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 Wall Street Journal [2/7/2025 8:52 PM, Nancy A. Youssef, Tarini Parti and Jess Bravin] Video: HERE reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made a trip Friday to Guantanamo Bay, as the Trump administration steps up use of the naval base in seeking to emphasize toughness against migrants it says have criminal backgrounds. Noem visited the detention and processing center and received tours and briefings on the base, better known for its notorious prison for terror suspects. In a video that Noem posted on X, she said she was “checking out some of the operations that we’re standing up to house the worst of the worst.” “Illegal criminals that are in the United States of America—they won’t be there for long,” Noem said standing in front of a chain-linked fence with barbed wires. Her trip comes as a C-130 aircraft carried just under 20 passengers from Texas to Guantanamo Bay on Friday, defense officials said. The secretary also posted a video of her watching migrants as they were unloaded from the aircraft onto the base. Earlier this week, two C-17 military flights each carrying roughly a dozen migrants departed from Fort Bliss, Texas, for Guantanamo Bay. The flights have carried migrants who are in the U.S. illegally and who have been deemed high-risk by the Trump administration. A flight that arrived on the base Thursday carried 13 migrants who were known gang members from Venezuela, according to a Homeland Security Department official. Their crimes included homicide, weapons trafficking, distribution of dangerous drugs, assault and robbery, the DHS official said. Officials didn’t provide further details of the detainees’ alleged crimes or whether any had pending immigration claims. More flights are expected to go to Guantanamo Bay this weekend, a U.S. Defense Department official said. FOX News [2/7/2025 10:40 AM, Adam Shaw, 49889K] reports that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Friday that a second flight to Guantanamo Bay carrying "dangerous criminal aliens" had departed a day earlier – just as she is heading to the site where up to 30,000 migrants could eventually be held. "A second flight of dangerous criminal aliens took off for Guantanamo Bay yesterday. ALL are known gang members from Venezuela," she said on X. She said that those on board included an immigrant who confessed to homicide and another wanted in Venezuela for escaping jail and for aggravated robbery with a weapon/intent to commit homicide. Other crimes said to be committed by passengers include weapons trafficking, robbery, drug distribution, assault and impersonation fraud. Fox News reported Thursday that DHS had said there were 13 Venezuelan men on the plane, some of whom are suspected members of Tren de Aragua. The Thursday flight was the second after a similar flight on Tuesday. Noem will visit the Guantanamo Bay facility on Friday, when she will see the detention and processing center and have tours and briefings on the site. VOA News [2/7/2025 7:51 PM, Jeff Seldin, 2717K] reports that the first 10 undocumented migrants, described by U.S. officials as the "the worst of the worst," arrived at the detention facility Tuesday, also on board a C-130. Officials have said all the migrants are being held under the watch of officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Homeland Security officials said the 10 migrants who arrived Tuesday were members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan street gang with transnational reach. Officials did not say when or how they were first taken into custody. The White House has announced plans to designate Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. U.S. defense officials have called the detention of the high-threat migrants at Guantanamo Bay detention facility a temporary measure.

Reported similarly:
NBC News [2/7/2025 7:05 PM, Gabe Gutierrez, 50804K] Video: HERE

AP [2/7/2025 7:22 PM, Michael R. Sisak, 47097K] reports that President Donald Trump’s administration is using federal prisons to detain some people arrested in its immigration crackdown, the federal Bureau of Prisons said Friday, returning to a strategy that drew allegations of mistreatment during his first term. In a statement to The Associated Press, the prison agency said it is assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "by housing detainees and will continue to support our law enforcement partners to fulfill the administration’s policy objectives." The Bureau of Prisons declined to say how many immigration detainees it is taking in, or which prison facilities are being used. "For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not comment on the legal status of an individual, nor do we specify the legal status of individuals assigned to any particular facility, including numbers and locations," the agency said. Three people familiar with the matter told the AP that federal jails in Los Angeles and Miami and a federal prison in Atlanta are being used for immigration detention. The people were not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity. An influx of immigration detainees could put yet more strain on federal prisons, which AP reporting revealed have been plagued by severe understaffing, violence and other problems.

Reuters [2/7/2025 12:11 PM, Ted Hesson, 48128K] reports that the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday demanded access to migrants flown by the U.S. military to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying the Trump administration has provided virtually no information about the migrants and that the detentions raise questions about violations of U.S. and international laws. The ACLU and 14 other advocacy groups sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for immediate access to nearly two dozen migrants transferred there this week, including free and unmonitored phone calls and the ability to visit in person. U.S. immigration detention by law cannot be punitive or deny access to an attorney, the groups said in the letter. "The government cannot attempt to subvert the statutory and constitutional rights afforded to these noncitizens in the United States by transferring them to an offshore prison and holding them incommunicado without access to counsel or any means of contact with the outside world," they said.

The Hill [2/7/2025 2:55 PM, Alexander Bolton, 16346K] reports Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Friday unveiled a 61-page budget resolution that would lay the groundwork for the Senate to pass a special budget reconciliation bill that would provide $175 billion to secure the southern border and $150 billion to beef up national defense. The proposal calls for finishing the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and upgrading technology for ground and aerial support to secure the border. It also calls for increasing the number of detention beds to hold migrants arrested in the United States and to increase the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to "conduct mass detention and removal of criminal illegal aliens," according to a summary provided by Graham’s office. Funding would go toward increasing the number of Border Patrol agents to "regain operational control of the border" and assistant U.S. attorneys to prosecute violent crime, organized crime and immigration-related offenses. It would also fund additional immigration judges to clear the backlogs in immigration courts. The budget calls for making investments in state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal law enforcement in removing migrants. The budget legislation includes a $175 billion instruction to both the Senate Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, which share jurisdiction over the border, to craft the legislation. It provides a $150 billion reconciliation instruction to the Senate Armed Services Committee to increase defense spending. And it provides a $20 billion reconciliation instruction to the Transportation Committee. Senate Republican sources familiar with the legislation say the instructions would cover a $17 billion increase in funding for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Yahoo! News [2/8/2025 4:02 AM, Jesse Mendoza, 57114K] reports U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan has filed the "Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act," a bill to prohibit illegal immigrants in gangs from receiving U.S. asylum or temporary protected status. House Republicans have already taken a stab at a bill aimed at deportation of illegal immigrants suspected to have gang affiliations under Donald Trump’s first presidency in 2017. The House passed a bill with the same name introduced by former U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock, but the bill died in the Senate. It is not possible to deport gang members until they are convicted of an independent crime, and Buchanan’s proposal comes at a time when anti-illegal immigration initiatives have gained momentum propelled by Trump’s election. The 2025 bill, introduced Thursday, is co-sponsored by Reps. Riley Moore and Randy Weber. “Violent criminal illegals have no place in our country,” Buchanan said in a news release. “If the Biden Administration had been doing its job, Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray and countless others murdered by criminal illegals would still be alive. Congress needs to pass my Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act to make sure violent criminal illegals are immediately deported and never allowed to enter our country again.” The U.S. Border Patrol arrested more than 17,000 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions in fiscal year 2024. The figure is just under 2,000 arrests more than in 2023, and about 14,600 more than the 2,438 arrests made during the final year of Trump’s first presidency in FY 2020.

The Hill [2/7/2025 12:07 PM, Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld, 16346K] reports that federal judges are curbing President Trump’s sweeping directives to reshape the government, issuing a flurry of rulings blocking his agenda from charging forward. More than three dozen lawsuits have been filed challenging major Trump administration actions from gender to immigration to federal employee protections. Many of the plaintiffs sought speedy relief and warned of imminent harm, leading to an extravaganza of emergency hearings this week in courtrooms across the country. "The environment that exists right now within the administration and the political appointees — from whatever it is now to tomorrow morning might as well be an eternity for us," said Mark Zaid, an attorney for FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases suing to block the release of their names, at a hearing this week. Trump has signed dozens of executive actions since returning to the Oval Office last month, flooding the zone with orders and statements zigzagging through different policy areas. Those directives have drawn swift legal challenges, filling judges’ calendars across the country — especially in Washington, where more than 20 new suits have brought the federal courthouse’s halls and courtroom galleries back to life after weeks of little action. Federal judges in Washington scheduled hearings in eight lawsuits this week alone.

Bloomberg [2/8/2025 3:41 AM, Erik Larson, 6595K] reports a judge blocked Elon Musk’s newly established efficiency team access to some Treasury Department information after a group of 19 mostly Democrat-led states sued President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for allowing it. Trump and Bessent violated federal law by allowing the temporary Department of Government Efficiency access to Treasury Department information containing the personal data on millions of Americans, according to a lawsuit filed late Friday in New York. US District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued the blocking order early Saturday. The defendants are “restrained from granting access to all political appointees, special government employees, and government employees detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department,” the judge said. Engelmayer also ordered those prohibited from having access to the Treasury information but did so since Jan. 20 to “immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems.” The judge set a hearing for Feb. 14. The case, along with a similar complaint filed earlier this week by unions, could delay what the president says is a plan to identify and cut wasteful spending. The president created the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency by executive order and appointed Musk to lead what they describe as an effort to modernize federal technology and identify spending cuts. But the move immediately raised legal concerns.

Reported similarly:
ABC News [2/7/2025 7:48 PM, Aaron Katersky and Peter Charalambous, 33392K]

Federal News Network [2/7/2025 11:36 AM, Michele Sandiford, 470K] reports that House Democrats are making a push to secure data at the Treasury Department. A group of lawmakers have introduced the Taxpayer Data Protection Act. The bill seeks to add a layer of protection against anyone seeking to access the agency’s systems. The legislation would bar anyone with conflicts of interest or without a security clearance from getting into the Treasury Department’s data. The bill comes after billionaire Elon Musk and some of his employees gained access to Treasury Department data. House Democrats said they’re expecting a Senate companion bill for the Taxpayer Data Protection Act shortly. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Newsweek [2/8/2025 5:24 AM, James Bickerton, 56005K] reports a top Treasury official is reportedly concerned that allowing employees from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access to the department’s payments system could endanger American spies abroad. According to Washington Post, which cites "five people with knowledge of the matter," the official raised their fears about the threat to U.S. spies in a memo sent to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Newsweek contacted the Treasury Department and CIA for comment on Saturday via email and online inquiry form respectively outside of regular office hours. Following President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, his close political ally, technology billionaire Elon Musk, was placed in charge of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been tasked with slashing waste from federal spending. On January 31, Bessent approved a request for DOGE employees to be given access to the Treasury Department’s payment system, which contains trillions of dollars’ worth of transactions, including Social Security checks and tax refunds. However, access was restricted to two Treasury Department employees affiliated with DOGE, Tom Krause and Marko Elez, following a legal challenge brought by two unions and an advocacy group. This access was also classed as read only. If the Treasury official is correct, and DOGE access to their payment system risks exposing American spies abroad, it represents a clear security threat to the United States. However, critics will likely see this as an excuse for the federal bureaucracy, which they dub the "deep state," to restrict scrutiny of its work. Citing five informed parties, Washington Post reported that last week, a high-ranking Treasury official said in a memo to Bessent that they fear DOGE access to the department’s payment system could allow American spies to be identified, potentially placing them in danger. The newspaper also said that the official included suggestions to "mitigate risks" in their memo, and that these had been approved by Bessent.

