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

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

The AP [7/30/2025 5:50 AM, Mari Yamaguchi, 31733K] reports that one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia’s Far East early Wednesday, sending tsunami waves into Japan, Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast. No substantial damage has been reported so far, but authorities warned people away from shorelines and said the risk could last more than a day. Ports on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia near the 8.8 magnitude quake’s epicenter flooded as residents fled inland, and frothy, white waves washed up to the shore in northern Japan. Cars jammed streets and highways in Hawaii’s capital, with standstill traffic even in areas away from the shoreline. People went to evacuation centers in affected areas of Japan, with memories fresh of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that caused reactor meltdowns at a nuclear power plant. No abnormalities in operations at Japan’s nuclear plants were reported Wednesday. Russian authorities said several people were injured, without giving a figure. In Japan, at least one person was injured. A tsunami height of 3-4 meters (10 to 13 feet) was recorded in Kamchatka, 60 centimeters (2 feet) on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, and up to 1.4 feet (under 30 centimeters) above tide levels were observed in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. Hours after the quake, Hawaii downgraded its tsunami warning to an advisory, while Japan’s Meteorological Agency also lowered its alert to an advisory in the Pacific coast south of Fukushima. The alert still in place farther north. Maj. Gen. Stephen Logan, the Adjutant General of the State of Hawaii Department of Defense, said an advisory means there is the potential for strong currents and dangerous waves, as well as flooding on beaches or in harbors. Reuters [7/30/2025 4:17 AM, Staff, 51390K] reports that in Hawaii, coastal residents were told to get to high ground or the fourth floor or above of buildings, and the U.S. Coast Guard ordered ships out of harbours as the tsunami approached. CBS News [7/30/2025 5:49 AM, Staff, 51860K] reports a tsunami warning issued for Hawaii after one of the world’s strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia’s Far East early Wednesday was downgraded to an advisory late Tuesday, Hawaii time. The 8.8-magnitude temblor sent tsunami waves into Japan and Hawaii and across the Pacific. No substantial damage was reported. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTSC), which lifted the warning, had forecast that the estimated arrival time of the first tsunami waves in Hawaii would be 7:17 p.m. Tuesday local time (1:17 a.m. Wednesday EDT). CBS Honolulu affiliate KGMB-TV reported that the first waves coming ashore were relatively small, though they came at high tide. Flooding was reported in numerous shoreline areas. Officials urged people to move inland and shelters were opened in many parts of Hawaii. At about 10 p.m. local time, McCreery said wave heights appeared to have peaked and he hoped the warning could be downgraded within two hours. His timing was pretty much on-target. The impact of the tsunami could last for hours or perhaps more than a day, said Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska "A tsunami is not just one wave," he said. "It’s a series of powerful waves over a long period of time. Tsunamis cross the ocean at hundreds of miles an hour -- as fast as a jet airplane -- in deep water. But when they get close to the shore, they slow down and start to pile up. And that’s where that inundation problem becomes a little bit more possible there." "In this case, because of the Earth basically sending out these huge ripples of water across the ocean, they’re going to be moving back and forth for quite a while," which is why some communities may feel effects longer, he said. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said data from Midway Atoll, which is between Japan and Hawaii, measured waves from peak to trough of 6 feet. He said waves hitting Hawaii could be bigger or smaller and it was too early to tell how large they would be. A tsunami of that size would be akin to a 3 foot wave riding on top of surf, he told a news conference. "This is a longitudinal wave with great force driving through the shoreline and into land," he said. Green said Black Hawk helicopters have been activated and high-water vehicles were ready to go in case authorities need to rescue people. "But please do not put yourself in harm’s way," he said. The Oregon Department of Emergency Management said on Facebook that small tsunami waves were expected along the coast starting around 11:40 p.m. local time, with wave heights between one and two feet. It urged people to stay away from beaches, harbors and marinas and to remain in a safe location away from the coast until the advisory is lifted. "This is not a major tsunami, but dangerous currents and strong waves may pose a risk to those near the water," the department said. Much of the West Coast spanning Canada’s British Columbia province, Washington state and California was also under a tsunami advisory. CBS News Los Angeles reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom shared a statement on X saying the state’s Office of Emergency Services was coordinating with local officials in Northern California, from Cape Mendocino to the Oregon border. The station said Dr. Lucy Jones, a world-renowned seismologist, said experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that waves of about a foot were predicted for most of Southern California. The National Weather Service Bay Area office said on X that, "The tsunami has arrived at Monterey as of 12:48 AM." CBS News senior transportation and national correspondent Kris Van Cleave said some flights heading to Hawaii were turning around and going back to California, though KGMB reported some airports in Hawaii were beginning to re-open. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [7/30/2025 3:27 AM, By Libby Leonard, Heather Knight, Francesca Regalado and Shawn Hubler, 330K] reports damage appeared minimal so far as a fast-moving tsunami rolled through Hawaii and toward California late Tuesday, hours after a rare 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s eastern coast. “So far, we have not seen a wave of consequence, which is a great relief,” Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii said as the anticipated surge spent itself on the island’s scenic beaches and residents heeded early warnings to move to higher ground. The first waves arrived in Hawaii at about 7:24 p.m. local time, according to data from a water gauge at Nawiliwili, Hawaii, on the coast of Kauai. The withdrawing sea exposed great stretches of sand and then rushed back fiercely, surging a foot above the predicted level. Subsequent waves surged as high as four feet above normal as the ocean absorbed the powerful force of the earthquake, according to Chip McCreery of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which is operated by the National Weather Service. Emergency authorities had warned that the cumulative force could cause widespread flooding, with the potential to threaten the electric grid, move cars, damage houses and drown people who failed to move to safety. But the resulting waves were modest compared to major tsunamis that in the past leveled parts of the island. The early warnings seemed to have helped to minimize potential dangers. The governor said that he would wait to see how the waves impacted Hawaii’s Big Island before lifting emergency precautions, and that he expected to declare an “all clear” within a few hours. As the coming surge was first detected, sirens and cellphone alerts blared across Hawaii’s islands on Tuesday afternoon. Warnings came on the hour and then on the half-hour as the potential emergency drew nearer, urging residents to move inland or to higher elevations from coastal “inundation zones.” The first waves, the governor said, would likely hit the island of Kauai, but the force would “wrap around the islands,” creating a statewide threat. On Hawaii’s Big Island, a cruise ship docked in Kailua-Kona harbor summoned its passengers back to the boat with a siren and departed for deeper waters offshore, which is considered safer than staying in port. Police officers warned tourists at food trucks to leave. Jennifer Locke, who runs a West Coast wine company and was on the island for a company event for 24 people, said she had been making a Costco run when hotel staff at the Mauna Lani on the beach north of Kona called to warn her. As she made her way back to the hotel, she said in a telephone interview that the hotel had arranged for everybody staying there to head to the golf course, but that she and her husband were hoping to move to ground that was even higher. “As the day has progressed,” she said, “my level of anxiety has definitely increased.”

Reuters [7/29/2025 12:18 PM, Courtney Rozen, 51390K] reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will require states to spend part of their federal terrorism prevention funds on helping the Trump administration arrest migrants, as part of the U.S. president’s transformation of the agency. This is latest example of the Trump administration tying its goal to arrest migrants to federal funding for states. States must spend at least 10% of their funds from the Homeland Security Grant Program on enforcing immigration laws “against all inadmissible and removable aliens,” according to an agency announcement. They can use it for tasks that support President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, including to construct detention facilities or set up partnerships between police officers and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the post. States have until Aug. 11 to apply for their portion of $373.3 million, according to the post. Congress established the Homeland Security Grant Program before Trump took office to help states prepare for and respond to terrorist attacks. All 50 states receive the funds annually. In the past, they have used the money to buy security cameras, firefighting foam equipment and computers, among other needs, according to statements from state officials. Reuters asked the White House press office whether Congress intended the funds be spent on migrant arrests. The office referred Reuters to FEMA.

Blaze [7/29/2025 9:10 AM, Julio Rosas, 1805K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem signed several agreements with Argentina’s government at Casa Rosada on Monday that marks a new chapter for both countries. The most significant agreement was starting the process to allow Argentina back in the Visa Waiver Program. The South American country was in the VWP starting in 1996, but it was removed in 2002 as economic turmoil resulted in illegal migration to the United States. With President Javier Milei having taken drastic action to reduce the country’s inflation, the United States is looking to bolster its relationship with its ally on a continent filled with anti-Trump leadership. Noem signed the declaration of intent alongside Security Minister Patricia Bullrich to begin the two- or three-year process to get Argentina qualified for the VWP once again. Noem and Bullrich also signed agreements to streamline repatriations and have enhanced fugitive enforcement to ensure fugitives are not released upon repatriation. In response to a question from Blaze Media at a cultural event at the Campo de Mayo military base, Noem assured steps will be put in place during the recertification process to prevent abuse of the VWP. "Every country that participates in the Visa Wavier Program has to meet certain qualifications in order to participate. ... [Argentina is] looking to get back on track and re-enrolled. We’re excited about that. ... Thresholds have to be met. Partnering with us on background disclosures, on individuals that are in the country and traveling is important," Noem explained.

Breitbart [7/29/2025 11:25 AM, Christian K. Caruzo, 3077K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Kristi Noem received a warm welcome from President Javier Milei and his cabinet during her official visit to Argentina on Monday — including horseback riding with Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and enjoying the country’s famous asado barbecue. Sec. Noem met with President Milei in Buenos Aires and discussed bilateral cooperation on migration, international security, and counter-terrorism. The two countries signed a memorandum titled “Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement,” which will see the U.S. and Argentina facilitate the sharing of criminal history information. Argentina also confirmed its intention to adopt the United States’ Electronic Nationality Verification (ENV) program, which will allow for an expedited removal of Argentine illegal migrants from U.S. territory. “It’s been a privilege to witness the beauty of Argentina and the rich culture that shapes its people and country.” Sec. Noem said in a statement. “Thank you, President Milei, Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein, and Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich, for your partnership in strengthening our shared security efforts and for so generously welcoming us.”

FOX News [7/29/2025 1:54 PM, Brooke Taylor, 46878K] reports that more information has been released regarding illegal immigrant child sex offenders arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Houston area in the last six months. The Houston ICE Field Office has arrested 214 illegal migrants charged or convicted of a sex offense involving a minor so far under the Trump Administration. That is more than the Houston Field Office arrested during the entire 2024 fiscal year when they arrested 211 illegal immigrants charged or convicted of a child sex offense, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Of the 214 criminal illegal immigrants arrested, 179 had final orders of removal from an immigration judge. 141 have already been removed. "Thanks to ICE Houston, 214 less pedophiles on our streets. These are the type of perverted predators ICE is targeting and removing from our country," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "President Trump and Secretary Noem will not allow these sickos to prey on children in the U.S. Our message to these depraved criminals is clear: LEAVE NOW. If you don’t, we will hunt you down and deport you."

FOX News [7/29/2025 6:38 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46878K] reports an illegal alien convicted of a conspiracy to murder a teenager using a baseball bat in the Philadelphia area is among some of the "worst of the worst" criminal illegals arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement across the country in recent weeks, according to the agency. A statement by ICE says that Bou Khathavong, an illegal alien and dual citizen of Laos and Thailand, was arrested on July 25 by officials from ICE Philadelphia. According to ICE, Khathavong has previously been convicted of conspiracy to murder a teenager with a baseball bat in in Pennsylvania. Another statement by the Department of Homeland Security released on Tuesday highlighted other "worst of the worst" illegal aliens arrested in recent weeks, including several pedophiles, drug traffickers and individuals convicted of cruelty and neglect of a child and involvement in a hit-and-run that resulted in death. DHS pointed out in its release that 70% of ICE arrests include illegal aliens with either criminal convictions or pending charges. The statement said that "under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS is delivering on its promise to prioritize the American people over illegal aliens and criminal protection policies, removing these public safety threats from American communities." DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also commented on the arrests, blaming the Biden administration for having "allowed dangerous criminals to pour into our country." "President Trump and Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to arrest these criminal illegal aliens," said McLaughlin, adding, "From pedophiles to drug traffickers, ICE is prioritizing arresting the worst of the worst. We will not allow criminal illegals to terrorize American communities."

Breitbart [7/29/2025 4:17 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is touting its recent arrests of illegal alien convicts with criminal records from theft to pedophilia to fleeing the scene of a fatal car crash. "The Biden Administration allowed dangerous criminals to pour into our country," the Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: President Trump and Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to arrest these criminal illegal aliens. From pedophiles to drug traffickers, ICE is prioritizing arresting the worst of the worst. We will not allow criminal illegals to terrorize American communities.

FOX News [7/29/2025 11:46 AM, Taylor Penley, 46878K] reports that Trump border czar Tom Homan reacted to Fox News polling indicating that nearly half of respondents believe ICE deportation efforts are too aggressive and that more than half believe that only illegal immigrants convicted of crimes should be deported. "If there’s any change in the polls on ICE enforcement, it’s because they’re being fed a false narrative by 95% of the media," Homan told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday. "70% of the people we’re arresting are criminals. Who are the other 30%? [They’re] national security threats. We’ve arrested over 300 Iranian nationals. These are people who are a national security threat based on intelligence, based on other information. These are people we have to take off the street, that we have to deport." Homan said the rest of that 30% includes those removed upon a judge’s request after receiving due process. He further defended ICE operations by insisting that the agency’s job is to deport those who align with certain criteria and to execute immigration laws enacted by Congress. "The left will make it seem like we’re out arresting innocent people, disappearing people, kidnapping people, but the facts are the facts. ICE is prioritizing public safety threats and national security threats, and the numbers prove it," he continued.

Reuters [7/29/2025 5:46 PM, Nate Raymond, 51390K] reports President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday urged a U.S. appeals court to rule that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acted lawfully when she revoked the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans living in the United States. U.S. Department of Justice attorney Drew Ensign told a three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a lower-court judge had wrongly concluded Noem lacked the discretion to categorically end the immigration "parole" granted to approximately 430,000 migrants by Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden. Ensign said Noem was legally entitled to categorically end those parole programs, saying she "profoundly disagrees" with the Biden administration’s view that they were needed to alleviate pressures at the border and improve the overall immigration system. U.S. Circuit Judge William Kayatta during Tuesday’s argument said that placed him and his 1st Circuit colleagues in an "unusual situation" where they are asked to look to the Supreme Court for guidance on how to proceed and were given only the "bottom line." Cox said the lack of reasoning in the Supreme Court’s order was a reason not to defer to it, saying the 1st Circuit "would be speculating if it sought to assign a particular meaning to it." U.S. Circuit Judge Gustavo Gelpí predicted that even if the 1st Circuit upheld Talwani’s decision, the Homeland Security Department could seek to again terminate the migrants’ parole status through a new agency action. But Cox said a ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor would still be "quite valuable" regardless.

Washington Post [7/29/2025 3:42 PM, Katie Mettler, 32099K] reports a federal appeals court on Tuesday paved the way for a Maryland judge to approve an emergency pause on President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship ban, the third lower court decision this month that potentially sets back implementation of the measure that has already reached the Supreme Court once. In its ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit dismissed the Trump administration’s appeal of a preliminary injunction granted in a lawsuit filed in Maryland’s U.S. District Court by immigration rights groups CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project that alleged the ban against granting citizenship to U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants and temporary foreign visitors is unconstitutional. The action by the three-judge panel sends the case back to U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman, who earlier this month said that, if given back jurisdiction over the case, she would grant class-action status and approve a preliminary injunction request against Trump’s birthright ban. In her July 16 ruling regarding the petition for a class action, Boardman noted that in the likely event of a Trump administration, she wrote, it would allow the 4th Circuit to hear the case more quickly and on its most updated merits. As of midday Tuesday, Boardman had not yet ruled on the preliminary injunction.

New York Times [7/29/2025 12:05 PM, Alan Blinder, 153395K] reports Harvard University will share thousands of employment eligibility verification forms with the federal government, its human resources office said Tuesday, after the Trump administration asked this month to review the records. The university’s response to the Department of Homeland Security’s so-called notice of inspection comes as Harvard negotiates with the White House about a possible settlement to its monthslong clash over research funding and academic independence. The government’s request was broad — it asked for the I-9 forms for all Harvard employees, as well as anyone else employed by the university over the previous year — but not altogether unusual. Federal officials have long had, and used, the authority to scrutinize the records, and the Trump administration has routinely harnessed that power in recent months. The form asks people to attest to their citizenship or immigration status and includes a section for employers to review and verify the claims using various documents. In its notice to Harvard, Homeland Security Investigations told the university it intended to use the records “to assess your compliance with the federal laws and regulations applicable to employment eligibility verification.” Violations related to I-9 forms can be handled as civil or criminal matters. Harvard’s human resources office said Tuesday that it was not “at this time” giving the government access to forms completed by people who were in jobs “only open to students” as it weighed whether an educational privacy law protected those documents. Otherwise, the university said, it “intends to comply with federal law and accordingly will provide the requested records.”

