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

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

The New York Times [1/27/2025 12:01 AM, Genevieve Glatsky, Simon Romero and Annie Correal, 740K, Negative] reports that, under threats from President Trump that included steep tariffs, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia has relented and will allow U.S. military planes to fly deportees into the country, after turning two transports back in response to what he called inhumane treatment. The two leaders had engaged in a war of words on Sunday after Colombia’s move to block Mr. Trump’s use of military aircraft in deporting thousands of unauthorized immigrants. But on Sunday night, the White House released a statement in which it said that because Mr. Petro had agreed to all of its terms, the tariffs and sanctions Mr. Trump had threatened would be “held in reserve.” Other penalties, such as visa sanctions, will remain in effect until the first planeload of deportees had arrived in Colombia, the statement said. “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again,” it added. Colombia’s foreign ministry released a statement soon afterward that said “we have overcome the impasse with the United States government.” It said the government would accept all deportation flights and “guarantee dignified conditions” for those Colombians on board. Mr. Petro began the day by announcing that he had turned back U.S. military planes carrying deported immigrants. This set off a furious back and forth with Mr. Trump, who in turn announced a barrage of tariffs and sanctions targeting the country, which has long been a top U.S. ally in Latin America. Mr. Trump said on social media that the United States would immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on all Colombian imports and would raise them to 50 percent after a week. The Trump administration would also “fully impose” banking and financial sanctions on Colombia, apply a travel ban on Colombian government officials and their associates, and revoke their visas, the president said. Mr. Petro hit back on social media. In one post, he announced retaliatory tariffs of 25 percent on U.S. imports to Colombia; in another, longer post, he said those tariffs would hit 50 percent. Directly addressing Mr. Trump, Mr. Petro also questioned whether the American president was trying to topple him. “You don’t like our freedom, fine,” Mr. Petro said. “I do not shake hands with white enslavers.” The AP [1/26/2025 11:02 PM, Regina Garcia Cano, Astrid Suárez and Zeke Miller, 35747K, Neutral] reports that, long close partners in anti-narcotics efforts, the U.S. and Colombia clashed Sunday over the deportation of migrants and imposed tariffs on each other’s goods in a show of what other countries could face if they intervene in the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The White House held up the episode as a warning to other nations who might seek to impede his plans. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a late Sunday statement that the “Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.” Leavitt said the tariff orders will be “held in reserve, and not signed.” But Leavitt said Trump would maintain visa restrictions on Colombian officials and enhanced customs inspections of goods from the country, “until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.” The Colombian government late Sunday said it considered as “overcome” the episode with the Trump administration and Petro reposted the statement from the White House on X. “We have overcome the impasse with the United States government,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo. “We will continue to receive Colombians who return as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions as citizens subject to rights.” The Washington Post [1/26/2025 7:28 PM, Mariana Alfaro, et al., 40736K, Neutral] reports Trump’s tariffs, if enacted, could have devastating consequences on the economy in Colombia; the United States is Colombia’s top trading partner, accounting for 26 percent of its total trade in 2023. “These measures are just the beginning,” Trump threatened in a post on Truth Social. He contended the actions were warranted because Colombia was violating its legal obligations and was harming the national security of the United States. (The White House, in the statement announcing Trump’s sanctions, misspelled Colombia as “Columbia.”) In a long and defiant post on X, Petro said he would match Trump’s tariffs with retaliatory duties on goods from the United States. The tariffs could deal a crushing blow to the Colombian economy, said Sergio Guzmán, director of the political consultancy Colombia Risk Analysis. It would probably devastate the country’s flower industry — a key export to the United States — just before the crucial Valentine’s Day season, while also escalating prices for American consumers.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [1/26/2025 4:14 PM, Elvia Limon, 16346K, Neutral]
Reuters [1/26/2025 7:33 PM, Phil Stewart and Oliver Griffin, 48128K, Neutral]
CBS News [1/26/2025 7:14 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 52225K, Neutral]
CNN [1/26/2025 5:54 PM, Alejandra Jaramillo, Aaron Pellish and Priscilla Alvarez, 22417K, Neutral]
VOA News [1/26/2025 7:01 PM, Ken Bredemeier, 2717K, Negative]
Newsweek [1/26/2025 4:57 PM, Rachel Dobkin, 56005K, Neutral]
Miami Herald [1/27/2025 1:01 AM, Staff, 6595K, Negative]
Washington Examiner [1/26/2025 2:47 PM, Brady Knox, 2365K, Neutral]

USA Today [1/26/2025 8:48 PM, Lauren Villagran, 89965K, Neutral] reports Latin American leaders are grappling with how to respond to President Donald Trump’s unilateral demands after he enlisted the military to fly deportees home over the weekend. The U.S. military has a checkered history of intervention in Latin America, and Mexico – which has routinely accepted U.S. charter deportation flights – but appeared to draw a line on the use of a military aircraft. Colombia and Brazil also condemned the conditions in which deportees were returned, including the use of handcuffs, a practice the agency has used in prior administrations. Colombia suspended deportation flights on Sunday. Last week, Mexico refused to accept a deportation flight for the first time in decades. The country refused an Airforce C-17 deportation flight on Thursday, a move first reported by NBC News. Two other Airforce C-17 flights on Friday appeared to take a substantial detour around Mexican airspace to reach Guatemala, said Tom Cartwright, who tracks U.S. deportation flights as a volunteer for immigrant rights group Witness at the Border. The flights – appearing to depart Tucson, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas – veered over the newly renamed "Gulf of America," flying south across Costa Rica, only to double back north to Guatemala, he said. Trump announced retaliatory measures against Colombia on Sunday, tacking “emergency 25% tariffs” on all goods coming from Colombia. He also said Colombian officials, “allies and supporters” would see their visas revoked and travel to the U.S. banned. U.S. goods and services trade with Colombia totaled an estimated $53.5 billion in 2022, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Of that, about $18.5 billion were Colombian goods exported to the United States.

Yahoo! News [1/26/2025 2:51 PM, Peter Wade, 57114K, Negative] reports the Trump administration is working on an asylum agreement with El Salvador. The deal would allow the United States to deport migrants who are not from El Salvador — including possibly Venezuelan gang members — to the small Central American nation to seek asylum, CBS News reported, citing two sources familiar with the talks. Under the terms of the deal, El Salvador would be designated a “safe third country” where non-Salvadoran migrants who come to the U.S. could request asylum. One potential plan would allow the administration to send suspected members of Tren de Aragua, a gang that originated in a Venezuelan prison more than a decade ago, to El Salvador. As economic conditions severely deteriorated under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, more than 8 million people have fled Venezuela to other parts of Latin America and to the U.S., including members of Tren de Agua. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance seriously exaggerated the threat posed by migrant gang members throughout the 2024 campaign, including making unsubstantiated claims that gangs were “taking over cities,” in order to argue for stricter immigration policies. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has led a harsh crackdown on gangs in El Salvador, imprisoning more than 75,000 individuals, including thousands of innocent people under a suspension of civil liberties called a state of exception, which was prompted by brutal gang murders that occurred over one weekend in March 2022. Conditions in Salvadoran prisons are extreme. One former detainee told PBS that where he was held, 70 people were placed in a single cell, but only around 10 of them were members of a gang. Last week, a Salvadoran court sentenced three minors to five years in prison after they were seen on video using gang signs connected with the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. Human rights organization Cristosal has documented abuse, torture and death in Salvadoran prisons under the state of exception. In 2022, the U.S. State Department said it had identified credible reports of “significant human rights issues” in El Salvador including “unlawful or arbitrary killings, forced disappearances; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention” as well as issues with censorship, government corruption and interference in the judiciary process.

CNN [1/27/2025 2:09 AM, Priscilla Alvarez and Rosa Flores, 238K, Neutral] reports the Trump administration launched an immigration enforcement blitz nationwide Sunday that included multiple federal agencies and resulted in the arrest of nearly 1,000 people, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The apprehensions are part of an effort to amass a larger enforcement apparatus by pulling in a range of federal agencies that have been granted extended immigration authority under the Trump administration. ICE agents were joined Sunday by officials from multiple Justice Department agencies as they targeted what they said are public safety and national security threats. The operation is expected to continue this week. White House ‘border czar’ Tom Homan called Sunday’s enforcement actions in Chicago “a good day” and a “gamechanger” in an interview with CNN. “President Trump has put all of government on this issue,” he said. ICE was joined Sunday by agencies including the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the US Marshals Service. “We had all of government law enforcement today to focus on public safety and national security threats in Chicago,” Homan said. Homan, who was on the ground in Chicago, maintained it was a “criminal operation.” Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove was also in Chicago on Sunday to observe immigration enforcement operations. Nationwide, 956 people were arrested and “554 detainers (were) lodged” Sunday, ICE said in a post on X, marking the highest total since the agency started reporting them on the platform. In addition to “enhanced targeted operations” announced by ICE in Chicago, immigration enforcement actions were also reported in the Atlanta area; Puerto Rico; Colorado; Los Angeles; and Austin, Texas. FOX News [1/27/2025 1:53 AM, Elizabeth Pritchett, 49889K, Negative] reports that the agency said law enforcement officers arrested 956 people and lodged 554 detainers, which means "there’s probable cause to believe that the person is removable from the United States under federal immigration law." The ICE field office in Miami, Florida, shared the details behind five of the illegal aliens arrested – three in Florida and two in Puerto Rico. The two arrested in Puerto Rico were residents of the Dominican Republic, and one was charged with domestic violence while the other was charged with driving under the influence of liquor. A Nicaraguan national was arrested at the Broward County Jail for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon, discharging a firearm in public and driving with a suspended license. A Jamaica resident with charges for possession of oxycodone, displaying a firearm during a felony offense and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license was arrested, while a Mexico resident at the Martin County Jail was charged with traffic offenses and convicted of multiple DUIs. "#ICE protects America by enforcing US immigration laws to preserve national security & public safety," the Miami field office said on X.

NBC News [1/26/2025 9:16 PM, Daniella Silva, Gabe Gutierrez and Olympia Sonnier, 50804K, Neutral] reports immigration enforcement operations unfolded across multiple cities Sunday, marking what President Donald Trump has called the beginning of an era of mass deportations that would primarily target migrants with criminal backgrounds but in which concerns remain that migrants with no criminal histories will be swept up, as well. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told NBC News on Sunday that several people convicted of serious offenses, including murder and sex crimes, were apprehended. He added that collateral arrests — detentions of people without criminal convictions who were present during the raids — would occur. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Sunday that its enhanced operations aim to "enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.” The agency later said ICE made 956 arrests Sunday — the largest single-day number to date by the Trump administration. Since Trump was inaugurated Monday, ICE has made at least 2,681 arrests. It was unclear how many of those arrested had criminal histories or convictions. Homan said the people arrested Sunday in Chicago included six convicted of serious sex offenses, multiple gang members and two others who were previously convicted of murder and aggravated sexual battery. He also elaborated on the possibility of operations in locations such as churches and schools after Trump rescinded previous long-standing guidance that had designated such areas as “sensitive locations.” Decisions to enter those spaces would be made on a “case-by-case basis,” Homan said. “We’ve got to put America’s safety first,” said Homan, who was in Chicago for the enforcement operations. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [1/26/2025 4:36 PM, Zach Montague, 161405K, Negative] reports in a wide-ranging interview on Sunday, Vice President JD Vance defended a variety of plans set in motion by President Trump during the first week of his term, including the beginnings of a promised crackdown on migrants living in the United States and an effort to supercharge oil and gas production. Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Mr. Vance backed a number of policies set forth in the many executive actions that Mr. Trump signed immediately upon taking office, including several aimed at hastening the pace of deportations and ending birthright citizenship. But even as he offered an endorsement of the Trump administration’s first week, Mr. Vance grew defensive when asked to speak about previous statements that conflicted with his current ones. After saying earlier this month that anyone who engaged in violence on Jan. 6 “obviously” should not receive a pardon, Mr. Vance backtracked on Sunday, saying that Mr. Trump’s decision to issue blanket pardons, even for people convicted of assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy in connection with the riot, was “the right decision.” He also appeared reluctant to fully embrace Mr. Trump’s proposal earlier this week to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. While he harshly criticized the agency’s response to wildfires in California and to hurricanes in North Carolina, he said that FEMA had been hamstrung by “bureaucratic red tape and garbage” and that the proposal was mainly intended to “encourage us to reform the way that we deliver emergency response.” For the most part, though, there was little space between Mr. Vance’s views and the president’s. When pressed about how aggressively deportation campaigns should unfold, Mr. Vance showed little appetite for restrictions, appearing to support Mr. Trump’s decision to end a longstanding policy that prevented immigration agents from entering schools and churches to arrest people. “Of course, if you have a person who is convicted of a violent crime, whether they’re an illegal immigrant or a non-illegal immigrant, you have to go and get that person to protect the public safety,” he said. “That’s not unique to immigration.”