New York Times [2/8/2025 5:02 AM, Christopher Flavelle, 161405K] reports two months ago, the Biden administration announced an initiative to share satellite data with Central American countries including Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to help them prepare for severe storms. The goal was twofold. In a region vulnerable to hurricanes and other calamities made worse by a warming climate, reducing the damage would help ease suffering. It would also relieve the pressure to migrate to the United States. And at $6.6 million, the project, run by the U.S. Agency for International Development and NASA, cost a tiny fraction of what the federal government spends on border security. That program, along with a suite of other development projects designed to reduce the flow of people from Central America to the U.S. border, now seems to be over. The day he took office, Mr. Trump signed an order freezing U.S.A.I.D. spending; on Friday, he proposed closing the agency entirely. The State Department has assumed responsibility for the agency, which is set to lose 97 percent of its staff. “The United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests,” Mr. Trump’s Jan. 20 order began. But the agency’s resilience programs show that in an age of worsening climate threats, distinguishing humanitarian programs overseas from American interests is not as clear-cut as it might seem. Cutting those programs could increase migration from Central America, the opposite of what Mr. Trump has said he wants to achieve. “U.S.A.I.D. built a vast array of programs to help families foresee and adjust to climate shocks without migrating,” said Michael A. Clemens, a professor at George Mason University who was a senior adviser at the agency during the Biden administration. Ending those programs “leaves migration as the only viable way for many families in the Western Hemisphere region to cope.”

CBS Austin [2/7/2025 7:07PM, Taylor Fishman, 581K] reports after the National After the reports National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration briefed Senators on Thursday, it appears that a key safety system in the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger plane near Washingtons Ronald Reagan Airport was turned off, ultimately killing 67 people. Senator Ted Cruz held the bipartisan member-level briefing, with Cruz holding the position of Senate Commerce Committee chair. Cruz told reporters that the U.S. Army helicopter had its automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) turned off. "This was a training mission, so there was no compelling national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off," Cruz said after the briefing. The collision last week led to both aircrafts crashing into the Potomac River. According to the NTSB, the helicopter was flying too high. The flight traffic data that NTSB had obtained confirms that the helicopter was flying at 300 feet according to the air traffic control display, which is 100 feet more than it should be flying in the nation’s capital.

New York Times [2/8/2025 3:29 AM, Charlie Savage, 740K] reports President Trump declared on Friday that he would soon “surgically” fire unidentified F.B.I. agents he claimed were corrupt, intensifying concerns about the possibility of a purge of federal law enforcement officials in the face of a court fight over agents and employees who had helped investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Hours earlier, a judge ordered his administration to keep confidential a list it had created of thousands of F.B.I. agents and employees who had worked on inquiries related to the Jan. 6 attack. The administration told the F.B.I. to compile that list last week. Mr. Trump, asked at a news conference on Friday whether he would fire all agents on it, said he would not — but quickly qualified his remarks to say that “some of them” would be terminated. “I’ll fire some of them because some of them were corrupt,” he said. “I have no doubt about that. I got to know a lot about that business, that world. I got to know a lot about that world. And we had some corrupt agents, and those people are gone, or they will be gone and it will be done quickly and very surgically.” The dispute over the administration’s plans grew out of a demand by Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, that the bureau compile and turn over a comprehensive list of the law enforcement officials who had played any role in investigating Jan. 6. The investigation became the largest in the Justice Department’s history, leading to nearly 1,600 people being charged or convicted of crimes in connection with the riot and involving the work of thousands of F.B.I. employees. Two groups of anonymous F.B.I. agents and employees filed lawsuits earlier this week to block any release of the identities. The administration consented to the text of a temporary restraining order on Friday barring the entire government from making the list public. Mr. Bove, a former criminal defense lawyer for President Trump, has been helping oversee the Trump administration effort to remake federal law enforcement. That has included firing or sidelining top career employees across the Justice Department and the F.B.I., and dismissing prosecutors who participated in the criminal cases against Mr. Trump — one of which was for his attempt to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election — or against the rioters.

Wall Street Journal [2/7/2025 2:03 PM, Sadie Gurman and Jan Wolfe] reports FBI employees and the Justice Department reached a tentative deal to bar the Trump administration from releasing the names of personnel who participated in investigations of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, after a judge said that publicizing their identities could put them in danger. The federal government has temporarily agreed not to make public a list of the FBI personnel who worked on Capitol riot cases, the Justice Department said in a court filing Friday, after FBI agents sued earlier in the week to block disclosure. “If this information were released, I think there’s no question that it would put a number of FBI agents in significant and immediate danger,” U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, said during a court hearing in Washington on Thursday. She pushed lawyers for both sides to negotiate the interim agreement. The agreement will remain in effect until Cobb can rule on a request by the FBI agents for an injunction prohibiting public disclosure of the list. The Trump administration agreed to give the FBI agents 48 hours’ notice if it reverses course and decides to make the names public, which would give the agents time to ask the judge to intervene. The agreement brings some relief, said Natalie Bara, president of the FBI Agents Association, which brought one of two lawsuits. “We will continue to do everything in our power to protect the FBI community from retaliation and appreciate that the court treated this matter with the urgency it deserves,” added Chris Mattei, a lawyer for the association. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove last week demanded the FBI compile a list of everyone who worked on those cases, stirring fear within the bureau of potential mass firings. Thousands of agents, analysts and other employees participated in the sprawling Capitol riot probe, one of the largest in Justice Department history. Bove said he would use the information to determine whether “any additional personnel actions are necessary.” He declined to elaborate, except to say in a follow-up memo to FBI leadership that “the only individuals who should be concerned about the process…are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent.”

Yahoo! News [2/7/2025 6:12 PM, Will Hofmann, 57114K] reports U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will visit Asheville on Feb. 8, the secretary’s office announced Feb. 6. During the visit, Noem will receive a briefing from Samaritan’s Purse, meet with Tropical Storm Helene survivors and meet with Sen. Ted Budd, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Cameron Hamilton, Rep. Virginia Foxx and Rep. Chuck Edwards. Noem, who served four terms in the House of Representatives as South Dakota’s sole representative, was in her second term as governor when Trump tapped her for a Cabinet position. Noem has been a longtime ally of Trump’s. At one point, she was rumored to be on his list of potential 2024 running mates. She came under fire last year, after publishing her memoir, "No Going Back," which included an anecdote about shooting dead her 14-month-old hunting dog, Cricket. Noem’s visit comes as a flurry of executive orders targeting undocumented migrants have been signed by President Donald Trump since he took office Jan. 20. On Jan. 21, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded an order that prevented federal agents from conducting immigration enforcement at "sensitive locations," such as schools and churches. Asheville City Schools sent a letter to families on Jan. 24 that the new policies may impact some families within the school system.

Newsweek [2/7/2025 1:09 PM, Billal Rahman, 56005K] reports that migrant children in Tennessee could soon face a major barrier to education as Republican lawmakers push a bill that would allow public schools to deny enrollment to undocumented students. Tennessee is among an increasing number of Republican states looking to enact bills intended to help Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda. Tennessee lawmakers are reviewing legislation that would permit public schools to refuse enrollment to undocumented students. House Majority Leader William Lamberth, who proposed the bill, argued that taxpayer funds, primarily contributed by legal residents and U.S. citizens, should be used to educate children who reside in Tennessee legally. House Bill 793 says school districts and public charter schools "may enroll, or refuse to enroll, a student who is unlawfully present in the United States.” Tennessee Democrats are pushing back against the proposal, saying the bill would roll back educational rights. State Senator Heidi Campbell told Newsweek the policy was cruel and discriminatory.

Newsweek [2/7/2025 1:13 PM, Dan Gooding, 56005K] reports that Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis handed state troopers new powers to detain illegal immigrants Friday, saying it was his responsibility to partner with President Donald Trump in his mass deportation efforts. The governor laid out what the state had done so far to tackle illegal immigration over the past four years, before announcing the new policies which would allow state troopers to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "We’re proud to be one of the first states in the nation to be requested and enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to execute functions of immigration enforcement within our state," DeSantis said. CBS Miami [2/7/2025 5:20 PM, John MacLauchlan, 52225K] reports that this act authorizes ICE to give the Florida Highway Patrol the ability to exercise certain immigration enforcement duties that they wouldn’t have been authorized to do before and enforce immigration law. Under the partnership, FHP troopers can question individuals about their immigration status during routine traffic stops, arrests or investigations. Troopers will also be able to detain suspected undocumented persons for ICE, pending further investigation or action by federal immigration authorities. If the individual is found to be in the country illegally, the FHP can initiate procedures to have them deported or detained by ICE. The partnership, however, does not grant the FHP the power to arrest people for immigration violations like ICE officers.

Yahoo! News [2/7/2025 1:24 PM, Presley Bo Tyler, 57114K] reports that on New Year’s Day, Bourbon Street in New Orleans suffered a tragic attack on when a vehicle purposefully drove into a crowd of people. In order for the city to be as safe as possible, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has deployed over 690 employees, representing 12 DHS agencies, in New Orleans. In New Orleans, the DHS is providing air security resources; venue, cyber and infrastructure security assessments; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives detections technologies; intelligence analysis and threat assessments; intellectual property enforcement, as well as real-time situational awareness reporting as part of a 20-year partnership with the NFL and state and local law enforcement, according to a DHS press release on Super Bowl security. The DHS has categorized Super Bowl LIX as a Special Event Assessment Rating Level 1 event. " Additional DHS security measures for the Super Bowl in New Orleans include U.S. Customs and Border Protections, Homeland Security Investigations, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, U.S. Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, Science and Technology Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as DHS Blue Campaign. Federal agencies like the FBI and Secret Service will also bring in rooftop snipers, along with armored SWAT vehicles positioned around the stadium.

Newsweek [2/7/2025 1:37 PM, Billal Rahman, 56005K] reports that Utah lawmakers are advancing a bill that would bar migrants seeking political asylum or temporary protected status from owning firearms, a measure Republicans argue is essential for bolstering public safety. Utah Republican state Representative Trevor Lee told Newsweek in a statement that the bill would "align state laws with federal standards." Immigration and mass deportations were a key element of Trump’s 2024 campaign and Republicans sweeping to power on a national level. Americans largely support the president’s mass deportation plans but disagree about how policies should be carried out. House Bill 183 (HB183) is a proposed legislation in Utah that seeks to amend the state’s definition of "restricted persons" concerning firearm possession. Currently, undocumented migrants are prohibited from possessing dangerous weapons. This bill aims to broaden the category of restricted persons to include migrants legally present in the United States, specifically those awaiting adjudication of their asylum applications or those under temporary protected status. These individuals would be classified as Category I restricted persons, equating them with individuals who have lost their firearm rights due to convictions of violent felonies or possession of certain controlled substances.