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The Daily Wire [7/29/2025 11:56 AM, Spencer Lindquist, 3816K] reports that the Trump administration launched a new recruitment campaign calling on Americans to become Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in a bid to capitalize on the new wave of funding that the law enforcement agency is set to receive as a result of the Big, Beautiful Bill. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) law enforcement agency launched a new recruitment website calling on Americans to join ICE in one of three capacities: as a deportation officer, criminal investigator, or general attorney. The campaign comes just after the passage of the Big, Beautiful Bill, which will grant a massive influx of cash to ICE, with just under $30 billion earmarked for hiring, training, and retaining agents. "Your country is calling upon you to serve. Due to the prior administration’s disastrous immigration policies, the men and women of ICE now face unprecedented challenges," the site says. "You are critically needed to secure our communities and uphold our laws." "The Trump Administration is fully committed to supporting the dedicated law enforcement professionals who secure our borders, shield our communities, and protect our national security and public safety," the new website goes on to say. "This is a pivotal moment in our country’s history, and your experience and expertise are vitally needed." DHS unveiled graphics featuring President Donald Trump, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons, and an ICE agent along with the text "defend the homeland" and "join ICE." Breitbart [7/29/2025 3:39 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports that the nationwide ad campaign, featuring DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, touts the agency’s CBP Home mobile application, which illegal aliens can use to self-deport from the United States with a free flight back to their home country. The ads will run on broadcast television and online across the United States and in foreign countries in several different languages. DHS officials said that in six months tens of thousands of illegal aliens have used the CBP Home app to self-deport from the United States. The agency is also using financial pressures to get illegal aliens to self-deport, which is far less costly than government-led deportation flights. Since Trump took office, DHS has issued nearly 10,000 fine notices to illegal aliens.

FOX News [7/29/2025 3:16 PM, Cameron Arcand, Bill Melugin, 46878K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is launching a major recruitment campaign as the agency seeks to grow amid mass deportation efforts and new funding from the Trump-backed congressional spending bill. The funding in the spending bill, dubbed the "One Big Beautiful Bill," provides funding to hire 10,000 new ICE agents. DHS is launching the "Defend the Homeland" campaign featuring posters depicting prominent figures, including President Donald Trump, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The website touts three key roles: deportation officer, criminal investigator and general attorney, but there are a variety of listings on the federal government’s job site that it links back to. The agency is touting $50,000 signing bonuses, student loan relief, law enforcement availability pay of 25% for Homeland Security Investigations Special Agents, "administratively uncontrollable overtime" for ICE deportation officers, and retirement benefits. Applicants must be at least 21 years old, with varying age maximums for certain positions.

Washington Examiner [7/29/2025 5:30 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1934K] reports the Department of Homeland Security has rolled out a new website that implores U.S. citizens to join Immigration and Customs Enforcement and help the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. The website, join.ICE.gov, is brand new, according to DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin. Its rollout comes weeks after Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will allow ICE to hire 10,000 more federal law enforcement officers and agents to carry out its congressionally mandated mission of enforcing U.S. immigration laws within the United States. ICE will also have funding to detain up to 100,000 illegal immigrants, double the previous amount, and set up an additional 80,000 beds. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called on the public to join ICE in a separate post on X on Tuesday afternoon that featured President Donald Trump, Noem, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, and an ICE employee.

The Hill [7/29/2025 8:45 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 18649K] reports the family of American artist Thomas Kinkade is pushing back on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) use of the late artist’s painting to promote what the family views as an anti-immigrant message. In a statement posted to the Kinkade Family Foundation website, the family said DHS failed to get authorization before posting an image of Kinkade’s painting on social media on July 1. The family is now weighing its legal options. "The use of his artwork was unauthorized, and we have requested that DHS remove the post, and we are consulting with our counsel on our options," the statement said. The painting depicts young children walking to school in a quintessential American town. Several children gather around a flagpole as they raise the American flag, and some place their hands over their hearts. The painting is called "Morning Pledge.” DHS posted an image of the painting and added: "Protect the Homeland.” The DHS social media page has touted the agency’s immigration enforcement efforts and mass deportation campaign and often highlights depictions of immigrants as criminals. The family objected to Kinkade’s legacy being associated with that message. The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. By signing up, I agree to the Terms of Use, have reviewed the Privacy Policy, and to receive personalized offers and communications via email, on-site notifications, and targeted advertising using my email address from The Hill, Nexstar Media Inc., and its affiliates. "At The Kinkade Family Foundation, we strongly condemn the sentiment expressed in the post and the deplorable actions that DHS continues to carry out," the foundation wrote in the statement. "Like many of you, we were deeply troubled to see this image used to promote division and xenophobia associated with the ideals of DHS, as this is antithetical to our mission," the statement continued. "We stand firmly with our communities who have been threatened and targeted by DHS, especially our immigrant, BIPOC, undocumented, LGBTQ+, and disabled relatives and neighbors.” Washington Post first reported on the foundation’s statement Tuesday. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the Post that the agency is highlighting artwork that "celebrates America’s heritage and history.” "If the media needs a history lesson on the brave men and women who blazed the trails and forged this republic from the sweat of their brow, we are happy to send them a history textbook," she said in the statement to the Post. "This administration is unapologetically proud of American history and American heritage.” The Hill has contacted the foundation and DHS for comment.

Washington Post [7/29/2025 1:02 PM, Janay Kingsberry and Marianne LeVine, 32099K] reports the Department of Homeland Security’s social media feed in early July was largely filled with images of “Alligator Alcatraz” and promises to “MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN” by deporting the “WORST OF THE WORST.” Then the agency shared an image of Thomas Kinkade’s “Morning Pledge,” a painting depicting children walking to a schoolhouse where an American flag towers in the yard. “Protect the Homeland,” DHS wrote. The American artist died in 2012, but when his family saw how his work was being used by the Trump administration, they were aghast. Kinkade was deeply committed to humanitarian causes, a spokesperson for the Kinkade Family Foundation told The Washington Post, and made paintings that offered a sense of dignity and hope, especially to those denied basic human rights. That felt starkly in contrast with DHS’s mass deportation campaign and its social media account depicting immigrants as criminals. “Like many of you, we were deeply troubled to see this image used to promote division and xenophobia associated with the ideals of DHS, as this is antithetical to our mission,” the foundation said in a statement it posted online. “We stand firmly with our communities who have been threatened and targeted by DHS.” Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said the agency is honoring artwork that “celebrates America’s heritage and history.” “If the media needs a history lesson on the brave men and women who blazed the trails and forged this republic from the sweat of their brow, we are happy to send them a history textbook,” she added. “This administration is unapologetically proud of American history and American heritage.”

Houston Chronicle [7/29/2025 1:38 PM, Anusha Fathepure, 1982K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security stood by a social media post the agency made last week of an oil painting that incited online debate over Manifest Destiny — a 19th century concept that has been criticized as enabling injustices against people native to the U.S. for the sake of westward expansion. The agency, which usually posts policy announcements on its social media, posted an image Wednesday of the 1872 oil painting "American Progress" across its platforms. The agency received public backlash for posting the image, which is widely considered a representation of the concept of Manifest Destiny. The agency defended its post and the artwork as a celebration of America’s heritage and history in a statement to the Houston Chronicle Monday. "If the media needs a history lesson on the brave men and women who blazed the trails and forged this Republic from the sweat of their brow, we are happy to send them a history textbook," Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the agency, said in the statement. "This administration is unapologetically proud of American history and American heritage." DHS is a federal executive department focused on public security, including counter-terrorism, border security, cybersecurity and disaster prevention. Arrests of immigrants without legal status by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have increased under the Trump administration, which has promised to triple ICE’s arrest quota in May.

Breitbart [7/29/2025 4:21 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 3077K] reports Florida’s Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd recently told state leaders that there will certainly be capacity issues at the federal level if Florida’s expansion of immigration enforcement continues to accelerate. Judd chairs the State Immigration Enforcement Council and recently told state leaders that as things progress, there is “no way on God’s green Earth they can handle this capacity,” as there are already capacity issues for housing at the federal level. Gov. Ron DeSantis has also agreed that it is on the federal government to ultimately house and process these illegal immigrants, as the state is merely assisting — not taking on full responsibility. Florida has been working in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain, process, house, and deport illegal immigrants with the introduction of Alligator Alcatraz — the Miami-Dade Collier Training Facility in the Florida Everglades transformed into an immigration hub. DeSantis has touted the convenience of officially being able to house, process, and deport illegal immigrants all in one place, and he says that at least 100 detainees at the facility have already been fully deported. The governor has also explained that they have plans to transform Camp Blanding into another deportation hub as well.

NewsMax [7/29/2025 8:15 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4622K] reports three Democrat-appointed federal appeals court judges on Monday demanded an explanation as to whether the Trump administration has an official policy that requires the daily arrests of 3,000 migrants. The 90-minute hearing, before a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California, concerned Justice Department attorneys’ request that a stay be issued regarding a Los Angeles federal judge’s earlier ruling that Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities were illegally conducted without reasonable suspicion. U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong earlier this month issued a temporary order preventing ICE agents and all others from using "apparent race or ethnicity" to determine potential enforcement actions. DOJ attorney Jacob Roth argued Monday that Frimpong was incorrect in her findings, and insisted the ICE patrols were perfectly legal, carefully targeted, and conducted with probable cause to make arrests, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. "The officers are instructed to find reasonable suspicion before an arrest," Roth told the three judges before adding that Frimpong’s restraining order "is fundamentally flawed on multiple levels." Judge Ronald Gould, a Clinton appointee, said he was concerned about the "large number" of arrests, and asked Roth three separate times to explain the 3,000-person daily arrests strategy. Axios reported in late May that ICE goals of 3,000 arrests per day were laid out by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a "tense" May 21 meeting. The appeal stems from a class-action lawsuit accusing the Department of Homeland Security of unconstitutionally arresting and detaining people in order to meet arbitrary arrest quotas set by the Trump administration.

Washington Examiner [7/29/2025 6:37 PM, Jack Birle, 1934K] reports that the Justice Department argued before an appeals court panel on Tuesday that the Trump administration should be allowed to continue with a Biden-era mass parole program for hundreds of thousands of migrants, leaning on a Supreme Court order issued in May as part of the argument. The three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit heard arguments in the DOJ’s appeal of a lower court’s order, which had blocked the Trump administration’s revocation of work permits and legal status for over 530,000 migrants flown into the United States under a Biden administration program. The Supreme Court stayed the district court’s injunction in May while litigation continued in the lower courts, with the 6-3 majority not elaborating on its decision to issue the pause. The high court’s stay of the order remains in effect until the end of the appellate process, either in the appeals court or if the case is presented to the justices at the Supreme Court. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign argued the appeals court should take the Supreme Court’s lead and reverse the lower court, pointing to the unsigned May 30 order from the high court. "As the Supreme Court has already implicitly recognized by a lopsided vote, the government is likely to prevail on appeal, either in this court or, if necessary, in the Supreme Court. This court should reject plaintiffs’ brazen requests to defy the Supreme Court by following their exhortation ‘not to assign meaning’ to its stay decision," Ensign said at the oral arguments Tuesday in Boston. "Instead, this court should follow the Supreme Court’s lead in reverse."

Washington Post [7/29/2025 5:55 PM, Jeremy Roebuck, 32099K] reports the Justice Department is escalating its attacks on the federal judge whom it has repeatedly clashed with during the Trump administration’s efforts to deport accused Venezuelan gang members under a rarely invoked wartime law. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that her office had filed a misconduct complaint against James E. Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The complaint, filed Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, stems from statements government lawyers say Boasberg made in March during a judicial conference attended by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and roughly two dozen other federal judges. At that meeting, Boasberg, an appointee of Barack Obama, allegedly raised concerns that "the administration would disregard the rulings of the federal courts, leading to a constitutional crisis," according to the Justice Department’s filing, a copy of which was obtained by Washington Post. Boasberg’s remarks, the Justice Department alleged, "undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.” The Post has not independently verified the statements the Justice Department is attributing to Boasberg. The right-wing news outlet the Federalist first reported on those statements this month after it said it had obtained a memo summarizing the meeting. Boasberg did not respond to a request for comment, and a court spokeswoman had no comment Tuesday. The Justice Department’s complaint against him, which was signed by Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, is the latest in a string of confrontations with the courts. President Donald Trump and his appointees have been accused of flouting court orders in a third of the more than 160 lawsuits that have been filed against the administration, a Washington Post analysis found this month. And in March, the Justice Department filed a similar misconduct complaint against another federal judge whom they accused of "undignified" behavior for her sharp questioning of government lawyers in a case on the Pentagon’s attempts to ban transgender people from military service. Last month, the department sued the entire federal district court bench in Maryland because of a standing order issued by that state’s chief judge, George L. Russell III, which temporarily blocked the deportation of migrants while their legal claims are being adjudicated. The complaint against Boasberg asks the court to publicly reprimand him and to impose other sanctions, including a possible impeachment recommendation. It also asks for his removal from the case that has been a primary source of tension between him and the Trump administration for months. Days after Boasberg’s alleged judicial conference remarks, he ordered the administration to turn around flights it had launched carrying hundreds of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador in a case disputing the grounds for their deportations. Boasberg ruled the immigrants had not been given a meaningful opportunity to challenge their removals. They were removed under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime statute that the administration has relied upon in its attempts to circumvent normal deportation proceedings to remove accused members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

Bloomberg [7/29/2025 11:25 AM, Zoe Tillman, 19320K] reports the US Justice Department filed an ethics complaint accusing a federal judge in Washington of making “improper” comments about President Donald Trump earlier this year, ratcheting up growing tensions between the executive and judicial branches. The misconduct claim against US District Chief Judge James Boasberg was announced by Attorney General Pam Bondi on social media Monday night. The complaint isn’t public, but a copy reviewed by Bloomberg News alleged Boasberg expressed concern during a March 11 meeting of judges that the Trump administration would “disregard rulings of federal courts” and trigger “a constitutional crisis.” “These comments have undermined the integrity of the judiciary, and we will not stand for that,” Bondi said in a post on X. Boasberg is the presiding judge in a high-profile legal fight over Trump’s decision to send alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador. Several days after Boasberg’s reported remarks at the March meeting, he ordered a halt to flights out of the country and later investigated whether US officials defied his ruling and should be held in contempt. That move is being appealed, as is a later decision he made that the migrants imprisoned in El Salvador should get a chance to contest their removal from the US. A spokesperson for the Washington court declined to comment. Boasberg was confirmed to the federal bench under the Obama administration in 2011 and has served as the court’s chief judge since 2023. Trump has often criticized judges, including Boasberg. In March, the president called for Boasberg’s impeachment over rulings in the case of the Venezuelan men. In a social media post, Trump, without referring to Boasberg by name, called him “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator.” Hours later, US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued an extraordinary statement saying it was “not an appropriate response” to disagreement with judicial rulings. Ethics complaints against federal judges are normally sent to the chief judge of the appeals court that covers that part of the country, and can be investigated by a panel of other judges. The process is not public, although ethics committee panels can release their findings. The Justice Department contends Boasberg’s March comments were aimed at “improperly” influencing Roberts and other judges in attendance at the meeting of the Judicial Conference, the US courts’ administrative arm. The administration argued that Boasberg’s subsequent rulings against the government showed Boasberg “acting on his preconceived belief” that officials wouldn’t follow court orders. The complaint, which was submitted by Bondi’s Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle, accuses Boasberg of “making improper public comments” about Trump, even though Judicial Conference meetings aren’t open to the public or the media. The judge’s remarks were reported earlier this month by The Federalist, a conservative media outlet. The judiciary’s publicly available summary of the March 11 meeting doesn’t include any reference to Boasberg making comments about the administration.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [7/29/2025 8:44 AM, Zach Schonfeld, 18649K]

ABC News [7/29/2025 11:02 AM, Staff, 31733K] reports that Sen. Chris Van Hollen and other Maryland lawmakers staged a "sit-in" at an ICE detention facility to conduct oversight of the facility. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem slammed the lawmakers for the visit. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [7/29/2025 11:30 AM, Staff, 46878K] reports Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons joins ‘America’s Newsroom’ to share his reaction to Maryland Democrats organizing a demonstration at an immigration detention facility housing criminal suspects. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Washington Examiner [7/29/2025 1:28 PM, Jenny Goldsberry, 1934K] reports Border czar Tom Homan criticized Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) for his participation in a sit-in at a Baltimore Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Van Hollen joined Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Reps. Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Johnny Olszewski (D-MD), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD), and Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) to sit in the George H. Fallon Federal Building on Monday. The group was protesting the facility’s denial of a tour. "He’s an embarrassment to the position he holds," Homan said of Van Hollen. "The Democrats are upset because we’re proving every day what a national security threat, a public safety threat, that the Biden administration allowed." Homan noted Van Hollen did not hold demonstrations regarding the "record numbers" of women and children being sex trafficked, fentanyl deaths, or terrorists crossing the border. Instead, Van Hollen was "silent" on those matters, Homan said. Meanwhile, Van Hollen criticized Homan’s policies that led to the detention of alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia. "President Trump is keeping his promise to the American people, and they can’t stand it. They want to flip the script. They want to mismessage the American people," Homan said. "Well, it’s not working." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem responded to the demonstration by sharing photos of the Baltimore facility detainees and their alleged crimes. The crimes include rape, child pornography possession, sexual abuse of a minor, and conspiracy to commit murder. Breitbart [7/29/2025 10:56 AM, Jeff Poor, 3077K] reports that Tuesday, during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s "Fox & Friends," Trump border czar Tom Homan ripped Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) for rhetoric and defense of so-called Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien accused of various crimes in the United States. "So, Tom, Senator Van Hollen is at it again," co-host Lawrence Jones said. "He once defended the Maryland man, who had a criminal record, as well, was part of the cartel. Now, he’s a defendant of the people in Maryland. Homeland Security Secretary [Kristi Noem] made it very clear. These are some of the monsters, as she put it that he’s defended." "What is your response to the Senator?" he asked. "He is an embarrassment to the position he holds," Homan said. "The Democrats are upset because we are proving every day what a national security threat, a public safety threat the Biden administration allowed. He was silent. Him and the other Democrat leaders were silent while women and children were being sex trafficked at record numbers, a record number of Americans die of fentanyl, a record number of known suspected terrorists coming across the border." "They’re embarrassed because we’re proving exactly what they did, and President Trump is keeping his promise to the American people, and they can’t stand it," he added. "They want to flip the script. They want to mis-message the American people. Well, it is not working."

