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

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

The New York Times [6/14/2025 3:30 AM, Luis Ferré-Sadurní, Tracey Tully and Mark Bonamo, 330K] reports four men escaped from an immigration detention center in Newark after the dismal conditions inside precipitated an uproar among detainees, leading to a lockdown of the facility and a manhunt for the fugitives. The unrest stemmed from days of anger about meager and sporadic meals and overcrowding that forced some detainees to sleep on the floor, lawyers and relatives of the detainees said. On Thursday afternoon, detainees smashed windows, doors and security cameras. Four men fled through a weak exterior wall, according to local and federal officials. The detention center, known as Delaney Hall, has emerged as a contentious centerpiece of President Trump’s immigration crackdown since it opened in May, drawing protests and opposition from local officials that led to the arrest of Newark’s mayor during a volatile clash with federal agents outside its gates last month. A local congresswoman was charged with assault after the melee. The privately run detention center quickly became filled with hundreds of immigrants picked up across the Northeast, including nearby New York City. It has expanded the government’s detention capacity as agents have ramped up the arrests of migrants in homes, courthouses and federal offices in recent weeks. The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement on Friday offering a $10,000 reward for information on the escapees. The agency said that four detainees had “breached security at Delaney Hall.” But the agency disputed reports of widespread disruption. “This privately held facility remains dedicated to providing high-quality services, including around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation, general and legal library access, translation services, dietician-approved meals, religious and specialty diets, recreational amenities, and opportunities to practice their religious beliefs,” the statement said. The New York Times [6/14/2025 3:00 AM, Tracey Tully, Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Raúl Vilchis, 138952K] reports conditions had been disintegrating for days inside a massive immigration detention center in an industrial corner of Newark. Meals had been erratic at the privately run facility that last month began holding migrants facing deportation. Some detainees were sleeping on floors. And the water available from faucets was sometimes scalding or foul tasting. Several dozen men in Unit 5, on an upper floor of the jailhouse known as Delaney Hall, had grown frustrated. And after returning Thursday afternoon from a first-floor cafeteria, where they said they had been given slices of bread in place of a meal, they began covering security cameras and smashing at walls and windows. Two security guards stationed in the unit retreated, and some of the detainees pushed the door closed. By the time the disruption was over, four men had escaped. This account of events before and after the escape is based on interviews with several immigration lawyers who spoke to clients at Delaney Hall during the melee and more than a dozen people who had conversations with loved ones who called from inside the jail, pleading for help. On Friday, Senator Andy Kim and Representative Rob Menendez, both Democrats from New Jersey, offered additional details after touring the facility and speaking with federal officials and representatives from GEO Group, the private company that runs the 1,000-bed jail. The tumult raised urgent questions about the living conditions inside the detention facility and others like it across the country as President Trump ramps up immigration arrests, filling to capacity many detention centers that, together, are holding about 51,000 migrants nationwide. The breakout also prompted scrutiny of GEO Group and the measures it took as it converted a facility that had been dormant for about a year into a detention center after winning a 15-year, $1 billion contract from the Trump administration in February. Local officials have for months raised concerns that Delaney Hall had not been properly inspected, leading the mayor of Newark, Ras J. Baraka, to sue GEO Group as he sought to force the company to reapply for a new certificate of occupancy. The men who escaped had punched a hole through an exterior wall of the jail that Mr. Kim described as crude — “essentially just drywall with some mesh inside.” “It shows just how shoddy construction was,” he said, and highlights what can happen when for-profit prisons “try to pocket” as much money as possible. The Wall Street Journal [6/13/2025 6:26 PM, Joseph De Avila and Robert Barba, 646K] reports DHS on Friday identified the escapees as Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes and Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez, both from Honduras, and Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada and Andres Pineda-Mogollon, both from Colombia. The men from Honduras had been arrested for assault and other crimes, and the men from Colombia were arrested for burglary and other crimes, the department said. U.S. Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday that the men escaped by knocking down a wall composed of drywall and mesh material. The escape occurred amid unrest among the detainees who weren’t receiving enough food and subjected to other poor conditions in the detention center, he said. Kim, who visited the detention center Friday and got a briefing from officials, told reporters the facility is undergoing a major security review to find out if other walls could be breached. CNN [6/13/2025 4:45 PM, Zoe Sottile, Priscilla Alvarez, Holmes Lybrand] reports that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are offering a $10,000 award for information leading to the arrest of the escapees, who were described as "public safety threats" in a news release announcing the award. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said additional law enforcement partners "have been brought in to find these escapees and a BOLO has been disseminated." She also encouraged the public to call 911 or the ICE Tip Line: 866-DHS-2-ICE with any information that may lead to finding the escapees. FOX News [6/13/2025 5:32 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46878K] reports the Department of Homeland Security has revealed the identities of the four migrants who escaped a Newark ICE facility on Thursday night, identifying all four as "public safety threats" who are still at large. The agency is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the four migrants who broke out of Delaney Hall, a privately run ICE detention facility on Thursday night, amid chaotic scenes both inside and outside the facility. According to DHS, "the four criminal illegal aliens currently evading federal law enforcement are public safety threats." DHS identified the four escaped migrants as Honduran illegals Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes and Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez and Colombian illegals Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada and Andres Pineda-Mogollon, each of whom has previously been arrested for felony offenses including aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a handgun and terroristic threats. FOX News [6/13/2025 4:30 PM, Cameron Arcand, 46878K] reports while Newark Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka has blamed the Trump administration for a breakout Thursday night at a local ICE detention center, New Jersey GOP leader Kenny Gonzalez criticized Baraka and the Democratic Party, saying it has been sowing "chaos" across the country that emboldens criminal illegals and violent rioters. Four migrants escaped from the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark Thursday evening after an apparent disturbance inside the building, a senior Homeland Security official confirmed to Fox News. The Department of Homeland Security identified the four escaped migrants on Friday as "public safety threats." The escaped detainees have been identified as Honduran nationals Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes and Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez and Colombian nationals Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada and Andres Pineda-Mogollon.

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Washington Post [6/13/2025 12:43 PM, Ben Brasch, 32099K]
The Hill [6/13/2025 3:01 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 18649K]
AP [6/13/2025 2:20 PM, Mike Catalini, 56000K]
Breitbart [6/13/2025 4:02 PM, John Binder, 3077K]
NBC News [6/13/2025 4:16 PM, Chris Jose and Julia Ainsley, 44540K]
Blaze [6/13/2025 12:32 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K]
USA Today [6/13/2025 3:00 PM, Fernando Cervantes Jr, Christopher Cann, 75552K]
Univision [6/13/2025 5:26 PM, Staff, 4992K]
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NewsNation [6/13/2025 10:46 AM, Josh DuBose, 5801K] reports a pregnant Huntington Park mother of four was shocked to see around a half-dozen vehicles carrying heavily armed, masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside her home Thursday morning and even more concerned when she spotted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem along for the raid. Sabrina Medina said she was in the shower at around 6 a.m. when her brother-in-law first saw the menacing presence in front of the family’s home. "I was just terrified, I’m not going to lie to you," Medina told NewsNation affiliate KTLA’s Rick Chambers. "I was shaking. I was scared. I’ve never gone through anything like this.” Medina, a U.S. citizen, said she looked out the window and saw 10 men dressed in tactical military gear, all of them carrying rifles. "I was like, ‘Am I dreaming or is this real?’" she said. According to Medina, the agents told her to exit her home with her children. Standing in the driveway, they showed her a warrant for her husband, his name listed as David Garcia. As she explained that her husband’s name is Jorge and that he was not at the house, one of the agents is captured on an outdoor home surveillance camera turning the device away from what was transpiring. Cameras inside the home captured the heavily armed ICE agents going through the residence room by room, all while Sec. Noem, donning a bulletproof vest and ballcap, watched from the street. The DHS Secretary would later mention the Huntington Park raid at a press conference where Senator Alex Padilla was roughly shoved out of the room, pushed to the ground, cuffed and briefly detained. After hearing about the raid, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn went to the Huntington Park neighborhood and spoke with some of Medina’s neighbors. Four months pregnant with her fifth child, the Huntington Park mother said if her husband is deported, the family’s future is bleak. "I’m not going to be able to pay my rent when I have to pay it," she explained. "My husband is not here. I don’t know if they’re going to pick him up tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. It’s sad.” ICE agents, along with Noem, eventually left the home empty-handed, and the children were allowed back inside. For now, the family is unsure what the coming days will bring, but Medina said if her husband is deported, she and her children will likely follow him back to Mexico.

