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

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

The Wall Street Journal [7/5/2025 11:12 PM, Collin Eaton, Jack Morphet, and Jennifer Hiller, 646K] reports the death toll from the destructive Texas flash floods rose to 51 Saturday, with hundreds of rescuers combing through water and debris to find missing people, including children from a summer camp. The majority of fatalities were recorded along Guadalupe River basin in Kerr County. Four victims were found Saturday in Travis County, which includes Austin. Another victim was found in Kendall County, an official there said. In San Angelo, Texas, a 62-year-old woman was found several blocks from her submerged car. Another two victims died in Burnet County, where an additional six people were still missing, according to officials. Of the 43 dead in Kerr County, 28 were adults and 15 were children, according to the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office. “We’ll be on this until we find the last body,” said Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha. Rescuers were still trying to find as many as 27 people in Kerr County, many of them girls, from Camp Mystic, a well-known Christian summer camp, officials said. There could be additional people also unaccounted for, according to Dalton Rice, city manager for Kerrville, Texas. More than 850 people were evacuated. Gov. Greg Abbott, at an afternoon press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Texas elected officials, said he put in a federal disaster request to President Trump. “We are not going to stop today or tomorrow,” Abbott said, of the search-and-rescue efforts. “We will be relentless.” Rescue and recovery ground operations began early Saturday southwest of Hunt, Texas, where Camp Mystic is located. Searchers were working in harsh terrain, parts of it filled with debris along the riverbank, according to Rice, the Kerrville city manager. Survivors have been located in trees or on high ground, or in some of the other camps along the river, he said. The entire river was being searched, officials said, with rescue efforts focused on the banks as floodwaters receded. Reuters [7/5/2025 7:32 PM, Rich McKay and Andy Sullivan, 51390K] reports that the disaster unfolded rapidly on Friday morning as heavier-than-forecast rain drove river waters rapidly to as high as 29 feet. "We know that the rivers rise, but nobody saw this coming," said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the top local official in the region. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said eight of the confirmed dead, including three children, had yet to be identified. The U.S. National Weather Service said the flash flood emergency has largely ended for Kerr County, following thunderstorms that dumped more than a foot of rain. That is half of the total the region sees in a typical year. A flood watch remained in effect until 7 p.m. for the broader region. Kerr County sits in the Texas Hill Country, a rural area known for rugged terrain, historic towns and tourist attractions. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said an unknown number of visitors had come to the area for an Independence Day celebration by the river. "We don’t know how many people were in tents on the side, in small trailers by the side, in rented homes by the side," he said on Fox News Live. Camp Mystic had 700 girls in residence at the time of the flood, according to Patrick. Another girls’ camp, Heart O’ the Hills, said on its website that co-owner Jane Ragsdale had died in the flood but no campers had been present as it was between sessions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said at a news briefing that he had asked President Donald Trump to sign a disaster declaration, which would unlock federal aid for those affected. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Trump would honor that request. Earlier on Saturday, Trump said he and his wife Melania were praying for the victims. "Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best," he said on social media. Trump has previously outlined plans to scale back the federal government’s role in responding to natural disasters, leaving states to shoulder more of the burden themselves. Videos posted online showed bare concrete platforms where homes used to stand and piles of rubble along the banks of the river. Rescuers plucked residents from rooftops and trees, sometimes forming human chains to fetch people from the floodwater, local media reported. CBS News [7/5/2025 1:16 PM, Staff, 51860K] reports that on Saturday, Mr. Trump said his administration was working with state and local officials and that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would be arriving in Texas shortly. DHS oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency. At least 27 fatalities have been reported so far, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said in an email Saturday morning. The dead include 18 adults and 9 children. Six of the adults and one child remain unidentified, Leitha said. Officials have conducted more than 160 air rescues, Leitha said. In total, 850 uninjured and 8 injured people have been rescued as of Saturday, he said. There are hundreds of people on the ground from various units helping with search and rescue operations, officials said, which include drones and helicopters. The governor signed a disaster declaration for several counties during the news conference Friday night, saying it "ensures all the counties will have access to every tool, strategy, personnel that the state of Texas can provide to them, which will be limitless." The Blaze [7/5/2025 5:49 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K] reports that officials in West Texas and the Hill Country momentarily were put on the back foot in the early hours of Independence Day by nearly a foot of rain, which triggered flash floods; Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that reportedly caused the Guadalupe River to rise at least 26 feet in a matter of 45 minutes. Among the settlements swept by the floods was Camp Mystic — a Christian camp for girls near the Guadalupe River in Hunt. Of around 750 campers, 27 were still reported missing as of Saturday afternoon. The mother of 9-year-old Janie Hunt told CNN that her daughter, who was among the missing, has been confirmed dead. In addition to the more than 1,000 responders and 800 vehicles the state has deployed, an army of local, federal, and volunteer rescuers have been working around the clock to save victims from the waters, reunify families, clear debris, and tend to the injured. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday activated the U.S. Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency resources and was working to get the Camp Mystic girls to safety, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on social media. The AP [7/5/2025 8:12 PM, Jim Vertuno, Julio Cortez, John Seewer and Hannah Fingerhut, 56000K] reports Gov. Greg Abbott vowed that authorities will be relentless and work around the clock to rescue and recover victims, adding that new areas were being searched as the water recedes. Officials said more than 850 people had been rescued in the last 36 hours and there were heroic efforts at the camps to save children. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrived and pledged that the Trump administration would use all available resources. Coast Guard helicopters and planes were assisting to ensure operations can continue even in darkness.

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NPR [7/5/2025 8:01 AM, Scott Simon, 37958K]
Axios [7/5/2025 11:48 AM, Asher Price, 13599K]
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Washington Examiner

Washington Post [7/5/2025 11:00 PM, Eva Ruth Moravec, Arelis R. Hernández and Reis Thebault, 32099K] reports a nightmarish search-and-rescue operation continued Saturday, as authorities frantically fanned out along the roiling Guadalupe River looking for survivors of the fierce flooding that has killed more than 50 people in the Hill Country region, 15 of them children. The death toll was expected to rise. Officials do not know how many remain missing, but managers at one beloved summer camp said that 27 girls were unaccounted for as of late Saturday afternoon. Anguish was everywhere. Parents raced to the scene, intending to search for their children themselves. At a local reunification center, family members hugged and sobbed. They spoke hurriedly into cellphones and scanned for photographs of their missing loved ones. Online, they posted desperate pleas for information. And at news conferences, police officers and elected leaders alike struggled to compose themselves. “People need to know — today will be a hard day,” said Joe Herring Jr., the mayor of Kerrville, one of the hardest hit cities. His voice caught as he spoke. “It will be a hard day.” Rain fell in sheets as first responders combed over the Guadalupe and several other already-swollen rivers. The downpours prompted additional evacuations and flash flood warnings in and around Texas Hill Country. The forecast offered little relief: More rain was predicted for Saturday night into Sunday. Swarms of emergency personnel, working in difficult and dangerous conditions, pledged to carry on. They flew helicopters and drones, steered boats and scoured on foot. “We are literally walking every inch of the Guadalupe from the east side of Kerr County to the west side of Kerr County,” said Jonathan Lamb, a sergeant with the local sheriff’s office. He added: “Our focus remains on the missing and their loved ones, and we’re not going to stop until we find and return every missing person.” Authorities were holding out hope — it remained a search-and-rescue, not a recovery mission — but Lamb said the grief is “probably going to be just about more than we can bear.” Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s top elected leader, spent the morning at a funeral home. The scene was horrific. Parents were identifying children. Some victims had been in the water so long their fingerprints were no longer usable. “When you see that many small body bags, it’s just, I can’t even begin to explain it,” Kelly said in an interview with Washington Post. The first 36 hours also brought stories of relief and hope. So far, more than 850 people have been saved, some clinging to trees or floating on mattresses.

CBS News [7/5/2025 11:46 PM, Staff, 51860K] Video: HERE reports Texas officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing rescue efforts following catastrophic flooding in the Hill Country. Many of the missing are children from a local camp. Despite the rising death toll, hundreds have been rescued thanks to coordinated efforts by state and federal teams.

PBS News [7/5/2025 6:58 PM, Staff, 12900K] Video: HERE reports officials say the death toll from flash flooding in central Texas has risen to 37, including 14 children. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking in a press conference along with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and other state and local officials, vowed to continue the search until “we locate every single person.” Abbott also signed a request for a federal disaster declaration to seek “the immediate and ongoing help from the federal government.” Secretary Noem said during the press conference that President Donald Trump is committed to using “all the resources at the federal government” to help in the search and recover operations. “So the response and relief will be coming,” Noem said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [7/5/2025 4:59 PM, Solange Reyner, 4622K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard has assisted in saving 223 lives in Central Texas, said Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem. "God bless our first responders," she said in a post on X. A storm unleashed nearly a foot of rain just before dawn Friday and sent floodwaters gushing out of the Guadalupe River through the region known for its century-old summer camps. Many more are still missing. "Officials say the death toll from the Hill Country floods has risen to 32 people. 14 of those who died are children," reported KSAT’s Daniela Ibarra in a post on X. "Five adults and three children remain unidentified as the search continues for missing persons," KSAT reported in a post on X. State officials said 23 to 25 girls from Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian camp in Hunt, Texas, still were unaccounted for. They declined to estimate how many people were missing across the region but said a massive search was underway. CBS Austin’s Abigail Velez reported in a post on X that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said "850 people have been rescued in the last 36 hours ‘some who have been hanging to trees.’". And CBS Austin’s Vinny Martorano reported in a post on X: "Governor Greg Abbott is expanding the disaster declaration to other Texas counties experiencing flood damage. US Department of Homeland Security says President Donald Trump wants to use all federal government resources possible to recover the missing children." Trump said his administration was working with Texas state and local officials in response to the flooding. "Our Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, will be there shortly. Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy. Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Saturday. Noem said Saturday that Trump would honor a request for disaster declaration. She also said "the Coast Guard will be deployed to Kerr County so search and rescue efforts can continue overnight, even in the pitch black," reported Velez in a separate post on X.