FOX News [7/29/2025 10:11 AM, Staff, 46878K] reports border czar Tom Homan joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to weigh in on President Donald Trump’s push to remove criminal illegal immigrants from the country as Democrats continue to resist the deportation orders. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo [7/29/2025 8:45 AM, Rosbelis Quiñonez, 56K] reports several Maryland lawmakers expressed frustration after being denied entry by the acting director of a Baltimore immigration detention center. Both senators and representatives were scheduled to visit the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Baltimore on Monday. The purpose of the visit was to assess the conditions there in light of several reports of inhumane conditions. Upon arrival, the acting director of the ICE office in Baltimore, Nikita Baker, greeted the delegation. Senator Chris Van Hollen then explained that the appropriations law gives members of Congress the power to visit any Department of Homeland Security facility. However, Baker did not allow him entry to the detention center. “I just know that at this point we’re not going to allow anyone in to supervise,” the interim director emphasized.

Reported similarly:
(B) WJLA 24/7 News ON YOUR SIDE at Noon [7/29/2025 1:05 PM, Staff]

Univision [7/29/2025 3:02 PM, Patricia Clarembaux, 4992K] reports Fritzgeralth Cornejo arrived home in Caracas, Venezuela, after a year in detention. He spent the first nine months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) centers after being detained upon stepping onto U.S. soil to keep his CBP One appointment. There, he awaited his court hearing to fight his asylum case. But without being told where he would be taken, on March 15, he was taken from his cell at the Valle detention center in Texas. That day, in a political agreement whose details are still unknown, the US sent him to El Salvador, to the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) with 238 other Venezuelans, all accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang because of their tattoos. In his case, because of a rose on his neck and some cherubs that immigration agents linked to that gang without further evidence. Univision News interviewed the 26-year-old Venezuelan via video call on Friday, July 25. At the end of the conversation, his mother appeared to give him a hug.

New York Post [7/29/2025 6:31 PM, Carl Campanile, 49956K] reports that two New York Republicans are urging the IRS to probe four legal and migrant advocacy groups that have been taking taxpayer funding — while defying the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown. Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) and Claudia Tenney (R-Watertown) questioned the four groups’ nonprofit status in a letter to the IRS after an expose by The Post that revealed the groups took in more than $600 million in public funds while simultaneously pushing New York’s sanctuary policies. "We are concerned that these organizations may be using tax-exempt resources to provide goods, services or legal advice that (1) encourages, (2), induce, or (3) aid and abet an alien in unlawfully entering, remaining in, or evading detection within the United States," the lawmakers said in a Tuesday letter to IRS Commissioner William Hollis Long. The pro-sanctuary groups — the Bronx Defenders, the NY Immigration Coalition, Make the Road NY and NY Lawyer for the Public Interest — provide legal services to poor New Yorkers, including criminal defendants and migrants. They said based on prior IRS enforcement of rules for charitable groups the groups’ sanctuary activities "constitutes grounds for revocation of tax-exempt status.” The Bronx Defenders alone has received more than $500 million in city and state contracts since fiscal year 2018, according to The Post review.

NewsNation [7/29/2025 6:20 PM, Julian Resendiz, 5801K] reports that Police in the Mexican state of Chihuahua say they have solid leads in the recent murders of U.S. citizens in the border cities of Juarez and Ojinaga. One of them was 20-year-old Alan Valenzuela, of Presidio, Texas. "Alan and his friends were visiting an establishment in Ojinaga, Mexico, just across the border when he was tragically struck by random gunfire," the Presidio County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. "He was innocently spending time in a town that many Presidio residents and tourists frequent. This senseless act leaves many unanswered questions about how and why this tragedy occurred." On Monday, Chihuahua Public Safety Director Gilberto Loya said several members of a criminal cell arrested on Sunday on drug and weapons charges are under investigation in connection with the July 6 shooting that struck down the American. The arrests of the Los Cabrera gang members, including one of their leaders, prompted police to ramp up patrols in Ojinaga across from Presidio, Texas, and around the Chihuahua City prison where they are being held. "These people have generated violence in the towns of Aldama, Ojinaga and Coyame," Loya said on Monday. "We were paying attention with patrols in that region to prevent a surprise or that they would try to come down here and attempt to liberate them."

FOX News [7/29/2025 7:48 PM, Sophia Compton, 46878K] reports the U.S. government has named the Cartel de los Soles, a Venezuela-based criminal group led by President Nicolás Maduro, a global terrorist organization. Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, is being sanctioned by the U.S. for providing support to foreign terrorist organizations, including the violent Tren de Aragua and Sinaloa Cartel, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. "Today’s action further exposes the illegitimate Maduro regime’s facilitation of narco-terrorism through terrorist groups like Cartel de los Soles," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "The Treasury Department will continue to execute on President Donald Trump’s pledge to put America First by cracking down on violent organizations, including Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and their facilitators, like Cartel de los Soles.” Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, is involved in a range of criminal activities, including human smuggling and the illicit drug trade. The Sinaloa Cartel, a violent and powerful Mexican cartel, is responsible for trafficking drugs like fentanyl into the U.S., according to the Treasury Department. In an X post, the Drug Enforcement Administration wrote that it is seeking information leading to the arrests and convictions of Maduro, Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace Diosdado Cabello Rondón and Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López. In January, the U.S. increased an reward to $25 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and/or conviction. The U.S. has not recognized Maduro as the Venezuelan president since 2019. In May, the U.S. advised citizens to avoid traveling to Venezuela and its borders. According to the U.S. Department of State, citizens were warned not to travel to Venezuela due to severe risks, including wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest and poor health infrastructure. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [7/29/2025 7:23 PM, Nayara Batschke, 3987K] reports that Chilean authorities said Tuesday they turned six valuable watches stolen from Canadian actor Keanu Reeves — including an engraved Rolex worth at least $9,500 — over to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, months after recovering them in a police raid. The FBI will arrange for their return to Reeves, best known for his roles in action franchises like “ The Matrix “ and “ John Wick.” Chilean prosecutors told reporters that Reeves had identified the watches as those stolen from his Los Angeles home during a string of high-profile burglaries in December 2023. The announcement was made as the Trump administration’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, arrived in the South American country for meetings with Chilean officials about transnational crime, among other issues. Noem was also the victim of a robbery attributed to a Chilean national residing illegally in the U.S., when her purse was stolen last April at a Washington restaurant. Reeves’ six watches are valued at a total of $125,000, said Marcelo Varas, a police officer from Chile’s robbery investigation squad. The watches stolen from Reeves’ Hollywood Hills home turned up in Santiago, Chile’s capital, when police raided homes and uncovered stolen cars, iPhones, luxury watches and designer purses. That operation coincided with another Chilean investigation, coordinated with the FBI, into a spate of burglaries by South America-based crime groups targeting multimillion-dollar homes in the U.S., many belonging to celebrities and professional athletes, such as Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce.

Wall Street Journal [7/29/2025 5:02 PM, Jason Riley, 646K] reports crime tends to rise with the thermostat. The summer months mean no school and more idle young people. Violent criminals typically know their victims, and warm weather is when we gather for family reunions and block parties. Criminologists have demonstrated that heat can increase aggression. Come autumn, we’ll find out to what extent the pattern holds, but the good news is that crime mostly declined in the first half of 2025. An analysis of 42 cities—the largest was New York, the smallest was Cary, N.C., population 180,000—found a decrease in violent offenses (aggravated assault, sexual assault, gun assault, carjacking) compared with the first six months of 2024. “The homicide rate during the first half of 2025 was 17% lower, on average, than during the same period in 2024, representing 327 fewer homicides in the cities that reported data,” according to the Council on Criminal Justice, which produced the study. At an event with the Fraternal Order of Police in June, President Trump claimed credit for these positive developments. “We’ve removed thousands of violent criminal illegal aliens from our communities as part of the largest deportation effort in American history,” he said. “And just a few months into office, the national murder rate has plummeted by 28%.” Deporting undocumented migrants who have committed violent crimes is commendable. It’s also prudent, since most crimes are committed by previous offenders. Nevertheless, illegal immigration and violent crime don’t necessarily move in the same direction. Between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s, the size of the illegal population roughly tripled, yet violent crime and property crime over the same period declined nationally and in cities with large concentrations of illegal immigrants. Scapegoating migrants is tempting, but data show that it’s the native population, not foreign nationals, that tends to drive violent crime in the U.S.

Washington Examiner [7/29/2025 1:37 PM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1934K] reports for far too long, Department of Homeland Security officials and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been vilified by liberals, Democrats, and others on the Left instead of being celebrated for the work they do to protect U.S. citizens. Similar to their war on police, Democrats have demonized ICE agents for no reason other than doing their jobs and arresting violent criminals in the country illegally. These officers regularly confront the worst of the worst humanity has to offer, including murderers, rapists, kidnappers, human traffickers, gang members, and drug dealers. Democrats regularly denigrate DHS employees and ICE agents, people who are U.S. citizens and employees of the federal government, labeling them with such horrific names as "brown shirts" or calling them the "Gestapo" solely because ICE agents removed the dangerous murderers, rapists, kidnappers, and other violent criminals that Democrats schemed to let into the country. It is with that, I introduce the ICE Tracker, which will be a weekly summary of some of the violent criminal illegal immigrants in the country that Homeland Security arrests, or other actions, protecting innocent Americans from harm. Here are just some of the violent illegal immigrants who were arrested within the last week, from whom innocent Americans were protected.

The Hill [7/29/2025 11:00 AM, Steven Kuhr and Kelly McKinney, 18649K] reports during the horrific flooding on July 4 in Kerr County, Texas, the catastrophe unfolded before us with its now-familiar script: Alerts were issued, warnings failed to reach the most vulnerable and leaders deflected blame. But once again we are getting the story wrong. Here are three misperceptions that we think it’s important to correct. First, it’s not about the forecast. The National Weather Service did its job. Second, it’s not about the money. In a disaster, the challenge isn’t writing checks — it’s coordinating action. And finally, it’s not about FEMA. In the aftermath, state and federal officials point to the locals. The only thing we know for sure is that the warnings didn’t help the people who needed them most. This is a familiar story. From Paradise, California in 2018, to Lahaina, Hawaii in 2023, to Los Angeles County in January and St. Louis in May, an unending series of failures show us an American public warning system that is as broken as broken gets. If we insist that disasters are local, then states must ensure every community has the warning tools — and the boots on the ground — to act. The aftermath of every catastrophe includes a brief window of opportunity for us to find and fix the sources of our collective failures. That opportunity is now. Time and time again, our expectations about what the government can do and when it can do it are crushed.

The Hill [7/29/2025 8:30 AM, Paulina Velasco, 18649K] reports Mexico’s drug cartels are so tenacious, so powerful, that under intense pressure, they forge diamonds rather than crumble. Amid years of bloody turf wars, new tariffs aimed at hitting the global narcotics market and thousands more combat troops at the border, cartels are feeling the pressure. The result? Two of the most notorious cartels, Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation, have begrudgingly decided to unite and conquer in an unprecedented alliance. This seismic shift in global organized crime demands that the U.S. urgently rethink its approach. Because this "super-cartel" won’t just be a criminal syndicate trafficking migrants and drugs: It will operate more like a rogue state. Separately, cartels were already responsible for more than 30,000 deaths annually. Together, they now command fentanyl supply chains, digital surveillance networks and a loyal, militarized workforce across more than 100 countries. A union dramatically escalates their capacity for violence, trafficking and political influence. Yet U.S. policy continues to treat cartels like street gangs. President Trump’s recent move to designate them as terrorist organizations made headlines, as did his talk of military action. But threats won’t solve this crisis. Trump must take the cartels and their insidious grip on power seriously. We’ve watched "Breaking Bad"; there’s no neat ending to the story.

Telemundo [7/29/2025 3:19 PM, Ronny Rojas, 3352K] reports a post shared thousands of times on Meta’s Threads social media site falsely claims that the Home Depot chain signed a $250 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to supposedly assist in the apprehension of undocumented immigrants. According to the fake post, the alleged agreement would allow "ICE agents to monitor their parking lots and arrest immigrants." But the information is not true. Both the Home Depot chain and the Department of Homeland Security have denied this, stating that there is no agreement between the two entities.

Breitbart [7/29/2025 2:00 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 3077K] reports that Democrat Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is praising the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arresting well over 200 illegal aliens with criminal histories involving child sex crimes, while GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is calling for the "death penalty" for these individuals. In the Houston area alone, ICE has arrested 214 child sex offenders in the last six months. ICE put this in greater perspective by noting in a press release that "the 214 arrests were more than the Houston field office arrested during the entire 2024 fiscal year, when officers there arrested 211 illegal aliens charged or convicted of child sex offenses.” "I don’t support or agree with all of ICE’s tactics or actions. I do fully support moves like these," Fetterman said, deviating from many of his fellow Democrats. "This makes our nation more secure and all our children safer." This is not the first time Fetterman has deviated from his party to defend ICE, stating earlier this month that calls to abolish ICE are "inappropriate and outrageous." Rep. Luna did not mince words, either, calling to "skip deportation" altogether. "Go directly to the death penalty. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200," she said. ICE highlighted some of the arrestees, for instance Jesus Gutierrez Mireles — a "three-time deported criminal alien from Mexico" — who has been convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and driving while intoxicated.

FOX News [7/29/2025 7:29 AM, Alex Nitzberg, 46878K] reports Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., expressed support for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s apprehension of illegal alien child sex offenders, while Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., advocated for the individuals to face the death penalty. ICE noted in a Monday press release that it "arrested 214 illegal aliens for immigration offenses in the Houston area in the past six months who have been charged or convicted of a sex offense involving a minor." "I don’t support or agree with all of ICE’s tactics or actions. I do fully support moves like these. This makes our nation more secure and all our children safer," Fetterman said in a post on X.

NBC News [7/29/2025 5:11 PM, Daniella Silva, 44540K] reports a police department in a Maine resort town said that a reserve officer who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week received approval from the federal government to work for the department in May. ICE accused the police department of "knowingly" hiring an immigrant who is in the country illegally, which the police chief denies. ICE arrested Jon Luke Evans, a summer reserve officer with the Old Orchard Beach Police Department, on Friday, according to a statement from the agency released Monday. The agency said that Evans had unlawfully attempted to purchase a firearm, triggering an alert with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which worked with ICE to make the arrest. ICE said that Evans is a Jamaican citizen who lawfully entered the U.S. on a visa on Sept. 24, 2023, and he was supposed to depart on Oct. 1, 2023, but never boarded his flight, overstaying his visa. It was not immediately clear if Evans had an attorney. The Old Orchard Beach Police Department said in a statement on Monday that as part of its standard hiring process, Evans completed an I-9 federal immigration and work authorization form to verify that he was legally able to work in the U.S. Police Chief Elise Chard said in the statement that the town reviewed multiple forms of identification and submitted the forms for Evans to the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify Program. ICE said that Evans told ICE officers that he had tried to buy the firearm for his job as a police officer with the Old Orchard Beach Police Department. She said that reserve officers have a lengthy probationary period and that the department will conduct an internal review of the circumstances and that Evans’ probation status is under review. The New York Post [7/29/2025 7:27 AM, Jennie Taer, 49956K] reports ICE said Evans was also issued a gun by the police department. “The fact that a police department would hire an illegal alien and unlawfully issue him a firearm while on duty would be comical if it weren’t so tragic,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said. “We have a police department that was knowingly breaking the very law they are charged with enforcing in order to employ an illegal alien. ICE Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien threats from our New England communities,” Hyde added. While Evans entered the US legally by flying into the Miami National Airport on Sept. 24, 2023, he overstayed his visa by nearly two years, ICE said. He was supposed to leave on October 1, 2023, but never did. The AP [7/29/2025 7:25 PM, Patrick Whittle, 31733K] reports Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard said in her own Monday statement that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had verified that Evans was authorized to work in the U.S. in May of this year. The Blaze [7/29/2025 6:30 PM, Paul Sacca, 1805K] reports Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard lashed out over the ICE accusations against her department and blamed the federal government for the hiring of the illegal alien. Chief Chard said in a statement, "As part of the standard hiring process by the town and the police department, Evans was required to complete an I-9 federal immigration and work authorization form to verify that he was legally authorized to work in the United States." Chard claimed that Evans furnished "multiple forms of identification, including photo identification," which were submitted before he was hired. The town of Old Orchard Beach reportedly submitted Evans’ I-9 form to the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program. "The Department of Homeland Security then verified that Evans was authorized to work in the U.S.," the Old Orchard Beach Police Department stated. "The form was submitted and approved by DHS on May 12, 2025. Evans would not have been permitted to begin work as a reserve officer until and unless Homeland Security verified his status." The Old Orchard Beach Police Department noted that the state of Maine is "one of approximately a dozen states that allows non-citizen residents to work in law enforcement."