Bloomberg [2/7/2025 10:03 PM, Malathi Nayak, 21617K] reports San Francisco and a handful of other US cities are suing the Trump administration over its move to block funding for local governments with “sanctuary” policies as the president cracks down on undocumented immigrants. A coalition of cities and counties filed a complaint Friday challenging the order issued by President Donald Trump on his first day in office to cut off federal funds for local governments that don’t comply with federal immigration enforcement. “This is the federal government coercing local officials to bend to their will or face defunding or prosecution, and that is illegal or authoritarian,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said at a press conference. The city was joined in the case by Portland, Oregon and New Haven, Connecticut, as well as Santa Clara County in California’s Silicon Valley and King County, Washington, which includes the Seattle area. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit comes after Trump sued Illinois and Chicago, claiming their “sanctuary” policies prevent local officials from cooperating with his administration’s efforts to round up and deport undocumented immigrants, one of his signature campaign issues. The Illinois case was the first of its kind filed by new Attorney General Pam Bondi, who on Wednesday directed the US Justice Department to identify local governments with policies that impede immigration enforcement and to take action “where appropriate.” Trump adopted a similar policy during his first term. Courts blocked the effort in several jurisdictions, but the federal government was successful in limiting the reach of those orders.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/7/2025 4:46 PM, Eileen Sullivan, 161405K]
Politico [2/7/2025 3:46 PM, Dustin Gardiner and Blake Jones]
Axios [2/7/2025 5:59 PM, Shawna Chen, 16349K]
CBS San Francisco [2/7/2025 4:29 PM, Carlos Castañeda, 52225K]

Los Angeles Times [2/7/2025 11:00 AM, Fidel Martinez, 17996K] reports that sitting down in my Boyle Heights home to write this newsletter on Thursday morning, I was quickly distracted by a steady stream of car horns honking from nearby 1st Street. I got up from the table and walked to my porch to see what the commotion was all about. A group of about a hundred or so Latino students, many of them wearing hoodies and with their backpacks in tow, was marching on the westbound lane of the street on their way to City Hall for a third straight day of pro-immigrant rallies. The distracting cacophony I heard, it turns out, was coming from drivers heading in the opposite direction displaying their solidarity. Since taking office, President Trump has taken several actions to crack down on immigration, from declaring a national emergency at the southern border to issuing an executive order ending birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants (an effort that, for now, has been blocked by the courts). In turn, Angelenos have responded with a series of weeklong demonstrations. On Sunday, thousands headed to downtown Los Angeles to protest Trump’s actions and show their support for an immigrant community that is very much woven into the fabric of the region. The protest was peaceful but also disruptive; demonstrators blocked traffic at Spring and Temple streets before eventually shutting down the 101 Freeway for several hours. On Monday, in addition to protests, several businesses across the region closed up shop in observance of "A day without immigrants."

Miami Herald [2/7/2025 4:57 PM, Syra Ortiz Blanes, 6595K] reports President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan says deportations to Venezuela will begin in the next 30 days. The announcement comes at the heels of Trump saying last week that the South American country has agreed to take deportees back and to supply their transportation. His Department of Homeland Security also ended a parole process for nationals of Venezuela and three other countries that allows them to live and work in the U.S. as long as they had a financial sponsor and passed health and background checks; and ended Temporary Protected Status for nearly 350,000 Venezuelans, which means that they will no longer have deportation protections and work permits under the federal program come April. There are over 22,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. with final deportation orders, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data. These will be likely the first groups immigration authorities will focus on, de la Vega said.

The Washington Post [2/8/2025 12:02 AM, María Luisa Paúl, 40736K] reports President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order halting all U.S. aid to South Africa and directing his administration to develop a plan for resettling White Afrikaners as refugees, citing what he called “government-sponsored race-based discrimination” against them. The order accuses South Africa’s government of seizing “ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation” and enacting “countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity” in employment, education and business. It also claims that South African leaders have “taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies,” pointing to the country’s decision to accuse Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice and its deepening ties with Iran. “The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” the order states. South Africa has increasingly found itself in Trump’s crosshairs as he has claimed, without evidence, that its government is seizing White-owned land and persecuting White farmers, Washington Post previously reported. CBS News [2/7/2025 9:21 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 52225K] reports President Trump on Friday directed government officials to prioritize the resettlement of South Africans of European descent through the U.S. refugee program, which he suspended during his first day in office. In an executive order, Mr. Trump accused the South African government of discriminating against Afrikaners, an ethnic group in South Africa made up of descendants of European colonists, mostly from the Netherlands, who first arrived there in the 1600s. Until the 1990s, White South Africans of European descent ruled South Africa, enforcing the brutal system of apartheid against the country’s Black majority. But Mr. Trump alleged in his order that White South Africans are now the targets of oppression by the country’s government, citing a law that U.S. conservatives like Trump adviser and billionaire Elon Musk have said allow racially motivated seizures of land owned by White South Africans. Musk was born in South Africa. South Africa’s government has strongly denied any land confiscations or racially motivated discrimination, saying the law being scrutinized targets land not being used or not serving the public interest. In his order, Mr. Trump instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to "prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination." It’s unclear how and when that plan would be enacted, since refugee arrivals were brought to a halt by Mr. Trump. In an executive order he signed on Jan. 20, the president argued refugees were a strain on receiving communities and said he would only restart the refugee program if he concluded that doing so would serve the interests of the U.S. Mr. Trump’s order does, however, allow officials to make case-by-case exemptions to the freeze in refugee arrivals.

Reuters [2/7/2025 6:06 PM, David Lawder, Helen Reid, Lisa Baertlein and Lisa Barrington] reports U.S. President Donald Trump paused his administration’s repeal of duty-free treatment of low-cost packages from China on Friday, giving the Commerce Department time to make the order workable, after the rapid change sparked chaos for customs inspectors, postal and delivery services and online retailers. The cancellation of de minimis means low-value e-commerce packages arriving in the United States with goods from China must use the "formal entry" process that requires additional information and duties before entering the country — a more time-consuming process. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has the job of screening e-commerce packages and collecting duties on them, on Thursday held a meeting with logistics professionals to discuss the status of more than 1 million packages piling up at JFK Airport, according to a source familiar with the meeting. One logistics executive on Friday told Reuters that customs had begun releasing packages it was holding at JFK, which has been taking in about 60 million de minimis e-commerce packages annually. Trump scrapped the duty-free treatment for Chinese goods with the stated aim of stopping the flow of fentanyl and precursor chemicals into the United States.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [2/7/2025 5:20 PM, Alex Gangitano, 16346K]
AP [2/7/2025 6:12 PM, Didi Tang and Haleluya Hadero, 47097K]
CNBC [2/7/2025 12:38 PM, Annie Palmer, 36472K]

The Hill [2/7/2025 1:00 PM, Rep. Brian Bain, 16346K] reports that President Trump has made it clear that ending birthright citizenship is a cornerstone of his strategy to Make America Great Again. In a historic and unprecedented move, just hours into his presidency, he signed an executive order to end this practice — an action many Americans see as a necessary correction to a gross misuse of our Constitution. This decision has reignited a long overdue debate about citizenship in America and how it has been misinterpreted for decades. Therefore, I have introduced the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025 to solidify these reforms into law and ensure lasting change. The time is now to build upon the momentum of Trump’s executive order. The most recent data shows that at least 6 percent of all births in the U.S. are to illegal immigrant mothers. That is equivalent to at least 250,000 annually exploiting loopholes in our immigration system, and God only knows how many more were born as a result of the Biden administration’s four year-long border crisis. This is not what the Fourteenth Amendment intended. My bill ensures that U.S. citizenship is granted only to children born in America who have at least one parent who is a citizen, lawful permanent resident, or serving in our Armed Forces. Brian Babin represents the 36th District of Texas.

FOX News [2/7/2025 7:21 AM, Jim Trusty, 49889K] reports that, amidst the tidal wave of executive orders, presidential appointments and policy announcements, it is easy to treat the interim policy memo from the acting deputy attorney general as just another ripple of nominal change that occurs when Democrats replace Republicans or Republicans replace Democrats. But it would be a serious oversight to miss the memo’s dramatic departure from status quo and even from the first Trump administration’s view of federal prosecutor responsibilities. With every party turnover at the White House, a philosophical tug-of-war resumes over whether federal prosecutors should be tough on crime or more "nuanced" in their approach to punishment. That memorandum battle started in 1989 when Attorney General Dick Thornburgh ordered prosecutors to pursue the "most serious and readily provable offense" and since then, the Republican AG’s consistently have encouraged seeking the death penalty and charging mandatory minimum sentencing statutes. This latest memo is certainly consistent with that approach. The heart of the memo is immigration enforcement. The memo emphasizes the need for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") to attack cartels and transnational criminal organizations, to reduce violent crime committed by cartels, gangs and illegal aliens, and to shut down the cross-border flow of fentanyl. Those targets track the President Donald Trump campaign’s points of emphasis and come as no surprise. Similarly, the return to the Thornburgh memo’s aggressive guidance for prosecutors to charge and pursue "the most serious and readily provable offense" signals an aversion to soft plea agreements and "charge bargaining," where prosecutors low-ball the criminal conduct in a plea agreement to resolve the case. But then it gets interesting.

Newsweek [2/7/2025 10:28 AM, Billal Rahman, 56005K] reports that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demanding information on new policies governing the use of solitary confinement in detention centers. Newsweek has contacted the ACLU and ICE for comment. ICE has been placed in the national spotlight as the immigration enforcement agency serves as the tip of the spear for President Donald Trump’s hardline agenda. ICE’s use of solitary confinement has raised concerns among human rights advocates, lawmakers and the public. Reports indicate that ICE has used solitary confinement more than 14,000 times during a recent five-year period, including on individuals with mental health conditions and other vulnerabilities. Critics argue that prolonged isolation can amount to torture and that ICE has not been transparent about its policies. On December 6, 2024, ICE announced an update to its solitary confinement policies, known as Special Management Units (SMUs), which are used to isolate detained immigrants. While ICE claimed the new policy would improve how the agency tracks, reports and ensures the safety of individuals placed in solitary confinement, it did not make the updated guidelines publicly available. In response to ICE’s failure to disclose the new policy, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on December 20, 2024. The request specifically sought a copy of the updated solitary confinement policy that ICE referenced in its announcement.

NBC News [2/7/2025 5:36 PM, Julia Ainsley, 50804K] reports the Trump administration is moving forward with restarting the detention of migrant families, including those with young children, which could mean an increase in arrests of children and teens, according to three sources familiar with the planning. The sources said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to publish in the coming days a “Request for Proposal” that will ask private prison companies to bid for contracts to restart detention facilities intended specifically for families. It is not clear if ICE intends to build new capacity or simply reopen previous family detention centers. Either way, ICE already faces a budget shortfall, and this will be an additional cost.

