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.

Reuters [5/31/2025 6:28 PM, Nate Raymond, 51390K] reports a federal judge prevented the Trump administration from invalidating work permits and other documents granting lawful status to about 5,000 Venezuelans, a subset of the nearly 350,000 whose temporary legal protections the U.S. Supreme Court last week allowed to be terminated. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco in a Friday night ruling concluded that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem likely exceeded her authority when she in February invalidated those documents while more broadly ending the temporary protected status granted to the Venezuelans. The U.S. Supreme Court on May 19 lifted an earlier order Chen issued that prevented the administration as part of President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration agenda from terminating deportation protection conferred to Venezuelans under the Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, program. But the high court stated specifically it was not preventing any Venezuelans from still challenging Noem’s related decision to invalidate documents they were issued pursuant to that program that allowed them to work and live in the United States. Such documents were issued after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during former Democratic President Joe Biden’s final days in office extended the TPS program for the Venezuelans by 18 months to October 2026, an action Noem sought to reverse. Homeland Security Department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in a statement said the "ruling delays justice and seeks to kneecap the president’s constitutionally vested powers." Chen ruled hours after the U.S. Supreme Court in a different case on Friday allowed Trump’s administration to end the temporary immigration "parole" granted to 532,000 Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants under a different Biden-era program. The Hill [5/31/2025 8:09 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 18649K] reports that "According to Plaintiffs, Secretary Noem exceeded her statutory authority when she effectively canceled, on February 3, 2025, TPS-related documentation that had already been issued based on the extension to October 2, 2026. Plaintiffs’ position is meritorious. Nothing in the TPS statute allows the Secretary to take such action," Chen wrote in the order. Chen later wrote, "The extension had real world consequences: it was effective, even if only for a brief period of time.”

Reported similarly:
NBC News [5/31/2025 5:11 PM, Alexandra Marquez and Lindsay Good, 44540K]
Miami Herald [5/31/2025 3:12 PM, Verónica Egui Brito, 3805K]
Telemundo [5/31/2025 10:32 PM, Alexandra Marquez and Lindsay Good, 3352K]

Wall Street Journal [5/31/2025 4:03 PM, Ginger Adams Otis, 646K] reports the Trump administration’s list of U.S. cities and counties deemed uncooperative with federal immigration laws has sparked confusion from some government officials and backlash from others who say they shouldn’t have been included. The list, released Thursday, was riddled with spelling mistakes. It named communities that have been supporters of President Trump’s immigration crackdown as well as some that have been critical. It has counties and cities in both red and blue states. The Department of Homeland Security said it relied on numerous factors, including self-identification as a sanctuary jurisdiction, to make its designations. The list release set off a scramble among some government officials who said they were on it erroneously. Local media in Colorado reported Friday that two counties in the state and a city succeeded in getting their names removed. The list will be regularly updated, and can be changed at any time, DHS said Saturday. In Huntington Beach, Calif., where a MAGA-supporting council passed a resolution explicitly declaring the city a “non-sanctuary city,” the mayor said its inclusion on the list was either a misprint or a significant error. “We took deliberate action to make our non-sanctuary stance clear,” Mayor Pat Burns said. “There should be no confusion whatsoever.”

Telemundo52 [5/31/2025 8:14 PM, Staff, 103K] reports the U.S. government’s list of "sanctuary jurisdictions," which includes hundreds of both Republican and Democratic communities, is baffling critics. They have noted that it includes misspellings, communities with small immigrant populations, and others that strongly endorse cooperation with federal authorities. Jessica Vaughan is director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit research organization that favors anti-sanctuary policies and began publishing a list of sanctuary jurisdictions 10 years ago. The center’s list is different from the government’s. Vaughan noted that the center discloses its methodology and frequently updates its list. "That’s something I feel is missing from the (government’s) list: some documentation as to why (certain communities) appear on the list," he said. A message was left with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday seeking comment. The list is part of President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to crack down on communities, states and jurisdictions that it says are not doing enough to support its immigration enforcement plan and promises it made to deport more than 11 million people living in the U.S. without authorization. The Department of Homeland Security and the attorney general will send official notice to the 500 jurisdictions on the list "regarding their defiance of federal law enforcement efforts to control immigration and any potential violations of federal criminal law," according to an executive order from Trump. The list could be updated as the government receives new information, but those that remain on it could face serious financial consequences, including suspension or termination of federal grants and contracts by the Office of Management and Budget. It is unclear what legal action the government will take. DHS said it used several factors to compile the list, including whether cities or localities claimed to be sanctuary jurisdictions, how supportive they were of federal officials who control unauthorized immigration, whether they had restrictions on sharing information with immigration agents, or whether they had legal protections for people who are in the country without permission. But experts said the list is too broad and it is difficult to understand the criteria used to compile it. "It seems pretty arbitrary because not all of these states or specific jurisdictions have a policy that limits cooperation with ICE," said Nithya Nathan-Pineau, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an activist group, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

New York Times [5/31/2025 3:09 PM, Hamed Aleaziz, 138952K] reports the government knows their names. Their fingerprints have been scanned into government computers. The Department of Homeland Security knows where most of them live, because the immigrants in question — more than 500,000 of them — reside in the United States legally. But two new Supreme Court decisions have left them open to deportation, an abrupt turn for a population that has been able to remain in the country by using legal pathways for people facing war and political turmoil at home. “Thousands of people — especially Haitians, Cubans and Venezuelans — instantly shift from ‘lawfully present’ to ‘deportable,’” said Jason Houser, a former official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the Biden administration. Now, with their protections revoked while legal challenges move through lower courts, many immigrants have found themselves in a vulnerable position. Because so many of them have shared detailed information with the government, including addresses, biometrics and the names of their sponsors, they could be easy to track down at a moment when the Trump administration is looking for ways to deport people quickly. Whether and how aggressively the administration might move to begin rounding up people whose legal protections have been revoked remains unclear, though officials signaled several months ago that they feel they have the authority to do so. “It’s chaotic and unnecessary, and we’re already receiving panicked calls and emails, and the crescendo will only grow,” said Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, an immigrant advocacy group that has challenged last week’s rulings in court. “The Supreme Court has effectively greenlit deportation orders for an estimated half a million people, the largest such de-legalization in the modern era,” she said. “Ending the C.H.N.V. parole programs, as well as the paroles of those who exploited it, will be a necessary return to common-sense policies, a return to public safety, and a return to America First,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department. She was using an abbreviation for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the countries in the humanitarian parole program targeted by the Trump administration.

Washington Post [5/31/2025 1:00 PM, Jeremy Roebuck and Marianne LeVine, 32099K] reports the Justice Department is wielding a little-known law to criminally charge unauthorized immigrants who have failed to register their presence in the country, threatening them with potential jail time and fines under a new Trump administration initiative. The first prosecutions came just days after authorities on April 11 resurrected a federal registration requirement, used during World War II, to meet the goals of an executive order from President Donald Trump. Administration officials described the regulation, which mandates that people 14 and older provide fingerprints and home addresses, as a national security precaution that will allow authorities to more closely track the whereabouts of millions of immigrants in the United States. But the Justice Department’s early attempts to win convictions against those who fail to register have faced skepticism and defeats before some federal judges. And the initiative has been met with sharp opposition from immigrant advocates, who warn that registering with the government could expose migrants to a greater risk of deportation. Since April 11, when the Department of Homeland Security established a new immigrant registration form, prosecutors have used a statute created in 1940 to charge dozens of people across the country with failing to sign up — a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to six months in prison and $5,000 in fines.