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [7/29/2025 2:11 PM, Katherine Hamilton, 3077K]
AP [7/29/2025 7:24 PM, Robert Bukaty and Patrick Whittle, 56000K]
(B) NBC News Daily [7/29/2025 1:54 PM, Staff]
NewsMax [7/29/2025 6:03 PM, Michael Katz, 4622K]
Telemundo [7/29/2025 7:01 PM, Daniella Silva, 3352K]

New York Post [7/29/2025 7:00 AM, Brandon Cruz, 49956K] reports a taxpayer-funded Suffolk County gun range is now a training ground for ICE agents as part of a new controversial deal between the US Department of Homeland Security and the town of Islip. The Post only learned about the deal after ICE agents were spotted at the range, prompting calls from local activists and state Assemblyman Phil Ramos, an Islip Democrat, to nix the contract — with the lawmaker blasting the agency as "rogue.” It is unclear when the behind-closed-doors deal was actually finalized. "I am deeply disappointed that such a decision was made in a community that proudly holds the highest concentration of Hispanic taxpayers in New York State outside of New York City," he told The Post. ICE agents are actively stopping people, Ramos said, at random in local neighborhoods and can’t be treated like a typical federal agency. The lawmaker pointed to multiple lawsuits, alleged civil rights violations, and the wrongful arrest of a US citizen on Long Island with Hispanic roots as proof. Town officials, however, said the deal is nothing groundbreaking — and revealed that similar contracts have been drawn up in the past allowing federal agents, including ICE, to use the range to train.

NPR [7/29/2025 5:18 PM, Jonathan Ahl, 37958K] reports that a Missouri group called "Abide in Love" provides care packages and more to ICE detainees who often arrive in jail with no possessions and no ability to contact their loved ones. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

AP [7/29/2025 5:55 PM, Jack Brook, 56000K] reports a Marine Corps veteran’s wife has been released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention following advocacy from Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who backs President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown. Until this week, Mexican national Paola Clouatre had been one of tens of thousands of people in ICE custody as the Trump administration continues to press immigration officers to arrest 3,000 people a day suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. Emails reviewed by The Associated Press show that Kennedy’s office said Friday that it put in a request for the Department of Homeland Security to release her after a judge halted her deportation order earlier that week. By Monday, she was out of a remote ICE detention center in north Louisiana and home in Baton Rouge with her veteran husband Adrian Clouatre and their two young children. The Department of Homeland Security previously told The AP it considered Clouatre to be “illegally” in the country. On July 23, an immigration judge halted Paola Clouatre’s deportation order. After Adrian Clouatre notified Kennedy’s office, Tate said she “sent the request to release” Paola Clouatre to DHS and shared a copy of the judge’s motion with the agency, emails show. In an email several days later, Tate said that ICE told her it “continues to make custody determinations on a case-by-case basis based on the specific circumstances of each case” and had received the judge’s decision from Kennedy’s office “for consideration.” It will likely be a multiyear court process before Paola Clouatre’s immigration court proceedings are formally closed, but things look promising, and she should be able to obtain her green card eventually, her attorney said. For now, she’s wearing an ankle monitor, but still able to pick up life where she left off, her husband says.

AP [7/29/2025 9:57 PM, Jack B rook, 21433K] reports that a Marine Corps veteran’s wife has been released from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention following advocacy from Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who backs President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown. Until this week, Mexican national Paola Clouatre had been one of tens of thousands of people in ICE custody as the Trump administration continues to press immigration officers to arrest 3,000 people a day suspected of being in the US illegally. Emails reviewed by The Associated Press show that Kennedy’s office put in a request Friday for the Department of Homeland Security to release her after a judge halted her deportation order earlier that week. By Monday, she was out of a remote ICE detention center in north Louisiana and home in Baton Rouge with her veteran husband, Adrian Clouatre, and their two young children. Kennedy’s constituent services representative, Christy Tate, congratulated Adrian Clouatre on his wife’s release and thanked him for his military service. "I am so happy for you and your family," Tate wrote in an email to Adrian Clouatre. "God is truly great!" Kennedy’s office proved "instrumental" in engaging with the Department of Homeland Security, according to Carey Holliday, the family’s attorney. Kennedy’s office did not provide further comment. Another Louisiana Republican, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, also intervened recently with the Department of Homeland Security to secure the release of an Iranian mother from ICE detention following widespread outcry. The woman has lived for decades in New Orleans.

FOX News [7/29/2025 12:00 PM, Charles Creitz, 46878K] reports that a Michigan Democratic effort would open up ICE agents to state prosecution if they conduct immigration enforcement operations while wearing masks that conceal their identity. The effort comes five years after Michigan Democrats supported Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s order outlining $500 fines for civilians who, conversely, defied her executive order to wear masks in public during the coronavirus pandemic. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, said Friday ICE’s masking-up "mirror the tactics of secret police in authoritarian regimes and strays from the norms that define legitimate local law enforcement." "It confuses and frightens communities," she said. "Those who protect and serve our community should not do so behind a concealed identity." A banner on the dais from which Coffia announced the bill read, "Justice needs no masks." State Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, added his name as a co-sponsor and said in a statement when a person is unable to discern whether someone apprehending them is a government authority or not, it "shreds the rule of law." "That is why the Trump administration and the Republican Party are the most pro-crime administration and political party that we have ever seen," Arbit said. Attorney General Dana Nessel, who was one of several state prosecutors to demand Congress pass similar legislation at the federal level, also threw her support behind the bill.

Daily Caller [7/29/2025 6:09 PM, Derek Vanbuskirk, 1010K] reports that Michigan House Democrats introduced legislation Thursday to criminalize the concealing the identities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other officers while on duty. If signed into law, it would apply to federal, state and local law enforcement across the state, according to the legislation. There will be exceptions for the use of masks for undercover operations, protection against disease and specific dangerous situations. If violated, officers could face up to 90 days in jail and up to a $1,000 fine. Democratic Michigan State Rep. Betsy Coffia announced the bill at a July 25 press conference alongside Democratic State Reps. Noah Arbit, Carrie Rheingans, Donavan McKinney and Erin Byrnes. "Those who protect and serve our community should not do so behind a concealed identity," Coffia said. "In recent months, we’ve heard alarming reports of masked individuals arriving in unmarked cars, jumping out with rifles to detain people. To the average person, it looks like a violent kidnapping," Coffia said, comparing the optics to that of "secret police in authoritarian regimes.” Arbit claimed masked officers may increase crime as it "gives license to anyone who is not part of the state to also commit violence." "This shreds the rule of law, and that is why the Trump Administration and the Republican Party are the most pro-crime administration and political party that we have ever seen," he continued.

Chicago Tribune [7/29/2025 5:55 PM, Meredith Colias-Pete, 3987K] reports someone tipped off the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in November that Martha Porcallo Martinez was back living in East Chicago after being deported. About three months later, they ramped up the investigation. To prove she was living at the address the tipster provided, they subpoenaed her Comcast internet bill and records from the Lake County Recorder’s Office and Lake County Treasurer’s Office, filings show. Federal agents secured a search warrant in early June. They executed the search warrant June 12, arresting Porcallo Martinez, 49, in her home. Records showed she was previously deported to Mexico in 2002 and 2021, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Jason Hines wrote in the probable cause affidavit. Clad in a red jail jumpsuit in a long ponytail, with hair streaked with some gray, she pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to reentry of a removed alien through an interpreter during a half-hour hearing. A sentencing date hasn’t yet been set. Her defense lawyer Adam Tavitas said in court she could face up to six months in jail.

Chicago Tribune [7/29/2025 4:18 PM, Caroline Kubzansky, 3987K] reports that a Little Village man blamed his "anger against Palestinians" and around immigration when he admitted to spray-painting "ICE rules" and swastikas on several buildings in Little Village, prosecutors said Tuesday. Philip Dominguez, 39, faces 10 total counts of misdemeanor criminal property damage and felony hate crime for alleged vandalism on a grocery store, two community organizations and a local politician’s office. He appeared Tuesday in a first-floor courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building before Cook County Judge Ankur Srivastava, wearing a blue Spider-Man T-shirt. Dominguez first allegedly spray-painted a swastika over a window of the Chicago Liberation Center that displayed a Palestinian flag in the early hours of July 19 before he appeared on surveillance footage painting the same symbol on a building belonging to the community services organization Latinos Progresandos, according to Assistant State’s Attorney John Kyle. He then allegedly painted more swastikas on the "Free Palestine" mural on the wall at the La Fruteria grocery store, and state Sen. Celina Villanueva’s district office, prosecutors said. All of the buildings vandalized, except for Villanueva’s office, are near West Cermak Road and South Washtenaw Avenue. The office of Villanueva, a Democrat, is farther south, in the 2500 block of South Central Park Avenue. The next night, prosecutors said Dominguez returned to La Fruteria about 1:30 a.m. to spray-paint "ICE rules" on the wall. Dominguez is next set to appear in court Aug. 1.

Breitbart [7/29/2025 4:20 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports Dane County, Wisconsin, Sheriff Kalvin Barrett is defending the county’s sanctuary policy that shields illegal aliens from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just days after high school sweethearts 18-year-old Hallie Helgeson and 19-year-old Brady Heiling were killed in a crash allegedly caused by an illegal alien with a criminal record. As Breitbart News reported, on July 20, illegal alien Noelia A. Martinez of Honduras, 30 years old, was allegedly drunk driving in Dane County when she crashed into Hallie and Brady. Martinez, as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have since noted, should never have been in the United States and was able to hide from federal immigration enforcement partly due to Dane County’s sanctuary policy, which refuses to honor ICE detainers. “Hallie Helgeson and Brady Heiling had their whole lives ahead of them — and they would still be alive today if it weren’t for Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila — a criminal illegal alien from Honduras,” DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Barrett, who told local media in February that he would not honor ICE detainers, is continuing to defend Dane County’s sanctuary policy even after Hallie’s and Brady’s deaths, according to a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: After her arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked the Dane County Jail to hold her if she were to post bond so that ICE officers could take her into custody, making her vulnerable to deportation before her case concludes. Martinez-Avila is an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, according to the department. Barrett said it is the Department of Homeland Security’s responsibility to obtain an arrest warrant signed by a judge, which would ensure that the department can lawfully take custody of Martinez-Avila. Detainers are not legally binding. Barrett’s insistence on ICE securing an arrest warrant for Martinez is a tactic used by many sanctuary sheriffs.

Houston Chronicle [7/29/2025 7:00 AM, Evan McDonald, 1982K] reports the Trump administration’s use of Medicaid data to locate immigrants who lack the legal authority to live in the U.S. could have considerable ramifications in Texas and discourage people from seeking health care, civil rights groups said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are now allowed to access personal information, including home addresses and ethnicities, for 79 million individuals enrolled in Medicaid. Officials intend to use the data to obtain "identity and location information on aliens," according to records obtained by the Associated Press. Civil rights groups said the move is the latest in a series of actions and policy changes that could make immigrants wary of seeking health care when they need it. Immigrants without permanent legal status are generally ineligible for Medicaid, but federal law requires hospitals to provide emergency medical treatment to all patients, regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

NewsNation [7/29/2025 5:29 PM, Jorge Ventura, Zach Kaplan, 5801K] reports with a new initiative aimed at curbing crime and illegal immigration, South Dakota is deploying state troopers, helicopters and National Guard soldiers to target gangs, drug crimes and migrants in the U.S. illegally in the Sioux Falls metro area. Dubbed "Operation Prairie Thunder," the initiative is set to be South Dakota’s most aggressive crackdown on crime and illegal immigration to date. South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden announced the pilot project Monday, calling it "a comprehensive, targeted public safety initiative to protect South Dakotans." The operation has two main goals: to support the efforts of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to crack down on crime in Sioux Falls. Over the next five months, between 10 and 15 state troopers will conduct saturation patrols, targeting drugs, gang activity and parole violators in the metro area. Aerial enforcement will also include Lakota helicopters and a Highway Patrol airplane to help with drug interdiction and traffic enforcement. The Department of Corrections’ parole agents and the Absconder Apprehension Unit will target fugitives and parole violators. The state has already flagged at least 10 inmates for possible parole to ICE, mostly nonviolent offenders near the end of their sentences. Six National Guard soldiers will be activated to assist ICE directly with processing and administrative work related to deportations. The Department of Corrections will also assist ICE with the processing and transportation of people who immigrated illegally. The state prison system formally expressed interest in signing a 287(g) agreement with ICE. Earlier this year, the South Dakota Highway Patrol and Division of Criminal Investigation signed similar agreements, according to the South Dakota Searchlight.

Breitbart [7/29/2025 9:06 AM, Randy Clark, 3077K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 243 illegal aliens in the Denver metro area during a nine-day deportation operation that ended on Wednesday. Those detained include aliens from 17 different countries, and some have significant criminal records. According to ICE officials, the immigration enforcement operation, conducted between July 12 to July 20, resulted in the arrests of illegal aliens who are known associates of the notorious Tren de Aragua (TdA) Venezuelan gang and others with ties to Mexican drug cartels and other transnational criminal organizations. Those arrested during the operation with significant criminal records include one alien wanted for murder, one wanted for human trafficking, five wanted for or convicted of sex related offenses (including sex assault and sexual exploitation of a minor), nine charged with or convicted of drug related offenses, 13 charged with or convicted of assault, eight charged with or convicted of theft charges (including burglary, robbery and motor vehicle theft) and 17 with charges or convictions related to driving under the influence. The aliens now facing removal from the United States include nationals from Mexico, Venezuela, Central and South America, Jordan, Algeria, Ethiopia, Romania, and China. Fifty illegal aliens arrested during the operation had existing orders of removal outstanding and will face imminent removal from the United States.

Axios [7/29/2025 9:20 AM, Jeremy Duda, Alex Fitzpatrick, and Kavya Beheraj, 13599K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions increased in Arizona in recent months, reflecting a national trend, newly obtained data shows. The numbers illustrate a major shift that arrived soon after the Trump administration tripled ICE’s arrest quota from 1,000 to 3,000. The surge in non-criminal arrests followed the new directive, despite the administration’s stated focus on targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Being in the U.S. illegally is a civil, not criminal, violation. In January, ICE agents arrested 451 people in Arizona, 81 of whom — 18% of the total — had no criminal charges or convictions. That shot up to 198 of 702 in May and 241 of 863 in June, making it 28% in both months.

The AP [7/29/2025 6:39 PM, Christopher Weber, 1611K] reports that Los Angeles County leaders want to prohibit law enforcement officers from concealing their identities while on duty, a response to recent immigration raids during which some federal agents refused to identify themselves or covered their faces. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 4-0, with one abstention, to direct county counsel to draft an ordinance that bars officers, including federal agents, from wearing masks, with limited exceptions such as for medical protection or during undercover operations. Officers would also be required to visibly display identification and agency affiliation while out in public. Since early June, immigration agents have swarmed Southern California, arresting hundreds of people and prompting protests against the federal raids and the subsequent deployment of the National Guard and Marines. About half the Guard troops and all the Marines were pulled out of LA in recent weeks. Supervisor Janice Hahn, who co-authored the motion, said the raids carried out by the Trump administration have sparked fear and residents have a right to know who is stopping, questioning or detaining them. Hahn conceded that it is unclear if the county will be able to enforce the law when it comes to actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies. "Ultimately, it might have to be decided by a court," she said. Telemundo [7/29/2025 8:38 AM, Staff, 103K] reports that the proposal by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis follows similar proposals pending in the state Legislature and Congress. “Law enforcement officers should never wear disguises or conceal their identities when interacting with the public in the course of their duties,” Hahn and Solis wrote in a motion the board will discuss Tuesday. “But since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids began in Los Angeles County on June 6, 2025, that is exactly what has been happening. “Residents have witnessed countless incidents in which men in plainclothes or tactical gear, their faces covered by masks or balaclavas and sunglasses, raid communities and detain residents. Furthermore, they have refused to reveal their identity or even a badge when requested, raising fears of impostors. “When law enforcement officers conceal their identities, they create confusion, incite fear, and undermine public trust,” the motion states. Federal authorities have defended the use of masks by ICE agents, arguing that there has been a massive increase in assaults on agents and that concealing their identity helps protect them and their families from retaliation. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has claimed that the agents’ faces and addresses have been disseminated by gang members and activist groups opposed to the Trump administration’s mass deportations. “We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who disclose confidential information to ICE agents,” Noem said in a statement earlier this month. “These criminals are siding with ruthless cartels and human traffickers. We will not allow this in the United States.” FOX News [7/29/2025 10:24 PM, Landon Mion, 46878K] reports Supervisor Janice Hahn, who co-authored the motion, said the raids have provoked fear and residents have a right to know who is stopping, questioning or detaining them. "Across the county, people are being pulled out of their cars, beaten, and ripped from their families by men in tactical gear with balaclavas, no badges, and no names," Hahn said. "That’s not how law enforcement in a democracy should operate.” Hahn admitted that it is unclear if the county will be able to enforce the measure against actions by federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Ultimately, it might have to be decided by a court," she said. Administration officials have defended officers who conceal their identities, arguing that immigration agents do it for their safety to avoid potential death threats and doxing, which includes releasing someone’s personal information online without their permission. "I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is," ICE acting director Todd Lyons said last month. A pending measure in the state legislature would prohibit local, state and federal police from covering their faces while on duty in the Golden State. Similar legislation has been proposed in other states and U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., have introduced a bill at the federal level. In Los Angeles County, the county counsel has 60 days to submit the draft ordinance to the board for approval. Supervisor Hilda Solis, the other co-author, said local officials must establish expectations about how law enforcement should conduct themselves in the county. "The use of masks, tactical gear, and refusal to show identification is not only alarming and confusing, but erodes public trust and raises serious safety concerns," Solis said.

