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 Washington Post [7/24/2025 8:42 PM, Shayna Jacobs, 32099K] reports the Justice Department sued New York City and its leaders Thursday, accusing them of “sanctuary city” policies that impede the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown. The legal action comes days after an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer was shot in the face and leg during an ambush robbery attempt in an Upper Manhattan park, allegedly by a pair of undocumented immigrants with previous arrests. The Trump administration has said the incident illustrates how the protections that some cities offer undocumented immigrants have allowed a proliferation of preventable violence, criminal activity and a sense of lawlessness on the streets. "New York City has released thousands of criminals on the streets to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens due to sanctuary city policies," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. President Donald Trump and members of his administration have vowed to take action against any jurisdiction that does not fully comply with its immigration agenda. Similar lawsuits have been filed against other Democratic-leaning jurisdictions including Los Angeles, Illinois and Colorado. New York state was sued separately in February for its "Green Light Law" that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a retired police captain, has often expressed a need to remove undocumented criminal actors from the street and has voiced some support for Trump’s immigration policies. But he has also backed aspects of city regulations that allow immigrants to freely report crimes and emergencies, attend schools and seek medical assistance without fear. Earlier this year, the Justice Department dropped a corruption case against Adams on the basis that the mayor was busy managing an immigration and public safety crisis in New York and that he had to be available to assist federal authorities. The mayor and Justice officials denied that he made a quid pro quo promise to carry out Trump’s wishes. Shortly after his case was dismissed, Adams announced he would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to operate on the grounds of Rikers Island, the city’s primary jail complex, but the effort was stalled by a court order after the New York City Council sued to prevent the launch of the program. Without access to the property, ICE agents can try to arrest individuals who are released with detainment orders only outside of the property. It has proved to be a significant challenge for agents who have arrest orders. As a result of past court proceedings, city jail officials cannot detain individuals with immigration hold orders beyond their precise release date. In the past, inmates with ICE detainers would be held at Rikers Island past their release dates to be picked up by immigration agents. Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said the mayor believes some city laws "go too far when it comes to dealing with those violent criminals on our streets and has urged the Council to reexamine them to ensure we can effectively work with the federal government to make our city safer.” The New York Times [7/25/2025 3:17 AM, Santul Nerkar and Luis Ferré-Sadurní, 330K] reports that in a 37-page lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, the Trump administration said the city’s policies violate the supremacy clause of the Constitution, which gives federal laws precedence over state laws. The clause gives the administration “well-established, pre-eminent and pre-emptive authority to regulate immigration,” the suit argues. The lawsuit, which also names the City Council, the Police Department and its commissioner as defendants, was the latest legal action by the Trump administration against so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, which limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. It comes after a similar lawsuit against Illinois and Chicago in February, another against four of New Jersey’s largest cities in May and one against Los Angeles in June. “New York City has long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country’s immigration laws,” the administration said in its suit. “Its history as a sanctuary city dates back to 1989, and its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement have only intensified since.” Mr. Adams, a Democrat, had for months publicly aligned himself with Mr. Trump on many immigration issues as he lobbied the federal government to drop corruption charges against him. That partnership began to sour publicly this week after Mr. Trump’s top immigration officials showed up in New York City on Monday to criticize Mr. Adams and the city’s sanctuary laws after the shooting of an off-duty customs officer in Manhattan. Two men arrested in connection to the shooting were from the Dominican Republic and entered the country illegally, and had criminal records, federal officials said. City Hall officials resisted the notion that the mayor’s relationship with the president had changed, noting lawsuits that the city has filed against the Trump administration, including some related to immigration. NBC News [7/24/2025 9:09 PM, Chloe Atkins, Michael Kosnar and Nnamdi Egwuonwu, 44540K] reports that the administration alleged New York’s sanctuary city policies "impede the Federal Government’s ability to enforce the federal immigration laws" and "violate the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.” "New York City has long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country’s immigration laws. Its history as a sanctuary city dates back to 1989, and its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement have only intensified since," the complaint reads. The Trump Justice Department meanwhile said the city’s immigration policies have the "purpose" and "effect" of making it more difficult for federal immigration officers to carry out their jobs. "These provisions intentionally obstruct the sharing of information envisioned and affirmatively protected by Congress, including sharing basic information such as release dates, court appearance dates, and custodial status," the complaint read. Despite the early outreach, Homan this week sharpened his attacks on New York, which he has described as "the biggest sanctuary city in this country," after an off-duty Customs and Border Protection agent was shot in the city. Several Trump administration officials, including Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, attributed the shooting to the city’s sanctuary policies. City officials have detained a person of interest and said the shooting was an attempted robbery that did not appear to be connected to the victim’s job. Reuters [7/24/2025 7:22 PM, Jonathan Stempel and Ted Hesson, 51390K] reports Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said in a statement that the mayor’s office would review the lawsuit. Trump officials this week ripped Adams during a press conference in the city following the incident injuring the customs officer. "Start looking at the candidates today and see which one is going to start making the city safer, because you’ve got a mayor today that could have done better," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. In the lawsuit, the U.S. Justice Department said that in fiscal year 2024, New York City jails only honored 4% of federal requests to hold inmates so that they could be picked up for immigration violations. Bloomberg [7/24/2025 3:55 PM, Beth Wang and Michael Vilensky, 19320K] report that the laws at issue prevent law enforcement from honoring a civil immigration detainer without a judicial warrant, and make clear that no city agency should use its resources or “subject its officers or employees to the direction and supervision of the secretary of homeland security primarily” for immigration enforcement purposes. Those laws violate the federal government’s “well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority to regulate immigration,” DOJ says. The government wants the decades-old laws declared invalid for violating the Supremacy Clause. “In rejecting congressionally authorized means of enforcing federal immigration law, including detainers and administrative warrants, these provisions constitute unlawful direct regulation of the Federal Government,” the complaint says.

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New York Post [7/24/2025 6:39 PM, Ryan King and Matt Troutman, 49956K]
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AP [7/24/2025 6:00 PM, Staff, 56000K]
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CNN [7/25/2025 4:02 AM, Holmes Lybrand, Kelly McCleary, 21433K]
Washington Examiner [7/24/2025 4:42 PM, Emily Hallas, 1934K]
NewsMax [7/24/2025 5:06 PM, Jim Thomas, 4622K]
Daily Caller [7/24/2025 4:47 PM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K]
Chicago Tribune [7/24/2025 5:31 PM, John Annese, 3987K]

Blaze [7/24/2025 4:30 PM, Julio Rosas, 1805K] reports the Department of Homeland Security revealed that the sanctuary city of New York City has ignored the vast majority of the 6,000 detainers sent by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for jailed illegal aliens. The reason why DHS is calling out New York City for its sanctuary policies is because the two suspects charged with shooting an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer during an attempted robbery were both illegal aliens who had been released by the Biden-Harris administration and had been released from the city’s jailing system. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Thursday that the Department of Justice is suing New York City and Mayor Eric Adams for "continuing to obstruct law enforcement with sanctuary city policies. If New York’s leaders won’t step up to protect their citizens, we will."

Washington Examiner [7/24/2025 12:09 PM, Brady Knox, 1934K] reports New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced an investigation into a Manhattan Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that has drawn criticism from immigration activists. Adams had downplayed concerns about the facility earlier in the week, deflecting a question at a Tuesday press conference by saying he didn’t have jurisdiction over the federal building. He changed his tune the next day, telling reporters that he’d ordered an investigation. "We’re going to look into it. It was brought to our attention yesterday, and I spoke with the chief of staff and the team to find out exactly what’s going on there based on the videos that were presented," Adams said on Wednesday when asked about the facility at a press conference. Further details were provided in a letter from Adams to the General Services Administration, obtained by the New York Post, requesting an inspection of the facility. "The lack of clarity and transparency surrounding the facility’s current use raises serious concerns," the letter read. "We urge your office to conduct a thorough inspection and share your findings with the public immediately so that all parties may have a clear understanding of how this space is being used — and whether it aligns with its intended purpose under federal law," it added. Scrutiny was directed against the Manhattan ICE facility after videos released by the New York Immigration Coalition showed cramped conditions. A letter from Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Comptroller Brad Lander claimed the conditions "may pose a danger to human life.” "Make no mistake: This officer is in the hospital today fighting for his life because of the policies of the mayor of the city and the City Council, and the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe refused to do so," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a press briefing Monday. "When I look at what Mayor Adams has done to New York City, it breaks my heart to see the families that have suffered because of his policies.”

FOX News [7/25/2025 1:04 AM, Landon Mion, 46878K] reports two illegal immigrants were charged in the shooting of an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer in New York City, authorities announced on Thursday. Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez and Cristian Aybar Berroa — both from the Dominican Republic — were arrested after the shooting at Fort Washington Park on Saturday. Mora Nunez, 21, was charged with one count of "possession of ammunition by an illegal alien," which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, and Aybar-Berroa, 22, was charged with accessory after the fact, which carries a maximum sentence of seven and a half years in prison, according to Interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office Ricky J. Patel. "As alleged, these defendants entered and spent years in our country illegally, and their criminal activity culminated in Saturday night’s near-deadly attack on one of our own," Patel said in a statement. Mora Nunez allegedly opened fire on an off-duty CBP officer in Fort Washington Park in Manhattan, striking the officer in the face and right arm. The officer returned fire, hitting Mora Nunez before he fled on a motorbike driven by Aybar-Berroa, who transported the alleged gunman to a hospital. Aybar-Berroa later allegedly attempted to get rid of the clothing he was wearing during the shooting because it was bloody. He also spoke to one of Mora Nunez’s family members about needing to get rid of the suspected shooter’s bloody clothes. Both suspects entered the U.S. illegally and are subject to orders of removal from the U.S., officials said. Multiple sources within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement previously told Fox News that the pair are believed to be the same men caught on video in an armed robbery of a business in Leominster, Massachusetts, in February. Aybar-Berroa also has a criminal history in New York City that includes arrests for second-degree reckless endangerment in May 2023 and fourth-degree felony grand larceny and petit larceny in March and April 2024, officials said.

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New York Post [7/24/2025 10:17 PM, Anna Young, 49956K]

FOX News [7/24/2025 7:17 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46878K] reports an illegal alien from Senegal was charged with assaulting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and other detainees with a deadly or dangerous weapon. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the charges against Bass Ndiaye in a statement released Thursday. According to the statement, Ndiaye was arrested July 17 and taken to a federal immigration building in New York City for processing. While awaiting processing, Ndiaye allegedly grabbed a pair of scissors and attempted to stab ICE officers and about a dozen other detainees. He was quickly disarmed and subdued by ICE officials. The statement said Ndiaye is in the country as a result of the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policies. He was arrested at the southern border by federal authorities in October 2023 but was released into the interior. He is now facing one count of assaulting an officer of the U.S. using a deadly or dangerous weapon. The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton. This comes as ICE officers are facing an over 800% increase in assaults compared to the previous year, according to the DHS. "This criminal illegal alien who [was] released into the country under President Biden will face justice for his violent crimes," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "Our ICE law enforcement are facing an 830% increase in assaults against them. "DHS Secretary [Kristi] Noem stands with the brave men and women of law enforcement as they risk their lives to remove criminal illegal aliens and protect Americans.”

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Daily Wire [7/24/2025 10:07 AM, Leif Le Mahieu, 3816K]

FOX 5 New York [7/24/2025 4:44 PM, Morgan McKay and Sara Shibata] reports videos released Tuesday by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) reveal conditions inside a Manhattan government building where they say detained migrants are held without adequate food, medical care or access to showers for days and even weeks at a time. The videos, taken inside the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, show numerous people standing, sitting or sprawled on the floor with foil blankets and two toilets in the open space, separated by chest-height blocks. The Department of Homeland Security said the space, where Democratic politicians have publicly tried to gain access to, is not a migrant detention facility, rather an ICE law enforcement office used only as a processing center. DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to FOX 5 NY: "26 Federal Plaza is not a detention center. It is a federal building with an ICE law enforcement office inside of it." A press release by the DHS stated, "claims there is overcrowding or subprime conditions in ICE facilities are categorically FALSE. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers." The statement also said, "despite a historic number of injunctions, DHS is working overtime to remove these illegal aliens from detention centers to their final destination: home." Following the released video, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, alongside Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, held a press conference regarding the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza. The two sent a letter on Tuesday to the FDNY and the New York City Department of Buildings, urging the agencies to conduct an immediate inspection of the 10th floor to determine whether any laws in NYC are being violated. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [7/24/2025 9:20 AM, Staff, 4992K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued 6,025 arrest warrants in New York City since January 20, 2025. According to a DHS statement, this figure represents an increase of more than 400% compared to the entire Biden administration, during which 9,472 detainer requests were issued in the same city. Authorities in New York, considered a "sanctuary city," have responded to only a small portion of these requests , according to DHS. In cities without sanctuary policies, local law enforcement typically transfers undocumented immigrants with criminal records to ICE for detention and deportation. Deputy Chief Tricia McLaughlin criticized Mayor Eric Adams for ignoring these requests , arguing that this puts public safety at risk. "When sanctuary politicians like Mayor Eric Adams ignore ICE detainers, they are protecting criminal illegal immigrants at the expense of American citizens," McLaughlin said.

CBS News [7/24/2025 8:34 PM, Maurice DuBois, Luisa Garcia, and LaCrai Mitchell Scott, 51860K] Video HERE reports George Pappas, Jennifer Peyton and Carla Espinoza were all federal immigration judges fired this month by email. The three ruled on thousands of immigration cases in Chicago and Boston. "It was arbitrary, unfair," Pappas told CBS News of his firing. "And it’s an attack on the rule of law. It’s an attack on judges." Peyton told CBS News she received no reason for her firing. Immigration judges are under the authority of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. "My email was three sentences," Peyton said. "I had no cause. I had no explanation." "We as judges, were in fear, we were concerned," Espinoza added. "That makes it very difficult to be impartial. We were not succumbing to that pressure but it does feel like pressure." Both Pappas and Peyton disclosed that they were told how they should rule on immigration cases. "They told me: Grant the motions to dismiss," Pappas said. "This is when ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was roaming the courthouses. Because if we dismissed the case, that person that responded then leaves the court vulnerable to immediate apprehension and expedited removal." "Once they left the courtroom, more often than not, they would be handcuffed and led away by the ICE officers,’ Peyton added. When reached by CBS News, the Justice Department had no comment on the union’s allegations that several immigration judges had been fired without cause. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [7/24/2025 10:09 AM, Ross O’Keefe, 1934K] reports an appeals court on Wednesday enforced a nationwide birthright citizenship injunction despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that federal courts do not have the final power to issue nationwide injunctions. The decision from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco argued President Donald Trump’s order seeking to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. "The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree," the majority wrote. But the Supreme Court’s order last month ruled that district courts exceeded their power by issuing sweeping universal injunctions concerning birthright citizenship. "After today’s decision, that order of operations will not change," Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion last month about the Supreme Court’s authority over courts of appeal and district courts. "In justiciable cases, this Court, not the district courts or courts of appeals, will often still be the ultimate decisionmaker as to the interim legal status of major new federal statutes and executive actions—that is, the interim legal status for the several-year period before a final decision on the merits.” The San Francisco justices justified their order by saying there was a loophole, in which the suing parties fit into, that allowed the court of appeals to issue a nationwide injunction. Multiple states had filed the case against the Trump administration who argued they need a nationwide order to prevent issues from birthright citizenship only being valid in half of the country. "We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the States complete relief," Judge Michael Hawkins and Ronald Gould, both Clinton appointees, wrote.

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CBS News [7/24/2025 6:06 PM, Staff, 51860K] Video: HERE
Blaze [7/24/2025 5:10 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K]

Reuters [7/24/2025 5:21 PM, Jan Wolfe, 51390K] reports a Venezuelan man filed a formal complaint on Thursday against the U.S. government for sending him to El Salvador’s most notorious prison, a new legal strategy that could be duplicated by others who have said they were falsely accused of gang membership by President Donald Trump’s administration. Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 27, filed what it called an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, contending that federal employees wrongfully removed him from the United States without cause or due process. Rengel’s complaint, which seeks $1.3 million in monetary damages, is not a lawsuit brought in a court but rather an action filed with the government alleging a violation of law. It is the first of its kind brought by one of the 252 Venezuelan men who were deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in March. He invoked the Federal Tort Claims Act, a U.S. law that allows people to sue the U.S. government for wrongful acts committed by federal employees acting within the scope of their employment. Under that law, a complaint must be filed with the appropriate agency before a lawsuit can be brought. The government now has six months to investigate and respond to Rengel’s complaint. If it denies his claim or fails to respond in that time period, Rengel could then sue in federal court. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in a statement on Thursday reiterated the U.S. government’s claim that Rengel was associated with Tren de Aragua and said he was "deemed a public safety threat." McLaughlin said Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "will not allow foreign terrorist enemies to operate in our country and endanger Americans." Rengel alleged that, after moving him to a detention center, DHS employees lied to him, telling him he was being sent to Venezuela.

AP [7/24/2025 5:09 PM, Sudhin Thanawala and Gary Fields, 56000K] reports a migrant from Venezuela deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador has taken the first step toward suing the U.S. government, saying he was wrongly sent to a notorious prison in the Central American country where he was beaten by guards and kept from contacting his family or an attorney. Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 27, has filed a claim for $1.3 million with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, his attorneys with Democracy Defenders Fund said Thursday. Rengel is among more than 250 migrants from Venezuela sent to El Salvador in March, out of the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Homeland Security said in an email that Rengel was a “confirmed associate” of the Tren de Aragua gang — though it did not specify how it reached that conclusion — who had entered the country illegally. It called his claims a fake “sob story.” At El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, Rengel said guards hit him with fists and batons and, on one occasion, viciously beat him after taking him to an area of the prison without cameras. Rengel was sent to Venezuela earlier this month as part of a prisoner exchange deal. His attorneys say he is living with his mother and is “terrified” to return to the United States. They are seeking compensation for emotional and psychological injuries.