Telemundo [5/31/2025 1:47 PM, Staff, 3352K] reports the government of President Donald Trump knew that most of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants he sent to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, accusing them of being terrorists, had not been convicted of crimes in the United States, revealed an analysis of data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published on Friday. The official information obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, together with the Venezuelan media Cazadores de Noticias Falsas and Alianza Rebelde Investiga, revealed that only 32 of the 238 sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) had been convicted of crimes committed in the United States. In addition, most of the crimes for which the 32 migrants were charged are classified as non-violent, including shoplifting and traffic violations. The finding contradicts the justifications of President Trump and his advisors for imprisoning in a third country the immigrants he labeled “the worst of the worst” of criminals.

AP [5/31/2025 3:53 PM, Mike Balsamo, Scott Bauer, and Adriana Gomez Licon, 48304K] reports a claim by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that an immigrant threatened the life of President Donald Trump has begun to unravel. Noem announced an arrest of a 54-year-old man who was living in the U.S. illegally, saying he had written a letter threatening to kill Trump and would then return to Mexico. The story received a flood of media attention and was highlighted by the White House and Trump’s allies. But investigators actually believe the man may have been framed so that he would get arrested and be deported from the U.S. before he got a chance to testify in a trial as a victim of assault, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Law enforcement officials believe the man, Ramon Morales Reyes, never wrote a letter that Noem and her department shared with a message written in light blue ink expressing anger over Trump’s deportations and threatening to shoot him in the head with a rifle at a rally. Noem also shared the letter on X along with a photo of Morales Reyes, and the White House also shared it on its social media accounts. The letter was mailed to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office along with the FBI and other agencies, the person said. In an emailed statement asking for information about the letter and the new information about Morales Reyes, the Department of Homeland Security said “the investigation into the threat is ongoing. Over the course of the investigation, this individual was determined to be in the country illegally and that he had a criminal record. He will remain in custody.”

NewsMax [5/31/2025 1:00 PM, Nick Koutsobinas, 4622K] reports on Friday, The New York Times reported that Palantir, the AI-focused software and military contractor, has expanded its "work across the federal government in recent months" after it had been tapped by President Donald Trump to create "detailed portraits" or a digital ID on Americans "which could easily merge data on Americans — throughout agencies," such as from the IRS, the Department of Homeland Security, the Health and Human Services Department, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Education. The development comes after Trump signed an executive order in March charging the federal government to share data across agencies in the name of "stopping waste, fraud, and abuse." Palantir employees told The Times that the company’s engineers had been "quietly" discussing creating a digital ID for Americans and that they had grown worried about placing such sensitive data in one place. In early May, 13 former Palantir employees, Xia being one of them, signed a letter condemning the company’s breach of "transparency, free speech, and rigorous debate on the impact of technology." Anonymous government officials told The Times that Palantir’s pick to create a program compiling data on Americans "was driven by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency." The vague assertion does not lend one with much to go on. However, according to D.H.S. spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, Palantir "has had contracts with the federal government for 14 years."

Wall Street Journal [6/1/2025 12:02 AM, Chun Han Wong, 646K] reports U.S. schools—and one prestigious institution in particular—have long offered up-and-coming Chinese officials a place to study governance, a practice that the Trump administration could end with a new effort to keep out what it says are Chinese students with Communist Party ties. For decades, the party has sent thousands of mid-career and senior bureaucrats to pursue executive training and postgraduate studies on U.S. campuses, with Harvard University a coveted destination described by some in China as the top “party school” outside the country. Alumni of such programs include a former vice president and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s top negotiator in trade talks with the first Trump administration. In an effort announced Wednesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. authorities will tighten criteria for visa applications from China and “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.” The statement didn’t say how the Trump administration would assess Communist Party ties or what degree of connection would result in revocation of visas. In China, party membership is widely seen as helpful for career advancement—in government and the private sector—and is typically a prerequisite for officials seeking high office. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Thursday that the U.S. move “seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students.” Alleged ties with the Communist Party have emerged as a leading line of attack in President Trump’s pressure campaign against Harvard. The Trump administration said on May 22 it was revoking Harvard’s authorization to enroll foreign students, accusing the university of working with the Communist Party, though it later gave Harvard 30 days to contest the decision. Harvard has filed a lawsuit to keep its foreign enrollments. Harvard didn’t respond to questions for this article.

Axios [5/31/2025 8:36 AM, Sam Baker, 13599K] reports no modern president has done more in his first 130 days than President Trump — only to have much of it undone, at least temporarily, by the courts. The inevitable showdowns between Trump and the judiciary are only going to get more intense. This week’s ruling against Trump’s tariffs — handed down by the usually sleepy Court of International Trade — was one of the biggest shockwaves yet, striking at the centerpiece of his economic agenda and efforts to exert leverage on the world stage. That ruling was quickly put on ice, temporarily, by an appeals court. But there will be more tariff litigation, and more litigation on just about everything else. On education, a federal judge in Boston this week said Trump could not stop Harvard from enrolling international students, at least for now. A separate Boston-based judge last week froze Trump’s plans to largely eliminate the Department of Education. That added to an absolute mountain of litigation over Trump’s various efforts to gut the federal bureaucracy. Courts have stopped or slowed some DOGE-led cuts across the government, the firing of people who serve on independent boards, and the laying off of other government workers. Immigration has been the most explosive flashpoint of all. Every court that’s considered Trump’s executive order redefining the rules of American citizenship has ruled against it. The administration has pointedly refused to bring back the man it wrongly deported to El Salvador, despite even the Supreme Court telling it to "facilitate" his return. Judges in lower courts have blocked similar deportations or ordered the government to provide some sort of hearing before deporting people. The real showdowns over the president’s power — his power to fire people, to override Congress’ spending decisions, to deport people without due process, to levy tariffs, to revoke citizens’ citizenship — are all still to come.

New York Times [5/31/2025 4:05 PM, Andy Newman, 153395K] reports President Trump on Thursday nominated Paul Ingrassia, a former far-right podcast host now serving as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, to a new important role: head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent corruption-fighting agency that safeguards federal whistle-blowers and enforces some ethics laws. The office has had a bumpy ride in the second Trump presidency. In February, Mr. Trump fired the office’s head, Hampton Dellinger. Mr. Dellinger sued to keep his job, was temporarily reinstated by a court order, began investigating complaints arising from the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers and was removed again in March after an appeals court ruled in the administration’s favor. The Office of Special Counsel dropped its inquiry into the mass firings in April. The office had annoyed Mr. Trump during his first term by pursuing allegations of misconduct, resulting in a finding that 13 senior aides had campaigned for his re-election in violation of the law known as the Hatch Act. Before working for Mr. Trump, Mr. Ingrassia, 30, hosted a podcast, “Right on Point,” with his sister, Olivia Ingrassia.

FOX News [6/1/2025 5:00 AM, Madison Colombo, 46878K] reports a Texas lawmaker is speaking out following the tragic death of an Air Force Academy cadet who was killed in a hit-and-run involving two migrant suspects in the country illegally. Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne, who had twice personally sponsored 18-year-old Ava Moore’s application to the Air Force Academy, says the incident should never have happened and is demanding accountability. "I am still livid about what happened and why it happened," Van Duyne told "Fox & Friends" Friday. The Republican congresswoman says she’s been in contact with border czar Tom Homan in the wake of the accident and is committed to securing justice for the victim’s family. Moore, a young cadet from Texas, was kayaking when she was allegedly struck by a jet ski operated by an illegal migrant. She was weeks away from leaving to start Air Force basic training. The Department of Homeland Security reports that the two migrants involved in the crash then fled the scene without offering help, leaving Moore to die. DHS has identified the suspects as being Daikerlyn Alejandraa Gonzalez-Gonzalez, who is said to have been driving the jet ski, and Maikel Alexander Coello-Perozo, both foreign nationals who entered the United States illegally in 2023 and were released under the Biden administration. After fleeing the scene, the suspects reportedly struck two vehicles while attempting to escape. Both were later taken into custody and ICE lodged immigration detainers to begin the removal process after criminal proceedings take place. Van Duyne described Moore as a "determined" leader and "a phenomenal woman" with a bright future ahead. She said while she is grateful the suspects have been apprehended, she believes the tragedy was avoidable. "These two Venezuelan illegal immigrants who should never have been in our country," she said, "who just recklessly were on a jet ski and smashed into Ava as she was home with her family before she was getting ready to go to boot camp.” "She was out on a kayak. She got hit and they just left her there in the water to die."