(B) Good Morning America [7/29/2025 10:56 AM, Staff] reports that the LA County Board of Supervisors is set to consider an ordinance to prohibit officers from hiding their identities. Federal agents have been seen using masks or other face coverings during local immigration raids. ICE and Border Patrol leaders have defended the use of the mask, saying there has been an increase in assaults on agents.

Los Angeles Times [7/29/2025 7:12 PM, Rebecca Ellis, 14672K] reports that L.A. County took a first step Tuesday toward barring immigration officers from concealing their identities with neck gaiters and masks, though it’s far from clear they’ll be able to enforce the local ban on federal agents. County supervisors voted 4-0 to ask attorneys to draft a rule that would bar all law enforcement officers — including local sheriff deputies and federal immigration agents — from disguising their identity while working in unincorporated parts of the county. It’s a scene that’s played out again and again since widespread immigration raids began in June: armed federal agents —their faces hidden by gaiters, balaclavas or ski masks — have hopped out of an unmarked van and apprehended people from street corners, car washes, and Home Depot parking lots. Officers often refuse to identify themselves as working with federal immigration enforcement, according to videos captured of these raids. "Being forcibly detained by a federal officer in the middle of the day is scary enough," said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who spearheaded the motion. "Having it done by someone wearing a face mask or balaclava whose name and badge are completely covered up is even more disturbing." Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that agents with the department’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Enforcement and Removal Operations need to disguise themselves to avoid having their identity publicized. "These sanctuary politicians are trying to outlaw officers wearing masks to protect themselves from being doxed and targeted," McLaughlin said in a statement. "These LA Country Supervisors have clearly never been on an ICE operation because they would see our officers verbally identify themselves, wear vests that say ICE/ERO or Homeland Security, and are flanked by vehicles that also say the name of the department."

The Hill [7/29/2025 2:40 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 18649K] reports Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said the streets of Los Angeles are empty as a result of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions in recent months. In a video posted to social media, Padilla said customers are afraid of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, and businesses have suffered in what, he said, is typically a vibrant area. "Hi, this is Senator Alex Padilla here in Boyle Heights, just outside of downtown Los Angeles, in one of L.A.’s most iconic, historic and vibrant neighborhoods, typically," Padilla said in the video, posted this past weekend. "But, ever since Trump’s ICE raids — it really began in earnest in early June — you see not just a drop in foot traffic, pedestrian activity, here in the community," he continued, "but all the business owners here have seen a significant drop in business.” The senator encouraged those frustrated with the president’s immigration policies to support the local businesses as a form of "protest.” "For folks who are wondering what they can do to push back, what they can do to counter this Trump crackdown, you can protest with your wallet. Come support a small business, immigrant-owned business, in these diverse communities as part of our pushback," Padilla said.

Houston Chronicle [7/29/2025 8:59 PM, Jarrod Wardwell, 1982K] reports a Honduran citizen accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting his neighbor in Pasadena is now being held under a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Harris County court records. Court documents allege 56-year-old Jose Santos Maldonado-Zavala forced his female upstairs neighbor into his apartment and sexually assaulted her after approaching her about a leaking air conditioner. The woman reported she was assaulted at the Emerald Pointe Apartments on Houston Avenue around midnight on July 2, the Pasadena Police Department said in a social media post. Court records show he was arrested last Wednesday. Maldonado-Zavala was charged with kidnapping and a sexual assault charge is pending, Pasadena police said. ICE on Sunday requested a hold for Maldonado-Zavala, who had no prior arrests, according to Harris County court documents. His immigration status was unclear. Pasadena police said on social media that investigators are looking for other people in the area who may have been assaulted by Maldonado-Zavala, but they did not say why. The police department did not respond to a request for comment. A bond order alleges that Maldonado-Zavala confessed to kidnapping the neighbor and sexually assaulting her. He said he thought she was either a "slow learner" or had a disability and took advantage of her, the order states. Kelly Denise Benavides, listed as Maldonado-Zavala’s defense attorney, and Julius Justin Gray, who’s listed as a public defender, did not respond to requests for comment. His next court date is scheduled for Sept. 17, according to court records.

San Francisco Chronicle [7/29/2025 5:20 PM, Sarah Ravani, 4120K] reports federal authorities have detained a permanent U.S. resident from South Korea at San Francisco International Airport for at least a week, a case that his attorneys say reflects a disturbing trend. Tae Heung "Will" Kim, who has lived in the U.S. since the age of 5 and is currently a doctorate student at Texas A&M University researching a vaccine for Lyme disease, was detained July 21 at a security checkpoint after arriving at the airport from South Korea, said Chris Godshall-Bennett, one of Kim’s attorneys. Kim has a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge from more than a decade ago, the attorney said. It was unclear Tuesday morning whether Kim was still being held at the airport or had been transferred to a detention center, his attorney said. A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Tuesday that Kim "is in ICE custody pending removal proceedings." Godshall-Bennett said immigration officials had not told Kim’s attorneys why they detained the 40-year-old man, and had not allowed them contact with him.

The Hill [7/29/2025 9:27 AM, Alex Baker, 18649K] reports a co-pilot on a Delta Airlines flight from Minneapolis to San Francisco who was arrested upon landing at San Francisco International Airport has been identified. According to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, Rustom Bhagwagar, a 34-year-old Florida resident, was arrested at SFO Saturday night for alleged sex crimes against a child. According to law enforcement, Bhagwagar has been booked on five counts of oral copulation with a child under 10 years old. He is being held on $5 million in bail, sheriff’s office officials said on Monday. Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff Investigation Division have been investigating Bhagwagar since April. They secured a Ramey arrest warrant for him and learned he was due to fly into SFO prior to Saturday’s arrest. The flight, Delta Airlines Flight 2809, had just touched down from Minneapolis when Homeland Security agents and Contra Costa County Sheriff’s deputies boarded the plane. Passengers aboard the flight posted video online showing federal agents walking up the aisle of the plane. A Delta spokesperson on Sunday deferred comment to law enforcement. However, on Monday, an airline spokesperson told KRON4 that, "Delta has zero tolerance for unlawful conduct and will fully cooperate with law enforcement." The arrest was made as part of an investigation by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) official told KRON4. HSI assisted, but federal agents were on the scene primarily to give Contra Costa County deputies access to the plane to make the arrest.

Reported similarly:
Blaze [7/29/2025 5:18 PM, Paul Sacca, 1805K]

The Hill [7/29/2025 6:00 AM, Lexi Lonas Cochran, 18649K] reports President Trump is making it harder and harder for international students and immigrants to pursue higher education in the U.S. Dreamers, foreign students seeking visas and potentially even those looking to work in the country after graduation have all found themselves caught in the crossfire as Trump seeks to curb immigration while also cracking down on colleges and universities. "It certainly did strike me that universities kept coming up as a very attractive target, and as a place where a lot of things that might not be really noticeable for another few years are becoming noticeable just in the scope of a few months," said Dara Lind, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. The most recent Trump administration action came against Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, those who came to the country undocumented as children who are allowed to renew their status every two years to avoid deportation. The Education Department announced last week it was investigating five universities for scholarship programs they have for DACA recipients, arguing the policies are unfair to U.S. citizens.

Univision [7/29/2025 10:34 AM, Staff, 4992K] reports the Trump administration has taken an even tougher line in its policy toward recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, known as Dreamers. In a statement sent to National Public Radio (NPR), the agency’s press assistant, Tricia McLaughlin, urged Dreamers to "self-deport" and then attempt to "return to the country legally" and made it clear that any DACA recipient can be arrested or deported for certain reasons, such as committing a crime. DACA recipients, the agency reiterated in the statement, "are not automatically protected from deportation," as the program "does not grant any legal status in the United States." "We encourage all individuals who are here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the opportunity to return to the United States legally," McLaughlin told NPR. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [7/29/2025 1:13 PM, Jorge Cancino, 4992K] reports in "Let’s Talk About Immigration ," Televisa Univision’s senior immigration editor, Jorge Cancino, along with Televisa Univision’s vice president and general counsel, Armando Olmedo, and guest attorney Haim Vásquez, explain the key aspects of the immigration changes announced by the director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Joseph Edlow, the agency’s recently Senate-confirmed director, told The New York Times that the federal agency is preparing a new citizenship exam and modifications to the H-1B visa program for foreign professional workers. According to Edlow, the current exam "is not very difficult" and, by the standards of the Donald Trump administration, "does not comply" with the "spirit of the law." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [7/29/2025 9:46 AM, Staff, 56000K] reports that Language technology company Translate.com has announced the launch of a certified document translation and online notarization service designed to simplify legal and immigration processes for Spanish-speaking individuals. The offering focuses on residents of the Southern United States – particularly individuals of Mexican, Central American, and South American origin – as well as applicants preparing their immigration paperwork abroad. The newly launched service combines fast, human-quality translations with legally compliant digital notarization. Users can upload a document in Spanish, receive a certified English version within 24 - 48 hours, and – if needed – request notarization fully online, without needing to visit a notary in person. A family from Monterrey, Mexico, recently used Translate.com to translate and notarize their child’s birth certificate and school transcript for a U.S. visa application. The entire process – from upload to notarized documents – was completed in under 48 hours, without leaving their home. This example is increasingly common: according to Pew Research Center, over 62 million people in the U.S. identify as Hispanic or Latino, with many navigating immigration systems or formalizing status. Translate.com’s service helps reduce delays, confusion, and costs associated with traditional translation offices.

Telemundo [7/29/2025 12:52 PM, Ligia Fernanda Robles and Priscilla Ferreyra, 145K] reports if you are a permanent resident of the United States, you should know that the Donald Trump administration is warning that you must always carry your alien registration documentation, or “green card,” with you. According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), all immigrants over the age of 18 must carry any certificate or registration card that proves their immigration status. “Failure to carry (this document) if you are detained by federal authorities may result in a misdemeanor and fines,” they warn in a message on X. Although this is not a new law, an immigration lawyer who spoke with Telemundo Chicago emphasizes that this is a requirement. The expert assures that having photos of immigration documents on your phone is not valid for immigration authorities.

San Diego Union Tribune [7/29/2025 8:00 AM, Alexandra Mendoza, 1611K] reports a rideshare driver allowed to live in the U.S. under a program for immigrants who arrived undocumented as children said that he mistakenly drove into Tijuana while transporting passengers near San Ysidro. Now, Erick Alexander Hernández, a 34-year-old man originally from El Salvador, is in immigration custody in San Diego and being fast-tracked for deportation, despite his explanations that it was an honest mistake. He has lived in the United States for 20 years. "It’s a horrible nightmare," his mother, Elsa Hernández, said on Friday. "It was a mistake. It could happen to anyone." His mother said that Hernández is unfamiliar with the roads in San Diego because he lives in Los Angeles. He works installing air conditioners and drives for ride-sharing services to earn extra income. On June 1, Hernández was driving two passengers from Los Angeles, who had attended a soccer match, to San Diego. However, he missed the last exit in San Ysidro and accidentally drove into Mexico, he said in a letter shared by his attorney. The case was first reported by NBC 7 San Diego. Hernández explained what had happened to the Mexican border officials, who then guided him to the San Ysidro Port of Entry into the United States to turn around. He was later arrested. While Hernández says he made a mistake — one that numerous southbound drivers in San Diego have made over the decades — the Department of Homeland Security has characterized his border-crossing differently. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Hernández "self-deported and then tried to illegally re-enter the U.S." In the June 23 letter, Hernández said he told U.S. border officials at the port of entry that he crossed the border by accident and showed them documents proving he is a DACA recipient. He also claimed that while detained at the port, an official asked him for $800 to allow him to return. McLaughlin said the matter is under investigation.

Breitbart [7/29/2025 8:03 AM, Bob Price, 3077K] reports U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks reported the continuing decline in the arrest of illegal aliens who cross the border between ports of entry. During the first 27 days of July, agents arrested just over 4,000 migrants. "Our enforcement posture is effective- the border is fortified, and deterrence is in motion," Chief Banks wrote in a post on social media on Monday. Banks reported that his agents apprehended 4,022 migrants who illegally crossed the border between ports of entry in the first 27 days of July. This represents just under 150 migrants per day. If the trend holds through Thursday, agents will set yet another record-low with the apprehension of just over 4,600 migrants. Just days ago, Breitbart Texas reported that President Donald Trump delivered the most secure border in U.S. history with the arrest of 6,072 migrants in June. This was a decrease of about 15 percent from the previous low water mark set in March. The July number is on track to be a decrease of 24 percent from the prior year. In June, agents also set a record for the least number of migrant arrests in a single day with the apprehension of 112 illegal aliens, Breitbart reported. On July 20, that record was shattered with the report of only 88 arrests. "Deterrence works," officials wrote, "the world now knows that the U.S. is taking illegal immigration seriously."

Breitbart [7/29/2025 7:05 PM, Staff, 3077K] reports that in a time when many Americans disapprove of current U.S. immigration efforts, officials at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday pointed out that CBP does more than protect Americans from illegal activity at the nation’s borders. Since 2010, the New York office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection has partnered with the nonprofit Global Medical Relief Fund to provide assistance in a series of humanitarian acts and medical relief to children in over 64 nations. "U.S. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for protecting the country," Frank Russo, field director of the CBP’s New York office, noted in a statement. But border agency officials spoke of a "commitment" to "balancing enforcement with empathy." On Tuesday, the federal government revealed that last year in June three young adult victims of violent attacks in Tanzania linked to tribal and ritualistic beliefs "were able to receive urgent medical care and prosthetics in the United States" due to CBP and GMRF working hand-in-hand. The three young African natives born albino were, according to officials, "targeted and mutilated due to superstitions that their body parts bring good luck.” They were lifted to the United States and stayed on Staten Island at GMRF’s Dare to Dream House in New York for children getting medical treatment.

Washington Examiner [7/29/2025 12:11 PM, Paul Bedard, 1934K] reports Former President Joe Biden’s open border immigration crisis led to an "extraordinary" surge in legal and illegal migrants into the United States and new population highs in 31 states and the District of Columbia. According to census data, the growth cemented the long-changing migration trend from the East to the South, which has seen a 578% increase in the foreign-born population. During Biden’s four years, California added 1.4 million migrants and Texas 1 million, but several other states shared in the burden of having a huge influx arrive to compete for jobs and taxpayer-funded social services, according to an analysis of the data by the Center for Immigration Studies. Under Biden, millions of migrants came to America, mostly illegally. "Illegal immigrants accounted for 5.4 million or two-thirds of the 8.3 million growth in the foreign-born population," said the center in an earlier report on the overall numbers. The think tank said the surge has been a decadeslong event. "The increases at the sub-national level in many parts of the country in the last 45 years can only be described as extraordinary," it said.

NewsMax [7/29/2025 12:05 PM, Charlie McCarthy, 4622K] reports that Border Patrol agents at the southern border are sometimes bored as President Donald Trump has focused on stopping the migrant crisis, National Border Patrol Council spokesman Chris Cabrera told Newsmax on Tuesday. During an appearance on "National Report," Cabrera talked about the change at the U.S.-Mexico border under Trump. "Well, the crossings are the lowest I’ve seen in 24 years," he told co-hosts Shaun Kraisman and Emma Rechenberg. "It’s to the point where it’s, you know, it gets boring out there at times, which is a good thing. "You know, we’re getting a chance to rest and refit and get out there and do what we’re designed to do." While the Trump administration’s border policies have resulted in a record low number of crossings, that doesn’t mean the job of patrolling has stopped. "You know, there’s still folks out there trying to cross," Cabrera said. "There’s still drugs coming across. It’s just it’s not as pronounced as it was." He added that under former President Joe Biden, migrants volunteered to be caught. Not now. "Obviously, they were turning themselves in. They were catching us, you know, in a sense," Cabrera said. "So now we’re back to the old school way of actually on the ground, cutting for sign and looking for those that are skilled at trying to get away from us. And we’re getting them, you know, we’re shutting it down a little more each day."