Chicago Tribune [7/24/2025 6:35 PM, Sudhin Thanawala Gary Fields, 3987K] reports a migrant from Venezuela deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador has taken the first step toward suing the U.S. government, saying he was wrongly sent to a notorious prison in the Central American country where he was beaten by guards and kept from contacting his family or an attorney. Neiyerver Adriá Leon Rengel, 27, has filed a claim for $1.3 million with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, his attorneys with Democracy Defenders Fund said Thursday. Rengel is among more than 250 migrants from Venezuela sent to El Salvador in March, out of the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Homeland Security said in an email that Rengel was a "confirmed associate" of the Tren de Aragua gang - though it did not specify how it reached that conclusion - who had entered the country illegally. It called his claims a fake "sob story." "President Trump and Secretary Noem will not allow foreign terrorist enemies to operate in our country and endanger Americans," the email said. It added, "We hear far too much about gang members and criminals’ false sob stories and not enough about their victims."

Los Angeles Times [7/24/2025 6:56 PM, Kate Linthicum and Mery Mogollón, 14672K] reports when Jerce Reyes Barrios and other Venezuelan deportees entered a maximum security prison in El Salvador in the spring, he said guards greeted them with taunts. "Welcome to El Salvador, you sons of bitches," Reyes Barrios said the guards told them. "You’ve arrived at the Terrorist Confinement Center. Hell on earth.” What followed, Reyes Barrios said, were the darkest months of his life. Reyes Barrios said he was regularly beaten on his neck, ribs and head. He and other prisoners were given little food and forced to drink contaminated water. They slept on metal beds with no mattresses in overcrowded cells, listening to the screams of other inmates. "There was blood, vomit and people passed out on the floor," he said. Reyes Barrios, 36, was one of more than 250 Venezuelans sent to El Salvador from the United States in March after President Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang without normal immigration procedures. Many of the men, including Reyes Barrios, insist that they have no ties to the gang and were denied due process. After enduring months in detention in El Salvador, they were sent home last week as part of a prisoner exchange deal that included Venezuela’s release of several detained Americans. Venezuela’s attorney general said interviews with the men revealed "systemic torture" inside the Salvadoran prison, including daily beatings, rancid food and sexual abuse. One of the former detainees, Neiyerver Adrián León Rengel, filed a claim Thursday with the Homeland Security Department, accusing the U.S. of removing him without due process and asking for $1.3 million in damages. Reyes Barrios spoke to The Times over video Thursday after returning to his hometown of Machiques, a city of 140,000 not far from the Colombian border. He was overjoyed to be reunited with his mother, his wife and his children. But he said he was haunted by his experience in prison. A onetime professional soccer player, Reyes Barrios left Venezuela last year amid political unrest and in search of economic opportunity. He entered the U.S. on Sept. 1 at the Otay Mesa border crossing in California under the asylum program known as CBP One. He was immediately detained, accused of being a gangster and placed in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has detained tens of thousands of his compatriots in CECOT and other prisons in recent years, part of a gang crackdown that human rights advocates say has ensnared thousands of innocent people. Bukele garnered worldwide attention and praise from U.S. Republicans after he published dramatic photos and videos showing hundreds of prisoners crammed together in humiliating positions, wearing nothing but underwear and shackles. During a meeting with Bukele at the Oval Office this year, Trump said he was interested in sending "homegrowns" — i.e. American prisoners — to El Salvador’s jails.

ABC News [7/24/2025 7:11 PM, Aicha El Hammar Castano and Shannon K. Kingston, 31733K] reports one of the 10 Americans released from Venezuela in a prisoner swap last week was convicted of killing three people in Spain and was serving a 30-year sentence in a Venezuelan prison before his release, Spanish and Venezuelan officials told ABC News. Dahud Hanid Ortiz, 54, was convicted in Venezuela of killing three people in a Madrid law office in 2016, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry and the Venezuelan vice president’s office. Speaking on Venezuelan TV on Thursday, Venezuela’s Justice Minister Diosdado Cabello said U.S. officials were told about Ortiz’s conviction but said they still wanted him released. The U.S. was aware of Ortiz’ past but made the decision to bring him out in the swap anyway, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. The swap involved the exchange of 10 Americans held in Venezuela for the release of more than 200 Venezuelan migrants who had been deported from the U.S. and sent to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.

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New York Times [7/24/2025 6:44 PM, Julie Turkewitz, 153395K]

New York Times [7/24/2025 10:50 PM, Eric Nagourney, 153395K] reports “No one will ever forgive me.” Those were the words Dahud Hanid Ortiz wrote in an email to an in-law after he barged into the office of a lawyer he believed was having an affair with his wife and brutally killed three people, the authorities say. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crime. But forgiven or not, a beaming Mr. Hanid Ortiz appears in a photo released by the State Department of 10 Americans and U.S. permanent residents newly freed from a Venezuelan prison as part of a prisoner swap. At the time of the exchange, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the prisoners had been “wrongfully detained” in Venezuela. But Mr. Hanid Ortiz has been less generous in his self-assessment, at least when it comes to his actions in Madrid, almost a decade ago. “I am responsible for everything,” he wrote in the email to his wife’s sister, the authorities in Spain said when they were seeking his extradition from Venezuela, where Mr. Hanid Ortiz, a dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizen, had fled. How Mr. Hanid Ortiz came to be on the plane with the other freed Americans, at least some of whom had been seized by the Venezuelan government as bargaining chips, is uncertain. President Trump is better known for his vows to expel ostensible criminals from the United States, not repatriate them. The image of a convicted killer on a plane en route from Venezuela, surrounded by cheerful people waving American flags, is at best problematic for the White House.

Washington Post [7/24/2025 4:56 PM, Marianne LeVine and Maria Sacchetti, 32099K] reports that a lawyer for scores of Venezuelan migrants freed last week from a Salvadoran prison and returned to their home country told a federal judge Thursday that the Trump administration should allow them back into the United States. But the Justice Department did not commit to doing so, telling Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington that the administration would permit their return “if there is a lawful order.” The exchange, which left the migrants’ fate uncertain, came during a court status hearing in the ongoing legal fight over the Trump administration’s March deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which President Donald Trump invoked to authorize the removals. The administration alleged Friday without evidence that all of the 252 migrants returned to Venezuela are members of a transnational Venezuelan gang. The migrants’ attorneys have said the men were unlawfully removed from the U.S. without legal due process. News reports and court filings have indicated that many of them were not violent criminals, much less members of the gang. The detainees, who were held in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT megaprison for four months, were flown to Venezuela in exchange for the release of 10 American citizens and permanent U.S. residents, including one convicted of three murders.

Univision [7/24/2025 4:55 PM, Patricia Clarembaux, 4992K] reports on Saturday, Venezuelan John Chacín gave his wife a long hug in Caracas after four months of isolation from his family following his transfer and imprisonment at the Terrorist Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador. The beatings were recurrent. Occasionally, other Venezuelans were taken to a space at the Cecot prison that the guards called "the island" or isolation. On Friday, 35-year-old John Chacín arrived in Venezuela on a direct flight from El Salvador. Interior and Justice Minister Diosdado Cabello repeated on the state channel’s live broadcast that Nicolás Maduro’s government had paid "a high price" to bring them back. Unbeknownst to them, these 252 Venezuelans were part of negotiations between the United States, Venezuela, and El Salvador for a prisoner exchange: 10 Americans or permanent residents imprisoned in Venezuela were also released and arrived in Texas.

ABC News [7/24/2025 11:24 AM, Peter Charalambous and Laura Romero, 31733K] reports that a Venezuelan migrant who was deported from the U.S. to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison in March filed an administrative claim Thursday over what he says was his wrongful removal from the U.S. without due process. Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel is one of more than 250 Venezuelan nationals who were released to their home country from CECOT in a prisoner swap last week after they were removed from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act. Rengel’s claim, filed with the Office of the General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, came on the same day that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered a status report on the men as the judge seeks to determine if their due process rights were violated when they were removed from the U.S. Rengel, who is the first of the Venezuelan former detainees to file such a claim, seeks $1.3 million in damages. "Federal officials lied to Rengel, telling him he was being sent to his country of origin, Venezuela," the claim states. "Instead, for more than four months, Rengel languished in El Salvador -- which is not his country of origin and a place where he has no ties -- where he suffered physical, verbal, and psychological abuse." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [7/24/2025 3:50 PM, Jazmine Ulloa, 153395K] reports a Venezuelan migrant took the first step on Thursday toward suing the United States for what he says was his wrongful detention and removal to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 27, spent four months in the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where he said he was beaten and abused. He filed an administrative claim on Thursday with the Homeland Security Department, accusing U.S. immigration agencies of removing him without due process. It is the first such claim to be filed by one of the 252 Venezuelan men who were expelled and sent to El Salvador in March, his lawyers said, and is a necessary step before taking legal action against the U.S. government in federal court. Mr. Rengel, who is seeking $1.3 million in damages, was released last week as part of a large-scale prisoner swap between Venezuela and the United States. He is now living in Venezuela. “I want to clear my name,” he said in a phone interview late Wednesday from his home in the state of Miranda. “I am not a bad person.” The Department of Homeland Security defended Mr. Rengel’s deportation. He was “deemed a public safety threat as a confirmed associate of the Tren de Aragua gang and processed for removal from the U.S.,” Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. Mr. Rengel said he has no connection to the gang. His claim, filed with the help of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights group, could be the first of many. Its chief executive, Juan Proaño, says it plans to file dozens more claims on behalf of men who were sent to the prison in El Salvador.

FOX News [7/24/2025 8:32 AM, Breanne Deppisch, 46878K] reports a trio of judges slowed the Trump administration’s effort Wednesday to immediately deport Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia for a second time, in a series of back-to-back court orders that were praised by Abrego’s attorneys — but had Trump officials posturing for a fight. The orders came in a span of 90 minutes from the U.S. districts of Tennessee and Maryland and halted, for now, the Trump administration’s stated plans to have Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest Abrego Garcia and immediately begin removal proceedings to deport him to a third country, such as Mexico or South Sudan. Justice Department officials acknowledged that plan in court earlier this month, telling a federal judge in Maryland that the handoff from U.S. marshals to ICE officials would likely take place outside the federal prison where Abrego Garcia is currently being held. Those fears were bolstered further after senior Trump administration officials took to social media Wednesday to rail against the string of court rulings. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin vowed on X Wednesday that Abrego Garcia "will never walk America’s streets again." "The fact this unhinged judge is trying to tell ICE they can’t arrest an MS-13 gang member, indicted by a grand jury for human trafficking, and subject to immigration arrest under federal law is LAWLESS AND INSANE," she said. In Nashville, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Wednesday ordered Abrego Garcia’s release from criminal custody pending trial, writing in a 37-page ruling that the federal government "fails to provide any evidence that there is something in Abrego’s history, or his exhibited characteristics, that warrants detention." He also poured cold water on the dozens of allegations made by Trump officials, including by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in Nashville last week, that Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member.

(B) WMC Action News 5 at 6am [7/24/2025 7:05 AM, Staff] reports that three rulings came of Kilmer Abrego-Garcia’s case. A judge put a pause on his release from federal custody following different rulings from judges in Tennessee and Maryland. Those rulings were to get him out of federal custody and block his detention by immigration authorities to allow him to return to Maryland. The pause on his release will allow the government time to appeal.

New York Times [7/25/2025 3:17 AM, Alan Feuer, 330K] reports a federal judge in Tennessee said on Wednesday that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the immigrant wrongfully deported to El Salvador, should be freed from custody in his criminal case even as a judge in Maryland issued a separate order protecting him from being hastily expelled from the country again. The convergence of the two judicial rulings, which came within minutes of each other, meant that Mr. Abrego Garcia could soon return to Maryland, where he had been living with his family before his monthslong ordeal of arrest, deportation and imprisonment in El Salvador began in March. But in another ruling on Wednesday, a magistrate judge in Nashville said that Mr. Abrego Garcia would remain behind bars for at least another month, after granting an earlier request by his lawyers, who had sought to guard against another swift deportation. For the past few weeks, deep uncertainty has loomed over Mr. Abrego Garcia’s future as the Justice Department signaled that it intended to begin immediate efforts to re-deport him if he were released from custody in his criminal case, which was used in early June to bring him back from his wrongful removal to El Salvador. Prosecutors charged him in Federal District Court in Nashville with taking part in a yearslong conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants across the United States as a member of the violent transnational street gang MS-13. But in his order releasing Mr. Abrego Garcia, Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., who is overseeing the criminal case, cast serious doubts on what he described as the government’s “poor attempts to tie Abrego to MS-13.” Judge Crenshaw noted in particular that there was no evidence that Mr. Abrego Garcia had any “markings or tattoos showing gang affiliation,” an assertion that directly undercut accusations that officials including President Trump have made. The judge also pointed out that prosecutors had offered no proof supporting claims that Mr. Abrego Garcia “has working relationships with known MS-13 members; ever told any of the witnesses that he is a MS-13 member; or has ever been affiliated with any sort of gang activity.” Moreover, Judge Crenshaw raised questions about the veracity of the government’s star witness in the case, Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, a Texas man who ran the smuggling operation that purportedly employed Mr. Abrego Garcia. The order by Judge Crenshaw was the second time that a federal judge had found the government’s evidence about Mr. Abrego Garcia’s ties to a gang to be lacking. Last month, the magistrate judge in Nashville, Barbara D. Holmes, made that determination in her own order saying that Mr. Abrego Garcia should be released from criminal custody.

Telemundo [7/24/2025 11:13 PM, Alexis Boentes, 177K] reports that, from the detention center in South Florida, Cuban migrants and their families demand a clear process. They say they would rather be deported than continue in a legal limbo without information or progress. "What we are asking is that a process be made for us...that if they are going to deport us, that they deport us. And if not, that they release us...", is the plea of Aris Reyes, a Cuban migrant detained in the immigration center known as "Alligator Alcatraz". His voice reflects the desperation shared by several detainees who claim to be in an immigration limbo, without answers or progress. Reyes adds: "We want a fair process. That we be processed, that they have us here worse than undocumented." During a visit to South Florida this week, Governor Ron DeSantis addressed the issue: "When you enter Alligator Alcatraz as undocumented, the first thing the Department of Homeland Security does is give you a brochure and tell you that you don’t have to come here, that you can get an all-expenses-paid flight back to your home country at the federal government’s expense. Everyone has the possibility of accepting that offer." However, Reyes insists that "nothing is said to us... we are not given any news... nothing happens... nothing ever happens here... here the only thing that happens is that things get worse..." The family of Fernando Artese, another detainee, also raised their voices. His wife, Monica Riveira, denounced that: "He told the ICE agent himself: I want to go, I was preparing to go, but the days go by and by. Carla Artese, the migrant’s daughter, said: "And they are keeping him there... it’s not that he wants to stay... they wanted him to leave and he wants to go... if you don’t give him permission to make the trip, they will deport him. According to immigration attorney John De La Vega, this type of process could take weeks or even months. Meanwhile, the federal government continues to promote self-deportation, and according to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 13,000 people have already opted for that route. Uncertainty grows for those who continue to wait for answers behind bars. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [7/25/2025 3:17 AM, Sharon Otterman, 330K] reports Columbia University will pay a $200 million fine to settle allegations from the Trump administration that it failed to do enough to stop the harassment of Jewish students, part of a sweeping deal reached on Wednesday to restore the university’s federal research funding, according to a statement from the university. In exchange for the return of hundreds of millions in research grants, Columbia will also pledge to follow laws banning the consideration of race in admissions and hiring, and follow through on other commitments to reduce antisemitism and unrest on campus that it agreed to in March. The deal, which settles more than a half-dozen open civil rights investigations into the university, will be overseen by an independent monitor agreed to by both sides who will report to the government on its progress every six months. Columbia will also pay $21 million to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” Claire Shipman, Columbia’s acting president, said in the release. “The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track.” The deal is a significant milestone in the Trump administration’s quest to bring elite universities to heel. Columbia is the first university to reach a negotiated settlement over antisemitism claims. Harvard, which has sued the administration over funding cuts, is also negotiating for restoration of its federal money. The expectation is that the Columbia settlement will provide a template for future deals. Linda McMahon, the federal education secretary, said in a statement that the deal was “a seismic shift in our nation’s fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassment.” “Columbia’s reforms are a road map for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit and civil debate,” she said. The agreement will restore the vast majority of the more than $400 million in grants terminated or frozen by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services in March. Columbia can also compete on equal footing for new grants. The university will pay the $200 million in three installments over three years.

Reported similarly:
DailySignal [7/24/2025 10:06 AM, Staff, 558K]

New York Times [7/25/2025 3:00 AM, Sharon Otterman, 138952K] reports that, just after Memorial Day, Claire Shipman, the acting president of Columbia University, went to see Linda E. McMahon, President Trump’s education secretary. The institution and the Trump administration were in a standoff over antisemitism on campus, and most of Columbia’s $1.3 billion in federal research funding was in jeopardy. It was a tough meeting, but there were some surprisingly collaborative moments. Ms. McMahon said she wasn’t interested in destroying the university. She empathized with how hard it was to run a large organization. She wanted to talk about issues beyond antisemitism, like the need to tolerate a spectrum of voices on campuses. Rather than dismiss those concerns out of hand, Ms. Shipman, a former journalist who was co-chair of Columbia’s board of trustees before stepping in as acting president, listened. It was a telling moment that helped produce the seismic events of Wednesday. On that evening, it was revealed that Columbia and the Trump administration had reached a settlement that allows hundreds of millions of dollars of federal research funding to begin flowing again to Columbia. The deal ends civil rights investigations into antisemitism at the university. In exchange, Columbia will pay a fine of $200 million to the government, and an additional $21 million to settle employment discrimination claims. An independent monitor will report to the government about the university’s compliance with the deal. Though there were things on which they did not see eye to eye, Ms. Shipman and other Columbia leaders largely agreed with Washington that an antisemitism problem existed on campus. According to a recent survey commissioned by Columbia, 62 percent of Jewish students last year said that they did not feel accepted for their religious identity at the university. There was also a broader problem of intolerance, some felt, with too many people choosing to shut out, rather than engage with, other points of view. So Ms. Shipman sought what she called the “seeds” of truth in matters cited by the White House, including what it perceived as an academic orthodoxy on campus or an inability to hear other voices. She and Columbia’s other leaders told themselves that they could negotiate a deal with Trump to address things on campus that they agreed were broken, so long as it didn’t cross their red lines and compromise academic freedom.