CBS Miami [1/26/2025 11:46 AM, Kaia Hubbard, 52225K, Neutral] reports Vice President JD Vance defended President Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship Saturday, arguing in his first interview since taking office that "just because we were founded by immigrants, doesn’t mean that 240 years later that we have to have the dumbest immigration policy in the world.". "America should actually look out for the interests of our citizens first," Vance said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." "If you’re here permanently and lawfully, your kid becomes an American citizen.". Mr. Trump’s executive order targeting birthright citizenship directs federal agencies to stop issuing citizenship documents to children born on U.S. soil to parents in the country illegally or under temporary visas, and came among a wave of executive actions he signed shortly after returning to office last week. The U.S. government has long interpreted the Constitution to mean that those born on American soil are citizens at birth, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution says "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.". But Trump has for years touted the idea of ending birthright citizenship, arguing that it encourages illegal immigration. The move has prompted a growing number of legal challenges in recent days. And a federal judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan temporarily blocked the order Thursday, calling it "blatantly unconstitutional.". Vance said he disagrees, noting that the issue will be litigated, which he said is "the nature of our constitutional system.". Vance explained that the "basic idea" behind the move is that lawful permanent residents or the children of a legal immigrant who plans to stay in the U.S. "should become American citizens." But he said anyone who doesn’t plan to stay and gives birth in the U.S. shouldn’t become a citizen "by virtue of just having been born on American soil.".

Washington Examiner [1/26/2025 3:18 PM, Greg Bishop, 2365K, Neutral] reports the case USA v. Heriberto Carbajal-Flores centers around Flores’ arrest in Chicago for having a firearm. Representing the federal government, Margaret Steindorf said Flores’ immigration status is important. "There is the common thread here of felons not abiding by the law and those unlawfully in the country also not authorized to be in the country," Steindorf said in arguing court precedent allowing for certain individuals to be prohibited from having a firearm. Representing Flores, Jacob Briskman said rights granted to "the people" aren’t relegated to only a few amendments in the Bill of Rights. "The [U.S.] Supreme Court has decided that undocumented folks have First Amendment protections, Fourth Amendment protections, Fifth Amendment protections when they have come within the United States and developed substantial ties," Briskman said. Briskman said his client has a wife and children who are U.S. citizens. Steindorf said Flores’ criminal activity wasn’t just being found with the gun. "The district court erred when it found defendant was non-violent when in fact the defendant shot a firearm seven times at a passing car without provocation and tried to shoot at a second passing car shortly thereafter," she said.

Yahoo! News [1/26/2025 2:01 PM, Joseph Wilkinson, 57114K, Neutral] reports New York Sen. Chuck Schumer called on Sunday for a federal safety board meant to prevent and prepare for school shootings to be reinstated — after it was disbanded last week by President Trump. The Department of Homeland Security’s school safety board got the ax only a few months after its first meeting and less than a year after it was established. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman said the department was "eliminating misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security," according to a memo obtained by Education Week. But Schumer said not so fast. He called on Trump to put the board back together, noting it was created under a 2022 law that passed after mass shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. "The Trump administration cannot bow down, yet again, to the likes of the NRA," the Senate minority leader said in a statement. "We’ve seen them do it before, but this most recent action of shutting down the school safety board and its work to try and prevent school shootings is just pathetic.". Though the board was created as part of a 2022 law, the Biden administration didn’t pick its members until July 2024. It was made up of school and security leaders from across the country, along with a couple parents of school shooting victims. The board held its first, and so far only, meeting in October. Trump’s disbandment of the board largely flew under the radar last week, as the new president made a flurry of headline-grabbing moves in his first week back in office. But Schumer insisted the school safety board deserves attention as well. "This board was one of the best things we had to combat gun violence in schools," Schumer told the Daily News. "To just abolish it makes no sense whatsoever.". However, the senator admitted anyone hoping for the board to reconvene would be relying on the actions of the Trump administration and incoming Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Failing that, a lawsuit could be brought to compel Trump to follow the law.

Washington Examiner [1/26/2025 2:58 PM, Asher Notheis, 2365K, Neutral] reports Senate Majority Leader John Thune argued that Senate Republicans are actually "ahead of schedule" in the confirmation process of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, citing how long it took to confirm Trump’s first Cabinet in 2017. Following Trump’s inauguration on Monday, the Senate has already confirmed four of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. While appearing on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Thune underscored how "critically important" it was to confirm Trump’s national security team. While several nominees remain to be confirmed, the Senate majority leader noted that he and his fellow Republicans are "queueing up" their confirmations. Thune was pressed on why the nominees were not confirmed sooner, and that it "certainly feels" as if Senate Republicans are allowing their Democratic peers to control the confirmation process. The Senate majority leader pushed back against the assessment, arguing Republicans are actually ‘ahead of schedule.". "We’re going back to what is the Obama standard. Obama got 12 of his Cabinet nominees through in 15 days; it took Trump 43 days to get his first 12 through back in 2017," Thune detailed. "So we are pushing hard, and obviously there are constraints that are imposed by the rules of the Senate. The minority in the Senate has ways it can slow things down and drag it out. But we’re actually, at the current point, ahead of the Obama standard.". Thune assured that Senate Republicans will continue to move forward "aggressively" in getting Trump’s nominees confirmed, which will include "forcing people to stay and to take votes on weekends," referencing how Noem’s confirmation vote was held on Saturday.

NPR [1/26/2025 4:30 PM, Greg Allen, 21K, Negative] reports Gov. Ron DeSantis has called lawmakers to a special session of the Florida Legislature Monday to take up a series of proposals on immigration. But it’s not clear what measures, if any, will be considered as key Republican lawmakers have called the session "premature.". Florida is one of several states where Republican leaders say they support President Trump’s pledge for the mass deportation of immigrants who don’t have legal status in the U.S. DeSantis announced the special session earlier this month, a week before Trump’s inauguration. He said he’d spoken to Trump about his plans for curbing illegal immigration and mass deportations and that the state should take a leading role. "State and local officials in Florida must help the Trump administration enforce our nation’s immigration laws," DeSantis said. "In order to do that effectively, we are going to need legislation to impose additional duties on local officials and provide funding for those local officials." His call for the session said illegal immigration has caused "massive costs" for Americans. Among the proposals DeSantis wants is one requiring counties and cities to participate in the federal deportation program and he’s seeking the authority to suspend any officials, including those who were elected, who don’t comply. He proposes making it a state crime to enter the U.S. illegally. And he wants to require people to show identification and their immigration status before sending remittances abroad. That could essentially prohibit anyone here without legal status from sending money back home. As governor, DeSantis has the authority to convene special sessions and has done so before. But when he called this one the Republican leaders in the state House and Senate surprised many by pushing back. They say they support President Trump’s pledge to combat illegal immigration but want to deal with it and other issues identified by DeSantis on their own schedule. In a letter to the governor, Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez wrote, "As the people’s elected representatives, the Legislature, not the Governor, will decide when and what legislation we consider.".

Newsweek [1/26/2025 2:33 PM, Adeola Adeosun, 56005K, Negative] reports a British national living in Miami Beach has been arrested for illegally voting six times in U.S. elections while falsely claiming American citizenship, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). James Ross Wightman, 65, faces multiple charges after authorities discovered he had been voting in local and national elections despite being previously deported from the United States in 1989. Newsweek reached out to the FDLE via email on Sunday for comment. This case highlights ongoing concerns about election integrity and the verification systems used to prevent unauthorized voting. In October of 2024, Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger revealed the results of a citizenship audit of the state’s voter rolls, which showed that out of 8.2 million registered voters, only 20 individuals were found to be non-U.S. citizens. Raffensperger said all 20 registrations were canceled, and the cases had been forwarded to local prosecutors to determine if criminal charges were appropriate. However, nine had participated in previous elections, while the remaining 11 showed no record of voting at all. According to the FDLE, Wightman was voluntarily deported from the United States in September 1989 after overstaying his visitor visa and facing drug charges in Hawaii. He returned to the United States in November 2000 and submitted a voter registration application with a false claim of U.S. citizenship. Between 2022 and 2024, Wightman participated in six local and national elections while registered with no party affiliation since 2013. Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade County State Attorney said in a statement: "Voting is a civic duty for every American citizen. James Wightman knew that he was not an American citizen having previously left for the United Kingdom when facing deportation.". The case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Election Crime Unit, working in conjunction with the Florida Department of State Office of Election Crimes and Security, U.S. Department of State, and Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Office.

The New York Times [1/26/2025 9:18 PM, Devlin Barrett and Julie Bosman, 161405K, Negative] reports the Justice Department announced Sunday it had begun a multiagency immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, as the Trump administration sought to show it is quickly fulfilling a campaign promise to ramp up arrests and deportations. Officials said a host of law enforcement agencies would conduct such operations in the coming days. The Justice Department announced that its acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, had traveled to Chicago to oversee the effort to address what he called a “national emergency.” The Trump administration has enlisted various law enforcement agencies within the Justice Department — the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals — to assist operations in Chicago and elsewhere. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement on Sunday night that it had made 956 arrests on Sunday, though it was unclear how many of them were in Chicago. Local officials in Chicago said they had not been involved in the operations. In some neighborhoods, residents said people were concerned, but also confused about how the reported immigration operations were going to play out. Mr. Bove said in a written statement that he had watched agents from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security deploy in lock step “to address a national emergency arising from four years of failed immigration policy.” The Justice Department, he added, was working to “secure the border, stop this invasion and make America safe again.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that federal agencies have started “enhanced targeted operations” in Chicago “to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.” Mr. Bove urged local officials to aid in the effort, and warned there could be consequences for those who do not. “We will support everyone at the federal, state and local levels who joins this critical mission to take back our communities,” he said. “We will use all available tools to address obstruction and other unlawful impediments to our efforts to protect the homeland.” The AP [1/26/2025 7:01 PM, Sophia Tareen and Alanna Durkin Richer, 47097K, Neutral] report top Trump administration officials, including “border czar” Tom Homan and the acting deputy attorney general, visited Chicago on Sunday to witness the start of ramped-up immigration enforcement in the nation’s third-largest city as federal agencies touted arrests around the country. Few details of the operation were immediately made public, including the number of arrests. But the sheer number of federal agencies involved showed President Donald Trump’s willingness to use federal law enforcement beyond the Department of Homeland Security to carry out his long-promised mass deportations. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said he observed immigration agents from the DHS along with agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He didn’t offer details on the operation, which came days after DHS expanded immigration authority to agencies in the Department of Justice, including the DEA and ATF. “We will support everyone at the federal, state, and local levels who joins this critical mission to take back our communities,” Bove said in a statement. “We will use all available tools to address obstruction and other unlawful impediments to our efforts to protect the homeland. Most importantly, we will not rest until the work is done.” ICE spokesman Jeff Carter said the agency “began conducting enhanced targeted operations” Sunday in Chicago but declined other details. Spokesmen for the FBI, ATF and the DEA confirmed their involvement but didn’t give other information. Chicago residents, especially in immigrant circles, have already been on edge for months in anticipation of large-scale arrests touted by the Trump administration. The atmosphere has been especially tense the past week as top Trump officials vowed to start immigration enforcement operations in Chicago the day after Trump’s inauguration before walking back those statements. Last week, Bove issued a memo ordering federal prosecutors to investigate state or local officials who they believe are interfering with the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, in an apparent warning to the dozens of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions across America.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [1/26/2025 5:45 PM, Greg Wehner, David Spunt and Matt Finn, 49889K, Neutral]
Miami Herald [1/26/2025 4:19 PM, Laura Rodríguez Presa, Jeremy Gorner and Rick Pearson, 6595K, Neutral]

