner [2/3/2025 12:09 PM, Elaine Mallon, 2365K, Neutral] reports

The AP [2/3/2025 7:36 PM, Ellen Knickmeyer, Farnoush Amiri, and Adriana Gomez Licon, 12036K, Negative] reports that the Trump administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk moved to eradicate the agency that provides crucial aid that funds education and fights starvation, epidemic and poverty overseas, sparking a showdown with congressional Democrats who blasted the effort as illegal and vowed a court fight. In one of the most dramatic efforts to push back on President Donald Trump’s bid to slash and reshape the federal government, some Democrats sought Monday to enter the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development. They were blocked by officers from even broaching the lobby, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was the acting administrator of the agency despite it being an independent body for six decades. Lawmakers sought to enter USAID offices in Washington, saying they wanted to speak to any staffers remaining about the dismantling of the agency. Department of Homeland Security officers and men identifying themselves as USAID employees blocked them. “Elon Musk’s not here,” one told the lawmakers. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland called it an “illegal power grab” and said it was “a corrupt abuse of power that is going on.” Washington Examiner [2/3/2025 1:41 PM, Elaine Mallon, 2365K, Neutral] reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he is the acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development after Department of Government Efficiency Chairman Elon Musk announced the Trump administration’s plans to shut the agency down. The lightning-fast moves to put the USAID under Rubio’s control could mean the State Department is not properly staffed. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) responded to the Trump administration’s moves by promising he would place a "blanket hold" on all future State Department nominees until the aid agency is freed up from the pressure campaign. "I will oppose unanimous consent," Schatz told the Wall Street Journal. "I will vote no. I will do maximal delays until this is resolved." Rebellion from the Senate is a first for Rubio, who sailed to confirmation on Trump’s first day in office with a unanimous 99-0 vote to lead the country’s foreign policy missions. On Sunday evening, while returning to Washington from Palm Beach, Florida, President Donald Trump shared his dismay with the agency. "It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out," Trump told reporters.

New York Times [2/4/2025 3:22 AM, Michael Crowley, Karoun Demirjian and Edward Wong, 740K, Negative] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that he had taken over as acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, assuming control of an agency that had functioned largely independently for over 60 years and stoking fears about U.S. assistance around the world. Mr. Rubio’s announcement came after a week of drastic changes at U.S.A.I.D., the government’s lead agency for humanitarian aid and development assistance. Senior officials have been suspended, and hundreds of civil servants and contractors have been iced out of U.S.A.I.D. systems without warning. Many of the cuts were rolled out in secret and without warning, as representatives of Elon Musk, who was deputized by President Trump to lead a task force to reduce government spending, took over its operations despite objections from aid workers and Democrats in Congress. Speaking to reporters in El Salvador, Mr. Rubio said that many of U.S.A.I.D.’s programs were worthwhile and would continue under the umbrella of the State Department, promising to delegate the day-to-day operations to Pete Marocco, the department’s director of foreign assistance. In a letter to the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate committees on foreign affairs and related appropriations, Mr. Rubio said that Mr. Marocco would “begin the review and potential reorganization of U.S.A.I.D.’s activities to maximize efficiency and align operations with National Interest.” Mr. Rubio added that the review might include “the suspension or elimination” of programs, projects, missions, bureaus, centers and offices, and that the U.S.A.I.D. “may be abolished consistent with applicable law.” He added that the organizational change was prompted by what he described as efforts by U.S.A.I.D. officials to obscure details about their work and failure to cooperate with reasonable questions from the Trump administration. Mr. Rubio accused U.S.A.I.D. employees of “deciding that they’re somehow a global charity separate from National Interest or taxpayer dollars.” He added, “That sort of level of insubordination makes it impossible to conduct a sort of mature and serious review.”

Federal News Network [2/3/2025 6:28 PM, Drew Friedman, 470K, Neutral] reports after OPM’s return-to-office memo, the American Federation of Government Employees promised to "aggressively defend" its contracts amid any violations. The Trump administration’s Office of Personnel Management is sharing details on how it plans to move forward with a full return-to-office push for federal employees, despite current telework agreements with federal unions. A memo Monday, signed by OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell, directed agencies not to implement any provisions of collective bargaining agreements that "purport to restrict the agency’s right to determine overall levels of telework.” The memo also called any telework provisions in union contracts that limit an agency’s ability to set telework policy "likely unlawful and unenforceable," and stated that setting telework eligibility is a "management right.” "Provisions of collective bargaining agreements that conflict with management rights are unlawful and cannot be enforced," the memo states. The Trump administration’s memo Monday comes just a few weeks ahead of agencies’ deadlines to determine their return-to-office implementation plans. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump directed agencies in the executive branch to end remote work agreements and return staff to the office full-time. But the new guidance from the Trump administration is already spurring challenges from the American Federation of Government Employees. For years, telework provisions have been incorporated into many federal unions’ collective bargaining agreements with agencies. AFGE promised to "aggressively defend" its contracts if any violations arise.

The Hill [2/3/2025 1:34 PM, Rachel Frazin, 16346K, Negative] reports that more than 1,000 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were notified last week that they may be subject to immediate firing, according to an email obtained by The Hill. The email, sent Wednesday by EPA mission support official Kimberly Patrick, notifies impacted employees that they are "likely on a probationary/trial period.” "As a probationary/trial period employee, the agency has the right to immediately terminate you," the email says. Nicole Cantello, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local Local 704, which represents EPA employees in the Midwest, said that more than 1,000 employees nationwide received the email. Cantello said she fears that this is a "prelude" for firing newer workers who have less than a year of federal service. "We’re really concerned, deeply concerned, that the next step will be removing these employees," she said. The email comes after about 2 million federal employees received offers for a "buyout" to leave government work. The EPA’s website says that it employs more than 15,000 people. Cantello said she feared that between the buyout and the potential dismissal of newer staffers, the agency could lose one-tenth of its personnel, which would "decimate the agency."

The Hill [2/3/2025 12:43 PM, Alexander Bolton, 16346K, Negative] reports that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday demanding to know what access Elon Musk was given to the federal payments system and what safeguards were implemented to protect Americans’ private data and prevent abuses. "I write regarding a disturbing report that — in one of your first acts after your confirmation as Treasury secretary — you have given Elon Musk and his surrogates ‘full access’ to the federal government’s critical payment systems, which includes the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans," Warren wrote in a letter to Bessent, whom the Senate confirmed last week. Warren warned "it is extraordinarily dangerous to meddle with the critical systems that process trillions of dollars of transactions each year." She said she was "alarmed" by reports that Bessent reportedly "sidelined" an official responsible for managing the extraordinary measures the Treasury Department needs to extend federal borrowing authority, which formally expired last month. Treasury’s highest-ranking career official, David Lebryk, left the department last week after reportedly clashing with Musk over access to the payments system. She requested Bessent provide answers by Feb. 7.

The Hill [2/3/2025 12:46 PM, Mike Lillis, 16346K, Negative] reports that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Monday that Democrats will use the coming battle over government funding as a vehicle to block President Trump’s early efforts to gut federal programs — a warning that raises the chances of a shutdown in the middle of next month. In a letter to House Democrats, Jeffries hammered the administration for issuing an order — since rescinded — to freeze federal aid that Congress had previously allocated. Jeffries suggested Democrats will oppose any federal spending bill that doesn’t explicitly prevent Trump from freezing, slashing or otherwise altering those programs, including Medicaid, which saw its services disrupted amid the chaos over the freeze. The Democratic leader said he’s already delivered the message to House GOP leaders that, absent those assurances, Republicans will be on their own to prevent a shutdown.

USA Today [2/4/2025 5:12 AM, Trevor Hughes, 89965K, Negative] reports a dead Border Patrol Agent in Vermont. An LSD-taking vegan carrying a pistol linked to two Pennsylvania homicides. An elderly California witness ambushed and fatally stabbed. AI researchers living in box trucks, armed with knives and a samurai sword. It sounds like something from a dystopian science fiction novel. But police, court records and witnesses are beginning to link a series of six seemingly unconnected deaths across the country. Two people - who may or may not be married to each other - have been detained in connection with two deaths separated by 3,000 miles. And the gun used in one of those incidents has been linked to the 2022 homicides of two people in Pennsylvania. "It’s a tragedy for everyone," said longtime Vermont prosecutor and retired legislator Vincent Illuzzi, 71. "Folks up here are shocked at knowing that people publicly identified with these activities in Pennsylvania and California were either living here or looking for property up here.” Behind bars are Seattle-area natives Teresa Youngblut, 21, detained in Vermont, and Maximilian Snyder, 22, detained in California. Records show the two got a marriage license in Washington state last year, but it’s unclear whether they went through with the marriage. Snyder faces murder charges in California for the Jan. 17 death of an elderly landlord who was due to testify that he was attacked with a samurai sword in 2022 by squatters he was trying to kick off his San Francisco-area property, according to court records. Youngblut has been charged in connection with the Jan. 21 shooting death of Border Patrol agent David "Chris" Maland in Vermont near the Canadian border, according to court records. Youngblut has been charged with one count of using a deadly weapon while assaulting a U.S. Border Patrol agent and one count of using and discharging a firearm during that assault, but has not been charged with actually killing Maland. A German national traveling with Youngblut, Ophelia Bauckholt, was killed in the shootout with federal agents. Bauckholt was transfeminine, and federal authorities have been using their male birth name in court documents. Federal officials in a court filing also acknowledged Bauckholt used the name Ophelia. The deaths of Maland and Bauckholt during the Border Patrol traffic stop shocked residents of the rural New England state where only 24 homicides happened last year. Illuzzi, who is the Essex County State’s Attorney, coincidentally drove by the traffic stop as it began. And although he has no formal role in the investigation, he is a veteran prosecutor and lawmaker with deep connections to regional law enforcement in Vermont.

CBS Boston [2/3/2025 1:40 PM, Matt Schooley, 52225K, Positive] reports that Mayor Michelle Wu said Monday she plans to cooperate with a request to testify at a Congressional hearing as part of a federal investigation into sanctuary cities. The mayors of Boston, New York, Chicago and Denver received letters from Comer last month asking them to testify at a hearing on February 11 in Washington, D.C. When she received the letter, the Democratic mayor said she would "respond in due time." On Monday, Wu said she has been in communication with Congress and would like to participate. But Wu added that she would prefer to do something "at a time that would work better and would be more appropriate." Wu had a baby on January 13, her family’s third child. She said that six weeks is typical recovery for a mother after giving birth, and she asked Congress to let her testify on a date later than February 11. "I think the ideal would be just a little bit more time to ensure that I am sort of fully physically healed up according to my doctor’s best judgement, and I would be able to then participate in person," Wu told reporters. Wu said the discussions are ongoing. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 9:07 PM, Staff, 57114K, Negative] reports hundreds of people protested in New York Monday against President Donald Trump’s executive orders restricting treatment for transgender children, and reports that a local hospital group consequently cancelled appointments for two trans youths. A noisy crowd packed into Manhattan’s St. Vartan park, in sight of a campus of NYU Langone Health which New York Times reports cancelled appointments of two trans children following Trump’s decree. "Protect trans futures," "don’t capitulate to hate" and "break the silence" read the slogans on some of the banners brandished by the crowds of protesters, at least one of whom was detained by police, an AFP correspondent saw. Last month, Trump issued a sweeping executive order requiring institutions receiving federal research or education grants to end forms of gender affirming treatment for children under 19, and directed his incoming health secretary to do everything to end the practice. "It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures," the policy reads. Two 12-year-old children due to receive puberty-blocker implants at NYU Langone had their appointments cancelled, with one parent recounting a doctor told them it was because of "the new administration", the Times reported. NYU Langone Health declined to comment to AFP. "I don’t regularly come to rallies like this. Trans people have always existed, we are not going to go away just because they make lawmakers uncomfortable," said one trans protester from Brooklyn who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. "It starts with local organizing and getting a mayor who is not willing to do Trump’s bidding.” Referring to the claims NYU Langone suspended care for trans younth, the demonstrator said "it’s about not complying in advance.” "We’re sick of putting up with this," they said. One speaker at the rally, Julie, said they had received gender affirming care at NYU Langone Health for 15 years and was "very fortunate.” "We’re now at the slightest pushback from Washington, an illegal executive order, the CEO of NYU Langone has already started canceling appointments for trans youth," they said. Speaker rabbi Abby Stein, who is trans, accused Trump of singling out "one of the most vulnerable groups in this country.” "We’re asking for the right to be alive. We’re asking for the right to basic health care," they said.

The AP [2/3/2025 11:14 AM, David R. Martin, Michael R. Sisak, Claudia Lauer] reports that crews began removing wreckage from the Potomac River on Monday, five days after 67 people were killed in a midair collision over Washington, D.C., between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter. The crash was the deadliest U.S. air disaster since 2001. Authorities have recovered and identified 55 of the 67 people killed in the crash and Washington, D.C., Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly has said they are confident all will be found. Crews early Monday could be seen aboard a vessel with a crane. More than 300 responders were taking part in the recovery effort at any given time, officials said. Two Navy barges were also deployed to lift heavy wreckage. Divers and salvage workers are adhering to strict protocols and will stop moving debris if a body is found, Col. Francis B. Pera of the Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday. The “dignified recovery” of remains takes precedence over all else, he said. Portions of the two aircraft that collided over the river Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport — an American Airlines jet with 64 people aboard and an Army Black Hawk helicopter with 3 aboard — will be loaded onto flatbed trucks and taken to a hangar for investigation. Federal investigators were working to piece together the events that led to the collision. Full investigations typically take a year or more. Investigators hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days. The Washington Examiner [2/3/2025 8:51 AM, Jenny Goldsberry, 2365K, Positive] reports that currently, the Potomac River that is north of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge is part of a safety zone that the U.S. Coast Guard is telling locals to avoid. It remains to be seen when it will open again. They recommend that if people find wreckage, they should not touch it but call 911 instead. This recovery effort so far resulted in one Metropolitan Police officer requiring transport to a nearby hospital to receive a check-up. Crews conducted dive operations and used side-scan sonar and aerial vehicles in their search efforts. Black boxes from the airplane and helicopter were already recovered. Officials have not revealed the cause of the crash as of Monday morning.