NBC News [2/7/2025 5:48 PM, Kristen Welker and Julia Ainsley, 50804K] reports agents at Immigration and Customs Enforcement are under increasing pressure to boost the number of arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants, as President Donald Trump has expressed anger that the amount of people deported in the first weeks of his administration is not higher, according to three sources familiar with the discussions at ICE and the White House. A source familiar with Trump’s thinking said the president is getting "angry" that more people are not being deported and that the message is being passed along to "border czar" Tom Homan, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello. A source familiar with internal conversations at ICE said Homan has a daily conference call with ICE agents in which he has been known to express his frustration with ICE numbers. Another source said Homan is "unhappy" and has "made his unhappiness known" about the relatively low numbers of arrests and deportations. Meanwhile at ICE, Vitello told agents in January to aim to meet a daily quota of 1,200-1,400 arrests. According to numbers ICE has posted on X, the highest single day total since Trump was inaugurated was just 1,100, and the number has fallen since that day. On Tuesday of this week, arrests of immigrants were over 800, according to a source familiar with the numbers. But last weekend, there were only about 300 arrests, another source told NBC News. In order to fulfill Trump’s Inauguration Day promise of "millions and millions" of deportations, the Trump administration would have to be deporting over 2,700 immigrants every day to reach 1 million in a year.

FOX News [2/7/2025 4:33 PM, Adam Shaw, 49889K] reports the Trump administration is using federal prisons to house illegal immigrants as part of an expansive deportation operation, Fox News Digital confirmed on Friday. In a statement, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said it is helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "by housing detainees and will continue to support our law enforcement partners to fulfill the administration’s policy objectives." The Associated Press reported that facilities in Los Angeles, Miami and Atlanta are being used for detention. ICE currently has just under 42,000 beds available to it, and it has been exceeding capacity under the current administration. The administration has been pushing hard to get more beds and detention space, but sources tell Fox that it typically takes around 30 days for contractors to deliver, given the time it takes to identify buildings, hire people, conduct background checks and comply with related requirements. That help is expected soon.

CNN [2/7/2025 3:46 PM, Ramon Sanchez] reports in New York and other cities across the nation, educators are grappling with fear among students and parents that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will show up at schools – or their homes – as the Trump administration vows to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. "Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest," acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman. "The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense." There have been no confirmed reports of ICE agents at US schools, but educators said widespread alarm over deportations appears to have contributed to a recent drop in classroom attendance in some communities.

CBS News [2/7/2025 11:35 PM, Marvin Hurst, 52225K] reports Barbara Smith said she had never been to a forum on immigration rights until Thursday night, but uncertainty from her clients put her in this seat at Francisco Pancho Medrano Middle School. "I work with a lot of immigrants. I work with a lot of parents of these children who have to be in the hospital," Smith said. "A big concern they have is that their kids are very sick; they cannot leave the hospital.” Smith attended state Rep. Rafael Anchia’s "Know Your Rights" forum to learn if migrant parents had protection against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids because their children are critically ill. The panel of experts, including the Mexican Bar Association and the League of United Latin American Citizens, told Smith they didn’t believe ICE would target hospitals, but there were no guarantees. Smith said families fear ICE raids may target the "worst of the worst," but they worry the agency will cast wider nets near hospitals like Children’s Health and Cook Children’s Hospital. "These times merit a certain level of fear and apprehension. I get it. I’m the son of immigrants too, and I understand where you’re coming from," Anchia said. "There are places where ICE can and should not go. They should not be in our schools. They should not be in our churches. They shouldn’t be in hospitals.” Smith did not disclose her workplace to protect her clients. CBS News Texas contacted Children’s Health and Cook Children’s Hospital for their policies on dealing with migrant parents, but only Children’s Health acknowledged the inquiry without providing a response. Smith, though not a parent, is troubled by the issue. She said some mothers had left their jobs to be with their children and feared deportation if they left the hospital for a change of clothes. "A lot of them don’t think about themselves, a lot of them think about their children. What is going to happen to my child if I’m not here? Who is going to speak up for them? Who is going to defend them? Who is going to advocate for them?" Smith said. The panel recommended parents consider authorizing power of attorney for their children as a precaution.

Government Executive [2/7/2025 4:04 PM, Eric Katz, 342K] reports the federal Bureau of Prisons is accepting into their facilities thousands of immigrants detained by the Homeland Security Department, a highly unusual move that raises significant legal and logistical questions. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees have begun arriving or will soon do so at least at federal prisons in Miami, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Leavenworth, Kansas and Berlin, New Hampshire, according to BOP employees briefed on the plans. The move comes as President Trump looks to fulfill his promise to end the release of detained migrants and conduct mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. The individuals will be held in federal prisons so the bureau can "continue to support our law enforcement partners to fulfill the administration’s policy objectives," said Scott Taylor, an agency spokesman. Bureau employees questioned the morality and legality of their new responsibilities and said their prior experience housing detainees in Trump’s first term was a "disaster."

DC News Now [2/7/2025 3:43 PM, Odyssey Fields] reports a federal grand jury indicted a Hagerstown man Thursday on numerous child sexual abuse and porn charges after explicit pictures of young children were discovered on his phone, according to the United States Attorney Office of Maryland (USAO). During their investigation, Hagerstown detectives learned that Alger had foreign connections and believed that the photos were taken in Ecuador. With the help of Homeland Security Investigations from Frederick, authorities executed a warrant at Alger’s home and seized several devices. Investigators also discovered child sexual abuse materials in an internet-based account on four of Alger’s devices. He was arrested and indicted by a federal grand jury on seven counts of sexual exploitation of a child, three counts of coercion and enticement of a child, and five counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, according to the attorney’s office.

CBS Minnesota [2/7/2025 10:11 PM, Nick Lentz, 52225K] reports a 22-year-old Crystal man has pleaded guilty to five counts of production and attempted production of child pornography, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Dapree Richard Christlieb-Peterson pleaded guilty to the charges in a St. Paul court on Tuesday. Citing court documents, acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick said Christlieb-Peterson used internet, social media and text messages to engage in sexually explicit conversations with at least five girls in Minnesota, Florida and elsewhere between April 2022 and September 2023. Federal officials say Christlieb-Peterson would coerce the girls into engaging in illegal sexual encounters with him, record the encounters on a cell phone and then distribute the videos to others. Christlieb-Peterson’s sentencing has not been scheduled. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security worked on the investigation as part of Project Safe Childhood — a nationwide initiative started by the Department of Justice that aims to combat child sexual exploitation.

Univision [2/7/2025 9:45 PM, Ian Cavazos, 7281K] reports this proposal would have police departments or sheriff’s offices enter into an agreement called 287-G, to direct a minimum number of officers to collaborate with ICE. If a city or county agency does not want to participate in the program, it could get into trouble with the Texas Attorney General. For example, it could lose state money for not complying with this law. The funds they would lose is money that the state government allocates to localities such as support for jail construction, police training, new equipment, among many other resources. 287-G agreements already exist. The difference with HB 2361 is that it would be mandatory for police departments to enter into one in Texas. "A 287-G agreement, under immigration law, requires a local agency to perform federal immigration enforcement functions...they are collaborative agreements between localities and ICE," said Armando Olmedo, Immigration Legal Counsel for TelevisaUnivision. "The functions include carrying out certain acts such as arrest warrants or participating with the detention of people who are in jail." With these agreements, it expands the capacity of the operations that ICE can carry out. The federal agency trains officers in these territories on how to carry out immigration law functions, Olmedo said. These types of agreements exist not only in Texas, but in different parts of the country. HB 2361 was just introduced on February 3, however, it has to pass through a committee of the Texas House of Representatives. Then, it would have to be voted on by the representatives, to be discussed in the Senate. Governor Greg Abbott would be the one to sign the bill, in case it is approved. In the event the bill does pass and becomes law, there is a possibility that counties that do not wish to participate could file lawsuits, arguing that it represents an additional expense for them. "It’s going to have to be battled at the state level," according to Olmedo. "We have to see if there are any localities in Texas that are not willing to participate in a 287-G agreement. Now, the argument a locality can make is the associated cost." Unless there is a federal rights violation, the case would stay within the Texas courts and not escalate to federal court.

Newsweek [2/7/2025 11:21 AM, Billal Rahman, 56005K] reports that officials in Texas have reassured parents that school buses will not be targeted in immigration enforcement actions following concerns about potential raids. A recent memo from Alice Independent School District (ISD) to parents highlighted that U.S. Border Patrol agents may board school buses to conduct immigration checks on students traveling for extracurricular activities. However, school officials have now received clarification from federal authorities. Amid growing concerns over immigration enforcement in Texas, parents and educators worry students could be impacted near Border Patrol checkpoints. While officials assure school buses won’t be targeted, broader enforcement efforts under President Donald Trump’s administration allow ICE raids in "sensitive locations" like schools. Critics argue these actions instill fear and may raise constitutional issues. A CBP spokesperson told Newsweek: "Border Patrol inspection checkpoints are an essential enforcement tool for securing America’s borders against transnational threats. Checkpoint operations include brief immigration inspections that are minimally intrusive to the traveling public. They provide an additional layer of response and deterrence to the Border Patrol strategy on illegal immigration, serving the overall national security mission. Border Patrol immigration checkpoints legally operate with judicial authority."

FOX News [2/7/2025 9:26 AM, Alexander Hall, 49889K] reports that Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is investigating whether Winneshiek County’s sheriff violated state law requiring law enforcement to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainment requests. Sheriff Dan Marx vowed in a Tuesday Facebook post that his office would "make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt" ICE’s efforts if they do not think them to be legally sound. "If their actions or paperwork are not within constitutional parameters (such as non-judicially vetted ‘detainers,’ which are very different than warrants and are simply an unconstitutional ‘request’ from ICE or other three letter federal agency to arrest or hold someone), then we will make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt their actions from moving forward," he declared. Detainers, the Des Moines Register summarized, "are requests from ICE to federal, state or local law enforcement to hold a person for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would ordinarily be released. The Department of Homeland Security uses that holding time to determine whether the person should be taken into federal custody and deported.” But Iowa officials argue Marx has overstepped by not only defying the governor’s directives, but violating a 2018 law that requires local law enforcement agencies to comply with detainer requests. Fox News Digital reached out to the Sheriff’s office and did not receive an immediate reply.

The Hill [2/7/2025 11:31 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 16346K] reports that Tom Homan, President Trump’s "border czar," is seething after an immigration raid in a suburb of Denver was allegedly leaked, allowing targets in the Venezuela-linked Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang to escape. "This isn’t a game. We know that TDA is dangerous," Homan said Thursday in a statement to reporters outside the White House. "Everybody can agree to that, but when they get a heads-up that we are coming, it’s only a matter of time before our officers are ambushed," he added, according to The Associated Press. "Their job is dangerous enough. So we are going to address this very seriously.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were still able to carry out some arrests, though the number of individuals detained remains unclear. The agency has been actively documenting their deportation efforts via social media. Agents raided an apartment complex frequented by gang members where several individuals died due to alleged fentanyl overdoses, AP reported. A local judge has identified the site as a public safety threat and ordered its closure by Feb. 18. ICE averaged 787 arrests per day from Jan. 23-31. The arrests come after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authorized the agency to carry out arrests in schools and churches late last month, rescinding a previous guideline that barred arrests in these "sensitive" areas. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) argued that the move infringed on the city’s public safety.