FOX News [7/5/2025 7:25 PM, Alexandra Koch, 46878K] reports that, after a Texas flood killed at least 32 people Friday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem addressed criticism about notification prior to the flood, saying the administration is working on updating the National Weather Service and NOAA’s "neglected" and "ancient" systems. Citing her time in Congress and as governor of South Dakota, Noem said that while the weather is difficult to predict, there have been instances when officials and citizens expressed the need for quicker warning and clearer notification before deadly weather. "That is one of the reasons that, when President [Donald] Trump took office, he said he wanted to fix and is currently upgrading the technology," Noem said during a news conference with state officials Saturday afternoon. "The National Weather Service has indicated that with that and the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] (NOAA), we needed to renew this ancient system that has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years.” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in March that at least 880 workers at NOAA were fired as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) spending cuts, Fox News Digital previously reported. Cantwell, at the time, said the firings would jeopardize the government’s ability to "forecast and respond to extreme weather events like hurricanes, wildfires and floods," and would be "putting communities in harm’s way.” While the agency would not confirm the number of layoffs, a NOAA spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital the agency "remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience.” The National Weather Service told Noem its notifications department started to look at expansion of its limited flood impact area at 1:18 p.m. local time Thursday, about 12 hours before the tragedy. Though a flood watch was issued, Noem described it as a "moderate" alert. "When the [weather] system came over the area, it stalled," she said. "It was much more water, much like [what] we experienced during [Hurricane] Harvey, with the same type of system that was unpredictable in the way that it reacted in the way that it stopped right here and dumped unprecedented amounts of rain that caused a flooding event like this.” As of Saturday afternoon, 27 young girls remain missing. "I do carry your concerns back to the federal government, to President Trump, and we will do all we can to fix those kinds of things that may have felt like a failure to you and to your community members," Noem told a reporter. "We know that everybody wants more warning time, and that’s why we’re working to upgrade the technologies that have been neglected for far too long, to make sure that families have as much advanced notice as possible," she added. Noem said reform is ongoing, though she did not announce a specific timeline.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [7/5/2025 7:20 PM, Chris Harris, 49956K]

FOX News [7/5/2025 6:45 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin reports on the latest in Texas after catastrophic flooding leaves several dead and missing on ‘Fox Report.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [7/5/2025 1:18 PM, Rachel Wolf, Alexandra Koch, 46878K] reports three young girls were found dead after a devastating flood swept through Camp Mystic, an all-girls private Christian camp in Hunt, Texas. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said on Friday night that between 23 and 25 campers were missing. There were 750 attendees at the camp when the flood hit. On Saturday, Kerr County announced the flooding killed 27 people, 18 of whom were adults and nine were children. The National Guard was deployed in Texas to respond after heavy rain on Friday morning caused the Guadalupe River to rise nearly 30 feet in 45 minutes. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem later said that members of the U.S. Coast Guard deployed to assist in evacuations saved or assisted in saving 223 lives. Helicopters and military vehicles were used for evacuations. As of Friday night, 237 people had been evacuated, including 167 by helicopter. Texas deployed more than 1,000 state responders and over 800 vehicles and equipment assets, according to Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. The governor also declared an emergency for 15 counties, and his office said that more could be added to the list. CBS News [7/5/2025 7:09 PM, Doug Myers, 51860K] reports one of three North Texas girls missing from Camp Mystic in the wake of catastrophic Central Texas flooding has been confirmed dead, her family said Saturday. Lila Bonner, 9, of Dallas, was among 23 to 25 girls from the camp who had been unaccounted for following the flash floods that swept through Kerr County early Friday. Among those still missing from North Texas are Hadley Hanna, 8, and Eloise Peck, both from Dallas. Officials say dozens have died as floodwaters continue to ravage the Hill Country. Rescue operations remain ongoing for the missing youths. Authorities caution that not all of the girls are confirmed missing — some may be unreachable due to storm-related communication outages — but the uncertainty has left families anxiously awaiting updates. According to the camp’s website, children become eligible to attend Camp Mystic, located in Hunt, Texas, along the Guadalupe River, after completing the second grade. In response, authorities have launched a large-scale search effort, deploying 14 helicopters, Texas game wardens, and specialized rescue teams. Several children have already been rescued from trees and other stranded locations. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has publicly reassured families, stating that the state is doing "everything humanly possible" to locate and bring the campers to safety. "I want all of you to know, we will do everything humanly possible 24/7 — looking at every tree, overturning every rock, whatever it takes — if your child is one of those truly missing and not just out of touch, to find your daughter," Patrick said. Meanwhile, families of the missing girls have turned to social media, sharing photos and heartfelt messages in hopes of gathering any information. Their posts reflect both the urgency and emotional toll of the situation. CBS News Texas is closely monitoring developments and remains committed to providing timely, accurate updates as new information emerges from both authorities and the families themselves.

CNN [7/5/2025 7:12 PM, Zoe Sottile, Sarah Dewberry and Ed Lavandera, 21433K] reports that, as first responders continue to rescue people stranded by the torrential flooding that descended on central Texas Friday, dozens of people are facing a parent’s worst nightmare: Their children are missing. A total of 27 children were missing as of Saturday evening from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, according to officials. The Christian all-girls camp is located along the Guadalupe River – which rose more than 20 feet in less than two hours overnight into the July Fourth holiday. The devastating storm took the lives of at least four campers, whose families confirmed their deaths to CNN. Other families are desperately awaiting news of their loved ones. Carrie Hanna told CNN her 8-year-old daughter, Hadley, is still missing. “She is the most joyful, happy kid with a smile on her face,” Hanna said. “She seemed to be loving camp. This was her first year.” The massive flooding seemed to have ripped the wall off at least one building and left a cabin covered in dirt and mud, with girls’ mattresses strewn across the floor, photos of the devastation show. The water line can be seen nearly reaching the doorway. Authorities have pledged that they will not rest until all of the missing have been recovered, with search efforts including boats in the river, searches from the air, and crews on the ground. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Friday promised families of missing campers they would “do everything humanly possible to find” their children. “Twenty-four-seven, looking at every tree, turning over every rock, whatever it takes – if your child is one of those truly missing and not just out of touch – to find your daughter,” Patrick said. Over 1,000 local, state and federal personnel are working to comb difficult, waterlogged terrain for the missing, Texas Rep. Chip Roy said Saturday. More than 850 people have been rescued, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a Saturday news conference, including some who were “clinging to trees to save their lives.” The missing campers are but one element in the sprawling tragedy that struck central Texas, after torrential rain triggered flash flooding in parts of the state Friday. Some parts of Texas saw a month’s rain in just a few hours. At least 43 people are dead, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Saturday evening. Fifteen of them are children.

AP [7/6/2025 11:43 PM, Hannah Schoenbaum and Jim Vertuno, 31733K] reports that, as the floodwaters began to recede from Camp Mystic, a torrent of grief remained as the identities of some of the campers who died in the flash floods began to emerge on Saturday. At least 43 people, including 15 children, died in Kerr County after a storm unleashed nearly a foot (0.3 meters) of rain on Friday and sent floodwaters gushing out of the Guadalupe River through the hilly region known for its century-old summer camps. Another eight people died in nearby counties. State officials said 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian camp for girls in Hunt, Texas, still were unaccounted for about 36 hours after the flood. Gov. Greg Abbott, who toured the camp Saturday with rescue crews, vowed that authorities will work around the clock to find the missing girls and others swept away in the storm that caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise. Many more are still missing, and authorities said about 850 people had been rescued so far. The National Weather Service said a flood watch would remain in effect for the Hill Country region through late Saturday night. First responders are scouring the riverbanks in hopes of finding survivors. Social media posts are now focused on the faces of the missing. State and county officials defended their actions Saturday amid scrutiny over whether the camps and residents in towns long vulnerable to flooding received proper alerts. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the region on Thursday, and it sent out a series of flash-flood warnings in the early hours Friday. The federal agency had predicted 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) of rain in the region northwest of San Antonio, but 10 inches (25.4 cm) fell. The Guadalupe River rose to 26 feet (7.9 meters) within about 45 minutes in the early morning hours, submerging its flood gauge. It was not immediately clear what kind of evacuation plans Camp Mystic might have had. The county itself does not have a warning system, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said. He maintained that no one knew a flood of this magnitude was coming. Elinor Lester, 13, said she was evacuated with her cabinmates by helicopter after wading through floodwaters. She recalled startling awake around 1:30 a.m. as thunder crackled and water pelted the cabin windows. Lester was among the older girls housed on elevated ground known as Senior Hill. Cabins housing the younger campers, who can start attending at age 8, are situated along the riverbanks and were the first to flood, she said. "The camp was completely destroyed," she said. "It was really scary.”

NewsMax [7/5/2025 10:37 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4622K] reports Rep. Chip Roy, who represents the Texas Hill Country where flash flooding on Friday killed at least 24 people and left two dozen girls from a Christian summer camp missing, tells Newsmax that there were several "heroic rescues" from the scene and emergency workers are holding out hope for finding more survivors. He added that there were 237 rescues as of late Friday night, including approximately 160 air rescues, but said that number "is going up as we speak, pulling kids out of camps, finding people down the river." Roy said he spoke with Trump about the situation, as well as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and "they are all in. They’ve been responsive. It’s been a state, local, federal response."

AP [7/5/2025 8:31 PM, Sean Murphy and Jim Vertuno, 3077K] reports that, before heading to bed before the Fourth of July holiday, Christopher Flowers checked the weather while staying at a friend’s house along the Guadalupe River. Nothing in the forecast alarmed him. Hours later, he was rushing to safety: He woke up in darkness to electrical sockets popping and ankle-deep water. Quickly, his family scrambled nine people into the attic. Phones buzzed with alerts, Flowers recalled Saturday, but he did not remember when in the chaos they started. “What they need they need is some kind of external system, like a tornado warning that tells people to get out now,” Flowers, 44, said. The destructive fast-moving waters that began before sunrise Friday in the Texas Hill Country killed at least 43 people in Kerr County, authorities said Saturday, and an unknown number of people remained missing. Those still unaccounted for included 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered. But as authorities launch one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in recent Texas history, they have come under intensifying scrutiny over preparations and why residents and youth summer camps that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate. The National Weather Service sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger. Local officials have insisted that no one saw the flood potential coming and have defended their actions. “There’s going to be a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of second-guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking,” said Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes Kerr County. “There’s a lot of people saying ‘why’ and ‘how,’ and I understand that.” An initial flood watch — which generally urges residents to be weather aware — was issued by the local National Weather Service office at 1:18 p.m. local time on Thursday. It predicted rain amounts of between 5 to 7 inches (12.7 to 17.8 centimeters). Weather messaging from the office, including automated alerts delivered to mobile phones to people in threatened areas, grew increasingly ominous in the early morning hours of Friday, urging people to move to higher ground and evacuate flood-prone areas, said Jason Runyen, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service office. At 4:03 a.m., the office issued an urgent warning that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life. Jonathan Porter, the chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, a private weather forecasting company that uses National Weather Service data, said it appeared evacuations and other proactive measures could have been undertaken to reduce the risk of fatalities. “People, businesses, and governments should take action based on Flash Flood Warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast,” Porter said in a statement. Local officials have said they had not expected such an intense downpour that was the equivalent of months’ worth of rain for the area.

ABC News [7/5/2025 4:30 PM, Ivan Pereira, 31733K] reports the deadly floods that struck Texas on the 4th of July caught local officials off guard as the torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River to rise to near-historic levels in a matter of minutes, officials said at a press conference Saturday. At least 32 people died after heavy rain pounded Kerr County, Texas, early Friday, leading to "catastrophic" flooding, according to officials. A Flood Watch was in effect for parts of New Mexico and western Texas Thursday afternoon as rounds of slow-moving thunderstorms packing heavy rain moved through the area. By Thursday evening, five inches of rain had fallen in parts of western Texas, including Midland and Odessa. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Kerr County, where the river is located, around 1:14 a.m. Friday. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes that morning, Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring told reporters Friday. The river reached its second-highest height on record, surpassing a 1987 flood level, the National Weather Service said. Rain continued to hit the region Saturday, prompting flash flood emergency warnings for much of Burnet County and western parts of Williamson County and Travis County.