FOX News [7/29/2025 2:17 PM, Cameron Arcand, 46878K] reports United States Customs and Border Patrol caught an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member during a traffic stop near Detroit Wednesday. The traffic stop in Shelby Township was triggered by a fake license plate on a vehicle caught during a traffic stop by the Shelby Township Police Department. The local police station said they realized the suspect was an alleged gang member on the terror watchlist, which is when Marysville Station CBP agents went to the traffic stop to grab people in local police custody. CBP said the three people inside the car were all in the United States illegally, and one of them is Venezuelan national Manuel Zavala-Lopez, an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member who entered the country during the Biden administration in May 2023 and was released, according to DHS. The group was named a foreign terrorist organization early on during President Donald Trump’s second term, along with MS-13. Some of those alleged members have been sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador for detention. "Zavala-Lopez is a serial criminal who’s traveled across the U.S. committing violent crimes. He has an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on a felony assault charge in Denver, Colorado. He has also been charged with robbery resulting in physical injury, criminal possession of a weapon intent to use, assault, possession of stolen property and petty larceny in New York," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "Thanks to our brave law enforcement, he is off the streets and will no longer be able to terrorize American citizens. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal."

ABC News [7/29/2025 10:58 AM, Staff, 31733K] reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the 30 packages that were discovered weighed over 77 lbs. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Federalist [7/29/2025 7:40 AM, Joy Pullmann, 1142K] reports weeks ago, U.S. Border Patrol unexpectedly revoked the visa of a Canadian pastor, preventing him from leading an innovative college startup in Wyoming just weeks from the start of fall classes. This leaves the Special Forces veteran and his family camping out in friends’ homes while they seek a new visa. Harold Ristau, who also holds three advanced degrees, was a highly visible opponent of Canada’s draconian lockdowns. His family faced debanking from Justin Treadeau’s government as "domestic terrorists" because he prayed and sang Canada’s national anthem at a war memorial outside Parliament during the famous Freedom Convoy in 2022. Ristau and his family attempted to return to the United States on June 29 after visiting family in Canada when Border Patrol rejected Ristau’s existing visa. The Ristaus legally obtained the typically three-year visa last year when Luther Classical College hired Ristau as its president. "Dr. Harold Ristau was denied entry into the United States at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, NY on June 29, 2025, because his Trade NAFTA (TN) visa does not authorize him to work as a College President or attend an unaccredited university," a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) representative told The Federalist. "Dr. Ristau was allowed to withdraw his application for admission in lieu of Expedited Removal under Section 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and returned to Canada. He is not permanently barred from entering the U.S. but must obtain the correct documentation for his intended activities.

Los Angeles Times [7/29/2025 9:17 PM, Jessica Garrison, 14672K] reports a Texas Lyme-disease researcher who came to the U.S. from South Korea at age 5 and is a longtime legal permanent resident was detained at San Francisco International Airport for a week, according to his lawyer. Tae Heung "Will" Kim, 40, was returning from his brother’s wedding in South Korea on July 21 when he was pulled out of secondary screening for unknown reasons, said Eric Lee, an attorney who says he’s been unable to talk with his client. Lee said that he has no idea where Kim is now and that Kim has not been allowed to communicate with anyone aside from a brief call last week to his family. A Senate office told him that Kim was being moved to an immigration facility in Texas, while a representative from the Korean Consulate told Kim’s family that he was going to be sent somewhere else. "We have no idea where he is going to end up," Lee said. "We have no idea why.” Kim has misdemeanor marijuana possession charges from 2011 on his record, but his lawyer questioned whether that was the kind of offense that would merit being held in a windowless room underneath the terminals at the airport for a week. Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the L.A. Times. But a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection told Washington Post, which first reported the story, that "this alien is in ICE custody pending removal hearings.” The spokesperson also said: "If a green card holder is convicted of a drug offense, violating their status, that person is issued a Notice to Appear and CBP coordinates detention space with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement].” Kim’s attorney said if his client was detained because he "had a little weed when he was pulled over 15 years ago in his 20s," that was absurd, adding: "If every American who had a tiny amount of weed in their car was detained under these conditions…". Kim’s mother, Yehoon "Sharon" Lee, told Washington Post that she was worried about her son’s health in custody. "He’s had asthma ever since he was younger," she told Washington Post. "I don’t know if he has enough medication. He carries an inhaler, but I don’t know if it’s enough, because he’s been there a week.” His mother told the paper that she and her husband entered the U.S. on business visas in the 1980s but by the time they became naturalized citizens, Kim was too old to get automatic citizenship. Kim has a green card and has spent most of his life in the U.S. After helping out in his family’s doll-manufacturing business after the death of his father, he recently entered a doctoral program at Texas A&M and is helping to research a vaccine for Lyme disease. There have been multiple reports nationwide of U.S. permanent residents being detained at airports, particularly those with criminal records, no matter how minor. These cases have prompted some experts to warn that green-card holders should avoid leaving the country, to reduce the risk of not being allowed back.

The Hill [7/29/2025 12:29 PM, Miriam Waldvogel, 18649K] reports a group representing several major airlines alongside travel companies and airports is opposing a Senate bill that would require the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to generally use manual ID verification at security checkpoints instead of facial recognition. The bill, introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), would broadly restrict TSA’s ability to use biometrics and facial recognition, carving out a few exemptions for the agency’s PreCheck and other Trusted Traveler programs. Passengers may still opt in to the use of facial recognition at the checkpoint. In a letter Monday to Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the air industry groups said the law was a "step backward" and that facial recognition technology made security screenings far more efficient.

Federal News Network [7/29/2025 12:19 PM, Torie Ketcham, 2346K] reports that the Transportation Security Administration wants to use artificial intelligence and other private sector technologies to streamline airport screening. Under a recent request for information, TSA asked for feedback on turnkey solutions that could be used at airport checkpoints. The deadline to respond is August 1. The RFI was issued through TSA’s Screening Partnership Program, which allows airports to contract for private security screening services. TSA said it’s particularly interested in tech that can reduce manual labor and improve the passenger experience. The bipartisan FEMA Review Act would lift FEMA out of the Department of Homeland Security and make it a cabinet-level agency. The bill, introduced by leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also aims to cut red tape and streamline FEMA’s disaster assistance processes. The legislation would direct FEMA to create a universal application for individual disaster assistance. The legislation comes as the Trump administration also considers potential reforms through its FEMA Review Council. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

New York Post [7/29/2025 1:15 PM, Brooke Steinberg, 49956K] reports that international travel is getting easier for some passengers. American Airlines has partnered with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to pilot a new program that allows some international travelers to skip the usual TSA and customs re-screenings. The first-of-its-kind program, known as One Stop Security (OSS), will allow passengers to go directly to their connecting flight after landing from abroad without reclaiming and rechecking their checked luggage, which will be automatically transferred to the connecting flight. Per a Fox News report, Delta Air Lines is expected to follow with its own trial beginning Wednesday, July 30, for passengers flying from London Heathrow to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). OSS is expected to streamline the travel experience by "leveraging advanced technology" to cut connection times by more than half, which typically includes clearing U.S. Customs, claiming checked bags, rechecking bags and then clearing TSA security. "One Stop Security is one of the most forward-thinking enhancements we can bring to international travel - and importantly, to our customers - as it delivers a level of convenience and time-savings that’s never been available before to customers connecting from international flights," David Seymour, chief operating officer at American, said in a statement.

Axios [7/29/2025 6:45 AM, Carrie Shepherd and Kelly Tyko, 13599K] reports airport security programs like TSA PreCheck and CLEAR allow travelers to breeze through screening. As TSA eases security protocols, travel experts say paying for that privilege is still a good investment. Two decades after post-9/11 crackdowns made fast-track security a no-brainer for many Americans, especially frequent fliers, the appeal of skipping long lines hasn’t faded. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on July 16 that TSA may change the current rule on traveling with liquids. The potential change comes on the heels of TSA ending the "shoes off policy," which the more than 20 million active PreCheck members already bypassed. PreCheck is open to U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals and lawful permanent residents, while other government traveler programs like Global Entry allow some foreign citizens to apply. Travel experts argue the programs’ time-saving advantages go well beyond the eased restrictions.

Axios [7/29/2025 12:07 PM, Alex Fitzpatrick, 13599K] reports that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will maintain long-term access to key Defense Department satellite data used for hurricane forecasting and more, the agency said in a statement Tuesday. Why it matters: The potential loss of the data threw a monkey wrench in forecasting operations just ahead of what’s expected to be an above-average hurricane season. Driving the news: "The Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) has announced plans to continue distribution of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) data beyond July 31, 2025," NOAA said in a statement, referring to a U.S. Navy forecasting unit and a DoD-run weather satellite program. "As a result, there will be no interruption to DMSP data delivery and NOAA will continue to have access to data from DMSP for the duration of the program’s life span." News of the extension was earlier reported by meteorologist Michael Lowry, who previously wrote a detailed explanation of the program and its many benefits to forecasters. Catch up quick: The Defense Department shocked the meteorology world in June when it unexpectedly announced that access to the satellite data would be suspended due to undefined cybersecurity issues. The Pentagon later granted a monthlong extension that was set to expire this Thursday, July 31.

The AP [7/29/2025 11:06 AM, Staff, 56000K] reports a major hurricane was churning across the Pacific Ocean but was several hundred miles south-southeast of Hawaii and posed no threat to the islands, forecasters said Tuesday. Hurricane Iona is one of two major weather systems in the central Pacific Ocean. In its latest advisory, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said Iona was about 765 miles (1,230 kilometers) away from Honolulu, with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (205 kph). Additional strengthening was forecast later on Tuesday, with steady weakening expected to begin by Wednesday. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Keli has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph), the NHC said Tuesday morning. It was about 890 miles (1,435 kilometers) southeast of Honolulu and was moving west at about 13 mph (20 kph). No coastal watches or warnings were in effect for the storms. The administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency on Monday hosted a statewide conference call with all counties, during which the National Weather Service provided an assessment and status of the storms. USA Today [7/29/2025 12:40 PM, Gabe Hauari, 75552K] reports all is calm in the Atlantic Ocean – for now, at least – however the National Hurricane Center is staying busy in the Pacific Ocean, as forecasters are currently tracking five systems, including one hurricane and one tropical storm. The hurricane center said in a July 28 advisory Hurricane Iona has strengthened into a major hurricane well south of the Hawaiian Islands. The NHC said the storm was located about 790 miles south-southeast of Honolulu with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph with higher gusts, making Iona a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. Iona is moving toward the west and this motion is expected to continue with a gradual increase in forward speed during the next couple of days, according to hurricane center forecasters, who expect additional strengthening Tuesday night with steady weakening expected to begin by Wednesday. No direct impacts are expected to the Hawaiian Islands. However, AccuWeather reports the increased trade winds combined with "moderate or greater drought conditions across over half of the Hawaiian Islands" will increase the wildfire risk through much of this week.

New York Post [7/29/2025 2:08 PM, Diana Nerozzi, 49956K] reports that President Trump confirmed Tuesday that a Secret Service agent tried to sneak his wife onto a transport plane accompanying the president’s Air Force One jet to Scotland, the latest misstep for the beleaguered protective agency. "Wouldn’t you think it might be a little dangerous?" Trump told reporters on his way back to Washington after five days on the other side of the Atlantic. "That’s a weird deal," the president added, confirming that he was informed of the matter before expressing confidence that agency Director Sean M. Curran will "take care of it.” The incident was first reported by the Herald newspaper of Glasgow, which reported that the Dallas-based agent flew his wife to Maryland, where she received an official briefing and was taken to Joint Base Andrews ahead of Trump’s departure before being discovered and told to leave. "The U.S. Secret Service is conducting a personnel investigation after an employee attempted to invite his spouse — a member of the United States Air Force — aboard a mission support flight," Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told the outlet in a statement. "Prior to the overseas departure, the employee was advised by supervisors that such action was prohibited, and the spouse was subsequently prevented from taking the flight. No Secret Service protectees were aboard and there was no impact to our overseas protective operation."

Washington Examiner [7/29/2025 6:03 PM, Brady Knox, 1934K] reports President Donald Trump confirmed that a Secret Service agent tried to sneak his wife on board a support plane accompanying him to his trip to Scotland. The story, first reported by the Herald newspaper of Glasgow, was confirmed by Trump on Air Force One during his trip back to Washington, D.C. "That’s a weird deal," he said, adding that Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran will "take care of it." According to a statement from the Secret Service, the agent flew his wife to Maryland, where she received a briefing. She then took a bus to Joint Air Base Andrews and was caught while in the distinguished visitors’ lounge. Authorities asked her to leave and have since launched an investigation. The wife, an Air Force member, was attempting to board a support flight operated by the Air Force that "was being used by the Secret Service to transport personnel and equipment." "Prior to the overseas departure, the employee was advised by supervisors that such action was prohibited, and the spouse was subsequently prevented from taking the flight. No Secret Service protectees were aboard, and there was no impact to our overseas protective operation," the statement to the Herald said. The episode marks another embarrassment for the Secret Service, following a beleaguered year for the organization.

Reported similarly:
Washington Times [7/29/2025 4:06 PM, Jeff Mordock, 2106K]

CBS Miami [7/29/2025 4:31 PM, Staff, 51860K] Video: HERE reports that, on Tuesday afternoon, Capt. Frank Florio III, commanding officer Coast Guard Sector Miami held a press conference on Monday’s deadly collision between a barge and a sailboat near Miami Beach that killed two children.

AP [7/29/2025 7:23 PM, Staff, 24051K] reports that the U.S. Coast Guard was beginning a salvage operation on Tuesday while investigating the cause of a boat collision near Miami that left two girls dead, officials said. Capt. Frank Florio, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami, assured the victims’ family members during a news conference that the Coast Guard and its partners would do everything in their power to learn what caused the crash. "We owe you answers, and we are committed to finding them," Florio said. Officials didn’t immediately identify any of the victims or release a cause for the crash. The collision between a barge and a sailboat occurred around 11 a.m. Monday in Biscayne Bay, between Miami and Miami Beach. All six people on the sailboat, a teenage sailing camp counselor and five children, ended up in the water. They were in their last week of a camp for children aged 7 to 15, according to the Miami Yacht Club. All six were pulled from the water, and four were rushed to a Miami hospital, officials said. A 7-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl were pronounced dead shortly after arriving, while two other girls, ages 8 and 11, remained in critical condition Tuesday. A 19-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl were rescued but not hospitalized. Across the U.S. last year, there were over 550 deaths in recreational boating, but only a sliver of those — 43 — were caused by vessels crashing into each other, according to Coast Guard statistics.

(B) NBC News Daily [7/29/2025 3:23 PM, Staff] reports that investigators say a barge hit a sailboat with a woman and five children onboard from a youth sailing program near Miami Beach. The US Coast Guard confirmed a 7- and 13-year-old girl did not survive. An 8- and 11-year-old remain in critical condition and a 12- and 19-year-old were rescued. The names of those involved have not been released.

CBS Miami [7/29/2025 4:59 PM, Mauricio Maldonado, 51860K] reports that the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday held its first press conference following a fatal collision between a barge and a sailboat near Miami Beach that killed two children. Captain Frank Florio, commander of Coast Guard Sector Miami, said the investigation into the Monday, July 28, incident remains ongoing, with alcohol and chemical test results still pending. "Our hearts are with the families of the victims and we stand united in grief and resolve," Florio said. "This tragedy reminds us of the fragility of life and our shared responsibility in keeping our waterways safe." According to Florio, the Coast Guard received a report at 11:27 a.m. Monday about a collision involving a tug and barge and a sailing vessel with six people on board near Hibiscus and Monument islands. Miami Beach Fire Rescue was first to arrive, followed by other local and federal agencies. A 7-year-old and a 13-year-old died the same day, two other individuals remain hospitalized in critical condition, and two others were rescued. Search and rescue efforts concluded Monday, and next-of-kin notifications have been completed. Life jackets, camp, and vessel activity under review. Coast Guard officials believe the children were wearing life jackets at the time of the crash, based on initial interviews. However, Florio said the investigation is ongoing and will confirm those details. The summer camp affiliated with the children is part of the investigation. Florio confirmed that the barge involved was supporting construction operations in the Miami Beach area. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CyberScoop [7/29/2025 2:10 PM, Tim Starks] reports Sean Plankey’s path to leading the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency might have one obstacle set to be cleared for removal. With the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee scheduled to hold a vote on his nomination for CISA director Wednesday, the next and final step for Plankey pending approval from the panel would be getting a full Senate vote — something Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has vowed to block until the agency publicly releases a report on telecommunications network vulnerabilities. CISA said Tuesday that it would, in fact, release that report. “CISA intends to release the U.S. Telecommunications Insecurity Report (2022) that was developed but never released under the Biden administration in 2022, with proper clearance,” Marci McCarthy, director of public affairs at the agency, said in an emailed statement. “CISA has worked with telecommunications providers before, during, and after Salt Typhoon — sharing timely threat intelligence, providing technical support and continues to have close collaboration with our federal partners to safeguard America’s communications infrastructure.” The agency didn’t say when it would release the report, or what “proper clearance” entailed.