CBS Austin [2/7/2025 1:34 PM, Ray Lewis, 581K] reports that Homan, whom President Donald Trump named his border czar, said Thursday he was going to "deal with" how information about a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Colorado was "leaked." "I’m addressing opsecs today – operation security, how these leaks are happening," Homan said during an appearance on Fox News. "We’ve already identified how this operation got leaked. I’ll deal with that today.” 9News, a Denver outlet, reported ICE conducted an operation Wednesday in Aurora, Colorado, the city containing an apartment complex some Republicans claimed last year was taken over by members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The operation was reportedly delayed after plans of it were leaked last week. Homan warned elected officials who are not helping with the removal of suspects to not "cross that line" or impede government operations. For any mayor or governor who doesn’t want public safety threats removed from the communities, I find that hard to believe that, but we’re going to do it with or without them," Homan said. "If they’re not going to help, get out of the way. But don’t cross that line. Do not impede our operations.” "When we show up at these sites, this is a dangerous job for the men and women of ICE and Border Patrol and all the DOJ agencies," Homan said. "To have this type of interference puts our officers at great risk – not only the officers. It puts the aliens at great risk ‘cause anything can happen when we take our eyes off the goal here."

AZCentral [2/7/2025 8:01 AM, Jimmy Jenkins, 6018K] reports an Iraq war veteran who has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years was detained by immigration agents near his Laveen neighborhood amid stepped-up enforcement efforts under President Donald Trump. On the morning of Jan. 22, Marlon Parris, 45, was surrounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles at 55th Avenue and Baseline and taken by agents to a detention center in Florence. His wife believes he was targeted because ICE vehicles seemed to be waiting for him outside his neighborhood. “He called me as he was being pulled over and told me what was happening, so I jumped in my car and got there really fast,” Tanisha Hartwell-Parris said. “There were five or six black SUVs and at least eight officers with ICE lettering on their vests.” She asked why he was being detained. "And they just said, ‘He’s on a list. We have orders, and he’s on a list,’" Hartwell-Parris said. She said she was allowed to take medicine to him at an ICE office in Phoenix where he was held for several hours before being moved to Florence. She has been visiting her husband at the Central Arizona Florence Correctional Center, a private prison owned by CoreCivic. ICE rents bed space for its detainees at the facility. She can only speak with him on the phone through a glass partition. “He’s in a 10-man pod, and he said they’re pretty much locked down all day,” she said. ICE did not respond to several requests for comment about Parris’ arrest, including an inquiry about why he was targeted. Parris came to the U.S. in 1997 from Trinidad and Tobago as the son of a naturalized citizen. He received a green card, which he renewed in 2007 and 2017. Hartwell-Parris describes her husband as a warm, loving man with “a welcoming spirit.”

KIRO [2/7/2025 3:11 PM, Frank Sumrall] reports three Mexican residents were arrested after allegedly being caught with 30 pounds of crystal methamphetamine during a drug deal late last week in Bellevue. Law enforcement intercepted the multi-national drug ring, setting up a drug deal to purchase approximately 30 pounds of crystal methamphetamine for $62,000. The deal went down in a restaurant parking lot in Bellevue. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was involved in the bust and the subsequent investigation. The three suspects — Eber Omar Barrones-Madrid, 24, Juan Jose Prado-Estrada, 25, and Jose Manuel Ochoa-Sanchez, 27 — have been charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of controlled substances with an attempt to distribute. They are currently being held at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac.

Los Angeles Times [2/7/2025 7:30 PM, James Queally and Brittny Mejia, 17996K] reports Federal law enforcement agents are planning to carry out a "large scale" immigration enforcement action in the Los Angeles area before the end of February, according to an internal government document reviewed by The Times. The operation, which would be spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will focus on people who do not have legal status in the country or who already have pending orders of removal, according to the document, which was circulated among some federal law enforcement officials this week. Although immigration operations have been ramped up across the country since President Trump took office, no sweeping actions have taken place in L.A., a city Trump repeatedly criticized during both his presidential campaigns. A federal law enforcement source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said agents with the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles field offices are being called in to assist. "They needed more bodies," the official said. A former federal law enforcement official, who said they had been informed about the recent preparations but spoke on the condition of anonymity fearing retaliation, also said FBI agents were being ordered to participate in pending ICE "raids" in Los Angeles. Neither of the officials could provide an exact time frame for the potential actions. The active federal law enforcement official warned that plans could change due to the "chaotic" nature of the Trump administration’s first few weeks in power and expected pushback from within some of the agencies that will be required to aid ICE. "Just because certain information is being given doesn’t mean it’s the administration’s plan, because they know some agents are going to be resistant," the official said. Ginger Colburn, a spokesperson for the ATF, said Friday in an email that the agency has been assisting the Department of Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement partners with immigration enforcement efforts in Southern California since Jan. 26. "To ensure operational security and the safety of our agents and partners, ATF does not disclose details of enforcement activities," Colburn said.

San Francisco Chronicle [2/7/2025 9:32 PM, Maliya Ellis, 4368K] reports San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder issued a sharp condemnation Friday after a man wearing an “ICE Immigration” jacket was allegedly spotted at a Mission District taqueria. Fielder said in a statement that on Thursday night “community members witnessed a white man wearing a red ‘Trump Won’ hat and a windbreaker with ‘ICE Immigration’ on the front and back dining at a taqueria on Mission Street.” In the statement, Fielder said the man was impersonating a federal immigration officer and called him a “terrorist seeking to intimidate our immigrant community and stoke fear,” citing federal laws which prohibit impersonating a U.S. officer or employee. She added: “If and when they come back to the Mission, they will be dealt with.” In an interview with the Chronicle, she declined to share the taqueria’s name and said the restaurant owners wish to remain anonymous. Simply wearing an “ICE Immigration” windbreaker is unlikely to qualify as impersonating a federal officer, according to Bill Hing, a law professor at the University of San Francisco and the founding director of the school’s Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic. Such windbreakers are readily available for purchase online, a quick internet search shows, and likely do not violate copyright laws, Hing said. “If the person is just walking down the street and not doing anything else, it could be regarded as a Halloween costume,” Hing told the Chronicle. “If the person engages in any conversations or makes a claim or bullies people around, then you’re beginning to add facts that would make it a crime.” Though donning intimidating garb might not be illegal in itself, Hing said, “it may not take much” for other actions to be construed — and prosecuted — as impersonation. Anything from towering over a restaurant-goer at their table, or even standing at a restaurant’s doorway and scanning the room, could be considered a “culpable action,” he said. “If anyone is thinking of doing something like that, they better behave, because it does become a criminal act,” Hing said. He added: “It’s too bad because the community’s on edge anyways, and this is not helpful.”

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [2/7/2025 5:15 PM, Amy Larson, 57114K]

FOX News [2/7/2025 10:22 AM, Haley Chi-Sing, 49889K] reports that the Trump Justice Department appealed a Thursday order blocking the president’s birthright citizenship order, hours after the ruling was issued. The Justice Department filed its appeal to the Ninth Circuit on Thursday evening. The move came shortly after U.S. District Judge John Coughenour extended a temporary restraining order he had previously issued. Coughenour notably scolded the Trump administration in the Washington courtroom, accusing the administration of ignoring the rule of law for political and personal gain. "It has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain," Coughenour said while announcing his ruling. The appeal will now go up to the Ninth Circuit, which covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Guam. The Court of Appeals notably issues more progressive rulings with a higher reversal rate than other circuit courts. The Washington ruling came only a day after a Maryland federal judge also blocked Trump’s executive order. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, a former President Joe Biden appointee, noted the Washington ruling that had previously paused Trump’s order from going into effect.

Newsweek [2/7/2025 2:14 AM, Dan Gooding, 56005K] reports that a Florida middle-school science teacher was reportedly detained by immigration officials and now faces deportation, despite being part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The unnamed middle school teacher in Miami-Dade County was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at an immigration hearing, according to NBC Miami. Miami-Dade County Public Schools told Newsweek that all employees were legally authorized to work within its system, and that it had not received a "formal notification" from the Department of Homeland Security regarding a teacher in its system. Newsweek reached out to ICE for comment Friday morning via email. DACA recipients, otherwise known as Dreamers, are U.S. residents brought into the country The science teacher had not been named Friday morning, but Miami-Dade officials had confirmed to local media outlets that a faculty member of a school in the district had been detained by immigration officials. They had been in the U.S. since childhood and reportedly had all the necessary paperwork.

AP [2/7/2025 4:23 PM, Lolita C. Baldor] reports the Pentagon will deploy roughly 1,500 more active duty soldiers to the southern border to support President Donald Trump’s expanding crackdown on immigration, a U.S. official said Friday. That would eventually bring the total to about 3,600 active duty troops at the border. The Pentagon has been scrambling to put in motion Trump’s executive orders signed shortly after he took office on Jan. 20. The first group of 1,600 active duty troops has already deployed to the border, and close to 500 more soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are expected to begin moving in the coming days. About 500 Marines also have been told to go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some of the detained migrants will be held. Several hundred of them have already arrived there. Troops going to the border are expected to help put in place concertina wire barriers and provide needed transportation, intelligence and other support to the Border Patrol. The logistics brigade will help support and sustain the troops. Troops going to Guantanamo are helping to prepare the facility for an influx of migrants and do other support duties.

Washington Examiner [2/7/2025 12:36 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 2365K] reports that Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is moving to make President Donald Trump’s promise of redirecting Biden-era funds for the IRS to the southern border a reality. Scott previewed to the Washington Examiner on Thursday his plans to introduce the Securing Our Border Act in an effort to put some punch behind Trump’s Jan. 25 vow to redirect IRS resources to the border. "President [Joe] Biden’s ill-advised decision to supercharge the IRS while we had a crisis on our southern border couldn’t have been more out-of-touch or unnecessary," Scott said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. "In just two weeks back in office, President Trump has signaled to the world that he is serious about securing our border and restoring peace and order in our communities. By redirecting these funds, we are taking steps to protect our national sovereignty and keep Americans safe." Scott’s forthcoming bill, slated to be introduced Friday, would redirect all unobligated funding that Democrats in Congress gave the IRS instead to be spent enhancing border security in several ways. The amount available to redirect to the border should amount to $22.4 billion, according to Scott’s office.

Newsweek [2/7/2025 5:52 PM, Dan Gooding, 56005K] reports divisions deepened between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the city council Friday after a leaked memo sent to schools, shelters, and hospitals appeared to advise workers to let federal immigration agents into sites that are meant to be protected by sanctuary laws. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and her colleagues called the City Hall advisory "highly irresponsible, confusing, and dangerous" for immigrants fearful of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers under President Donald Trump. The memo, originally circulated on January 13 ahead of Trump’s return to the White House, came to light Thursday. It offers advice to city employees should a federal law enforcement agent come to their workplace, such as schools, shelters, hospitals or other city buildings. While the memo, obtained by The New York Times, appeared to tell workers not to allow ICE or other federal agents inside without a warrant, it also offered reasons to allow them access. ICE has already conducted raids in New York City and the surrounding area, with efforts expected to continue in the coming days and weeks as the Trump administration seeks to deliver on its promise of deporting upwards of 11 million illegal immigrants. Speaker Adams said the City Council was exploring its options in overturning the City Hall’s advice.