AP [6/13/2025 11:33 PM, Amy Taxin, Lolita C. Baldor, and Jake Offenhartz, 56000K] reports after a week of protests over federal immigration raids, about 200 Marines moved into Los Angeles on Friday to guard a federal building in the city while communities across the country prepped for what’s anticipated to be a nationwide wave of large-scale demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s polices this weekend. The Marine troops wearing combat gear and carrying rifles took over some posts from National Guard members who were deployed to the city after the protests erupted last week. Those protests sparked dozens more over several days around the country, with some leading to clashes with police and hundreds of arrests. On Friday, Marines started to replace Guard members protecting the federal building west of downtown, so the Guard soldiers can be assigned to protect law enforcement officers on raids, the commander in charge of 4,700 troops deployed to the LA protests said. The Marines moved into Los Angeles before Saturday’s planned “No Kings” demonstrations nationally against Trump’s policies, which will also happen the same day as a military parade in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post [6/13/2025 5:40 PM, Ben Brasch, Kim Bellware, Alex Horton, Jonathan Edwards and Tobi Raji, 32099K] reports Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, the commander of Task Force 51 who oversees the 4,700 troops mobilized for Los Angeles, told reporters that the active-duty Marines have now completed civil disturbance training and would take over duties from National Guard soldiers, who will instead focus on protecting federal law enforcement personnel. Sherman said the Marines would relieve the National Guard troops at noon local time Friday to guard the Wilshire Federal Building in the city’s tony Westwood neighborhood. Military personnel under federal control by law can only temporarily detain people until police arrive to make an arrest. That has not occurred as of Friday, Sherman said.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [6/13/2025 12:26 PM, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart, 4622K]

The San Francisco Chronicle [6/13/2025 5:54 PM, St. John Barned-Smith, 4120K] reports a handful of U.S. Marines stood guard outside the Wilshire Federal Building Friday afternoon, screening visitors to the installation. The deployment of the Marines — joining National Guardsmen already stationed there — marked a rare instance of domestic use of American military forces in response to ongoing demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The National Guard has been tasked with protecting federal buildings and accompanying federal agents during immigration operations. Protests have continued daily since the deportation raids began, mostly clustered around the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in the city’s downtown. Demonstrations have remained mostly peaceful, though protesters have at times clashed with ICE agents attempting to conduct raids in other parts of the city. Since the protests began, Los Angeles Police said they have arrested more than 160 people, and another two dozen people were arrested by the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Initially, military officials said the troops would be tasked with guarding federal buildings, though they later said servicemembers would be also authorized to accompany and protect ICE agents on deportation raids, and to detain anyone interfering with those operations. Reuters [6/13/2025 1:20 PM, Brad Brooks, et al., 51390K] reports "I would like to emphasize that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities," he said during a briefing. It is uncommon for active duty troops to be used domestically during civil disturbances. The last time the military was used for direct police action under the Insurrection Act was in 1992, when the California governor at the time asked then President George H.W. Bush to help respond to Los Angeles riots over the acquittal of police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King. A court ruled on Thursday that Trump can keep his deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision temporarily paused a lower court ruling that blocked the mobilization, although it does not mean that the court will ultimately agree to side with him. "We saved L.A. Thank you for the Decision!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Reported similarly:
AP [6/13/2025 6:56 PM, Staff, 56000K] Video: HERE

Reuters [6/13/2025 6:23 PM, Omar Younis, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali, 51390K] reports Marines deployed to Los Angeles temporarily detained a civilian on Friday, the U.S. military confirmed after being presented with Reuters images, in the first known detention by active-duty troops deployed there by President Donald Trump. The incident took place at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles where Marines took charge of the mission to protect the building earlier on Friday, in a rare domestic use of U.S. troops after days of protests over immigration raids. Reuters images showed Marines apprehending a civilian, restraining his hands with zip ties and then handing him over to civilians from the Department of Homeland Security. Asked about the incident, the U.S. military’s Northern Command spokesperson said active duty forces "may temporarily detain an individual in specific circumstances." The 200 Marines and more than 2,000 National Guard now deployed to Los Angeles are tasked with protecting federal property and federal personnel. They will be joined by an additional 500 Marines and 2,000 more National Guard soldiers. This means that they will accompany ICE agents on raids, officials have said. The New York Times [6/13/2025 9:35 PM, Rachel Parsons, Eric Schmitt and Richard Fausset, 138952K] reports a man running an errand and trying to enter a Veterans Affairs office at a federal building in Los Angeles was briefly detained on Friday by U.S. Marines who have been sent to the city by the Trump administration to quell unrest. The man was quickly released and the incident appeared to be a minor one. But it was noteworthy in one major way: Federal troops are rarely deployed on American soil and are rarely seen detaining U.S. civilians, even temporarily. The man, Marcos Leao, 27, was detained by Marines who were protecting the Wilshire Federal Building, about 15 miles west of where the protests have been taking place in downtown Los Angeles. In an interview, he said he was an Army veteran. Mr. Leao said he tried to duck under yellow caution tape cordoning off a plaza area outside the building. He said he was undisturbed by his brief detention. “They treated me very fairly,” he said. The AP [6/13/2025 10:56 PM, Jake Offenhartz, Lolita Baldor and Julie Watson, 31733K] reports that, shortly after they began guarding a Los Angeles federal building Friday, U.S. Marines detained a man who had walked onto the property and did not immediately hear their commands to stop. The brief detention marked the first time federal troops have detained a civilian since they were deployed to the nation’s second-largest city by President Donald Trump in response to protests over the administration’s immigration arrests. The Marines were activated earlier this week but began their duties Friday. The man, Marcos Leao, was later released without charges and said the Marines were just doing their jobs. A U.S. Army North spokesperson said the troops have the authority to temporarily detain people under specific circumstances. He said those detentions end when the person can be transferred to “appropriate civilian law enforcement personnel.” Leao’s detention shows how the troops’ deployment is putting them closer to carrying out law enforcement actions. Already, National Guard soldiers have been providing security on raids as Trump has promised as part of his immigration crackdown. Leao, a former Army combat engineer, said he was rushing to get to a Veterans Affairs appointment when he stepped past a piece of caution tape outside the federal building. He looked up to find a Marine sprinting toward him. “I had my headphones in, so I didn’t hear them,” Leao said. “They told me to get down on the ground. I basically complied with everything they were saying.” Leao was placed in zip ties and held for more than two hours by the Marines and members of the National Guard, he said. After Los Angeles police arrived, he was released without charges, he said. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said they responded to a call at the scene but weren’t needed, and no charges were filed. “I didn’t know it was going to be this intense here,” he said later. A U.S. official told the AP that a civilian had stepped over the line. He was warned they would take him down and they did, according to the official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. About 200 Marines out of the 700 deployed arrived in the city Friday, joining 2,000 members of the National Guard that have been stationed outside federal buildings this week in Los Angeles. Another 2,000 Guard members were notified of deployment earlier this week.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [6/13/2025 10:08 PM, Staff, 49956K]

Breitbart [6/13/2025 4:04 PM, Joel B. Pollak, 3077K] reports two hundred Marines have been deployed to protect the Wilshire Federal Building ahead of Saturday’s "No Kings" protest, a nationwide event bankrolled by big Democrat donors in the midst of the L.A. riots. Left-wing activists opposed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rioted on Friday, and President Donald Trump federalized the California National Guard on Saturday. The Department of Defense began preparing the U.S. Marines at bases nearby to participate in quelling the riots, if necessary.