NBC News [2/3/2025 8:38 PM, Ken Dilanian, et al., 50804K, Negative] reports FBI executives contemplated resisting Justice Department demands that they turn over the names of FBI personnel involved in Capitol riot cases but ultimately decided they must comply with what lawyers deemed a lawful order, current and former FBI officials told NBC News. Among the options under consideration was to send only the names of managers and senior executives. But the FBI’s office of general counsel decided that the demand by the Trump Justice Department for all the names was legal and that compliance was not optional. The FBI Agents Association, a group representing agents, and former FBI Director William Webster sent a letter of protest to congressional leaders condemning the removal of eight senior FBI officials Friday. "These actions, which lack transparency and due process, are creating dangerous distractions," the letter says, "imperiling ongoing investigations, and undermining the Bureau’s ability to work with state, local, and international partners to make America safe again.” A group representing former FBI agents, the Society of Retired Special Agents, urged its members to call their elected officials to protest the potential punishment or firing of Jan. 6 case agents. "These employees were assigned to investigate these cases as part of their normal duties," the message said. "They put their lives on the line every day to protect this country and now the entire FBI workforce is distracted from their important responsibilities.” Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded answers from Trump administration Justice Department and FBI officials about the recent firings and re-assignments of senior officials in both law enforcement agencies, calling it "an alarming threat to national security."‘. In letters to incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi and other top Trump appointees obtained exclusively by NBC News, Dick Durbin of Illinois and other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded records related to the second Trump administration’s personnel actions.

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 1:52 PM, Markus Schmidt, 57114K, Neutral] reports that a Democratic-controlled Senate panel on Monday swiftly blocked multiple Republican-backed measures aimed at tightening immigration enforcement in Virginia, dealing a blow to GOP efforts just one day before the General Assembly’s legislative midpoint. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted to kill three proposals that would have expanded immigration status checks in the juvenile justice system, mandated the transfer of certain incarcerated individuals to federal authorities, and required immigration inquiries for public assistance applicants. By a 9-6 party-line vote, the committee rejected SB 1268, sponsored by Sen. Tara Durant, R-Fredericksburg. The bill sought to require immigration status checks for juveniles and adults in secure facilities after being adjudicated delinquent or convicted of violent felonies. It aimed to expand current law, which mandates such checks in adult correctional facilities, by requiring the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to report individuals without legal status to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Durant argued the bill was necessary to close gaps in the system, saying some individuals over 18 convicted of violent juvenile felonies could be released without ICE intervention. "

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 1:33 PM, Pam Dankins, 57114K, Negative] reports that multiple people suspected of being undocumented immigrants were detained Thursday by agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after an alleged sexual assault incident at a Mississippi restaurant. According to Madison Police Department Lt. Micah Taylor, authorities received a call at approximately 1:20 a.m. Thursday regarding a female who had been sexually assaulted at Fernando’s Restaurant on Colony Crossing Way in Madison. Taylor said the investigation led to police locating the alleged suspect, Jose Rigoberta Meija-Cubias, 37, of El Salvador, at the restaurant. Taylor said Meija-Cubias was taken into custody and charged with sexual battery of a physically helpless person and tampering with evidence. Meija-Cubias had his initial appearance in the Madison Municipal Court on Friday, where he appeared before a judge who gave the following bond on all of Meija-Cubias charges: Sexual battery of a physically helpless person — $1,000,000 bond. Three counts of photographing another without permission where there is an expectation of privacy — $200,000 bond on each charge ($600,000). Meija-Cubias was last reported to be housed at the Madison County Detention Center.

Orlando Sentinel [2/3/2025 3:54 PM, Jeffrey Schweers, Negative] reports as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature continue their feud over immigration, the governor proposed a $115.6 billion budget for next fiscal year, along with a recommendation to add $505 million to the current budget for state and local law enforcement agencies to help federal officials deport unauthorized immigrants. But Monday he confirmed that he and legislative leaders have been discussing a compromise on the immigration bill. Many of DeSantis’ budget proposals are focused on immigration enforcement. He proposes giving the Division of Emergency Management $505 million in the current year to help with federal enforcement efforts. And he proposes giving the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission $4.4 million to create a special immigration enforcement unit consisting of wildlife and marine patrol officers. The governor’s Budget also provides $1.7 million to establish the Office of SecureFlorida at the Department of Commerce to enforce E-Verify compliance, which is used to make sure employers hire workers legally allowed to be employed in the United States.

FOX News [2/3/2025 3:36 PM, Scott Thompson, 49889K, Neutral] reports Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday the Department of Homeland Security has "no credible threats" on Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. While it’s all about football in the "Big Easy" this week, discussions about safety for this massive event naturally came up following the New Year’s Day terror attack on the city’s historic Bourbon Street. The NFL held a public safety press conference on Monday in New Orleans where Noem spoke alongside Cathy L. Lanier, the league’s chief security officer, Eric DeLaune, Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, Col. Robert P. Hodges, Louisiana State Police superintendent, and Anne Kirkpatrick, New Orleans Police Department superintendent. Agencies including the FBI and Secret Service will be around the stadium and downtown New Orleans, per DeLaune. That will include rooftop snipers, BearCat armored SWAT vehicles and more. There will also be federal air marshals, who are armed, stationed around the city’s public transportation hubs scanning for suspicious people and activity, while also guarding against drones. There is a ban on drones around the Superdome and downtown New Orleans throughout the week and flight restrictions up to 18,000 feet, per the Federal Aviation Administration. From bomb-sniffing dogs, to improved security infrastructure, to more manpower and resources, all the stops are being pulled out to ensure the safety of every individual heading to New Orleans to experience the NFL’s final game of the 2024 season. This security will carry over into New Orleans’ famous Mardi Gras season, which has already begun. Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 9:47 AM, Michael Scheidt, 57114K, Neutral] reports DHS Secretary Noem, Gov. Landry, and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell gathered at the corner of Bourbon Street and Canal Street to pay respects to those affected by the tragedy. Following a walk down Bourbon Street, the officials spoke with the media about security measures and preparedness for the Super Bowl. “Today, it’s an honor for me to be here with the governor and the mayor in New Orleans,” Noem said.

Houston Chronicle [2/3/2025 8:26 AM, Sondra Hernandez, 2315K, Negative] reports that, over the weekend, protests took place across the country in response to an immigration crackdown and deportation policies planned by President Donald Trump. In Los Angeles on Sunday, protestors caused a gridlock in the downtown area while carrying signs and waving Mexican flags. Other protests were held in Arizona, North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia and in Dallas, Houston and Conroe. Five people were arrested at the protest event in Conroe Saturday. Here is why people are protesting and where protests happened over the weekend. According to NBC News, after taking office Jan. 20, Trump has promoted immigration operations in cities like Chicago and New York, where agents across federal agencies were called in to increase the number of arrests. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has begun listing the number of arrests and detainers lodged on its Facebook page. On Saturday, there were 864 arrests and 621 detainers lodged according to information on the page. The most intense protests have occurred in California and Texas along the border and near halls of government, with demonstrations of civil disobedience, according to a Sunday night Newsweek article. According to the Associated Press, thousands of people marched in Southern California on Sunday, including in downtown Los Angeles where demonstrators blocked a major freeway for several hours. Protesters gathered in the morning on LA’s historic Olvera Street, which dates to Spanish and Mexican rule, before marching to City Hall. By the afternoon, marchers had blocked all lanes of U.S. 101, causing traffic to back up in both directions and on surface streets. The demonstrators sat down in lanes, while a cordon of California Highway Patrol officers stood by. It took more than five hours for the freeway to fully reopen, CHP Lt. Matt Gutierrez said Sunday evening. Glendale, Arizona, police say a patrol vehicle was stolen and driven a short distance during a demonstration Sunday night, according to an Arizona ABC affiliate. The incident happened during a protest against immigration policies near 67th Avenue and Camelback Road. Police say the vehicle was stolen by one of the attendees and driven a short distance before it was recovered. A protest also took place in Tucson Sunday. Carrying flags representing several Latin American countries, hundreds of people took to the streets of Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina in protest Saturday, according to local news affiliate WCNC. The station reported it was a peaceful event and no police intervention was needed.

FOX News [2/3/2025 5:38 AM, Landon Mion, 49889K, Negative] reports demonstrators in Arizona took to the streets to protest against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan on Sunday, and police say officers were assaulted amid the demonstration. Glendale Police confirmed to Fox News Digital that there was a large group of people who gathered in protest of federal immigration policies. A police spokesperson said a police vehicle was stolen by one protester but no arrest has been made. The demonstrator "jumped into one of our patrol vehicles and drove it a short distance before it was quickly recovered," the spokesperson said, adding that the suspect was unknown at that time. Traffic was still shut down in all directions in the area of the protest as of early Monday morning. Glendale and Phoenix Police were on the scene monitoring the situation, which Glendale Police said had begun "to fizzle out due to the excellent work conducted by Glendale and Phoenix Police Officers on scene.” Officers deployed chemical agents to disperse the "unruly and defiant crowd," the Glendale Police spokesperson said. Several officers were assaulted, police vehicles were damaged and surrounding businesses and personal property were damaged, the spokesperson said. Investigators will be looking into possible crimes at the protest and will work towards identifying suspects. Anti-deportation protests were held over the weekend in multiple other cities across the country, including Los Angeles, Houston and Atlanta. This comes amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts — with officials admitting that higher deportation numbers is the goal rather than the removal of violent migrants in the country illegally. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were directed by Trump officials to aggressively increase the number of people they arrest from a few hundred per day to at least 1,200 to 1,500 because the president had been disappointed with the deportation numbers, Washington Post reported last week. The president also reversed a directive under the Biden administration that had told immigration officials not to make arrests in sensitive areas like schools and churches. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that the administration is seeking the removal of all immigrants in the country illegally — not just those who committed criminal offenses — and falsely alleged that all migrants accused of being in the U.S. illegally are "criminals.”

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 7:05 AM, Jonathan Williams, 57114K, Negative] reports five people were arrested after a street takeover of the Lancaster Drive and Market Street NE intersection Saturday night, according to Salem Police. Police said in a news release the intersection in north Salem was taken over around 8:30 p.m. by a crowd of 50 people and drivers doing "burnouts and dangerously drifting and spinning in the roadway." The intersection was closed from about 8:45 p.m. to 11 p.m., police said. No injuries were reported. Hundreds of people had rallied at noon in the area on Saturday for Mexican immigrants as part of a national protest of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. People waved Mexican flags and held signs that read, "Immigrants Make America Great," "No Human Is Illegal On Stolen Land" and "Families Belong Together.” By 2 p.m. the group included 300 people and "remained relatively peaceful" with some traffic congestion, police said. Police said callers reported people throwing "objects" and hitting cars as the event continued. Around 7 p.m., police said they received reports of people "standing in the crosswalk not allowing traffic to continue, fireworks being ignited, and vehicles driving recklessly.” Police said they deployed more resources to respond, with officers being called in from home and requesting outside agency help. Police said the intersection was closed shortly after people began doing burnouts and standing in the street. North and southbound Lancaster Drive was closed between D Street and Sunnyview Road, police said, and east and westbound Market Street were closed between Fisher Road and Tierra Drive. Police said Cherriots buses were rerouted and Oregon State Police temporarily closed the Market Street off-ramp. Police said a group had surround a vehicle on Lancaster Drive, blocking all northbound traffic, as the Mobile Response Team arrived. Officers cleared the area to let the vehicle continue, and police said "protestors threw water bottles and cans of beer at Salem Police vehicles.” Police arrested five people, all of Salem, ages 18, 19, 30, 34 and 34, for charges that included reckless driving and disorderly conduct. One of the 34-year-olds also faces an additional charge of unlawful possession of a firearm, police said. Police said they will conduct follow up investigations for complaints of criminal mischief.

Politico [2/3/2025 9:17 PM, Lindsey Holden, 57114K, Neutral] reports California lawmakers on Monday approved a “Trump-proofing” bill package that includes $50 million in state funding to challenge President Donald Trump’s policies in court and provide legal aid for immigrants. The proposals — which emerged from a special session Gov. Gavin Newsom called last year shortly after Trump’s election — easily passed on a party-line vote and now go to the governor for his signature. California Democrats have not taken up the “resistance” mantle as readily as they did during Trump’s first term, when legislative leaders took a hard line against his administration almost immediately after the 2016 election. But their remarks on Monday show they may be prepared to take a more combative approach a little just weeks into the president’s second term. “Californians are being threatened by an out-of-control administration in Washington that doesn’t care about the Constitution, that thinks there are no limits to its power,” said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on the floor before the vote. Rivas, a Central Coast Democrat, challenged the common Trump and Republican refrain that undocumented immigrants are harmful to the country. “Here in California, there are 1.8 million undocumented people,” Rivas said. “People who pay about $8.5 billion in state and local taxes every single year. They raise families, and they contribute to our communities. These law-abiding immigrants, they are Californians — they are not criminals.” The chamber’s Republican minority argued it’s foolish to be taking on Trump when California is trying to secure federal aid for the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires, which broke out after lawmakers called the special session. “You are putting us on a collision course with the national administration,” said Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a fiery, first-term Republican from San Diego, during floor debate. “You are doubling down on policies that hurt Californians.”