New York Times [7/24/2025 3:50 PM, Troy Closson and Samantha Latson, 153395K] reports from the perspective of one longtime professor, a storied 270-year-old institution had capitulated to a bad-faith pressure campaign. Another faculty member saw a measured and mature decision from a university under fire. And among Jewish leaders, sharp disagreement emerged over whether Washington was truly concerned about campus antisemitism — or using it as a cover to crack down on one of the nation’s most distinguished universities. One day after Columbia University reached a comprehensive deal with the Trump administration to settle allegations that it failed to do enough to stop the harassment of Jewish students, reactions on the university’s Upper Manhattan campus and beyond ranged from fierce criticism to celebration. The university agreed on Wednesday to pay a $200 million fine and meet other demands in exchange for federal research funding being restored. Lee C. Bollinger, the former president of Columbia, said that putting aside opinions on the university’s strategy, the Trump administration’s actions “cross several very serious, grave lines — legal, constitutional and basic norms.” “It’s a very sad moment. There’s no way around it,” Mr. Bollinger said, adding, “You have to come away feeling that this is really a tragedy for higher education and the country.” The deal represented a major juncture in the Trump administration’s monthslong battle with the nation’s elite universities. As part of the agreement, Columbia made several pledges, including to follow through on commitments from March to address antisemitism and to provide admissions data to an independent monitor to ensure compliance with court rulings prohibiting race-conscious admissions.

CNN [7/24/2025 11:26 AM, Betsy Klein, 875K] reports that the Trump administration is still optimistic about the possibility of reaching a deal with Harvard University after it announced a $200 million settlement with Columbia University on Wednesday. "While there’s a lawsuit pending with Harvard, and I’m sure that lawsuit will play out, I do hope that Harvard will continue to come to the table with negotiations. Those talks are continuing, and we’d like to have a resolution there, outside of the courts," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a phone interview with CNN on Thursday. Harvard faced off with the Trump administration in court on Monday, arguing that the administration’s $2 billion freeze in federal funding for research was in violation of the school’s First Amendment rights. The case has become a flashpoint in a major clash over academic freedom, campus oversight and federal funding. The judge has not made a final ruling in the case, but Harvard has asked for a decision to be made no later than September 3, when it says some of the funding cuts could become more permanent. A small circle of Trump administration officials and officials from Harvard have been engaged in talks toward a potential deal for months, but a source familiar with the discussions told CNN earlier this week those conversations have largely stalled.

Bloomberg [7/24/2025 5:30 AM, Dave Lee, 19320K] reports in May, Vietnamese cybersecurity researcher Dinh Ho Anh Khoa uncovered a vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.’s document management software, SharePoint, at an event designed to encourage ethical hacking that makes our technology more robust. He received $100,000 from Trend Micro, the security group that sponsored the event. As part of the deal, flaws discovered in these competitions must be kept under wraps to give affected companies time to assess the threat, work on a fix, test it and then release it. In this case, Microsoft released its patch by July 8 — a reasonable timeframe, cybersecurity experts say, given there had been no indication the hack had been used "in the wild" until July 7. Within days of the purported fix, however, it became clear Microsoft engineers had missed something. Sophisticated actors, said to be working on behalf of China, had found a work-around. The vulnerability has been used to target hundreds of entities, including government agencies. On Tuesday, the US Nuclear Weapons Safety Agency was reported to be among those affected. The attack enables hackers to gain unrestricted access to a victim’s SharePoint system and any valuable data it contains. The exploit would also allow bad actors to “execute code” on that server, advisories explained. Microsoft hurriedly updated its patch, releasing it on Monday. Experts are watching now to see whether it holds.

Washington Examiner [7/24/2025 11:34 AM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1934K] reports legacy media love to cover people protesting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. Pictures, videos, social media posts, and newspaper articles have been written about American citizens going to great lengths to prevent the deportation of illegal immigrants. Perhaps it is time they start focusing on the innocent people who continue to be victimized by the violent criminal acts committed by illegal immigrants. On July 20, an illegal immigrant, Gildardo Amandor-Martinez, allegedly murdered 15-year-old Luis Lopez in Kentucky. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Amandor-Martinez is originally from Mexico and "attempted to enter the country THREE times under the Biden administration in 2021, at the southern border." On his third attempt to enter the United States, he succeeded "at an unknown date and location and without inspection by an immigration officer.” Amandor-Martinez also allegedly assaulted a 3-year-old girl with a firearm. He was arrested by local law enforcement officials and charged with murder, first-degree assault, and first-degree attempted rape, according to reports. How will our country’s fruit and vegetables be harvested without immigrants like Amandor-Martinez? That’s the common refrain uttered by illegal immigration enthusiasts, no? Naturally, Amandor-Martinez’s alleged crime didn’t receive widespread national media attention. The local media account of Lopez’s killing failed to mention that, according to the reports from DHS, an illegal immigrant from Mexico allegedly killed the teenager. It’s indicative of a hijacked narrative surrounding illegal immigrants. There are people, groups, organizations, and politicians who are diligently working to implement policies that would keep allegedly murderous criminals such as Amandor-Martinez in this country. It is these same people, groups, organizations, and politicians who demonize Trump’s illegal immigration enforcement tactics and federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Villainous acts allegedly committed by illegal immigrants like Amandor-Martinez are not rare. A day earlier, two more illegal immigrants were allegedly committing violent crimes. Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez and Cristian Aybar Berroa, both from the Dominican Republic, attempted an armed robbery on an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer in New York City. Nunez shot the CBP officer in the right arm and left cheek during the robbery attempt. Clearly, Nunez and Berroa are just unfortunate immigrants attempting to find better opportunities and improve their lives. They’re noble people who built this country and pick its produce or whatever other charming, fact-free, hyperbolic narrative liberals, Democrats, and others on the Left seek to create about illegal immigrants.

Bloomberg [7/24/2025 6:00 AM, Patricia Lopez, 19320K] reports mandatory detention is the newest and potentially most powerful weapon in the White House’s arsenal for turbo-charging deportations. Once arrested, immigrants without legal status will, with few exceptions, be held in custody until they are deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That means they are no longer eligible, as in the past, to post bond at a hearing and have an immigration judge decide their fate. ICE alone will be the decider. That threatens to transform temporary detention centers into long-term prisons — and to strip immigrants of the constitutional rights that are due to every person in the US, regardless of legal status. Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons wrote in a July memo obtained by the Washington Post that immigrants should be detained “for the duration of their removal proceedings,” a process that can stretch out for months, or even years, given judicial backlogs. That could affect millions of immigrants. It is an aggressive move from an agency that is becoming increasingly reckless in its handling of immigrants. The policy is already expected to draw a court challenge questioning the constitutionality of sidestepping judges.

The Hill [7/24/2025 10:00 AM, Joanna Dreby, 18649K] reports earlier this month, the House and Senate passed a bill that allocates $170 billion to immigration control and border enforcement, with $29.9 billion approved in additional funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This is the agency that, since January, has been flexing its power by arresting law-abiding immigrants, legal permanent residents, foreigners on temporary visas and even elected officials who are U.S. citizens, like New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) in New Jersey. ICE has proven itself to be a law enforcement agency with the ability to violate civil rights, and U.S. citizens and residents should be worried. Truth be told, ICE has operated with impunity since it was established in 2003. For more than seven years, I have been studying what I call "enforcement episodes," their long-lasting impacts and the survival stories of young U.S. citizens in New York who have experienced immigration enforcement targeting their parents, family members, neighbors or friends. Young New Yorkers spoke of early morning ICE visits to their childhood homes, agents letting themselves be confused for local police, a detention system that moved parents across states so that families could not visit and relatives disappearing from their lives. They recounted fears when ICE agents periodically appeared on subways and roadways to intimidate citizens and residents indiscriminately. Until now, ICE’s unchecked power has gone publicly unacknowledged, unless you looked closely or had been directly affected. This is likely because most U.S. citizens whose rights have been violated were minors. U.S. citizen children have been forcibly separated from parents but have no standing in immigration courts. Fears and anxieties have undermined U.S. citizen children’s well-being, while policymakers have turned the other way. In the past, priority directives that shifted across administrations gave adults a sense that guardrails existed and that those targeted had done something wrong and were criminals. ICE could only feasibly carry out large-scale raids in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, which many community members trusted. Advocates responded by pushing for humanistic views of immigration and for non-cooperation agreements between local agencies and ICE. They advised immigrants to be law-abiding, seek legal counsel and attend appointments and hearings as directed. Meanwhile, the toll enforcement has taken on children has been barely noticed.

Daily Caller [7/24/2025 11:42 AM, Pawel Styrna, 1010K] reports assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel are skyrocketing. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently revealed that such attacks are up by a terrifying 830 percent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same time period last year. While this is disheartening and demonstrates flagrant disregard for the rule of law by illegal immigration activists, it is sadly not at all surprising. Anti-borders radicals have worked themselves up into a frenzy in opposition to the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws. Their reckless, irresponsible, out-of-control rhetoric – depicting ICE as evil, immoral, and cruel reincarnations of the Nazi Gestapo – has facilitated and encouraged violence against ICE agents. That makes both native-born Americans and law-abiding legal immigrants less safe. Fanning the flames of toxic anti-American identity politics, one congressman even asserted that ICE removals were an attempt to "ethnically cleanse this country of certain types of immigrants," and a Princeton professor claimed that the goal was to "make America white again." Such rhetoric is a clarion call to action for unhinged extremists. The violent and destructive Los Angeles riots were one just example of anti-immigration-enforcement agitation having real-life harmful consequences. Another occurred, of all days, on the Fourth of July in Alvarado, Texas. Almost a dozen armed individuals attacked an ICE detention center, using fireworks to lure agents into an ambush, and striking a local police officer in the neck. Three days later, another individual opened fire at a Border Patrol annex in McAllen, Texas, injuring two Border Patrol members and a police officerAt its heart, the radical anti-borders ideology that drives violence against ICE and civil unrest flips common sense and traditional priorities on their head. Those enforcing the law and protecting Americans are vilified and slandered – all too often even doxed or attacked – while immigration violators, including criminals, are wrongly framed as poor victims of a supposedly mean, unjust, and racist immigration system. The Trump Administration is pledging to prosecute anti-ICE violence, in DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s words, "to the fullest extent of the law." That approach is both right and necessary to deter assaults. But the philosophy underpinning such violence – rooted in American self-hatred – is not likely to go away anytime soon, at least not until supporters of that radical philosophy finally realize they are defending the indefensible.

The Hill [7/24/2025 11:30 AM, Kurt Davis Jr., 18649K] reports President Trump’s return to office has marked a fundamental departure from conventional foreign policy approaches that have dominated Washington for decades. His first six months demonstrate how unorthodox methods — transactional negotiations, direct pressure and strategic leverage — can achieve breakthroughs that traditional diplomatic playbooks consistently failed to deliver. The results challenge long-held assumptions about international relations. Where successive administrations have relied on multilateral consensus-building and careful diplomatic protocol, Trump has moved decisively to address longstanding challenges through direct engagement and clear incentives. The outcomes speak for themselves: concrete achievements that decades of conventional wisdom could not produce. The June NATO summit in Brussels exemplifies this transformation. Trump secured an unprecedented agreement from member nations to increase defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2035, with Poland, Estonia, and Lithuania committing to reach 5 percent within the decade. This represents the largest collective defense spending increase since the alliance’s founding. For decades, American presidents from both parties have struggled to convince NATO allies to shoulder more of the defense burden. George W. Bush, Barack Obama and others made passionate appeals with minimal results. Trump’s direct pressure on individual leaders — including frank conversations about the consequences of continued free-riding — achieved what 20 years of diplomatic consensus-building could not. The breakthrough reveals how Trump’s willingness to challenge diplomatic norms can produce substantive results. When allies understand that America’s patience with free-riding has limits, they respond accordingly. Immigration policy demonstrates another area where Trump’s approach has succeeded. New agreements with Mexico and Central American nations include enhanced enforcement provisions and expanded return protocols, contributing to a more than 90 percent reduction in detected border crossings in May compared to the previous year, according to Department of Homeland Security data.

Axios [7/24/2025 5:46 PM, Melissa Santos, Kavya Beheraj, Alex Fitzpatrick, 13599K] reports more than half of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests last month in Washington, Oregon and Alaska involved people with no criminal charges or convictions — a sharp increase from recent norms, newly obtained data shows. The numbers illustrate a major shift that came soon after the Trump administration tripled ICE’s arrest quota. In June, people without criminal charges or convictions made up an average of 53% of daily ICE arrests in the area covered by the agency’s Seattle field office (Oregon, Washington and Alaska). As of June 26 — the most recent data available — ICE was reporting a nationwide average of 930 arrests per day, about 42% of which involved people without charges or convictions. Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin disputed reports that ICE isn’t targeting criminal immigrants, telling Axios by email that some people labeled "non-criminals" are "actually terrorists, human rights abusers or gang members — they just lack a U.S. criminal record." New legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) would stop ICE from detaining — and possibly deporting — U.S. citizens.

NewsMax [7/24/2025 9:37 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4622K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using GPS-enabled ankle monitors on a relatively small number of illegal migrants. A June 9 memo ordered ICE staff to place ankle monitors on all people enrolled in the agency’s Alternatives to Detention program "whenever possible," The Washington Post reported Thursday. Pregnant women would be given wrist monitors instead of ankle devices. "If the alien is not being arrested at the time of reporting, escalate their supervision level to GPS ankle monitors whenever possible and increase reporting requirements," Dawnisha M. Helland, an acting assistant director in the management of nondetained immigrants, wrote in an internal memo viewed by the Post. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the Post report. "Yes. If you are in America illegally, you may be ‘shackled’ with a GPS ankle monitor. If you don’t want to wear one, you should leave the country now through the @CBP," McLaughlin posted on X. About 183,000 adult migrants are enrolled in the program and had previously consented to some form of tracking or mandatory check-ins while they waited for their immigration cases to be resolved, according to the newspaper. Enrollment peaked at 378,000 during the migrant surge under then-President Joe Biden. Ankle monitors are worn by roughly 24,000, about 13% of the program total. ICE officials have said the agency considers various factors – e.g. criminal history, compliance history, caregiver concerns, and medical concerns – when deciding whether and how to track each immigrant.

NewsMax [7/24/2025 7:43 PM, Solange Reyner, 4622K] reports Border czar Tom Homan says he’s "all behind" ankle monitors and GPS tracking for illegal immigrants if it would increase the number of immigrants showing up to court dates. "It’s a case-by-case basis. But I can tell you, back when I was ICE director, having that GPS capability increased those going to court a lot. And it’s cheaper than detention in some cases. GPS in the past has been very helpful getting people to court," Homan told reporters Thursday. A Washington Post report released Thursday said ICE had already moved to shackle some migrants with GPS-enabled ankle monitors and ordered staff to place monitors on anyone involved in the agency’s Alternatives to Detention program "whenever possible." About 183,000 adult migrants are enrolled in ATD.

Breitbart [7/24/2025 10:35 PM, Ian Hanchett, 3077K] reports that, on Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Will Cain Show,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons stated that detainers are being put on anyone who is in the country illegally who commits any additional crime and “any crime now is fully on the table. And that’s what this administration is focused on, we’re focused on getting these criminal illegal aliens before they can escalate their crime spree. Shoplifting might be one thing, but it leads to more and more crime, and we just can’t do that.” Guest host Lawrence Jones asked, [relevant exchange begins around 2:00] “So, tell me about these ICE detainers, because, essentially, what you’re asking, if you’ve got a criminal in your custody and we put a detainer on them, give us 48 hours to come pick them up. So, so far right now in the Trump administration, New York City has honored a little bit over 6,000. For Biden’s entire four years, they honored a little over 9,000, that’s a 400% increase. What are you all doing differently with the city?” Lyons answered, “Well, what we’re doing, Lawrence, is, we’re not — we’re looking at every crime, we’re not just looking at something that might be an aggravated felony. If someone’s here illegally, and they commit shoplifting, if they graffiti, for instance, any crime now is fully on the table. And that’s what this administration is focused on, we’re focused on getting these criminal illegal aliens before they can escalate their crime spree. Shoplifting might be one thing, but it leads to more and more crime, and we just can’t do that. Under the last administration, they ignored so many misdemeanor crimes for individuals that had extensive criminal histories, not only here, but in their home country. So, you’ll see that increase, because we’re placing detainers on every person here illegally that’s committing crime.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [7/24/2025 6:38 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports Acting I.C.E. director Todd Lyons discusses how I.C.E. is pursuing cases of migrant crime on ‘The Will Cain Show.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

DailySignal [7/24/2025 10:25 AM, Virginia Allen, 558K] reports the One Big Beautiful Bill Act containing much of President Donald Trump’s agenda allocates $75 billion for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and now ICE is using the funding to recruit agents. ICE is offering incentives to attract new talent and encourage retired agents to return to the job. Top recruits may receive a signing bonus as large as $50,000, according to the New York Post, in addition to earning a six-figure salary. "On behalf of a grateful nation," ICE is calling upon former agents to "RETURN TO MISSION and reclaim your vital role among the courageous men and women of ICE." "You served the United States of America with distinction and honor. Now, your country is calling upon you to serve once more," ICE writes on its website. "Due to the prior administration’s disastrous immigration policies, the men and women of ICE now face unprecedented challenges," according to ICE. "Your experience and unwavering commitment are critically needed to secure our communities and uphold our laws." DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan have made it clear they intend to continue rapidly arresting and deporting illegal aliens, with the priority remaining on criminal illegal aliens. New ICE recruits are slated to earn between $50,000 to $90,000, according to USA Jobs. ICE is seeking to grow its workforce with 10,000 new agents as ICE agents are facing a 830% increase in assaults since Trump returned to the White House. ICE enforcement operations have spurred anti-deportation demonstrations in cities across America, some of which have grown violent. "Secretary Noem stands with ICE agents who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the American people from violent criminal illegal aliens," Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, said in a recent statement.