Washington Examiner [1/26/2025 3:19 PM, Jim Talamonti, 2365K, Negative] reports Chicago Public Schools officials incorrectly said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents attempted to enter a South Side elementary school Friday and were turned away. After CPS made the announcement, ICE released a statement saying that its agents had not visited the school. Instead, school officials turned away U.S. Secret Service agents who had come to investigate an alleged threat. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson addressed the issue on X. "Chicago will always be a welcoming city, we will always uphold the welcoming city ordinance, and we will always protect our students and every resident of our city. Today Secret Service agents, not ICE agents, were present at John H. Hamline Elementary School. While people across the city are worried about heightened immigration enforcement, it is imperative that individuals not spread unverified information that sparks fear across the city," Johnson posted. Before CPS acknowledged its mistake, numerous media outlets reported a raid by ICE and Gov. J.B. Pritzker commented on X. "After a week of Republicans sowing fear and chaos, the first reports of raids in Chicago are at an elementary school. Targeting children and separating families is cruel and un-American," Pritzker posted.

Politico [1/26/2025 11:09 AM, Shia Kapos, Neutral] reports Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker criticized the Trump administration’s deportation efforts and dismissed a directive from the White House that elected officials who don’t comply could face prosecution. “They want people to step back and let them do whatever they want to do,” the Democratic governor said Sunday in an interview on CNN. Speaking on “State of the Union,” Pritzker said Illinois will “stand in the way” of federal efforts that break Illinois law. Of violent criminals, he said, “We don’t want them in our state. We want them out of the country. We hope they do get deported, and if that’s who they’re picking up, we’re all for it.” What Pritzker said he finds “quite disturbing, is they’re going after people who are law-abiding, who are holding down jobs, who have families here, who may have been here for a decade or two decades, and they’re often our neighbors and our friends.” While saying that Illinois would honor arrest warrants and other proper legal documents, Pritzker referred to the state’s Trust Act, which prevents local and state law enforcement from assisting federal officers on immigration and deportation cases. “We have a law on the books in Illinois that says that our local law enforcement will stand up for those law-abiding, undocumented people in our states who are doing the right thing, and we’re not going to help federal officials just drag them away just because” someone thinks they could be in the country illegally, he said.

Miami Herald [1/26/2025 5:16 PM, David Kroman, 6595K, Neutral] reports it took just hours after his swearing in for President Donald Trump to reignite a fight he waged for four years against Washington state and its more progressive counties and cities, which insist they will play little part in helping the federal government target undocumented immigrants for deportation. One of his executive orders takes aim at "sanctuary" jurisdictions, promising to cut funding should local officials refuse to cooperate. An additional internal Department of Justice memo threatened to prosecute local officials who decline to help. For the more progressive governments in the state, such as Seattle, King County and Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office, the order is viewed as an affront to their sovereignty and an action to be fought. Some Trump-friendly Washington counties, which have chafed at a 2019 state law barring their cooperation with immigration enforcement, are more eager to lend a hand. Although Trump has always taken an aggressive posture toward those living in the country without documentation, his second administration has elevated hard-line voices like Stephen Miller’s, a top adviser who has targeted not only those here illegally but also those granted temporary legal status by the Biden administration. With a Trump-friendly Congress and U.S. Supreme Court - and fewer moderate voices in his cabinet - the temperature between local officials in Washington state and the federal government could rise even higher this time around. That’s especially true if federal immigration officials start carrying out large-scale raids and arrests in Washington. Rumors to that effect flew around the state last week, magnified in a climate of fear by social media. As of late Friday afternoon, none had been confirmed by either U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, which runs a hotline for reports of ICE activity.

CBS Los Angeles [1/26/2025 1:10 PM, Iris Salem, 52225K, Neutral] reports the Drug Enforcement Agency in Los Angeles announced Sunday that it was collaborating with other federal law enforcement agencies to support immigration enforcement efforts. Special Agent Matthew Allen stated on X that the agency was assisting the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. In a separate post, the DEA also said that it took part in an operation Sunday morning, but the mission’s specifics remain undisclosed. Similar representations were made by the DEA in Chicago on Sunday, though it was also unclear what actions were taken. The move appears to follow directives by the Justice Department last week to law enforcement across the country to focus on enacting President Trump’s immigration policies, according to a memo sent to employees on Tuesday and obtained by CBS News.

The Hill [1/26/2025 10:29 PM, Tara Suter, 57114K, Neutral] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the suspension of visa issuance at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, the State Department said Sunday. In a media note, the State Department’s Office of the Spokesperson said the secretary “immediately ordered a suspension of visa issuance at the U.S. Embassy Bogota consular section” in the wake of the non-acceptance by Colombian President Gustavo Petro of “two repatriation flights he previously authorized.” “Secretary Rubio is now authorizing travel sanctions on individuals and their families, who were responsible for the interference of U.S. repatriation flight operations,” the media note reads. “Measures will continue until Colombia meets its obligations to accept the return of its own citizens. America will not back down when it comes to defending its national security interests.” A subsequent statement from the White House press secretary noted, “The Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay. Based on this agreement, the fully drafted IEEPA tariffs and sanctions will be held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement. The visa sanctions issued by the State Department, and enhanced inspections from Customs and Border Protection, will remain in effect until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.” In a post on Truth Social earlier on Sunday, President Trump said he “was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia.” “This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people,” he added.

Reuters [1/26/2025 8:23 AM, Luciana Novaes Magalhaes, 48128K, Negative] reports Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to seek explanations from the U.S. government over the "degrading treatment" of Brazilians on a deportation flight, the ministry wrote on X on Saturday night. Last Friday, Brazilian deportees from the U.S. arrived in Brazil in handcuffs. Upon arrival, some of the passengers also reported mistreatment during the flight, according to local reports. The plane, carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 U.S. security agents, and eight crew members, was originally scheduled to arrive in Belo Horizonte in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. However, it made an unscheduled stop in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, due to technical problems, according to Brazil’s Justice Ministry. There, Brazilian officials ordered the removal of the handcuffs, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva designated a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) flight to complete their journey, the government said in a statement Saturday. The flight was the second this year from the U.S. carrying undocumented migrants deported back to Brazil and the first since U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to Brazil’s federal police. Officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contacted late on Saturday for comment did not immediately reply.

Yahoo! News [1/27/2025 2:55 AM, Staff, 57114K, Negative] reports China pledged to accept the return of undocumented Chinese citizens in the US, after President Donald Trump threatened to hit Colombia with tariffs of up to 50% for refusing to take back deported migrants. “China will receive people who are confirmed as Chinese nationals from the mainland after verification,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday at a regular press briefing, when asked if Beijing would take back citizens living without documentation in the US. “The Chinese government firmly opposes any form of illegal migration.” There were some 210,000 undocumented Chinese migrants in America in 2022, according to the US government, including those from Hong Kong and Macau. That number has likely risen with tens of thousands of people with passports from China crossing the US border without the proper paperwork since the pandemic ended. China accepted four planeloads of Chinese migrants living undocumented in the US last year, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to that, President Xi Jinping’s government hadn’t accepted such a repatriation flight since 2018, a stretch that included a yearslong period when Covid controls closed its borders. Since Trump returned to office, he’s struck a softer tone on China, only threatening Beijing with 10% tariffs for failing to stop the flow of fentanyl into America. That contrasted with swaggering campaign trail warnings that levies as high as 60% could be on the way.

Washington Post [1/26/2025 1:38 PM, Staff, 40736K, Neutral] reports regarding the Jan. 21 front-page article “Executive order attempts to end birthright citizenship”: While much of the discussion of President Donald Trump’s executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are neither U.S. citizens nor lawful permanent residents has been about how it might affect undocumented immigrants, this policy also profoundly impacts legal immigrants, especially H-1B visa holders, who already face extraordinary challenges on their path to permanent residency. Indian nationals on H-1B visas often wait 15 years or more for employer-sponsored green cards due to severe backlogs. During this time, they make significant contributions to the U.S. economy, innovation and public health, working at top institutions and companies. Despite this, they remain temporary residents, living with uncertainty. Stripping birthright citizenship from U.S.-born children of legal immigrants who have not yet had the opportunity to become permanent residents or citizens through no fault of their own is unconstitutional and deeply unjust. It penalizes families who have followed the law and invested their lives in this country. My heart goes out to mothers who are pregnant right now, after living here for over a decade, working for top companies and planning their families. Now, they face the devastating possibility that their children could be denied citizenship — a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment. And what about another side of the equation? Denying birthright citizenship to children of H-1B visa holders presents them with terrible choices. Should they delay having children until they secure green cards or citizenship, risking the loss of their biological window to start a family, or abandon their dreams of parenthood altogether? And might some excellent H-1B candidates turn down great jobs in America because they want to start families soon? This executive action strikes at the core of fairness and equality. The Trump administration often suggests that it has different views on documented and undocumented immigrants. But policies such as these will also fall heavily on legal immigrants, who have done everything by the book yet remain vulnerable.

FOX News [1/27/2025 5:00 AM, Amy Swearer, Hans A. von Spakovsky, 49889K, Neutral] reports few of President Donald Trump’s new executive orders have caused as much alarm as the one on birthright citizenship. That order prohibits federal agencies from issuing or accepting citizenship documents for children born in the U.S. when neither parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of the child’s birth. Critics paint it as flagrantly unconstitutional, including a misinformed federal judge in Seattle who issued a temporary injunction against it last week. But the new policy fits squarely within the text and original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. For the first century following the Fourteenth Amendment’s ratification, few legal scholars would have batted an eye at a directive like Trump’s. If anything, they’d have been more confused as to why the federal government started issuing passports to the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens, tourists, and "temporary sojourners" in the first place. Contrary to popular belief, the Fourteenth Amendment doesn’t say that all people born in the U.S. are citizens. It says that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" are citizens. That second, critical, conditional phrase is conveniently ignored or misinterpreted by advocates of "universal" birthright citizenship. This was intended to constitutionalize the protections of the 1866 Civil Rights Act, which provided that "all persons born in the United States, and not subject to any foreign power" would be considered citizens. The change in language didn’t reflect a desire on Congress’s part to abrogate the statutory definition or adopt universal birthright citizenship. In fact, the Civil Rights Act remained valid law for another 70 years, with courts and legal scholars alike assuming that it was perfectly consistent with the Citizenship Clause. That’s because the sponsors of the Fourteenth Amendment made it clear that "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S. means owing your political allegiance to the U.S., and not to another country. Children born to aliens are citizens of their parents’ native land, and thus owe their allegiance to, and are subject to the jurisdiction of, that native land.

ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos [1/26/2025 12:50 PM, Staff, 2528K, Neutral] reports Tom Homan says while criminals are the priority, national security threats, public safety threats, that he is warning everyone in this country illegally, and the estimates are 11 million, to leave. What effect do those warnings have? Democratic senator, Elissa Slotkin says its clear that they are trying to deter people from coming. "I think, you know, they campaigned on this. And one of the things that, to me, has been a real hallmark when I listen to some of these immigration announcements lately is that it – it’s like they’re still in the campaign, right? Now you have to govern. Now you’re in the seat. You have to actually make this work with the money you have available. So, I think that’s more of a signal to try and keep people from coming to the border, trying to get in. And – and it’s part of this transition that they’re not quite into yet between campaigning and governing," Slotkin comments.

ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos [1/26/2025 12:50 PM, Staff, 2528K, Neutral] reports one of the very first appointments Donald Trump made after winning the election in November was tapping one man to be what he calls his border czar. Tom Homan is a former Border Patrol agent and acting director of ICE, with decades of experience in Republican and Democratic administrations. Homan says that the military is on the border not only helping with departure flights on military plans but doing other things like helping build infrastructure, and various things to secure the boarder. Their actions are sending a strong signal to the word, U.S. border’s are closed. "If you’re in the country illegally, you’re on the table, because it’s not OK to, you know, violate the laws of this country. You got to remember, every time you enter this country illegally, you violated a crime under Title Eight, the United States Code 1325, it’s a crime. So, if you’re in a country illegally, you got a problem. And that’s why I’m hoping those who are in the country illegally, who have not been ordered removed by the federal judge, should leave," Homan states.

CBS’ Face The Nation [1/26/2025 11:42 AM, Staff, 4201K, Negative] reports both defense secretaries from President Trump’s last term were confirmed overwhelmingly, 90 percent of the vote. Pete Hegseth, it was a tie, bipartisan opposition, smallest margin since the job was created. "I think Pete is a disrupter, and a lot of people don’t like that disruption, but Margaret that disruption is incredibly necessary. If you think about all of those bipartisan, massive votes, we have to ask ourselves, what did they get us? They got us a country where we fought many wars over the last 40 years, but haven’t won a war about as long as I’ve been alive. They’ve got us a military with a major recruitment crisis, a procurement price crisis that’s totally dysfunctional, where we buy airplanes for billions and billions of dollars, terrible cost overruns, the delivery dates are always delayed. So we need a big change. Now, admittedly, there are people who don’t like that big change, but it is necessary, and it’s explicitly what Donald J. Trump ran on and I think part of the reason why the American people elected him their 47th president," Vance comments. "You had the Army missing recruitment goals by tens of thousands of soldiers, and already recruitment is starting to pick up because Pete Hegseth is fundamentally a war fighter’s leader at the Department of Defense. He is a guy who sees, not through the perspective of the generals or the bureaucrats, he looks at things through the perspective of the men and women that we send off to fight in our wars," Vance continued.

CBS’ Face The Nation [1/26/2025 11:42 AM, Staff, 4201K, Negative] reports the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week condemned some of the executive orders signed by President Trump, specifically those allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enter churches and to enter schools. JD Vance voices his thoughts on conducting raids or enforcement actions in a church service or at a school. "If you have a person who is convicted of a violent crime, whether they’re an illegal immigrant or a non-illegal immigrant, you have to go and get that person to protect the public safety. That’s not unique to immigration. But let me just address the- this particular issue. Because as a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement. And I think that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line? We’re going to enforce immigration law. We’re going to protect the American people, " Vance comments.

CBS’ Face The Nation [1/26/2025 11:42 AM, Staff, 4201K, Negative] reports two weeks ago, Vance was on Fox News, and said, "if you protested peacefully on January 6 and had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned." Did Vice President Vance counsel the president against these blanket pardons for 1, 500 people including those who committed violence? "The full quote is that, of course, there are gray areas. And here’s the nature of the gray area. Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice denied constitutional protections in the prosecutions. There were double standards in how sentences were applied to the J6 protesters versus other groups. What the president said consistently on the campaign is that he was going to look at a case by case basis and that’s exactly what we did. We looked at 1,600 cases. And the thing that came out of it, is that there was a massive denial of due process of liberty, and a lot of people were denied their constitutional rights. The president believes that. I believe that, and I think he made the right decision," Vance states.

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [1/26/2025 12:51 PM, Staff, 366K, Neutral] reports Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove is in Chicago this morning. He’s there to do a ride-along with DHS agents as they conduct immigration operations. It comes as the Trump administration is planning raids in more than two dozen U.S. cities beginning in Chicago. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker joins the show today to speak on those raids. Pritzker says that he doesn’t want undocumented people who have committed violent crimes in his state. "They show up with a warrant and we’re going to hand over people who are in our prisons or in our jails who fit that description. Now, what they’re also doing, though, and it’s quite disturbing, is, they’re going after people who are law-abiding, who are holding down jobs, who have families here, who may have been here for a decade or two decades, and they’re often our neighbors and our friends. And why are we going after them? These are not people who are causing problems in our country, and what we need is a path to citizenship for them. We need to secure our border. We need to get rid of the violent criminals, but we also need to protect people, at least the residents of Illinois and all across the nation, who are just doing what we hope that immigrants will do,’ Pritzker comments.

FOX News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo [1/26/2025 1:36 PM, Staff, Neutral] reports Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joins ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ to describe the change in illegal immigration after Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border.

Washington Post [1/26/2025 7:17 PM, Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti, 40736K, Negative] reports the quotas were outlined Saturday in a call with senior ICE officials, who were told that each of the agency’s field offices should make 75 arrests per day and managers would be held accountable for missing those targets. The four people spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal briefings. The orders significantly increase the chance that officers will engage in more indiscriminate enforcement tactics or face accusations of civil rights violations as they strain to meet quotas, according to current and former ICE officials. White House "border czar" Tom Homan has said for weeks that ICE would not conduct mass roundups and its officers would prioritize immigrants with criminal records and who are gang members. But the quotas issued this weekend would place ICE officers under more pressure to seize a wider range of potential deportees to avoid reprimand, including immigrants who have not committed crimes. The Washington Post examined which groups of immigrants could be at higher risk of deportation under the second Trump administration, and what logistical and financial obstacles stand in the way. Homan told ABC News in an interview broadcast Sunday that the administration is "in the beginning stages" of its mass deportation plan, and while public safety threats and national security threats are a priority, "as that aperture opens, there’ll be more arrests nationwide.". ICE announced in a statement Sunday that agents "began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago," with help from other federal agencies, including the FBI. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine C. Huffman last week revoked a directive that had essentially barred ICE from arresting immigrants in or around sensitive areas such as schools, hospitals and churches. An ICE official who was not authorized to discuss the quota said the agency’s list of criminal suspects was sufficiently long that officers would be able to continue prioritizing public safety and national security threats to meet quotas. Last July, ICE told lawmakers there are about 670,000 immigrants on its caseload who have criminal convictions or face criminal charges. Some are currently serving sentences in jails and prisons.

ABC News [1/26/2025 11:16 AM, Mike Levine and Meghan Mistry, 33392K, Neutral] reports for the first time in U.S. history, military aircraft were used this past week to deport scores of undocumented migrants from the United States. Middle schools, Trump administration officials say, are now seen as places to target for immigration enforcement operations. And, according to President Trump’s "border czar," every undocumented immigrant should worry they could be arrested at any time, even if they have no criminal record. The "border czar," Tom Homan, says it’s all part of the Trump administration’s effort to send a "clear" message: "There’s consequences [for] entering the country illegally," he told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday. "If we don’t show there’s consequences, you’re never going to fix the border problem," he said. More than 11 million undocumented immigrants are currently estimated to be living in the U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to take unprecedented action to remove as many of them as possible and stem the flow of more migrants coming to the southern border. As for the millions of undocumented immigrants already in the country, Homan said the administration will deport "as many as we can," starting with threats to public safety threats and national security, Homan said. Homan told ABC News that the Trump administration is only "in the beginning stages" of carrying out its mass deportation plan, making public safety threats and national security threats a "priority," but "as that aperture opens, there’ll be more arrests nationwide.". And he warned that there will be "collateral arrests," especially in the so-called "sanctuary cities" that he says are resistant to helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials locate and arrest undocumented immigrants already in local custody for other crimes.

Newsweek [1/26/2025 1:20 PM, Natalie Venegas, 56005K, Neutral] reports President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said on Sunday that not all undocumented migrants will be removed from the United States, citing costs associated with the administration’s mass deportation plans. The Trump administration has vowed to conduct the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history targeting the estimated 11.7 million people who are in the country without legal status. A New York Times/Ipsos poll, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported "deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records." Large majorities of Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken. However, the policy has sparked concerns about its significant costs and potential impact including on families and the economy. Homan has previously said the administration will initially need $86 billion from Congress to begin mass deportations. In a Sunday interview with ABC News’ This Week, Homan discussed the mass deportation plans and what he thinks will be accomplished. When asked by host Martha Raddatz why he didn’t speak about getting "every immigrant who is in the country illegally out," Homan said he’s being "realistic," citing costs. "I’m being realistic. We can do what we can with the money we have. We’re going to try to be efficient, but with more money we have, the more we can accomplish. I don’t have the money to remove that many people," he said. Mass removals could cost the U.S. $315 billion for a one-time effort, according to the American Immigration Council. The long-term cost of deporting a million people per year could average $88 billion annually, totaling $967.9 billion over a decade. This would require a vast expansion of detention and court systems. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has estimated substantial costs for deportation logistics, including air transportation, and has said the daily cost for a bed for one adult in a detention center is about $165.

Politico [1/26/2025 11:36 AM, Liset Cruz, Neutral] reports Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans began even before the president’s first week in office came to an end. Border czar Tom Homan said the U.S. will "do what we can with the money we have.". However, Homan acknowledged that success does not necessarily mean being able to deport an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, a figure provided by host Martha Raddatz in her interview Sunday on ABC’s "This Week.". "Because I’m being realistic. We can do what we can with the money we have. We’re going to try to be efficient," Homan told Raddatz. "But if I don’t have the money to remove that many people. ... Our success every day is taking a public safety threat off the streets or getting a national security threat out of here.". Homan’s vision of success was based on making America safer. "When we see the crime rate from illegal aliens go down, that’s a success. Every public safety threat removed from this country is success. Every national security threat that we find and remove from the country is success. There’s no number on it" Homan said. "So my success’s gonna be based on what Congress gives us. The more money, the better I’m gonna do.". The Trump administration has utilized military aircraft to deport hundreds of undocumented immigrants. Additionally, the administration said it will no longer tell ICE agents to avoid sensitive locations including schools, hospitals and churches. The Department of Homeland Security issued a directive to rescind the Biden Administration’s guidelines for ICE enforcement actions that prevent law enforcement in or near "sensitive" areas like schools that immigrants might be attending.