The Hill [5/31/2025 9:00 AM, Tom Kiernan, 18649K] reports across the nation, dams are deteriorating while the storms pounding against them grow stronger and more frequent. The result: A growing number of disasters and an unacceptable level of flood risk for downstream communities. Lives, homes and livelihoods hang in the balance, even as dam safety oversight and funding are being eliminated in the current Congress. The majority of our nation’s dams are beyond their design lifespan. In the last two years, Congress has made major cuts to dam safety programs at dam-owning agencies and massive cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency National Dam Safety Program funding. This program provides critical support to state dam safety offices and for dam owners voluntarily seeking to repair or remove dams with high hazard potential. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 provided an influx of funds, but more than half of those dedicated funds were subsequently cut in the 2024 and 2025 spending bills. Restoring and sustaining sufficient funding and staffing to the FEMA National Dam Safety Program is crucial to addressing the dam safety crisis. Lack of funding will leave communities, regardless of who they voted for, having to pay the price when dams break. Members of Congress need to put public safety first and approve dedicated funding for the regular upkeep, rehabilitation and removal of dams.

Houston Chronicle [5/31/2025 7:00 AM, Sarah Vogel, 1982K] reports hurricane season starts today, June 1, and the Gulf Coast knows the drill: It’s time to stock up on bottled water, diapers, batteries and other emergency supplies. Documents like birth certificates and deeds need to be stored in waterproof containers. It’s no surprise that forecasters predict this hurricane season will bring more named storms than usual. People know storms are getting worse, and decades of research confirm why: Greenhouse gases — many from the burning of fossil fuels — are overheating the planet, and that’s fueling more powerful, more extreme, more destructive weather. What is different this hurricane season is that President Donald Trump’s administration is attempting to deny reality and is systematically, cruelly and foolishly welcoming more harmful pollution into our communities and taking away information and resources we all count on to protect ourselves. In addition to welcoming more pollution and vowing to weaken and repeal as many as 31 environmental laws, the Trump administration has acted to hide the information we all rely on to understand the problems we face. Disasters like these make insurance more expensive. They’re also threatening FEMA, the one federal agency with the resources to help after the very worst happens.

New York Times [5/31/2025 7:51 AM, Michael Lowry, 138952K] reports as we head into what NOAA forecasts will be another active Atlantic hurricane season, the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are downsizing the agency, which houses the National Weather Service, the hurricane hunters and many other programs crucial to hurricane forecasters. Without the arsenal of tools from NOAA and its 6.3 billion observations sourced each day, the routinely detected hurricanes of today could become the deadly surprise hurricanes of tomorrow. The staff reshuffling is just the latest move from an agency fighting for survival. Within NOAA, research and forecasting are inextricably linked. In new budget documents released Friday, the White House proposed eliminating NOAA’s research wing, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which lends mission-critical support to the hurricane hunters. Taking a sledgehammer to OAR would shatter decades of progress in hurricane forecasting, one of the roaring success stories of predictive sciences. The fate of the agency’s research arm is now in the hands of Congress. The irreparable harm the Trump administration is doing will imperil the nation’s longstanding weather warning network for hundreds of millions of Americans in the decades ahead. It’s only a matter of time before the next Milton is at our doorstep — but with our weather intelligence severely compromised, will we know it?

New York Times [5/31/2025 8:37 PM, Sarah Mervosh and Mark Bonamo, 138952K] reports that, on weekend mornings, the La Boulangerie Bakery in East Orange, N.J., is normally bustling with customers who come for its Haitian baked goods, cookies and coconut sweets. It was empty on Saturday, a day after a Supreme Court ruling made many Haitians and other immigrants who came to the United States legally vulnerable to deportation. “Look around,” said the owner, Rosemond Clerval, 50. “People are afraid.” The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to revoke temporary legal status from immigrants who qualified for humanitarian parole under a program that began in 2022 and 2023 under the Biden administration. It allowed certain immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come to the United States and stay for up to two years. Now, tens of thousands of immigrants who only recently fled instability in their home countries and thought they had found a temporary legal refuge in the United States are facing a daunting, new dilemma. Where to go from here? Some were making plans to move to Canada, rather than face being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Jeffrey Thielman, the president of the International Institute of New England, which works with refugees and immigrants in the Boston area and beyond. “They’re trying to figure out where else they can go,” Mr. Thielman said. “The bottom line is that these folks can’t go back to Haiti.” The largest number of recipients in the program are from Haiti, where gangs are terrorizing the country and have taken over the capital, Port-au-Prince. About 1 million people have fled their homes and hundreds of thousands are living in shelters. “I don’t think it’s fair,” said Johane Chevrin, 46, a nurse who ate soup from a restaurant in the Haitian business district in Irvington, N.J. on Saturday, while waiting to get her hair done nearby. “They didn’t come illegally. Where are they going to go now?” In cities with significant immigrant populations, many people willing to be interviewed and identified were not in danger of deportation themselves as part of the parole program, but shared the anguish of fellow residents who were, and spoke of a larger fear percolating through their communities.

Breitbart.com [5/31/2025 1:01 PM, Bob Price, 3077K] reports officials in the sanctuary county of Plymouth, Massachusetts, complained about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducting targeted enforcement operations without communicating in advance. Their complaints follow a video by a local resident who appeared to interfere with the ICE officers while videoing their activities. A video shot by Plymouth resident Lori Fitzpatrick and later published on social media shows ICE officers conducting a targeted enforcement operation. Fitzpatrick walks up on one agent and demands to know what they are doing. She later appears to block the vehicle of another officer, who is forced to activate his lights and siren to get her to move. Despite this, Plymouth Town Manager Derek Brindisi complained that local officials were not notified of the ICE operation, the ABC station reported.

NewsMax [5/31/2025 2:16 PM, Jim Mishler, 4622K] reports former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke told Newsmax a Trump administration goal of arresting 3,000 illegal immigrants daily is a big order, but "help is on the way." Sheriff Clarke told Saturday Report that goals always need a support plan. "It’s OK to say 3,000 arrests per day, but then you have to go to the people who are carrying this out and ask them, what do you need in order to reach this goal?" And then the logical step, he said, is to provide what’s needed. "And you have to give them the resources, you know, required resources to be able to do that." Clarke said he is confident the Trump administration will get it done. "I don’t know that they have this now. I know that help is on the way. They’re gonna ship some of these IRS agents over to illegal immigration operations." That process, he said, also includes the need for training agents on specific immigration enforcement laws and policies. "They gotta be trained. It’s gonna take some time."