Daily Wire [7/24/2025 3:20 PM, Tim Pearce, 3816K] reports the Trump administration has reportedly located over 13,000 children who entered the United States unaccompanied and illegally before being lost to government tracking systems. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Donald Trump has arrested more than 400 sponsors of unaccompanied minors for crimes related to mistreatment of the children in their care or for other reasons, a Health and Human Services official told NewsNation. Over 300,000 unaccompanied minors flooded into the United States under former President Joe Biden and were then lost to government officials, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. The Trump administration has directed U.S. Customs and Border officials to begin asking older unaccompanied minors between the ages of 14 and 17 if they would like to self-deport back to their home countries. If they answer affirmatively, they are turned over to either ICE or HHS to begin deportation proceedings, according to CNN. The current practice is not new, but an expanded form of what federal agents had been offering unaccompanied minors before. The offer had been limited to self-deporting to either Mexico or Canada before. "This is a long-standing practice that was used by previous administrations to prioritize getting children back to the safety of a parent or legal guardian in their home country. The policy of offering unaccompanied alien children (UACs) the option to withdraw their application for admission into the U.S. is accredited in the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022," a Homeland Security official told CNN. "The only change pursuant to the Big Beautiful Bill is expanding this option to return home to UACs from additional countries beyond Mexico and Canada," the official added.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [7/24/2025 7:36 PM, Mark Swanson, 4622K]

Daily Caller [7/24/2025 10:13 PM, Hailey Gomez, 1010K] reports president and founder of GUARD Against Trafficking Ali Hopper said Thursday on Fox News’ "The Ingraham Angle" that the Biden administration had reportedly missed over 60,000 calls to a hotline for migrant children due to being understaffed. While testifying before the House Committee on Homeland Security on July 16, Hopper said to lawmakers that the Biden administration allegedly missed 65,000 calls from migrant children to a hotline set up to "report concerns about the unaccompanied child’s safety." Discussing her testimony with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, the host asked Hopper what happened with the calls. "Yes, it was a safeguard put in place by the previous administration, and it looked good on policy. It looked good on paper. But when the policy doesn’t actually work, when what was implemented as a safeguard doesn’t work and you only have one person assigned to the hotline to manage and field all of these calls, that is what happens," Hopper said. "That is what results with 65,000 unanswered calls." In September 2024, Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General released its August report that said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could not "monitor all unaccompanied migrant children" released from the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and HHS, as the U.S. struggled with its border crisis.

CBS News [7/24/2025 9:12 PM, Adam Yamaguchi and Elizabeth Mendez, 51860K] Video HERE reports just three miles across the U.S.-Mexico border from San Diego, deportees in Tijuana are starting a new life. Among them is Juan Carlos, an immigrant from Mexico who had lived in the U.S. for 19 years. On June 24, his construction crew stopped at a Home Depot in the City of Industry, California — near Los Angeles — to pick up supplies when he was cornered by federal immigration agents. "As soon as I saw them, I tried to run," said Juan Carlos, who lived in the U.S. for 19 years. and whose arrest was captured on cell phone video. He says he spent two weeks in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention before agreeing to sign deportation paperwork. "Los Angeles gave me many things," Juan Carlos told CBS News. "It gave me opportunities. It gave me another kind of life…I felt like I was home. But everything happens for a reason." According to numbers obtained by CBS News this week, ICE is on track to record more than 300,000 removals in President Trump’s first year back in office, which would be the highest tally since the Obama administration. However, that number is still well below the one million annual deportations which the Trump administration has targeted. The Department of Homeland Security has tracked over 13,000 self-deportations since the start of Mr. Trump’s second term. Of the estimated 100,000 people who were deported between Jan. 1 and June 24 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 70,583 were convicted criminals, according to an ICE document obtained by CBS News earlier this month. However, the data also shows that most of the documented infractions were traffic or immigration offenses. Less than 1% had murder convictions, the documents showed. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [7/24/2025 7:36 AM, Greg Norman, 46878K] reports a House Republican put forward a resolution calling for a vote to censure the New Jersey Democrat who was federally indicted for allegedly obstructing Homeland Security agents at an immigration facility in May. The measure from Clay Higgins of Louisiana states that Rep. LaMonica McIver’s "continued service on the Committee on Homeland Security, which is charged with oversight of Federal immigration enforcement and other national security matters, would represent a significant conflict of interest" and that she should be removed from that committee as well. "Clay Higgins is a bigot who wants to be back in the news," McIver told Axios in a statement provided by a spokesperson. "This resolution aims to kick me off the committee that presides over the Department of Homeland Security and shame me for doing the oversight work that is my job," she reportedly added. "Good luck, Clay."

Univision [7/24/2025 2:32 PM, Ivette Franco, 4992K] reports the case of the alleged deportation of “Luis León,” a man who is allegedly an 82-year-old Chilean citizen residing in Allentown, Pennsylvania, captured the attention of national and international media, following publications by The Morning Call in July 2025 that reported on his alleged detention and deportation to Guatemala by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) , reported by the affected man’s family to that local media outlet. However, not only have the United States and Guatemalan governments denied the family’s account and asserted that there are no records supporting the detention, deportation, or death of the man described by his relatives, but his identity has also been questioned. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has dismissed as false the claims about León’s alleged detention, deportation, and death in ICE custody. In a statement dated July 21, 2025, DHS said, "ICE never arrested or deported Luis León to Guatemala." The Guatemalan Migration Institute denied having received a person with the characteristics described.

Axios [7/24/2025 6:22 AM, Sabrina Moreno, 13599K] reports ICE agents are increasingly showing up at Richmond-area courthouses and arresting immigrants at routine check-ins once considered safe, local immigration lawyers tell Axios. ICE arrests at the Chesterfield courthouse have put a spotlight on the county in the past month, sparking concerns from some county leaders and conservative Sheriff Karl Leonard, who told WTVR it’s straining efforts to build trust with immigrant communities. But it’s not happening only in Chesterfield. Henrico’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor told Axios there have been three instances since June where federal agents showed up at Henrico’s courthouse. While Richmond’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin told Axios that ICE hasn’t been spotted at city courthouses yet, "victims have expressed concerns about coming to court." McEachin also says defense attorneys have begun calling her office asking if there are any ICE agents "in or near Richmond’s three courthouses."

Breitbart [7/24/2025 4:05 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports an illegal alien is accused of murdering a 15-year-old boy in Morehead, Kentucky, after the teen tried to protect his mother from being raped, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reveals. Gildardo Amandor-Martinez, a 36-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, has been arrested by the Morehead Police Department and charged with murdering 15-year-old Luis Lopez, assaulting the boy’s 3-year-old sister, Naomi Agrical Nunez, and attempting to rape the boy’s mother, Aleida Lopez. According to police, Amandor-Martinez — who had been in a relationship with Aleida Lopez — arrived at the family’s apartment and sought to have sex with the woman. When she refused, he attempted to rape her, according to police, and bit her several times. Luis Lopez reportedly entered the room where Amandor-Martinez was allegedly trying to rape his mother and asked if she wanted him to call the police. Eventually, police say Amandor-Martinez fired three bullets into a room where he knew Luis Lopez was, killing him instantly. DHS officials confirmed this week that Amandor-Martinez had tried to illegally cross the southern border three times in 2021. Sometime after his third attempt, he successfully crossed as an unknown "got-away," undetected by Border Patrol agents. Amandor-Martinez remains in Morehead police custody.

Blaze [7/24/2025 5:30 AM, Carlos Garcia, 1805K] reports Alabama police have arrested seven people so far in a terrifying child sex trafficking ring that involved an underground bunker in the small town of Brent. The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said they opened an investigation into concerns about possible sex abuse on Feb. 4. Four months later, they announced arrests and unbelievable details about what they uncovered. Initially, police announced four arrests on Saturday related to investigation into the bunker and said that at least six children had been drugged and raped, according to Assistant District Attorney Bryan Jones. The storm shelter was being used as an underground bunker. The four men arrested were identified as William Chase McElroy, Dalton Terrell, Andres Trejo-Velazquez, and Timothy St. John. Some of the suspects had allegedly confessed to their crimes, according to Jones. McElroy was charged with four counts of first-degree rape, six counts of first-degree human trafficking, six counts of first-degree sodomy, and four counts of first-degree kidnapping. Terrell was charged with six counts of first-degree rape, 12 counts of first-degree sodomy, and five counts of first-degree human trafficking. Trejo-Velazquez was charged with six counts of first-degree human trafficking. Timothy St. John was charged with two counts of first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sodomy, four counts of human trafficking, three counts of first-degree kidnapping, one count of bestiality, and one count of aggravated cruelty to animals.

USA Today [7/24/2025 6:04 AM, Eduardo Cuevas, 75552K] reports forced to eat the day’s only meal "like a dog," with their hands shackled behind their back. Detained for days with nothing but shoes for a pillow and no other bedding ‒ just cold, concrete floors and constant fluorescent lighting. Medical care that denied a man with diabetes insulin for a week and may have contributed to at least one death. A Human Rights Watch report says three Miami immigrant detention facilities have subjected people to conditions so inhumane they have become, at times, life-threatening. Many ICE detention facilities are becoming overcrowded and conditions are deteriorating, according to the July 21 report. The report, which drew from the testimonials of 17 detainees, examined conditions since President Donald Trump took office in January. Investigators say conditions at the Krome North Processing Center, Federal Detention Center and Broward Transitional Center flout international law on holding people in immigrant detention and federal government standards. The conditions for people held in the detention facilities "are not the way that any legitimate, functioning government should treat people within its custody," report author and editor Alison Leal Parker, deputy director of the Human Rights Watch’s US Program, said. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said claims of subprime conditions at Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers are "FALSE." "All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers," McLaughlin said in an emailed statement. "Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens."

Daily Caller [7/24/2025 11:38 AM, Melanie Wilcox, 1010K] reports authorities reportedly charged a Kansas City-area educator with a sex crime involving a 15-year-old. Jackson County Prosecutors formally charged Jonathan Newton, identified in court documents as a "former school teacher aide," with second-degree child sex trafficking after the teenager and an adult guardian allegedly talked with Kansas City police on March 27, according to court records obtained by KMBC News 9. Newton allegedly contacted the minor victim via Snapchat. Newton requested a sexually explicit image from the child, according to the documents. A probable cause statement alleged that Newton confessed to having what he described as an "inappropriate conversation" with the 15-year-old via the social media app when speaking to law enforcement.

NewsNation [7/24/2025 6:34 AM, Max Lewis, 5801K] reports federal immigration authorities made 20 arrests during a traffic blitz in Indiana on Tuesday, sources told NewsNation local affiliate WXIN. Those sources said Immigration and Customs Enforcement worked with local police in Avon, Indiana, to conduct several dozen traffic stops throughout the town to detain illegal immigrants. There are no police reports from Avon police documenting the arrests, and they do not appear in the Hendricks County Jail public log. The FBI confirmed they were part of the operation.

Axios [7/24/2025 6:20 AM, Justin L. Mack and Kavya Beheraj, 13599K] reports arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement surged in Indiana in June, newly obtained data shows. The surge came after the Trump administration tripled U.S. ICE’s arrest quota, and marks a major shift from the president’s pledge to target the "worst of the worst." In January, ICE arrested 136 people in Indiana, of whom 6% had no criminal charge, an Axios analysis found. In June, 23% of the 309 people ICE arrested in the state had no criminal charge. The number of total arrests from January to June has grown by 127%. Nationwide, people without criminal charges or convictions made up an average of 47% of daily ICE arrests in early June, up from about 21% in early May, before the quota increase.

Daily Caller [7/24/2025 10:37 AM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports the Biden administration terminated deportation proceedings for an illegal migrant now accused of sexually assaulting a woman and holding her captive for days, according to federal immigration authorities. Jose Armando Carcamo-Perdomo, a Honduran national living unlawfully in the U.S., was charged earlier this month with kidnapping and assault after local law enforcement discovered a woman trapped inside a home in Harris County, Texas, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Carcamo is suspected of holding the sex trafficking victim hostage for five days against her will, with no food or water, while he sexually assaulted and beat her. "This accused kidnapper and suspected sex trafficker was just one of the countless criminal illegal aliens who inexplicably had their removal proceedings terminated by the Biden Administration and were allowed to remain in the country," Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated. "Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, criminal illegal aliens are being locked up and will no longer be allowed to terrorize American communities," McLaughlin said. "Our message is clear: criminals are not welcome in the United States."

Reported similarly:
New York Post [7/24/2025 6:30 PM, Jennie Taer, 49956K]

Washington Examiner [7/24/2025 11:30 AM, Brady Knox, 1934K] reports the United States is constructing its largest immigrant detention center yet in West Texas, with the ability to hold up to 5,000 people. A press release from the Department of Defense announced that Acquisition Logistics LLC was awarded a $232 million upfront for a contract to construct the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in support of Presidential Executive Order 14159. In total, the DoD will pay the company $1.26 billion, according to the Texas Tribune. The company won out over 12 other bids. The center will be constructed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and is expected to be completed on Sept. 30, 2027. At least four other companies will assist with construction, medical, security, and other operational support, three people familiar with the plans told Bloomberg. The facility will be a tent camp, a style favored by the Trump administration due to its temporary nature. The detention facilities are intended only to house migrants temporarily until they can be safely deported. The contract is Acquisition Logistics’s largest award by a huge margin. Over the past five fiscal years, the company has been awarded $29 million in total. It was awarded $5 million earlier this year for "lodging and conference room services" related to work on the southern border. Focus has shifted to immigrant detention facilities after the construction of Florida’s "Alligator Alcatraz," a large facility in the Everglades, quickly built by the state of Florida to expand ICE’s detention abilities. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem boasted earlier this month that five other states are in talks to open similar facilities using it as a model. "As you all know, we need to double our capacity and detention beds because we need to facilitate getting people out of this country as fast as possible and to sustain our operations," Noem said.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [7/24/2025 5:45 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 3077K]
(B) Houston’s Morning Show 8AM [7/24/2025 9:03 AM, Staff]

Breitbart [7/24/2025 3:33 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used so-called "prosecutorial discretion" to protect an illegal alien from deportation who is now accused of kidnapping a woman who says she was sex trafficked and held against her will. As Breitbart News reported, 22-year-old illegal alien Jose Armando Carcamo-Perdomo of Honduras was arrested on July 14 in Harris County, Texas, after a home security camera caught him dragging a woman back to his trailer as she tried to flee. According to prosecutors, the woman is a Chinese national who traveled from New York to Texas to take a masseuse job. When she arrived in Texas, however, the woman stated that her passport had been taken from her and she was brought to Carcamo-Perdomo’s trailer, where she was locked up in a closet for five days without any food or water. The woman alleges that Carcamo-Perdomo repeatedly raped her and beat her while holding her in captivity. Police were called after the incident and searched Carcamo-Perdomo’s trailer, finding the woman locked away in the closet. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials say Carcamo-Perdomo was a beneficiary of the agency’s prior "prosecutorial discretion" policy that was implemented by the Biden administration and under the leadership of former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. "This accused kidnapper and suspected sex trafficker was just one of the countless criminal illegal aliens who inexplicably had their removal proceedings terminated by the Biden administration and were allowed to remain in the country," DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. A day after his arrest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer against Carcamo-Perdomo, so that if he is released from the Harris County Jail at any time, he will be turned over to agents for arrest and deportation.

Houston Chronicle [7/24/2025 5:21 PM, Julián Aguilar, 1982K] reports a Houston man who was deployed to the border as part of Texas’ Operation Lone Star was convicted of smuggling undocumented immigrants into the country earlier this week. Mario Sandoval, 27, was found guilty of conspiring to smuggle illegal aliens after a one-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced in a news release Thursday. Sandoval was deployed to the border with the Texas National Guard under Gov. Greg Abbott’s years-long, multi-billion border security effort. After his deployment ended, he stayed in the Rio Grande Valley and joined in the smuggling operation in July 2024, according to the ICE statement. Jurors in the trial were shown texts from Sandoval’s phone about drivers being needed to drive from the Rio Grande Valley to beyond checkpoints in the area. The news release states that Sandoval was at the immigration checkpoints when he was sending messages about the locations of K9 units and law enforcement in the area. “The defense attempted to convince the jury no conspiracy existed, and his text messages were out of context,” the statement adds. “The Jury did not believe those claims and found Sandoval guilty as charged after deliberating for less than an hour.” Chad Plantz, the special agent in charge with Houston Homeland Security Investigations, said Sandoval was driven by greed and he betrayed the oath he took when he enlisted in the National Guard.

New York Post [7/24/2025 4:24 PM, Jennie Taer, 49956K] reports the sanctuary state of Colorado is suing a local cop who allegedly gave federal immigration agents information on a University of Utah nursing student with an expired visa, leading to her arrest last month. Mesa County Sheriff’s Deputy Alexander Zwinck pulled over 19-year-old Caroline Dias Goncalves on June 5 for driving too closely to a semitruck on the highway before he allegedly helped the feds nab the Brazilian citizen. Dias Goncalves didn’t have a criminal history, but she had a tourist visa that expired “over a decade ago,” said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. The college student moved to the US from Brazil with her family in 2012, according to Fox 13. Zwinck allegedly shared Dias Goncalves’ driver’s license, vehicle registration and insurance information in a Signal group message that included Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Zwinck’s actions violated the state’s sanctuary law that blocks local cops from doing “the work of the federal government to enforce immigration law.” “In this case, the driver was detained by immigration authorities because of actions by Colorado law enforcement despite the absence of any criminal activity on her part. Her detention for over two weeks is directly due to this violation of Colorado’s laws,” said Weiser. “Because of this action, we are making clear that Colorado law enforcement’s role is to advance public safety, not take on the responsibility of doing the work of federal immigration enforcement,” he added.

Univision [7/24/2025 2:30 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports the recent release of a man accused of impersonating a federal immigration agent has sparked outrage among residents and local officials in Huntington Park. Fernando Díaz, 23, was arrested on June 26 after police found an arsenal of weapons in his Dodge Durango pickup truck, including handguns, passports, forged Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents, and even a list of Border Patrol operational codes. Despite the evidence found, a federal judge granted Díaz probation, sentenced him to community service and attend a firearms training program, meaning he will be free while awaiting his next hearing, scheduled for October 16 in Downey. This case revived a latent concern in communities with high immigrant populations: the presence of individuals who, without clearly identifying themselves, break into homes or public spaces posing as federal authorities.