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [2/3/2025 7:24 PM, Taryn Luna, 17996K, Neutral]

Los Angeles Times [2/3/2025 9:30 AM, Ryan Fonseca, 17996K, Neutral] reports that good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your Monday. Angelenos took to the streets (and freeways) in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday in a massive protest against President Trump’s hard-line immigration policies. Thousands of demonstrators — some draped in the flags of Mexico and other Latin American countries — marched near City Hall, blocking traffic on local streets and shutting down the 101 Freeway. "The demonstration was largely peaceful, with some enterprising street vendors taking advantage of the moment to sell bacon-wrapped hot dogs, ice cream, churros, beer and even shots of Patron tequila," Times reporters Daniel Miller and Ben Poston wrote. Trump secured his second term in part by vowing to launch the largest mass deportation in U.S. history. As his administration takes steps to ramp up enforcement, immigrant communities in the Golden State and beyond are expressing fear but also resolving to mobilize (again). L.A. was not the only city that saw immigration protests. Demonstrators took to the streets in San Diego, Dallas, the Atlanta area and other states over the weekend.

CBS News [2/3/2025 11:01 AM, Staff, 52225K, Negative] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum angrily rejected an accusation by the United States Saturday that her government has an alliance with drug cartels, and vowed to retaliate against Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Tensions between the closely connected neighbors soared after the White House said Trump would slap 25% tariffs on Mexican as well as Canadian goods because of illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Sheinbaum said she had told her economy minister, Marcelo Ebrard, "to implement Plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests.” Ebrard called Trump’s tariffs a "flagrant violation" of the United States’ free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. Sheinbaum also hit back after Washington accused her government of having an "intolerable alliance" with drug trafficking groups. "We categorically reject the slander made by the White House against the Mexican government about alliances with criminal organizations," Sheinbaum wrote on social media. "If there is such an alliance anywhere, it is in the U.S. gun shops that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups," she added. "If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious consumption of fentanyl in their country, they can combat the sale of narcotics on the streets of their main cities, which they don’t do, and the money laundering generated by this illegal activity that has done so much harm to their population," Sheinbaum said.

BorderReport [2/3/2025 7:35 PM, Salvador Rivera, 153K, Negative] reports the people who operate a shelter for deported migrants in Tijuana say they have yet to receive large numbers of migrants that were expected as a result of President Trump’s mass deportations. The facility has been set up to accommodate up to 2,600 people at one time. It provides basic services and medical and psychological care for the migrants. It also includes a large kitchen and dining room with dozens of cooks and service personnel. But for the most part, the dining staff has been idle due to the lack of people coming into the shelter. "We’re getting about 52 migrants daily, lower than the expected numbers," said Alfredo Álvarez Cárdenas, Baja California’s Secretary of State. "We still haven’t gotten the number of deportations predicted as a result of President Trump’s promises.” During the first week, the shelter saw anywhere from 44 to 100 deported migrants come through its doors daily, significantly lower than when President Biden was in office and 100 to 400 migrants were getting deported to the city of Tijuana every day, Álvarez Cárdenas said. "It’s very difficult when the decisions aren’t made by your own country," he said. "This has required a large mobilization of our resources, but we’ll stay ready for any movements.” Álvarez Cárdenas stated most migrants are staying at the shelter for two nights, with some opting for a bus ticket home, something Adrian Sanchez chose. "I showed up for my U-Visa, that’s when I was detained" he said.

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 6:37 PM, Riley Ceder, 57114K, Neutral] reports service members arrived over the weekend at Guantanamo Bay, where they’ll work to prepare the Navy base in southeast Cuba for an influx of deported migrants. Marines with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division boarded a KC-130J at Cherry Point Air Station in North Carolina on Sunday and departed for Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. There, they joined personnel from U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Army South, bringing the total number of service members deployed to the base for the migrant holding operation to 150. The Marines and soldiers will provide support for a White House plan to deport immigrants lacking permanent legal status from the United States and detain them at the base. This comes as part of a sweeping effort by President Donald Trump, announced Jan. 29, to use Guantanamo as a holding ground for "high-priority criminal aliens.” Trump said he was directing an expansion of a detention center on the naval base to hold up to 30,000 migrants. "This memorandum is issued in order to halt the border invasion, dismantle criminal cartels, and restore national sovereignty," reads the White House memorandum that directed the expansion of such a facility. The holding operations at Guantanamo are being led by the Department of Homeland Security. "It’s a good solution for us and can be stood up quite quickly," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said of the expanded detention center during an interview with Fox News on Sunday. In the interview, Noem urged Congress to approve more funding for DHS that would allow the department to build more detention centers, prosecute criminal migrants and "fix our legal immigration system.”

New York Times [2/3/2025 6:55 PM, Carol Rosenberg and Eric Schmitt] reports that about 300 servicemembers have landed at Guantánamo Bay to provide security and begin setting up at a new tent city for migrants, as officials comply with President Trump’s order to prepare the Navy base for as many as 30,000 deportees. The small base in southeast Cuba is on the verge of undergoing its most drastic change since the Pentagon opened its wartime prison there after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The operation will require a surge of staff and goods to the isolated base, which is behind a Cuban minefield and is entirely dependent on air and sea supply missions from the United States. Everything from pallets of bottled water and frozen food for the commissary to school supplies and government vehicles come twice a month on a barge. Fresh fruits and vegetables for the 4,200 residents come on a weekly refrigerator flight. Fulfilling Mr. Trump’s order could grow the population there tenfold because of the staff it would take to operate the encampment, which is on a unpopulated corner of the base, far from the prison as well as the commissary, school and suburban-style neighborhoods for servicemembers and their families. In response to Mr. Trump’s order, U.S. forces have already put up 50 Army green tents inside a chain-link-fence enclosure, adjacent to a barracks-style building called the Migrant Operations Center. The first wave of about 50 Marines arrived Saturday night from Camp Lejeune, N.C. The next 50 arrived on Sunday. The military declined to comment on its current capacity to receive the migrants or on what other provisions were inbound. The Southern Command, which has oversight of the troops assigned to the prison and the migration plan, would not say who is in charge of the operation or discuss a plan from 2017, obtained by The New York Times, for detaining the first 11,000 migrants there. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that dangerous deportees might be put in detention facilities that currently hold 15 prisoners from the war on terrorism, among them five men who are accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks. The 15 prisoners have been held in two prison buildings with about 275 cells. Detaining migrants at that site would presumably require moving those 15 prisoners into one of the two buildings. But no decision has been made on whether some migrants would be housed at the wartime prison, a Defense Department official said Saturday. Separately, two people with knowledge of detention operations said the consolidation had already happened this weekend. All of them spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security arrangements involving the prison, which are sometimes classified. In his remarks last week, Mr. Hegseth also mentioned that about 6,000 deportees could be housed “on the golf course,” which is near the base’s McDonald’s, Irish pub and family housing. Now the prison has a staff of 800 military and civilian contractors and no longer has a media operation. An additional 111 military police from the New York National Guard were undergoing three weeks of training at Fort Bliss, Texas, before heading to a nine-month security mission at Guantánamo Bay. The situation was changing so quickly that when the unit departed last month, the Army said it would provide security for the detention facility. But the Pentagon said in a statement released on Thursday that the unit would secure the Migrant Operations Center.

CBS Austin [2/3/2025 12:04 PM, Alexx Altman-Devilbiss, 581K, Neutral] reports that troops began arriving at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba Sunday as the Trump administration takes the next steps in its plan for mass deportations of criminal migrants. The White House announced the arrival of the forces on Instagram stating, "U.S. Marines have arrived at Guantanamo Bay to support the Department of Defense and Homeland Security in expanding the Migrant Operations Center—advancing President Trump’s mission to protect Americans and secure our nation.” Those deployed to Cuba include Marines with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division and elements from U.S. Southern Command, and U.S. Army South. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that as many as 30,000 criminal migrants will be sent to the naval base. He said the decision was due to a lack of confidence in other countries’ ability to detain the individuals. than 150 service members are at the installation supporting the "illegal alien holding operations.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem explained during an interview with Fox News that the facility will not take long to prepare for the migrants’ arrivals.

VOA News [2/3/2025 9:14 PM, Nike Ching, 2717K, Neutral] reports U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited El Salvador on Monday to press the country to stem the flow of illegal migration and address other strategic issues. His visit comes amid the restructuring of a U.S. agency overseeing foreign aid, which has sparked a showdown between congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump’s administration. Rubio announced that he is now the acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development but has delegated his authority to another official. He stressed that the agency must align U.S. foreign aid with national interests and comply with State Department policy directives. The same day, Rubio also held one-on-one talks with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele at Lake Coatepeque, San Salvador, as part of his five-nation Central American tour focused on curbing illegal immigration, countering China’s influence in the Western Hemisphere, and strengthening security ties. Late Monday, the United States and El Salvador signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, on civil nuclear cooperation, expanding strategic relations between the two nations. The State Department said the MOU marks an initial step toward building a robust civil nuclear partnership, aiming to enhance energy security and foster economic cooperation. Bukele is regarded as a key ally of the United States in its regional efforts to address the migration crisis. On Oct. 7, 2024, the United States and El Salvador signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement, further strengthening border security and facilitating trade between the two countries. El Salvador was once the third-largest source of nationals captured at the U.S. southwest border. Today, it no longer ranks among the top 10. U.S. President Trump has maintained warm relations with Salvadoran President Bukele, who also strengthened ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping following his state visit to Beijing in December 2019. During Bukele’s visit, China promised millions in development projects for the Central American country through a series of agreements. Among them were a soccer stadium, a national library, a tourist pier, and funding for water treatment improvements.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 2:36 PM, Shaun Tandon, 57114K, Neutral]

Wall Street Journal [2/3/2025 6:00 AM, Vera Bergengruen, Neutral] reports U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that El Salvador has offered to accept deportees of any nationality from the U.S., including incarcerated American citizens who would be held in the country’s maximum-security prison. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele offered to “house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country,” Rubio said in San Salvador, the second stop on his first foreign trip, after meeting with Bukele. “No country has ever made an offer of friendship such as this,” he said, calling it the “most unprecedented and extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.” Rubio said Bukele had also offered to take in any “illegal immigrant in the United States who’s a dangerous criminal,” including members of the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs. Rubio said he was grateful for the offer, and added that he had spoken to President Trump about it earlier in the day. It was unclear whether the U.S. planned to accept the offer, or the legality of sending American citizens to a foreign prison. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on what such a plan could entail. For his part, Bukele said that he had offered the U.S. “the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system” to its Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), the largest prison in the world built to house 40,000 inmates. His statement on X included photos of the gleaming prison, with rows of shirtless tattooed gang members with their hands above their heads. The Salvadoran president promised the fees the country would charge “would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable,” he said in a post on X. “Great idea,” said Trump ally and X owner Elon Musk. Earlier on Monday, Rubio traveled to Bukele’s lakeside house on the shores of Lago de Coatepeque to discuss measures to stem illegal immigration and expand security cooperation. He also later signed a civil nuclear cooperation memorandum of understanding to expand strategic relations between the two countries. There had been previous discussions about El Salvador accepting undocumented migrants in the U.S. whose own countries won’t take them, known as a “safe third country” agreement.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/4/2025 1:51 AM, Annie Correal, 161405K, Neutral]
Washington Post [2/3/2025 11:18 PM, John Hudson, 40736K, Negative]

VOA News [2/3/2025 10:54 AM, Nike Ching, 2717K, Neutral] reports that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said cooperation with Panama has sent "a clear message" the U.S. will act to curb illegal immigration, as he observed a U.S.-funded deportation flight departing from Albrook International Airport in Panama on Monday morning. The flight returned dozens of undocumented Colombians to their home country. According to a Colombian official, 32 men and 11 women were repatriated, including seven individuals with criminal records. On July 1, 2024 — the first day of Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino’s term — the U.S. and Panama signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at jointly reducing the number of migrants illegally crossing through Panama’s Darien region en route to the United States. The program is funded by the U.S. State Department and implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Monday’s deportation was carried out under the MOU and following a State Department waiver that lifted a previous pause on U.S. foreign aid. "This is an effective way to stem the flow of illegal migration, of mass migration, which is destructive and destabilizing," Rubio told reporters at the Albrook International Airport. "This flight today was possible due to a waiver that we’ve issued," he added. "We’re going to issue a broader one to continue this cooperation."

CBS Austin [2/3/2025 1:19 PM, Ray Lewis, 581K, Neutral] reports that Panama has offered free passage through the Panama Canal to U.S. Navy ships, according to The Daily Wire, which cited a senior official in U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. The offer would reportedly allow the U.S. to save between $2.5 million and $3 million each year. The National News Desk (TNND) could not independently confirm the offer. On Sunday, Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews China is running the Panama Canal and that "we’re gonna take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen." He added he doesn’t think it will be necessary to deploy troops to Panama, but said the country has done something "terrible" for national security "in this part of the world.” Trump didn’t explain that claim. "And, you know, 70% of the signage on the Panama Canal was written in Chinese. That’s not right," Trump said. "So, it wasn’t meant for China.” He also said China "owns" the waterway. “That’s not gonna happen. We’re not gonna let that happen," Trump said. "We have national security concerns, and they wouldn’t let it happen either.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Panama Canal on Sunday, according to the waterway’s authority, which said in a press release it conveyed its intention to the secretary of state to "work with the U.S. Navy to optimize transit priority of U.S. Navy vessels through the Panama Canal."