New York Times [6/13/2025 8:22 PM, Alicia Chen, 138952K] reports at least 60 protesters were arrested on Thursday night in demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, raising the number of arrests to more than 1,200 nationwide since the protests erupted last week in Los Angeles. Roughly 2,000 other protests against the Trump administration were expected across the country on Saturday, when a military parade is planned by the White House in Washington. On Thursday, an appeals court ruled that California National Guard troops who were deployed by President Trump over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom could remain in Los Angeles until at least Tuesday. The decision halted an earlier order by a federal judge, who had returned control of the troops to Mr. Newsom. Marines were also deployed to a federal building on Friday. Authorities made 49 arrests in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. Since the protests began, more than 630 people have been arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department and other authorities. They face charges including failure to disperse and curfew violation. Federal agents have arrested at least 25 more people at protests throughout Southern California. A protest outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., intensified quickly on Thursday night, with law enforcement officers firing what appeared to be tear gas and pepper spray into the crowd. During a brief escalation, 10 people were arrested. In Omaha, ICE agents arrested four protesters who were recorded on video damaging federal property on Thursday, according to a news release. On Wednesday, 94 protesters were arrested in downtown Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. In New York, the police have arrested at least 127 people over several days. In San Francisco, the police arrested at least 244 people on Sunday and Monday. No major demonstrations have been reported since Monday. In Texas, at least 14 people have been arrested in demonstrations in Austin and Dallas. In other major cities including Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia and Seattle, at least 60 people have been arrested. In Brookhaven, Ga., a city near Atlanta, six people have been arrested.

Los Angeles Times [6/14/2025 6:00 AM, Sonja Sharp, 14672K] reports that, despite a stinging rebuke from a federal judge Thursday, military forces deployed in Los Angeles will remain under presidential control through the weekend, setting up a series of high-stakes showdowns. On the streets of Los Angeles, protesters will continue to be met with platoons of armed soldiers. State and local officials remain in open conflict with the president. And in the courts, Trump administration lawyers are digging deep into case law in search of archaic statutes that can be cited to justify the ongoing federal crackdown — including constitutional maneuvers invented to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. By staying the order that would have delivered control of most troops back to California leaders until after the weekend, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals left the Trump administration in command of thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines ahead of the nationwide "No Kings" protests planned for Saturday. The Trump administration claimed in court that it had the authority to deploy troops to L.A. due to protesters preventing ICE agents from arresting and deporting unauthorized immigrants — and because demonstrations downtown amounted to "rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.” But U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco wrote Thursday that Trump had steamrolled state leaders when he federalized California’s troops and deployed them against protesters. "His actions were illegal — both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution," Breyer wrote. While ICE "was not able to detain as many people as Defendants believe it could have," it was still able to uphold U.S. immigration law without the military’s help, Breyer ruled. A few belligerents among thousands of peaceful protesters did not make an insurrection, he added. "The idea that protesters can so quickly cross the line between protected conduct and ‘rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States’ is untenable and dangerous," the judge wrote. Trump’s arguments to deploy the National Guard and Marines in support of federal immigration enforcement efforts rely on the same principle, drawn from the "take care" clause of Article II of the Constitution, Mirasola said. He noted that anger over the military’s repeated clashes with civilians helped stoke the flames that led to the Civil War. "Much of the population actively opposed enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act," the professor said. Some analysts believe Trump strategically chose immigration as the issue through which to advance his version of the so-called "unitary executive theory," a legal doctrine that says the legislature has no power and the judiciary has no right to interfere with how the president wields control of the executive branch. "It’s not a coincidence that we’re seeing immigration be the flash point," said Ming Hsu Chen, a professor at the UCSF Law School. "Someone who wants to exert strong federal power over immigration would see L.A. as a highly symbolic place, a ground zero to show their authority.” Chen, who heads the Race, Immigration, Citizenship, and Equality Program at UCSF Law, said it’s clear Trump and his advisers have a "vision of how ICE can be emboldened.” "He’s putting that on steroids," Chen said. "He’s folding together many different kinds of excesses of executive power as though they were the same thing.”

AP [6/14/2025 12:11 AM, Staff, 31733K] reports cities large and small were preparing for major demonstrations Saturday across the U.S. against President Donald Trump, as officials urge calm, National Guard troops mobilize and Trump attends a military parade in Washington to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary. A flagship "No Kings" march and rally are planned in Philadelphia, but no events are scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., where the military parade will take place on Trump’s birthday. The demonstrations are gaining additional fuel from protests flaring up around the country over federal immigration enforcement raids and Trump ordering National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles where protesters blocked a freeway and set cars on fire. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades while officials enforced curfews in Los Angeles and Democratic governors called Trump’s Guard deployment "an alarming abuse of power" that "shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement.” Governors and city officials vowed to protect the right to protest and to show no tolerance for violence. Republican governors in Virginia, Texas, Nebraska and Missouri are mobilizing National Guard troops to help law enforcement manage demonstrations. There will be "zero tolerance" for violence, destruction or disrupting traffic, and "if you violate the law, you’re going to be arrested," Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told reporters Friday. In Missouri, Gov. Mike Kehoe issued a similar message, vowing to take a proactive approach and not to "wait for chaos to ensue.” Nebraska’s governor on Friday also signed an emergency proclamation for activating his state’s National Guard, a step his office called "a precautionary measure in reaction to recent instances of civil unrest across the country.” Organizers say that one march will go to the gates of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis warned demonstrators that the "line is very clear" and not to cross it.

Wall Street Journal [6/13/2025 10:00 PM, Elizabeth Findell, and Annie Linskey, 646K] reports Democratic leaders are sensing political danger. Protests against the Trump administration, which are set to continue this weekend after a week of uprising that spread from Los Angeles across the country, have energized a portion of the left-wing base that has been despondent since President Trump’s election. The budding “No Kings” movement gives the left a chance to capitalize on the political moment, in which many people are reacting with fury to Trump’s targeting of noncriminal immigrants for deportations, aggressive tactics of immigration-enforcement agents and deployment of soldiers in response to protest. But Democrats have struggled to toe the line between taking an aggressive stance against Trump without playing into his hands, especially on matters of law-and-order and illegal immigration. Protests, where anyone can show up and cause trouble, are especially unpredictable. “The dangers outweigh the potential upsides for Democrats and for Trump, which is not a contradiction,” said Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left think tank Third Way. “Trump could go too far; he always does. And the protests could also—and already kind of have—go sideways for us.” The Los Angeles protests broke out last weekend following roundups of people suspected of being in the country illegally at places such as Home Depots. They grew following Trump’s unprecedented deployment of the National Guard over the objections of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Emotions rose higher Thursday, after Sen. Alex Padilla (D., Calif.) was forced to the ground and handcuffed when he tried to confront Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a press conference.