Breitbart [7/24/2025 1:01 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 3077K] reports Elpidio Reyna, who landed on the FBI’s most wanted list for allegedly attacking officers during the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots in Los Angeles, has been apprehended on the southern border. Reyna has been accused of allegedly throwing rocks and explosives at officers in their vehicles during the riots. In a press release dated June 11, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security identified Reyna as a U.S. citizen from Compton, California, and detailed his criminal history, which includes "arrests for felony burglary, felony possession of a controlled substance for sale, felony using or selling marijuana to a minor, DUI, and multiple counts of driving with a suspended license.” Weeks after the initial press release from DHS, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli confirmed that Reyna has been taken into custody. "He was taken into custody by a US Border Patrol officer who was inside one of the vehicles damaged in the attack — a brave law enforcement officer who could have been killed in last month’s dangerous and reckless attack," Essayli said.

New York Post [7/24/2025 7:47 AM, Emily Crane, 49956K] reports the masked brute accused of hurling concrete blocks at federal agents during the violent anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles has finally been arrested — getting cuffed at the border by one of the agents he targeted, authorities said. Elpidio Reyna, who was put on the FBI’s wanted list over last month’s chaos, was busted Wednesday at the US-Mexico border. "He was taken into custody by a US Border Patrol officer who was inside one of the vehicles damaged in the attack — a brave law enforcement officer who could have been killed in last month’s dangerous and reckless attack," US Attorney Bill Essayli said. The 39-year-old Compton man was allegedly caught on camera brazenly throwing the blocks at FBI vehicles as they drove by him in Paramount on June 8. Attorney General Pamela Bondi hailed his arrest, saying, "You can run, but you can not hide. If you attack a law enforcement officer, we’ll find you.”

Telemundo [7/25/2025 1:32 AM, Staff, 37K] reports San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria on Wednesday signed an executive order on federal immigration enforcement. SAN DIEGO - The mayor says recent operations - such as the one at the popular South Park restaurant Buona Forchetta in May - have increased anxiety in migrant communities, so his order calls for greater transparency from the San Diego Police Department. In the order, Gloria covered 16 ways to support migrant communities. Among them, she reaffirms that San Diego police cannot engage in immigration enforcement. She also ordered SDPD to designate a liaison to inform the city about federal operations. "This will improve communication with the public and avoid confusion about why our officers might be there," the mayor said in a video posted on the city of San Diego’s YouTube channel Wednesday. "Once again, our local police are working to protect the public, not enforce immigration laws." Gloria further reaffirmed state laws, which prohibit sharing certain data with federal law enforcement, including license plate reader information. "The order also pledges the city’s support for laws requiring transparency in enforcement operations, including ensuring that ICE officers identify themselves and that the public has adequate access to records about enforcement operations," he said. The order also urges the city to share "Know Your Rights" materials on the city’s website, in libraries and at community centers. "While cities cannot legally interfere with or stop federal operations, we can help ensure that everyone knows their rights and that city employees and our vendors know the same," the mayor stated. The full executive order can be viewed on the city’s website.

Telemundo [7/25/2025 12:09 AM, Staff, 3352K] reports that, in Los Angeles, agents conducted a raid near his work, where they arrested the young man, despite the fact that he had DACA and no criminal record. Due to his condition, he was unable to communicate with the officers and did not understand why he was arrested. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

San Francisco Chronicle.com [7/24/2025 9:19 PM, Jessica Flores, 4120K] reports three women who were detained by federal immigration officers at court Wednesday were held overnight inside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s downtown San Francisco field office and remained there Thursday afternoon because there were no available beds at migrant detention facilities, one of the women and her attorney told the Chronicle. The 27-year-old Colombian woman from San Jose said in an interview she was held overnight in a cell on the sixth floor of 630 Sansome St., along with two other women who were also detained on Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Department of Justice’s San Francisco Immigration Court. She described the room as a small space with a toilet, a bench, a thin mattress and a small window where she could see officers standing outside. ICE representatives did not immediately respond to questions about the woman’s arrest and detention. The Chronicle is not naming her, per its anonymous source policy, due to her fears of retaliation.

Los Angeles Times [7/24/2025 8:13 PM, Andrew J. Campa, 14672K] reports amid a wave of arrests and apprehensions of undocumented immigrants, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced plans to bolster delivery of hot meals, groceries and prescription medicines to parishioners living in fear of deportation amid ongoing enforcement raids. The archdiocese’s donation-funded Family Assistance Program seeks to assist some of its 4 million congregants throughout its 288 parishes in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Immigrants targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are "good, hard-working men and women" who are "making important contributions to our economy," Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez said in a statement. "Now they are afraid to go to work or be seen in public for fear that they will get arrested and be deported," he said. Money donated directly to the Family Assistance Program will be funneled to parishes with vulnerable members. Donations can be made online or at a local church. Catherine Fraser, the archdiocese’s chief development officer, said every dollar contributed would go directly to helping families in need. Most churches already have programs to serve elderly and homebound congregants that were developed during the interruptions and limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Yannina Diaz, a spokesperson for the archdiocese. "We’re tapping into what already exists and what already works," Diaz said. Diaz noted that St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in South L.A. boasts a robust program that helps with food, clothing and medicine delivery for homebound individuals. Gomez’s announcement of the assistance program comes after Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino issued a dispensation allowing parishioners fearful of deportations to stay home rather than attend Mass. Rojas’ decision followed a series of arrests on church property, though the Department of Homeland Security insisted that churches were not targeted — saying those apprehended had fled onto parish grounds.

FOX News [7/24/2025 3:16 PM, Morgan Phillips, 46878K] reports an immigration program meant to provide permanent legal status to undocumented migrant children who experience abuse or neglect was, under the Biden administration, offered mostly to illegal immigrants older than age 18, many of whom had criminal records, according to a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report obtained by Fox News Digital. A Trump administration review of the special immigrant juvenile petition program found that between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2024, 198,414 special immigrant juvenile petitions were approved. And in fiscal year 2024, 52% of special immigrant juvenile petitioners were over the age of 18 through a loophole that allowed classification to be offered up to age 21. Of those petitioners, 60% were male. Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and California are hot spots, states where courts routinely approve special immigrant juvenile predicate orders for legal adults, often based solely on affidavits. Misuse of the program didn’t just occur under Biden. Since 2013, more than 600 MS-13 gang members applied for the special immigrant juvenile visa, according to the DHS report, and more than 500 of them were approved. The report also identified 853 known or suspected gang members who filed special immigrant juvenile petitions, most of whom were approved. At least 120 of those petitioning for special immigrant juvenile visas since 2013 have been arrested for murder, and more than 200 of those who had their visas approved were convicted of sex offenses and required to register on the National Sex Offender Registry.

Telemundo51 [7/24/2025 12:42 PM, Staff, 177K] reports that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Haiti will be able to apply for or renew their Florida driver’s licenses and state IDs until their expiration dates, following recent federal court rulings, according to a statement from the Miami-Dade County Tax Collector’s Office. The statement advises that the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) will have new guidelines, so Hondurans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians with valid TPS documentation are eligible to obtain or renew driver’s licenses until their benefits expire. According to FLHSMV guidance, individuals from Honduras and Nicaragua with valid TPS documentation are eligible for services through September 9, 2025, while individuals from Haiti with TPS documentation are eligible for services through February 3, 2026, according to a statement from the Miami-Dade County Tax Collector’s Office, Dariel Fernandez. The statement says the actions were taken to comply with federal laws and allow qualified individuals access to state identification in accordance with applicable administrative orders. The Miami-Dade County Tax Collector’s Office confirms that they will be assisting individuals with valid TPS documentation, according to official FLHSMV guidance.

NBC News [7/24/2025 3:08 PM, Staff, 44540K] reports missing an exit while driving on a San Diego freeway upended the life of Erick Hernandez, a DACA recipient who is now at risk of being deported to El Salvador, a country he hasn’t seen in 20 years. Hernandez, 34, was giving two passengers a ride from Los Angeles to San Ysidro, known as the "most southern community in California" because it is so close to the Mexican border, on June 1 as a driver for a ride-share service. But he accidentally ended up in Tijuana, Mexico, after missing an exit, NBC San Diego reported this week. Because DACA recipients are not allowed to leave the country without prior approval, federal immigration authorities took Hernandez into custody when he tried to return to the U.S. Hernandez’s case is one of the most recent showing how fears of possible deportation are becoming a reality for some undocumented young adults with legal permission to work and study in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. "His attempt to come back to the United States and say, ‘This was a mistake. It was an accident. I was not trying to leave the United States,’ was ignored," Hernandez’s attorney, Valerie Sigamani, told NBC San Diego. “When that happened, he lost everything." Javier Diaz Santana, a DACA recipient who is deaf and mute, was detained in June when immigration authorities raided the car wash where he worked. And this month, a 36-year-old DACA recipient from Florida was among the first to be detained in the state’s new immigrant detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz." Anabel Mendoza, director of communications at United We Dream, the nation’s largest immigrant youth-led network, told NBC News the organization is starting to notice a "growing pattern that is exposing the vulnerabilities" DACA recipients face under Trump’s immigration crackdown. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told NBC News on Thursday that having “DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country." McLaughlin said that "a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation." But DACA recipients are not breaking the law by being in the U.S. A court ruling this year determined that all current DACA recipients can keep their deportation protections and work authorizations as long as they meet their requirements and renew their status. But DACA recipients are not breaking the law by being in the U.S. A court ruling this year determined that all current DACA recipients can keep their deportation protections and work authorizations as long as they meet their requirements and renew their status. Trump’s efforts to end DACA in his first term and Republican legal challenges shut out an estimated 600,000 DACA-eligible teenagers and young adults from the program, which hasn’t been open to new applications because of ongoing lawsuits. Polls and surveys have consistently shown that most U.S. adults favor granting permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship for "Dreamers" — young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Los Angeles Times [7/24/2025 7:53 PM, Nathan Solis, 14672K] reports Erick Hernandez-Rodriguez said he took the wrong freeway exit and accidentally crossed over into Mexico from San Diego. Now the U.S. government says he "self-deported" and illegally tried to re-enter the U.S. He has been detained and is slated for deportation to El Salvador, a country he has not lived in since he was 14. Hernandez-Rodriguez, 34, was in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, or DACA, which grants work permits and deportation protections to certain immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. But Hernandez-Rodriguez is currently in a detention facility in Otay Mesa, slated for expedited removal. His wife is expected to give birth in California to their second child before the end of the month. The federal government is not showing any leniency in his case, according to his attorney Valerie Sigamani. Hernandez-Rodriguez works part-time as an Uber driver and was trying to drop off a passenger near the border but missed his exit. He then drove into Mexico, but when he tried to circle back into California, he was arrested. Sigamani estimates he was out of the U.S. for less than 30 minutes. Hernandez-Rodriguez’s status under DACA provided some protection to undocumented immigrants in the past, but that has changed under the Trump administration. "DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation.” Sigamani said her client’s DACA status should show that Hernandez-Rodriguez had been working in the U.S. and not trying to sneak in. "It seems like at this moment, there isn’t that much mercy towards people who make mistakes," she said. "I would hope that CBP agents would still understand and know that this is an accident, that this person didn’t intend to abandon their claims, but they are a good person, and they accidentally exited the U.S.”

Blaze [7/24/2025 6:10 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1805K] reports a recipient of amnesty under the Obama administration had his protected status stripped after he apparently took the wrong exit and accidentally ended up in Mexico. Erick Hernandez was reportedly driving two people from Los Angeles to the border on June 1 when he missed an exit in San Ysidro and ended up crossing into Mexico by accident. One of the restrictions on recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals amnesty is that they’re not allowed to leave the country without prior approval. "When that happened, he lost everything, basically," his attorney, Valerie Sigamani, said to KNSD-TV. "He no longer has DACA. His attempt to come back to the United States and say, ‘This was a mistake. It was an accident. I was not trying to leave the United States,’ was ignored," she added. She says that Hernandez was placed on expedited removal and has since been detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Hernandez was brought to the U.S. when he was 14 years old, which allowed him to obtain DACA amnesty. He is originally from El Salvador, and his attorney says his parents have legal status in the U.S. His wife says she was trying to help Hernandez obtain legal status after they got married recently. Hernandez has no criminal history, according to his attorney and his family. His attorney also claimed that officials from Customs and Border Protection demanded a bribe from him to allow him to return to the U.S. She hopes that his participation in any investigation into the charges may shield him from deportation. She has filed a report with the FBI, and KNSD reported that CBP did not respond to a request for comment about the accusation. Blaze News reached out to DHS and ICE for comment and received a statement from a DHS spokesperson. "DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country. Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation," the statement reads. The spokesperson identified the man as "Erick Hernandez Rodriguez" and referred to him as "an illegal alien from Mexico," though ICE detention records indicate he is an El Salvador native. The DHS statement said that Hernandez Rodriguez had "self-deported and then tried to illegally re-enter the U.S." and confirmed that he was arrested "as he tried to illegally cross the southern border.”

Washington Post [7/24/2025 5:09 AM, Grace Moon, 32099K] reports Americans once held the world’s most powerful key to international travel, but in the latest edition of the Henley Passport Index, released this week, U.S. passports dropped to their lowest position yet, outranked by affluent Asian countries that dominated the top of the list, European mainstays and others. According to the Henley ranking, which is based on the number of destinations a traveler can visit without needing a visa, the United States has fallen from seventh place last year to 10th place, continuing a downward trend. Now tied with Iceland and Lithuania, the U.S. last topped the list in 2014. The London-based firm Henley & Partners, which offers consulting on residence and citizenship by investment, has compiled the rankings for nearly two decades, relying on data from the International Air Transport Association. Christian H. Kaelin, whom the firm credits with creating the index, said in a news release that the latest findings highlight an "increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility," with the most successful countries demonstrating proactive efforts to engage with others. "The consolidation we’re seeing at the top underscores that access is earned — and must be maintained — through active and strategic diplomacy," he noted. The reshuffling occurs as the U.S. role on the world stage evolves under the second Trump administration, which has doubled down on visa-vetting measures and deportations, putting immigrant communities on edge and plunging international students into uncertainty.

FOX News [7/24/2025 10:32 AM, Cameron Arcand, 46878K] Video HERE reports a new Republican proposal introduced on Wednesday would scrap the H-1B visa exception for higher education staff. There is currently a 65,000-person cap for the visa, with exceptions for higher education and other select groups, including an extra 20,000 that can be doled out to those with master’s degrees or beyond. The "Colleges for the American People Act of 2025" from Rep. Tom Tiffany would repeal the carveout made in the Immigration and Nationality Act, and have those from other countries seeking to work in higher education go through the normal H-1B visa process. "American students spend years earning degrees, only to watch universities hand good-paying jobs to foreign workers on special visas," Tiffany said in a statement. "The CAP Act ensures our institutions invest in the people they are meant to serve and ends the backdoor hiring practices that undercut American workers.” The proposal would not be retroactive, so current H-1B visa holders at universities could still apply for their extension without going towards the limit. The legislation is co-sponsored by Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Georgia. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [7/24/2025 4:41 PM, Sara Cline] reports awoman detained at a citizenship appointment in May will not be deported following a judge’s ruling this week barring her removal, but her Marine Corps veteran husband said she remains in custody at immigration detention center in Louisiana. For two months, Paola Clouatre, 25, has been held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement complex in Monroe, waiting to learn whether she will be allowed to remain in the country. Clouatre, a Mexican national, entered the U.S. seeking asylum with her mother more than a decade ago. After marrying her husband in 2024 and applying for her green card to legally live and work in the U.S., she learned that ICE had issued an order for her deportation in 2018 after her mother failed to appear at an immigration hearing. In May, during a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services appointment in New Orleans, a staffer asked about the deportation order. Clouatre explained that she was trying to reopen her case, with her husband telling The Associated Press that he and his wife were trying "to do the right thing." Soon after, officers arrived and handcuffed Clouatre. Adrian Clouatre has spent nearly eight weeks fighting for his wife’s release, remaining optimistic that their family would soon be reunited outside the detention facility located nearly 180 miles (290 kilometers) from their south Louisiana home. On Wednesday, they got word that a judge in California — the original jurisdiction for Paola Clouatre’s case — had stayed the order for her removal. Meanwhile, the couple’s lawyer is working to get the Baton Rouge mother’s green card process back on track, The New Orleans Advocate/The Times-Picayune reported. While the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has already ruled that the couple has a valid marriage, the process has been held up amid the legal battle.

San Diego Union Tribune [7/24/2025 7:25 PM, Alex Riggins, 1611K] reports for the second time in as many months, a San Diego federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration is violating several key components of a historic legal settlement aimed at providing legal assistance, social services and a fair chance at asylum to the families who were systematically separated at the border during President Donald Trump’s first term. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw on Thursday ordered the federal government — again — to reinstate lapsed contracts with legal support and social service providers in order to remedy its breach of the settlement agreement. Sabraw said that the Trump administration’s reasons for failing to renew those contracts — such as being cost-prohibitive or allegedly not adhering to the president’s new diversity, equity and inclusion policies — were unjustified. In reiterating the significance of the settlement agreement, Sabraw repeated his characterization that the first Trump administration’s family separation policy was "one of the most shameful chapters in the history of our country." "It forced the separation of thousands of immigrant parents from their children, many of whom have yet to be reunified, and it caused profound, devastating, and lasting damage to those families," Sabraw wrote. "The Settlement Agreement, which was the result of painstaking negotiations between Plaintiffs and the Government, aimed to address that damage by providing these families with certain services at the Government’s expense, including the behavioral health services, assistance with certain medical costs, and housing assistance at issue here.” The judge concluded: "Those obligations continue regardless, and Defendants must comply with them."