The New York Times [7/5/2025 3:45 PM, Mattathias Schwartz and Hamed Aleaziz, 153395K] reports that a flight carrying eight men who had been held for weeks on a U.S. military base in Djibouti landed in South Sudan just before midnight Friday, officials said, bringing an end to a six-week legal battle that was resolved by an emergency intervention by the Supreme Court. The U.S. military plane took off around 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokeswoman. A picture shared by Homeland Security showed the men apparently aboard the airplane, handcuffed and shackled at their ankles, surrounded by uniformed personnel. It remains unclear whether South Sudan’s government in Juba has detained the men, or what their ultimate fate might be. The 13-year-old country is on the brink of a civil war; the State Department has warned against travel there because of the risk of “crime, kidnapping and armed conflict.” In court on Friday, a Justice Department lawyer read from a diplomatic note that said South Sudan would give the men immigration status to allow them to remain there at least temporarily. The eight men had been shackled for weeks inside an air-conditioned shipping container on a U.S. military base in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa. Before coming to the United States, the men came from Vietnam, Mexico, Laos, Cuba and Myanmar. Just one is from South Sudan, a violence-plagued country. All had been convicted of serious crimes in the United States, though many had either finished or were about to finish serving their sentences. At issue in the lengthy legal battle was how much due process the government needs to provide to migrants before deporting them to so-called “third countries,” places other than where they are from, and where they might be at risk of torture. Federal law places limits on deportations to places where migrants’ “life or freedom would be threatened.” The principle that migrants should not be deported to places where they would be at risk of torture or persecution is enshrined in international law. On Friday, Judge Brian E. Murphy of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts found that those rulings also applied to a new lawsuit the men filed as a last-ditch effort to prevent their removal, finding that the new lawsuit raised “substantially similar claims” to their old one. Ms. McLaughlin, the Homeland Security spokeswoman, on Friday applauded the courts’ decision to stand down so the transfers to South Sudan could move forward. “A district judge cannot dictate the national security and foreign policy of the United States of America,” she said. The AP [7/5/2025 2:55 PM, Staff, 3077K] reports "This was a win for the rule of law, safety and security of the American people," said Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin in a statement Saturday announcing the men’s arrival in South Sudan, a chaotic country in danger once more of collapsing into civil war. The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the transfer of the men who had been put on a flight in May bound for South Sudan. That meant that the South Sudan transfer could be completed after the flight was detoured to a base in Djibouti, where they men were held in a converted shipping container. The flight was detoured after a federal judge found the administration had violated his order by failing to allow the men a chance to challenge the removal. The court’s conservative majority had ruled in June that immigration officials could quickly deport people to third countries. The majority halted an order that had allowed immigrants to challenge any removals to countries outside their homeland where they could be in danger. A flurry of court hearings on Independence Day resulted a temporary hold on the deportations while a judge evaluated a last-ditch appeal by the men’s before the judge decided he was powerless to halt their removals and that the person best positioned to rule on the request was a Boston judge whose rulings led to the initial halt of the administration’s effort to begin deportations to South Sudan. By Friday evening, that judge had issued a brief ruling concluding the Supreme Court had tied his hands. The men had final orders of removal, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said. Authorities have reached agreements with other countries to house immigrants if authorities cannot quickly send them back to their homelands. CBS News [7/5/2025 11:30 AM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51860K] reports Assistant Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the deportation flight carrying the deportees landed in South Sudan just before midnight EST on Friday. A photo provided by the department showed the deportees, with their hands and feet shackled, sitting inside an aircraft, guarded by U.S. service members. The deportations to South Sudan — a country plagued by armed conflict and political instability that the U.S. government warns Americans not to visit — mark an unprecedented new frontier in President Trump’s government-wide crackdown on illegal immigration. None of the deportees is from South Sudan. FOX News [7/5/2025 4:45 PM, Jasmine Baehr, 46878K] reports that according to DHS, the eight men had extensive and violent criminal histories. Enrique Arias-Hierro, a Cuban national, was convicted of homicide, armed robbery, kidnapping and impersonating a law enforcement officer. Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, also from Cuba, was convicted of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon, battery, larceny and drug trafficking. Thongxay Nilakout, a Laotian national, was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery and sentenced to life in prison. Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, from Mexico, was convicted of second-degree murder and also sentenced to life confinement. Dian Peter Domach, a South Sudanese national, had convictions for robbery, multiple gun offenses and driving under the influence. Kyaw Mya of Burma was convicted of lascivious acts with a child under the age of 12 and served part of a 10-year sentence. Nyo Myint, also from Burma, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault involving a mentally and physically incapacitated victim and faced additional charges of aggravated assault. Tuan Thanh Phan, a Vietnamese national, was convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree assault and sentenced to 22 years. "These are not just immigration cases," McLaughlin said. "These are threats to American communities that judges tried to force ICE to return to the United States.” DHS credited the Supreme Court’s clarification order for breaking the logjam and allowing ICE to complete the mission. "This was a win for the rule of law, safety and security of the American people," its statement said. DHS also thanked ICE officers who had been stranded abroad during the court-imposed pause. "We thank our brave ICE law enforcement for their sacrifice to defend our freedoms," McLaughlin said. "We will continue to fight for the freedoms of Americans while these far-left activists continue to try and force us to bring murderers, pedophiles and rapists back to the U.S.” The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
AP [7/5/2025 10:29 AM, Nicholas Riccardi]
ABC News [7/5/2025 11:15 AM, Luke Barr, 31733K]
Washington Times [7/5/2025 5:47 PM, Stephen Dinan, 2106K]
Washington Examiner [7/5/2025 11:10 PM, Zach LaChance, 1934K]

FOX News [7/5/2025 3:05 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin joins ‘Fox News Live’ to explain how the Trump spending bill enhances Homeland Security’s deportation operations and expands detention capacity. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

HS Today [7/5/2025 2:45 PM, Staff, 38K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem today released the following statement on President Donald J. Trump’s historic signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) Act into law. The BBB secures a historic $165 billion in appropriations for DHS, which will help deliver on the President’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens. “President Trump’s signing the One Big Beautiful Bill is a win for law and order and the safety and security of the American people,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “This $165 billion in funding will help the Department of Homeland Security and our brave law enforcement further deliver on President Trump’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!” In June, Secretary Noem laid out the national security wins that the BBB secures for the American people.

HS Today [7/5/2025 1:45 PM, Staff, 38K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uncovered and killed a multimillion-dollar program enacted by the Biden administration that pushed for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and “inclusive environments in schools.” The Invent2Prevent program was originally designed to provide students with tools to prevent terror and violence in their communities. However, the Biden administration’s DHS contracted with mainly far-left organizations, which curved the curriculum to focus on a DEI and LGBTQ agenda. Estimates from DHS project that cutting the program will save the agency more than $1.5 million.

Washington Post [7/5/2025 7:00 AM, Lori Rozsa, Rachel Hatzipanagos, 121822K] reports the hastily constructed detention camp in the Everglades that began processing immigrant detainees late this week has already flooded once, may not meet hurricane codes and is not officially approved or funded by the federal government. Experts say detainees and staff will face far more common hazards than the swampland terrors gleefully envisioned by state and national Republicans to discourage escapes. Mosquitoes and hurricanes are more likely to harm the expected 3,000-plus detainees and 100-member staff than are alligators and Burmese pythons. “The risk of mosquito-borne disease at this site is significant,” said Durland Fish, a professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Yale University School of Public Health. And the viruses detected during a mosquitos study he conducted in the Everglades — including at Big Cypress Swamp, where the detention center is located — can cause neurological damage, including encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain. “There’s no treatment for these,” Fish said. The detention camp, named Alligator Alcatraz by state officials, has been enthusiastically endorsed by President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem. Trump visited Tuesday, saying the camp soon will have “some of the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet.” The facility, which includes large tents over cells erected with chain-link fencing, portable showers and portable toilets, was put together in eight days. State lawmakers who have spoken about it say that work was done secretly, after they had ended their annual legislative session. A group of Democratic representatives tried to tour Thursday but were denied entry — “despite clear statutory authority” allowing them to inspect prisons and detention facilities, they said in a joint statement. “This is a blatant abuse of power and an attempt to conceal human rights violations from the public eye.” The camp is located on an infrequently used airfield in the heart of the protected Everglades. Before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) commandeered it, the site consisted of a long runway built in the late 1960s as an initial stage in a project intended to create a mega-airport. But environmentalists and Indigenous tribes successfully fought back, and the area, surrounded by the Big Cypress National Preserve and next door to Everglades National Park, is now part of an ongoing $25 billion Everglades restoration project.

Politico [7/5/2025 8:50 AM, Myah Ward, 2100K] reports President Donald Trump’s megabill with $170 billion for border and immigration enforcement squeaked through Congress after days of promises, arm twisting and implicit threats to wavering members. Now — the clock is ticking to spend the money. The Trump administration has three-and-a-half years to drastically expand the nation’s border enforcement and deportation infrastructure, a massive logistical challenge for which there is no easy comparison. It must hire and train thousands of new immigration officials, secure contracts to ramp up detention capacity and expand the immigration court system. All of that is in pursuit of an ambitious White House target: 1 million annual deportations. The megabill, which the president signed into law Friday, offers an unprecedented infusion of cash into the country’s immigration enforcement apparatus, but even Trump border czar Tom Homan acknowledges the administration has a great deal of work ahead, especially when it comes to fulfilling Trump’s pledge to hire 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. “Look, this isn’t easy. Ten thousand ICE officers? Never happened before,” Homan told POLITICO on Friday. “But I’ll say this: It’s about time … with more money, we can do more.” Homan is confident the money will be spent by the end of Trump’s term, but couldn’t predict how long it will take for the administration to hit 1 million annual removals. He is already working with ICE to assess how many new agents the agency can hire over the next three months, and how quickly the administration can bring on new detention beds. The Trump administration’s ability to expeditiously spend the billions it demanded is likely to prove decisive in its effort to increase deportations, a key campaign pledge and a line the administration will likely want to tout ahead of the midterms.

Daily Wire [7/5/2025 11:44 AM, Amanda Prestigiacomo, 3816K] reports Julio César Chávez Jr. was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Wednesday and is facing deportation to Mexico for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application. The arrest came just days after Chávez faced off against boxer and influencer Jake Paul in Anaheim, California. Chávez lost the match. Chávez, a Mexican citizen, has committed numerous crimes while staying in the United States and has apparent ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. He’s facing organized crime charges in Mexico. "This Sinaloa Cartel affiliate with an active arrest warrant for trafficking guns, ammunition, and explosives was arrested by ICE," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. McLaughlin noted that Chávez was allowed re-entry into the United States under the Biden administration and emphasized that under President Donald Trump, cartel affiliates will not be allowed to remain in the country. "It is shocking the previous administration flagged this criminal illegal alien as a public safety threat, but chose to not prioritize his removal and let him leave and COME BACK into our country," she said. "Under President Trump, no one is above the law — including world-famous athletes.” "Our message to any cartel affiliates in the U.S. is clear: We will find you and you will face consequences," McLaughlin added. "The days of unchecked cartel violence are over." Homeland Security said in a press release that Chávez is being processed for "expedited removal from the United States." The boxer has an "active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives," the department added. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that she hopes Chávez "will be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico.”

AP [7/5/2025 6:14 PM, Aarón Ibarra, 56000K] reports inside a sports arena in Sinaloa state’s capital, the crowd was sparse early on the card as young amateur boxers in puffy headgear threw punches and danced about the ring. Outside stood a bronze statue of Julio César Chávez in boxing trunks, one glove raised. The event Friday was organized by one of Chávez’s brothers and “The Legend” himself was advertised as a specially invited guest. But Chávez didn’t appear. It had been a difficult week for the family. Chávez’s eldest son, Julio César Chávez Jr., was arrested by U.S. immigration agents outside his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, accused of overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application.But more significant here in Culiacan was that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also noted that there was an active warrant for his arrest in Mexico for alleged arms and drug trafficking and suggested ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. The agency said he would be processed for expedited removal.