Wall Street Journal [6/13/2025 10:19 AM, Brenna T. Smith and Cameron McWhirter, 646K] reports “Shoot a couple, the rest will go home,” said a meme circulating on Telegram channels of groups affiliated with the far-right Proud Boys. “You just have to impale a few of them…” another local chapter posted. One disseminated an online gun tutorial, illustrating optimal shooting techniques with the caption: “Riot season again!” Organizers in more than 2,000 cities are mobilizing for “No Kings” rallies Saturday in opposition to President Trump and his military parade in Washington. Among those watching closely: extremist organizations on social media. A review of dozens of known far-right social-media accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers across leading platforms like X, Truth Social, and Telegram are posting about the “No Kings” rallies and encouraging their people to respond, in some cases with violence. These accounts are also sharing detailed locations of the “No Kings” protests and sharing identifying information about the organizers, including names, images and where they work. In addition, days prior, social media videos verified by The Wall Street Journal show leaders of Chicago and Los Angeles far-right groups attended anti-ICE protests in those cities. Some extremist groups appear to be capitalizing on escalating emotions and at times destructive protests in L.A., as a recruitment opportunity or to promote the mass deportation of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Some of their messages have been echoed by the White House. In response to requests for comment about the image, White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said reporters should focus on “the American victims of illegal alien crime and the radical Democrat rioters willing to do anything to keep dangerous illegal aliens in American communities.” Asked for comment on the postings, the Department of Homeland Security called the question “fundamentally unserious.” “Every American citizen should support federal law enforcement in their just effort to deport criminal illegal alien invaders from our country,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

Wall Street Journal [6/13/2025 12:00 PM, Jennifer Calfas, Tali Arbel, and Robert Barha, 646K] reports mass protests are planned this weekend against the Trump administration, a push that organizers say gained momentum after the president deployed the military to Los Angeles against the wishes of local leaders. Protests have already spread across the country after a week of demonstrations in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. The protests have been largely peaceful, but police have arrested hundreds of people in Los Angeles alone. The arrests have mostly been for failing to disperse but also for assault, looting and vandalism. Marches in other cities have also sometimes included confrontations with police and arrests. California sued the Trump administration over the military deployment. A judge has ruled in the state’s favor, but implementation is on hold until next week.

Bloomberg Law [6/13/2025 8:25 AM, Madlin Mekelburg, 1707K] reports the Trump administration won a brief reprieve from a judge’s order to pull back on its use of military troops in Los Angeles to deal with protests over the president’s immigration raids. A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco put the judge’s order on hold and scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to discuss further action in the case. The move came hours after US District Judge Charles Breyer directed the federal government to return control of the California National Guard to state leaders and cease efforts to direct those troops to respond to protests while a lawsuit challenging the actions proceeds. Early Friday, President Donald Trump welcomed the ruling in a post on Truth Social, repeating his claim that if he had not deployed troops, Los Angeles "would be burning to the ground right now." "We saved L.A. Thank you for the Decision!!!," he wrote. The government has maintained that Trump acted legally and lawyers said in a court filing that any order from Breyer limiting the scope of Trump’s authority would "jeopardize the safety of Department of Homeland Security personnel and interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out operations." Hundreds of protesters have been arrested in the Los Angeles area this week.

Axios [6/13/2025 12:47 PM, April Rubin, 13599K] reports the U.S. military will not be responsible for law enforcement at Los Angeles protests, the Pentagon said on Friday. Nearly 5,000 National Guard members and Marines were deployed by the Trump administration in response to anti-immigration raid protests, despite disapproval from a plurality of Americans. "As of today, we have had no soldier or Marine detain anyone," Maj. Gen. Thomas Sherman said during a Friday press briefing. "They have watched federal law enforcement arrest personnel as they were protecting. They have not had to detain anyone at this point." The Department of Homeland Security previously said National Guard troops have the authority to make temporary arrests in certain conditions at the protests. Zoom in: Starting today, Second Battalion, Seventh Marines will be responsible for protecting federal property and personnel, Sherman said. Those previously performing those duties will transition to providing protection to federal law enforcement officers as they conduct their responsibilities. The National Guard members and Marines are trained in deescalation techniques and crowd control, he said.

New York Times [6/13/2025 4:30 PM, Charlie Savage, Kellen Browning, and Laurel Rosenhall, 138952K] reports that California National Guard troops can remain in Los Angeles during protests this weekend after a federal appeals court paused a judicial order late Thursday that would have directed President Trump to relinquish control of the military force. In an extraordinary ruling earlier Thursday, Judge Charles Breyer of the Federal District Court in San Francisco held that Mr. Trump had illegally seized control of up to 4,000 National Guard troops and directed him to return them to the command of Gov. Gavin Newsom of California. The president had already deployed hundreds of Guard troops in the streets of Los Angeles to protect immigration agents and federal buildings from protesters. But the Trump administration immediately appealed the ruling and asked the appeals court in San Francisco to keep it from taking effect while the litigation continued. In a late-night brief, the Justice Department said Judge Breyer’s “second-guessing of the commander in chief’s military judgments is a gross violation of the separation of powers.” The case was assigned to a three-judge panel that consists of two appointees of Mr. Trump and one appointee of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. In a terse late-night order, the panel stayed the order by Judge Breyer, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, “pending further order,” which means the National Guard forces will stay subject to Mr. Trump’s control for now.

Breitbart [6/13/2025 1:32 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 3077K] reports that immigration officials arrested illegal aliens with criminal backgrounds including murder, pedophilia, and drug trafficking despite the riots in Los Angeles, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in another update this week. Throughout the week, DHS has provided specific examples of the illegal immigrant criminals they are arresting as part of ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, particularly in L.A. — where the riots kicked off last weekend. As Breitbart News has detailed, these criminal illegal aliens have backgrounds including but not limited to sexual battery, willful cruelty to a child, domestic violence, second degree murder, assault with intent to commit rape, distribution of cocaine and heroin, child molestation, and more. Details on these criminals and their associated crimes can be found here and here. But there is more. In another press release, DHS highlighted more of the illegal immigrants arrested on June 9 and 10 as part of their operations in L.A. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin emphasized in another statement that these are the types of illegal aliens that Democrat leaders are essentially defending and fighting for. "Murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers. These are the types of criminal illegal aliens that rioters are fighting to protect," she pointed out. "How much longer will Governor Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass continue to prioritize these criminal illegal aliens over their own citizens? Secretary Noem has a message to the LA rioters: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE will continue to enforce the law and arrest criminal illegal aliens," she added.

Washington Examiner [6/13/2025 1:25 PM, Rachel Schilke, 1934K] report that the House Oversight Committee is launching an investigation into Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass as the protests over federal immigration policies continue in California. Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) are leading the investigation, which is requesting that Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel provide documents on "acts of violence against law enforcement officers in California." The lawmakers sent letters to Newsom and Bass on Friday, accusing the state leaders of protesting President Donald Trump’s decision to send the National Guard and deploy Marines to California to quell the protests. Some demonstrations have resulted in violence, with cars being set on fire and people looting businesses. "You champion California’s sanctuary policies, which prevent local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities," the lawmakers wrote. "You have also made it clear that you intend to block the objectives of the federal government, and defend aliens, regardless of their immigration status, criminal activity, anti-American views, or incitement to riot." Newsom and Bass are required to provide communications from June 1 to the present, no later than June 20. Among the documents requested are communications between the governor’s and mayor’s offices, communications with local law enforcement, and records that detail weapons being used by rioters, "(including rocks and cinderblocks).” The Oversight Committee’s investigation is the first at the congressional level into the riots, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been sweeping the streets in an effort to remove illegal immigrants.