CBS News [2/7/2025 8:23 AM, Staff, 52225K] reports a man extradited from Canada was arraigned on human smuggling charges Thursday in the case of a 33-year-old pregnant woman found dead in a frigid northern New York river after she illegally crossed the border, according to federal authorities. The body of Ana Vasquez-Flores of Mexico was found in the Great Chazy River just south of the Canadian border on Dec. 14, 2023, two days after her husband told U.S. border agents she had crossed illegally and was lost. Searchers found footprints in the snow leading to the river, where she drowned, according to federal authorities. Vasquez-Flores’ death came amid a surge of people crossing into New York and New England from Canada. The incident became an example of the perils migrants face trekking through the wooded and often snowy landscape along the U.S.-Canada border. Jhader Augusto Uribe-Tobar, 36, is accused by federal prosecutors of smuggling Vasquez-Flores into the United States for $2,500 and instructing her to wade through the river in the dark. Uribe-Tobar pleaded not guilty to federal charges of alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. He was detained pending a trial. Prosecutors say he is a citizen of Colombia and lives in Quebec, Canada. "This tragedy highlights the dangers of illegal migration and how, as alleged, smugglers deliberately put people in harm’s way for profit," U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman said in a prepared statement. Uribe-Tobar’s federal public defender declined comment in an email. The charges carry a minimum term of 3 years and a maximum term of life in prison. At the time of Vasquez-Flores’ death, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Swanton Sector near the border reported huge spikes in the numbers of people crossing on foot from Canada into the U.S., CBC reported. In March 2024, CBS Boston visited the Swanton Sector, and Border Patrol had already arrested a record 7,000 people in fiscal year 2023. Illegal crossings have continued to skyrocket with roughly 19,000 people arrested in fiscal year 2024. That is about the same amount as the last 17 years combined. Although, Customs and Border Protection notes that the Swanton Sector has seen a 52-percent reduction in encounters since the height of crossings in June.

Border Report [2/7/2025 1:01 PM, Julian Resendiz, 153K] reports that a government watchdog agency is looking into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of two migrants in New Mexico and South Texas last year. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility last week issued a notice of review of the Aug. 14 death of a man from the Dominican Republic who apparently succumbed to the heat in Duval County, Texas. At approximately 9 p.m., Border Patrol agents encountered a group of migrants walking on a ranch. One of the migrants told border agents he was too weak to walk, so they carried him until they were met by other agents in a marked Border Patrol vehicle. According to a CBP statement of the incident, the migrant was placed in the vehicle and transported out of the ranch; at 9:30 p.m., the citizen of the Dominican Republic became unresponsive and agents performed CPR while calling for an ambulance. The justice of the peace decided not to order an autopsy because he deemed the death accidental and caused by extreme dehydration. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General has received notice regarding both reviews, CBP said.

Yahoo! News [2/8/2025 12:32 AM, Dave Burge, 57114K] reports Border Patrol agents in El Paso “dismantled” a human smuggling operation at a local hotel, Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks said on social media. They arrested eight undocumented migrants from Mexico, Ecuador and Guatemala and four alleged smugglers, Banks said on social media platform X. The migrants were processed for removal, and the alleged smugglers face prosecution, Banks said. Banks did not say when or where the incident in El Paso took place. “Smugglers exploit various locations – hotels, stash houses, even trucks – overcrowding and endangering lives solely for profit,” he wrote on social media.

Border Report [2/7/2025 4:58 PM, Salvador Rivera, 153K] reports security "filters" are back in operation at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on the Mexico side of the border. Tijuana police officers and Mexican Customs agents began checking northbound vehicles earlier this week, asking passengers to prove they have the required documentation to cross into the U.S. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers also check northbound vehicles, but officials in Tijuana want the American officers removed and deployed to actual inspection booths, allowing for more lanes of traffic to open and, thus, improving crossing times. The mayor hopes to show CBP the filters work in preventing unlawful attempts to cross the border, negating the need to have CBP officers positioned away from inspection booths. He says a private security firm will also be hired to help staff the filters.

San Diego Union-Tribune [2/8/2025 6:03 PM, Alex Riggins, 6595K] reports the deal reached this week by President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to postpone implementing tariffs appeared to be largely focused on stopping the importation of the synthetic opioid fentanyl — a goal that is of particular interest in San Diego and Baja California. Nearly all of the fentanyl that arrives in the U.S. from Mexico does so through ports of entry in San Diego County, Imperial County and Arizona. From the last few months of 2021 until this past December, more than 44% of all the fentanyl seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers was seized at ports of entry along the California border, according to CBP data. Seizures at ports of entry along the Arizona-Mexico border accounted for another 52%. On Monday, Trump and Sheinbaum announced that 10,000 members of the Mexican National Guard would be deployed to the border as the key part of the deal delaying the tariffs. Both wrote on social media that the National Guard’s main goal was to combat fentanyl smuggling. But how, exactly, the troops might help stop the flow of fentanyl remains unclear. Unlike undocumented immigrants, who might favor scaling a border fence or following smuggling routes in remote areas to avoid detection, fentanyl and other drugs almost always enter the U.S. in vehicles driven by U.S. citizens through designated ports of entry. “There’s a fairly obvious reason for that — drugs are heavy,” said Owen Roth, an attorney who recently left the San Diego U.S. Attorney’s Office after more than six years leading large-scale, multi-defendant drug prosecutions. Ports of entry are already staffed by CBP officers with the ability to conduct inspections and who are often supported by U.S. military and California National Guard troops. But on Thursday, Mexican federal agents, including National Guard troops, conducted an unusual checkpoint on the Mexican side of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, randomly inspecting some vehicles for drugs and conducting searches with the assistance of drug-sniffing dogs.

Border Report [2/7/2025 4:56 PM, Salvador Rivera, 153K] reports Mexico has sent 1,000 members of its National Guard to the border in Northern Baja California, but up until Thursday, the soldiers’ role has not been defined. Baja California’s head of public safety, Brig. Gen. Laureano Carrillo Rodríguez, said a total of 3,100 troops will focus their efforts in areas along the border barrier and will support Mexican Customs at border crossings. Of those soldiers, almost 2,000 will be deployed to the San Diego-Tijuana border. The others will be sent to Mexicali and Tecate, according to Carrillo Rodríguez. According to Carrillo Rodríguez, as of this week, they have not seen an increase in the number of migrants trying to cross the border into the United States.

CBS 7 [2/7/2025 6:00 PM, Staff, 11K] reports the Midland International Air and Space Port is asking travelers to come at least two hours early as lines at the TSA Security checkpoint could get long. That’s because one of the X-ray machines went down on Friday morning (February 7). Lines got to be over an hour long that day. MAF took to Facebook to explain the situation, saying the machine requires a new part to be fixed, which won’t get in until Tuesday. The airport hopes it stays operational but says it may be up and down all weekend.

Washington Post [2/7/2025 3:19 PM, Brianna Sacks, Scott Dance, Ruby Mellen and Hannah Natanson, 40736K] reports the presence of DOGE at FEMA has caused uncertainty and confusion, raising fears that Trump could soon follow through on his pledge to dismantle the agency, as his administration is doing with the U.S. Agency for International Development. According to the officials, a small team that does not have security clearance has access to FEMA’s network, which contains the private and sensitive information of tens of thousands of disaster victims. The program and its management system, called FEMA Go, has significant data on survivors and communities, which officials say can be sensitive and should be protected. Agency staff also shared concerns that Trump has not offered an official nominee to lead the agency, and that the man leading it on a temporary basis does not meet the legal qualifications for the job.

New York Times [2/7/2025 4:08 PM, Kate Christobek, 161405K] reports two tornadoes touched down in eastern Tennessee on Thursday night, killing two people and causing widespread damage to rural communities outside Knoxville, the authorities said. In Morgan County, Tenn., a mother and daughter were killed at home and three other people were injured when a tornado touched down about 8 p.m., according to local emergency management officials. The tornado also damaged or destroyed more than a dozen homes, WVLT News reported. The National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn., confirmed that the tornado, which was rated an EF2, reached wind speeds of up to 135 miles per hour. The second tornado, which hit Grainger County, Tenn., about 9:30 p.m., was rated an EF1 tornado with wind speeds of up to 110 m.p.h., according to the Weather Service. There were no deaths or reports of residential damage.

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CBS News [2/7/2025 7:51 AM, Brian Dakss, 57114K]

Washington Examiner [2/7/2025 5:55 AM, John Scott Lewinski, 2365K] reports that, with the largest of the multiple Los Angeles-area wildfires finally contained and residents of the devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena communities able to return and sift through the ashes of their lost homes, the final cost of the Southern California blazes is still not known. From the Los Angeles Times to the BBC, news outlets estimate a crushing price tag surging as high as $275 billion. In the flames’ aftermath, while President Donald Trump argues with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass about resident access and safety problems, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) spars with local and national media about his state’s failures to prepare for and fight the fires. The whirlwind of grief and anger howls as debates on when, how, and where to begin rebuilding the scorched neighborhoods start in earnest. If California residents seek a microcosm of the challenges Los Angeles will face as the city recovers, they could look to Maui and the island’s struggles to reestablish the historic city of Lahaina. A fast-moving August 2023 blaze leveled that town, and little progress was made in the subsequent 18 months in getting the majority of its displaced residents back home. Elle Cochran, a Democratic state representative in Hawaii, whose district includes West Maui and Lahaina, urges Angelenos to study the Maui disaster response as a model of what not to do in the months and years to come. While she acknowledges the more than $5 billion financial wound of the Maui fire can’t match LA’s troubles, Cochran reports that the island loses an additional $40 million in taxes and other revenue for every year the Lahaina rebuild languishes without a clear plan. "I feel like the money that already came to us to rebuild could’ve been spent wiser," Cochran said. "We could’ve been much deeper into rebuilding and recovery. I think the No. 1 error made here was the first amount of FEMA money went to temporary shelters and not permanent housing.” According to Federal Emergency Management Agency reports, $3 billion in U.S. money went to Maui in the year following the fire. That funding included $56.1 million to help 7,141 people recover through the Individual Assistance Program, including more than $33.8 million for housing assistance. An additional $37.3 million went to locals in need of rental assistance.

The Hill [2/7/2025 12:28 PM, Sharon Udasin, 16346K] reports that a Southern California Democrat blasted President Trump on Thursday for ordering a release of water in the state’s Central Valley, describing the move as both wasteful and destructive to the region. "When you solve for the wrong problem, not only do you not get the solution, you can cause harm," Rep. Ted Lieu (D) said at a session of the House Committee on the Judiciary focused on "California Fires and the Consequences of Overregulation." "Donald Trump has it in his mind that somehow there’s a spigot in Northern California, and he’s going to open a valve and dump water to Southern California," added Lieu, who serves the South Bay and Westside areas of Los Angeles. The congressman was referring to Trump’s order last week to release billions of gallons of water from two lakes in California’s agriculture-rich Tulare County — with the purported goal of dousing fires that were already contained and located about 100 miles away. The releases, conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, occurred following an executive order that directed U.S. government agencies to override California’s water policies, while also censuring the state’s handling of the wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles region in recent weeks.