NPR [7/5/2025 8:01 AM, Regan McCarthy, 37958K] reports
Florida’s attorney general has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court asking permission to enforce the state’s new law against illegal immigration. A judge has found him in contempt and some have been arrested under the law even as it’s blocked in court. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

NewsMax [7/5/2025 1:54 PM, Staff, 4622K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is closely monitoring a series of attacks near Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities that happened in Texas and Oregon. "We are closely monitoring the attacks on DHS detention facilities in Prairieland, TX, and Portland, OR, and are coordinating with the USAOs and our law enforcement partners. The Department has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible," U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche posted on X. Late Friday night a shooting occurred near the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado Texas. One officer was injured, and multiple armed suspects are in custody according to authorities. The injured officer was flown from the scene to a Fort Worth hospital, was treated and later released, according to the Alvarado Police Department. In late June, multiple protesters were arrested following a violent confrontation outside an ICE detention center in Portland. Authorities said rioters used knives and Roman candle fireworks in an attempt to injure and intimidate officers.

NewsMax [7/5/2025 11:21 AM, Jim Thomas, 4622K] reports assaults against ICE officers have surged by 700%, with Acting Director Todd Lyons accusing Democrats in Congress of inciting violence against agents by labeling them "terrorists" and "Nazis." Lyons accused congressional Democrats on Saturday on Newsmax of putting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at risk, asserting they have effectively placed "a target on the backs" of law enforcement officers nationwide. Appearing on "America Right Now," Lyons spoke openly about his fears concerning escalating violence against ICE officers. "That’s one of the things that keeps me up at night consistently — the men and women of ICE, our local and state partners, and other federal partners that are helping us aren’t safe right now," Lyons told host Tom Basile. He highlighted alarming new figures from the Department of Homeland Security, underscoring a sharp increase in violence directed at ICE personnel. "We actually just broke a 700% increase over last year’s numbers on assaults on ICE officers," he said. Lyons called for urgent support from political leaders at all levels, emphasizing the need for a unified front to protect those serving in immigration enforcement roles. "What we need is support from congressional leaders, from local leaders," he said. "These folks are out there protecting this nation every day." The ICE chief further noted that violent demonstrations targeting his agency appear organized and well-funded. He assured viewers that federal authorities, including the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigators, and Homeland Security Investigations, are actively investigating these groups. "The Department of Justice has open cases on a lot of these individuals and corporations funding these protests," Lyons said.

Axios [7/5/2025 9:01 AM, Tal Axelrod, Zachary Basu, 13599K] reports the MAGA movement is reveling in the creativity, severity and accelerating force of President Trump’s historic immigration crackdown. Once-fringe tactics — an alligator-moated detention camp, deportations to war zones, denaturalization of immigrant citizens — are now being proudly embraced at the highest levels of the U.S. government. Six months into his second term — and with tens of billions of dollars in new funding soon flowing to ICE — Trump is only just beginning to scale up his mass deportation machine. Citing the millions of unauthorized immigrants who crossed the border under President Biden, Trump and his MAGA allies have framed the second-term crackdown as a long-overdue purge. The result is an increasingly draconian set of enforcement measures designed to deter, expel and make examples out of unauthorized immigrants. Denaturalization of U.S. citizens — once a legal backwater — is gaining traction as Trump and his MAGA allies push the envelope on nativist rhetoric.

NewsMax.com [7/5/2025 12:01 PM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4622K] reports the use of ICEBlock, a phone app that encourages its users to share information about sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, can endanger those officials and people who use it improperly should be prosecuted for obstructing the law, Lora Ries, director of border security and immigration for the Heritage Foundation, said on Newsmax on Saturday. "When you think about the riots going on in Los Angeles and the Northwest against ICE agents, this just ratchets up the danger," Ries, a former Department of Homeland Security acting deputy chief of staff, commented on "Wake Up America Weekend." White House press secretary and ICE acting director Todd Lyons earlier this week cited concerns about the app and said that agents are "facing a 500% increase in assaults" as a result of it, reports NBC News. Joshua Aaron, the developer of the app, however, said the administration’s criticism is "another right-wing fearmongering scare tactic," and that he designed the app to help protect immigrants who fear deportation.

Yahoo News [7/5/2025 6:27 PM, Pocharapon Neammanee, 59943K] reports a Palestinian woman released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention on Tuesday says she and others faced mistreatment while detained. Still, the Department of Homeland Security dismissed her account as one of many “sob stories.” “The entire detention process was not great. I wouldn’t wish this upon anybody. It was very hard, very traumatizing, and very, very difficult, is what I would say,” Ward Sakeik told CNN’s Danny Freeman on Saturday morning. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CNN that Sakeik’s arrest was not part of a targeted operation by ICE, but that she was flagged by Customs and Border Patrol trying to reenter the U.S. after flying over international waters. In a statement shared with HuffPost, McLaughlin said Sakeik was not “complying with immigration policies.” “The facts are she is in our country illegally,” McLaughlin said. “She overstayed her visa and has had a final order by an immigration judge for over a decade.” Sakeik was released Tuesday and appeared at a press conference where she talked about her experience, saying she was handcuffed for 16 hours without any water or food on a bus. In the statement shared with HuffPost, McLaughlin said “any claim that there is a lack of food or subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false,” and that those who are detained are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and opportunities to talk with family members and lawyers. “Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE. Meals are certified by dieticians,” McLaughlin said. “Why does the media continue to fall for the sob stories of illegal aliens in detention and villainize ICE law enforcement?” DHS had given the same statement to Newsweek earlier this week. Sakeik’s attorney, Eric Lee, responded to McLaughlin’s comments Saturday morning on CNN. “They called it a ‘sob story,’” Lee said. “I guess what we would ask the American people is, “Who are they gonna believe, their lying eyes or the statements of the people who are responsible for carrying out what are really crimes against humanity here in the United States?’”

The Hill [7/5/2025 12:50 PM, Filip Timotija, 18649K] reports a group of five Democratic state lawmakers in Florida said they were denied entry to "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility, on Thursday due to "safety reasons," days after President Trump toured the facility alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The lawmakers who tried to tour the facility, which opened on Tuesday, included state Democratic Reps. Anna Eskamani, Angie Nixon, and Michele Rayner, along with two state Sens. Shevrin Jones and Carlos Guillermo Smith. The detention facility, which is projected to cost around $450 million a year, will hold migrants who are arrested in Florida along with those transferred from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "Alligator Alcatraz" is set in the Everglades near the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. Trump and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem visited the facility on Tuesday. The site received its first group of migrant detainees on Wednesday.

Washington Examiner [7/6/2025 6:00 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1934K] reports Florida is proving to be a leading ally of the Trump administration as the federal government expands its illegal immigrant deportation operation. The state, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), immediately took action in the first weeks of the Trump administration to put in place laws that would crack down on illegal immigration, and it has also made big moves in recent weeks to spur on those federal efforts. "Most states are doing nothing. … We’re one of the few states that’s — we may even be the only state that’s — really full throttle, saying, ‘You know, we’re not going to solve this problem unless we are part of the team,’" DeSantis said during remarks at the "Alligator Alcatraz" immigrant detention facility in the Everglades on Tuesday. This week, President Donald Trump visited the first state-constructed immigrant detention facility, and he validated DeSantis’s efforts, adding that Florida was leading the charge. "I want to express my tremendous thanks to the state of Florida for embracing this opportunity and being a true partner," Trump said. "They’ve worked so well with the federal government. It’s been a just a beautiful, beautiful partnership. Ron, I’d like to thank you personally.” Immigration has shifted from being a border matter in the Biden era to being increasingly focused on interior enforcement during the Trump era. It means states that step up to help with detention and deportations will become the biggest allies to the White House. Florida has stepped up to facilitate interior enforcement in ways that no other state has, but others may soon follow suit. Less than a month after Trump took office, the Florida legislature passed and DeSantis signed into law a package of bills that signified the toughest crackdown on illegal immigration in state history. The laws were meant to supplement the Trump administration’s promised "largest-ever" deportation operation. The state created a State Board of Immigration Enforcement and required local police to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to turn over illegal immigrants to federal authorities. Florida repealed a law that allowed illegal immigrant students to pay in-state tuition at state schools and made it illegal for someone without legal immigration status to enter the state from another state. It also included nearly $300 million to train and outfit local police to help ICE arrest illegal immigrants. Officers who help ICE will even get bonuses. During the Biden administration, Texas was the most vocal state on border and immigration matters. The difference is that it was not a partner to Washington but an enemy that lamented how former President Joe Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas didn’t address the crisis at the southern border. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has called on other states to follow Florida’s example and contact the Trump administration about finding space to erect their own ICE facilities to help speed up arrests and deportations. "This facility is exactly what I want every single governor in this country to begin doing with us," Noem said in the Everglades on Tuesday. "Thank you to Gov. DeSantis for stepping up and being an example to other governors. I hope my phone rings off the hook from governors calling and saying, ‘How can we do what Florida just did?’".

CBS News [7/6/2025 12:42 AM, Staff, 51860K] Video: HERE reports a police officer was shot and injured during a confrontation with a heavily equipped group outside an immigration detention center in Alvarado. The group vandalized property before eight members were arrested. The officer has since been released from the hospital, and the motive remains under investigation.

New York Post [7/5/2025 4:25 PM, Rich Calder, 49956K] reports the Trump administration will have "zero tolerance" for those attacking federal officers or property after a local cop was shot near an ICE detention center in Texas, officials said Saturday. The warning came after separate incidents at Department of Homeland Security facilities in Prairieland, Texas, just outside Dallas, and in Portland, Oregon. A local officer responding to a report of a suspicious person with a gun was shot in Texas Friday night, while in Oregon, demonstrators clashed with federal officers at the Portland ICE facility after President Trump signed his "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" into law. "We are closely monitoring the attacks on DHS detention facilities in Prairieland, TX, and Portland, OR, and are coordinating with the [US Attorney offices] and our law enforcement partners," said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on X. "The Department [of Justice] has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible.” In the Texas incident, several suspects were taken into custody after an Alvarado Police Department officer was shot while responding to a report of a suspicious person near the Prairieland Detention Facility and saw a person with a firearm, CBS News reported. When police tried to approach the suspects, they opened fire on officers, with at least one bullet hitting the officer in the neck, police said. The injured officer was flown from the scene to a Fort Worth hospital, was treated and later released, Alvarado cops said. The suspects tried to flee the scene, but several armed suspects were taken into custody with the help of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and other authorities.