Reported similarly:
National Review [6/13/2025 2:57 PM, James Lynch, 109K]

The Hill [6/13/2025 10:26 AM, Ella Lee, 18649K] reports a federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from implementing parts of President Trump’s executive order seeking to overhaul elections. U.S. District Judge Denise Casper granted a request from a group of Democratic attorneys general to halt five sections of the executive order, most focused on Trump’s new requirements for proof of citizenship to register to vote in U.S. elections. Casper is the second judge to block portions of Trump’s directive. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary injunction in April in three consolidated cases, which also focused on the new proof of citizenship requirements. "There is no dispute (nor could there be) that U.S. citizenship is required to vote in federal elections and the federal voter registration forms require attestation of citizenship," wrote Casper, an appointee of former President Obama. "The issue here is whether the President can require documentary proof of citizenship where the authority for election requirements is in the hands of Congress, its statutes … do not require it, and the statutorily created [Election Assistance Commission (EAC)] is required to go through a notice and comment period and consult with the States before implementing any changes to the federal forms for voter registration," she continued. Casper enjoined the administration from implementing new rules mandating documentary proof of citizenship in federal voter registration forms. She also blocked conditioning any funding for states from the EAC — an independent election administration agency — on their adoption of a ballot receipt deadline of Election Day. She also blocked a directive to Attorney General Pam Bondi to take civil or criminal action against states that violate any provisions by counting absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the final tabulation of votes for president or members of Congress. CNN [6/13/2025 9:34 AM, Dan Berman, 21433K] reports Judge Denise Casper issued a preliminary injunction halting requirements to show written proof of US citizenship when registering to vote in elections and Trump’s effort to prohibit states from counting mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. The mail-in ballot ruling applies only in states that filed the lawsuit. Casper, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, cited examples such as college students or immigrants who don’t have access to a birth certificate or passport. The executive order, Casper wrote, "would burden the States with significant efforts and substantial costs to revamp voter registration procedures and would impede the registration of eligible voters, many of whom lack ready access to documentary evidence of citizenship (e.g., U.S. passport and other forms of identification that reflect citizenship)." The lawsuit is one of several that challenge Trump’s election executive order. It was brought by California, Nevada, Massachusetts, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin

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NPR [6/13/2025 11:31 AM, Miles Parks, 37958K]
Reuters [6/13/2025 12:40 PM, Staff, 75552K]

Reuters [6/14/2025 12:41 AM, Ismail Shakil and Anusha Shah, 51390K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has told immigration officials to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants, New York Times reported on Friday. The report cited an internal email and three U.S. officials with knowledge of the guidance. "Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels," Tatum King, a senior official at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in guidance to regional leaders of the department, the Times added. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the guidance to the Times and said: "We will follow the president’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,". Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The White House and U.S. department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside of regular business hours. The report comes after Trump said on Thursday he would issue an order soon to address the effects of his immigration crackdown on the country’s farm and hotel industries, which rely heavily on migrant labor. U.S. farm industry groups have long wanted Trump to spare their sector from mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain dependent on immigrants. Trump is carrying out his campaign promise to deport immigrants in the country illegally. But protesters and some Trump supporters have questioned the targeting of those who are not convicted criminals, including in places of employment such as those that sparked last week’s protests in Los Angeles.

AP [6/13/2025 3:41 PM, Amy Taxin and Dorany Pineda, 56000K] reports large-scale immigration raids at packinghouses and fields in California are threatening businesses that supply much of the country’s food, farm bureaus say. Dozens of farmworkers have been arrested recently after uniformed federal agents fanned out on farms northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, which is known for growing strawberries, lemons and avocados. Others are skipping work as fear in immigrant communities has deepened as President Donald Trump steps up his immigration crackdown, vowing to dramatically increase arrests and sending federal agents to detain people at Home Depot parking lots and workplaces including car washes and a garment factory. It also comes as Trump sent National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles following protests over his immigration enforcement operations. Demonstrations have since spread to other U.S. cities. Maureen McGuire, chief executive of Ventura County’s farm bureau, said between 25% and 45% of farmworkers have stopped showing up for work since the large-scale raids began this month. “When our workforce is afraid, fields go unharvested, packinghouses fall behind, and market supply chains, from local grocery stores to national retailers, are affected,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “This impacts every American who eats.” In response to questions about the farm arrests, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the agency will follow the president’s direction and continue to seek to remove immigrants who have committed crimes. On Thursday, Trump acknowledged growers’ concerns that his stepped-up immigration enforcement could leave them without workers they rely on to grow the country’s food. He said something would be done to address the situation, but he did not provide specifics.

New York Times [6/13/2025 11:01 PM, Hamed Aleaziz and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, 138952K] reports the Trump administration has abruptly shifted the focus of its mass deportation campaign, telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants, according to an internal email and three U.S. officials with knowledge of the guidance. The decision suggested that the scale of President Trump’s mass deportation campaign — an issue that is at the heart of his presidency — is hurting industries and constituencies that he does not want to lose. The new guidance comes after protests in Los Angeles against the Trump administration’s immigration raids, including at farms and businesses. It also came as Mr. Trump made a rare concession this week that his crackdown was hurting American farmers and hospitality businesses. The guidance was sent on Thursday in an email by a senior ICE official, Tatum King, to regional leaders of the ICE department that generally carries out criminal investigations, including work site operations, known as Homeland Security Investigations. “Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels,” he wrote in the message. The email explained that investigations involving “human trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling into these industries are OK.” But it said — crucially — that agents were not to make arrests of “noncriminal collaterals,” a reference to people who are undocumented but who are not known to have committed any crime. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the guidance. “We will follow the president’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” Tricia McLaughlin, a department spokeswoman, said in a statement. For months, Mr. Trump and his aides have said they would target all immigrants without legal status in the United States to make good on his campaign promise for mass deportations. While the administration came into office saying it would initially target undocumented immigrants with criminal records, it has in recent weeks expanded to raiding work sites and sweeping up other undocumented immigrants broadly. On Thursday, Mr. Trump acknowledged that the crackdown might be alienating industries he wanted to keep on his side. “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he said on social media.