Federal News Network [7/29/2025 5:13 PM, Justin Doubleday, 2346K] reports agencies looking to stop hackers from moving laterally within their networks should pay close attention to new "zero trust" guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. CISA today released its latest guide, "Microsegmentation in Zero Trust, Part One: Introduction and Planning." The document explains how to embrace a key principle of modern cybersecurity: preventing a breach of one device or account from being used as a jumping off point to spread malware, steal data and compromise accounts across an organization. The initial microsegmentation guidance is geared toward non-technical management positions. CISA will follow up with a second guide that’s more technically focused.

FedScoop [7/29/2025 4:12 PM, Miranda Nazzaro, 56K] reports federal agencies are increasingly turning to generative artificial intelligence to further their missions, according to a new watchdog report that found use cases of the emerging technology jumping by ninefold in a selection of nearly a dozen agencies last year. In a report published Tuesday, the Government Accountability Office said generative AI use cases across a group of 11 federal agencies increased from 32 to 282 cases from 2023 to 2024, per an analysis of those agencies’ inventories. The GAO laid out several ways these agencies harnessed generative AI last year, stating the technology can “improve written communications, information access efficiency, and program status tracking.” Examples included the Department of Veterans Affairs using automation for medical imaging processing in veterans’ diagnostic services, along with the Department of Health and Human Services’ initiative to extract information from publications regarding the containment of the poliovirus. HHS reported the largest jump out of the 11 agencies, going from seven generative AI use cases in 2023 to 116 in 2024, according to the report. The Department of Homeland Security had the second-largest uptick, going from five to 36 uses between 2023 and last year. The report showed that even agencies that reported few to no use cases in 2023 increased their use the following year.

AP [7/29/2025 2:42 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports Tea, a dating discussion app that recently suffered a high-profile cybersecurity breach, announced late Monday that some direct messages were also accessed in the incident. The app — designed to let women safely discuss men they date — rocketed to the top of the U.S. Apple App Store last week but then confirmed on Friday that thousands of selfies and photo IDs of registered users were exposed in a digital security breach. 404 Media was the first to report on this second security issue, citing an independent security researcher who found it was possible for hackers to access messages between users discussing abortions, cheating partners, and phone numbers. In a statement posted on its social media accounts, Tea said it "recently learned that some direct messages (DMs) were accessed as part of the initial incident." "Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken the affected system offline," the app said. "At this time, we have found no evidence of access to other parts of our environment."

Axios [7/29/2025 12:53 PM, Sam Sabin, 13599K] reports that Ransomware gangs are on the hunt for organizations that have yet to patch their vulnerable Microsoft SharePoint servers. Why it matters: Those could include organizations across the government and sectors including education, health care, transportation, technology and finance, security experts told Axios. State of play: As of Wednesday, more than 400 systems had been actively compromised via the SharePoint zero-day vulnerability, according to researchers at Eye Security. Several federal government agencies — including at the departments of Energy, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services — have been hacked, likely by groups linked to the Chinese government. Malicious hackers have attempted to break into more than 90 state and local government offices, according to Randy Rose, vice president of security operations and intelligence at the Center for Internet Security, which runs the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Last week, researchers warned that the attackers were also stealing machine keys once they broke in — which would allow them to return even after a vulnerable SharePoint server was patched. Threat level: The new Warlock ransomware gang is actively targeting vulnerable SharePoint servers, Microsoft warned last week.

StateScoop [7/29/2025 2:15 PM, Colin Wood] reports Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday activated the state national guard to help respond to a cyberattack on the state’s capital city. According to an announcement by Walz’s office, the national guard’s help was needed because an ongoing cyberattack against St. Paul was larger and more complex than city staff were able to handle. At a press conference Tuesday, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said the city noticed “suspicious activity” early last Friday, triggering an investigation. “We now know this was not a system glitch or technical error,” Carter said Tuesday. “This was a deliberate, coordinated digital attack carried out by a sophisticated external actor intentionally and criminally targeting our city’s information infrastructure.” Carter, who has issued an emergency declaration, said the city is using its emergency operations center to run a “whole of government response,” which includes the assistance of two private cybersecurity firms, along with state and federal law enforcement agencies. “We are committed to working alongside the City of Saint Paul to restore cybersecurity as quickly as possible,” Walz said in a statement Tuesday. “The Minnesota National Guard’s cyber forces will collaborate with city, state, and federal officials to resolve the situation and mitigate lasting impacts. Above all, we are committed to protecting the safety and security of the people of Saint Paul.” Carter said the cyberattack shut down Wi-Fi access in city buildings, disrupted the city library’s collections management systems and suspended access to a “wide range” of city applications. He said 911 services are operating normally.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [7/29/2025 6:26 PM, Raphael Satter, 51390K]

New York Times [7/29/2025 4:00 PM, Ernesto Londoño, 138952K] reports Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Tuesday activated the state National Guard to help officials in St. Paul, the capital, respond to a complex cyberattack that was first detected on Friday. Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul said the city had shut down the bulk of its computer systems as a defensive measure as state and federal investigators tackled what he called “a deliberate, coordinated digital attack, carried out by a sophisticated external actor.” Mr. Carter said that the F.B.I. and several state agencies were helping assess who was behind the attack. He declined to say whether ransom had been demanded or whether there was any evidence suggesting a foreign government was behind the attack. City officials said they have yet to ascertain whether sensitive data had been stolen. St. Paul officials said they detected unusual activity on their network Friday morning and eventually realized the city’s networks had been breached. Deeming it a serious attack, they sought help from the governor and federal law enforcement agencies as well as cybersecurity companies. Mr. Walz issued an executive order on Tuesday directing the National Guard to assign military computer experts to assist officials in St. Paul. In the order, Mr. Walz said that “the scale and complexity of this incident exceeded both internal and commercial response capabilities.”

Reuters [7/29/2025 9:31 PM, Lananh Nguyen, Doina Chiacu, and Brendan O’Brien, 51390K] reports the man who killed four people with a semi-automatic rifle while rampaging through a Midtown Manhattan office tower carried a note with him that appeared to blame the National Football League for his degenerative brain disease, New York Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday. Police have identified the shooter as Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old Las Vegas resident with a history of mental illness. Tamura killed two security officers and two office workers from firms in the building before ending the Monday evening massacre by shooting himself in the chest on the 33rd floor of the Park Avenue office tower. It was the deadliest mass shooting in New York City in a quarter of a century. The NFL has its headquarters in the skyscraper alongside major financial firms, but Tamura apparently entered the wrong elevator bank and ended up in the offices of Rudin Management, a real estate company that owns the building, where he killed one Rudin employee, the mayor said. "The note alluded to that he felt he had CTE, a known brain injury for those who participate in contact sports," Adams told CBS News. "He appeared to have blamed the NFL for his injury." The New York Times [7/29/2025 6:01 PM, Matthew Cullen, 138952K] reports that the gunman who opened fire yesterday evening in a Midtown Manhattan office building was carrying a note in his wallet that claimed he had brain trauma from playing football and that accused the N.F.L. of covering up the dangers of the game. New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, said today that the gunman, whom investigators identified as Shane Tamura, was targeting the N.F.L. headquarters when he stormed the building with an AR-15-style rifle. He killed three people — a police officer, a security guard and a financial executive — in the lobby, but he was unable to reach the N.F.L. offices because he entered the wrong elevator, Adams said. Instead, Tamura traveled to the building’s 33rd floor, where he killed a fourth person, an associate at the company that owns the office building, before fatally shooting himself in the chest. It was the deadliest mass shooting in New York City in 25 years. The authorities spent today assembling a detailed picture of the gunman’s life in recent years and of the cross-country drive that he took from his home in Las Vegas before the shooting. Law enforcement officials there had documented his mental health history. In his note, the gunman asked that his brain be examined for signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., which can only be definitively diagnosed after death. Some people found to have C.T.E., including former N.F.L. players, are known to have experienced symptoms including impulsive behavior, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [7/29/2025 5:41 AM, Samson Ellis, 19320K]
FOX News [7/29/2025 8:58 AM, Ryan Gaydos, 46878K] Video: HERE

Reuters [7/29/2025 6:04 PM, Jana Winter and Sami Marshak, 24051K] reports that Cameras at 345 Park Avenue flagged an approaching gunman on Monday as a potential threat that required immediate attention, seconds before he burst into the office skyscraper’s lobby and began firing, according to two former federal officials familiar with New York building security systems. A still frame of CCTV footage obtained by Reuters and timestamped 6:26:52 p.m. ET – just over a minute before police received the first emergency call about the mass shooting - shows a man holding an assault-style rifle at his side. A computer-generated bright yellow box around him in the image indicates the use of software that analyzes live video feeds for threats requiring instant action, the former federal officials said. The details about the system, which have not previously been reported, raise questions about whether the gunman could have been thwarted before his attack, the officials said. Rudin Management, the real estate company that owns the tower, declined to comment on the camera system and whether it prompted any immediate actions from security staff. Police have identified the shooter as Shane Tamura, 27, a Las Vegas resident with a history of mental illness. He killed two security officers, including a police officer working on a paid security detail, a Rudin employee and an investment firm executive before taking his own life.

ABC News [7/29/2025 8:45 PM, Doc Louallen, 31733K] reports New York City Mayor Eric Adams shared new details about Monday’s deadly mass shooting at a Manhattan office building that left four people dead and one injured, describing the incident as an "intentional, sick, twisted act of violence." In an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Adams said the gunman, who drove cross-country from Nevada, appeared to target the NFL headquarters located in the building at 345 Park Avenue. A note left by the shooter mentioned CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), though investigators were still working to determine the exact motive. "We’re far from the investigation to finalize exactly what happened," Adams told ABC News. "We’re looking at his note that talked about CTE... but it is far from conclusive." The mayor confirmed the shooter had played high school football, not at the college or professional level. Security camera footage showed the gunman’s methodical approach, Adams said. "When you look at the tapes... there was just a total disregard for human lives," Adams said. The shooter allowed a woman to walk past him unharmed, while he had attacked everyone else he encountered. Among those killed were Wesley LePatner, a Blackstone employee and mother of two; Didarul Islam, an off-duty NYPD officer; security officer Aland Etienne; and Julia Hyman, a Rudin Management employee. An NFL employee was also injured in the attack. Adams praised the building management’s security measures, including having an armed security officer, emergency protocols and active shooter drills. "I believe their actions saved the lives of many employees," he said. Jessica Chen, who was in the building during the shooting, described the terrifying scene to ABC News. "We heard multiple shots go off in quick succession from the first floor," she said. Chen and about 150 others barricaded themselves in a second-floor conference room. "I texted my parents that I loved them," Chen told ABC News. "Nothing could have prepared any of us. I think all of us were frozen." The mayor emphasized the need for stricter gun control measures nationwide as he stands on New York City being the safest big city in America. "The response to shooters of this magnitude, mass shooters, cannot be vigils. It must be legislation," Adams said, questioning the availability of automatic weapons. Two teams of detectives were sent to Las Vegas to execute a search warrant on the shooter’s home and investigate the weapons used in the attack. Investigators discovered that parts of the automatic weapon had been purchased by someone else, raising questions about potential assistance in the crime. Mayor Adams told ABC News that President Donald Trump called him and expressed his condolences and praised the NYPD’s response. Adams commended the officers who entered the building during the active shooter situation. "They went into the building with knowledge that there was a shooter present," Adams said. "They did not wait, and they knew their timing was important."

FOX News [7/29/2025 12:19 PM, Elizabeth Elkind, 46878K] reports that Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., is warning New Yorkers to remain alert to their surroundings after a deadly mass shooting in the heart of Manhattan on Monday. The lone Republican representing New York City in the House of Representatives cautioned that little is still known about what led to the incident, which she said appeared to be "isolated." But she said it was another example of the dangers in today’s world. "It didn’t seem like it was a random attack. It seemed he had a motive to go to that particular building. But everyone has to stay vigilant. I mean, we know in a post-9/11 world we always need to remain vigilant, keep our eyes open and report things that feel suspicious," Malliotakis said. She said it was a "concerning" situation, noting the man was captured on camera armed with an assault rifle walking into the Park Avenue building, where he soon opened fire. Malliotakis urged fellow officials not to politicize the situation, and said she anticipated lawmakers would be briefed by the mayor’s office and the New York Police Department (NYPD). She said when asked what information she was hoping to get, "I think obviously this person was probably not on the city’s radar because he was coming from Nevada. The question was, was he on the radar of Nevada law enforcement or the federal government, because of a history of criminal activity or mental illness?"

CBS New York [7/29/2025 6:38 PM, Riley Rourke and Allen Devlin, 51860K] reports that the four victims who were shot and killed by a gunman inside a Midtown Manhattan office building on Monday night have been identified. They include two women — a Blackstone executive and a Cornell graduate — and two security guards, one of whom was an off-duty NYPD officer who was in uniform working a private security job as part of an NYPD program. The motive behind the shooting is still unclear. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday on "CBS Mornings" that investigators recovered a note in which the gunman, 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, appeared to blame his own traumatic head injury on the National Football League, which has offices in the building where the rampage took place. Investigators believe Tamura was targeting the NFL offices inside the office building at 345 Park Ave. The 44-story tower also contains offices for several other major corporations, including the accounting firm KPMG and Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms. Among the victims in the deadly shooting was NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, who worked out of the 47th Precinct in the Bronx. Blackstone said Wesley LePatner worked at the global investment firm for more than a decade. Aland Etienne was working for McLane Security Inc. as an unarmed security guard, according to a spokesperson for 32BJ SEIU, a union representing property service workers. The fourth victim worked for Rudin Management on the 33rd floor of the office building. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
New York Post [7/29/2025 10:26 AM, Tina Moore and Emily Crane, 49956K]
Bloomberg [7/29/2025 12:56 PM, Mark Schoifet, 19320K]

FOX Business [7/29/2025 8:44 AM, Anders Hagstrom, 9940K] reports financial firm Blackstone said it has lost "one of our most beloved colleagues" in Monday’s shooting at an office building in New York City. Blackstone announced the death in a memo to staff, and later identified the victim as Wesley LePatner in a subsequent statement. Three other people were killed during the attack, including a New York Police Department officer. LePatner served as Global Head of Core+ Real Estate and the Chief Executive Officer of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT), according to Blackstone’s website. "We are heartbroken to share that our colleague, Wesley LePatner, was among those who lost their lives in the tragic incident at 345 Park Avenue. Words cannot express the devastation we feel. Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed," Blackstone wrote in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. Police identified the shooter as Shane Tamura, 27. Tamura had a Las Vegas address and a vehicle registered to Nevada. Inside the vehicle, officers found a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition and magazines, a backpack and medication prescribed to Tamura. "Tamura has a documented mental health history. His motives are still under investigation and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location. 345 Park Avenue is a commercial office building whose tenants include the NFL, Rudin Management, KPMG and Blackstone," she added.

ABC News [7/29/2025 3:24 PM, Bill Hutchinson, 31733K] reports wearing body armor and wielding an assault-style rifle, the alleged gunman, identified by police as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, burst through the lobby doors of a 44-story office tower in the heart of Midtown Manhattan on Monday, shooting victims at random, according to authorities. The attack at the 345 Park Ave. high-rise, just two blocks from St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center, occurred around 6:30 p.m. local time and left four victims, including an off-duty police officer working security at the building, dead and one wounded as the shooter made it all the way to the 33rd floor, where police say he died by suicide. A motive for the Midtown mass shooting remains under investigation. Investigators are analyzing a note found in Tamura’s pocket in which the former high school football player claimed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and asked that his brain be studied, police sources told ABC News. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday that based on the suspect’s note, investigators allege he was focused on the headquarters of the National Football League (NFL), which is housed in the building.

New York Times [7/29/2025 1:36 PM, Maria Cramer, 153395K] reports the rampage that left four people dead in a Midtown Manhattan building on Monday was the single shooting with the highest death toll in New York City in 25 years. The last time New York City recorded a higher toll was in 2000, when five people were fatally shot and two were injured at a Wendy’s in Flushing, Queens, during a robbery, according to former police officials and published reports. Shootings like the one on Monday, which left a police officer dead and forced workers inside the building to hide as the gunman sprayed bullets from an assault rifle, are rare in New York City, where security is tight at private companies and strict gun laws make obtaining high-powered weapons difficult, according to former New York police officers and security experts. “I don’t recall a time in the last two decades that we’ve had a stranger mass shooting like this,” said James Essig, the former chief of detectives at the New York Police Department. “Just doesn’t happen here.”

Bloomberg [7/29/2025 8:55 AM, Kate Sullivan, 19320K] reports President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the mass shooting in a Manhattan office tower that left at least four people dead, an incident that shut down a large stretch of Midtown and sent employees in the area into lockdown. “I have been briefed on the tragic shooting that took place in Manhattan, a place that I know and love. I trust our Law Enforcement Agencies to get to the bottom of why this crazed lunatic committed such a senseless act of violence,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Tuesday. “My heart is with the families of the four people who were killed, including the NYPD Officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice. God Bless the New York Police Department, and God Bless New York!,” he added. Trump’s message was posted while the president was golfing in Scotland, where he opened a new course at an estate that he owns. Trump is slated to return to Washington later Tuesday.