The Hill [1/26/2025 4:03 PM, Lauren Irwin, 16346K, Neutral] reports Tom Homan, President Trump’s border czar, defended the administration’s plans to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into schools. Homan joined ABC’s "This Week," where he was asked about the logistics behind the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans. Host Martha Raddatz pointed out that the administration said it will "no longer tell ICE agents they have to avoid sensitive locations, including schools, hospitals, churches.". "What criminals are hiding in schools? Middle schools, elementary schools — you gonna to go into those?" Raddatz asked. Trump has formally authorized ICE to begin arresting people in schools and churches, rescinding a guideline that prevented arrests in "sensitive" areas. They have begun making arrests in various communities. Homan defended the practice to Raddatz and said the arrests are being made with planning. "How many MS-13 members are the age 14 to 17? Many of them," Homan said. "So look, if it’s a national security threat, public safety threat and what, what you need to understand is that it’s case by case, name another agency, another law enforcement agency, that has those type of requirements, that they can’t walk into a school or doctor’s office or a medical campus. No other agency is held to those standards. These are well-trained officers with a lot of discretion, and when it comes to a sensitive location, there’s still gonna be supervisory review.".

FOX News [1/26/2025 2:33 PM, Emma Colton, 57114K, Negative] reports the Trump administration rolled out a social media thread on Sunday highlighting the "worst criminals" arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since President Donald Trump was sworn in as the nation’s 47th president last week. "Under President Trump’s leadership, ICE agents are working tirelessly to protect our communities. From illegal alien child rapists to gang members and individuals with suspected ties to ISIS, here are some of the worst criminals arrested," the White House X thread reads. The post shows nine different illegal immigrants who have already been convicted of vicious crimes, such as child rape, or have alleged links to gangs and terrorist organizations and other serious crimes. The nine illegal immigrants highlighted in the thread include their photos, as well as short biographies explaining their crimes. "MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN: Edgar De La Cruz-Manzo, a convicted child rapist and Mexican national, was arrested by ICE Seattle on January 25, 2025," one post reads. Another explains: "MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN: A Mexican national wanted for murder with an active INTERPOL Red Notice was arrested by ICE Los Angeles on January 24, 2025.". "MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN: A Jordanian national with suspected ties to ISIS was arrested by ICE Buffalo/Rouses Point on January 24, 2025," another post reads. Trump’s 2024 campaign prominently focused on the immigration crisis under the Biden administration, vowing to deport illegal immigrants, including those with long rap sheets in other nations, cartel members and others with alleged ties to terrorism.

CBS News [1/26/2025 6:12 PM, Cara Tabachnick, 52225K, Neutral] reports Vice President JD Vance blasted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops condemnation of the Trump administration’s recent actions on immigration, saying the church might be more concerned with "their bottom line" than humanitarian causes. On "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," the Vice President, in his first interview since being sworn in on Jan. 20, said several orders targeting immigration were enacted under President Trump to fulfill the promises made during his campaign. Hours after the inauguration, the Trump administration revoked a policy that prohibited arrests by U.S. immigration agents at or near schools, places of worship and other places deemed to be "sensitive locations." Vance said Saturday that the order — along with several other immigration actions — empowers "law enforcement to enforce the law everywhere, to protect Americans." The Trump administration issued roughly 200 executive actions during their first days in office, including denying birthright citizenship to the children of unauthorized immigrants and temporary visa holders — which has several legal challenges. His other executive actions, including the ICE order, could face legal challenges. However, it was the church and schools order that drew ire from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Mark. J Seitz, migration committee chairman U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CBS News "Many of these policies we see going against the basic tenets of our faith." Vance, a devout Catholic, sharply rebuked the bishops’ condemnation. "Because as a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement," he said. Vance told Brennan the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops "has, frankly, not been a good partner in common sense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for." Brennan asked Vance if he specifically supported immigration agents going into churches and schools, and "conducting a raid or enforcement action in a church service, at a school." Vance said he "supports us doing law enforcement against violent criminals, whether they’re illegal immigrants or anybody else, in a way that keeps us safe."

CBS Miami [1/27/2025 12:18 AM, Hunter Geisel, Chelsea Jones, 52225K, Negative] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids were reportedly conducted across South Florida on Sunday as President Trump begins to make good on his promise to increase the deportation of undocumented migrants, and one man exclusively told CBS News Miami his wife was taken during one of these raids. The Homeland Security Investigation’s (HSI) Miami office shared on X that federal law enforcement agencies conducted several immigration enforcement operations earlier Sunday. Meanwhile, agents from ICE’s Miami office reported detaining some undocumented migrants on various offenses across South Florida, including in Broward and Martin Counties. One man, who did not want to be named, told CBS News Miami that ICE had taken his wife during one of these raids in the Miami neighborhood of Brownsville. "It’s despicable what they’re doing right now," he said. "It’s very embarrassing." The man told CBS News Miami that he wanted Mr. Trump to let his wife stay in the U.S., as their 11th anniversary is on Friday. "They just came and they snatched her," the man told CBS News Miami. The man’s wife was one of three people taken in the Brownsville raid. The other two were men who reportedly worked in construction. The ICE raids come as Mr. Trump arrived at his Doral golf course on Saturday night, where he is set to host Republican leaders for a conference. The man told CBS News Miami his message to the president: "If I get a chance to talk to you, man — please, man — let’s work something out. Let me keep my wife here in the United States. She deserves to be here." ICE reported it conducted nearly 1,000 raids in the country on Sunday alone, which is up from just under 300 the day before. CBS News Miami has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees HSI and ICE, to gather more details regarding Sunday’s immigration enforcement operations. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo! News [1/26/2025 3:23 PM, Ted Johnson, 57114K, Negative] reports Dr. Phil McGraw said on Sunday that he’s embedding with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as they conduct what federal officials are calling "targeted operations" to enforce immigration law in Chicago. In a post on X, McGraw said that "it’s a pretty high risk mission we’re going on. This truly is a targeted ICE mission, because they’re not sweeping neighborhoods like people are trying to imply." He said that ICE has identified 270 "high value targets.". "These are known criminals and terrorists," McGraw said. "We’re talking about murderers, child traffickers, child rapists. We’re talking about bad actors, both in the countries they’ve come from, and since they’ve been here in the United States.". McGraw’s Merit Street Media planned live coverage on its app. McGraw indicated that he was joining Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, to observe the operations. ICE released a statement earlier today, saying that the agency, "along with federal partners, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP and the U.S. Marshals Service, began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.".

Yahoo! News [1/26/2025 3:52 PM, Esmeralda Zamora, 57114K, Positive] Video: HERE reports a series of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids were conducted in Austin on Sunday, according to sources from the Drug Enforcement Administration. A spokesperson for the DEA’s Houston Division said the DEA assisted ICE in the Austin area with immigration enforcement efforts. "The raids are underway or have been done," said Sally Sparks, a DEA Houston Division spokesperson, in a phone call with KXAN. In an X post, the Houston DEA Division confirmed the DEA is working with Department of Justice partners, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement partners with these efforts.

CBS News [1/26/2025 11:35 PM, S.E. Jenkins, 52225K, Negative] reports U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement arrested 84 people in North Texas on Sunday, the agency said. Arrests were made in a number of areas, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving and parts of Collin County. The agency said it is part of an ongoing effort. The Houston Drug Enforcement Administration said it assisted ICE agents in "enhanced targeted operations" and Governor Greg Abbott said the Texas Department of Public Safety is also assisting. Trump promised to stage a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration immediately after being sworn in, pledging to oversee the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. Just hours after his inauguration, the Trump administration revoked a Biden-era policy that prohibited arrests by U.S. immigration agents at or near schools, places of worship and other places deemed to be "sensitive locations." Thursday, hundreds of "illegal immigrant criminals" in the United States were arrested and flown out of the country on military aircraft, the White House said. White House "border czar" Tom Homan pledged to reinstate large-scale immigration arrests at worksites that hire workers living in the country unlawfully, a practice that was discontinued by the Biden administration. Homan has said the administration would prioritize unauthorized immigrants with criminal records for arrest and has stressed that no one in the country unlawfully will be exempted from immigration enforcement. If ICE agents find unauthorized immigrants who are not criminals during operations, they could be arrested in what are known as "collateral arrests," Homan has said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo! News [1/26/2025 1:56 PM, Jacob Factor, 57114K, Negative] reports federal and local law enforcement agencies raided a "makeshift nightclub" in Adams County early Sunday morning and took nearly 50 people living in the country illegally into custody, according to an X post from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division. The DEA, Homeland Security, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and "local partners" seized drugs, weapons and cash in the 5 a.m. drug trafficking raid. The raid was connected to a DEA drug trafficking investigation that began several months before President Donald Trump took office during the Biden Administration, a DEA official told FOX31’s Kasia Kerridge. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations also detained the nearly 50 people, many of which are "connected with the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang from Venezuela," according to the DEA on X. The raid was at an "invite-only" party connected to TdA at the nightclub. "For the last several months, DEA has been running an ongoing investigation against the Venezuelan gang called TdA," Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge for DEA Denver said. "Last night, we executed a federal search warrant on a location that we’re sort of calling a makeshift nightclub. This nightclub only sets up on certain weekends and it’s invitation-only to members of TdA and their associates.". The DEA said the nearly 50 people arrested were taken away on this bus.

Reported similarly:
AP [1/26/2025 4:53 PM, Staff, 47097K, Negative] Video: HERE

Miami Herald [1/26/2025 2:33 PM, Lauren Penington, 6595K, Negative] reports nearly 50 people living in Colorado illegally were arrested Sunday morning after federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and other partners raided a makeshift nightclub in Adams County, federal officials said. DEA officials said just under 50 undocumented immigrants, some associated with the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The raid, which federal officials said on social media was designed to target drug trafficking and the TdA gang, happened in the 6600 block of Federal Avenue, according to Denver7. The operation started around 9 p.m. Saturday and agents moved in on the warehouse around 3 a.m. The exact number of people arrested was unavailable Sunday morning, but DEA officials said "dozens" connected to the TdA gang were detained. A large group had been gathering to party inside the vacant warehouse for several months, Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen told Denver7 reporters Sunday. He said suspected TdA gang members posted invitations to the Saturday night party on social media. One video posted by DEA officials on X shows federal agents restraining and lining people up outside of a warehouse. A second video shows a nondescript white bus with no labels taking the group away to a detention facility.

NPR [1/27/2025 4:20 AM, Diaa Hadid, 35747K, Neutral] reports that, after Trump halted the U.S. asylum system, thousands who were waiting to reach safety after years of vetting found themselves in limbo. They include Afghans who worked with the U.S. in Afghanistan. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

USA Today [1/27/2025 5:11 AM, Lauren Villagran, 89965K, Neutral] Video: HERE reports it used to be that immigrants who earned U.S. citizenship could only see it taken away if they hid their Nazi past, had ties to terrorists or lied on their application – fewer than a dozen people per year. That changed during President Donald Trump’s first administration, when he led a campaign to denaturalize thousands of immigrant U.S. citizens – though it never met its goals. Last week, Trump rebooted the effort, ordering "adequate resources" be spent to denaturalize some U.S. citizens as part of his broader plan to restrict immigration. Tucked among the priorities listed in his Day One executive orders was a one-line reference to enforcing a section of immigration law under which the government can revoke an immigrant’s U.S. citizenship if it was "unlawfully procured." The directive is listed in the order called "Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats." It’s an indication that denaturalization will be part of his crackdown, said Amanda Frost, a University of Virginia law professor and immigration attorney. "We saw what happened last time," Frost said. "A lot of resources were put into denaturalization." Trump’s new directive got little attention amid the flurry of eye-catching orders to launch the president’s promised "mass deportation." In his first week, the president declared a national border emergency; deployed 1,500 troops to the border, including a combat force; and deputized thousands more federal law enforcement officers to arrest immigrants, among other moves. But this quiet, back-office directive has immigrant advocates worried because of the wide net his administration cast the last time. "Since the executive orders have been signed, there is a lot of fear generally," said Gintare Grigaite, a New Jersey-based immigration attorney who successfully fought a denaturalization case during the first Trump administration. She has been fielding calls from nervous clients, even those who have already become citizens. "People are asking all kinds of hypotheticals," she said. "Is there a legal path for someone to go after them, to take away their naturalization? If everything was truthful they shouldn’t be fearful. If they have obtained citizenship in the rightful way, then they shouldn’t be in fear of being denaturalized."