Telemundo [5/31/2025 9:13 PM, Staff, 3352K] reports a Utah resident and his son have been charged with supporting the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation (CJNG) business, which includes smuggling Mexican crude oil into the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Friday. James Lael Jensen, 68, and his son Maxwell Sterling Jensen, 25, were indicted on several counts of conspiracy to aid a Mexican cartel designated by the U.S. Executive as a foreign terrorist organization. The two defendants were targeted by federal authorities following an ICE-led investigation, along with the DEA, FBI and other federal agencies, into the Rio Hondo, Texas-based Arroyo Terminals, which the Jensens allegedly operated. In addition to concealing drug smuggling profits from the CJNG, the two men face money laundering charges for the proceeds of illegal crude oil smuggling. The Jensens also helped bring approximately 2,881 shipments of illegal oil into the U.S. in violation of the Tariff Act, according to court documents cited by ICE.In the initial raid, authorities seized four tanker barges containing crude oil and three commercial tanker trucks owned by the company. William Kimbell, acting director of the DEA in Houston, noted in the release how a drug trafficking investigation turned into "a multifaceted case" involving an allegedly complex criminal operation that generates millions of dollars from crude oil, "a major source" of funding for Mexican drug cartels. Conspiracies to provide material support and to commit money laundering carry a possible prison sentence of up to 20 years. This is in addition to penalties of up to 10 years if convicted of complicity in smuggling goods into the United States by means of false statements.James Jensen also faces a special charge for money laundering, which carries an additional 10 years in prison in the event of conviction. The indictment also includes a notice that the U.S. will seek a $300 million judgment in the event of conviction. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart.com [5/31/2025 11:14 AM, John Binder, 3077K] reports President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has arrested an illegal alien, convicted of killing 24-year-old Kaitlyn Weaver last year in Arapahoe County, Colorado, after he was spared jail time by District Attorney Amy Padden (D). In July 2024, a 16-year-old illegal alien was speeding at 90-mph in an area with a 45-mph limit when he crashed into Kaitlyn Weaver, who was driving home from work at the time. Weaver officially died two days later after her family took her off life support. The illegal alien was initially charged with vehicular homicide, but Padden’s office offered him a lenient plea deal that resulted in his not getting any jail time — instead accepting just two years of probation and 100 hours of community service for killing Weaver. Angel Dad John Weaver has been outraged at Padden’s handling of the case, as well as the failure of federal officials to properly enforce immigration law under former President Joe Biden. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Friday that Weaver’s killer had been arrested, along with members of his family.

San Francisco Chronicle [5/31/2025 7:00 AM, Christian Leonard, 4120K] reports with the Trump administration clamping down on immigration, experts say some Bay Area immigrants may pursue one of the surest ways to protect their ability to remain in the country: becoming a citizen. Just 25% of Bay Area residents born in Guatemala, excluding children of American parents, are citizens. The same was true for 35% of Mexico-born residents. Meanwhile, nearly 60% of residents born in China and Nicaragua are naturalized. Still, overall more than half of the Bay Area’s foreign-born population has already won citizenship, 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey shows, similar to the national figure. That means many of the region’s immigrants are likely protected from deportation and scrutiny from border officials, said Bill Hing, a professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco — though there have been some exceptions. Hing expects a particularly large surge in people born in Mexico, Central America and South America to seek U.S. citizenship, hoping to avoid getting caught in Trump’s mass deportation plans.

NPR [5/31/2025 7:26 PM, Alina Selyukh, 37958K] reports a chaotic scene from a federal immigration raid on a popular San Diego restaurant is drawing new attention to government tactics in the push to fulfill President Trump’s promise to deport millions in a historic crackdown. Video shared on social media and local news shows armed and masked agents in full tactical gear swarming the area near a popular Italian restaurant called Buona Forchetta late Friday afternoon. A crowd of people gathers, filming and yelling in protest, surrounding cars and detention vans. Then, a momentary explosion of what appears to be a flash-bang grenade sends smoke floating through the street. A special agent with the Department of Homeland Security told NPR member station KPBS that officials were "executing a criminal search warrant" during a workplace raid. Some witnesses in news reports say agents at first handcuffed the entire restaurant crew as they asked for identification. Several workers were ultimately detained, though witness accounts differ on how many. DHS’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, did not immediately respond to NPR’s email inquiry Saturday. Neither did the restaurant.

FOX News [5/31/2025 7:42 PM, Alexandra Koch, Bill Melugin, 46878K] reports a California city councilmember was blasted on social media over the weekend after sharing a photo of ICE agents on Instagram with the word "Terrorists" written in red on top of the agents. In the photo, which San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera posted to Instagram with the Rage Against The Machine song "Bulls On Parade," immigration agents appear to be in a parking lot wearing helmets and vests and carrying guns. "Look at this photo. This isn’t a war zone—it’s a neighborhood in our city," Elo-Rivera wrote in the post. "In San Diego, they’ve targeted parents dropping off their kids at school, people following the law inside courthouses, and workers just doing their jobs at local restaurants. "These are federal agents carrying out raids on under the false pretense of ‘safety,’" he added. "This isn’t safety. It’s state-sponsored terrorism. And anyone who cares about freedom—and true safety—should be fighting back.” Prior to the post Friday night, Elo-Rivera, who represents the 9th City Council District, shared a series of Instagram stories criticizing ICE action in the city. "They’ve targeted parents outside schools in my district," he wrote in one story. "They’ve targeted people following the law at courthouses. Tonight, they targeted hard working folks in South Park and tomorrow it could be anyone in any neighborhood in San Diego. The only way we put a stop to it is by not looking away and demanding that it end.” In subsequent Instagram stories, he called ICE agents "jackbooted thugs," "cowards" and "criminals" and said the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) action was "state-sponsored terrorism.” After the public rant was shared by LA-based Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin on Saturday afternoon, Elo-Rivera jumped back on social media again to double down on his phrasing. "A Fox ‘News’ correspondent has called attention to my choice of words… I said what I meant and meant what I said," Elo-Rivera wrote. He then posted a screenshot from Cornell Law School’s website, which notes there is no universal definition for terrorism, and checked off a bullet-pointed list of "common elements that characterize it" before calling Instagram users "fascists.” Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and a homeland security advisor, took to X to respond to Elo-Rivera’s posts, writing, "We are living in the age of leftwing domestic terrorism. They are openly encouraging violence against law enforcement to aid and abet the invasion of America." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

SFGate [5/31/2025 11:00 AM, Christine Hitt, 11859K] reports immigration enforcement is intensifying in Hawaii, with federal authorities making dozens of arrests in May, including at Kona’s coffee farms, which has left communities shaken. On Maui, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents questioned in early May several Filipino teachers who are employed through a work visa program as part of a cultural and educational exchange, detaining some briefly while they were interviewed. No arrests were made in that instance, but Homeland Security Investigations Honolulu, along with federal partners, later arrested 50 people in one week during several raids across the islands of Oahu, Kauai and Hawaii. "I think there’s a lot of fear within the community," Jeanne Kapela, a legislator in the Hawaii House of Representatives, told SFGATE. She represents the Hawaii Island district ranging from South Kona to Keaau. "Just having ICE and HSI within our community is nerve wracking, and they’ve brought in a number of agents from the continent and from Honolulu to be a part of these operations." Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a news release that the department is "conducting operations in Hawaii to protect communities from violent criminals who shouldn’t be in our country," adding that "the targets of the operation in Hawaii include criminal illegal aliens charged with kidnapping, assault, distribution of deadly drugs, domestic abuse, and theft." SFGATE reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the arrests in May, but the agency deferred to the news release.