Breitbart [7/24/2025 9:28 AM, Bob Price, 3077K] reports the Trump administration delivered on its promise to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and set new records for the lowest number of migrant encounters. The June Southwest Land Border Encounters Report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows yet another decrease in migrant encounters, including the lowest number of encounters in a single day — 128 on June 28. In a written statement, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said, "From shutting down illegal crossings to seizing fentanyl and enforcing billions in tariffs, CBP is delivering results on every front. Under this administration, we are protecting this country with relentless focus, and the numbers prove it.” In June, Border Patrol agents apprehended 8,024 migrants who illegally crossed the border between ports of entry. "A new historic low," officials wrote. The arrest of 6,072 illegal aliens who crossed the southwest border between ports of entry in June represents a decrease of 15 percent from the previous record set in March. The Trump administration also set the record for the lowest number of migrants illegally crossing the border in a single day on June 28, when 136 migrants were apprehended. This compares to the Biden-era single-day record of more than 13,000 migrants. For the second month in a row, not a single migrant who was apprehended after illegally crossing the border was admitted into the United States. During the Biden era of "catch and release," between 50-70 percent of migrants who were encountered at the border were released into the U.S. Frequently, this resulted in thousands of illegal aliens being dumped into American cities on a daily basis without adequate time for screening.

(B) CNN News Central [7/24/2025 2:43 PM, Staff] reports that as the Trump administration looks to ramp up deportations, there are new details about plans to deport unaccompanied migrant children. Federal agents are now being directed to ask teens whether they want to voluntarily self-deport. The directive is to US Customs and Border Protection personnel who are across the country conducting immigration enforcement operations. This can now apply to kids who have been in the United States for year as they go through their legal proceedings. The Department of Homeland Security said this is a longstanding practice that was used by previous administrations to prioritize getting children back to the safety of a parent or legal guardian in their home country.

AP [7/25/2025 1:36 AM, Jae C. Hong, 24051K] reports U.S. troops from all branches of the military are sharing command stations and vehicles with civilian immigration authorities at the U.S. border with Mexico under an emergency declaration from President Donald Trump. Army Maj. Gen. Scott Naumann, who is leading 7,600 troops and an assortment of helicopters and drones, says the military has been freed from menial work to help apprehend immigrants, protect newly designated militarized turf and disrupt smuggling cartels. In some cases those deployed are immigrants themselves.

AP [7/25/2025 1:48 AM, Morgan Lee, 56000K] reports that, inside an armored vehicle, an Army scout uses a joystick to direct a long-range optical scope toward a man perched atop the U.S.-Mexico border wall cutting across the hills of this Arizona frontier community. The man lowers himself toward U.S. soil between coils of concertina wire. Shouts ring out, an alert is sounded and a U.S. Border Patrol SUV races toward the wall — warning enough to send the man scrambling back over it, disappearing into Mexico. The sighting Tuesday was one of only two for the Army infantry unit patrolling this sector of the southern border, where an emergency declaration by President Donald Trump has thrust the military into a central role in deterring migrant crossings between U.S. ports of entry. “Deterrence is actually boring,” said 24-year-old Army Sgt. Ana Harker-Molina, voicing the tedium felt by some fellow soldiers over the sporadic sightings. Still, she said she takes pride in the work, knowing that troops discourage crossings by their mere presence. “Just if we’re sitting here watching the border, it’s helping our country,” said Harker-Molina, an immigrant herself who came from Panama at age 12 and became a U.S. citizen two years ago while serving in the Army. U.S. troop deployments at the border have tripled to 7,600 and include every branch of the military — even as the number of attempted illegal crossings plummet and Trump has authorized funding for an additional 3,000 Border Patrol agents, offering $10,000 signing and retention bonuses. The military mission is guided from a new command center at a remote Army intelligence training base alongside southern Arizona’s Huachuca Mountains. There, a community hall has been transformed into a bustling war room of battalion commanders and staff with digital maps pinpointing military camps and movements along the nearly 2,000-mile border. Until now border enforcement had been the domain of civilian law enforcement, with the military only intermittently stepping in. But in April, large swaths of border were designated militarized zones, empowering U.S. troops to apprehend immigrants and others accused of trespassing on Army, Air Force or Navy bases, and authorizing additional criminal charges that can mean prison time. The two-star general leading the mission says troops are being untethered from maintenance and warehouse tasks to work closely with U.S. Border Patrol agents in high-traffic areas for illegal crossings — and to deploy rapidly to remote, unguarded terrain. “We don’t have a (labor) union, there’s no limit on how many hours we can work in a day, how many shifts we can man,” said Army Maj. Gen. Scott Naumann. “I can put soldiers out whenever we need to in order to get after the problem and we can put them out for days at a time, we can fly people into incredibly remote areas now that we see the cartels shifting” course.

AP [7/24/2025 7:59 PM, Julie Watson, 56000K] reports the United States and Mexico have signed an agreement outlining specific steps and a new timetable to clean up the longstanding problem of the Tijuana River pouring sewage across the border and polluting California beaches, officials from both countries announced Thursday. Billions of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals from Tijuana have polluted the Pacific Ocean off neighboring Southern California, closing beaches and sickening Navy SEALs who train in the water. That’s despite multiple efforts and millions of dollars that have been poured into addressing the problem over decades, including under the first Trump administration. “There is a great commitment by the two countries to strengthen cooperation,” Mexico’s Environmental Secretary Alicia Bárcena said Thursday after meeting with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in Mexico City for the signing of the memorandum of understanding. The accord comes three months after Zeldin flew to San Diego to meet with Mexican officials and visit the border. “I smelled what a lot of residents in the community lived through and have to deal with,” he said Thursday. “I saw the degradation of the Tijuana River valley. I heard about the beaches that were closed. I met with the Navy Seals, who have had their training impacted. It was a powerful visit all around for me.” Under the agreement, Mexico will complete its allocation of $93 million toward infrastructure projects, including adhering to a specific schedule for priority projects spanning through 2027. The 120-mile-long (195-kilometer) Tijuana River runs near the coast in Mexico and crosses into Southern California, where it flows through Navy-owned land and out to the Pacific. As Tijuana’s wastewater treatment plants have aged, its population and industry -- including the manufacturing plants, known as maquiladoras that make U.S. goods — have boomed. At the same time, there has been an increase in the amount of toxins that have made their way into the river and into San Diego County — since 2018, more than 100 billion gallons of raw sewage laden with industrial chemicals and trash. The pollution has sickened not only swimmers, surfers and lifeguards but also schoolchildren, Border Patrol agents and others who do not even go in the water. Scientists say the sewage is vaporized when it foams up and enters the air people breathe. California beaches near the border have been closed more often than not over the past four years. “The communities along the Tijuana River have suffered this public health crisis for far too long,” said Kristan Culbert, associate director of California river conservation at American Rivers, in a statement Thursday.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [7/24/2025 6:00 PM, Sharon Udasin, 18649K]
Reuters [7/24/2025 7:52 PM, Daniel Trotta, 51390K]

NewsMax [7/24/2025 10:14 PM, Mark Swanson, 4622K] reports a bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday that would reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including making it a Cabinet-level agency once again. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves, R-Mo., was joined by three other House reps in introducing H.R. 4669, the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025. Reps. Rick Larsen, D-Wash.; Daniel Webster, R-Fla.; and Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., are also sponsoring the bill, which would designate FEMA as an agency that reports directly to the president, as it did from 1996 until 2003, when it was moved under the Department of Homeland Security. The legislation comes at a time when President Donald Trump is mulling whether to abolish the agency entirely, leaving disaster funding to the states. "The American people need an emergency management system that works quickly and effectively, not one that makes disaster recovery more difficult," Graves said in a statement. "FEMA is in need of serious reform, and the goal of the ‘FEMA Act of 2025’ is to fix it.” The bill does put states in control of aspects of disaster recovery with project-based grants, and it provides incentives for states to invest in "mitigation, robust state rainy day funds, and private insurance policies.” The bill also provides for a "single, streamlined application," a move designed to cut down on red tape. "This bill does more than any recent reforms to cut through the bureaucracy, streamline programs, provide flexibility, and return FEMA to its core purpose of empowering the states to lead and coordinating the federal response when it’s needed," Graves’ statement read. Also, the bill "strictly prohibits any political discrimination in providing disaster recovery assistance.” "By streamlining FEMA and cutting red tape, we ensure that federal disaster response is faster, more efficient, and accountable to the American people," Webster said in the statement. Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [7/24/2025 11:51 AM, Courtney Rozen, 51390K]

New York Times [7/24/2025 7:05 PM, Eileen Sullivan, 153395K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ousted chief operating officer sued the Trump administration on Thursday in federal court, making a legal argument that could set a course for other fired government workers seeking reinstatement. The former FEMA official, Mary Comans, argues that the administrative body designated to hear such cases, called the Merit System Protections Board, has become so dysfunctional under the Trump administration that it is not a viable option for her to make her case. As a result, her lawyers say, a federal judge should hear her argument that President Trump fired her unlawfully and in violation of longstanding civil service protections. Fired employees have struggled to get a judge to hear their cases because Congress set up a separate system to referee such employment disputes. Ms. Comans first filed a complaint with the Merit System Protections Board in March after she was dismissed. But now that board is unable to make decisions because it lacks a quorum since Mr. Trump fired one of the members. If Ms. Comans’s lawyers are able to convince the judicial branch that she is allowed to fight her termination in district court, it could have large implications for the thousands of fired employees who are waiting for the merit systems board to consider their disputes. “Firing a career employee without cause, without process, and without explanation is illegal and its authoritarian,” said Mark S. Zaid, one of the lawyers representing Ms. Comans. “This case seeks recourse for a wrongfully terminated career employee.”

New York Post [7/24/2025 11:59 AM, Craig McCarthy and Matt Troutman, 49956K] reports City Comptroller Brad Lander shockingly suggested that Mayor Eric Adams is in government files related to notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein — drawing a furious response from City Hall Thursday. Lander’s evidence-free jibe unfolded during an NY1 interview Wednesday evening focused on conditions in 26 Federal Plaza, where advocates have complained about "inhumane treatment" at an ICE facility. Noting that Adams, who has generally been reticent to criticize President Trump, joined the uproar, Lander appeared to speculate as to why. "I have heard some people say maybe the mayor is in the Epstein files and he’s just trying to distract," Lander said with a smirk. Lander’s out-of-nowhere jibe drew a howl of disbelief from NY1 host Errol Louis. "If you’ve got evidence, I’m sure you’ll bring it forward," Louis dared. The stunning non sequitur drew an angry retort from City Hall spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak, who lambasted Lander in harsh terms. "This defamatory filth is a pathetic comment from a pathetic man and exposes Brad Lander for what he is: a desperate politician whose entire relevance revolves around smearing Mayor Adams," Mamelak said in a statement. "The mayor will continue to deliver for New Yorkers and do what he and most people in this city usually do — ignore Brad Lander — but the comptroller should immediately and emphatically apologize to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, whom Brad Lander has no problem re-victimizing and making a punchline.” Trump, Republicans and the wider MAGA movement have been in an internal conflict over the release of the "Epstein files," a grab-bag term for government records related to the sexual predator.

Washington Examiner [7/24/2025 9:50 AM, Annabella Rosciglione, 1934K] reports the Trump White House on Wednesday rejected a disaster relief request from Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) following devastating flooding in western Maryland. Moore requested $15.8 million in disaster relief funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for repairs due to heavy flooding in May. "These communities demonstrated a clear need through FEMA’s own process, and Maryland will appeal the decision to seek all available resources to support the recovery efforts," Moore said in a statement responding to the denial. Moore said the state met the federal thresholds that typically trigger FEMA assistance. "Historically, if the joint damage assessment process demonstrates eligible costs over and above the county and state indicator, disaster assistance has been awarded by the president," Moore said. The letter that denied the state’s request said the agency "determined that supplemental federal assistance under the Stafford Act is not warranted." It did not explain the decision-making process for denying the aid. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an email that "the President responds to each request for Federal assistance under the Stafford Act with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement — not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters. The Trump administration remains committed to empowering and working with State and local governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.”

Houston Chronicle [7/24/2025 9:38 AM, Jarrod Wardwell, 1982K] reports the number of counties under Gov. Greg Abbott disaster declaration for the deadly flooding in the Texas Hill Country has doubled since July 4, according to his past announcements. The figure that started at 15 on the Fourth of July reached 30 Wednesday when Abbott added Edwards, Kinney, Real and Schleicher to the declaration, making those areas eligible for "all available" state resources to handle the flooding’s after-effects. He said he told the Texas Division of Emergency Management to request President Donald Trump add the counties to his Major Disaster Declaration, which initiated the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to the flooding on July 6. Abbott also said the state requested nine additional counties to qualify for FEMA’s individual and public assistance programs, which respectively provide money and support for either repairs or facility replacement. Those newly requested counties include Guadalupe, Kimble, Menard, and McCulloch for individual assistance programs and Edwards, Lampasas, Reeves, Schleicher and Sutton for the public assistance programs. Last week, the federal government approved the state’s request to add Travis and Hamilton counties to FEMA’s public assistance program alongside 13 others. The growth of the state disaster declaration suggests the far-reaching impacts of the flooding that surged in the early morning hours of July 4 and laid waste to riverside homes, summer camps and RV parks in central Texas. The death toll stood at 108 in Kerr County alone as of Thursday morning. Before another missing person was confirmed as dead Tuesday, Abbott said at least 135 people had died because of the flooding throughout the state.

Houston Chronicle [7/24/2025 11:45 AM, Staff, 1982K] reports while Texas lawmakers gather in Austin to help the Hill Country recover, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is caught in a slow-moving disaster of its own. On Monday, Ken Pagurek, head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue program, announced his resignation. Why? According to reporting from CNN, Pagurek told colleagues that the agency’s failures during the deadly July 4 floods in Texas were the final straw after months of dysfunction. He pointed to mounting frustration with the White House’s attempts to sideline FEMA and micromanage operations in ways that hindered the agency’s mission. One of the most damaging policies: a requirement that any FEMA purchase over $100,000 receive personal approval from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Bureaucratic bottlenecks are simply incompatible with the urgency that disaster response demands. This is not the government efficiency voters were promised. Texans have already seen the results of FEMA’s dysfunction. Search-and-rescue teams were not authorized until 72 hours after the flooding began. The agency’s call center staff was slashed mid-crisis. All this while another storm system churns in the Gulf of Mexico, with peak hurricane season just weeks away. We’re still waiting for Congress to do its job and provide real accountability. A Wednesday hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on disaster response only gave FEMA Administrator David Richardson an opportunity to deflect and deny. After Hurricane Katrina, it took two weeks for scandal-plagued FEMA Director Michael Brown to resign. Three weeks have passed since the deadly Hill Country flood, and there’s been no sign of accountability from the Department of Homeland Security. How many more headlines must we read about preventable deaths before Secretary Noem takes her responsibilities — and Texas — seriously? Pagurek’s resignation should be the warning siren that wakes the White House from its embrace of incompetence, where red tape seems to matter more than rescue operations. Instead, the federal response has been to shoot the messenger. "It is laughable that a career public employee, who claims to serve the American people, would choose to resign over our refusal to hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight," said DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.

Houston Chronicle [7/23/2025 9:46 PM, Bayliss Wagner, Neena Satija and Keri Blakinger, 1982K] reports Texas lawmakers from both parties blasted Kerr County’s river authority Wednesday for choosing to cut property taxes rather than modernize its flood warning system, citing an investigation from the Houston Chronicle. State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, told the river authority’s general manager, Tara Bushnoe, that he found the choice "extremely disturbing" during a daylong legislative hearing Wednesday. Bushnoe was on the dais before 18 Texas Senate and House members as part of their effort to respond to floods that ravaged Central Texas on July 4 and 5, killing 108 people in Kerr County alone and at least 136 statewide. The Chronicle report, published Wednesday morning, found that the Upper Guadalupe River Authority was only willing to spend about $100,000 to upgrade its flood warning system after a 2016 engineering study found that a $1 million overhaul was urgently needed, even as it built up $3.4 million in reserves for an unrelated project. It later abandoned that project and began using the extra money to lower its property tax rate. Over two hours of questioning that stretched into the evening, legislators expressed disbelief that the UGRA not only passed on providing substantial funds for the project, but also later declined to accept an interest-free loan from the state’s Water Development Board. The agency offered to pay $50,000 and loan the remaining $950,000 at a 0% interest rate, with repayment stretched out over 30 years. Republican state Sen. Paul Bettencourt of Houston, who was instrumental in the Legislature’s push this year to cut $51 billion in property taxes over the coming biennium, criticized Bushnoe for the decision not to accept the roughly $31,600 annual expenditure on the warning system over the lifetime of the proposed loan. "As the property tax guy in the family, this decision is just pathetic," he said. "Because we’re talking about an incremental some-odd $30,000.” Bushnoe, who had not responded to the Chronicle’s earlier requests for comment, said the authority initially declined because the state only matched 5% of the request for funding, and because officials didn’t have enough time to fully consider the offer before a key deadline. Asked why the authority didn’t use its own reserves, she said that they followed recommendations from the Texas Sunset Commission. The commission’s 2023 evaluation of UGRA recommended that the river authority adopt a formal policy on how to manage its reserve fund but does not include more specifics.

(B) FOX 6 Wake-Up News at 8 [7/24/2025 9:40 AM, Staff] reports that in the wake of deadly flooding and wildfires, government officials are now exploring different ways to improve emergency response. Acting FEMA Director David Richardson testified before the House Transportation Committee yesterday afternoon after harsh criticism of FEMA’s handling of recent disasters. FEMA Search and Rescue Chief resigned over frustration with the Trump administration. Richardson says FEMA remains committed to improving disaster response as twenty major disasters have hit ten different states already this year.