CBS News [1/26/2025 6:58 AM, Staff, 52225K, Negative] Video: HERE reports that as part of President Trump’s emergency declaration at the southern border, the Pentagon sent 1,500 troops to El Paso, TX and San Diego, CA. It’s considering sending as many as 10,000 troops to the southern border. They will help build more barriers there. The military will also use its planes to deport migrants and use its bases to hold them. The White House Press Secretary released two photos Friday morning showing deportation flights on military aircraft had already begun. The man who President Trump calls his Border Czar, Tom Homan, said last week that the emergency declaration has already had an impact. The number of apprehensions at the southern border dropped to 766 in one 24-hour period. He said that’s down from an average of 10,000 to 12,000 apprehensions in the same time frame. The Trump administration revoked a rule by the Biden administration that kept immigration authorities from making arrests at sensitive locations such as schools, houses of worship, and healthcare facilities. The non-profit group Children at Risk brought together advocates and immigration experts Thursday, and they believe the Trump administration’s new policies could hurt children and their families. Jessica Cisneros of the Texas Immigration Law Council said, "We’re trying to tell folks don’t be scared. Instead, be alert. Make sure that you’re seeking out those trusted resources so that you can inform yourself and your family." Homan said immigration authorities are targeting the most violent criminals first. Those who pose threats to national security and public safety. Governor Greg Abbott wants Congress to pay back the State of Texas billions of dollars that it has spent to make its border with Mexico more secure. The Governor sent letters to Congressional leaders and to members of the Texas Congressional delegation. Abbott said he launched Operation Lone Star in 2021 because of the Biden administration’s "failures" and says the state has spent more than $11 billion since then. Abbott is urging Congress to fully reimburse Texas taxpayers. Texas Republicans in Congress praised Mr. Trump’s policies. "I think we will see a dramatic decrease in the people that will even want to come across the border," said State Representative Keith Self. "With Remain in Mexico, the Border Patrol told us months ago that if you simply establish that one policy, it would cut down on the flow by 60% to 70%. I am very positive that this will have a dramatic impact. So, there are twofold issues here: One is to stop the flow, stop the bleeding across the border. The second is the repatriations of the illegals that are in the nation. But for my constituents, for Texans, this is a return to common sense border policy across the United States."

Washington Examiner [1/26/2025 4:40 PM, Asher Notheis, 2365K, Neutral] reports Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) expressed enthusiasm for the shift in the United States prioritizing its border security, adding that the state of Texas is proud to "partner" with President Donald Trump’s effort on this. Abbott, appearing on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, detailed how the nation’s previous leadership under former President Joe Biden contrasts sharply with the "sudden and swift" change that Trump enacted on his first day in office, which has seen illegal border crossings drop "dramatically." The governor also cited how Texas is working with Trump’s administration, stating that the state deployed more buoys into the Rio Grande "on the hour" that Trump took office. "The change, Maria, is this: we suddenly now have a commander in chief who cares about national security, who cares about securing the border, who’s going to enforce the law, and, importantly, he has a governor and a state in Texas that will be a partner with the Trump administration," Abbott stated. "We will assist in the arrest, the detention, and the deportation of people coming across the border illegally.". The Texas governor noted how hundreds of illegal immigrants, and even almost a thousand, are being deported from the U.S. "on a daily basis" to their home countries, with the Trump administration "demanding compliance" from other countries to take back individuals who illegally crossed the U.S. border.

Reuters [1/26/2025 12:50 PM, Staff, 48128K, Neutral] reports the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency wrote to staff reassuring them that the agency’s continued existence was vital to the country’s disaster response efforts, after President Donald Trump said he wanted to overhaul or scrap it. "FEMA is a critical agency which performs an essential mission in support of our national security," said Cam Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, who was appointed by Trump to temporarily lead the agency after the Republican president took office last week. Hamilton sent the email to all staff on Friday night after earlier in the day Trump, during a visit to disaster areas in North Carolina and California, vowed to sign an executive order to overhaul or eliminate the main federal agency that responds to natural disasters. "FEMA has turned out to be a disaster," Trump said during a tour of a North Carolina neighborhood destroyed by September’s Hurricane Helene. "I think we recommend that FEMA go away.". Trump accused FEMA of bungling emergency relief efforts there and said he preferred that states be given federal money to handle disasters themselves. "President Trump has laid out his intent to reform FEMA, and we stand firmly at the ready to implement real and lasting reform," Hamilton wrote in the email seen by Reuters. "We have some work to do at FEMA and restoring public confidence in this agency is essential."

Reuters [1/27/2025 12:31 AM, Ted Hesson and Daphne Psaledakis, 48128K, Neutral] reports U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday issued an executive order establishing a review council to evaluate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), stopping short of instant action to shut or reshape the country’s lead disaster response agency. The order calls for the establishment of council made up of relevant federal leaders and "distinguished individuals" selected by Trump from outside government. Trump called on the council to hold its first public meeting within 90 days and submit a report to him within 180 days of the first meeting. Trump raised the idea of shuttering FEMA during a trip on Friday to disaster areas in North Carolina and California, vowing to sign an executive order to overhaul or eliminate the agency. The Republican president accused FEMA of bungling emergency relief efforts there and said he preferred that states be given federal money to handle disasters themselves. Trump said in his executive order that there were "serious concerns" of political bias at FEMA and that agency funds had been used for programs related to incoming migrants. FEMA brings in emergency personnel, supplies and equipment to help areas begin to recover from natural disasters. Funding for the agency has soared in recent years as extreme weather events have increased the demand for its services. Cam Hamilton, the acting FEMA head, wrote to staff on Friday reassuring them that the agency’s continued existence was vital to the country’s disaster response efforts. "FEMA is a critical agency which performs an essential mission in support of our national security," he wrote. The agency in the past year has battled misinformation, including about disaster responses in Florida and North Carolina.

Washington Examiner [1/26/2025 9:33 PM, Staff, 2365K, Neutral] reports President Donald Trump signed an executive order that establishes a task force to conduct a review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after he trashed the agency in trips to North Carolina and California earlier this weekend. Trump teased an overhaul of FEMA in both stops, saying in North Carolina that he would be signing an executive order to "begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA." He also said in California that the state would be better off with a "good state government" rather than a federal agency where personnel "come from all over the country.” The executive order signed on Sunday evening begins the process of a review of the agency’s effectiveness by establishing a 20-member task force called the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council, which will be co-chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Other members will include other heads of relevant government agencies and people outside of the federal government appointed by Trump. The council’s goal will be to produce a report after one year that includes an assessment of FEMA’s responses to disasters in the last four years, including whether it is sufficiently staffed; a comparison of FEMA’s responses to disasters with local and state responses; a historical background of FEMA’s founding and how the country responded to disasters before its existence; an evaluation of whether FEMA can exist in support of states’ disaster relief responses, rather than superseding them; and an analysis of the arguments for and against any reforms to FEMA. The order said the council will hold its first public meeting in 90 days, and the report will be due 180 days after that date.

Wall Street Journal [1/26/2025 5:59 PM, Eric Niiler] reports that weekend rains are threatening to trigger dangerous mudslides in hillside communities leveled by Southern California wildfires in the last two weeks. The precipitation could help firefighters combat new blazes across Southern California—but even a small amount of rain could cause mud and debris to course down steep slopes laid bare by the Eaton and Palisades fires. There is also a 20 chance of significant debris flows for burned areas of LA county, the NWS said. “We don’t need the storm necessarily to produce a high total amount of rainfall,” said Nina Oakley, a geohazards climatologist at the California Geological Survey who has inspected the area. “We’re concerned with short bursts of high intensity rainfall.” California’s normal rainy season continues through March, with February the wettest month of the year. Now, dry and burned soil stripped of its native chaparral and grasses forms a glasslike layer, allowing rainwater that would normally be absorbed to cascade downhill. To demonstrate the effect, last week, Oakley poured a few drops from her water bottle onto the fire-blackened soil rising steeply along the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, one of the communities ravaged by the Palisades fire. The water beaded up. “This whole slope will start generating runoff,” said Drew Coe, watershed protection program manager at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, who led the recent inspection of the area. To protect communities, more than 80 California National Guard members this week used dump trucks and other heavy equipment to clear debris from basins designed to catch runoff. Public works officials handed out sandbags. And several hundred local, state and federal responders used hand tools to build runoff channels on the scorched slopes to divert water away from homes, roadways and other structures. Surveys completed last week guided the work. A dozen geologists and hydrologists from California’s Watershed Emergency Response Team hiked through the charred areas of the San Gabriel Mountains above Altadena and the Santa Monica mountains above Palisades to identify areas at greatest risk. They compared images on their phones taken from satellites and aircraft to the condition of the soil on the ground. Their goal was to measure the extent and severity of the burning and make risk maps for the two fire zones to help emergency officials and first responders. The team also sent data from computer models detailing the amount of rainfall that might trigger a mudslide in these areas to the National Weather Service, which will issue alerts and warnings to residents’ cellphones, Coe said. “We have to work fast,” Coe said, recalling previous disasters. Heavy rains following a massive wildfire triggered a deadly mudslide in Montecito, Calif. in 2018. After fire swept through the Santa Ynez mountains above the coastal town, located about 80 miles west of Los Angeles, nearly 4 inches of rain fell in two days. The deluge washed down barren slopes and sent house-sized boulders and debris through neighborhoods, killing 23 people and destroying 63 homes.

New York Times [1/27/2025 2:12 AM, Zach Montague and Catrin Einhorn, 161405K, Negative] reports the White House on Sunday released an executive order by President Trump that laid out a plan to exert the federal government’s role in California’s complex water management operations and claimed its authority to overrule state officials. The order, dated Friday, comes after Mr. Trump traveled to the state to see the devastation from wildfires that have been raging in Los Angeles for weeks. It put formal directives behind Mr. Trump’s steady criticism of California’s leaders and their response to the fires. In a section titled “Overriding Disastrous California Policies,” the order tasked more than half a dozen agencies with finding ways to circumvent federal and state laws that control various aspects of water management in California. It also directed the Interior Department to make decisions about how to supply water around the state, “notwithstanding any contrary state or local laws.” More confrontational language in the order directed federal officials to stake out their authority without necessarily working alongside the state officials who manage the state’s reservoirs and plan for droughts and fires. Interior Department officials “shall take all available measures to ensure that state agencies — including the California Department of Water Resources — do not interfere with the Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of the project,” the order said, referring to a federally operated network of dams, reservoirs, canals and other facilities. Many of the actions outlined in the order relate to restrictions governed by the Endangered Species Act, since the region is home to several imperiled fish. One of them attempts to convene a committee known as the God Squad that can override the law, ultimately leading to the extinction of a species. Conservation groups blasted the order and threatened to sue depending on how it is implemented. Despite the language of the executive order, the White House is constrained by existing federal laws, state laws and nature, said Karrigan Bork, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, and the interim director of its Center for Watershed Sciences.