Reuters [2/3/2025 4:08 PM, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart, 48128K, Negative] reports a U.S. military plane is deporting migrants to India, a U.S. official said on Monday, the farthest destination of the Trump administration’s military transport flights for migrants. President Donald Trump has increasingly turned to the military to help carry out his immigration agenda, including sending additional troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, using military aircraft to deport migrants and opening military bases to house them. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the C-17 aircraft had departed for India with migrants aboard but would not arrive for at least 24 hours. The Pentagon has also started providing flights to deport more than 5,000 immigrants held by U.S. authorities in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California. So far, military aircraft have flown migrants to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras. The military flights are a costly way to transport migrants. Reuters reported that a military deportation flight to Guatemala last week likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant.

FOX News [2/3/2025 12:10 PM, Eric Revell, 10861K, Neutral] reports that President Donald Trump’s new tariffs include a provision that suspends a key trade loophole that Chinese retailers like Shein and Temu have utilized to expand their access to U.S. consumers and has been criticized for allowing shipments of fentanyl precursors to enter the country. Trump’s executive orders imposing tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico effective Tuesday included language suspending the so-called "de minimis" loophole that allows shipments of imports valued at less than $800 to enter the U.S. without duties and taxes from those three countries. Trump on Monday paused tariffs on Mexico for one month after the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, agreed to send 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. The de minimis rule reduces administrative burdens on low-cost imports. In 2015, the Obama administration lifted the waiver threshold from $200 to the current $800 – which resulted in shipments claiming the de minimis waiver increasing by over 600% in the last decade to more than 1 billion items in fiscal year 2023, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Wall Street Journal [2/3/2025 5:27 PM, William McGurn, Neutral] reports leave it to Justin Trudeau to personify the contradictions of tariffs. When Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden in November, Canada’s unpopular prime minister flew to Mar-a-Lago to see if he could persuade the president-elect not to make good on his promise to slap tariffs on Canada. Mr. Trudeau spoke sense. “Our responsibility,” he told reporters before the meeting, “is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for American citizens as well and hurting American industry and business.” Not only was Mr. Trudeau right, he was echoing a point almost every economist has made about tariffs—they are a tax that raises prices on a country’s own businesses and consumers. So what did Mr. Trudeau do when Mr. Trump finally ordered the tariffs? On Saturday he announced that Canada would impose its own 25% tariffs on $20 billion worth of American goods beginning Tuesday. What a perverse outcome: To oppose the Trump tariffs, Mr. Trudeau has embraced tariffs. On Monday morning, by contrast, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum surprised everyone by announcing she’s reached an agreement with the White House to postpone the Trump tariffs in exchange for he sending 10,000 troops to the border. Mr. Trudeau took the lesson and, after another phone call with Mr. Trump, the tariffs on Canadian goods would be paused too in exchange for steps such as Canada’s tightening the border and naming a “Fentanyl Czar.” What makes the tariff debate so confusing is that the pro-tariff and antitariff crowds aren’t even debating the same thing. Those of us who oppose the Trump tariffs can talk until we’re blue in the face about how they’ll be paid not by the target countries but by U.S. business and consumers. But this has no effect on the pro-tariff crowd because they aren’t arguing economics but addressing grievances, real and imagined. The fact sheet the White House put out reflects this divide. It is all about the national-security threat posed by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that kills tens of thousands of Americans each year. China makes the chemicals for fentanyl. Mexicans turn those chemicals into fentanyl and then smuggle it across our border. Fentanyl also comes into the U.S. from Canada, along with some dangerous people. Mr. Trump’s legal authority to impose these tariffs comes from a broad reading of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He has declared that the flood of “illegal aliens and drugs” coming into our country constitutes a national emergency. And the national emergency, he says, empowers him to act here. Whatever the legal rationale, Mr. Trump is a huge fan of tariffs. He has called tariff “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.” In the past week he has variously promoted tariffs as a means to get fairer treatment for American goods from trade partners, as a way to encourage more American manufacturing and—maybe most significant—as a cost-free way to take money from foreign competitors, perhaps with an eye to funding his promises to cut other taxes.

Washington Post [2/3/2025 2:32 PM, Staff, 40736K, Neutral] reports that President Donald Trump is using the Justice Department to pressure state and local governments into deploying their limited police resources for federal immigration enforcement with a threat of “potential prosecution” for those who refuse. Having served as police chief in three geographically diverse U.S. cities, I’ve repeatedly seen why local police have good reason to avoid all but the most minimal immigration enforcement responsibilities. It’s hard preventing, responding to and solving crimes, and police officers rely on the help of all community members, regardless of their immigration status. When I was police chief in Tucson, undocumented individuals provided evidence to my department that helped in the prosecution of cases involving human trafficking and drug dealing. I also recall being taken aside after a community meeting by two undocumented young men who shared information about a business owner engaging in illegal conduct. They felt safe enough to report these crimes, trusting the Tucson Police Department because they knew its officers were not part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol. If undocumented people are afraid to engage with local police officers, they won’t come forward as witnesses — even when they are victims. This means criminals who endanger all residents are less likely to be apprehended and successfully prosecuted.

FOX News [2/3/2025 5:42 PM, Adam Shaw, 49889K, Negative] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) racked up a number of arrests of convicted criminal illegal immigrants over the weekend, including those convicted of murder, robbery and domestic violence — continuing its efforts to deport as many public safety threats as it can. Agents nabbed over 700 illegal immigrants over the weekend, including more than 500 with convictions or charges, according to information provided to Fox News Digital by a senior Trump administration official.

NBC News [2/3/2025 7:00 AM, Julia Ainsley, 50804K, Neutral] reports the Trump administration aggressively publicized the arrests of more than 8,000 immigrants by federal agents since Inauguration Day, with the promise that those detained would be part of a historic mass deportation. But NBC News has learned that some have already been released back into the United States on a monitoring program, according to five sources familiar with the operations. Since he took office, President Donald Trump and his allies have promoted immigration operations in cities like Chicago and New York, where agents across federal agencies were called in to increase the number of arrests. But arresting more people inside the United States on allegations of immigration violations means they need to be held somewhere. And significant space constraints in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities — and federal court orders forbidding indefinite detention — have forced the agency to release some of those arrested in the roundups rather than hold them until deportation. ICE posts arrest figures daily on X, but it does not disclose how many of those arrested are released, remain in detention or have been deported. In a statement to NBC News, an ICE spokesperson acknowledged federal court cases limit ICE from detaining people indefinitely if their countries refuse to take them back, which can lead ICE to release them. "The agency’s federal law enforcement officers do everything they can to keep our communities safe," the spokesperson said. "In some cases, ICE is required to release certain arrested aliens from custody.” Those released are being kept on a monitoring program known as Alternatives to Detention, the five sources familiar with the releases said, which has for more than a decade been used to keep track of where migrants are as they make their way through the immigration system. ICE can track them by ankle monitors or wrist bands or through telephonic check-ins. As he did in his first administration, Trump vowed when he took office last month to end so-called catch-and-release policies under which migrants apprehended at the southern border are released back into the United States while their immigration cases are pending. Trump’s ban on "catch and release" appears to be in effect at the southern border, where few migrants are being processed for asylum claims. But because ICE is funded for only 41,500 beds nationwide, it is still releasing some migrants who were detained in the interior of the country.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 11:12 AM, Alex Lang, 57114K, Negative]
Washington Examiner [2/3/2025 3:08 PM, Jack Birle, 2365K, Neutral]

Newsweek [2/3/2025 4:13 PM, Jenna DeJong and Dan Gooding, 56005K, Neutral] reports that the Biden administration’s approach to immigration enforcement has been quickly reversed by President Donald Trump, leading to mass deportation operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers across major U.S. cities. The sweeping enforcement actions, conducted in states like Texas, California, and Illinois, have renewed legal questions about whether ICE requires a warrant to arrest undocumented immigrants inside homes or workplaces. ICE’s use of administrative warrants versus judicial warrants has long been a contentious issue. Under the Trump administration’s directives, ICE has significantly expanded its enforcement, arresting thousands of individuals in the first weeks since Trump’s return to office. Advocates and legal experts argue that while administrative warrants allow ICE to detain individuals, they do not grant the authority to forcibly enter private residences without judicial approval. According to KERA News, "An ICE warrant, also known as an administrative warrant, allows an agent to arrest the person for which the warrant is issued. But it doesn’t allow an agent to demand entry into someone’s home or a private space." Immigration attorneys have urged individuals to understand their Fourth Amendment rights when confronted by ICE agents at their doors.

Rolling Stone [2/3/2025 11:02 AM, Fortesa Latifi, 16700K, Negative] reports that Sarah has considered what she would do if a mass shooter entered the high school where she teaches. The Career and Technical Education teacher, whose name has been changed for privacy, says she would barricade her classroom door, turn off the lights, and instruct her students to hide. Those are the same actions she’s planning on taking if an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shows up at her classroom door. "What you would do in a [school shooter] situation is try and prevent as many casualties as possible. I guess the same thing goes for ICE as well," says Sarah, who teaches at a school in Texas just hours from the Mexico border. Schools, healthcare facilities, and places of worship used to be considered "sensitive locations," which ICE was barred from entering. On Jan. 21, hours after President Trump’s inauguration, his administration rescinded that protection, allowing agents to enter formerly protected places to conduct arrests. "Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest," reads the Department of Homeland Security statement on the policy. On TikTok, teachers and faculty members are sharing videos about what they’re planning on doing in case of ICE raids at their schools. In a video viewed 10.6 million times, a teacher ties up her hair behind text that reads, "When I see ICE pull up to my school Thinking imma let my babies go with them." The videos, many of which cycle from devastation into defiance, make one thing clear from the teachers of TikTok: it doesn’t matter if you’re a school shooter or an ICE agent, if you’re coming for their kids, you’re going to have to get past them.

CBS New York [2/3/2025 7:13 PM, Jennifer Bisram, 52225K, Neutral] Video: HERE reports New Jersey’s top immigration official issued a stern warning to migrants illegally in the U.S. as families cope with fears over deportation and ICE raids in the Tri-State Area. John Tsoukaris, the Newark ICE Field Office director, says anyone who crossed the border illegally is considered a criminal. "We can’t say if you’re here illegally and following the law we’re not going to go after you. If we encounter you, we’ll make a decision," Tsoukaris said. "But I don’t want to put out a message that we will not, that you’re OK to stay. If you’re here illegally, you shouldn’t be here.” In an interview with CBS News New York, Tsoukaris acknowledged the fear that ICE enforcement is raising with law-abiding migrants. "If they filed for asylum, they’re going through the immigration court. So those individuals, we would not target for arrest," Tsoukaris said. Immigrant communities have been filled with fear after ICE stepped up enforcement during President Donald Trump’s first days in office. In January, law enforcement officials said at least 20 undocumented criminals were taken into custody in the Bronx. Several more were arrested at a business in Newark, where the mayor fired back at officials at federal officials, saying they had no warrant and were violating the Fourth Amendment. "My staff was there. They asked for identification from people just to determine who each person was, so no U.S. citizen was detained," Tsoukaris said.

CBS Philadelphia [2/3/2025 4:43 PM, Alexandra Simon, 52225K, Negative] reports that a Temple University student was suspended after reportedly impersonating a U.S. Immigration and Enforcement Unit (ICE) agent on campus over the weekend. The 22-year-old student, identified by Philadelphia police as Aidan Steigelmann, is also charged with impersonating an officer. Temple Police said in total, three people are accused of imitating ICE agents on the school’s North Philadelphia campus on Saturday, Feb. 1. In an update Monday morning, PPD said two of the suspects involved identified themselves as police and ICE agents while trying to enter the Johnson and Hardwick Residence Halls just after 9:30 p.m. Steigelmann spoke to the two other individuals involved before all three left the area in a Jaguar SUV, police said, and were gone by the time officers arrived. About 10 minutes later, police were called to the Insomnia Cookies location on the 1300 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue, where Temple Police said the three men were disrupting the business and recorded video. Two of the individuals were seen wearing shirts that said "Police" and "ICE" in white lettering. Using cameras in the area, investigators located the vehicle driven by the three individuals around Temple’s campus. At 10 p.m., police arrested Steigelmann on the 1700 block of North 12th Street. Temple University said Steigelmann has since been placed on an interim suspension. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 12:49 PM, Corey Arwood, 57114K, Negative] reports that several arrests in a recent immigration enforcement operation arose from traffic stops and misdemeanor identification-related charges, according to sheriff’s officials and law enforcement records. In a Jan. 30 social media post, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office announced the detainment of 24 people for questioning by federal authorities. At least eight of those apprehended last Thursday were charged with driver’s license or ID-related violations, records show. "Traffic interdictions" were conducted by deputies and agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. "We’re stopping people based on their committing a traffic infraction," Capt. Joe Abollo said Jan. 31. "We don’t randomly just stop people for no reason… so the initial interaction that we have with them… either they have a warrant or they violated law…". The Sheriff’s Office traffic operations, Abollo said, were usually planned for major highways such as State Road 60, State Road A1A or Interstate 95. Law enforcement records show the men arrested Thursday were stopped on roadways north and south of Vero Beach, including 43rd Avenue; 85th Street; 9th Street Southwest (Oslo Road); Indian River Boulevard; and U.S. 1. In a statement, Sheriff Eric Flowers said, "Our operations only target those that are engaged in criminal activity." The joint local and federal operation, and its funding, are part of a Homeland Security Grant Program called Operation Stonegarden administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which dates back nearly to the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2002.