Politico [7/24/2025 6:58 PM, Heather Richards, 2100K] reports the deadly July 4 flash floods in Texas have prompted a lot of questions and soul-searching: about the failures of early-warning systems, the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service and disaster programs and the vulnerability of communities around the country to disasters worsened by climate change. But two initial hearings on the disaster — which killed at least 137 people, including dozens of people at a girls’ camp — mostly avoided those hard discussions, my colleagues reported this morning. In Texas, a hearing by state lawmakers Wednesday largely praised the state’s response, even as the legislators narrowed in on points of consensus like improving emergency radio systems, Adam Aton reports. And on the same day in Washington, acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson told Congress that the federal response in Texas was exemplary, reports Amelia Davidson. “I can’t see anything that we did wrong,” Richardson, who has faced criticism for not arriving in Texas until a week after the floods, told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Emergency Management. “We would like to take the strengths that we did in Texas, and we’re going to share them with other states.” At the Texas hearing, Republican state Sen. Charles Perry — one of the leaders of the joint committee probing disaster preparedness — set the tone for that session early on, saying, “Our select committee will not armchair quarterback or attempt to assign blame.” That, he said, would undermine the goal of “constructive policy solutions.” The genial atmosphere in Texas prompted several Democrats to admonish their colleagues. At the separate hearing on Capitol Hill, Subcommittee Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) raised concerns about FEMA’s response and communication with states. Democrats drilled into Richardson for what they considered a slow response from FEMA’s urban search and rescue teams as well as a failure to pre-position emergency response resources ahead of the flooding. Richardson’s boss, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has said since the disaster that the administration is “cutting through the paperwork of the old FEMA,” with the aim of speeding up what had been a lumbering disaster-recovery bureaucracy. But the track record to date offers reasons to worry, said Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton, the top Democrat on the Emergency Management Subcommittee.

New York Times [7/24/2025 6:14 PM, Hannah Ziegler, 153395K] reports heavy rain in southern New Mexico on Thursday caused flash flooding and led to water rescues, less than a month after severe flooding in the area killed three people and damaged dozens of homes. Emergency workers in Lincoln County, N.M., rescued five people from the water, according to Kerry Gladden, a spokeswoman for the city of Ruidoso. Fourteen evacuees from Ruidoso, a small city about 130 miles southeast of Albuquerque, were headed to temporary shelters, she said, noting that there had been no reports of injury or death related to the flooding. The authorities opened shelters at the Ruidoso Community Center and Eastern New Mexico University, according to an online post by the Lincoln County Fire Service. Local officials were not sure of the extent of the damage, Ms. Gladden said. The flooding on Thursday was far less severe than on July 8, when the Rio Ruidoso, a 30-mile river threading through the Sierra Blanca and Sacramento Mountains, rose to 20 feet. Three people were killed and at least 35 homes were damaged or swept downriver by floodwaters during that storm. On Thursday, the river rose to just over 12 feet before quickly receding.

FOX News [7/24/2025 12:46 PM, Greg Norman, 46878K] reports that the man charged with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at one of his Florida golf courses last year was given clearance by a federal judge Thursday to represent himself in his upcoming trial. Ryan Routh appeared in front of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon in Fort Pierce a day after his court-appointed attorneys asked to be removed from the case. However, Cannon ruled that Routh’s attorneys must remain on standby and denied their request to be withdrawn. Prior to allowing Routh to represent himself, Cannon told him that his court-appointed attorneys "will defend you far better than you can defend yourself" and "I strongly urge you not to make this decision." "These are nice ladies… How [can] they defend me and say I’m not a dangerous person if they’re afraid of me?" Routh said at one point. "They don’t appreciate me and they’re afraid of me." The attorneys described Routh’s claims as untrue. The 59-year-old was wearing beige jail scrubs and appeared disheveled during the court appearance, during which he was taking notes despite being shackled at the wrists. "Mr. Routh has now refused six attempts from members of our office/the defense team to meet with Mr. Routh. As a result, undersigned counsel submits that the attorney-client relationship is irreconcilably broken. It is clear that Mr. Routh wishes to represent himself, and he is within his Constitutional rights to make such a demand," the lawyers wrote in a filing late Wednesday night.

AP [7/24/2025 11:57 PM, Mike Schneider, 24051K] reports a man charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump in South Florida last year was back in court this week, asking a federal judge to let him represent himself, as prosecutors tried to block him from introducing irrelevant evidence during trial. Ryan Routh’s court-appointed federal public defenders on Thursday asked to be taken off the case, saying he had refused repeated attempts to meet with their team. Separately, prosecutors trying the case asked a judge ahead of the September trial to rule out the introduction of inadmissible evidence, such as Routh’s previous writings, that may unfairly influence jurors. The judge was planning to hear arguments over that matter on Friday. Here’s what to know about the case. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signed off Thursday on Ryan Routh’s request to represent himself during his trial but said court-appointed attorneys need to remain as standby counsel. The judge told Routh that she believed it was a bad idea for Routh to represent himself, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded. Routh, who has described the extent of his education as two years of college after earning his GED certificate, told Cannon that he understood and would be ready. On Friday, the judge was hearing a motion from prosecutors to limit unrelated evidence at trial. "As the Court knows, Routh has been very explicit in his desire to turn this trial into a circus where his supposed good character is weighed against the President’s," the prosecutors wrote. The 59-year-old Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who in recent years had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary leader, Routh spoke out to anyone who would listen about his dangerous, sometimes violent plans to insert himself into conflicts around the world, witnesses have told The Associated Press. In the early days of the war in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians. In his native Greensboro, North Carolina, he had a 2002 arrest for eluding a traffic stop and barricading himself from officers with a fully automatic machine gun and a "weapon of mass destruction," which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch-long fuse. In 2010, police searched a warehouse Routh owned and found more than 100 stolen items, from power tools and building supplies to kayaks and spa tubs. In both felony cases, judges gave Routh either probation or a suspended sentence. Authorities said Routh tried to assassinate Trump, who was running for his second term last September as the GOP presidential nominee, while he played golf at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

HS Today [7/24/2025 8:10 PM, Staff, 38K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area held a retirement ceremony for Vice Adm. Andrew J. Tiongson last Friday at Coast Guard Base Alameda. Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant, presided over the ceremony in which Vice Adm. Tiongson retired following 40 years of honorable service. Rear Adm. Joseph Buzzella has been announced as the acting Pacific Area commander. He previously led the Coast Guard’s Southwest District from July 2024 to July 2025, overseeing operations from the California-Oregon border to Peru, including Arizona, Utah and Nevada. Under Buzzella’s leadership spanning 3.3 million square miles of ocean with critical ports, sectors, air stations, cutters, and international partners, the Southwest District conducted nearly 4,000 search and rescue cases saving 955 lives, assisting 2,680 mariners, and protecting $126 million in property. He led a historic Department of Homeland Security pivot to strengthen border control, coordinating a surge that apprehended over 1,600 illegal aliens, and established operational frameworks enabling nearly 200 flights expelling over 2,300 individuals. Supporting counter-drug missions, he oversaw the interdiction of 65 vessels, detention of 217 suspected smugglers, and prevention of more than 100 million fatal doses of drugs from reaching U.S. streets, while directing efforts to protect $800 billion in annual maritime commerce from kinetic and cybersecurity threats. “I have served for four decades in the U.S. Coast Guard and although each role has been an incredible experience, the last three years leading the men and women of the Pacific Area, leave me with immense pride and deep humility,” said Retired Vice Admiral Andrew Tiongson. The Coast Guard teaches us resilience, teamwork, and purpose—values that define our great service. It has been an honor to serve alongside those who protect our nation with quiet courage and unwavering commitment.”

The New York Times [7/24/2025 6:28 PM, Laurel Rosenhall, 138952K] reports the eight people who died during a birthday boat trip on Lake Tahoe last month were found without life preservers after a fierce storm upended their vessel and flung them into the chilly water, according to a new report from the National Transportation Safety Board. Only two people survived the accident. One was wearing a flotation device, the report said, and the other was clinging to one. Within about two hours on June 21, the 10 passengers went from enjoying the calm waters of Emerald Bay, a scenic cove on the west side of the lake, to fighting for their lives against a torrent of rain, waves and icy precipitation, according to the preliminary review released this week. The 28-foot long Chris-Craft boat, named Over the Moon, launched from Tahoe City, Calif., around 10:40 a.m. that morning. It picked up passengers at a nearby marina and traveled about 10 miles south to Emerald Bay. Skies were clear and winds were light when the boat anchored there for about an hour and a half. As the clouds increased before 2 p.m., the boat operator tried twice to return to the marina, the report said, but he was overwhelmed by wind and waves in Emerald Bay. Hail collected in the boat and waves as large as eight to 10 feet crashed over the side, a survivor told investigators. The boat eventually took on water, its engine stopped and Over the Moon tipped sideways against the waves. One of the survivors put on a personal flotation device and distributed more devices to everyone else onboard, according to the report. “No one else immediately donned their P.F.D.,” the report said. “Shortly after, the boat rolled over to starboard, and the passengers entered the water.” By then, snow began to fall, and the water was 54 degrees in the alpine lake, which straddles the California-Nevada border. Hikers saw the boat capsize shortly before 3 p.m. and called 911, the report said, and another hiker and a lifeguard helped the survivors get out of the lake. Six people, including the boat operator, were pronounced dead at the scene. Two more victims were recovered from the bottom of the lake the next day, the report said. After recovering the boat, investigators found one flotation device still in plastic packaging with tags on it, one infant life vest in its packaging, and five inflatable flotation devices in stowage compartments. Electronic systems, two bilge pumps and an engine fuel filter were recovered and sent to a federal lab for further examination. The N.T.S.B.’s final report on the accident is expected in one to two years. The Los Angeles Times [7/24/2025 6:00 AM, Clara Harter, 14672K] reports that of the two people who survived, one was found wearing a life jacket and the other was found clinging to a life jacket. A salvage company later recovered the boat, which was examined by investigators from the NTSB and U.S. Coast Guard. "Investigators did not find any evidence of a hull leak, grounding, or contact with an object," the report states. "On the vessel, investigators found one PFD still in its plastic packaging with tags on it, one infant life vest still in its packaging, an unzipped life vest stowage bag, and five inflatable PFDs in stowage compartments."

CyberScoop [7/24/2025 2:50 PM, Matt Kapko] reports the fallout from an attack spree targeting defects in on-premises Microsoft SharePoint servers continues to spread nearly a week after zero-day exploits were discovered, setting off alarms across the globe. More than 400 organizations have been actively compromised across four waves of attacks, according to Eye Security. Multiple government agencies, including the Departments of Energy, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, have been hit. The California Independent System Operator, which operates some of the state’s wholesale electric grid, was also impacted. As more victims confirm varying levels of compromise from the attack spree, researchers are learning and sharing more details about post-exploit activities. One of the China-based attackers behind the initial wave of attacks, Storm-2603, deployed Warlock ransomware starting July 18, Microsoft Threat Intelligence said Wednesday in an updated blog post. The Chinese government-affiliated threat groups Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon — which have been active for at least a decade — are also actively exploiting the zero-day vulnerabilities, Microsoft said. Linen Typhoon has focused on stealing intellectual property and Violet Typhoon is an espionage threat group. Storm is a moniker Microsoft uses for threat groups in development. Microsoft said it observed Storm-2603 modifying policy settings to distribute Warlock ransomware in compromised environments. The attacker is also attempting to steal cryptographic keys from compromised SharePoint servers, which could allow attackers to maintain persistent access to victim environments after the patch has been applied. Microsoft did not say how many organizations have been hit with ransomware.

Bloomberg [7/24/2025 1:05 PM, Cameron Fozi and Jordan Robertson, 19320K] reports hackers in recent weeks have exploited flaws in SharePoint, a document management system developed by Microsoft Corp., to try to steal sensitive data from hundreds of victims. On July 22, Microsoft accused hackers associated with the Chinese government of breaking into computer systems belonging to businesses and government agencies in the US and around the world. The list of known victims includes the Department of Education and the National Nuclear Security Administration, the US agency charged with safeguarding the country’s nuclear weapons, Bloomberg reported. Security experts say the scale of the cyber-espionage campaign — as measured in the number of victims and the sensitivity of the compromised information — may not be fully understood for months or even years. Here’s what you need to know. Microsoft said the attacks on certain SharePoint clients exploited two flaws in its software. The first was a “spoofing” vulnerability, which occurs when a computer system does not properly verify the identity of users. In SharePoint’s case, a verification bug allowed hackers to access vulnerable servers by imitating legitimate users. The second flaw allowed attackers posing as users with a high level of access to install malware on SharePoint servers remotely, enabling them to steal data.

CBS News [7/24/2025 11:16 AM, Margaret Brennan, James LaPorta, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Olivia Rinaldi, 51860K] Video: HERE reports Department of Homeland Security headquarters, several of its component agencies and the Department of Health and Human Services have been hacked as part of a wider breach of Microsoft’s SharePoint service, according to multiple U.S. officials. Microsoft confirmed its software was targeted by Chinese actors who deployed ransomware on the file sharing and storage platform. "Microsoft has observed two named Chinese nation-state actors, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon exploiting these vulnerabilities targeting internet-facing SharePoint servers," the company wrote in a blog post earlier this week. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday he was "not familiar with the specifics" of the cyberattack and accusations of Chinese culpability. A White House official said the White House is "closely monitoring the situation," and that the government "acted very quickly to immediately identify and mitigate this hack.” "We are working with all agencies to patch vulnerabilities and mitigate impact," the official said. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency "quickly launched a national coordinated response through an initial alert and two cybersecurity updates" when the vulnerability was detected last Friday. "CISA has been working around the clock with Microsoft, impacted agencies, and critical infrastructure partners to share actionable information, apply mitigation efforts, implement protective measures, and assess preventative measures to shield from future attacks," McLaughlin said, adding that there is "no evidence of data exfiltration at DHS or any of its components at this time."

Blaze [7/24/2025 6:30 AM, Andrew Chapados, 1805K] reports foreign agents were able to penetrate the systems of the U.S. agency responsible for maintaining and designing nuclear weapons. The National Nuclear Security Administration, which operates under the United States Department of Energy, was compromised along with other sectors of the department. According to Bloomberg, while the NNSA is semiautonomous, it still holds the responsibility of producing and dismantling nuclear arms in the United States. This makes the intrusion even more concerning when considering the origins of those who penetrated the system. The Energy Department revealed in an email to Bloomberg that an "exploitation of a Microsoft SharePoint zero-day vulnerability began affecting the Department of Energy" on Friday, July 18. The email continued, "The department was minimally impacted due to its widespread use of the Microsoft M365 cloud and very capable cybersecurity systems. A very small number of systems were impacted. All impacted systems are being restored." While the government entity did not expose information about the source of the intrusion, Microsoft revealed on its own blog that it has identified multiple hostiles working on behalf of a foreign entity.

Washington Times [7/24/2025 1:05 PM, Bill Gertz, 2106K] reports unidentified hackers recently compromised a major intelligence website used by the CIA and other agencies to submit details of sensitive contracts, according to the National Reconnaissance Office, the spy satellite service that runs the site. The breach targeted proprietary intellectual property and personal information submitted on the Acquisition Research Center website in support of several innovative CIA spying programs. In addition to the intelligence website hack, Microsoft revealed this week that Chinese state hackers compromised the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, a central nuclear weapons agency. A National Reconnaissance Office spokesman told The Washington Times: “We can confirm that an incident involving our unclassified Acquisition Research Center website is currently being investigated by federal law enforcement. We do not comment on ongoing investigations.” The extent of the breach is not fully known, but people familiar with the activity said hackers likely obtained information on key technologies for CIA operations.

DefenseScoop [7/24/2025 11:55 AM, Mark Pomerleau, 150K] reports the House and Senate are pushing for a potential shakeup in how cyber operations and forces are synchronized and conducted in the Department of Defense. The proposals are part of each chamber’s version of the annual defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026. According to the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version, DOD must conduct a study on force employment of cyber in support of combatant commands and evaluate establishing Joint Task Force-Cyber elements across those geographic combatant commands. A proposal in the House, offered by Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems chairman Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., requires a similar evaluation, though focused specifically on the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. According to Bacon, the military is not properly organized for the current cyber conflict. “Since becoming Chairman of the Subcommittee, I’ve grown increasingly concerned that we are not correctly organized for the cyber fight we find ourselves in today, let alone a more complex and consequential future fight. Our Cyber Command does great working national threats, but I want to ensure our Cyber team is postured right for a potential fight with China over Taiwan,” he said in a statement. He said he plans to push for the establishment of a Joint Task Force-Cyber — not merely an evaluation — when both chambers of Congress convene to reconcile their bills.

Reuters [7/24/2025 9:18 PM, Staff, 51390K] reports SpaceX’s Starlink suffered one of its biggest international outages on Thursday when an internal software failure knocked tens of thousands of users offline, a rare disruption for Elon Musk’s powerful satellite internet system. Users in the U.S. and Europe began experiencing the outage at around 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), according to Downdetector, a crowdsourced outage tracker that said as many as 61,000 user reports to the site were made. Starlink, which has more than 6 million users across roughly 140 countries and territories, later acknowledged the outage on its X account and said "we are actively implementing a solution." Starlink service mostly resumed after 2.5 hours, Michael Nicolls, Starlink vice president of Starlink Engineering, wrote on X. "The outage was due to failure of key internal software services that operate the core network," Nicolls said, apologizing for the disruption and vowing to find its root cause. Musk had also apologized: "Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again," the SpaceX CEO wrote on X.

Federal News Network [7/24/2025 8:44 AM, Justin Doubleday, 2346K] reports the new leader of the powerful House Homeland Security Committee is committed to meeting a tight deadline for reauthorizing a pivotal cybersecurity information sharing law, but wants to see "some changes" to the statute, according to a top aide. Questions around the process for reauthorizing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 have developed into a crucial early test for new House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.). He was selected to replace former Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) this week. As chairman of the committee’s cybersecurity and infrastructure protection subcommittee, Garbarino called reauthorizing CISA 2015 a "top priority." The law expires Sept. 30. Re-authorization continues to be a top priority now that Garbarino helms the full committee, according to Alexandra Seymour, majority staff director for the cybersecurity and infrastructure protection subcommittee. "First and foremost, we are committed to making sure that this authority does not lapse," Seymour said during a Wednesday event in Washington hosted by the Homeland Security and Defense Forum.