ABC News [7/29/2025 9:00 AM, Meredith Deliso and Kendall Coughlin, 31733K] Video HERE reports a former Marine who helped confront the suspect in a stabbing rampage at a Walmart in Michigan is speaking out in an exclusive broadcast interview after the terrifying incident that authorities said was an act of terrorism. Nearly a dozen people were randomly injured in the attack on Saturday before a group of citizens -- including Derrick Perry, who was armed with a gun -- helped prevent the suspect from leaving or harming others, authorities said. "I didn’t think of anything other than trying to get him away from people and get him isolated and get him to put the knife down and just to kind of focus on me instead of everyone that was yelling and screaming in the background," Perry, a married father of three, told "Good Morning America" on Monday. "It appears that these were all random acts," Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon, adding that the attacks began near the checkout area. A group of citizens, including a firearm-wielding Perry, confronted the suspect in the parking lot in a dramatic scene that was captured on video by a bystander. A deputy then took the suspect -- 42-year-old Bradford James Gille -- into custody, authorities said. "I commend them," Shea said of the citizens who helped. "It’s not very often that we have citizens that are willing to step up and take action." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [7/29/2025 8:18 AM, Staff, 51860K] reports Uvalde County votes to release mass school shooting records, ending legal battle Leaders of the county where 19 students and two teachers were killed in the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, voted Monday to release records related to the massacre, ending a yearslong legal battle over disclosure of the information. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [7/29/2025 9:49 PM, Alex Oliveira, 49956K] reports a restaurateur and father who once ran a fundraiser for mass shooting victims was identified as one of three people gunned down at a Nevada casino Monday — as frightening new footage showed the gunman fleeing across a parking lot as patrons cowered nearby. Andrew Canepa, co-owner of the Side Street Café in Los Angeles, was identified as a victim of the apparent random shooting at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, an official said Tuesday. "Andrew was a kind soul, a dedicated business owner, and a loving father to his young son," Ventura County (Calif.) Supervisor Jeff Gorell wrote on X. "We will miss seeing his warm presence at the restaurant and are deeply saddened by this loss.” Local business owners also described him as "one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.” "Always very welcoming, always happy. Very welcoming to the community, very supportive," a neighbor named Rick told KABC. In a sad twist, Canepa’s support included leading a fundraiser to help victims of the 2018 mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, friends said. Twelve innocent people were randomly killed by a deranged gunman in that tragedy, which happened just down the road from Canepa’s restaurant. Friends told KABC it was appalling he was now the victim of a mass shooting himself. Canepa was one of three killed when the gunman approached the Grand Sierra Resort’s valet parking area Monday morning, pulled out a gun and started spraying bullets at patrons waiting to collect their cars. The brief clip that surfaced of the rampage captured the gunman jogging across the parking lot just after 7 a.m. — as people ran away ahead of him to hide among the lines of cars. Others were seen crouching behind the building’s columns for cover. "Somebody’s shooting over here. People running," the person filming the video said. "There he is, right there, that guy.” The gunman was wearing a backpack in the clip — verified by local police, according to KRNV — and appeared to have a ponytail and beard. His identity has not been revealed. Responding police eventually shot the gunman dead and arrested him in critical condition after a harrowing shootout that ranged across the prominent casino’s parking lot. The other victims have not yet been identified

FOX News [7/29/2025 8:19 AM, Rachel Wolf, 46878K] reports a man whose father describes him as a "lifelong Quaker who is deeply committed to pacifism" is now facing multiple federal charges over his alleged actions at an anti-ICE protest. A Portland, Ore., man, Robert Jacob Hoopes, is being charged with aggravated assault of a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, and depredation of federal property in an amount exceeding $1,000. During a June 14 anti-ICE protest, Hoopes was allegedly throwing large rocks at a building belonging to the agency located in South Portland. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, he threw one of the rocks at an ICE officer and caused a "significant laceration over the officer’s eye." Additionally, Hoopes and two others were allegedly seen using a stop sign as a battering ram and caused "major damage" to the building’s main entrance. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon said Hoopes faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the aggravated assault charge and up to 10 years in prison for damaging federal property. "Jacob is a lifelong Quaker who is deeply committed to pacifism. He’s an organic gardener and the soul of kindness," Hoopes’ father, Tom, said, according to KATU 2. "Jacob was involved on June 14 in an action. What his involvement was: I can’t speak to that. But he is deeply committed to justice.”

Washington Times [7/29/2025 3:36 PM, Mike Glenn, 2106K] reports that the Trump administration moved its shipbuilding mission from the National Security Council to the White House Office of Management and Budget about three months after President Trump in April unveiled his “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” executive order. With the measure, Mr. Trump vowed to reinvigorate the country’s lagging shipbuilding industry and counter aggressive industrial moves from adversaries like China. The White House said the U.S. annually produces less than 1% of the world’s commercial vessels, while Chinese shipyards churn out half of the vessels produced worldwide every year. But amid a shakeup at the NSC that has seen significant reductions in its workforce, the shipbuilding office now has a new home. “The shipbuilding office will operate under OMB. This comes after the $43 billion shipbuilding investment in The Great, Big, Beautiful Bill,” White House deputy spokesperson Anna Kelly said on social media. A request from the White House for additional information on the shipbuilding changes was not immediately returned. The NSC’s shipbuilding office was spearheaded by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Ian Bennitt, a former congressional staffer on the House Armed Services Committee who joined the National Security Council in January 2025. Mr. Waltz is now the Trump administration’s pick for U.N. ambassador, while Mr. Bennitt left the White House to take a senior position with a California-based aerospace defense contractor.

Washington Post [7/29/2025 4:48 PM, Jeremy Roebuck, Perry Stein, and Kadia Goba, 32099K] reports Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned associate Ghislaine Maxwell signaled Tuesday that she would be willing to testify to Congress, but only if lawmakers first agreed to grant her immunity. The congressional committee that subpoenaed Maxwell last week quickly rejected that condition, however, saying through a spokesperson that immunity will not even be considered. In a letter to Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), chair of the House Oversight Committee, Maxwell’s lawyer David Oscar Markus said she initially had planned to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and to refuse to answer lawmakers’ questions at a deposition scheduled for Aug. 11. However, upon further consideration, she was now considering cooperating, Markus said. But first, in addition to immunity, Maxwell wants to be provided with the questions lawmakers intend to ask her, the attorney continued. He also asked that the deposition be rescheduled until after her appeal of her 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges is resolved before the U.S. Supreme Court. “We would like to find a way to cooperate with Congress if a fair and safe path forward can be established,” Markus wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. He added: “Ms. Maxwell cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity.”

Breitbart [7/29/2025 2:10 PM, Amy Furr, 3077K] reports that more files may link failed 2016 Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to the origins of the Russia collusion hoax that targeted President Donald Trump. During an interview Sunday on Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures," CIA Director John Ratcliffe explained the situation to host Maria Bartiromo, per the New York Post. "Part of what came out last week was about how John Brennan, Clapper, Comey, they all pushed the known fake Steele dossier into intelligence community assessments, and that’s the basis for Crossfire Hurricane and all that," he continued: But what hasn’t come out yet and what’s going to come out is the underlying intelligence that I have spent the last few months making recommendations about final declassification and sent that to the Department of Justice, that will come out in the John Durham report classified annex. And what that intelligence shows, Maria, is that part of this was a Hillary Clinton plan, but part of it was an FBI plan to be an accelerant to that fake Steele dossier, to those fake Russia collusion claims by pouring oil on the fire, by amplifying the lie and burying the truth of what Hillary Clinton was up to.

CNN [7/30/2025 4:01 AM, Jake Tapper, 21433K]reports two more of Joe Biden’s top White House aides are set to appear before the House Oversight Committee for scheduled interviews this week as part of the Republican-led panel’s intensifying investigation into the former president’s cognitive decline and possible efforts to conceal it from the public. The committee has scheduled interviews with former Biden counselor Steve Ricchetti and former senior adviser Mike Donilon for Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. In a departure from some previous high-profile witnesses, the two have signaled they will voluntarily sit for them. As of Tuesday afternoon, the committee had not issued subpoenas compelling their appearances. Several Biden aides have declined to cooperate with the committee’s investigation, prompting the panel to subpoena their appearances. They then invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during the closed-door meetings.

Washington Post [7/29/2025 6:22 PM, Alex Horton and Tara Copp, 32099K] reports that the Army unit involved in January’s deadly midair collision near Reagan National Airport received new navigation devices last month, as military officials take steps to improve pilots’ awareness of other aircraft around them. Some older Army helicopters, including the Black Hawk variant involved in the tragedy, lack a system that shows precise locations of other aircraft. Instead, pilots must rely on devices that integrate with the iPads they carry to provide such data in real time. The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Jan. 29 when a Black Hawk from the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion struck an American Airlines passenger jet, killing all 67 people aboard the two aircraft. The Army has released few details about the crash, citing its ongoing investigation and another led by the National Transportation Safety Board. New findings are expected to emerge from the NTSB this week. The Army’s purchase of these additional navigation aids will ensure each of the 24 aircraft assigned to the battalion, based at Fort Belvoir in Northern Virginia, has reliable access to the devices, said Maj. Montrell Russell, an Army spokesman. The unit was prioritized because of the uniquely complex airspace in the Washington area, he said, where more than two dozen agencies fly helicopters in low-altitude routes around the airport. In all, nearly 1,700 devices were purchased to distribute across the Army’s helicopter fleet. The device, called the Stratus, also pulls in weather data to help pilots make more informed decisions while in flight.

Bloomberg [7/29/2025 1:46 PM, Skylar Woodhouse, 19320K] reports that US President Donald Trump said he would give Russia 10 more days from today to reach a truce with Ukraine, formally announcing a new deadline to pressure Vladimir Putin on ending the war.

“10 days from today,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday as he returned to Washington from a five-day visit to Scotland. Trump on Monday announced that he would shorten the timeline for Putin with the threat of potential economic penalties on Moscow if it did not move to halt the fighting, but he had not specified the exact deadline or when the clock would start. The US president on July 14 initially announced a 50-day deadline on Russia — which would have fallen on Sept. 2. “We’re going to put on tariffs and stuff, and I don’t know if it’s going to affect Russia, because he wants to, obviously, probably keep the war going,” Trump said on Tuesday. Trump’s advisers have cast the penalties as likely taking the form of secondary levies that would hit countries that buy Russian exports such as oil.

CBS News [7/29/2025 1:44 PM, Emmet Lyons, 51860K] reports that the United Kingdom will recognize Palestine as a state in September unless Israel takes "substantive steps" to end the "appalling situation in Gaza," Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday. Addressing reporters at Downing Street, the prime minister said the U.K. will recognize Palestine as a state at the United Nations General Assembly in September unless Israel takes a number of steps — including the establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza, a commitment to halting the annexation of territory in the West Bank, and a pledge to work towards a peace process involving a two state solution. "Meanwhile, our message to the terrorists of Hamas is unchanged and unequivocal. They must immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza," Starmer added. Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York moments after Starmer had finished speaking, Britain’s Foreign Minister David Lammy said the U.K. government had taken this decision as the "two-state solution is in peril." "Let me be clear - the Netanyahu government’s rejection of a two-state solution is wrong. It’s wrong morally and it’s wrong strategically. It harms the interest of the Israeli people, closing off the only path to a just and lasting peace, and that is why we are determined to protect the viability of a two-state solution," Lammy said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [7/29/2025 2:30 PM, Ryan King, 49956K] reports that President Trump warned Tuesday that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state in September if the Israeli government fails to meet certain conditions could reward Hamas and stressed that the US won’t follow suit. "You could make the case that you’re rewarding Hamas if you do that," Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One en route to Washington from Scotland. "I’m not about to do that." Earlier in the day, Starmer committed to granting Palestine UK recognition during the United Nations General Assembly in September, following in the footsteps of France, unless Israel takes "substantive steps" to remedy humanitarian concerns in the Gaza Strip and agrees to a long-term plan for a two-state solution. Trump, who met with Starmer at his golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland on Monday, said that the British PM didn’t tell him of his plan beforehand. "We never did discuss it, and we have no view on that. We’re going to get a lot of money to the area so they can get some food," the president said. Last week, Trump had struck a more dismissive tone against French President Emmanuel Macron, chiding that "what he says doesn’t matter" and that the move didn’t "carry any weight.” Starmer, Macron and other Western leaders have sought to ramp up pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid to flow into the war-torn enclave amid troubling images of starved children in Gaza.

Daily Wire [7/29/2025 1:35 PM, Hank Berrien, 3816K] reports that the U.S. State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, issued a blunt statement rejecting the calls from some European countries for a "two-state solution," vis-à-vis Israel and the Palestinian population. The United Nations, whose vehement anti-Israel actions have been on display for decades, is currently holding a conference, hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, to discuss the possibility of declaring a Palestinian state in the wake of the October 7, 2023, massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis by the terrorist group Hamas, who invaded Israel and slaughtered civilians while taking hundreds as hostages. French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that in September, France would recognize a Palestinian state. "This week, the UN will serve as host to an unproductive and ill-timed conference on the two-state solution in New York City," the State Department stated. "This is a publicity stunt that comes in the middle of delicate diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Far from promoting peace, the conference will prolong the war, embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace." "As Secretary Rubio has made clear, this effort is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7 and a reward for terrorism. It keeps hostages trapped in tunnels. The United States will not participate in this insult but will continue to lead real-world efforts to end the fighting and deliver a permanent peace. Our focus remains on serious diplomacy: not stage-managed conferences designed to manufacture the appearance of relevance," the statement continued.

Reuters [7/29/2025 2:00 PM, Staff, 51390K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not discuss London’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel takes a number of steps to improve life for Palestinians. Starmer said on Tuesday that Britain was prepared to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly in response to growing public anger over the images of starving children in Gaza. "We never did discuss it," Trump told reporters on board Air Force One while traveling back to the U.S. after meeting Starmer in Scotland. Trump said recognizing a Palestinian state would reward Palestinian militant group Hamas.

New York Times [7/29/2025 3:13 PM, Melissa Eddy and Alan Rappeport, 153395K] reports top officials from the United States and China agreed on Tuesday to continue discussions about extending a fragile trade truce that is set to expire in mid-August, but did not immediately reach an agreement to avert a potentially destabilizing trade war between the world’s largest economies. The announcement came after two days of intensive talks in Stockholm, the third formal round of negotiations since President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to triple-digit levels this year, drawing sharp retaliation from Beijing and bringing much of the trade between the countries to a halt. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who led the U.S. discussions along with Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, called the talks “constructive” but said the final decision about whether to extend the pause would be made by Mr. Trump. “Nothing is agreed until we speak with President Trump,” Mr. Bessent said on Tuesday. If Mr. Trump approves a tariff pause with China, Mr. Bessent said, it is likely to be for another 90 days.

Reuters [7/29/2025 3:50 PM, Staff, 51390K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump said he had just spoken with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who told him that he had a very good meeting with Chinese officials in Sweden on Tuesday. "He felt very good about the meeting, better than he felt yesterday," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back to Washington after five days in Scotland. U.S. and Chinese officials agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce following two days of talks in Stockholm aimed at defusing an escalating trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. No major breakthroughs were announced, and U.S. officials said it was up to Trump to decide whether to extend a trade truce that expires on August 12 or potentially let tariffs shoot back up to triple-digit figures.

The Hill [7/29/2025 2:56 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 18649K] Video: HERE reports officials from Beijing and Washington on Tuesday agreed to continue talks on extending tariff rates under an established 90-day truce. China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, discussed the progress during a press conference in Sweden, where officials have held talks for the past two days. "The Chinese and U.S. economic and trade teams will maintain active communication, exchange views on economic and trade issues in a timely manner, and continue to promote the stable and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations," Li told reporters, according to Reuters. U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer provided a positive report from negotiations, noting that President Trump will ultimately have the final say over a further tariff truce extension. "We’ll report back to him the process we had here," Greer told reporters, according to Reuters. "We had constructive meetings for sure, to go back with the positive report. But the extension of the pause, he’ll decide.” He added that the conversation was candid and in-depth on both sides, notes Bloomberg. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the current agreement could be extended out to 90 days. He told reporters Tuesday remaining issues were "small" according to Bloomberg, noting Trump would be briefed on concerns by Wednesday. "I just had a phone call from Scott Bessent, and he had a very good meeting with China. Seems that, they’re going to brief me tomorrow, we’ll either approve it or not,’ Trump told reporters on Tuesday, according to NewsNation, The Hill’s sister station. "But he felt very good about the meeting, better than he felt yesterday.” Chinese leaders have said that they want a deal that is mutually beneficial while Trump has weighed the option of visiting Beijing to discuss a more permanent rate in person with President Xi Jinping. On Monday, Trump said he was not seeking a "summit" with Jinping but would be open to discussion of talks if they were initiated from the other side. "The Fake News is reporting that I am SEEKING a ‘Summit’ with President Xi of China. This is not correct, I am not SEEKING anything! I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended," the president wrote in a Truth Social post. "Otherwise, no interest! Thank you for your attention to this matter."

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