Politico [5/31/2025 10:00 AM, Alice Miranda Ollstein, 2100K] reports the Trump administration’s efforts to strip protections from more than half a million legal immigrants could devastate the health sector, endangering care for the elderly and worsening rates of both chronic and infectious diseases. Hundreds of thousands of health care workers, including an estimated 30,000 legal immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, are at risk of being deported — worrying providers and patients who rely on them for everything from nursing and physical therapy to maintenance, janitorial, foodservice and housekeeping work. Goodwin Living, a faith-based, not-for-profit elder care complex just across the Potomac River from D.C., is poised to lose 65 staff members following Supreme Court rulings on Friday and earlier in May that gave the Trump administration permission to terminate humanitarian parole and temporary protected status issued by prior presidents to migrants from several countries plagued by poverty and violence. “I just can’t even imagine the impact it would have on those of us that are cared for on a daily basis if we were to suddenly lose them,” said Jill Miller, who has resided at Goodwin Living for eight years with her husband Carl. “They’re the backbone.” Goodwin is one of hundreds of long-term care facilities around the country that employ immigrants whose legal status will soon end, and its leaders have joined a chorus of providers from Florida to California warning that the Trump administration’s crackdown will decimate care capacity and facilitate the spread of communicable diseases, putting U.S. citizens at risk. These vulnerabilities underscore the precarity of the nation’s patchwork immigration system. Immigrants — both documented and undocumented — make up a disproportionate share of the health care workforce, particularly in areas like long-term care for the elderly and people with disabilities, and their expulsion would make existing shortages much worse. Yet Congress’ decades-long inability to enact permanent fixes has left millions dependent on executive actions and discretionary programs that can be upended every time a new administration takes power — a situation people on all sides of the immigration debate agree is unsustainable.

Wall Street Journal [5/31/2025 10:00 AM, Paul Kiernan, 646K] reports the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration to revoke temporary protections for half a million migrants brings the U.S. economy closer to labor shortages in industries and regions that rely on foreign workers. The impact will take time to unfold, but could be far-reaching. The potential departure of hundreds of thousands of people from the labor force is creating anxiety for employers and adding a fresh dose of uncertainty for an economy already grappling with the administration’s tariff policies. Friday’s ruling halts a lower-court injunction that stopped the government from removing temporary parole from migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. It follows a May 19 ruling allowing the Trump administration to strip protections for about 350,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S. under a different program called Temporary Legal Status. No data exists to show where the migrants affected by Friday’s ruling live and work. But Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans are heavily concentrated in South Florida, according to Census Bureau data gathered in 2023. Immigrants from those countries make up an outsize share of employment, relative to their population, in industries such as taxis and ride-shares, construction, hotels, janitorial services, home health services and trucking. LeadingAge, a group representing nonprofit aging-care providers, said the court ruling means many members will lose workers. “The sudden loss of these employees will have repercussions,” the group said. Lower-court cases over both forms of temporary protection continue, but the Supreme Court rulings enable the Department of Homeland Security to begin revoking workers’ employment authorization meanwhile. Friday’s decision also gives the Trump administration a legal window to arrest and deport newly unprotected migrants. Their names and addresses are already known to the government, potentially making them easier to target than migrants with no documentation at all.

Univision [5/31/2025 4:55 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports an immigrant with more than 20 years living in the United States was the victim of an immigration scam after contacting, through Facebook, a man posing as an immigration attorney. The supposed lawyer promised to help him obtain legal permanent residency, the so-called “green card”, and a Social Security number. However, it was all part of an elaborate scam that cost him his savings and his illusions. "I asked him if he could help me and he said yes. Then he asked me for money for the courts, and I believed him," relates the victim, whose identity we will keep anonymous. In total, she gave about $30,000 to the scammer. According to him, the supposed lawyer sent him a package via UPS with documents he thought were legitimate, but later realized they were forgeries. “He told me he needed almost $19,000 more to activate them, plus almost $4,000 for a meeting,” he recalls indignantly. It was at that point that he became suspicious. As he looked more carefully at the contents of the package, which included the green card and Social Security number, he noticed irregularities. He decided not to send any more money. These types of scams are not new, but they continue to affect especially people who live in an irregular migratory situation and are desperate to regularize their status. When consulted by this newspaper, an immigration lawyer confirmed that there is no legal way to buy a green card, neither now nor in the past.

New York Post [5/31/2025 11:41 AM, Gabrielle Fahmy, 49956K] reports illegal crossings at the Canadian border have stabilized over the past three months, new data show. Border crossings were up slightly in April, with 4,835 people caught trying to sneak into the US compared to 4,477 in March according to US Customs and Border Protection data. The current figures are a fraction of the illegal entries from the often-overlooked northern border during the Biden administration, when 15,207 people were caught crossing illegally in October and, in August, at the peak — 18,944. Of the 4,835 nabbed at the border in April, 1,580 were Canadian citizens, followed by 609 Indian nationals, 380 Chinese and 365 Mexicans, data show. But Leuprecht expects the number of illegal crossings to decline further, as the US and Canada ramp up a number of joint measures announced to go after transnational organized crime organizations smuggling migrants, rather than just the migrants themselves. Border Patrol Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham told The Post that the Trump administration’s dedication to the crisis is seeing results.

USA Today [6/1/2025 6:02 AM, Lauren Villagran, 75552K] reports that, human bones, white against the orange sand, are hard to miss and harder to forget. Once a month, retiree Abbey Carpenter leads volunteers through a field of dunes near the border, searching for the remains of migrants. She has located 27 sites in southern New Mexico in under two years, artefacts of a wave of migration that has ebbed to a trickle. But the bones – femur, rib, jaw – take her breath away each time. In them, Carpenter, who taught English as a Second Language, sees the journeys made by her former students ‒ migrants who live and work in the United States and learned English in her classroom. Men in construction. Women in service industries. When she first joined the desert searches, she said, "I just felt like I was walking in their footprints. I could see them: their backpacks, their shoes, their clothes.” President Donald Trump’s border crackdown has helped push illegal crossings to record lows over the past four months. With triple-digit summer temperatures looming here, there are growing hopes that the decline in migration could bring relief from the horrific death toll of the past two years in Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector. Last year, border agents found the bodies of 176 migrants in the 264-mile sector stretching from West Texas across New Mexico. They discovered 149 remains the year before. The toll represented a shocking increase from the 20 deaths recorded in 2019. The sector has become a focal point. That’s in part because of the rise in deaths and in part because local Border Patrol leaders shared the sector statistics during two deadly years, when the Biden administration failed to provide broader numbers – despite a congressional mandate. U.S. Customs and Border Protection didn’t respond to a USA TODAY request for the missing data for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Along the length of the U.S.-Mexico border, migrant deaths climbed five years running through fiscal 2022, the last period for which data is publicly available. Deaths rose to 895 from 281 over that time, according to CBP. The numbers include human remains found by Border Patrol and other federal, state, local and tribal agencies. The climbing death toll prompted CBP to create the "Missing Migrant Program" in 2017, under the first Trump administration. The goal was "to help rescue migrants in distress and reduce migrant deaths along the Southwest border," according to an Government Accountability Office report. The program also helped facilitate the identification and return of migrant remains to their families. Under the new Trump administration, the effort has been renamed the "Missing Alien Program."

Breitbart.com [5/31/2025 11:44 AM, Bob Price, 3077K] reports San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two heavily armed human smugglers during a vehicle stop near the border in California. The agents also arrested two illegal aliens who had entered the country from Mexico. Camp Station Border Patrol agents stopped a Ford pickup truck on Interstate 8 near Jacumba Hot Springs, California. During an immigration interview, the agents suspected that two of the occupants of the vehicle were engaged in a human smuggling incident. Agents later identified the alleged human smugglers as a male U.S. citizen and a female Mexican national who received DACA status. San Diego Sector officials said the other two occupants of the pickup were Mexican nationals with no legal status in the United States. A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of multiple firearms. These included two handguns and one "ghost gun" style rifle. The agents also discovered additional information for the firearms. In addition to the seizure of the three firearms, agents found 23 rounds of 5.56mm rifle ammunition, 69 rounds of 9mm ammunition, and six magazines, officials stated. The two suspected human smugglers were charged with bringing in and harboring aliens (8 USC 1324) and unlawful acts involving firearms (8 USC 922(a)). Agents processed the two illegal aliens for removal to Mexico.