Breitbart [7/5/2025 5:32 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 3077K] reports protests in Portland, Oregon, on Friday opposing President Donald Trump and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency erupted in chaos, according to multiple reports. Several people involved in the protests reportedly organized a "caravan" that went from an ICE facility located in "South Portland to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington," according to KOIN 6 News. Earlier in the day demonstrators involved in the "protests outside the Portland ICE facility" reportedly "clashed with federal officers," according to the outlet. “On Friday, protesters organized a caravan from the ICE facility in South Portland to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington. The latter is the location where 54-year-old Moises Sotelo — a Newberg, Oregon vineyard worker — is being held. The rally in Tacoma was attended by Sotelo’s daughter. Earlier Friday, protests outside the Portland ICE facility got tense as demonstrators clashed with federal officers. Some protesters told KOIN 6 News they took to the streets on Friday in response to intensified ICE raids and detentions.” Video footage posted to X by Katie Daviscourt, a reporter with the Post Millennial, showed law enforcement officials deploying tear gas and using "crowd control munitions to disperse" the crowd. Antifa reportedly "committed an arson attack at the ICE facility in Portland," according to Daviscourt. The protests came after President Donald Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill, which includes increased funding for border security and national security, spending cuts, and campaign promises such as no taxes on tips, overtime, or social security, among other things. "We are closely monitoring the attacks on DHS detention facilities in Prairieland, TX, and Portland, OR, and are coordinating with the USAOs and our law enforcement partners," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in a post on X. "The Department has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible.”

Los Angeles Times [7/5/2025 4:27 PM, Colleen Shalby, 14672K] reports that, on the July 4 holiday, federal agents arrested more immigrants as part of ongoing raids that have rounded up more than 1,600 for deportation in Southern California. In West Hollywood, video footage broadcast by NBC 4-LA showed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in bulletproof vests at the Santa Palm Car Wash on Friday morning. Two people who have worked at the car wash for decades were detained, two other workers told The Times on Saturday. A man whose father was detained told NBC 4-LA that he didn’t know what prompted the raid. "He’s not a criminal," said the man, who asked not to be identified. "He wasn’t doing anything he wasn’t supposed to. He came in to work on the Fourth of July.” West Hollywood officials criticized the raid. Marines stand guard during a rally at the Federal Building against ongoing ICE raids. K Griffin spins an umbrella as Marines stand guard during a rally against ongoing ICE raids at the Federal Building. "On a day meant to honor the ideals of liberty, democracy, and freedom from oppression, we instead confront a deeply troubling reminder of federal overreach. Independence Day should be a time for reflection and reverence, not fear and persecution,’’ they said in a statement on the city website. Federal agents also detained a food vendor in front of a Target on Eagle Rock Boulevard on Friday, according to video shared on social media from the scene. The birria stand is a longtime, beloved staple for the Eagle Rock, Highland Park and Glassell Park neighborhoods. A GoFundMe started by the vendor’s brother raised more than $16,000 overnight to hire an attorney and support the vendor’s three children. Protests have continued amid the raids. Fans of the Galaxy soccer team left the stands on Friday over the owners’ lack of public support for immigrants and the team’s fans, who are majority Latino. Others who typically sing, chant and play drums and trumpets stood in silence during the 12th minute of the match against Vancouver. Fans also raised a banner that read "Fight Ignorance, Not Immigrants.” In downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department made five arrests on Friday at demonstrations protesting anti-immigration enforcement downtown, a department official said. In a post on X, the LAPD said that most participants were peaceful but "once again, as the evening approached, outside agitators began to cause issues.”

Breitbart [7/5/2025 11:26 AM, Amy Furr, 3077K] reports police arrested several people during anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Friday as President Donald Trump’s administration continues cracking down on illegal immigration. The news comes after leftist anti-ICE protesters took over the city’s 6th Street Bridge on Tuesday, per Breitbart News. Fox News reported on Saturday the protesters clashed with police and members of the U.S. military, the incidents happening after Trump deployed National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to the area when protesters tried to thwart illegal immigration sweeps in Los Angeles in June. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [7/5/2025 3:32 PM, Julio Rosas, 1805K] reports tensions are still high in southern California as immigration enforcement operations continue in the aftermath of the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots last month. The Department of Homeland Security has deployed additional resources to the region to carry out President Donald Trump’s directive to arrest illegal immigrants despite local resistance. That resistance did not take a break this Independence Day. Multiple far-left groups organized protests around Los Angeles County, with protesters mainly focusing on city hall and the federal building nearby. Waving Mexican flags and upside down American flags, the anti-ICE and anti-Trump crowd spread out to the front and the back of the federal building where U.S. Marines, National Guardsmen, and DHS agents were stationed to protect the facility. Many in the crowd berated the service members for protecting the building that rioters had targeted barely a month ago. One agitator threatened to "knock" their teeth in because he did not care about going to jail. Toward Friday evening protesters gathered behind the federal building to prevent federal vehicles from going in and out of the complex. This forced DHS agents and military members to come out to clear a path for the vehicles, which the crowd sometimes attacked.

Los Angeles Times [7/5/2025 7:08 PM, Tyrone Beason, 14672K] reports DeMille Halliburton founded a running club 10 years ago to bring together residents of his South Los Angeles neighborhood. On Saturday, he and several club members joined hundreds of other Angelenos for a different cause, the Run Against ICE, winding through the heart of the city to call for an end to raids by federal agents that have upended life for immigrants. "We’re always trying to find a way to share how upset we are about what’s happening in the country right now, to be visible and outspoken," said Halliburton, 61. "Enough is enough.” Runners expressed a mix of outrage, heartache and defiance as they jogged in the hot sun for 15 miles through neighborhoods where raids have happened or that are important to immigrants, from streets lined with sidewalk vendors in Koreatown and MacArthur Park to Dodger Stadium, Chinatown, the Fashion District and the city’s historic core, a few blocks from the Metropolitan Detention Center where immigration detainees are housed. Halliburton’s fellow running club member, Gabriel Golden, said he fears that L.A. and the nation have reached a boiling point because of the aggressive nature of the raids and what he sees as the racial profiling of Latinos like himself by federal agents identifying targets for detention and deportation. "It’s been terrifying, and unacceptable," said Golden, 42, a musician. "One of the first raids was by the Home Depot where I work near MacArthur Park.” Even though he hasn’t personally been affected by the raids, Golden, a U.S. citizen who is half-Guatemalan, said he feels a duty to stand up for those who have been detained and their loved ones, to let them know they’re not alone. Friends and colleagues have been asking how he’s doing and urging him to carry his passport wherever he goes to prove he’s a citizen —just in case. But Golden refuses to do it, out of principle. Joggers in white "Run Against ICE" T-shirts — some waving U.S. flags, Mexican flags or banners that combined the two — headed toward MacArthur Park on their way to Echo Park and Dodger Stadium. At the Home Depot in MacArthur Park, several onlookers rose to their feet to clap, chant "Viva Mexico" and reach out to give high-fives and fist bumps. After Dodger Stadium, the runners passed through Chinatown toward City Hall, stopping in front of the iconic building to rest again before the long stretch to the Fashion District and the canopied markets of Olympic Boulevard. 1. A participant waves a flag while passing the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. 2. A few hundred runners completed the 15-mile run. 3. Day laborers in front of a Home Depot on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles watch runners pass by. 4. A person holds a shirt that reads "Run Against ICE" in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center. Merchants paused selling piñatas, street food and aquas frescas to take photos of the runners and cheer them on. The runners brought traffic to a halt, and motorists joined in the celebration, honking their horns in support. The final stretch led past the detention center, which has become an almost sacred place to demonstrators who have protested and held vigil here, including the SEIU labor organizers, immigrant rights advocates and faith leaders who joined forces to plan the run.

Reported similarly:
CBS Los Angeles [7/5/2025 2:25 PM, Austin Tunner and Alys Martinez, 51860K] Video: HERE

NBC News [7/6/2025 6:30 AM, Nicole Acevedo, 44540K] reports that, in Barrio Obrero, a predominantly Dominican neighborhood in Puerto Rico, the chilling effect of unprecedented immigration raids in the U.S. territory has been paralyzing. With homes and businesses desolate, a truck with speakers has been cruising through the streets of the working-class neighborhood with a message. "Suddenly, in that darkness, they heard: ‘Immigrants, you have rights,’" Ariadna Godreau, a human rights lawyer in Puerto Rico, told NBC News. The legal nonprofit she leads, Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, hired the truck, known as a "tumba coco," to make people aware of their rights and announce the launch of a new hotline, the first in Puerto Rico providing legal support to immigrants, Godreau said. Over 300 families have already called the hotline and spoken with attorneys free of charge as they figure out their legal options in the face of a changing immigration landscape, Godreau said. Residents in Puerto Rico now fear that President Donald Trump’s efforts to carry out mass deportations will fundamentally change how immigration policies are enforced in a U.S. territory that had long been perceived as a sanctuary for immigrants. That perception was first shattered on Jan. 27, the same week Trump took office. Immigration authorities raided Barrio Obrero and arrested more than 40 people. Witnesses told Telemundo Puerto Rico, NBC’s sister station on the island, that they saw agents break down the doors of several homes and businesses. Detainees were handcuffed, placed in vans and taken away, they said. In his 40 years living in Puerto Rico, Ramón Muñoz, a Dominican immigrant, had seen authorities sporadically detain undocumented people but never "with the aggressiveness" displayed during that raid. Complicating matters for immigrants in Puerto Rico, those detained are transferred to the mainland U.S. — an ocean away from their families and attorneys managing their immigration cases — because there are no permanent detention centers on the island that can hold detainees for prolonged periods, according to Rebecca González-Ramos, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Juan. Aracely Terrero, one of the at least 732 immigrants arrested by federal immigration authorities in Puerto Rico so far this year, spent a month being bounced around three different detention centers in the States before she was released last week after an immigration judge determined she should have never been detained in the first place.

Chicago Tribune [7/6/2025 6:00 AM, Nell Salzman, 3987K] reports pregnant and living in Chicago without legal immigration status, Daniela Sigala has spent the last several months thinking of names for her soon-to-be-born son and imagining him receiving something she’s yet to attain: U.S. citizenship. But Sigala’s hopes for her child became cloudier a little more than a week ago following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that touched on the issue of birthright citizenship. Along with an array of Trump administration measures, the ruling places Sigala and an untold number of immigrants in a world of uncertainty and fear about whether their children will be considered American citizens. "It makes you feel like there is no safe way to do anything anymore," said the 25-year-old Sigala, whose parents brought her from Mexico to Chicago when she was 2 years old. The 6-3 high court decision doesn’t directly address whether birthright citizenship, which is spelled out in the 14th Amendment, applies to the children of immigrants. But the ruling has opened the possibility that President Donald Trump can fulfill the executive order he signed on his first day in office of his second term and block U.S.-born children of immigrants from obtaining citizenship in most of the country - although not, for now, Illinois - until courts decide whether Trump’s efforts are constitutional. The ruling has spurred a scramble among immigrants, activists and legal experts who worry that well-established rules for citizenship could suddenly change. While immigration law is notoriously complex and can change rapidly, one bright line has remained constant for more than a century: People born in the United States are considered citizens. Now, though, children born to families where neither parent is a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident - including those born to immigrants without legal status who came to the United States as children and received temporary relief from deportation under an Obama administration-era program - face uncertain futures in which the child’s right to citizenship could depend on which U.S. state they were born in. "Some Americans - sons and daughters of immigrants - will be born with citizenship, and other Americans will be born without the rights that constitutionally belong to them by birthright," U.S. Rep. Delia Ramírez, a Chicago Democrat born in the U.S. to Guatemalan parents, said in a statement after the ruling. "The decision is not only deplorable, it is dangerous and confusing." Trump has argued that the 14th Amendment was necessary to address the legal issues of "the babies of slaves" but not the babies of immigrants. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a U.S. citizen born in the country to Haitian parents, disagrees. "We don’t say, because we initially created the 14th Amendment because it freed slaves, the language in the 14th Amendment doesn’t apply to anybody but Black people who are descendants of slaves," Raoul said in an interview with the Tribune. "That’s not how our law works."