Yahoo! News [2/7/2025 12:05 PM, Austin Turner, 57114K] reports that authorities are warning community members to watch out for insurance and FEMA-related scams after the Eaton and Palisades fires devastated parts of the Los Angeles area. The word of caution came from the Pasadena Police Department in the form of posts to social media. The department said it has seen an increase in reports of scam attempts since the destructive blazes. "If your home has been damaged, you may be targeted by scammers trying to take advantage of you during this vulnerable time," said Officer Riddle of Pasadena PD. The scams come in the form of door-to-door visits, phone calls and emails, the department said. According to Pasadena PD, fire victims should never give any personal or financial information to unverified or unsolicited contacts. "Legitimate FEMA and insurance representatives will have official documentation and won’t pressure you for immediate decisions," the department said. All phone numbers related to FEMA or private insurance providers can be verified by calling official phone numbers. Those can be found listed on the websites for either FEMA or your specific insurance provider.

Boston Globe [2/7/2025 2:53 PM, Staff, 3238K] reports Trump will be the first sitting president to attend the big game, and the US Secret Service has had staff in Louisiana making preparations for his visit, according to the Associated Press. "Extensive planning and coordination have been in place to ensure the safety of all attendees, players, and staff," Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement to the AP. "Security measures have been further enhanced this year, given that this will be the first time a sitting President of the United States will attend the event."

Yahoo! News [2/7/2025 5:19 PM, Gabriel Castillo, 57114K] reports a Chicago man will spend more than seven years in federal prison for manufacturing and using counterfeit $100 bills. 28-year-old Marquise Shores, who pleaded guilty to a federal counterfeiting charge last year, was sentenced to seven years and three months, Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois announced. Prosecutors said Shores used chemicals and a printer to manufacture around $92,000 in counterfeit $100 bills in his Chicago residence. Shores then recruited young women, including girls as young as 16, using Facebook Messenger and had them use the counterfeit cash at retail stores while he waited outside. Shores then told the women to return the merchandise for genuine cash and kept most of the proceeds. "Marquise Shores manufactured counterfeit currency and used it to defraud local businesses and enrich himself, Pasqual said. "Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute counterfeiters and ensure the integrity of our economy."

Yahoo! News [2/7/2025 11:15 AM, Stacy Saldanha-Olson, 57114K] reports that a Topeka USD 501 teacher was indicted for possession of child sexual abuse materials. On Wednesday, State Street Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Joseph Dube, 34, was indicted for one count each of possession of child pornography and sexual exploration of a minor. Dube is accused of knowingly accessing and possessing materials depicting minors young than 12 years old engaging in sexually explicit conduct. He made his first court appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas and pleaded not guilty. Dube is still in custody and his next hearing is scheduled for Monday. Aarion L. Gray, general director of instructional services, said Dube is on administrative leave from USD 501. "We have not been made aware of any incident occurring on school property by law enforcement," Gray said. "Personnel matters are confidential, therefore, no additional information is available at this time.” The U.S. Secret Service and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation are investigating this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Hunting is prosecuting Dube.

The AP [2/7/2025 9:44 PM, Becky Bohrer and Hallie Golden, 14282K] reports a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on its way to the hub community of Nome was located Friday on sea ice, and all 10 people on board died, authorities said. The crash appeared to be one of the deadliest in the state in the last 25 years. Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard, said rescuers were searching the aircraft’s last known location by helicopter when the wreckage was spotted. Two rescue swimmers were lowered to investigate. A photo provided by the Coast Guard showed the plane’s splintered body and debris lying on the sea ice. Two people in brightly colored emergency gear circled the wreckage. “It’s hard to accept the reality of our loss,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said during an evening news conference. Nome Mayor John Handeland choked up as he discussed the deaths and the response effort. “Nome is a strong community, and in challenging times we come together and support each other. I expect the outpouring of support to continue in the coming days as we all work to recover from this tragic incident,” Handeland said. A prayer service was announced for later in the evening. Already the focus was shifting to a recovery operation because of rapidly changing conditions. Officials outlined the challenges including bad weather expected in the next 18 hours and “young ice” that was slushy and not stable. “They are on the ice as we speak,” said Jim West, chief of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department. “The conditions out there are dynamic, and so we’ve got to do it safely and the fastest way we can.” The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot, Alaska’s Department of Public Safety said. It was operating at its maximum passenger capacity, according to the airline’s description of the plane. The Wall Street Journal [2/7/2025 7:57 PM, Joseph Pisani and Gareth Vipers] reports that rescuers on Friday were able to see three deceased people inside the wreckage, the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska said in a post on X. The remaining seven people are believed to be inside the aircraft but are currently inaccessible due to the condition of the plane. The aircraft was found on ocean ice, a Coast Guard spokesman said. FOX News [2/7/2025 10:10 PM, Brie Stimson, 49889K] reports "Our heartfelt condolences are with those affected by this tragic incident." Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Mike Salerno told the Anchorage Daily News it’s clear there were no survivors of the crash. The commuter flight, operated by Bering Air, was traveling from Unalakleet to Nome in western Alaska, when its position was lost about 12 miles offshore, according to the Coast Guard. Data from FlightRadar shows the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX last reporting at 3:16 p.m. local time Thursday over Norton Sound. Earlier, officials said aerial searches carried out by C-130 Hercules planes from the National Guard and Air Force resulted in "no sightings." In a news conference Friday, officials said an "item of interest" had been found related to the search. Later, a Coast Guard rescue crew arrived at the wreckage site and lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate. VOA News [2/7/2025 11:42 PM, Staff, 2717K] reports that the FBI provided technical assistance, including cellphone analysis to help locate the aircraft. The Bering Air flight was traveling in western Alaska, just south of the Artic Circle, from Unalakleet to Nome. Alaska State Troopers said they were notified Thursday at 4 p.m. about the missing plane. The U.S. Coast Guard said on X the flight’s last known position was 19 kilometers offshore. Early Friday, the Nome fire department posted on X that it was conducting a ground search, but weather and visibility conditions were hampering the department’s air search. The department urged people not to form their own search parties because of hazardous weather conditions in the region, which is prone to sudden snow squalls and high winds.

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CBS News [2/7/2025 7:05 PM, Caitlin Yilek, 52225K] reports President Trump said Friday night he is "immediately revoking" former President Joe Biden’s security clearance and will bar him from receiving intelligence briefings. "There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information," Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Mr. Trump said he was taking the action because Biden did the same to him in 2021, setting a precedent. Biden told CBS News in February 2021 that Mr. Trump could not be trusted with having access to classified information because of his "erratic behavior.” "I’d rather not speculate out loud," Biden said at the time. "I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?". The briefings are provided to former presidents after they leave office as a courtesy. Mr. Trump also cited a report from Robert Hur, the special counsel who investigated Biden’s handling of classified materials after his vice presidency. "The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from ‘poor memory’ and, even in his ‘prime,’ could not be trusted with sensitive information," Mr. Trump wrote. The Washington Post [2/7/2025 7:26 PM, Matt Viser, 40736K] reports that Biden, in an interview with the “CBS Evening News With Norah O’Donnell” that aired in February 2021, said that Trump should not receive intelligence briefings. Biden cited his “erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection,” referring to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?” Biden said when questioned. It also came amid questions about how Trump had mishandled classified materials. The briefings in the past had been provided to former presidents, partly so that they could be consulted by their successors for advice. There is little indication that Trump plans to rely on his predecessor.

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The Hill [2/7/2025 6:40 PM, Filip Timotija, 16346K]
Newsweek [2/7/2025 7:51 PM, Gabe Whisnant, 56005K]

New York Times [2/7/2025 9:53 PM, Carol Rosenberg, 161405K] reports Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the prisoner at the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, who is accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks, has agreed to never disclose secret aspects of his torture by the C.I.A. if he is allowed to plead guilty rather than face a death-penalty trial. The clause was included in the latest portions of his deal to be unsealed at a federal appeals court in Washington. A three-judge panel is considering whether former Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III lawfully withdrew from a plea agreement with Mr. Mohammed in the capital case against five men who are accused of conspiring in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000. The C.I.A. has never taken a public position on whether it supports the deal, and the agency declined to comment on Friday. But the latest disclosure makes clear that Mr. Mohammed would not be allowed to publicly identify people, places and other details from his time in the agency’s secret prisons overseas from 2003 to 2006. It has been publicly known for years that Mr. Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times by the C.I.A. It has also been revealed that waterboarding was done by a three-person interrogation team led by Bruce Jessen and James E. Mitchell, two former contract psychologists for the agency. Details of Mr. Mohammed’s violent treatment, including rectal abuse, have emerged in court filings and leaks. But the agency has protected the names of other people who worked in the “black site” prisons, notably medical staff, guards and other intelligence agency employees. That includes the people who questioned Mr. Mohammed hundreds of times as he was shuttled between prisons in Afghanistan, Poland and other locations, which the C.I.A. has not acknowledged as former black sites. Now, a recently unredacted paragraph in Mr. Mohammed’s 20-page settlement says he agreed not to disclose “any form, in any manner, or by any means” information about his “capture, detention, confinement of himself or others” while in U.S. custody.

AP [2/7/2025 12:56 PM, Darlene Superville and Joshua Goodman, 12036K] reports that President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court over investigations of Israel, a close U.S. ally. Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of or recognizes the court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes over his military response in Gaza after the Hamas attack against Israel in October 2023. Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children, have been killed during the Israeli military’s response. The order Trump signed Thursday accuses the ICC of engaging in "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel" and of abusing its power by issuing "baseless arrest warrants" against Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. "The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel," the order states, adding that the court had set a "dangerous precedent" with its actions against both countries. Trump’s action came as Netanyahu was visiting Washington.

New York Times [2/7/2025 7:18 AM, Claire Moses, 161405K] reports the International Criminal Court on Friday condemned President Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on it, saying that the action sought to harm the court’s “independent and impartial judicial work.” Mr. Trump’s order on Thursday said that his administration would “impose tangible and significant consequences” on people who work on investigations that threaten the national security of the United States and its allies, including Israel. Last November, the court issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and the country’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, accusing them of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza. The I.C.C. faced backlash from the U.S. and Israel as a result. The court also issued a warrant for a Hamas leader, Muhammad Deif. In its statement on Friday, the court said that it stood by its personnel and pledged “to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world.” The court was set up under a 1998 treaty and has jurisdiction to prosecute people for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Several other organizations and leaders criticized Mr. Trump’s order on Friday, while some in Israel and elsewhere expressed support for it. Amnesty International called the order vindictive and aggressive. “It is a brutal step that seeks to undermine and destroy what the international community has painstakingly constructed over decades,” Agnès Callamard, the organization’s secretary general, said in a statement. Caspar Veldkamp, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, where the court is based, called the I.C.C.’s work “essential in the fight against impunity.” And Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, also condemned the sanctions. “The I.C.C. guarantees accountability for international crimes and gives a voice to victims worldwide,” she said in a statement. “Europe will always stand for justice and the respect of international law.” Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, welcomed Mr. Trump’s action, saying that the court did not have jurisdiction over the United States or Israel because neither country was a member. “The I.C.C. aggressively pursues the elected leaders of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East,” he wrote on social media.