New York Post [5/31/2025 11:51 PM, Jasmine Baehr, 49956K] reports ICE agents confiscated a knife from a "violent" Venezuelan migrant with possible gang ties during a tense arrest in San Diego captured on video and released by federal officials Saturday. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shared the video on X, showing agents pinning the suspect to the ground outside what appears to be a residential building during a May 29 operation. After taking him down, officers removed a knife from the man. The arrest was one of eight that day, part of a targeted operation supported by federal partners in San Diego. ICE says one of those taken into custody is a confirmed member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA). It is unclear if the man in the video is the gang member. "Our officers and agents often face extremely violent criminals carrying knives or firearms," ICE wrote in the post. "Securing our nation can be exceptionally dangerous, but our officers and agents are honored to protect our communities.” While the suspect is seen resisting arrest, he does not appear to brandish the knife, but officers locate and secure it quickly during the takedown. TdA is a powerful transnational criminal gang that originated in Venezuela and has rapidly spread across Latin America and into the US. Law enforcement agencies warn the group is involved in drug trafficking, extortion and smuggling operations, often targeting migrant communities. ICE has not released the names or statuses of those arrested. San Diego has become a hot spot in the broader border crisis, where criminal networks increasingly exploit weak enforcement at the southern border. ICE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

NewsNation [5/31/2025 9:54 PM, Jorge Ventura, 5801K] reports that, according to prosecutors in Reynosa, Mexico, authorities have arrested nine suspects in connection with the disappearance and killing of the 5 members of the music group, Grupo Fugitivo. Those nine suspects are believed to be part of a faction called the Gulf Cartel. Grupo Fugitivo played "narcocorrido" music, a sub-genre that sometimes pays homage to drug cartel leaders, depicting them as Robin Hood-like figures. However, it’s unclear if Grupo Fugitivo played these types of songs. Authorities say it’s still unclear why the Gulf Cartel would have targeted the band. Authorities say the band members were kidnapped last weekend while traveling to a venue where they’d been hired to play. According to family members, before their disappearance, the band was hired to put on a concert but then arrived to find a vacant lot. Authorities made the gruesome discovery of the five bodies in Reynosa, near the Texas-Mexico border, an area that has faced escalating violence in recent years as different cartels strive to gain control of drug trafficking and human smuggling there. While authorities didn’t confirm what condition the bodies were found in, they also did not deny local media reports that they had been burned. Additionally, some relatives of the band members say that at some point, they had received ransom demands for them. "After their kidnapping, they were taken to a property near the Aquiles Serdan neighborhood, where the previously mentioned security and justice personnel conducted an operation," Irving Barrios Murica, Tamapaulis State Prosecutor, said in a media conference. "The operation is still ongoing, forensic services personnel are working at the location. At the moment, there are elements that suggest this is the place where they were unfortunately killed," he added. While the details are being pieced together, violence against music groups is common in Mexico. Sometimes, when a group praises a rival cartel, it can put the musicians in the middle of turf battles between the criminal groups. In April, the U.S. State Department revoked the visas of the band Los Alegres Del Barranco for glorifying the head of the CJNG cartel ‘El Mencho’ during a concert.

AP [5/31/2025 9:12 AM, Seth Borenstein and Gabriela Aoun Angueira] reports with predictions for a busy hurricane season beginning Sunday, experts in storms and disasters are worried about something potentially as chaotic as the swirling winds: Massive cuts to the federal system that forecasts, tracks and responds to hurricanes. Experts are alarmed over the large-scale staff reductions, travel and training restrictions and grant cut-offs since President Donald Trump took office at both the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which prepares for and responds to hurricanes, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which tracks and forecasts them. Representatives of both NOAA and FEMA say the agencies are prepared. The agency is run by an acting chief, David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who served overseas and worked as the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction. He does not appear to have any experience in managing disasters. FEMA canceled various emergency management trainings this spring, moved others online and restricted travel to events such as the National Hurricane Conference. Some trainings have resumed. FEMA has also cut disaster resilience programs. The federal government promises to be ready for hurricane season, which runs through November. Richardson promised to push more responsibilities to the states. He warned that the agency will only do what the law requires and shift more costs to states. In the Trump administration, disaster declarations have been denied or delayed. When disaster declarations were issued for nine states last week, some had been pending for two months and others were only partially approved.

NewsMax [5/31/2025 6:32 PM, Nick Koutsobinas, 4622K] reports a coronal mass ejection (CME) erupting from the Sun is expected to hit Earth on Sunday, igniting concern among scientists; its magnetic waves could affect critical infrastructure ranging from satellites to power grids, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported Saturday. According to space weather physicist Dr. Tamitha Skov, "NASA model predictions show a very fast [solar storm] traveling near 1000 km/s that could hit Earth by midday June 1," i.e., Sunday. "A slower storm ahead might cause a slight traffic delay, but G4-levels by June 2 are possible. This means #aurora may be visible deep into mid-latitudes.” Shawn Dahl, a space weather forecaster at NOAA, told Newsweek his agency is "already taking measures to notify FEMA for their awareness only at this time" so the agency can make "preparation[s] to deal with and manage geomagnetic induced currents that will likely develop in high voltage transmission lines," which could impact the nation’s power grid.

New York Post [5/31/2025 5:22 PM, Josh Christenson, 49956K] reports the Biden administration admitted possible cancer-causing toxins were spread in East Palestine, Ohio, following the Norfolk Southern train derailment in 2023, explosive new emails show, despite the White House insisting residents were safe. "The occurrence of a cancer-cluster in EP [East Palestine] is not zero," FEMA recovery leader James McPherson wrote in a March 29, 2024, email to other public health officials — a little more than a year after the crash. "As you all are aware, the first 48 hours of the fire created a really toxic plume," he said in the chain of communications, which were first reported by News Nation. Just two months earlier, President Biden had excoriated "multimillion-dollar railroad companies transporting toxic chemicals" for the fiasco — but praised his administration’s "herculean efforts" to resolve the "vast majority" of East Palestine’s problems. The crash spewed harmful chemicals into the air and resulted in 115,000 gallons’ worth of carcinogenic vinyl chloride undergoing an open burn — displacing residents and leading to reports of strange illnesses as well as the death of livestock in the weeks following the Feb. 3, 2023, disaster.

CBS Los Angeles [5/31/2025 7:07 PM, Dean Fioresi, 51860K] reports a 300-acre wildfire burning near the Riverside and San Diego county border prompted evacuation warnings on Friday evening, which have since been lifted. The blaze was first reported at around 5:30 p.m. off of Henderson Road, just north of SR-76 and I-15 near the Pala Casino Spa Resort, according to Cal Fire. Firefighters and water-dropped aircraft rushed to the scene, where they began to combat the quickly growing fire that was being fueled by moderate wind blowing in the area. It grew to engulf more than 200 acres by 10 p.m. As of Saturday morning, the blaze is 15% contained an estimated to have burned 300 acres, according to Cal Fire. The fire prompted a large swath of evacuation orders and warnings in the surrounding area, including in the southernmost part of Riverside County near Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula. All orders have since been downgraded to warnings as crews continue to gain the upper hand. Late Friday, with winds blowing smoke north, much of southern Temecula was coated in heavy smoke and ash, which led the South Coast Air Quality Management District to issue a smoke advisory for the cities of Temecula, Murrieta and Aguanga due to the fine particulate matter in the air from the fire. It is expected to remain in effect until 8 a.m. Sunday morning.