FOX News [7/4/2025 8:00 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports over the past several weeks, FOX News Contributor, retired Marines. Staff Sergeant Joey Jones has featured first responders as part of the FOX News Rundown’s "Great Americans" series. Vargas, after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan as an Army Ranger, returned home and joined the Border Patrol, working along the U.S.-Mexico border, eventually becoming part of BORSTAR, the Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue unit. As part of that group, he focused on saving lives through search-and-rescue missions, medical interventions, and crisis response, regardless of the circumstances that led individuals at risk to cross the border. Vargas is now retired, and when he is not acting, he is a journalist, podcast host, and advocate for veterans. Joey and Vincent discussed his time in the military, the challenges of being a border patrol agent, and the work he’s doing now. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

New York Times [7/5/2025 2:24 PM, Judson Jones, 138952K] reports Tropical Storm Chantal was moving toward South Carolina on Saturday, and forecasters warned the heavy rains accompanying it could lead to flash flooding across South Carolina and other parts of the coast this weekend. Heavy rain, strong surf and rip currents are expected along the Southeastern coastline beginning Saturday and lasting for the next few days. Tropical storm watches and warnings are in effect for much of the South Carolina and North Carolina coastlines, and additional warnings are likely. The storm, which formed early Saturday, was expected to move ashore in South Carolina by Sunday morning and move north along the coast.

Reuters [7/6/2025 5:16 AM, Angela Christy, 51390K] reports the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday that tropical storm Chantal has made landfall, and is now moving inland into the eastern state of South Carolina. The tropical storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, according to the NHC, is located about 70 miles west-southwest of Charleston, the most populous city in South Carolina. Chantal is expected to turn northward and then northeastward over the next 24 hours, according to the forecaster. Rapid weakening is expected though flash flooding remains a threat, NHC said.

CNN [7/6/2025 7:33 AM, Taylor Ward, Briana Waxman, Mary Gilbert, 51390K] reports Tropical Storm Chantal became the first named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season to hit the United States after it made landfall in South Carolina in the earliest hours of Sunday morning. Chantal came ashore around 4 a.m. ET Sunday near Litchfield by the Sea, South Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center, about 10 to 20 miles south of Myrtle Beach. The tropical storm was packing sustained winds between 50 and 60 mph at landfall, with stronger gusts. Chantal is the third named storm of the Atlantic season — a mark usually hit around early August. While Chantal is the first of the season to impact the United States, it isn’t a major threat to land, but will continue to drench parts of the Southeast and create risky beach conditions through Monday. Chantal will deteriorate over land as it tracks generally to the north Sunday and ultimately become a tropical depression. The system could fully dissipate as early as Sunday evening, but some impacts will linger after that occurs. Despite Chantal’s expected loss of wind speed through Sunday, the system will still bring periods of heavy rain on the Carolinas and other parts of the mid-Atlantic. A level 2-of-4 risk of flooding rainfall is in place for portions of the Carolinas Sunday, according to the Weather Prediction Center. This rain will spread farther north early in the week. Chantal has dropped at least an inch of rain on parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina since it first formed and ultimately, 2 to 4 inches of rain is possible in the Carolinas, with isolated amounts of up to 6 inches through Monday.

CBS Miami [7/5/2025 8:07 PM, Steve Maugeri, 51860K] reports that, for the second day in a row, protestors took to the streets of South Florida to speak out against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. This comes after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received additional funding from the president’s "big, beautiful bill" and after a new ICE detention center opened in the Florida Everglades this week. Protestors lined up outside the Broward Transitional Center on Saturday, which is where 44-year-old Marie Ange Blaise died while in ICE custody on April 25. Immigration officials said she had entered the U.S. without permission. The cause of her death is under investigation. "We wanna make sure those things don’t happen again to our children [and] to other immigrants," said organizer Widline Pierre. "We wanna make sure those things are preventable." Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick attended the protest, saying she wants a hearing to find out why Blaise died. ICE’s website said seven people have died in its custody so far this year. "We also need to take a good look at what’s going on within the facilities," the congresswoman said. "Right after she died we came to this facility and we looked at it. And we tried to speak to some of the medical personnel and they were very evasive. And they said that they would be providing us with information that we still have not received." Pierre said she feels immigrants are being treated unfairly. "What they’re doing is not about enforcing the rules; it’s about belittling the immigration communities," Pierre said. "We’re being bullied." The protesters here were also speaking out against the new ICE detention facility down in the Everglades: Alligator Alcatraz. It was put together in about eight days, and the first group of migrants was sent to the facility this week. Elena Munoz told CBS News Miami that the facility is inhumane since it’s surrounded by alligators and pythons. "It’s the worst thing for many, many things," she said. "First, it should not be in that land. First of all. Second, it’s not in a safe place." On top of that, ICE got a big funding boost on Friday when President Trump signed his "big, beautiful bill" into law, which added $75 million for new ICE agents and for building more detention facilities. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NPR [7/5/2025 6:30 PM, Gabrielle Emanuel, 37958K] reports that, in the early hours of Friday, floods swept across Texas Hill Country. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet within 45 minutes, according to state officials. The flooding killed at least 14 children and 18 adults, officials said at a press conference on Saturday afternoon. Frantic search efforts continue for 27 girls from a local Christian summer camp — Camp Mystic — who remain missing, as well as other missing individuals. Officials added that more than 850 people have been rescued, including over 100 airlifted from the region. On Friday, when asked why the summer camps in the area were not evacuated, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s top elected official, said, "I can’t answer that. I don’t know.” On Wednesday the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) activated state emergency response resources, saying there were "increased threats of flooding in parts of West and Central Texas." Swift water rescue teams, along with other types of rescue equipment, were moved to the area because some modeling predicted high levels of rainfall. "But listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service….It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw," said Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd on Friday. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who was in the area for the July 4th celebrations, asked for people to focus on the ongoing rescue work. "I’d just [ask] everybody like, pause, take a breath for the recriminations and the Monday morning quarterbacking," he said on Saturday. "Let’s focus on finding those who can be found, then we can always assess what we need to do later, going forward.” Kristi Noem, secretary of Homeland Security, said on Saturday afternoon, "for decades, for years, everybody knows that the weather is extremely difficult to predict.” "I do carry your concerns back to the federal government, to President Trump and and we will do all we can to fix those kinds of things that that may have felt like a failure to you and to your community members," she said, adding that Trump is "working to upgrade the technologies that have been neglected." Some have raised questions about whether cuts to the National Weather Service and other federal emergency management agencies impacted the ability to provide accurate weather warnings. NPR has compiled a timeline of when local, state and federal officials posted warnings on social media as well as the timeline of events as presented by local officials. The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) announced that it was activating state emergency response resources because of the threat of flooding.

CBS News [7/6/2025 12:30 AM, Bo Evans, 51860K] reports that, in less than an hour, paradise turned to wreckage. "This was our paradise," said Lorena Guillen. "But now it’s all gone. I mean, it’s gone. There’s—there’s nothing left.” The RV park Guillen owns with her husband in Kerrville was wiped away in less than an hour. "Within 20 minutes after the water had came all the way up here, it was all the way up there where the patio is," she said. "I mean, that is a 500-year flood.” RVs were wrapped around trees. A kayak was found hanging 20 feet in the air. Cars were buried under rocks and mud. "It was just incredible, the force of nature of that moment," Guillen said. People were swept away by the floodwaters. "Just here with me I have six people missing. We don’t know their whereabouts. A family of five that I’m praying someone is going to rescue down below," she said. Across town, hundreds of family members waited anxiously to be reunited with girls from Camp Waldemar. "As reports came in, we saw images of the Camp La Junta cabin floating downstream, started hearing about a cabin at Camp Mystic that floated downstream—it was an emotional day," said Rob Sell, a parent of three campers. Sell and his wife drove down from Fort Worth and were there when buses arrived with their daughters. "There was a little hole that you could see through my window, because I was on the top bunk, and I looked out and I saw water," said Alice Sell, a camper at Camp Waldemar. "When I slept I heard this loud thunder, and it was silent, but I knew—I didn’t want to be worried, so I just thought God was with me and I can sleep the night," said Martha Sell, also a camper. "I had to wait a minute for them to hug their mom first," said Rob Sell. "I’m kind of chopped liver, but ultimately when I did get the hugs, they were really sweet.” A really sweet moment, on an incredibly hard day. "The only thing that’s going through my mind right now is like, what now? How — how are we going to move forward? You know, who is going to help?" Guillen said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Axios [7/5/2025 4:17 PM, Astrid Galván, 13599K] reports efforts to find more than 25 girls missing from Camp Mystic after flash floods hit Central Texas early Friday morning continue, but four bodies — and dozens more from other parts of the region — have already been recovered. Here’s what we know about the victims of the flooding near Kerrville, Texas: Renee Smajstrla: The young girl has been identified by her uncle as one of the Camp Mystic attendees who went missing and whose body has since been recovered. "We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday. She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic," Shawn Salta wrote on Facebook. Sarah Marsh: The 8-year-old Mountain Brook, Alabama, girl was a camper whose body has been found, per the city’s mayor. "This is an unimaginable loss for her family, her school, and our entire community. Sarah’s passing is a sorrow shared by all of us, and our hearts are with those who knew and loved her, " Mayor Stewart Welch wrote in a Facebook post. Janie Hunt: The 9-year-old girl’s family confirmed to NBC5 reporter Keenan Willard that she had died in the floods while at Camp Mystic. Lila Bonner: Bonner’s family also confirmed the girl, 9, had died. "In the midst of our unimaginable grief, we ask for privacy and are unable to confirm any details at this time. We ache with all who loved her," the girl’s family said in a statement to NBC5. Other people who were camping or lived near the Guadalupe River, which surged to roughly 26 feet within 45 minutes, also were victims. They include: Dick Eastland: The longtime director of Camp Mystic was among the victims, with reports that he died while working to get girls to safety. Eastland, who attended the University of Texas, was at Camp Mystic since 1974 and was part of a third generation of a family managing the camp, per its website. Paige Sumner, a longtime friend, described Eastland as a "father figure" to everyone away from home at camp. "He was the father of four amazing boys, but he had hundreds of girls each term who looked up to him like a dad," Sumner wrote for the Kerrville Daily Times. Jane Ragsdale: The beloved co-owner and director of Heart O’ the Hills camp was killed in floods, according to a statement posted on the camp’s website. "We at the camp are stunned and deeply saddened by Jane’s death. She embodied the spirit of Heart O’ the Hills and was exactly the type of strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed to develop with the girls entrusted to us each summer." The girls’ camp opened in 1953. There were no campers at the time of the floods.