Palm Beach Post [2/3/2025 6:02 PM, Valentina Palm, Negative] reports officers from U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement arrested 32 undocumented immigrants who had been convicted of crimes over two days last week in Palm Beach County, the agency confirmed Monday, Feb. 3. The 32 people came from 10 Caribbean and Central and South American nations including Guatemala, Haiti and Venezuela. All faced criminal but nonviolent offenses. Their crimes ranged from drug possession and prostitution to driving under the influence. These people, taken into custody Jan. 27 and 28, "will be detained pending their removal from the United States or a hearing before an immigration judge," said ICE in a news release.

FOX News [2/3/2025 7:00 AM, David Spector, 49889K, Neutral] reports Chicago political leaders are encouraging local residents’ efforts to defy the federal government as it attempts to carry out mass deportations in the city, vowing to "hold the line and push back every single time.” The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has faced pushback from local groups aiding illegal immigrants as its agents are sweeping the city as part of a nation-wide illegal immigration crackdown, the Chicago Tribune reported. Windy City non-profits have launched Facebook groups, apps and have put up flyers across the city with instructions on how to avoid being detained by ICE. Left-wing political leaders are cheering the acts of resistance, as ICE is estimated to have detained some 100 migrants so far. "The actions coming from the White House are rooted in xenophobic, nativist and racist lies. We must hold the line and push back every single time — as we’ve done before," Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García said at an event at Malcolm X College on Wednesday. "People are exercising their rights.” Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan has blasted Chicago and other sanctuary cities, claiming that they are obstructing the administration’s efforts to deport criminal illegal migrants from the country. "Sanctuary cities are making it very difficult to arrest criminals. For instance, Chicago, very well-educated, they’ve been educated (on) how to defy ICE, how to hide from ICE. And I’ve seen many pamphlets from many of the (nongovernmental organizations). … They call it ‘Know Your Rights.’ I call it how to escape arrest. There’s a warrant for your arrest — they tell you how to hide from ICE," Homan said in a CNN interview. Illinois State Rep. Delia Ramirez, however, considers those resisting Trump’s mass deportation program to be "courageous.” "We have shown them that we are courageous. We have shown them that we are organized. And we have shown them that they will not break us," she said.

Telemundo Amarillo [2/3/2025 6:17 PM, Staff, 1K, Positive] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) denied it is offering rewards for information to carry out its operations. For the record: contrary to rumors, ICE is not offering a $750 reward for information that supports civil immigration control objects, ICE reported on its social networks. Since January 23, when he began posting a daily count on social media, until 31 January, ICE has confirmed 8,276 arrests in operations that target undocumented immigrants with a history, although during these events they have also been arrested undocumented without any criminal past.

FOX News [2/3/2025 7:59 PM, Stepheny Price, 49889K, Negative] reports police in San Antonio have arrested a man who was reportedly in the country illegally in connection to the murder of his elderly partner, KSAT first reported. San Antonio police confirmed to KSAT that 26-year-old Alberto Rafael Ferrer Cabrera was arrested on Saturday in connection to the death of his 81-year-old partner. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Fox News Digital that Cabrera was in the country illegally and that he has a detainer on him from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to court records obtained by KSAT, Cabrera claimed to have murdered his significant other. When officers arrived on the scene, they found his partner, an 81-year-old male, stabbed to death. Court records show that Cabrera was arrested and charged with murder and illegal entry from a foreign nation. An ICE detainer allows the jail to hold Cabrera for up to 48 hours, giving the U.S. Department of Homeland Security time to take custody in compliance with federal immigration law. The detainer gives ICE the ability and time to determine if they will take Cabrera into federal custody for deportation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) racked up a number of arrests of convicted criminal illegal immigrants over the weekend, including those convicted of murder, robbery and domestic violence — continuing its efforts to deport as many public safety threats as it can.

FOX News [2/3/2025 1:43 PM, Peter Pinedo and Adam Shaw, 49889K, Neutral] reports that Oklahoma State School Superintendent Ryan Walters pushed back after a clash on CNN over his openness to allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers into schools – with Walters doubling down and rejecting "sanctuary schools." Walters had told local media that he would not rule out allowing federal agents into schools to remove illegal immigrants, amid an ongoing deportation operation since President Donald Trump took office. The Trump administration has lifted a Biden-era "sensitive places" mandate, which prevented agents from entering schools amid concerns that illegal immigrants could use such places to hide from enforcement. It has sparked pushback from some local officials. However, Walters, in an interview with Fox News Digital, said that such moves could be necessary to avoid family separation. "Are the Democrats and now the left-wing media the party of family separation? If you have adults that are going to be deported from this country, do you not want the Trump administration to know where their kids are, where they’re enrolled in school, so that if the family is to be deported, they’re actually deported together?" he asked.

Axios [2/3/2025 4:31 PM, Alayna Alvarez, 16349K, Neutral] reports Mayor Mike Johnston is still considering whether to travel to Washington, D.C., next week to testify before Congress about Denver’s sanctuary city policies. If Johnston goes, political analysts say he could fend off federal pressure while boosting his national profile — a strategic move if, as political pundits predict, he has ambitions for higher office. Johnston’s team is in talks with the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to clarify the "parameters" and "purpose" of the hearing, he told reporters last week. The committee has set a deadline of Tuesday for Johnston’s response, and it’s unclear whether he will be subpoenaed to testify on Feb. 11.

Colorado Public Radio [2/3/2025 7:12 PM, Haylee May, 688K, Neutral] reports Colorado Congressman Jason Crow visited Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora on Monday following reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was granted base access as part of a mass deportation plan. Crow said afterward that he was assured the base would not be used to house immigrants and detainees, but that it could be used as a staging location for law enforcement and a coordination center for ongoing operations. U.S. Northern Command officials said in January that the Department of Homeland Security requested use of the base, and sources told CPR News that facilities at Buckley would be used to house detained "criminal aliens.” Crow, who is a former Army Ranger, opposed U.S. military involvement in immigration enforcement, saying in a statement on X last week that. "pulling our military into politicized and contentious domestic immigration enforcement dishonors the service of our troops and distracts them from the important work of defending our nation.” The assurance Crow said he got from Homeland Security special agents during his visit Monday contradicts earlier statements from the U.S. Northern Command, which said the facility would include, "a temporary operations center, staging area and a temporary holding location for the receiving, holding and processing of undocumented immigrants.” In a press briefing at the White House last week, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "We want to deport illegal criminals, illegal immigrants from this country. Of course, the criminal drug dealers, the rapists, the murderers, the individuals who have committed heinous acts on the interior of our country and who have terrorized law-abiding American citizens, absolutely, those should be the priority of ICE. But that doesn’t mean that the other illegal criminals who entered our nation’s borders are off the table.”

Reported similarly:
USA Today [2/3/2025 6:39 PM, Trevor Hughes, 89965K, Negative]

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 9:06 PM, Brigham Tomco, 57114K, Neutral] reports state lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill that would reverse a law passed unanimously by the Legislature in 2019 that prevents the automatic deportation of immigrants convicted of class A misdemeanors. The bill, HB226, advanced from the House Law Enforcement Committee with a favorable recommendation on Monday, following a debate over whether the legislation prioritized public safety or promoted Trump administration policy goals. "Let me be clear, this is not a mass deportation bill," Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton, told committee members. Pierucci’s proposal fits into a broader package of law enforcement bills presented by House Republicans during a press conference a few weeks before the 2025 legislative session began. GOP lawmakers focused their messaging on addressing crimes associated with the surge in immigration that took place under the Biden administration by enhancing penalties for human trafficking, fentanyl distribution and identity theft. Critics have framed the push as an effort to fast track President Donald Trump’s initiatives to remove all immigrants who entered the country illegally, beginning with those convicted for crimes. House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, has promised a bill that would expand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention space in the state. And Pierucci’s bill contains provisions to ensure that immigrants convicted of a crime are transferred to ICE possession. "It’s important that we’re cracking down on crime and working hand-in-hand with President Trump’s administration in their efforts to secure the border," Pierucci said. The part of Pierucci’s bill that elicited the most opposition on Monday is the provision that increases the maximum sentence for class A misdemeanors from 364 days to 365 days. Class A misdemeanors cover a number of crimes, including possession of large amounts of marijuana, theft and assault on a police officer. The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act states that any immigrant convicted of an "aggravated felony" is deportable without a court process.

Newsweek [2/3/2025 6:24 PM, Dan Gooding, 56005K, Neutral] reports that President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts extended to Guam on Friday, seeing immigrants with outstanding criminal warrants detained. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Honolulu, Hawaii, said its officers had traveled to the island, around 3,900 miles to the west, to carry out the operation. Newsweek reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) via email for comment on Monday morning. The first two weeks of the Trump administration have seen a marked increase in efforts to carry out immigration enforcement and to share those details with the public. Guam is somewhat unique in its status as a U.S. territory, as it forms part of Micronesia in Oceania rather than being part of the Americas. Special arrangements made under the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) allow residents from other nearby islands to live and work in Guam without visas, with many working in construction, tourism, and military-related work. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, on Fox News: "Americans overwhelmingly want criminal illegal aliens off our streets. They want these dirtbags out of our country. The fact that Biden didn’t remove these criminals shows that he wasn’t putting America first."

CBS Miami [2/3/2025 12:31 PM, Ivan Taylor and Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 52225K, Negative] reports that Venezuelans living in South Florida are outraged after the Trump administration revoked one of two temporary protected status designations for Venezuelan nationals, claiming it had allowed members of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua to enter the U.S. Several Venezuelan organizations gathered at restaurant El Arepazo in Doral to address their concerns and send a message to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem: "We are not criminals." "TPS holders are people who are living a legal life in the United States. If 300,000 people lose their status on their TPS, many businesses are going to suffer. I’m not even talking about the humanitarian toll that they already said, that we cannot go back to Venezuela. We are not here because we came as tourists, we are here because we got kicked out of our country because for over 20 years there is a cruel dictator in Venezuela," said Venezuelan activist Adelys Ferro. The organizations announced they would be taking legal actions within weeks in an effort to stop the deportations. Over the weekend, DHS Sec. Noem revoked one of two Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for Venezuela, which the U.S. government had previously determined was too dangerous to allow Venezuelans to return to their homeland safely. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 4:40 PM, Natasha Keicher, 57114K, Positive] reports Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Monday introduced a bill that would require high school students to pass a citizenship test in order to graduate. The bill requires students to score a 60% or higher on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Naturalization test in order to graduate. According to the governor’s office, the bill would provide accommodations for students with disabilities and English language learners. Students would be allowed to retake the test until they pass. According to the governor, the test would help improve civics education for students. Last Tuesday, January 28, the Iowa House Education Committee advanced a bill that also requires students grades nine through 12 to pass a citizenship test in order to graduate. The bill is scheduled to be debated on the Iowa House floor on Wednesday, February 5. The governor said her bill also aims to improve math proficiency for Iowa’s students. It would require early screening and intervention for those struggling with math. According to the governor, the Iowa Department of Education would help schools identify struggling students and develop personalized mathematics plans. Along with helping students, the bill would have teachers utilize "evidence-based strategies and tools to effectively provide math instruction.” "Our state’s math scores show there is plenty of room for improvement," Gov. Reynolds said in a press release. "Next to early childhood literacy, nothing is a more proven indicator of future success than math proficiency. More than a quarter of Iowa fourth graders are not proficient in math — that is unacceptable. We must provide math instruction in the way we know it works to keep our students competitive and set them up to excel in life after school.”

CBS 7 [2/3/2025 1:26 PM, Daniela Molina and Rachel DePompa, 11K, Negative] reports that as consumers keep their cars longer, the demand for affordable auto parts continues to rise. However, this growing trend has also created a dangerous problem: counterfeit car parts infiltrating the market. These low-quality knockoffs, often indistinguishable from genuine parts, pose significant safety risks, leading to a rising number of serious accidents and fatalities. Counterfeit auto parts, including oil filters, airbags, and spark plugs, are entering the U.S. through major ports and reaching consumers via online purchases from foreign countries. These parts are cleverly designed to mimic trusted brand-name products, complete with emblems and packaging, making it difficult for buyers to detect their fraudulent nature. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are working to combat the influx of counterfeit parts. "The bad guys are taking advantage of that trusted brand to make money," HIS Special Agent Andrew Lee said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [2/3/2025 7:04 PM, Arelis R. Hernández and Silvia Foster-Frau, 40736K, Neutral] reports federal border authorities have deputized Texas National Guard soldiers to arrest and detain immigrants in an unprecedented move that has renewed concerns about how the Trump administration will carry out its mass deportation plan. U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting commissioner Pete Flores and the Texas military department reached an agreement last week allowing some soldiers to perform “the duties and functions of an immigration officer,” under the supervision of federal authorities while waiving any additional training requirements. Thousands of Texas troops have been deployed to the border with Mexico since 2021 as part of the state’s billion-dollar Operation Lone Star crackdown. Soldiers have been stationed across the vast 1,200 miles of Texas land border in a support role, such as installing razor wire barriers, to deter immigrants. But they did not have any powers simulating that of a trained federal agent, until now. “Today, we have a president who will partner with Texas to deny illegal entry,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said during his State of the State speech late Sunday. “To support that mission, I have ordered Texas state agencies to assist the Trump administration with arresting, jailing, and deporting illegal immigrants.” News of the agreement came as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited El Paso in his first trip since taking over the Pentagon on Monday. He visited Joint Task Force North, a headquarters at Fort Bliss that coordinates military assistance to civil and law enforcement authorities. “Guys and gals of my generation have spent decades in foreign countries guarding other people’s borders,” Hegseth said in a Fox News clip of the visit that he reposted on X. “It’s about time we secure our own border.” Defense officials are expanding the Pentagon’s mission to assist in immigration enforcement. Marines from North Carolina recently arrived at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as part of an effort to build what Trump administration officials have said will be a detention center that could hold 30,000 migrants. The president also sent 2,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. This is the first time in U.S. history that the Department of Homeland Security secretary has invoked a 1996 law to declare an emergency as a result of a “mass influx” of migrants. The agency is claiming the power to authorize state and local law enforcement agencies to act as federal agents to rapidly increase their personnel to carry out immigration enforcement.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [2/3/2025 7:51 AM, Pierre Paulden, 21617K, Positive]
AP [2/3/2025 5:56 PM, Nadia Lathan, 47097K, Negative]
CBS News [2/3/2025 9:03 PM, Jack Fink, 52225K, Positive] Video: HERE
CBS Austin [2/3/2025 2:14 PM, Alejandro Serrano, 581K, Neutral]
Border Report [2/3/2025 4:52 PM, Ali Bradley, 153K, Neutral]
FOX News [2/3/2025 6:39 AM, Anders Hagstrom, 49889K, Neutral]
Newsweek [2/3/2025 7:19 AM, Billal Rahman, 56005K, Neutral]
Dallas Morning News [2/3/2025 6:52 PM, Aarón Torres, 3419K, Neutral]