ABC News [1/26/2025 12:07 PM, Julia Reinstein, 33392K, Neutral] reports a Florida man was arrested for allegedly making online threats to President Donald Trump, according to police. Shannon Depararro Atkins, 46, was taken into custody on Friday following a traffic stop near his home in West Palm Beach, a short distance from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Atkins had allegedly posted "violent rhetoric" about Trump on his Facebook account, West Palm Beach Police Department Chief Tony Araujo said during a press conference on Saturday. At least one of the posts, which Araujo showed reporters, consisted of a meme relating to the assassination attempt on Trump in July 2024. Police said Atkins admitted to writing the posts but said he had just been "joking.". "Folks, this is not a joke. Nothing of that sort is a joke," Araujo said. Police said they became aware of the posts after another man, from Okeechobee, Florida, sent in a tip to the FBI. Atkins was taken into custody without incident Friday night. He was found with cocaine on him, according to police. Araujo said the U.S. Secret Service was notified of the arrest and is looking into it to determine if federal charges should be filed. "In today’s climate, you really can’t say things like this," Araujo said. "We have incident after incident, example after example, of when these threats become real, and we take these very seriously.".

Reported similarly:
CBS Austin [1/26/2025 3:24 PM, Grace Bellinghausen, 581K, Negative]

New York Times [1/26/2025 2:39 PM, Maggie Haberman, 161405K, Neutral] reports two Republican Senate allies of President Trump urged him on Sunday to rethink his decision to strip security details from former advisers who have been targeted by Iran, saying the move could chill his current aides from doing their jobs effectively. Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, spoke after Mr. Trump abruptly halted government security protection for three officials from his first time who were involved in his Iran policy and have remained under threat. One of them, John R. Bolton, Mr. Trump’s third national security adviser, has been a vocal critic of Mr. Trump since departing the administration in 2019. The other two, his former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and another former top State Department official, Brian Hook, have been supportive of Mr. Trump. His decision to pull their details surprised and alarmed some of the president’s allies. “I would encourage the president to revisit the decision for those people who are being targeted by Iran, as the president was targeted for assassination by Iran,” Mr. Cotton said on Fox News. He said he had reviewed current intelligence and that the threats remained real. Mr. Cotton suggested that those going to work now for Mr. Trump on Iran, China, North Korea or Mexican drug cartels “might hesitate to do so, or they might hesitate if they’re in office to give him the advice he needs or carry out the policies that he decides upon.” Mr. Bolton, Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Hook were involved in an aggressive posture against Iran that included the drone strike that killed the powerful military commander Qassim Suleimani in 2020. Iran has sought to retaliate against Mr. Trump as well as those officials ever since, according to the intelligence community.

Washington Examiner [1/26/2025 1:18 PM, Asher Notheis, 2365K, Neutral] reports newly confirmed CIA director John Ratcliffe previewed what the agency will look like going forward under his leadership, including preventing it from becoming partisan toward specific candidates. Ratcliffe was confirmed on Thursday as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, part of President Donald Trump’s plan to reshape the public’s perception of the government. The director elaborated that the Trump administration needs to "restore Americans’ trust in our own institutions," which includes the CIA protecting the nation while also being truthful to the nation’s residents, both of which the president has argued are not "mutually exclusive missions.". "And so in the case of the CIA, which is the best foreign intelligence service in the world, after five years to not have a public assessment, to be honest with the American people about where the likely source of a pandemic that killed millions around the world, including a million Americans and really impacted all 345 million Americans in some way," Ratcliffe argued on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. "People lost jobs, they lost houses, they lost their health, they lost their businesses, all of that. And so I had the opportunity on my first day to make public an assessment that actually took place in the Biden Administration.". Shortly after Ratcliffe was sworn in as the CIA’s new director, the agency shifted its view on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, believing that it originated from a Chinese lab leak. Ratcliffe reiterated the agency’s newly-held belief by the agency on Sunday, citing how it is important for the public to see the agency "get off the sidelines" and tell the truth about what the CIA’s intelligence is showing. Ratcliffe also detailed how the Trump administration is shifting to "get the politics out of the intelligence community," citing how 51 intelligence officials had their clearance revoked by Trump as part of the administration’s push for "consequences." He argued how the nation’s intelligence community improperly influenced the 2020 election to claim that Hunter Biden’s laptop was not real in a bid to aid then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. "And so this was not retributive in any way, it was about making sure that people think about this, myself included, going forward, that we don’t mix politics and intelligence," Ratcliffe said.

Wall Street Journal [1/26/2025 11:07 PM, Gavin Bade, Vipal Monga, Paul Vieira] reports that momentum is growing among President Trump’s advisers to place 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada as soon as Saturday, bucking conventional wisdom in Washington and on Wall Street that he would back off the threatened levies as he has in the past in exchange for concessions. Trump has shown a willingness to move swiftly on tariffs in recent days without allowing for drawn-out talks. On Sunday, Trump announced—and then backed off—a threat to impose 25% tariffs on Colombia, citing its initial refusal to accept repatriation flights from the U.S. A senior administration official said the decision, despite the pullback, proves that Trump views tariffs as an “effective negotiating tool” and “effective punishment” for nations that don’t hew to his agenda. The president remains “very serious” about his threats to Mexico and Canada and expects them to cooperate, the official added. This could be a wake-up call for investors and businesses. Goldman Sachs told clients last week that there was only a 20% chance that Trump would impose tariffs on Saturday, noting that he had made similar threats in the first term but didn’t always follow through. But Trump was amenable to the tariffs-before-negotiations strategy even before the tariff showdown with Colombia, according to people familiar with the discussions, though no final decisions on Canada and Mexico have been made. Tariffs against Mexico and Canada would be the first salvos in a multifront trade war that Trump looked ready to start unexpectedly on Sunday with his Colombia duties, before that country hewed to his demands to accept repatriation flights for migrants. He has also threatened to hit China, Denmark and a range of other European countries with tariffs, but he appears intent to turn his aim next on the U.S.’s North American neighbors. In a sign of how this approach might be sinking in, there is growing alarm in Mexico and Canada that their overtures to the new administration are falling flat, even as they move to comply with Trump’s demands. Mexico has made strides to cooperate with Trump’s repatriation flights, the senior administration official acknowledged, accepting four flights in one day, and has reinstated the remain-in-Mexico policy for migrants while deploying its own national guard. Still, the official insisted that the Mexican government hasn’t yet done enough to avoid tariffs, and wouldn’t specify which other steps it or the Canadian government would need to take to avoid new duties. The tariff threats risk setting off a continental trade war. Canada has been prepping a list of what it considers would be retaliatory trade moves if Trump acts first. Some in Canada believe such a skirmish could tip their country into a recession if tariffs stay in place too long.

AP [1/26/2025 7:36 PM, Kareem Chehayeb and Abby Sewell, 12036K, Negative] reports Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on Sunday opened fire on protesters demanding their withdrawal in line with a ceasefire agreement, killing at least 22 and injuring 124, Lebanese health officials reported. Hours later, the White House said Sunday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend the deadline for Israeli troops to depart southern Lebanon until Feb. 18, after Israel requested more time to withdraw beyond the 60-day deadline stipulated in a ceasefire agreement that halted the Israel-Hezbollah war in late November. Israel has said that it needs to stay longer because the Lebanese army has not deployed to all areas of southern Lebanon to ensure that Hezbollah does not reestablish its presence in the area. The Lebanese army has said it cannot deploy until Israeli forces withdraw. The White House said in a statement that “the arrangement between Lebanon and Israel, monitored by the United States, will continue to be in effect until February 18, 2025.” It added that the respective governments “will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after October 7, 2023.” There was no immediate comment from the Israeli government, but Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati confirmed the extension. The announcement came hours after demonstrators, some of them carrying Hezbollah flags, attempted to enter several villages to protest Israel’s failure to withdraw from southern Lebanon by the original Sunday deadline. The dead included six women and a Lebanese army soldier, the Health Ministry said in a statement. People were reported wounded in nearly 20 villages in the border area. The Israeli army blamed Hezbollah for stirring up Sunday’s protests. It said in a statement that its troops fired warning shots to “remove threats in a number of areas where suspects were identified approaching.” It added that a number of suspects in proximity to Israeli troops were apprehended and were being questioned.

Bloomberg [1/26/2025 5:33 PM, Ellen Milligan, 21617K, Positive] reports UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump discussed trade in their first conversation since Trump re-entered the White House. They also agreed to “meet soon.” The leaders spoke about “how both countries can promote a fair bilateral economic relationship” during a phone call Sunday, according to a readout from the White House. Their discussion on trade comes amid Trump’s threat to place tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China on Feb. 1. Trump has repeatedly complained about trade deficits and barriers, signaling he’ll use tariffs to bring bilateral trade into balance. It’s not yet clear how high or widespread any such levies would be. He imposed tariffs and travel bans on Colombia on Sunday, after the South American country refused to allow two planes carrying deported migrants to land on its soil. While the US and UK are historically close allies, Trump’s policy agenda puts him at odds with the UK in several areas, including plans to begin trade tariffs, which could affect UK exports even if he chooses not to directly target Britain. Starmer sought to identify the few similarities between their economic plans on the call, by telling Trump of his government’s move to deregulate planning regulation in order to boost economic growth. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is expected to green-light a series of major infrastructure projects in a speech later this week. Starmer and Trump also discussed the ceasefire and hostages deal in Gaza, and promised to work together on security in the Middle East during their call. The UK is seeking a constructive relationship with Trump’s administration, despite Starmer — whose center-left Labour Party entered office last year — holding opposing political views to Trump.

Reuters [1/26/2025 4:16 PM, Andrius Sytas and Johan Ahlander, 48128K, Neutral]
An undersea fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, likely as a result of external influence, Latvia said, prompting NATO to deploy patrol ships to the area and triggering a sabotage investigation by Swedish authorities. Sweden’s Security Service has seized control of a vessel as part of the probe, the country’s prosecution authority said. "We are now carrying out a number of concrete investigative measures, but I cannot go into what they consist of due to the ongoing preliminary investigation," senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement. NATO was coordinating military ships and aircraft under its recently deployed mission, dubbed "Baltic Sentry". The effort follows a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said her government was coordinating with NATO and other countries in the Baltic Sea region to clarify the circumstances surrounding the latest incident. "We have determined that there is most likely external damage and that it is significant," Silina told reporters following an extraordinary government meeting. Latvia’s navy said earlier on Sunday it had dispatched a patrol boat to inspect a ship and that two other vessels were also subject to investigation. Up to several thousand commercial vessels make their way through the Baltic Sea at any given time, and a number of them passed the broken cable on Sunday, data from the MarineTraffic ship tracking service showed. One such ship, the Malta-flagged bulk carrier Vezhen, escorted to Swedish waters by a Swedish coastguard vessel on Sunday evening, MarineTraffic data showed. It later anchored outside the Swedish naval base in Karlskrona in southern Sweden. It was not immediately clear if the Vezhen, which passed the fibre optic cable at 0045 GMT on Sunday, was subject to investigation. A Swedish coastguard spokesperson declined to comment on the Vezhen or the position of coastguard ships.