NPR [6/14/2025 5:00 AM, Domenico Montanaro, 37958K] reports political messaging on immigration goes well beyond whether to deport people without legal status. There’s a big difference, for example, in advocating for stronger border security and booting hardened criminals from the country, versus deporting cooks and construction workers — and sending National Guards and even Marines in response to protests (when local officials didn’t ask for it). Trump’s deportation policies have moved toward workplaces, as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement tries to reach the White House’s goal of 3,000 deportations a day. But that presents a potential political problem for Trump. The aggressive approach to deportations is giving Democrats a unifying message in opposition to Trump. But the party still faces long-term problems when it comes to setting out a vision for immigration policy that would give Americans confidence in turning the reins over to them instead of Republicans. What does public opinion polling say? Polling on specific aspects of immigration policy is sparse and somewhat conflicting. In general, people support President Trump’s immigration plans more than his economic ones. And multiple polls have clearly shown in the past year that people trust Republicans more than Democrats to handle immigration. But surveys out this week showed differing results, especially in light of Trump’s response to the protests. During his first term, polling indicated a higher level of disapproval for Trump’s handling of immigration. Specific policies, like family separation, were very unpopular. But immigration certainly helped Trump during the 2024 presidential election, largely because the mood in the country changed. In 2017, only 35% said they thought immigration should decrease, Gallup found. But that jumped 20 points by 2024. It was the highest since October of 2001. That was a different political moment, too – just a month after the Sept. 11 attacks. But it was also the last time encounters at the southern border were as high as during the last couple of years of the Biden presidency. The numbers can be sliced a number of different ways, but it’s a pretty good rule of thumb to look at members of Congress in competitive districts to see how they’re responding. One of those is Republican Rep. David Valadao of California. He said in a post on X that while he condemned the "violence and vandalism" seen in L.A., he was "concerned" about how the Trump administration has been broadening its deportation efforts. He said he was "urging [the administration] to prioritize the removal of known criminals over the hardworking people who have lived peacefully in the [Central] Valley for years.” That was echoed by other Latino Republican leaders, including Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who is chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Republican Conference. "We all need to focus on convicted, criminal illegal aliens," Gonzales said on CNN on Tuesday. "If we focus there and we’re not going after the milker of cows who’s in 103-degree weather – going after that guy, and we’re going after the convicted criminal, I think we’re on the right path.”

Reuters [6/13/2025 10:25 AM, Staff, 51390K] reports there are no policy changes under way to exempt farm, hotel and other leisure workers from Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, the Washington Post reported on Friday, a day after the U.S. president vowed to issue an order for such workers. Trump’s comments on Thursday were aimed at soothing industry leaders, but there will be no changes to current deportations, according to the report, which cited three people with knowledge of the administration’s immigration policies. Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report, which comes amid demonstrations protesting Trump’s immigration raids. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told the Washington Post that he had not discussed any changes for such workers with Trump and has not been involved in any policy plans to address them. Farm and hotel industries rely heavily on migrant labor, and farmers were strong supporters of Trump’s 2024 re-election bid. While Trump is carrying out his campaign promise to deport immigrants in the country illegally, protesters and some Trump supporters have questioned the targeting of those who are not convicted criminals, including in places of employment. On Thursday, Trump acknowledged the impact of his immigration policies on some sectors and said he would issue a related order "soon," giving no details. "Our farmers are being hurt badly and we’re going to have to do something about that... We’re going to have an order on that pretty soon," he said at the White House. He added that it would also address the hotels sector, which would include the Trump Organization, Trump’s private business that has said it is being run by his adult sons. "Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace," he wrote on his social media platform before his Thursday remarks. "Changes are coming!"

The Hill [6/13/2025 4:52 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18649K] reports Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee called on their Republican counterparts to hold a hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, saying she must be held to account for the treatment of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). Noem’s security forcibly removed Padilla after he interrupted her press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday. He identified himself and tried to ask a question as he was pushed out of the room, onto the ground and handcuffed. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), joined by the other Democrats on the panel, said Padilla’s effort to question Noem was inspired by "an abysmal record of responding to inquiries and document requests from Capitol Hill." Trump administration officials have said the security officers acted appropriately in removing someone they didn’t recognize from the press conference. But Padilla was escorted to the event by federal security and used his name and title when interjecting.

Breitbart.com [6/13/2025 4:40 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports the left-wing Congressional Hispanic Caucus is demanding an investigation into law enforcement officers who removed and handcuffed Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference after he became disruptive. The caucus is also demanding DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s resignation. During a DHS press conference on Thursday, while Noem was speaking, Padilla began shouting and lunging at her, according to eyewitnesses. Security detail at the press conference seemingly were unaware that Padilla was a Senator because Noem says he did not identify himself.

The Hill [6/13/2025 11:41 AM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18649K] reports Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who was handcuffed by security Thursday after interrupting a press conference in Los Angeles held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, said "misinformation" from the secretary led him to speak out, adding that many claims about his actions are "all BS.” Sitting for an interview with "Pod Save America," Padilla said a planned briefing he was set to have was delayed because some of those he was to meet with were appearing with Noem at her press conference. "So as we’re waiting, waiting, I say, ‘Well, they haven’t been responding to our inquiries and our letters. Maybe we go listen in and see if they have anything new to say,’" he said. Padilla said he was "literally being escorted" by a National Guard service member and an FBI agent and that he was allowed into the room. "They open the door for me. I’m standing in the back. Trying to listen, you know, I don’t want to get in front of the cameras or in front of the reporters and just the rhetoric is too much. Not the first time, but the second time they claim that Donald Trump and Secretary Noem is here to liberate the people of Los Angeles from the governor and from the mayor — that’s when I spoke up, right? I had a question to ask. I wanna call ‘em out on their misinformation," Padilla said. "Anybody who’s seen the video knows that I repeatedly introduced myself. They knew who I was. I was not lunging at the secretary. I was, you know, halfway through the back of the room on one side trying to get a question out," he added. Administration officials said Noem’s security detail acted appropriately by responding to an unknown figure, claiming he did not identify himself despite footage showing him saying "I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.” Padilla also discussed his meeting with Noem after the press conference, saying it was the first time the two have ever spoken and yielded few answers to questions he asked.

The Hill [6/13/2025 11:09 AM, Julia Manchester, 18649K] reports Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Democrats are fundraising off of his removal from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference Thursday. Padilla, along with fellow California Sen. Adam Schiff (D) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), blasted out fundraising emails Friday citing the incident. "If that’s what they do to a United States Senator with a question, imagine what they do to farm workers, day laborers, cooks, and the other nonviolent immigrants they are targeting in California and across the country," Padilla’s fundraising note read, echoing his remarks from Thursday following the incident. Schiff touted Padilla as "one of the most decent people" he knows in his fundraising appeal, while the DNC warned the incident "isn’t normal and are steps toward authoritarianism.” The effort comes as Democrats unite behind Padilla following his removal from the press conference and broadly condemn the Trump administration’s handling of those critical of the president’s immigration policies. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the incident involving Padilla "reeks of totalitarianism" and called for an investigation into the matter, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called the federal agents’ forcible removal and handcuffing of the senator "outrageous, dictatorial and shameful.” On Thursday, video surfaced of Padilla interrupting Noem’s press conference and approaching her. Padilla is heard in the video identifying himself by name and his title as he moved toward the front of the conference room trying to ask a question. He was then grabbed by agents, who pushed him backward, shoved him through a set of double doors, and forced him onto the ground and handcuffed him. The White House and Department of Homeland Security have blamed Padilla for the incident. "Padilla stormed a press conference, without wearing his Senate pin or previously identifying himself to security, yelled, and lunged toward Secretary Noem. Padilla didn’t want answers; he wanted attention," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.