FOX News [2/3/2025 8:22 PM, Louis Casiano, 49889K, Negative] reports Mexican drug cartels are ordering their members to target U.S. Border Patrol agents with kamikaze drones and other explosives amid a crackdown at the southern border by the Trump administration. An internal memo titled "Officer Safety Alert" cited social media posts and other sources for the warning to federal agents, the New York Post reported. Agents were reminded to be "cognizant of their surroundings" and should be wearing their ballistic armor and utilizing their long firearms. "On February 1, 2025, the El Paso Sector Intelligence and Operations Center (EPT-IOC) received information advising that Mexican cartel leaders have authorized the deployment of drones equipped with explosives to be used against US Border Patrol agents and US military personnel currently working along the border with Mexico," the memo, obtained by the newspaper, states. "It is recommended that all US Border Patrol agents and DoD personnel working along the border report any sighting of drones to their respective leadership staff and the EPT-IOC," it said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). News Nation, which first reported the memo, reported TikTok posts and other social media sites used by Mexican drug cartels have also advised illegal immigrants to spit and urinate on ICE agents and defecate in their vehicles.

Reuters [2/3/2025 8:02 PM, Staff, 48128K, Neutral] reports mailed packages from China must undergo formal customs entry under new tariffs scheduled to be implemented on Tuesday, according to a notice from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted online on Monday. Chinese imports that are eligible for temporary duty exemptions will also be subject to U.S. tariffs of 10%, the notice posted in the Federal Register said. U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday delayed implementation of tariffs on Canada and Mexico until March 1, leaving only the Chinese packages affected for now. CBP issued additional guidance for shippers on how to handle those shipments in light of the executive order on Chinese tariffs, and how to address with a manifest filed before the order takes effect. "As we transition to execution of the Executive Order, it is extremely important that the trade maintain awareness of the shipments they are responsible for and are aware of the messaging that they are receiving from CBP," it said.

Axios [2/3/2025 2:21 PM, Carrie Shepherd and Monica Eng, 16349K, Neutral] reports that after a series of delays, the TSA says you have to get your Real ID by May 7. Why it matters: After that date, Real IDs or valid passports will be required for domestic travel and entry into certain government facilities. State of play: The Real ID is 20 years in the making after Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 after the 9/11 Commission recommended that the federal government should have one standard source of identification, rather than accepting state driver’s licenses, which have state-specific requirements. It looks just like your driver’s license but has a symbol in the upper right corner; in Illinois it’s a yellow star, in California it’s a yellow bear, for example. Friction point: Some reasons for the decades of delays include states not wanting federal oversight of their ID systems, low compliance with actually getting the Real ID and administrative hurdles because of the pandemic. You need a Real ID if: You travel on a plane in the U.S. (and don’t have a valid passport). Visit a military base. Visit a secure federal building like a courthouse.

Newsweek [2/3/2025 6:46 PM, Matthew Impelli, 56005K, Neutral] reports that every day, travelers pass through airport security checkpoints, sometimes forgetting or unknowingly carrying prohibited items in their luggage. What happens to the confiscated belongings? Rather than being discarded, many of them are resold to the public through government auctions, giving bargain hunters an opportunity to purchase lost or surrendered goods at discounted prices. Travelers who forget or attempt to bring prohibited items through airport security may not realize that their belongings could eventually be sold to the highest bidder. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) routinely confiscates a variety of objects from passengers, from pocketknives to high-end electronics. The items do not simply disappear—they often end up in TSA auctions, where they are sold online through platforms such as GovDeals. GovDeals, a government surplus and auction website, lists confiscated and forfeited items for sale to the public. These auctions serve as a way for government agencies to recoup some of the costs associated with handling and storing abandoned property. Although TSA itself does not directly sell confiscated items, it turns them over to state surplus agencies, which then auction them to the public.

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 12:57 PM, Deana Harley, 57114K, Neutral] reports that months after Hurricane Helene ravaged western North Carolina, Governor Josh Stein requested $1.07 billion in immediate funding to support continued recovery efforts in affected areas on Monday morning. Stein made the announcement during a news conference in Henderson County. His budget request includes funds for rebuilding and repairing roads, getting people back into their homes, as well as repairing infrastructure across the western parts of the state, among several other initiatives. "The people of western North Carolina have suffered tremendously since Helene swept through," Governor Stein said in a released statement on Monday. "I appreciate what the General Assembly has done so far, but it’s time for us to step up and get them the money they need right now to rebuild. We can’t forget western North Carolina – and I will do everything in my power to ensure that the state shows up for them." Members of the General Assembly, including Senator Phil Berger and Representative Destin Hall, have already expressed support for broad funding to help that side of the state.

AP [2/3/2025 5:33 PM, Gary D. Robertson, Neutral] reports North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein asked state legislators Monday to roughly double their spending so far on recovery from Hurricane Helene, warning that waiting will cause more business closings, housing construction delays and students falling behind. Speaking in a mountain county hit by the historic flooding, the new Democratic governor said he wants his $1.07 billion request enacted now by the Republican-controlled General Assembly — rather than wait for the two-year budget that starts in July, when he’ll make an additional Helene appeal. The largest chunks of his proposal, which contains no tax increases, would fund grants for struggling businesses; help repair and rebuild homes; clean up farm debris; fix private bridges and roads; and replace revenues spent or lost by local governments. There’s also money for summer school in districts that lost at least 15 instructional days shortly after Helene’s rampage last September.

CBS Los Angeles [2/4/2025 1:34 AM, Dean Fioresi, 52225K, Negative] reports Los Angeles leaders are calling for answers weeks after an alert was mistakenly sent to hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles County residents, warning them to evacuate their homes in the midst of the January’s destructive wildfires. The alert, which was sent to residents throughout the county, no matter how close they were to the Kenneth Fire that burned more than 1,000 acres near Calabasas while the Eaton and Palisades fires raged elsewhere, was sent by notification-system software operator Genasys Inc, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission. On Monday, a number of Southern California based members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed several letters sent to the county and those involved in sending the alert. The more than a dozen representatives included Rep. Robert Garcia, the former mayor of Long Beach. "As members of Congress representing Los Angeles County, we write regarding erroneous emergency alerts issued during the recent deadly wildfires," the letters said. "In life-safety emergencies, appropriately timed, targeted, and clear emergency alert messages can mean the difference between life and death. However, unclear messages sent to the wrong locations, multiple times and after the emergency has passed, can lead to alerting fatigue and erosion of public trust. In this time of intense grief, loss, and dislocation, we are working to learn all of the lessons of the past weeks, and to swiftly implement reforms to ensure they never happen again." Their letters have requested a response by April 1. The move comes less than a week after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to conduct a review on the emergency notification system. The motion, which was penned by Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath, called for an external and independent analysis of the county’s alert systems. "Our board is committed to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement in the face of increasingly severe natural disasters," Barger said in a statement. "This independent assessment will also ensure we are better prepared for future disasters and can act swiftly to protect lives and property."

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 12:18 PM, Jenny Jarvie, 57114K, Negative]

CBS Los Angeles [2/3/2025 12:10 PM, Chelsea Hylton, 52225K, Negative] reports that following the deadly wildfires that ravaged communities in Los Angeles and left behind acres of destruction, several local and state officials are calling for federal action to protect families against dangerous pollutants. At a news conference Monday morning, U.S. Representatives Judy Chu, Laura Friedman, Brad Sherman, Pasadena Vice Mayor Jess Rivas and Pasadena Public Health Director Manuel Carmona asked for the creation of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency task force to regularly monitor air quality in the LA area. Chu said as the debris removal process continues to take place, residents should have confidence that the air they are breathing, the water they are drinking and the ground they are walking on are safe. "We also know that the EPA has the ability to monitor for these materials, but we want to make sure that that monitoring begins now, that it’s consistent and it’s done throughout the region," Friedman said. The Palisades and Eaton fires damaged and destroyed thousands of structures, leaving behind debris that contained lead, chlorine and other dangerous toxins. Public health officials have issued advisories warning residents of the dangerous ash and chemicals that remain in communities. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [2/3/2025 5:42 PM, Brady Knox, 2365K, Neutral] reports after nearly a month of intensive efforts, the costliest wildfires in United States history have been fully contained. Beginning on Jan. 7 amid dry conditions and unusually high winds, the fires ravaged the Californian coast for weeks, requiring a response from an international coalition of 51,818 emergency personnel, according to Cal Fire. The flames burned 57,636 acres, destroyed 16,255 structures, and killed at least 29 people. The Eaton and Palisades fires, the first to start and the two largest and most destructive, were the last to be contained. The Eaton fire was the deadliest, killing 17 people, destroying 9,418 structures, and scorching 14,021 acres — independently the second most destructive wildfire in California history. The Palisades fire was a close third, killing 12 people, destroying 6,837 structures, and burning 23,448 acres.

FOX40 [2/3/2025 2:15 PM, Matthew Nobert, Neutral] reports a Placerville man was convicted by an El Dorado County jury on Thursday for starting two wildfires that burned nearly 2,000 acres in August of 2024, according to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office. Jason Robinette, 48, was convicted for starting the 2024 Mosquito Fire and Crozier Fire in the areas of Mosquito Road and Crozier Road. He will brought to court for sentencing on March 15 where he faces a maximum sentence of 7 years and 4 months in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 6:00 AM, Summer Lin, 57114K, Neutral] reports Judy Zweig lost almost everything in the Palisades fire: her children’s baby photos, her wedding album and all her expensive jewelry locked in a safe. The 66-year-old dental hygienist planned on spending her retirement years in her Pacific Palisades home, but instead she and her husband will be dipping into their savings to rebuild from the ground up. "We were so close to having financial freedom and the hope of having a life with so much less stress, and this not only robbed us of our past and our history, but it’s robbing us of the future that we’d dreamed of," she said. "I’ve never done a ground-up construction project in my life, and I’ll be starting this at [nearly] 70 years old. This isn’t what I wanted to do with my life.” On Jan. 20, Zweig’s husband, Stefan, had the day off from work and headed to the former Westside Pavillion, which is now serving as a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster recovery center. He sat down with a FEMA officer, who asked him for his Social Security number, birth date and address. The officer then informed him that someone had already filled out a registration using his information but put down a different phone number and email address. "It just felt like a gut punch," Stefan Zweig said. "It was so frustrating, and it was one more hoop to have to jump through to get any kind of help.” Judy Zweig said they filed a claim with FEMA stating that they were victims of identity theft and fraud; their daughter, who works as a lawyer, helped them fill out the paperwork and referred them to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. The next day, Judy Zweig took a day off work and headed to the disaster relief center. When she tried to file another registration for assistance, she was told by the FEMA officer that her address was "locked up" and that her family would have to wait until their case was resolved. "The FEMA officer who was trying to do my intake said he had seen five cases of fraud," Judy Zweig said. "This is a rampant problem that FEMA has, and part of it is because you’re allowed to sign up online, and people who want to commit fraud are getting benefits that people like us so desperately need.” Although statistics on FEMA-specific fraud cases were unavailable, agency spokesperson Brandi Richard Thompson said it’s not uncommon for stolen-identity cases and fraud to take place after a natural disaster. She didn’t have information on whether there had been an increase in fraud cases with the Los Angeles County wildfires compared with other disasters. Experts say identity thieves can buy illegally obtained personal information, including Social Security numbers, and apply for FEMA funds online. Judy Zweig holds a Dutch kissing figurine she salvaged from her home destroyed in the fire in Pacific Palisades. "It’s not uncommon for it to happen after a disaster," Thompson said, "but I wouldn’t say that it’s happening with every registration.”

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 8:26 PM, Cameron Macedonio, 57114K, Neutral] reports that, after 13 months of work, FEMA completed the construction of 167 temporary homes for Lahaina fire survivors on a hillside where no housing existed a few months ago. The final home at the Kilohana group housing site, which was developed by FEMA, was completed earlier this week and is ready for occupancy. “It couldn’t have been done without everyone working together, being creative and solving problems,” said Forrest Lanning, FEMA’s joint housing task force leader. “This was a completely new type of housing project for FEMA, and we all had to be flexible to learn new things and get it done.” The housing project began on Oct. 28, 2023, when FEMA brought in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare a state-owned site spanning 34 acres for the housing so survivors could move back to Lahaina. FEMA enlisted the help of three companies, Dynamic, Timberline and Acuity to manufacture one, two and three bedroom units on the mainland, and ship them to Maui. The first of the units arrived on Oct. 26, 2024, where they were completed and put into place at Kilohana. The first occupants moved into available units on Nov. 22, 2024, while the remaining units were awaiting completion. Each unit is equipped with furnishings as well, with occupants who require accommodation also being provided with necessary equipment. The modular homes were constructed to last at least 30 years.

Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 12:49 PM, Mariah Ross, 57114K, Negative] reports that a man who is accused of printing thousands of dollars of counterfeit money and using it a local businesses was arrested in Anderson County. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said an investigation into 40-year-old James Clifton Turner began with a Facebook Marketplace advertisement in January. According to reports, Turner bought two Go-Carts and paid the sellers in cash. The sellers realized the money was fake when they attempted to use it a store and were told the cash couldn’t be accepted. Reports state detectives executed a search at Turner’s home on January 29 and found counterfeit bills stacking up to the thousands. Deputies with the sheriff’s office, with the assistance of the Secret Service and ATF, confiscated fake checks, machinery made for printing and counterfeit cash. According to reports, deputies know Turner used the counterfeit bills at several local stores and restaurants. Turner was charged with obtaining goods under false pretenses. Federal charges are still pending.

Federal News Network [2/3/2025 5:27 PM, Justin Doubleday, 470K, Neutral] reports Karen Evans is returning to the Department of Homeland Security in a top cyber job as DHS responds to major hacks into U.S. critical infrastructure. Karen Evans is now "senior advisor for cybersecurity" at CISA, an agency spokesman confirmed to Federal News Network today. A CISA spokesman did not confirm whether Evans would be elevated to a permanent role at the agency. But multiple sources said Evans is likely to either be named as executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA or move on to a top position at DHS headquarters. Evans’ move back into government comes as agencies continue to respond to the Chinese government-backed hacking of U.S. critical infrastructure, including the Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon campaigns, respectively. Trump has yet to announce nominees for top cybersecurity jobs, including CISA director or White House national cyber director. CISA’s role within the Trump administration is also in flux. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has called for a "smaller, more nimble" CISA. She and other conservatives have criticized the cyber agency for its work to help address mis- and disinformation during elections.

StateScoop [2/3/2025 4:41 PM, Sophia Fox-Sowell, Neutral] reports Texas will soon launch a command center to strengthen the state’s ability to anticipate, detect and prevent cyberattacks, Gov. Greg Abbott announced in his State of the State address at the state capitol building in Austin on Sunday. Abbott said the state will partner with the University of San Antonio to create the Texas Cyber Command, taking advantage of the school’s resources to deploy “cutting edge capabilities to better secure our state.” In 2022, the University of San Antonio was selected to join the United States Cyber Command Academic Engagement Network, which works with the U.S. Department of Defense on cyberspace operations and capabilities, cyber expertise and cyber warfare. “San Antonio is the home to one of the world’s largest concentration of cybersecurity experts,” Abbott said in his address. “We must harness those assets to protect against threats from China, Iran, Russia and other foreign enemies. They could cripple our power, our water and our communications with cyberattacks.” According to a press release issued Sunday by the governor’s office, the Texas Cyber Command will provide state and local agencies cybersecurity resources and support services, such as professional development, post-attack investigations and incident response planning. The move to launch the statewide cybersecurity command center comes after a Texas county suffered a cyberattack last week. On Jan. 27, the Matagorda County municipal government, which serves about 37,000 residents roughly 90 miles south of Houston, suffered a cyberattack that forced officials from the Emergency Operation Center to declare a disaster. “We cannot let any more time go by without strongly, robustly addressing this problem,” Abbott said in his address. In December, the state awarded a $170.9 million contract to technology integrator Science Applications International Corporation, to provide the state and its agency network with cybersecurity services. Texas’s upcoming cyber command center is one of seven emergency items the Texas governor is focusing on this legislative session. The others are teacher pay, bail reform, school choice, expanded career training, increased investment in water and property tax relief.

Washington Post [2/3/2025 6:00 AM, Joseph Menn, 40736K, Neutral] reports President Donald Trump named the first director of the new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in 2018 and fired him two years later, after he declared that Trump’s loss in the 2020 election wasn’t down to fraud. Ever since, Republicans have targeted the top U.S. cyberdefense agency for downgrades or deep cuts. In November, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who now leads the Senate committee overseeing CISA, even mused about killing it altogether. But with Trump back in office, the direst fates appear off the table. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, who oversees the agency, and other Republicans now say they see an essential mission in CISA protecting critical infrastructure from mounting ransomware and nation-state hacking attacks, especially those from the Chinese military and spies. While Trump has rescinded many of his predecessor’s late-term executive orders, he has so far allowed President Joe Biden’s last one on cybersecurity to stand. It requires that software vendors to U.S. agencies prove they meet security standards that can better withstand China’s unprecedented rash of successful cyberattacks, including the massive Salt Typhoon hack into America’s telecom systems. Republicans are finding CISA easier to defend since it steered away from calling out disinformation in the last election cycle, only joining in a handful of FBI advisories about foreign tactics. Meanwhile, the man most often reported to be among the new administration’s lead candidates for CISA director, Sean Plankey, is widely seen not as a creature of politics but as a steady hand, having had cybersecurity roles in the Department of Energy and the White House after holding top security posts in industry and the military. "Sean is a trusted leader in the cyber domain who knows exactly what must be done to secure our critical infrastructure and address vulnerabilities," said Erik Conatser, who worked under Plankey at U.S. Cyber Command. In another sign of continuity — rare in this presidential transition — the Republican chair of the House Homeland Security Committee pledged to work with Democrats to improve the country’s electronic defenses and dedicated his first hearing of the new Congress to cyberthreats. "Cyberspace has increasingly become the battlefield on which America’s adversaries undermine our sovereignty and threaten the services that underpin the everyday lives of Americans," Mark Green (R-Tennessee) said in an opening statement focused on the Chinese government-backed hackers who have burrowed deep inside U.S. telecommunications companies for spying and, more ominously, inside utilities and ports, where they could wreak chaos if war breaks out over Taiwan.

AP [2/3/2025 7:32 PM, Lea Skene, 33392K, Negative] reports the founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group was convicted Monday of conspiring with his former girlfriend to plan an attack on Maryland’s power grid in furtherance of their shared racist beliefs. Brandon Russell, 29, encouraged Sarah Beth Clendaniel to carry out a series of "sniper attacks" on electrical substations around Baltimore that could have caused significant damage to the regional power grid, according to federal prosecutors. Their goal was to create chaos in the majority-Black city, prosecutors say. The two were arrested in February 2023 — before the plans were executed. The 12-person jury deliberated for less than an hour after hearing about four days of testimony in federal court in Baltimore. They found Russell guilty of one count of conspiracy to damage an energy facility, the only charge he faced. Russell will be sentenced at a later date. He appeared in court wearing a light blue jacket and glasses. He conferred regularly with his attorney throughout the trial, looking cheerful and engaged. Several years ago, Russell co-founded the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, which is German for "atomic weapon.” This wasn’t his first run-in with law enforcement. Russell previously pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device and improper storage of explosive materials after investigators searched his home and found a stash of highly explosive materials and a cache of neo-Nazi signs, posters, books and flags. During closing arguments Monday afternoon, prosecutor Joseph Baldwin recounted trial testimony, including from a confidential informant who got connected with Russell through the social media app Telegram. Russell introduced Clendaniel and the informant, hoping the person could help her obtain a firearm to use in the attack, according to prosecutors.

Reported similarly:
Miami Herald [2/3/2025 10:35 PM, Staff, 6595K, Negative]
Yahoo! News [2/3/2025 9:43 PM, Racquel Bazos, 57114K, Negative]

FOX News [2/3/2025 4:00 AM, Audrey Conklin, 57114K, Negative] reports plaintiffs affected by the New Year’s terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans have filed a civil lawsuit against the city’s leadership and private companies hired to consult the city about safety planning in the French Quarter for negligence. Terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Texas killed 14 civilians and injured 57 others when he rammed a Ford F-150 through crowds of people celebrating New Year’s on the famous New Orleans street around 3 a.m. Jan. 1. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with police. "New Orleans is forever changed by this tragedy, and we’ve seen countless people now alter their behavior and avoid Bourbon Street and even the City itself out of fear for their physical safety. Further, it’s impossible to quantify how many people now suffer crippling depression, anxiety and nightmares from what they saw and heard during that attack. It is impossible to quantify this tragedy’s astounding impact on our community," Maples & Connick partner Aaron Maples said in a statement. Romanucci & Blandin, a mass disaster law firm that has represented victims in multiple recent mass casualty events and attacks, partnered with New Orleans-based law firm Maples & Connick LLC to file the civil suit that alleges the mass tragedy was not only predictable but preventable. The 21 plaintiffs include Antoinette Klima, whose son’s father, Reggie Hunter, died in the attack. "On New Year’s Day, I received the heartbreaking call that Reggie did not survive," Klima said in a statement. "Telling our son that his father was gone was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. And I’ve been through a lot in my life—surviving Hurricane Katrina, losing loved ones, and even wading through floodwaters to save my grandfather. But nothing, nothing compares to the pain of losing Reggie and having to break that news to our son.” A graphic shows the names of the victims in the New Orleans terror attack. She added that she just marked her son’s first birthday "without his father.” "It’s been an incredibly tough time. Our son has been robbed of so many milestones—a father’s presence at his first dance, his first kiss, learning to drive, graduating, getting married," Klima said. "The list of what he’s missing is endless. I don’t know if the pain will ever fully go away. People say it gets easier, but I’m not sure. What I do know is that we must find a way to move forward. We must find accountability, seek justice, and work to ensure that no child ever has to suffer like this again due to senseless violence.” Plaintiffs also include the parents of University of Georgia student Elle Eisele, who was struck by the vehicle along with her friend and San Diego State University student Steele Idelson. They sustained life-threatening injuries while two others with them were killed. Three plaintiffs who survived the attack are also speaking out after the lawsuit was filed. "Before that fateful night on New Year’s in New Orleans, I was filled with hope and optimism about our city’s future. I felt secure and looked forward to each day, appreciating the vibrant community around me," survivor Leo Spadoni said in a statement. "That moment changed everything. In an instant, my sense of safety was shattered. The joy I once felt was replaced by a pervasive fear. The city that I once loved and felt a part of now feels like a place of danger and dread. This fear has made me apprehensive about venturing out and living a fulfilling life of enjoyment.”

USA Today [2/3/2025 8:57 PM, Alexis Simmerman and Anthony Robledo, 89965K, Neutral] reports four fathers are being praised as heroes after apprehending an active shooter at an East Texas high school band competition over the weekend. The shooting occurred shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday at the Pasadena Memorial High School in Harris County, leaving one man in his mid-twenties shot and injured, according to the Pasadena Police Department. Dennis Erwin Brandl Jr., 83, allegedly used a "small caliber weapon" and entered the school, where students and parents from several schools had traveled for the competition. Someone then intervened and "tackled" Brandl, while a group of fathers disarmed Brandi and held him down until law enforcement arrived, the department confirmed in a news release. In an update posted Sunday, Pasadena Police said the male victim was in stable condition at a hospital and expected to make a full recovery. Police said the victim did not know Brandl or had any contact with him prior to the shooting. The four dads were helping move equipment at the band competition when the shooting broke out, according to local station KHOU 11. Brandl is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in shooting. He reportedly told officers "he was being chased by someone and feared he and his wife were going to be killed," the Pasadena Police Department wrote on Sunday. Police said he left his home in Spring, Texas and ended up around 35 miles south in Pasadena, where he then went into Pasadena Memorial High School. As of Sunday evening, Brandl was awaiting transfer to the Harris County Jail. No bond was set. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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CBS News [2/3/2025 8:13 AM, Staff, 52225K, Neutral]

AOL [2/3/2025 2:32 PM, Alexis Keenan, 27233K, Neutral] reports that Donald Trump on Monday said that a newly created US sovereign wealth fund could play a part in his attempt to rescue TikTok from a US ban. The president had previously floated the idea of the US taking a 50% stake in the social media platform as part of any deal negotiated with TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance, which has to divest itself of TikTok for it to escape a US ban. On his second day in office Trump told reporters that "what I’m thinking about saying to somebody is, buy it, and give half to the United States of America. Half, and we’ll give you the permit. And they’ll have a great partner, the United States." Today, as he signed an executive order directing the US Treasury and Commerce departments to launch a new sovereign wealth fund, he said of TikTok that "we might put that in the sovereign wealth fund, whatever we make or we do a partnership with very wealthy people, a lot of options," according to a report from the Associated Press. "We have a lot of other things that we could put in the fund," he added. President Trump issued a separate executive order on Jan. 20 that temporarily shielded TikTok from the US ban. That order — which experts have said is legally dubious — opened a 75-day window for the Trump administration "to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way" for TikTok’s US business after a new law effectively banning the app took effect the day before Trump took office.

Washington Examiner [2/3/2025 7:48 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 2365K, Neutral] reports that, speaking to reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews last night, President Donald Trump issued another veiled threat to Panama, suggesting military force to reclaim the Panama Canal could be on the table, if it’s not handed over to the United States. "What they’ve done is terrible. They violated the agreement. They’re not allowed to violate the agreement," Trump said. "China is running the Panama Canal. It was not given to China. It was given to Panama foolishly, but they violated the agreement, and we’re going to take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen.” Panama insists that while China operates two ports on either end of the 50-mile canal, it does not operate the canal, and Panama disputes Trump’s complaint that U.S. commercial traffic and warships are overcharged. Under the 1977 "Permanent Neutrality Treaty," the U.S. has the right to act if the canal’s operation is threatened due to military conflict — but not to reassert control, Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington told the Associated Press. "There’s very little wiggle room, absent a second U.S. invasion of Panama, to retake control of the Panama Canal in practical terms.” But in Senate testimony last week, Eugene Kontorovich, professor, Scalia Law School, George Mason University, said a review of the history of the treaty’s ratification shows, "it was clear that the treaty was understood as giving both sides separately the right to resort to use armed force to enforce the provisions of the treaty.” "Of course, armed force should never be the first recourse for any kind of international dispute and should not be arrived at sort of rashly or before negotiations and other kinds of good offices are exhausted," Kontorovich testified. "But it’s quite clear that the treaty contemplates that as a remedy for violations.” Panama, it should be noted, abolished its military in 1994, after the U.S. invasion "Operation Just Cause" overthrew the dictatorship of Manuel Noriega in 1989.