New York Times [7/5/2025 6:19 PM, Ruth Graham and Edgar Sandoval, 138952K] reports that, in the leafy neighborhoods of Dallas, Houston and Austin, from where Camp Mystic in the Texas Hill Country draws many of its campers, parents have attended vigils at local churches and refreshed Facebook pages and news sites looking for updates after the flood. Group texts have flown with rumors about girls who had been found, and girls still missing. They exchanged phone numbers, stories, and prayers. And still, as of Saturday afternoon, a day and a half after the Guadalupe River surged over its banks in the predawn darkness of July 4, 27 girls from the Christian camp in Central Texas remained missing. The wait has been agonizing for Camp Mystic’s unusually tight-knit community of parents and alumni, connected to a retreat where Texas Monthly once said three generations of descendants of Lyndon Johnson had gone, and where Laura Bush served as a counselor. Early reports of the flooding on Friday morning sparked a frantic response, with very little information to go on. Parents whose daughters were at camp in the session that began last weekend raced toward Kerr County, with only a brief email from the camp: “We have sustained catastrophic level floods,” it read. “If your daughter is not accounted for you have been notified. If you have not been personally contacted then your daughter is accounted for.” About 750 girls were at the camp this session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Texas said at a news conference on Friday. Hundreds of campers who had been stranded on Mystic grounds for hours are emerging with harrowing but piecemeal stories of the torrential rains that flooded the camp. Jenny MacLennan’s 10-year-old daughter was among hundreds of children rescued on Friday. Her cabin was high enough that counselors decided to keep the children in the cabin as the rain continued to pour down overnight. The next day, they were rescued by Texas Parks and Wildlife officers, and brought by bus to a reunification center. It was Ms. MacLennan’s daughter’s first summer at sleepaway camp. But after the bewildering and exhausting day was over, “she got into the car and started singing the six songs,” Ms. MacLennan said, referring to a set of songs sung by Mystic campers for nearly a century. “That’s a true testament to the joy that they kept in these kids’ hearts.” Another mother, who asked not to be named because of the ongoing search and the intense media scrutiny, set out from Dallas on Friday morning to retrieve her daughter. Having heard nothing official beyond the email, she had only hope. At the reunification center at Ingram Elementary School, also in Kerr County, she and her husband waited for hours. At 5:30 p.m., they were able to speak to their daughter by phone. Almost three hours later, she emerged, wearing clean and dry clothes lent by other campers on higher ground. It was then that their daughter’s story started to emerge, in fits and starts: Waking up in the middle of the night, being guided by counselors to wade through rushing water to the indoor balcony of the camp’s recreation center, a sleepless wait as water rose, a muddy trek to another camp site, a helicopter ride that her daughter described only as “loud.”

NewsMax [7/5/2025 6:54 PM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4622K] reports Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, said Saturday that he and his wife, Camille, have been reunited with their two young daughters, who were safely evacuated from Camp Mystic near Kerrville, Texas, after flooding from the Guadalupe River left at least 37 people dead and dozens still missing, including girls from the camp. The congressman posted on X that he and his wife and their third daughter, Vivian, "are now united with Caroline and Juliana, who were evacuated from Camp Mystic, a historic all-girls camp that was hit hard by the flooding.” "The last day has brought unimaginable grief to many families and we mourn with them as well as holding out hope for survivors," Pfluger said. He added that he and his family wanted to thank the first responders "who have come from far and wide to save lives.” "The TX Division of Emergency Management has been incredible, and the White House, DHS, FEMA, DPS, and local officials have all been responsive and helpful," the congressman said. "Please join us today as we pray for miracles.” The floodwaters along the river reportedly rose 26 feet in less than an hour early Friday. State and federal officials have said that about 27 campers from the summer camp, which opened in the 1920s, remain missing. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Saturday told Newsmax that there were more than 750 campers at the campgrounds when the flood hit. Several other RV sites and homes along the river were also destroyed by the raging floodwaters. Patrick said that there were several people in the area for the holiday weekend, including Kerrville’s annual July 4 celebration and concert. "We don’t know about all those people because it’s hard. You know, we had a number over the holidays to kind of account for everybody," he said. "We don’t know how many visitors were there. So there will be an increased loss of life, sadly.” Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for Kerr County and other surrounding locations. Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.

New York Times [7/5/2025 5:45 PM, Edgar Sandoval, 138952K] reports the gates to enter Camp Mystic, where hundreds of children had been rescued from ravaging floods, were open Saturday afternoon, but reaching the area was a major challenge. The roads were badly damaged, with tree limbs and overturned vehicles everywhere. A half-mile, downhill road to Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas, led to a wooden sign on a tree that shows two happy girls jumping into the water. Officials said about 750 campers were there this week, and some two dozen girls remained unaccounted for. Behind the sign, there were remnants of a happy summer. Brick picnic tables and chairs sat empty in a desolate park. Canoes were flipped upside down next to a placid lake. A road leading to cabins and other buildings looked impassable. [Editorial note: consult source link for images]

NPR [7/5/2025 5:20 PM, Staff, 37958K] Audio: HERE reports the number of people dead rose Saturday after the "catastrophic" flooding from Friday Morning along the Guadalupe River in central Texas. Houston Public Radio’s Dominic Anthony Walsh reports from the area.

New York Times [7/5/2025 4:14 PM, Rick Rojas, 138952K] reports that, in a part of Texas where the American South gives way to the Southwest, the Hill Country rolls across a vast expanse of a vast state, with fields of lavender, vineyards, a constellation of rivers and lakes — and the many people who have been lured by its natural splendor and rustic vibe. But the flash floods that swept through Kerr County on Friday — and the warnings that more could come — were an abrupt and agonizing reminder of the peril that lurks behind the idyll. The region has also become known as “Flash Flood Alley,” a recognition of a recurring threat that has taken lives and upended communities over the years. A propensity for high levels of rainfall combined with thin soil, exposed bedrock and steep terrain make it especially vulnerable. “This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States,” the Kerr County judge, Rob Kelly, told reporters on Friday. “We deal with floods on a regular basis.” At least 27 people were killed and many others remained missing after the Guadalupe River surged beyond its banks on Friday, in and around Kerrville, Texas, a city of about 25,000 people. The river rose nearly 30 feet in just an hour and a half. Longtime residents remember the Guadalupe River rising 29 feet one morning in 1987. Ten teenagers were killed after the bus they were in was swept away near Comfort, less than 20 miles from Kerrville. In Wimberley, a small city roughly 90 minutes east of Kerrville, 13 people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed and damaged in 2015 when the Blanco River rose nearly 30 feet within a couple of hours. Still, the region’s appeal has only intensified. Subdivisions and housing developments have sprouted up as part of the explosive growth that has radiated out from the city of Austin in recent years. The region has long drawn retirees and others looking for a life that feels a tad more rural. The area is also a destination for camping, hiking, riding and other tourist activities. The attraction, in part, is an atmosphere that many regard as a quintessential vision of Texas, with dance halls playing a homegrown version of country music and easy access to nature and wide-open space. Kerr County, which has been devastated by the recent flooding, has been growing steadily in population. In Kerrville, the county seat, there are barbecue joints, taquerias, inns, shops and campgrounds, all set just off the winding banks of the Guadalupe River.

Houston Chronicle [7/5/2025 3:47 PM, Tony Plohetski, 1982K] reports hundreds of children at summer campsites along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County were at risk early Friday when a catastrophic flash flood killed at least 27 people, a tragedy that has prompted a continued search for a group of missing children from one of the region’s most popular camps. In the aftermath, questions are focusing on the accuracy of weather forecasting, the area’s flash flood alert system and whether camp staff were properly notified of the danger. State and local officials in Kerr County say that much of what happened was not in the National Weather Service forecast and that evacuating the campgrounds likely could not have happened fast enough and may have posed more danger. "Ever since I have been governor, we have had weather events that were completely unpredictable," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news conference. "And that is just a part of nature." But meteorologists say the official National Weather Service forecast gave ample notice for people to get themselves – and others – out of harm’s way. Were officials prepared for historic and catastrophic flooding? State and local officials say nothing could have prepared them for the Guadalupe River to rise as quickly as it did.

The Hill [7/5/2025 10:33 AM, Filip Timotija, 18649K] reports a wildfire in central California has increased in scope and has become the largest wildfire in the state this year, surpassing the devastating blazes that ravaged the Los Angeles metropolitan region earlier this year. The Madre Fire, which has spread in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, has grown to 70,800 acres and 10 percent of it has been contained, according to CalFire, California’s firefighting agency. The cause of the wildfire, which started spreading on Wednesday, is under investigation. The blaze began near State Route 166, which brings together the Central Coast to the southern San Joaquin Valley. Officials have cautioned that smoke impacts from the wildfire will be "far-reaching." Over 600 personnel have been assigned to contain the wildfire, including "numerous" firefighting air tankers, according to CalFire. The U.S. Northern Command said earlier this week that around 150 National Guard troops, who were deployed amid the immigration raid protests in Los Angeles, were now directed to fight wildfires.

Bloomberg [7/5/2025 1:25 PM, Myles Miller, 19320K] reports the scam began with a message, then a friendly exchange. A stranger directed the victim to a cryptocurrency investment site that appeared professional — slick design, charts, even customer support. The first deposit showed a modest profit. So did the next. Encouraged, the victim sent more, even borrowing money to keep up. Then, without warning, the platform stopped responding. The account balance disappeared. “That’s how they do it,” Jamie Lam, an investigative analyst with the US Secret Service, told law enforcement officials in Bermuda last month.

Secret Service investigators traced the fraud to the domain name behind the fake investment site. Using open-source tools, they found out when it was registered, by whom and how it had been paid for. A cryptocurrency payment pointed them to another wallet. A brief VPN failure exposed an IP address. Patience and digital tools have helped the GIOC seize nearly $400 million in digital assets over the last decade, a figure not previously reported, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. At the center of the operation is Kali Smith, a lawyer who directs the Secret Service’s cryptocurrency strategy. To claw back stolen funds, the Secret Service leans on industry partners.

Daily Caller [7/5/2025 10:45 AM, Melanie Wilcox] reports President Donald Trump told the Daily Caller Thursday that he is "very satisfied" with the FBI’s investigation into the assassination attempt against him that occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump’s comments, made directly to Daily Caller White House Correspondent Reagan Reese, follow months of public skepticism about the official explanation. This is the first time he has publicly indicated full confidence in the investigation. In an earlier interview with Fox News, Trump said that while he trusted his team, aspects of the case seemed "a little bit strange."

Reuters [7/5/2025 10:33 PM, Gnaneshwar Rajan, 51390K] reports Ingram Micro (INGM.N) said on Saturday it recently identified ransomware on certain of its internal systems. The information technology company took steps to secure the relevant environment, including taking certain systems offline, it said in a statement. The Irvine, California-based company also launched an investigation with the assistance of leading cybersecurity experts and notified law enforcement, it added.

ABC News [7/5/2025 4:29 PM, Victoria Arancio and Ivan Pereira, 31733K] reports two teenage boys were killed in a mass shooting incident that took place early Saturday morning in Indianapolis, according to police. Officers responded to calls of a disturbance around 1:27 a.m. near Washington and Meridian Street when they heard shots fired, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. An unidentified 16-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene and five other victims were transported to the hospital, police said. One of those victims, a 15-year-old boy, was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to investigators. Another victim transported themself to the hospital, police said. Investigators would only describe the surviving victims as a 16-year-old, a 17-year-old, two 19-year-olds and one 21-year-old. No suspect has been identified, and police have no information on a motive as of Saturday afternoon. The investigation is ongoing. Indianapolis Police Chief Chris Bailey expressed fury over the violence. "Too many lives are being lost," he said during a news conference. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett also condemned the shooting and expressed his sorrow for the parents of the victims. "All of this is avoidable and preventable," he said at a news conference.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [7/5/2025 4:30 PM, Matthew Cupelli, 75552K]

CBS Chicago [7/5/2025 8:04 AM, Asal Rezaei and Jeramie Bizzle, 51860K] Video HERE reports seven people were hospitalized following another mass shooting Friday night in Chicago, this time on the city’s Southwest Side. It happened after 11 p.m. in the 4800 block of South Justine Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Chicago police said officers responded to a call of multiple people shot. Preliminary reports indicated that two unknown men approached the victims on foot, pulled out guns, and shot into a crowd of people who were standing outside, hitting the seven victims. As of Saturday, no one is in custody. Area 1 detectives are investigating. This is the fifth mass shooting in the city since Wednesday.