Politico [6/13/2025 7:22 AM, Brakkton Booker and Andrew Howard, 16523K] reports Democrats believe they’ve found a compelling new message on immigration — thanks to a viral image of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) in handcuffs. Padilla, who was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference about ICE raids in California, earned support from fellow Democrats and triggered outrage over what they see as the administration’s overreach. “If they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a post on X. It’s a snappier paraphrase of Padilla’s own words: “If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question. If this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question,” he said at a hastily organized press conference Thursday afternoon. “You can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country.” Immigration has long vexed Democrats, who face an enormous deficit of public trust on the issue, but now they think they’ve found a way forward. Padilla, a mild-mannered first-term senator, has become the embodiment of the new message from Democrats, who are not arguing whether deportations should be carried out but take issue with the reckless way they’re being done. And they’re enraged at the administration’s effort to tamp down on protests, which Democrats say is unlawful and inciting chaos. “When people talk about rising to the moment in history, it is a sitting U.S. senator putting his body on the line to highlight injustice in our country,” said Kristian Ramos, a Democratic strategist who worked on immigration issues for more than a decade. “It underlines the fact that the Republican Party and Donald Trump do not care about laws in this country.” On Capitol Hill, Democratic members, led by the Hispanic Caucus, marched to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s offices to demand that Noem testify before Congress about the incident. Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Wes Moore of Maryland, both of whom are considered presidential contenders in 2028, took to social media to express similar sentiments. “This is Donald Trump’s America, where they attack our freedoms,” Pritzker wrote. “We cannot be intimidated or scared by their abuses of power.”

Los Angeles Times [6/13/2025 7:43 PM, James Rainey and Sandra McDonald, 14672K] reports a day after federal agents forcibly restrained and handcuffed U.S. Sen Alex Padilla at a Los Angeles news conference, leaders of the country’s two political parties responded in what has become a predictable fashion — with diametrically opposed takes on the incident. Padilla’s fellow Democrats called for an investigation and perhaps even the resignation of the senator’s nemesis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, for what they described as the unprecedented manhandling of a U.S. senator who was merely attempting to ask a question of a fellow public official. Noem and fellow Republicans continued to depict Padilla as a grandstander, whose unexpected appearance at Noem’s news conference seemed to her security detail to represent a threat, as she tried to speak to reporters at the Federal Building in Westwood. Republicans continued Friday to chastise Padilla, using words like "launch," "lunge" and "bum rush" to describe Padilla’s behavior as he began to try to pose a question to Noem at Thursday’s news conference. The Trump administration official was just a few minutes into her meeting with reporters when Padilla moved assertively from the side of the room, pushing past a Times photographer as he moved to more directly address Noem. He did not lunge at Noem and was still paces away from her when her security detail grabbed the senator. Padilla and his staff described how the veteran lawmaker went through security and was escorted by an FBI employee to the room where the press conference was held, saying it was absurd to suggest he presented a threat. Padilla spoke out after the secretary asserted that her homeland security agents had come to L.A. to "liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that the governor and the mayor have placed on this country.” The former South Dakota governor would have some reason to recognize Padilla, since he questioned her during her Senate confirmation hearing. A spokesperson at the Homeland Security Department did not respond to a question of whether Noem recognized Padilla when he arrived at her press conference. As has become the norm in the nation’s political discourse, Republicans and Democrats spoke about the confrontation Friday as if they had observed two entirely separate incidents. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) said Noem "should step down," adding: "This is ridiculous. And she continues to lie about this incident. This is wrong.” Noem did not back off her earlier statement that Padilla had "burst" into the room. "Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem," Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant Homeland Security secretary, said in a statement Friday. McLaughlin also said that Padilla "was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands," though video made public by Friday did not show such warnings, in advance of Padilla’s first statement.

Washington Examiner [6/13/2025 11:08 AM, Luke Gentile, 1934K] reports Washington Examiner senior writer Joe Concha blasted Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) after his forceful removal at a Thursday Department of Homeland Security press briefing as "performance art.” "This is, Carley, basically a complete and total perfect microcosm of what we have seen from the Democratic Party over the last four months since Donald Trump took office: performance art," Concha told Fox & Friends First host Carley Shimkus. "That is performance art! You cannot storm in like a maniac, like the senator did, into a press conference that the DHS secretary was holding, Kristi Noem, and expect to be above the law.” Padilla wanted to be removed and placed in handcuffs because the Left wants to push a false narrative that President Donald Trump is punishing Democratic lawmakers, according to Concha. "No, I’m sorry. We have heard that nobody is above the law, but Mr. Padilla thought he was," he said. If any Republican senator had taken similar action during former President Joe Biden’s administration and been arrested, the media would have cheered on their arrest, Concha said.

FOX News [6/13/2025 5:19 PM, Cameron Arcand, 46878K] reports Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., joined the chorus of Democrats criticizing Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem after Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was stopped by Secret Service agents after interrupting a DHS press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday. Padilla was briefly placed in handcuffs and kicked out of the room by the Secret Service after he entered the press conference and attempted to ask the secretary a question in the middle of her remarks. He identified himself by name as a senator, but he was not wearing a security pin during the incident, according to the FBI. "Everything is on camera—Warren is trying to revise history on Senator Padilla’s embarrassing conduct, but Americans can see with their own eyes," Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated. "Senator Padilla entered a high-security federal facility under false pretenses and crashed an invite-only press conference as law enforcement are working around the clock to calm violent riots," McLaughlin continued. "There’s no excuse for busting into a press conference and interrupting it. Had Senator Padilla asked for a meeting, Secretary Noem would have happily obliged, which she graciously did for 15 minutes after the press conference."

Breitbart [6/13/2025 4:10 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the illegal alien from El Salvador who has become the poster child of the open borders movement, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he once made six figures smuggling illegal aliens into the United States via the southern border. On Friday, in a Nashville, Tennessee courtroom, Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he was involved in a massive human smuggling ring. The Department of Justice (DOJ) had extradited Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. after the Trump administration deported him to El Salvador to face the human smuggling charges. This month, prosecutors released a 10-page indictment against Abrego Garcia, accusing him of being deeply involved in gang violence, abuse of women he was smuggling, human smuggling, and weapons trafficking. The Wall Street Journal [6/13/2025 6:41 PM, Mariah Timms, 646K] reports Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, pleaded not guilty to human-smuggling charges on Friday, in an hourslong hearing in which a judge also weighed whether he should remain in custody awaiting trial. Abrego Garcia spent several months in Salvadoran prisons before the federal government brought him back to the U.S. to face charges that he was a key player in an international human-smuggling ring with gang ties. In a packed courtroom in downtown Nashville, a federal magistrate judge heard hours of testimony from a Department of Homeland Security agent about the evidence against Abrego Garcia, including that investigators believe he solicited lewd photos from a minor and at times transported migrant children. Prosecutors also say he brought his own young child and stepchildren along as decoys on human-smuggling trips. Abrego Garcia will remain in custody for now after the judge declined to immediately rule about whether he should be released. Defense lawyers disputed the allegations of inappropriate behavior, arguing prosecutors’ evidence was flimsy and based on several levels of hearsay. They also raised objections about the relevance of the evidence presented about his interactions with minors and said it seemed implausible that he was taking his three young children on round trips from his home in Maryland to Texas multiple times a week. USA Today [6/13/2025 1:55 PM, Bart Jansen and Evan Mealins, 75552K] reports U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Tennessee was also hearing arguments June 13 about whether to keep Abrego Garcia, 29, who wore an orange jumpsuit for the court appearance, detained while awaiting trial on charges he transported undocumented immigrants for financial gain. Prosecutors, who allege he is a member of the gang MS-13, a designated terrorist organization, argued he could flee or intimidate witnesses if released. But Abrego Garcia, who denies belonging to the gang, argues the charges don’t justify being jailed. Abrego Garcia has become a central figure in the debate over Trump’s tougher immigration enforcement. A longtime resident of Maryland, he was erroneously deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador on March 15 despite having an immigration court order preventing his removal. A federal judge in Maryland ordered the administration to facilitate his return, in a decision upheld by the Supreme Court, but officials resisted bringing him back until he was indicted May 21. A co-conspirator alleged Abrego Garcia made as much as $50,000 a month driving from the border and throughout the U.S. for the alleged smuggling operation, according to Peter Joseph, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent who testified in court. Drivers were paid $1,000 to 1,500 per trip, and Abrego Garcia allegedly made as many as 50 trips per month, Joseph testified