FOX News [2/3/2025 12:25 PM, Caitlin McFall, 49889K, Neutral] reports that excluding Ukraine from U.S.-led talks involving the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv’s eastern front would set a "dangerous" precedent to dictators across the globe, warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "If there will be direct talks between America and Russia without Ukraine, it is very dangerous, I think," Zelenskyy said in a Saturday interview with the Associated Press. "They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us – it is dangerous for everyone." Zelenskyy argued that doing so would validate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion and "show that he was right" because he received "impunity" and "compromise." "This will mean that anyone can act like this. And this will be a signal to other leaders of the big countries who think about [doing]… something similar," he said. The Ukrainian president’s comments came before President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested that his administration had already begun talks with Moscow and claimed they were "going pretty well." "We have meetings and talks scheduled with various parties, including Ukraine and Russia. And I think those discussions are actually going pretty well," he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Newsweek [2/3/2025 2:07 PM, Tom O’Connor, 56005K, Neutral] reports that a senior Palestinian official shared with Newsweek his reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion of relocating the entire population of the Gaza Strip in order to pursue real estate development in the war-torn territory. Trump first publicly floated the proposal last week, telling reporters that "we can just clean out" Gaza by transferring its population, estimated to be between 1.5 million and more than 2 million people, to neighboring Egypt and Jordan. Despite backlash from the two countries and elsewhere across the Arab world, the U.S. leader doubled down on the proposal in recent days and insisted that Cairo and Amman "will do it." Faisal Aranki, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, told Newsweek that the proposal "is controversial and raises many humanitarian and political issues." "On the one hand, some see it as an immoral step that exposes Palestinians to additional suffering, especially since the forced displacement of people is a violation of human rights and leads to further escalation and conflict," Aranki said. "On the other hand, some may see it as part of an attempt to find a long-term solution to the Palestinian issue," he continued, "but there are always concerns that such solutions marginalize the basic rights of Palestinians to return and live in dignity on their land."

Wall Street Journal [2/3/2025 4:41 PM, Jared Malsin and Nancy A. Youssef, Neutral] reports the Trump administration has asked congressional leaders to approve new transfers of roughly $1 billion worth of bombs and other military hardware to Israel at the same time the White House is working to preserve a fragile cease-fire in Gaza, according to U.S. officials familiar with the sale. The planned weapons sales include 4,700 1,000-pound bombs, worth more than $700 million, as well as armored bulldozers built by Caterpillar, worth more than $300 million, the officials said. The new arms requests, which would be paid for from the billions of dollars in annual U.S. military aid to Israel, come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Washington and set to meet President Trump on Tuesday to discuss the cease-fire in Gaza, a separate truce in Lebanon and tensions in the wider Middle East. Netanyahu and other Israeli officials are expected to press Trump to move forward with a separate set of arms transfers that were initially requested by the Biden administration, totaling more than $8 billion in new bombs, missiles and artillery rounds. The Biden administration notified key congressional leaders about that sale in January before it left office. The weapons haven’t yet received full approval because of a hold by some Democratic lawmakers, a congressional official said. The Trump administration is now pushing congressional leaders to unblock the sales, according to officials familiar with the discussions. A spokesman for the Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said, “We continue engagement with the administration on a number of questions and concerns” about the weapons deals but declined to provide details. The new proposed weapons deals come at a pivotal moment in the U.S.-Israeli relationship. In addition to the Gaza cease-fire, Israel is also engaged in an uneasy truce with Hezbollah in Lebanon. In late January, Trump backed Israel’s decision to keep some military forces stationed in southern Lebanon while the cease-fire deal was being implemented.

AP [2/4/2025 4:39 AM, Ken Moritsugu and Huizhong Wu, 33392K, Negative] reports China countered President Donald Trump’s across-the-board tariffs on Chinese products with tariffs on select U.S. imports Tuesday, as well as announcing an antitrust investigation into Google and other trade measures. U.S. tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico were also set to go into effect Tuesday before Trump agreed to a 30-day pause as the two countries acted to appease his concerns about border security and drug trafficking. Trump planned to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the next few days. The Chinese response was “measured,” said John Gong, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. “I don’t think they want the trade war escalating,” he said. “And they see this example from Canada and Mexico and probably they are hoping for the same thing.” This isn’t the first round of tit-for-tat actions between the two countries. China and the U.S. had engaged in a trade war in 2018 when Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods and China responded in kind. This time, analysts said, China is much better prepared to counter, with the government announcing a slew of measures that cut across different sectors of the economy, from energy to individual U.S. companies. China said it would implement a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas products as well as a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the U.S. The tariffs would take effect next Monday. “The U.S.’s unilateral tariff increase seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organization,” the State Council Tariff Commission said in a statement. “It is not only unhelpful in solving its own problems, but also damages normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S.” The impact on U.S. exports may be limited. Though the U.S. is the biggest exporter of liquid natural gas globally, it does not export much to China. In 2023, the U.S. exported 173,247 million cubic feet of LNG to China, representing about 2.3% of total natural gas exports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. China imported only about 700,000 cars overall last year, and the leading importers are from Europe and Japan, said Bill Russo, the founder of the Automobility Limited consultancy in Shanghai.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/4/2025 3:09 AM, Ana Swanson and Chris Buckley, 161405K, Neutral]
Washington Post [2/4/2025 12:11 AM, Katrina Northrop, Lyric Li and Vic Chiang, 40736K, Neutral]
Reuters [2/4/2025 4:49 AM, Trevor Hunnicutt and Kevin Huang, 48128K, Neutral]

FOX News [2/3/2025 10:36 AM, Taylor Penley, 10861K, Neutral] reports that the Trump administration is weighing tough crackdowns on China, including pulling Chinese stocks from U.S. exchanges, Vice President JD Vance told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo. "I think we need to look at everything," he said in an interview segment that aired during "Mornings with Maria" on Monday. "We need to look at tariffs. We need to look certainly at some restrictive activities when it comes to their stock exchanges. We need to look at ways of pushing back against intellectual property theft. We need to look at ways maybe of expelling certain Chinese nationals who are using our openness as a society to take advantage of the United States of America." Vance sat down with Bartiromo for an exclusive "Sunday Morning Futures" interview when tensions with China – especially in light of President Trump’s tariffs – came into focus. While he declined to "make any commitments" on Trump’s behalf, he disclosed that Trump is considering everything as a possibility while his administration "fight[s] back against the threat to our country."

VOA News [2/3/2025 2:19 PM, Michael Lipin, 2717K, Neutral] reports that the Trump administration has made its first comment on Western media reports that Iran is trying to ship a missile propellant ingredient from China, telling VOA it is aware of the reports published last month, while declining to confirm their veracity. Responding to a VOA query about the purported Iranian scheme, a State Department spokesperson said in a Jan. 30 statement, "We are aware of the press reports. However, we do not comment on intelligence matters." Britain’s Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal in the United States published reports on Jan. 22 and 23 respectively, citing unnamed Western officials as saying Iran-flagged ships Golbon and Jairan were in the process of being loaded with 1,000 metric tons of sodium perchlorate near Ningbo on China’s eastern coast. The Financial Times described its sources as "security officials" in two Western countries, while The Wall Street Journal attributed the same information to a "Western official" and other "people familiar with the matter." The news outlets said the purported shipment could be transformed into enough ammonium perchlorate — a key solid fuel propellant component — to produce 260 midrange Iranian missiles. Both the Golbon container ship and the Jairan cargo ship are sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. The vessels’ appearance on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals List means they are blocked from U.S.-related commerce.

Newsweek [2/3/2025 5:47 AM, Ryan Chan, 6595K, Positive] reports the U.S. government last month approved three major weapons sales to Japan, its East Asian security treaty ally that faces threats from both China and North Korea. Newsweek has emailed the Japanese military for comment. The Chinese military and the North Korean Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both the U.S. and Japan are the signatories of a treaty of mutual cooperation and security. Washington has bolstered Tokyo’s defense capabilities for decades by exporting advanced defense items, ranging from aircraft, including stealth fighter jets, to missiles. The Chinese military has frequently dispatched air and naval forces around Japan’s islands, which form part of a blockade known as the first island chain against China. The nuclear-armed North Korea has continued its missile tests, which targeted the waters near Japan. On Friday, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale of the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) Block I missiles for $900 million to Japan, which has requested to buy up to 150 missiles. Raytheon, the manufacturer of the SM-6, claimed the missile can carry out anti-air, anti-ship, and anti-ballistic missile missions. The 290-mile-range missile can be fired from warships, as well as land-based launchers like the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) system. The DSCA said the sale will improve Japan’s capability to meet current and future threats by deploying the latest Standard Missile variant from its warships, which are equipped with the American combat system known as AEGIS that provides air and missile defense. Prior to that, the U.S. has agreed the sales of the AIM-120D-3 and AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), as well as the AGM-158B/B-2 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles with Extended Range (JASSM-ER), to Japan last month. Japan has sought to purchase 1,200 AMRAAMs for aerial combat, which has a range of over 20 miles, and 16 JASSM-ERs, a stealthy cruise missile that is designed for launching by aircraft against land targets greater than 500 miles away. The proposed sales of the above three types of American missiles to Japan "will not alter the basic military balance in the region," the DSCA said in the statements, adding that these military sales to the ally will not have an "adverse impact" on U.S. defense readiness.

Newsweek [2/3/2025 8:02 AM, Micah McCartney, 56005K, Neutral] reports the Philippines on Sunday marked the 30th straight day of the Chinese coast guard’s "illegal" deployment off Zambales, a province on the U.S. ally’s heavily populated Luzon island. Multiple heavily armed Chinese coast guard ships have maintained this presence, well within the 200-nautical-mile [230-mile] exclusive economic zone (EEZ) where a country is entitled to resources under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China claims upward of 90 percent of the South China Sea within its "10-dashed line" map. The monthlong deployment brings the long-running territorial dispute with China, typically centered on several contested rocks and reefs, closer to the Philippines proper, further fueling tensions between the two neighbors. Manila has responded with its own coast guard, keeping up the pressure on its Chinese counterpart through continuous monitoring and radio challenges. One of main ships testing the Philippines in this area is China Coast Guard 5901. The ship’s considerable girth—measuring 540 feet from bow to stern and displacing 12,000 tons—has earned this the nickname "the Monster." Despite dwarfing any ship in the Philippines—and indeed any country’s—coast guard, the CCG-5901, was "pushed back" from 54 to around 120 nautical miles [62 to 138 miles] by the Southeast Asian country’s BRP Teresa Magbanua, Philippine coast guard (PCG) spokesperson Jay Tarriela wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday. Tarriela said that, by ignoring the 2016 ruling in favor of the Philippines by an international arbitral court in The Hague, Beijing has shown a "blatant disregard for international law and the established rules-based order." The "Monster" was not the only ship reinforcing Beijing’s maritime claims in this area, however. On Sunday morning, Chinese ships bearing the hull numbers 3301 and 3304 were spotted not far away, just 34 nautical miles [39 miles] off the coast of Pangasinan, a province of Luzon’s Ilocos Region, Tarriela wrote in a separate X post. The Philippines dispatched a par of its own patrol vessels to "reinforce the Philippine government’s position against the normalization of illegal patrols by the People’s Republic of China within the Philippine exclusive economic zone," the spokesman added. On Friday, there was a patrol by the Chinese coast guard at Scarborough Shoal—a hotly contested feature known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc and in China as Huangyan Island—Chinese state media cited the maritime agency as saying. The rich fishing ground, which China effectively seized control of in 2012, sits about 140 miles west of Luzon and over 600 miles from the nearest Chinese shores. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [2/4/2025 4:28 AM, Jim Gomez, 14282K, Neutral] reports U.S. and Philippine fighter aircraft staged a joint patrol and training Tuesday over a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese fighter jets fired flares last year to drive away a Philippine aircraft, Philippine officials said. The joint patrol and air-intercept drills over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines were the first by the longtime treaty allies since U.S. President Donald Trump took office again. Trump’s “America First” foreign policy thrust has sparked concerns among Washington’s allies in Asia about the scale and depth of U.S. commitment to the region in his new term. His predecessor, Joe Biden, had moved to strengthen an arc of security alliances in the region to counter China’s increasingly assertive actions. Two U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber aircraft and three Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter jets joined the brief patrol and training, which involved practicing how to intercept a hostile aircraft, Philippine air force spokesperson Maria Consuelo Castillo said in a news briefing. It was not immediately known if the joint patrol encountered any challenge from Chinese forces guarding the Scarborough Shoal. “The exercises focused on enhancing operational coordination, improving air domain awareness and reinforcing agile combat employment capabilities between the two air forces,” the Philippine Air Force said. In August last year, two Chinese air force aircraft flew close then fired flares in the path of a Philippine air force plane on routine patrol over the Scarborough Shoal in actions that were strongly condemned and protested by the Philippine government, military officials said. All those aboard the Philippine air force NC-212i turbo-prop transport plane were unharmed, the Philippine military said. The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said then that a Philippine air force aircraft “illegally” entered the airspace above the shoal and disrupted training activities by Chinese forces. It warned the Philippines to “stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hyping-up.”

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