New York Times [2/7/2025 12:12 PM, Robert Jimison, 161405K] reports that Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio for answers on sweeping changes at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the federal humanitarian aid agency that has been targeted for closure by President Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk. The group of lawmakers accused Mr. Rubio in a letter of overseeing changes that undermine U.S.A.I.D.’s mission and may also violate congressional authority over federal funding. “While any new administration has a right to review programs, your directives and those under your watch are an abrogation of Congress’ power to appropriate funds and raise alarm about what appears to be an effort to dismantle U.S.A.I.D.,” the group wrote hours before thousands of agency staff were set to be placed on administrative leave and contractors fired. The letter, written by Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and co-signed by six fellow Democrats on the foreign affairs committee, focuses on the administration’s plan to dramatically cut the agency’s work force. Chief among their complaints was a global recall of thousands of aid workers stationed abroad to the United States, an effort that the lawmakers argued was legally dubious and logistically unworkable.

FOX News [2/7/2025 5:53 AM, Elizabeth Pritchett, 49889K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the Middle East for a few days beginning next week for his second trip at the head of the State Department. Rubio will visit Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Fox News confirmed on Thursday. While an itinerary has not yet been released, Rubio’s impending visit to the Middle East comes at a pivotal time in foreign policy, as Israel and Hamas are implementing a three-stage ceasefire agreement after 16 months of war in Gaza. During a joint news conference in the Dominican Republic with President Luis Abinader on Thursday, Rubio said President Donald Trump has offered to be part of the solution to rebuild Gaza. Trump suggested on Wednesday that the U.S. take control of the Gaza Strip in order to rehabilitate the territory to a livable location as most of the area has been decimated and millions are displaced. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that under Trump’s proposal, Palestinians would be "temporarily" relocated in order to successfully level and rebuild. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on board with the proposed plan, describing it as "remarkable" and "the first good idea that [he’s] heard.” "President Trump is taking it to a much higher level," Netanyahu said from the White House with Trump on Wednesday. "He sees a different future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so much, so many attacks against us, so many, so many trials and so many tribulations. He has a different idea, and I think it’s worth paying attention to this.” Rubio said "there are a lot of countries in the world that like to express concern about Gaza and the Palestinian people, but very few [were] willing, in the past, to do anything concrete about it.”

Reuters [2/7/2025 9:02 AM, Shivam Patel, 48128K] reports Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the U.S. on Wednesday for talks with President Donald Trump on trade and other issues, days after many Indians were deported in shackles on a U.S. military plane and more are due to come. Modi’s February 12-13 schedule was announced by India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Friday during a press conference, during which he was peppered with questions about the treatment of the 104 deportees on the flight this week despite the close ties between the two countries. Misri said U.S. authorities had told New Delhi that there were up to 487 more presumed Indian citizens with final removal orders who could still be deported. India will verify their nationality, he said. In the last 16 years, more than 15,000 Indians have been sent back from the U.S., with a record number during Trump’s last presidency, according to Indian government data. The latest deportation used a military aircraft because U.S. authorities felt it would be the quickest option, he said. "In the U.S. system itself, it was described as a national security operation. And that is perhaps one of the reasons why a military aircraft was used," Misri said, adding that India had agreed to that means of transport. "In so far as alternatives are concerned, we will consider any alternatives that would be feasible (for future deportations).” During the U.S. visit, Modi and Trump will discuss trade, defence cooperation and technology, among other issues, he said. India, a strategic partner of the U.S. as a counter to China, has been keen on more H-1B visas, used by people with specialised skills to work temporarily in the U.S. and often used in the tech sector. India, known for its big IT workforce, accounts for the bulk of such visas issued by the United States.

New York Times [2/7/2025 6:41 PM, Ana Swanson, 161405K] reports that President Trump indicated he was ready to broaden his trade war on Friday, saying that he would announce reciprocal tariffs on other countries next week. Such a measure would raise the levies the United States charges on imports to match what other countries charge on American products, a move that could trigger new trade fights. Speaking to reporters before a meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan at the White House, Mr. Trump said that the tariffs would restore fairness to trading relationships and eliminate U.S. trade deficits. Making trade more reciprocal, Mr. Trump said, would ensure “that we’re treated evenly with other countries; we don’t want any more, any less,” he added. It’s the latest indication that Mr. Trump is willing to use tariffs broadly and unsparingly. He has already imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on all products from China, in addition to the levies on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods in his first term. Over the past week, the president came within hours of imposing sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico, America’s largest trading partners, saying those countries were sending drugs and migrants to the United States. He ultimately paused those measures for 30 days after the countries offered him some concessions.

Washington Examiner [2/7/2025 9:02 AM, Jack Birle, 2365K] reports that Vice President JD Vance has been a key factor in getting President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks approved by the Senate, but now the president is reportedly assigning him to negotiate a deal for TikTok to be sold. Vance and national security adviser Mike Waltz have been assigned to oversee a deal to have TikTok divest from its Chinese ownership, according to a report from Punchbowl News. The report claims Vance is responsible for "quarterbacking a deal to save TikTok," while Waltz is focused on the national security aspect of a sale. The clock is ticking on the deadline for a deal to avoid the social media platform being banned in the United States. An executive order signed by Trump last month extended the Jan. 19 deadline to divest or be banned to April 5, but it is unknown if ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, will actually make a deal to divest from its ownership of the platform. The bill forcing the sale of TikTok was passed by Congress in 2024 with sweeping bipartisan support and was signed into law by then-President Joe Biden. The legislation also survived a legal challenge from TikTok when the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the law forcing the sale of the platform over national security concerns did not violate the company’s First Amendment rights.

Bloomberg [2/7/2025 10:36 AM, Tara Deschamps, 1450K] reports that the federal government has restricted Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek’s chatbot from some of its mobile devices and is recommending other agencies and departments follow suit. The Treasury Board Secretariat’s chief information officer Dominic Rochon sent a memo Thursday to government departments detailing the moves he said are aimed at ensuring "networks and data remain secure and protected." "Due to serious privacy concerns associated with the inappropriate collection and retention of sensitive personal information, and as a precautionary measure to protect government networks and data, it is recommended that departments and agencies restrict the use of the DeepSeek chatbot on government devices," he wrote in the letter. Rochon’s note said the restriction has already been applied to government mobile devices managed by Shared Services Canada, which delivers digital services to government organizations. However, he also recommends other departments and agencies do the same as a "precautionary measure.” DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FOX News [2/7/2025 12:00 PM, Elizabeth Elkind and Morgan Philips, 49889K] reports that a top House Republican is moving to make it harder for China to procure advanced U.S. technology amid longstanding concerns about intellectual property theft by Beijing. "My proposed legislation will establish safeguards to prevent future shocks like China’s development of DeepSeek using American technology. In addition to the chips China reportedly stockpiled, it appears China used chips under the current export control threshold to achieve this AI breakthrough," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital. "This scenario should be a wakeup call — if you give the CCP an inch, it will take a mile. The CCP’s craftiness is coupled with a total disregard for legal and security considerations. We already know that the CCP uses technology to oppress its own citizens and to commit acts of espionage and sabotage against the United States, including major cyberattacks." The U.S. Commerce Department is now looking into whether DeepSeek used chips that were banned from entering China via sanctions, Reuters reported. Green’s bill would put export controls on certain national interest technology and intellectual property to China. It would also call for sanctions against foreign actors who sell or purchase such items to and from China, as well as Chinese entities who knowingly use items covered by the export controls.

NBC News [2/7/2025 6:48 AM, Jennifer Jett, Arata Yamamoto and Stella Kim, 50804K] reports the United States and its longtime allies Japan and South Korea have been strengthening ties in recent years, both individually and as a three-way partnership, in an effort to counter an increasingly assertive China and North Korea. But recent political changes in Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have injected new uncertainty into their relations. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing an impeachment trial over his botched attempt in December to declare martial law, and it will be months before the country has a clear leader. In Japan, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is hamstrung by a minority government after his scandal-ridden Liberal Democratic Party performed poorly in an October parliamentary election. And in the United States, voters elected a president in November who disdains alliances and prefers to deal with countries individually, and who in his first term accused Japan and South Korea of "freeloading" under the U.S. security umbrella. On Friday, Ishiba is set to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House, in the first major indication of how the new U.S. administration will interact with the two Asian democracies. Like the U.S., both countries are wary of China’s rise but also count it among their top trading partners. The challenge for Ishiba will be to sell Trump on the importance of U.S. security commitments in Asia and avoid the kinds of tariffs that Trump has imposed on China and threatened to impose on U.S. allies Canada and Mexico. Ishiba said he planned "to work hard to establish a relationship of mutual trust" during his visit with Trump. "I hope that we can confirm that by Japan and the U.S. cooperating on issues such as the economy and security, this will bring peace and allow for development not for the free and open Indo-Pacific region but also for the rest of the world," the Japanese leader told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday. Ishiba is looking for a "neutral outcome" from the visit, and is most likely just happy to be the second foreign leader to meet with Trump after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Michael Cucek, an assistant professor of Asian studies at Temple University in Japan. "He’s not going to try to win any points or get any gifts from the United States," he said. "He knows that there are none available.”

Bloomberg [2/7/2025 9:46 AM, enny Leonard, Akayla Gardner, and Hadriana Lowenkron, 21617K] reports that President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will discuss bolstering foreign investment in the US, including cooperation on defense, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and cybersecurity, according to senior administration officials. The senior administration officials offered the details on condition of anonymity Friday, ahead of upcoming talks between Trump and Ishiba. The Japanese premier is visiting Washington for his first meeting with the US president in a bid to shore up economic and defense links between the major allies. Japan is one of the US’s closest allies and trading partners and Ishiba will be eager to avoid any economic fallout from Trump’s sweeping tariff threats — which the US president has vowed to levy on friendly nations as well as antagonists — and reaffirm his country’s security alliance with Washington. To curry favor with the new president, Japan is looking to pledge new deals. Ishiba said recently he would ask Trump for a stable supply of energy when they meet. Japan has held the largest pile of foreign direct investment in the US for the last five years.

AP [2/8/2025 4:52 AM, Jim Gomez, 14282K] reports Canada and the Philippines are in the final stages of negotiating a key defense pact that would allow their forces to hold larger military drills, said the Canadian ambassador to Manila while raising concerns over China’s “provocative and unlawful actions” in the region. Canada has been reinforcing its military presence i n the Indo-Pacific region and has committed to help promote the rule of law and expand trade and investment. That dovetails with Philippine efforts under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to broaden defense ties with friendly countries to bolster his country’s external defense as it faces an increasingly assertive China in the disputed waters. Canadian Ambassador David Hartman said Friday night that his country and the Philippines were “in the final stages of the negotiations of our status of forces visiting agreement that will enable us to have even more substantive participation in joint and multilateral training exercises and operations with the Philippines and allies here in the region.” Hartman spoke before Philippine national security officials, foreign ambassadors and defense attaches aboard the HMCS Ottawa, a Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate on a port visit to Manila. The vessel will take part in a joint exercise off the Philippines next week, he said. The Philippine military has staged multinational patrols and drills since last year with counterparts from the U.S., Japan, France, Australia and Canada, including in the South China Sea, infuriating China.

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