Newsweek [1/27/2025 5:11 AM, Ellie Cook, 56005K, Negative] reports Swedish authorities have seized a ship suspected of sabotaging an undersea cable in the Baltic Sea, shortly after NATO beefed up its presence in the area to shield its underwater infrastructure. This is the latest in a run of suspected sabotage incidents targeting vital undersea cables in the NATO-dominated Baltic Sea. It comes just weeks after the alliance launched a new initiative, dubbed "Baltic Sentry," to shield NATO critical infrastructure like undersea cables against a "growing threat" in the region. Unseen but crucial undersea cables prop up internet services and communications, as well as many other aspects of daily life that are often taken for granted. According to NATO, around 99 percent of the world’s data runs through undersea cables, but they are vulnerable to attack, in what is known as hybrid warfare. The Baltic Sea is largely surrounded by NATO member states, and is sometimes referred to as a "NATO lake," but Russia has a significant footprint there from its Kaliningrad exclave. Investigations are ongoing into the alleged role of Russian and Chinese vessels in damaging undersea cables. Sweden’s security service said on Sunday that Stockholm had seized a vessel on suspicion of "aggravated sabotage." Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Swedish authorities had boarded and seized the Malta-flagged Vezhen. Maritime tracking data showed the Vezhen, a bulk carrier, at the Swedish port of Karlskrona as of 3:45 a.m. ET on Monday. "We are directly on site with the seized ship and are taking measures as decided by the prosecutor," Mattias Lindholm, a spokesperson for the Swedish Coast Guard, told the newspaper.

New York Times [1/27/2025 3:18 AM, Christina Goldbaum, Isabel Kershner, Euan Ward and Thomas Fuller, 740K, Negative] reports the fragile cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza were tested on Sunday as Israeli forces killed or injured scores of people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese officials said, while in Gaza, Israel prevented Palestinians from moving back to their homes, saying Hamas had violated the terms of the truce. But by the end of the day in Gaza, Israel and Hamas said understandings had been reached via mediators to resolve their dispute. And the White House issued a statement indicating that in Lebanon, an arrangement for an initial 60-day truce that had called for the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the southern part of the country by Sunday would be extended until Feb. 18. Negotiators had hoped that the cease-fire in Lebanon, which was signed in November, would become permanent by now, securing a measure of calm in a turbulent region. Thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war have poured onto roads leading south, heading back to their homes. But as the original deadline passed on Sunday for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the forces of the militant group Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, a very different scenario was taking shape. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli forces killed at least 22 people and injured 120 in southern Lebanon, making Sunday the deadliest day in the country since the war ended in November. The Israeli military said in a statement late on Sunday that it had fired “warning shots in order to eliminate threats” — a formulation that suggested the shots may have been more than just warnings. It said that there had been “dozens of rioters” in the area. The military also said its soldiers had spotted a “a vehicle with Hezbollah flags” and that its forces had “operated in order to remove the threat.”

New York Times [1/26/2025 7:49 PM, Patrick Kingsley, 161405K, Negative] reports the Israeli military raided the Jerusalem home of a Hamas member released as part of an exchange for Israelis being held hostage in Gaza, detaining one person and roughing up others on Saturday evening, including a New York Times reporter conducting interviews at the scene. A squad of soldiers forced its way into the house on the outskirts of Jerusalem and disrupted an event marking the early release of Ashraf Zughayer, a Hamas member imprisoned in 2002 for driving terrorists to the locations of their attacks. Among them was a suicide bomber who killed six civilians by blowing up a bus. According to court documents, Mr. Zughayer confessed to the charges. Mr. Zughayer, 46, was released on Saturday afternoon along with 199 other prisoners. Overseen by a colonel, the soldiers entered the Zughayer family’s building with their rifles raised and assaulted several people, including Mr. Zughayer’s father and a Times reporter conducting interviews. The soldiers detained Mr. Zughayer’s brother and expelled journalists, then left about an hour later. For years, Israeli security services have discouraged and often broken up family events celebrating the release of Palestinian militants, saying that the gatherings provoke unrest, lionize terrorists and inspire support for violence. Critics say the interventions increase Palestinian antipathy for Israel, prolonging a cycle of violence. Israel has been particularly assertive in suppressing celebrations for detainees released under the terms of the cease-fire in Gaza. Israeli officials are concerned that they may help bolster the popularity of Hamas, which led the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed up to 1,200 people. Dozens of the Palestinians released on Saturday were sent into exile in Egypt instead of being allowed to return home, in part for that reason.

NBC News [1/26/2025 6:52 PM, Freddie Clayton, 50804K, Neutral] reports President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has asked the king of Jordan to take in more Palestinians, adding that Palestinians should leave the Gaza Strip to “clean out” the enclave. The president’s comments, which key figures from Israel’s far right have taken as a boost, came as thousands of Palestinians waited to return to their homes in northern Gaza after the Israeli government accused Hamas of breaching a ceasefire agreement and refused to open crossing points. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing," Trump said to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday. “I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change,” he added. Trump suggested Egypt and Jordan could be among the countries to accept more refugees. Referring to an earlier conversation with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Trump said he had told the monarch, “I’d love you to take on more” Palestinians, adding that he would raise the matter with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Sunday. While the Israeli prime minister’s office had yet to respond to NBC News’ request for comment regarding Trump’s remarks, the president’s sentiments were welcomed by ultranationalist Israeli politicians, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who resigned as national security minister after Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government voted to accept the ceasefire agreement. Smotrich called the idea of finding new homes for Gaza residents “wonderful,” telling Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 on Sunday that “only out-of-the-box thinking and new solutions will bring peace and security.” Ben-Gvir also congratulated Trump on the initiative in a post on X. But Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas spokesperson, said, “The people of Gaza had endured death in order not to leave the homeland and will not leave it for any other reasons.” “Implementing the agreement is sufficient to solve the problems of the Gaza Strip,” he added. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [1/26/2025 6:30 PM, Dov Lieber, Carrie Keller-Lynn, Saleh al-Batati, Summer Said]
New York Times [1/26/2025 10:08 AM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Vivian Yee, 161405K, Neutral]
AP [1/26/2025 7:26 PM, Joseph Krauss, 47097K, Negative]

New York Times [1/27/2025 12:01 AM, Tiffany May, Isabelle Qian and Suhasini Raj, 161405K, Neutral] reports that, Three Gorges Dam. China’s latest colossal infrastructure project, if completed, will be the world’s largest hydropower dam, high up in the Tibetan plateau on the border with India. China says the Motuo Hydropower Station it is building in Tibet is key to its effort to meet clean energy targets. Beijing also sees infrastructure projects as a way to stimulate the sluggish Chinese economy and create jobs. But this project has raised concerns among environmentalists and China’s neighbors — in part, because Beijing has said so little about it. The area where the dam is being built is prone to earthquakes. The Tibetan river being dammed, the Yarlung Tsangpo, flows into neighboring India as the Brahmaputra and into Bangladesh as the Jamuna, raising concerns in those countries about water security. China announced in late December that the government had approved construction of the Motuo project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo, but it has released few details about it. That includes the cost of the project, where the money will come from, what companies are involved and how many people are likely to be displaced. What is known is that the dam will be in Medog County in Tibet, in a steep canyon where the river makes a horseshoe turn known as the Great Bend, then falls about 6,500 feet over roughly 30 miles. By harnessing the kinetic energy of that drop, the hydropower station could generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours of energy per year, the state-owned Power Construction Corporation of China, or PowerChina, estimated in 2020. That would be triple the capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, currently the world’s biggest, which cost China about $34 billion to build. China has not disclosed which company is building the dam, but some analysts say PowerChina, the country’s largest builder of hydropower infrastructure, is most likely involved. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Washington Examiner [1/26/2025 5:53 PM, Asher Notheis, 2365K, Neutral] reports Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said on Sunday that China should face consequences for "unleashing" COVID-19 on the world after the CIA concluded that COVID-19 most likely originated from a Chinese lab leak. The CIA switched its view on the origin of COVID-19 on Saturday, with the change coming shortly after the agency’s new director, John Ratcliffe, was confirmed by the Senate. Cotton commended Ratcliffe for making the agency’s new view public but also said China should face some consequences. "The important thing now is that we have to make China pay for unleashing this plague on the world, just like we have to make them pay for stealing our jobs and harming American workers and businesses by doing things like imposing tariffs on them, on strategically critical goods, or passing my legislation to repeal their permanent most favored nation status," Cotton said in a Fox News interview. Ratcliffe detailed the agency’s newly-held belief on Sunday, citing how it is important for the public to see the agency "get off the sidelines" and tell the truth about what the CIA’s intelligence is showing. He also stressed the need for the agency to both protect the public and regain its trust. Cotton also addressed Trump’s recent decision to revoke the security detail for multiple former high-profile government officials, encouraging the president to "revisit" this decision due to the danger that Iran poses to these individuals. The Arkansas senator cited how Iran is "committed to vengeance" against all the former officials who have now lost their security and that it is better to be "safe than sorry.” Among the officials who lost the security detail is former national security adviser John Bolton, who said he was "disappointed but not surprised" by Trump’s decision. He also suggested the president’s decision is part of a "retribution campaign" against his critics.

Yahoo! News [1/27/2025 3:23 AM, Staff, 57114K, Neutral] reports Taiwan has identified 52 "suspicious" Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience that require close monitoring if detected near the island, the coast guard said Monday, as Taipei seeks to protect its subsea telecoms cables. The stricter regime comes after a Cameroon-flagged vessel was briefly detained by Taiwan’s coast guard earlier this month on suspicion of damaging an international cable northeast of the island. The vessel was owned by a Hong Kong-registered company with a Chinese address given for its only listed director, the coast guard said previously. Taiwan fears China could sever its communication links as part of an attempt to seize the island or blockade it. Flags of convenience allow shipping companies to register their vessels in countries to which they have no link -- for a fee and freedom from oversight. The coast guard said 52 "suspicious" Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience from Mongolia, Cameroon, Tanzania, Togo, and Sierra Leone had been highlighted for close monitoring based on port records and data from Tokyo MOU, a regional multilateral body for port state control. Of the 52 vessels, 15 were rated a "threat" for various reasons -- including the amount of time they spent loitering or sailing slowly near Taiwan’s subsea cables in 2024. Five, considered to pose the greatest threat, had been active in Taiwan’s northern, western and southern waters, and had stayed "within Taiwan’s territorial waters for more than 15 days", the coast guard said in a statement. Taiwanese authorities will monitor for "anomalies" in a ship’s AIS (automatic identification system) operation and "fake or misuse of vessel names". Vessels suspected of "loitering, slow navigation, or anchoring" near subsea cables will be warned by radio to leave the area, the coast guard said. "If the vessel does not comply, coast guard ships will be dispatched to collect evidence and drive the vessel away," it said.

Washington Examiner [1/27/2025 3:00 AM, Staff, 2365K, Neutral] reports North Korea announced that it had performed a test of its cruise missile system on Saturday. It was the communist country’s fourth known missile launch since November and the second in less than a week since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. "The Missile Administration of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea conducted a test-fire of sea-to-surface strategic cruise guided weapons on January 25," the country’s state-controlled news agency, KCNA, reported. "The test-fire of the weapon system is part of plans for building the national defense capabilities to raise the effectiveness of strategic control against potential enemies in conformity with the changing regional safety circumstances.” Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s supreme leader, and several top military officials, including the country’s general director of the Missile Administration, observed the launch in person, according to reports. The testing appeared to be intended as a sign of military might and deterrence against the United States. The missiles traveled a distance of 932 miles, according to KCNA. The missile test reportedly did not have a "negative impact on the security" of China, South Korea, and Japan, the countries that border North Korea. Kim emphasized that his country will continue to develop its military weapons program and use it as a "defense capability," KCNA reported. He also asserted that North Korea will "make strenuous efforts in a responsible manner to perform its important mission" to defend his nation and bring "lasting peace and stability on the basis of more powerfully developed military muscle in the future.” The communist country asserted that its recent missile launches were in response to joint military drills conducted between the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, the Associated Press reported. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry deemed the drills a provocation and promised "the toughest response" to the perceived threat to its national security. "The reality stresses that the DPRK should counter the U.S. with the toughest counteraction from A to Z as long as it refuses the sovereignty and security interests of the DPRK, and this is the best option for dealing with the U.S," read a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

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