USA Today [5/31/2025 9:54 AM, Jeanine Santucci, 75552K] reports smoke from raging Canadian wildfires is once again worsening air quality in some U.S. states. Parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and other states were all experiencing levels of smoke particulates in the air deemed between moderate and unhealthy the morning of May 31, according to the national air quality map from AirNow.gov. Forecasters in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, said the smoke is expected to continue its track south through the Plains states. The smoke is pouring in from blazes in Canada, including in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where authorities said a combination of rising temperatures, winds and low humidity has spread active fires to thousands of acres. At least 17,000 people have been forced to evacuate. Midwestern states including Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan are expected to feel the impacts of the smoke, which will cut across the central part of the country and reach parts of the East Coast later in the day, according to forecasters at FireSmoke Canada. The impacted regions were also among those in the Northeast, Midwest and Plains that experienced unhealthy air quality in the summer of 2023 due to smoke from out-of-control fires in Canada at the time. Then, skylines in several major cities were blanketed by an orange haze and air quality was abysmal for millions of Americans.

New York Post [5/31/2025 11:00 PM, Anna Young, 49956K] reports Longtime Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler slammed President Trump for "sowing chaos" nationwide after federal agents handcuffed one of his aides inside his lower Manhattan office. The lawmaker’s verbal tirade came after Department of Homeland Security officers entered the Big Apple office Wednesday and accused his staff of "harboring rioters" in a dramatic confrontation caught on video. "President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security are sowing chaos in our communities, using intimidating tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner," he said in a statement to Politico. "If this can happen in a Member of Congress’s office, it can happen to anyone — and it is happening.” The video, obtained by Gothamist, showed one agent aggressively restraining a teary-eyed female staffer, while another employee asked for a warrant and blocked a second officer from entering a private section of the congressional office, located in the same Varick Street building as federal immigration court. "I’m a federal officer, we’re here checking on something," the male agent said to the employee standing in his way, the footage showed. "We have the right to check. You are harboring rioters in the office," he argued in the heated back-and-forth that ended with the staffer granting him access to the back office. Nadler said that the "deeply troubling" incident showed a clear violation of legal protocols. Federal Protective Service officers went to the congressman’s office to conduct a security check after receiving reports that protesters were hiding inside, DHS told The Post in a statement. "Based on earlier incidents in a nearby facility, FPS officers were concerned about the safety of the federal employees in the office and went to the location to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those present," Homeland Security officials said. When they arrived, one individual – the woman who was briefly detained – was "verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office" after the officers identified themselves and explained why there were there. "The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check," DHS said. The aide was released after the fiery standoff — which reportedly erupted when a Nadler staffer invited two advocates monitoring ICE activity at the courthouse into the office. Nadler charged that the Trump administration is embracing totalitarian and authoritarian tactics. "The Trump administration is trying to intimidate members of Congress," Nadler told New York Times Saturday. "They’re behaving like fascists. We have to fight them. We don’t want to be a fascist country.” The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [5/31/2025 4:40 PM, Christopher Maag, 138952K]

Politico [5/31/2025 5:22 PM, Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing, 2100K] reports officers with the Department of Homeland Security briefly detained a staff member in Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-N.Y.) Manhattan office during an incident on Wednesday, as protests took place outside an immigration courthouse in the same federal facility as the representative’s office. The incident, first reported by the news outlet Gothamist on Friday, was captured on video. In the recording, a DHS officer can be heard saying that members of Nadler’s staff were “harboring rioters” in their office while another officer cuffs a crying staffer. “I’m a federal officer,” the DHS official said to a second staff member in the video posted by Gothamist, adding “we have the right to check” the office. The second staff member, who can be seen initially blocking the officer’s entry to a private area in the office, asked whether the officers had a warrant to search the space, to which the officer replied negatively. The staff member eventually acquiesced, allowing the officer to walk through the area. Nadler slammed both DHS and President Donald Trump in a statement Saturday afternoon for demonstrating “aggressive and heavy-handed tactics” and “sowing chaos” not only in his district, but across the country, as the Trump administration escalates its crackdown on immigration. “President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are sowing chaos in our communities, using intimidation tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner. In the most recent and deeply troubling incident, DHS agents forcefully entered my Congressional office and handcuffed a member of my staff,” Nadler said, adding that he was “alarmed by the aggressive and heavy-handed tactics DHS is employing in New York City and across the country.” The New York representative also cautioned that the incident showed a “deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries,” and warned that “if this can happen in a Member of Congress’s office, it can happen to anyone — and it is happening.” But the DHS maintained in a statement — issued earlier on Saturday — that its Federal Protective Service officers showed up at Nadler’s office to “conduct a security check” because they were “concerned about the safety of the federal employees in the office” after hearing reports of “incidents” nearby. The statement did not mention the issue of “harboring rioters” that the officer referred to in the video. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday afternoon.

FOX News [5/31/2025 11:48 AM, Michael Dorgan, 46878K] reports as more reports emerge about former President Biden’s alleged cognitive decline during his time in office, a Republican senator has made an explosive new claim: that Biden would sometimes get lost in a closet inside the White House while serving as commander-in-chief. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., made the stunning claim on "Hannity" Friday, citing an unnamed Secret Service whistleblower who Hawley said was assigned to Biden. "He [Secret Service member] told me that Biden used to get lost in his closet in the mornings in the White House," Hawley said. "I mean, the guy literally stumbling around in the White House residence couldn’t find his way out of his own closet. The president of the United States. I mean, this is outrageous. We were lied to." Hawley said the claims were made to him while the senator was investigating the attempted assassination of Trump at a presidential campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart.com [5/31/2025 9:47 AM, Jeff Poor, 3077K]

Daily Wire [5/31/2025 6:32 AM, Amanda Prestigiacomo, 3816K] reports the Trump White House said in a post on X that they are lifting up young Devarjaye "DJ" Daniel in prayer, following news that doctors have discovered three new tumors. Daniel won the hearts of Americans across the country when he was singled out by President Donald Trump during his joint address to Congress in March. Daniel, who was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of six and subsequently underwent more than a dozen surgeries, was made an honorary Secret Service agent. The teen boy’s father, Theodis Daniel, recently revealed that his son has three new tumors.

Blaze [6/1/2025 4:30 AM, Cortney Weil, 1805K] reports two female Secret Service agents were caught on video tussling outside former President Barack Obama’s residence in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, reigniting concerns that diversity, equity, and inclusion-related policies implemented under previous administrations continue to impact the agency negatively. Around 2:30 a.m. on May 21, two agents assigned to guard the Obama home "got into a physical fight," according to Susan Crabtree of RealClearPolitics. Crabtree confirmed to Blaze News that both women are black. They were also likely armed at the time. Crabtree told Blaze News that the altercation began after an agent with 15 years’ experience became upset that her shift replacement, an agent with three years’ experience, arrived late and in the wrong vehicle. The more senior agent then reportedly made a call to a Secret Service line, threatening violence in notably crude, colloquial terms. "Can I get a supervisor down to Delta 2 before I whoop this girl’s a**?" she said, according to audio shared by Crabtree. ‘We likely witnessed the catastrophic consequences of sacrificing job knowledge, skills, fitness standards, and personal conduct in favor of immutable gender and racial characteristics to meet arbitrary diversity standards.’. Shortly after that call, the fight broke out, Crabtree explained. She later shared video of it on X: The crass language and brief scuffle both seem to qualify as "offenses" delineated in a "Professionalism in the Workforce" report prepared by the USSS and submitted to Congress by the Department of Homeland Security in 2015. In a statement obtained by Blaze News, the Secret Service acknowledged the "on-duty altercation" involving "two Uniformed Division officers." The statement claimed that both participants have been "suspended from duty.” "The Secret Service has a very strict code of conduct for all employees and any behavior that violates that code is unacceptable. Given this is a personnel matter, we are not in a position to comment further," the statement said. A representative for Obama did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