CyberScoop [7/24/2025 1:55 PM, Tim Starks] reports President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency told senators Thursday that he would prioritize evicting China from the U.S. supply chain, and wouldn’t hesitate to ask for more money for the shrunken agency if he thought it needed it. “If confirmed it will be a priority of mine to remove all Chinese intrusions, exploitations or infestation into the American supply chain,” Sean Plankey told Rick Scott, R-Fla., at his confirmation hearing before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Scott had asked Plankey about reports of Chinese infiltration of U.S. energy infrastructure. Should he be confirmed for the role, Plankey is set to arrive at an agency that has had its personnel and budget slashed significantly under Trump, a topic of concern for Democratic senators including the ranking member on the panel vetting him, Gary Peters of Michigan. Peters asked how he’d handle the smaller CISA he’s inherited while still having a range of legal obligations to fulfill. “One of the ways I’ve found most effective when you come in to lead an organization is to allow the operators to operate,” Plankey said. “If that means we have to reorganize in some form or fashion, that’s what we’ll do, I’ll lead that charge. If that means we need a different level of funding than we currently have now, then I will approach [Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem], ask for that funding, ask for that support.”

NewsMax [7/24/2025 8:14 AM, Staff, 4622K] reports the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent more than $25 million to extremist groups with ties to Islamist terror groups between 2013 and 2023, according to a new report from the Middle East Forum. Gregg Roman, executive director of the think tank, told JNS that the forum pored over publicly accessible government spending data. "We matched these grants with extremist groups found in our research archives to identify the misuse of taxpayer dollars on a grand scale," he said. "Americans should know that their hard-earned money was allocated to build up security around a luxurious mosque compound in Maryland owned by Turkey’s Islamist government and that mosques in Michigan and Texas that serve as outposts for Iran’s regime were also recipients of DHS funds," he told JNS. Some $750,000 in federal grants went "to mosques suspected of operating on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran or its proxies," according to the report. The report acknowledges that it is not known if the U.S. government ultimately paid the grants, only that it earmarked them in a specific year. (JNS sought comment from the Department of Homeland Security.) The report, which the forum published on Monday, examines three federal grant programs — the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, Countering Violent Extremism, and the Disaster Relief Fund — from which the extremist groups received funding. The report calls for better vetting and transparency from the Department of Homeland Security, and for various agencies in the department to stop partnering with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation trial, "the largest terrorism financing case in U.S. history," per the report.

Breitbart [7/24/2025 7:31 PM, Sean Moran, 3077K] reports Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) explained in an interview with Breitbart News on Thursday how his NARCO Act would codify Trump administration reforms to dismantle international cartels. Davidson introduced the New Authorities Reforming Counter-Narcotics Operations Act (NARCO), which would set into law recent reforms installed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) under the International Security family at State Department. The NARCO Act would also implement parts of President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget request. Davidson said the legislation follows in the "spirit" of a bill they introduced a few years ago called the Stop the Cartels Act. The Ohio conservative said the legislation helps focus on a common sense issue: stopping cartels. He asked rhetorically, "Can we at least agree we should stop the cartels and try to reframe the debate, and been pushing on that for a long time, just to get the focus where we treat the cartels as enemies of our country, because they’re enemies of our country.” While Trump has been successful in shutting down the border, Davidson said now is the time to put these reforms into law. He remarked, "We just want to lock this in so that no matter who’s president, you know, the focus stays the same.” Codify Transnational Organized Crime and Narcotics Rewards Programs, requiring a minimum of 20% of the Bureau’s budget to be allocated toward rewarding successful interdictions, dismantling of cartels, and the capture of major criminals. Prioritize efforts to counter criminal activities that enable terrorist organizations, including narcotics trafficking, weapons smuggling, and illicit financing. Expand INL’s mandate to include combating illegal immigration and human smuggling by leveraging its expertise to support border security efforts.

AP [7/24/2025 5:15 PM, Todd Richmond] reports the father of a Wisconsin school shooter must stand trial on charges he allowed her access to the guns she used in the deadly attack, a court commissioner ruled Thursday, rejecting arguments that he didn’t know she was considering violence and didn’t physically hand her the weapons at the school. Dane County Court Commissioner John Rome issued the order in Jeffrey Rupnow’s case after a preliminary hearing, a routine step in the criminal justice process in which a court official decides whether enough evidence exists to order a trial. Rupnow, 43, faces two counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a minor and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The charges carry a combined maximum sentence of 18 years in prison. Rupnow’s 15-year-old daughter, Natalie Rupnow, opened fire in December at Abundant Life Christian School, a religious school she attended in Madison. She killed teacher Erin Michelle West and 14-year-old old student Rubi Vergara and wounded six others before she shot herself in the head.

NewsNation [7/25/2025 3:53 AM, Salvador Rivera, 5801K] reports Mexico’s Secretary of Defense says the Sinaloa cartel is quickly losing its power, territories and influence in Mexico, adding that its downfall began in earnest when one of its leaders, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, was arrested in the United States last year. The Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) has been reportedly carving into the Sinaloa cartel’s domain in several Mexican states, including Chiapas, Sonora, Jalisco and Chihuahua. Other cartels such as "La Linea" and "Los Beltrán Leyva," are also taking territories away from their counterparts in the Sinaloa cartel. Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office says the Sinaloa cartel is on its heels as it tries to retain vital smuggling routes into the U.S. along the Pacific Ocean in cities such as Tijuana and the state of Baja California. Prosecutors say the cartel, considered to be the most powerful in Mexico for decades, has lost control in many markets including Hidalgo, Tapachula, Huixtla, Mapastepec, Pijijiapan, Tonalá y Arriaga along with all smuggling routes on the Mexico-Guatemala border. A civil war within the Sinaloa cartel has also weakened the crime syndicate to the point it has lost control of 30 of its 42 routes and/or distribution centers it once dominated, Mexico’s attorny general says.

Breitbart [7/24/2025 12:44 PM, Nick Gilbertson, 3077K] reports Attorney General Pam Bondi is forming a strike force to investigate disclosures from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that raise allegations the Obama administration "manufactured" an intelligence assessment in 2017 promoting the Russia Collusion Hoax. The Department of Justice announced the formation of the strike force on Wednesday. The strike force will "assess the evidence publicized by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and investigate potential next legal steps which might stem from DNI Gabbard’s disclosures," per a release. Bondi called the disclosures from Gabbard’s office "troubling" in a statement. The Washington Examiner [7/24/2025 10:16 AM, David Zimmermann, 1934K] reports "The Department of Justice is proud to work with my friend Director Gabbard and we are grateful for her partnership in delivering accountability for the American people," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. "We will investigate these troubling disclosures fully and leave no stone unturned to deliver justice.” The department noted it is taking the "alleged weaponization of the intelligence community with the utmost seriousness.” The group’s formation comes less than a week after Gabbard’s office published new evidence suggesting former President Barack Obama undermined President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory. Obama’s White House claimed at the time that Russia meddled with the election results, despite the intelligence community’s prior assessments indicating no foreign interference in the months leading up to the election. The Democratic administration quickly reversed course after the election in December 2016, when former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s office ordered the creation of a new assessment that details the "tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election." Obama officials then leaked false statements to the press alleging Russia attempted to interfere in the election’s outcome, which saw Trump defeat former first lady Hillary Clinton. The new intelligence assessment was published on Jan. 6, 2017, shortly before Trump entered office for the first time. Obama has disputed Gabbard’s findings, claiming his administration’s assessment of alleged Russian election interference was accurate and unbiased. The Trump administration thinks otherwise. "There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Barack Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew that was false," Gabbard told reporters during Wednesday’s White House press briefing. "The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact.” The strike force will be responsible for overseeing the criminal investigation into the evidence. The team consists of investigators and prosecutors who focus on "the worst offenders engaged in fraudulent activities, including, chiefly, healthcare fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, money laundering offenses, false statements offenses," and more, the DOJ told Fox News.

Reported similarly:
DailySignal [7/24/2025 5:39 PM, Victor Davis Hanson, 558K] Video: HERE

Washington Examiner [7/24/2025 7:29 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 1934K] reports citing "people familiar with the matter," the Washington Post is reporting that the Pentagon’s acting inspector general found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s description of planned airstrikes on Yemen in March — shared on an unsecure group chat on Signal — included details derived from a classified email sent by top commander for the operation Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla. The classified email was labeled "SECRET/NOFORN," according to the report. "The ‘SECRET’ classification of Kurilla’s email, which has not previously been reported, denoted that the information was classified at a level at which unauthorized disclosure could be expected to cause serious damage to national security. The ‘NOFORN’ label means it also was not meant for anyone who is a foreign national, including senior officials of close allies of the United States," the newspaper said. Kurilla reportedly sent his classified email over the Pentagon’s secure system known as SIPRNet, short for Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, and the information included a rundown of when and where U.S. planes and missile systems would strike, which was revealed after the fact by Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic journalist inadvertently added to the chat. The latest leak was denounced by Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, who issued an angry denial in a statement and on Steve Bannon’s podcast show. "The Department stands behind its previous statements: no classified information was shared via Signal," Parnell said in a statement emailed to the Washington Post. "As we’ve said repeatedly, nobody was texting war plans, and the success of the Department’s recent operations — from Operation Rough Rider to Operation Midnight Hammer — are proof that our operational security and discipline are top-notch."

USA Today [7/24/2025 12:21 PM, Davis Winkie, 75552K] reports employees at the government agency responsible for designing, building and maintaining nuclear weapons may soon have legal protection from the wave of layoffs sweeping the federal government under President Donald Trump. A draft defense bill in the Senate includes a provision that, if signed into law, will reclassify National Nuclear Security Administration workers as "necessary to meet national security responsibilities." The agency, whose less than 1,900 federal employees oversee a contract workforce of more than 60,000, plays a pivotal role in a $1.7 trillion push to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The new classification would protect the NNSA from future layoffs stemming from the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk. A joint memo from the Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget directing the cuts exempts national security positions. The NNSA lost more than 130 of its 2,000 federal employees earlier this year due to the DOGE deferred resignation program, and in mid-February, more than 300 workers were chaotically fired and then reinstated. The workforce woes are a long-running problem at NNSA, which requires employees with significant technical expertise. For decades, the agency battled staffing problems that hampered its ability to provide effective safety oversight of its contractors and led to major project delays and cost overruns, a USA TODAY investigation found. The cuts dashed the momentum the agency had gained in 2024 from a record hiring year, former NNSA defense programs head Marvin Adams told USA TODAY in May. The Department of Energy and NNSA acknowledged but did not respond to an inquiry from USA TODAY. Crucially, the national security position designation, if it becomes law, could exempt NNSA from the Trump administration’s federal hiring freeze. The agency’s acting leadership told Senate lawmakers in May that their inability to fill vacancies caused by firings, resignations and attrition meant the agency "shifted people around" to meet "critical needs.”

The Hill [7/24/2025 6:04 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18649K] reports an attorney for Ghislaine Maxwell said she had a "very productive" meeting on Thursday with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who flew to Tallahassee, Fla., to meet with her amid pressure to release more information from the Epstein files. Blanche took the unusual step of questioning Maxwell, a close associate of deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein. Such a task is typically left to career attorneys at the Justice Department. "He took a full day and asked a lot of questions, and Ms. Maxwell answered every single question," David Markus told reporters outside the federal courthouse where the meeting took place, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. "She never stopped. She never invoked her privilege. She never declined to answer. She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability," the outlet reported. The Justice Department did not immediately comment on the meeting. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in connection with Epstein in 2021 and is serving a 20 year sentence. She is currently appealing her conviction to the Supreme Court. The Trump administration is under tremendous pressure to release more information about the Epstein case. A firestorm erupted after the department released a memo stating the financier killed himself and did not keep a client list. Attorney General Pam Bondi had previously said such files were on her desk, but she later demurred about releasing additional information about the case, saying it contained pornographic images and would be damaging to Epstein’s victims.

FOX News [7/24/2025 9:00 AM, Jasmine Baehr, 46878K] Video HERE reports House Republicans are taking direct aim at actors tied to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) growing grip on American farmland. In an exclusive to Fox News Digital, Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., said she will introduce a House version of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s "Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act" Thursday morning, or H.R. 840, "Saving American Farms from Adversaries Act." The legislation is part of a growing GOP push to block the CCP from buying up U.S. farmland and homes. "Prized American land is not for sale to our enemies," Miller said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "The Chinese Communist Party is the greatest threat to our national security, and their aggressive push to buy up our farmland and homes is a direct attack on our sovereignty. It’s long past time we take back control and put America’s food supply and communities back in American hands — where they belong," she added. Miller’s bill closely tracks Hawley’s Senate version. The proposal would ban Chinese corporations and individuals affiliated with the CCP from acquiring or leasing any agricultural land in the U.S. The attorney general would have the authority to seize assets and seek court orders to stop violations. Miller’s push aligns with President Donald Trump’s newly launched "National Farm Security Action Plan," led by Trump officials including Brooke Rollins, Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem. The plan is aimed at protecting U.S. food systems and farmland from what Trump has called "foreign exploitation."

CNN [7/25/2025 5:11 AM, Karina Tsui, 21433K] reports a woman in Arizona was sentenced Thursday to more than 8 years in prison for orchestrating a complex fraud scheme to help North Korean cyber operatives pose as Americans and obtain remote IT jobs at hundreds of US companies, including Fortune 500 corporations. The plot, described by the Department of Justice as one of the largest North Korean IT worker fraud schemes, used the stolen identities of 68 Americans, defrauded more than 300 US businesses and generated more than $17 million in revenue –– funds that could benefit the nuclear-armed North Korean regime, the department said in a release. Christina Chapman, 50, pleaded guilty in February after being accused of operating a "laptop farm" from her home, where she "received and hosted" company-issued computers on behalf of foreign IT workers to trick companies into believing the workers were living in the US. She was charged with nine counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. In its statement, the DOJ said North Korea has deployed thousands of highly skilled IT workers around the world, including to the US, to circumvent controls employed by US companies to prevent illegal hirings by enlisting the assistance of US-based collaborators. The DOJ said Chapman shipped 49 laptops and other devices to various locations abroad, including a city in China near the North Korean border. Authorities found more than 90 laptops in her home in an October 2023 search. Chapman also received and forged payroll records using stolen identities. Funds were deposited into her personal US accounts and then transferred to individuals overseas. Among the companies affected by the scheme are Fortune 500 corporations, a major national TV network, an aerospace manufacturer, an American car maker and a luxury retail store, the May indictment read, without naming the companies.

Washington Post [7/24/2025 12:57 PM, Noah Robertson, 32099K] reports nearly 30 Senate Democrats are urging the Trump administration to investigate the recent death of a U.S. citizen in the West Bank. In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, the senators criticized what they labeled a “culture of impunity when it comes to incidents where civilians have been killed in the West Bank, including Americans.” Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, 20, of Tampa, was killed July 11 while visiting family in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian health authorities and Musallet’s family have said Israeli settlers are responsible for his death. Shortly after Musallet was killed, the Israel Defense Forces said it was examining reports of a death during a confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians in the area. A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The State Department and the Justice Department declined to comment. The senators’ letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, was signed by 29 lawmakers, accounting for more than half of the chamber’s Democrats. No Republicans have joined the effort. Three other Palestinian Americans have died in the West Bank since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023. Democratic members of Congress have objected to the wave of settler violence, arguing that American citizens are falling victim. The U.S. government "has failed in its responsibility to protect American citizens overseas and demand justice for their deaths," the letter states. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), the letter’s lead author, has called for similar investigations in the past. He has emerged as a vocal critic of settler violence and the Israeli government’s response to it. His office shared responses to similar requests made of the Biden administration, which show officials offered little further information about the deaths but committed to speaking with Israel’s government about them. At a Senate hearing earlier this month to evaluate President Donald Trump’s nomination of Michael Waltz, the former White House national security adviser, to become ambassador to the United Nations, Van Hollen criticized the Trump administration’s decision to revoke sanctions imposed by the Biden administration targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank whom the U.S. government at the time deemed extremists. "When you withdrew that executive order, you sent a very bad signal," Van Hollen said then.

AP [7/24/2025 12:58 PM, Amir Vahdat, 56000K] reports Iran is ready to engage in talks on its nuclear program with the United States, but only if Washington takes meaningful steps to rebuild trust, a senior Iranian diplomat said Thursday, ahead of a key meeting with European officials. That meeting will be the first since a ceasefire was reached after a 12-day war waged by Israel against Iran in June, which also saw U.S. B-52 bombers strike nuclear-related facilities in the Islamic Republic. The discussions will bring Iranian officials together with officials from Britain, France and Germany — known as the E3 nations — and will include the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. A similar meeting had been held in the Turkish city in May.

Free Beacon [7/24/2025 10:00 AM, Adam Kredo, 773K] reports Iran and Russia conducted three days of joint war drills in the Caspian Sea this week "in order to send a message to the United States" in the wake of its strikes on Tehran’s top nuclear sites, Iranian state-run media reported. The three-day exercises—codenamed "CASAREX 2025" and held under the slogan "Together for a Safe and Secure Caspian Sea"—included the Iranian Navy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, the Islamic Republic’s Law Enforcement Command, and the Russian Federation’s navy. "The naval drills send a message on cooperation between Iranian and Russian armed forces to the United States weeks after it joined Israel in attacking Iranian nuclear sites," Mehr News reported, noting that "Iran has sought to bolster its military capabilities following the U.S.-Israeli 12-day aggression." In the weeks since Israel and the United States jointly bombed Iran’s top three nuclear facilities, including the Fordow mountain bunker, Tehran has "sought backing from Russia and China to counter U.S. military and economic pressure," according to the state-controlled publication. The war exercises kicked off on Monday after Iran’s defense minister met with his Russian counterpart in Moscow "to discuss expanding military cooperation," as both the United States and Israel have left open the possibility of further strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities should the Islamic Republic attempt to reconstitute its enrichment program. Iranian defense minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on his Telegram channel that the meeting with Russia’s Andrey Belousov focused on "enhancing bilateral cooperation in the military and defense fields." Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, also held a "high-level meeting" on Monday with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss "Tehran’s official message about regional and international issues."

Bloomberg [7/24/2025 7:52 AM, Ott Tammik, 19320K] reports Estonian officials said Russia has bolstered its electronic warfare systems near its border with the Baltic country. The Russian army brought additional signals jamming equipment to the area around Kingisiepp, a town around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Estonian frontier, Interior Minister Igor Taro said at a press conference in Tallinn on Thursday. Russia’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Such equipment has been used on the battlefield in Ukraine to disrupt drones’ navigational signals. However, electronic warfare also causes severe interference to the Global Positioning System, or GPS, used by commercial airplanes and ships.

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