The Hill [7/5/2025 1:58 PM, Filip Timotija, 18649K] reports NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised President Trump’s commitment to the military alliance during a recent interview and said the president deserves credit for pushing the 32-nation members to spend more of their gross domestic product on defense. Rutte, in an interview with New York Times released Saturday, said he is "confident of the fact that Trump very much realizes that for the U.S. to stay strong and safe, there is this embeddedness with European security and working together to keep the Indo-Pacific safe.” Rutte, who invoked the word "daddy" when celebrating Trump’s f-bomb when discussing Israel and Iran’s ceasefire on live television, argued the president’s leadership helped NATO allies commit to spending five percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2035. "I think when somebody deserves praise, that praise should be given. And President Trump deserves all the praise, because without his leadership, without him being re-elected president of the United States, the 2 percent this year and the 5 percent in 2035 — we would never, ever, ever have been able to achieve agreement on this," Rutte told the newspaper.

Axios [7/5/2025 5:28 PM, Barak Ravid, 13599K] reports Israel rejected Hamas’ proposed changes to the latest Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, but will send negotiators to Qatar on Sunday to try to close remaining gaps, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Saturday. While key hurdles remain, the resumption of indirect talks in Qatar is a significant step toward a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The two parties haven’t engaged in negotiations since the previous round of talks collapsed six weeks ago. President Trump has been pressuring both Israel and Hamas — through Qatari and Egyptian mediators — to agree to a deal that includes a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 10 living hostages and 18 bodies. He wants to see some progress by Monday, when he plans to meet with Netanyahu at the White House. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night that he’s "very optimistic" about the chances of getting a deal next week. "The changes Hamas wants to make in the Qatari proposal are unacceptable," the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement. Still, Netanyahu agreed to Qatar’s invitation for "proximity talks" with Hamas. The statement said the Israeli negotiating team will depart for Doha on Sunday, and emphasized the talks will be "based on the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to." Hamas said Friday that its response to the proposed ceasefire and hostage deal "can be characterized as positive" and that the Palestinian militant group is ready to begin implementation talks. But Hamas also gave Qatari mediators three reservations it wants to address in indirect talks with Israel and the U.S. Once the ceasefire begins, Hamas wants the UN to take back control of humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza. It demanded that the Israel and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund no longer be part of the aid delivery. Hamas also wants the IDF to pull back to the positions it held before the March ceasefire collapsed. Israel has rejected those demands.

Breitbart [7/5/2025 6:33 PM, Staff, 3077K] reports US President Donald Trump hosts Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday to press the Israeli prime minister to end the war with Hamas in Gaza. Trump has vowed to be tough on Netanyahu as he hopes to use the momentum from the truce between Iran and Israel to secure a ceasefire in the devastated Palestinian territory, too. Trump says Israel is committed to a 60-day halt in fighting and Hamas says it has responded positively to a US-backed proposal — but sealing a final deal to end the 21-month-old war will be easier said than done. Netanyahu, who is making his third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power in January, has vowed to crush Hamas before ending the conflict. Yet Trump, determined to win the Nobel peace prize and riding a wave of recent foreign and domestic policy victories, is making a renewed push for a result. "There could be a Gaza deal next week," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday. He said he was "very optimistic" about a deal but added that "it changes from day to day. It’s been changing for years.” In response to reports that Hamas had responded positively to proposed truce talks, Trump said "that’s good," although he said he had not yet been fully briefed on this development. Trump and Netanyahu were in lockstep during the recent Iran-Israel war, which culminated in the US president ordering stealth bombers to strike three crucial Iranian nuclear sites. Washington says the sites were "obliterated" and Iran’s nuclear program put back years, although Iran has denied any significant setback. The West accuses Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb, which Tehran denies. But on Gaza, Trump is showing signs of increasing unease with the death and destruction still happening as Israel wages the conflict triggered by a huge Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. "We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza," Trump said on Friday. Trump seems to have parked, for now, his extraordinary proposal for a US takeover of Gaza that he floated during Netanyahu’s first visit in February. "I want the people of Gaza to be safe, more importantly," Trump said when asked about the plan earlier this week. "They’ve been through hell.” Trump has also pushed for the release of hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza. He met one released hostage, Edan Alexander, at the White House on Thursday. But while the author of the book "Art of the Deal" prides himself on his negotiating skills, Trump in many ways has an equal in Netanyahu, a political survivor of his own ilk. "I think we’re going to see a strategic meeting in the style of ‘grand bargaining’, as Trump likes them," Michael Horowitz, an independent geopolitical analyst, told AFP. "Even Mr Netanyahu is aware that we are reaching the end of what can be done in Gaza, and that it is time to plan an exit. Netanyahu surely wants it to be gradual.” Trump however will be pushing for something quicker and more comprehensive. He boasted on the 2024 campaign trail that he would end both the war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion shortly after taking office, but peace in both cases has eluded him so far. Two previous Gaza ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States secured temporary halts in fighting and the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, only to break down. The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,338 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

CNN [7/5/2025 5:34 PM, Max Saltman, Lucas Lilieholm and Nadeen Ebrahim, 21433K] reports Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended a religious gathering on Saturday, according to Iranian state media outlet Press TV, the first time he has appeared in public in several weeks. Khamenei had not made a public appearance since his country was plunged into conflict on June 13, when Israel unilaterally bombed Iranian military and nuclear sites. The US later joined in, bombing three key Iranian nuclear sites before US President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire. In video posted by Press TV on X, Khamenei waves to a crowd of black-clad worshippers marking the eve of Ashura, when Shia Muslims commemorate and mourn the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn ibn Ali. The crowd greeted the cleric in turn with cheers and chants. Khamenei, the longest-ruling leader in the Middle East, reportedly spent the 12-day conflict with Israel and the US hiding in a bunker with little access to outside communications. During the conflict, both Israeli politicians and Trump openly discussed overthrowing Khamenei’s government and deposing him by force. After reportedly rejecting an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei, Trump stated in late June that the cleric was an "easy target." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out targeting Khamenei either, saying that his death would "not … escalate the conflict," but rather "end" it. In a recorded statement posted from an undisclosed location days after the ceasefire began, Khamenei was defiant, declaring victory over both Israel and the US. Khamenei took time to respond directly to US President Donald Trump, who had called for Iran’s "unconditional surrender" shortly before ordering US airstrikes. "This (conflict) is not about our nuclear program," Khamenei said. "This is about Iran surrendering … in his statement, (Trump) revealed the truth, he showed his hand. The Americans have had a fundamental issue with Islamic Iran since our revolution.” "And it will never happen," Khamenei said of Trump’s demand. Nonetheless, the conflict with Israel and the US has likely bruised Khamenei’s reputation in Iran, analysts told CNN in June. Israel’s initial strikes were unprecedented in their depth, killing some of the country’s top military leadership on day one. "The Islamic Republic had one social contract with society, which is that it deprived them of all freedoms … in return for providing security," said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. "Now, that image has been shattered in the eyes of the Iranian people.”

FOX Business [7/5/2025 6:40 PM, Sophia Compton, 9940K] reports President Trump said the United States has "pretty much" reached a deal for a company to acquire the U.S. assets of TikTok and plans to begin talks with China this week. "I think we’re going to start Monday or Tuesday ... talking to China, perhaps President Xi or one of his representatives, but we would, we pretty much have a deal," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way to his home in Bedminster, New Jersey, Friday. The deal would likely need to be approved by China, Trump said, adding he believes the agreement would benefit both countries. "President Xi and I have a great relationship, and I think it’s good for them," he said. "I think the deal is good for China, and it’s good for us.” During an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures" last week, the president similarly signaled he had found American buyers for the social media app, describing them as "very wealthy people.” "We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way," Trump said. "I think I’ll need probably China’s approval. I think President Xi will probably do it.” Last month, Trump extended the deadline for the third time for ByteDance, the Chinese company that developed TikTok, to divest U.S. assets of the video-sharing app. ByteDance has until Sept. 17 to find an American buyer, according to Reuters. The U.S. came close earlier this year to making a deal with Chinese-owned TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations into a new company owned by U.S. investors, but the Chinese government said it wouldn’t agree to it, citing the Trump administration’s tariffs, according to a report. TikTok, which has around 170 million active monthly users in the U.S., was previously required to stop operating by Jan. 19. Trump signed an executive order at the time extending the deadline for TikTok for another 90 days. A second extension was issued in April and a third was signed in June. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, passed by Congress in April 2024 with wide bipartisan support, gave TikTok nine months to either separate from ByteDance or be removed from U.S.-based app stores and hosting services. In passing the law, Congress cited concerns over the app’s Chinese ownership, which members said meant the app had the potential to be weaponized or used to amass vast amounts of user data. The White House and TikTok did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [7/5/2025 2:21 PM, Chris Cameron, 153395K]

Bloomberg [7/6/2025 4:06 AM, Hyonhee Shin, 19320K] reports South Korean and US trade officials have discussed extending the July 9 deadline for trade deals in a last-minute bid to avert sweeping tariffs from President Donald Trump. South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo held talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Saturday in Washington, where he proposed manufacturing partnerships and called for the elimination or reduction of tariffs on products such as automobiles and steel, Seoul’s industry ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The meeting came just days before a deadline to reinstate higher US levies that were halted in April. President Donald Trump has said that Washington would send out letters to trading partners setting unilateral tariff rates taking effect on Aug. 1. South Korea is a key US ally and major manufacturing hub for cars, semiconductors and batteries. If the 25% across-the-board levies are imposed, that would further undercut an economy already hit by sluggish domestic consumption. The central bank in May slashed its forecast for this year’s gross domestic product growth to 0.8% from 1.5%. In a last-minute bid to avoid the tariffs from kicking in, Yeo presented a vision for a “mutually beneficial” manufacturing cooperation framework to further strengthen the two countries’ industrial supply chains, while stressing that any final agreement must include ending or limiting tariffs on automobiles and steel, among other products. “Both sides agreed that they have been conducting negotiations in good faith for a month since the launch of the new South Korean administration and that it is necessary to further narrow their differences,” the statement said, adding that the officials also discussed extending the deadline for additional talks. It was Yeo’s second trip to the US in just about a week and a sign that Seoul is ratcheting up efforts to make up for lost time in trade talks after President Lee Jae Myung won a snap election last month, taking over from the ousted Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon’s brief martial law decree at the end of last year triggered the country’s worst political turmoil in decades and resulted in a leadership vacuum. Lee’s national security adviser, Wi Sung-lac, left for Washington on Sunday to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as acting national security adviser. Speaking with reporters before his departure, Wi said he needed to increase his involvement as the negotiations are in a “critical phase.” He said he will seek to arrange a first summit between Lee and Trump as well as discussing security and other bilateral issues during his trip.

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