FOX News [5/31/2025 10:00 AM, Kurt Knutsson, 46878K] reports data breaches are no longer rare events but a persistent problem. While bad actors are certainly to blame, these corporations aren’t entirely without fault. They often make it easy for hackers to access user data by failing to protect it properly. Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler has revealed the existence of an open database that contains 184,162,718 million account credentials. These include email addresses, passwords, usernames and URLs for platforms such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Snapchat. The information also covers banking services, medical platforms and government accounts. Most shockingly, the entire dataset was left completely unsecured. There was no encryption, no authentication required and no form of access control. Fowler believes the data was harvested using an infostealer. These lightweight tools are favored by cybercriminals for their ability to silently extract login credentials and other private information from compromised devices. Once stolen, the data is often sold on dark web forums or used in targeted attacks. After reporting the breach, the hosting provider quickly removed access to the file. However, the owner of the database remains unknown. The provider did not disclose who uploaded it or whether the database was part of a legitimate archive that was accidentally published. Fowler could not determine whether this was the result of negligence or an operation with malicious intent.

Bloomberg [5/31/2025 1:08 PM, Greg Stohr, 19320K] reports a legal argument that the US Supreme Court used to foil Joe Biden on climate change and student debt now looms as a threat to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. During Biden’s presidency, the court’s conservative majority ruled that federal agencies can’t decide sweeping political and economic matters without clear congressional authorization. That blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from setting deep limits on power-plant pollution and the Education Department from slashing student loans for 40 million people. The concept — known as the “major questions doctrine” — is now playing a central role in the case against Trump’s unilateral imposition of worldwide import taxes. With Supreme Court review all but inevitable, the justices’ willingness to employ the doctrine against Trump may determine the fate of his signature economic initiative. The US Court of International Trade cited the Biden-era rulings and the major questions doctrine when it ruled 3-0 last week that many of Trump’s import taxes exceeded the authority Congress had given him. The challenged tariffs would total an estimated $1.4 trillion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Critics say the administration’s tariffs would have an even bigger impact than the estimated $400 billion Biden student-loan package, which Chief Justice John Roberts described as having “staggering” significance in his 2023 opinion invalidating the plan. “If this is not a major question, then I don’t know what is,” said Ilya Somin, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and one of the lawyers challenging the tariffs. “We’re talking about the biggest trade war since the Great Depression.” Until they were partly suspended, Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs marked the biggest increase in import taxes pushed by the US since the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs and took the US’s average applied tariff rate to its highest level in more than a century. The prospect of that massive tax increase and the resulting economic shock roiled financial markets and prompted fears of imminent recessions in the US and other major global economies.

AP [5/31/2025 11:37 AM, Staff, 48304K] reports German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to Washington next week to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, with the war in Ukraine and trade tensions among the items on the agenda, the German government said Saturday. Merz’s office said the new German leader, who took the helm of Europe’s biggest economy on May 6, will meet Trump at the White House on Thursday — the first in-person meeting between the two. It said that the meeting will address bilateral relations and international issues such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and trade policy. Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to try to secure a ceasefire and keep Western support for Ukraine intact since becoming Germany’s leader. On Wednesday, he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Berlin. Germany has a strong interest in defusing trade tensions between the European Union and the United states. Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on goods imported from the 27-nation bloc starting Sunday, but then pushed back the deadline to July 9.

AP [6/1/2025 2:34 AM, David Rising, 31733K] reports China and North Korea’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine has exposed how lines between regions have blurred, and the need for a global approach toward defense, top security officials said Sunday. North Korea has sent troops to fight on the front lines in Ukraine, while China has supported Russia economically and technologically while opposing international sanctions. Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė told delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premiere defense forum, that if Ukraine were to fall, it would have a ripple effect in Asia and suggested it could embolden China in its territorial claims on Taiwan and virtually the entire South China Sea. "If Russia prevails in Ukraine, it’s not about Europe. It’s not about one region," she said. "It will send a very clear signal also to smaller states here in Indo-Pacific that anyone can ignore their borders, that any fabricated excuse can justify invasion.” The comments echoed those from French President Emmanuel Macron as he opened the conference on Friday advocating for greater European engagement in the Indo-Pacific. On Saturday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested European countries should focus their defense efforts in their own region and leave the Indo-Pacific more to the U.S., but Šakalienė said the regions were clearly intertwined. "It’s not a secret that when we talk about the main perpetrators in cyber security against Japan it’s China, Russia and North Korea," she said. "When we talk about main cyber security perpetrators against Lithuania it’s Russia, China and Belarus — two out of the three are absolutely the same.” She added that "the convergence of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea into an increasingly coordinated authoritarian axis," demands a unified response. Iran has been a key supplier of attack drones to Russia for its war effort. "In this context, the United States’ strategic focus on Indo-Pacific is both justified and necessary, but this is not America’s responsibility alone," she said.

FOX News [5/31/2025 8:19 PM, Brie Stimson, 46878K] reports the White House on Saturday said it is in Iran’s "best interest to accept" its proposal on a nuclear deal following a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency saying the country is swiftly increasing its stockpile of near weapons-grade enriched uranium. "President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "Special Envoy [Steve] Witkoff has sent a detailed and acceptable proposal to the Iranian regime, and it’s in their best interest to accept it. Out of respect for the ongoing deal, the administration will not comment on details of the proposal to the media.” The IAEA’s report said Iran had increased its stockpile to 900.8 pounds of uranium enriched by up to 60% as of May 17, a nearly 50% increase since the agency’s last report in February, which put the stockpile at 605.8 pounds. The report said Iran is "the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material," which is a "serious concern.” The IAEA added that just 92 pounds of 60% enriched uranium is enough to produce an atomic bomb if it is enriched to 90%. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but U.S. intelligence agencies say the country has "undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.” Iran’s Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said in a joint statement that the report was based on "unreliable and differing information sources," claiming that it was biased and unprofessional. The statement added, "The Islamic Republic of Iran expresses its disappointment about the report, which was prepared by imposing pressure on the agency for political purposes, and expresses its obvious objection about its content." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Wall Street Journal [5/31/2025 5:27 PM, Laurence Norman, 646K] reports Iran has continued to produce highly enriched uranium at a pace of roughly one nuclear weapon’s worth a month over the past three months despite talks between Washington and Tehran on a new nuclear deal, the United Nations atomic agency said. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a confidential report circulated to member states that Iran had grown its stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium to 408.6 kilograms from 274.8 kilograms in early February, an increase of around 50%. The Wall Street Journal viewed a copy of the report. That means Iran has enough highly enriched uranium for roughly 10 nuclear weapons, based on IAEA measures of the minimum fissile material required, up from at least six at the time of the last report. U.S. officials say it could take Iran less than two weeks to convert this highly enriched uranium into enough weapons-grade 90% fissile material for a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear work is purely peaceful. The U.S. says that Tehran hasn’t decided to build a nuclear bomb but that it would need only a few months to assemble one. While the report doesn’t provide a monthly breakdown, it presented no evidence that Iran has slowed the accumulation of 60%-enriched material since the start of talks with the U.S. on April 12. Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country producing 60%-enriched uranium. The IAEA has said it can’t verify that Iran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Wall Street Journal [5/31/2025 11:58 AM, Staff, 646K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said China’s threat to Taiwan “could be imminent,” in what was his most assertive statement to date on Taiwan during a security conference in Singapore. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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