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Washington Examiner [6/13/2025 11:55 AM, Kaelan Deese, 1934K]

FOX News [6/13/2025 10:07 PM, Peter Pinedo , Kailey Schuyler , Lauren Sennet, 46878K] reports that, after nearly six hours of testimony Friday, accused human trafficker Kilmar Abrego Garcia is no closer to learning whether he can be released from custody pending his federal trial in Nashville. The pretrial hearing began with Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 member charged with the trafficking of undocumented migrants and conspiring with others to do so, pleading not guilty. Garcia’s legal team told U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes Friday it had time to review the indictment and that Garcia understood what he is accused of before he formally entered the plea, which stems from a 2022 traffic stop. The federal criminal case against Abrego Garcia comes after a high-profile, protracted legal fight over his deportation and the Trump administration’s efforts to delay his return to the U.S., even after the Supreme Court ordered the administration to "facilitate" his release. Abrego Garcia sat silently during the proceedings, wearing a red jumpsuit with an orange undershirt, his gaze mostly concentrated on the prosecution and a window in the courtroom. Abrego Garcia’s mother, brother and wife were present in court, as were members of the nonprofit Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), which was helping with some translations for the family and providing moral support. During the hearing, the prosecution brought forward Special Agent Peter Joseph, who told prosecutors he was first assigned to Abrego Garcia’s case in April 2025, when Abrego Garcia was still detained in El Salvador. Since then, Joseph said, he has reviewed footage from Abrego Garcia’s 2022 traffic stop, which has emerged as the basis of the human smuggling charges. At the time, Joseph told prosecutors, Abrego Garcia had been driving a vehicle with nine passengers and was pulled over while traveling from St. Louis to Maryland with an expired license. Six of the nine passengers in the vehicle have since been identified as being in the country illegally, Joseph said, adding one passenger in the van told officers he was born in 2007, which would have made him just 15 at the time. Joseph said that, based on evidence, Abrego Garcia was paid $1,000 per trip and that he would transport 50 people per month. In addition to the smuggling, Joseph alleged Abrego Garcia also engaged in inappropriate conduct with underage girls he was transporting, including a 15-year-old allegedly asked by Abrego Garcia to send him nude photos.

New York Post [6/14/2025 12:12 AM, Victor Nava, 49956K] reports suspected MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia was paid up to $1,500 per smuggling trip and may have raked in more than $100,000 annually trafficking humans, including minors, according to witnesses. The new details about Abrego Garcia’s alleged "full-time job" come from co-conspirators and witnesses cooperating with the federal government’s human smuggling case against the Salvadoran national who was wrongly deported in March. The allegations were shared by a federal agent during a Friday detention hearing in a Nashville court, where Abrego Garcia entered a plea of not guilty. As part of the illegal operation, smugglers charged migrants from Central and South America $8,000 for passage into the US — and Abrego Garcia would pick them up in Texas to transport them across the US, Homeland Security Investigations special agent Peter Joseph testified. Abrego Garcia was paid between up to $1,500 per trip and made about one to two smuggling trips per week, according to one co-conspirator, Joseph revealed. The trips may have netted the Maryland man more than $100,000 per year in income. The payment structure was corroborated by a second co-conspirator helping federal authorities, who noted $1,000 payments were passed from the trafficker to the driver making the long-haul trips. The co-conspirator also alleged that roughly 30% of the smuggling operation’s customers were gang members. The human smuggling charges against Abrego Garcia stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, where Abrego Garcia was pulled over driving a vehicle with nine passengers. An envelope stuffed with $1,400 in cash was found on the illegal immigrant during the speeding stop, a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer noted in body camera video of the encounter, which also demonstrates that the officers had suspicions the Maryland man was smuggling the people in the car. Joseph testified that the vehicle Abrego Garcia was stopped in was owned by Jose Hernandez-Reyes, a convicted migrant smuggler, and that six of the nine occupants were in the US illegally. Witnesses further alleged that children were also transported during the trips and forced to sit on the floorboards. One of Abrego Garcia’s co-conspirators told authorities that they witnessed drug and gun smuggling, as well, and that the weapons — which included handguns and semi-automatic rifles — were hidden beneath the children on the trips.

New York Times [6/13/2025 7:55 PM, Alan Feuer and Jamie McGee, 138952K] reports a federal judge signaled on Friday that she was open to granting bail to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, one week after he was returned to the United States to face criminal charges following his wrongful deportation to El Salvador. If the judge, Barbara D. Holmes, does end up denying the Justice Department’s request to detain Mr. Abrego Garcia as he awaits trial, it would be a significant rebuke of the Trump administration, which has repeatedly accused him of being a dangerous criminal, even a terrorist. But it would also represent a Pyrrhic victory for him and his defense team because, as Judge Holmes pointed out, he would almost certainly be taken into custody by immigration officials. Judge Holmes declined to make a final decision on the question of bail at a daylong hearing in Federal District Court in Nashville where Mr. Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to a two-count federal indictment unsealed last Friday. The indictment, which was obtained in May while he was being held in Salvadoran custody, charged him with having taken part in a yearslong conspiracy to smuggle undocumented immigrants across the United States as a member of the violent street gang MS-13. The judge said she intended to issue a written decision about Mr. Abrego Garcia’s bail “sooner rather than later.” During the hearing, federal prosecutors threw everything they had at Mr. Abrego Garcia in an effort to persuade Judge Holmes that he was a flight risk and a danger to the community. In an unusual move, the presentation was made personally by Robert E. McGuire, the acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Mr. McGuire brought up two domestic violence complaints that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife had filed against him years ago. He accused the defendant, a Salvadoran man who had been living in Maryland at the time of his expulsion, of transporting children as part of the smuggling operation. And he asserted there was evidence that Mr. Abrego Garcia had sexually harassed some of his young female passengers. He even claimed — to the subsequent objection of Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers — that political sympathizers might somehow harbor the defendant and help him escape if he were not detained. Judge Holmes expressed skepticism about many of Mr. McGuire’s assertions, some of which were based on uncorroborated accusations from cooperating witnesses who had asked the government for benefits related to their own immigration status or to criminal charges that they themselves were facing.

CBS New York [6/13/2025 6:04 PM, Staff, 51860K] reports Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil can remain in federal detention on allegations he lied on his green card application, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said days earlier the Trump administration cannot detain or deport Khalil based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination that he could harm foreign policy. The New Jersey judge wrote that Khalil had shown his detention was causing irreparable harm to his career, family and free speech rights. But the judge acknowledged Friday his earlier ruling did not address the Trump administration’s other stated basis for holding Khalil, that he allegedly left out information about his career and prior associations on his green card form. Farbiarz said it is now up to Khalil to ask for bail from the immigration judge overseeing his case. In a filing Friday, the government argued that Farbiarz never said it would be "unlawful" to detain Khalil over concerns about his green card application, even as the judge noted in his Wednesday ruling that evidence suggested that legal permanent residents are virtually never detained for such reasons. Khalil, for his part, disputes that he wasn’t forthcoming in his application. He maintains, among other things, that he was never employed by or served as an "officer" of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, as the administration claims, but completed an internship approved by the university as part of his graduate studies. In a letter to Farbiarz, Khalil’s lawyers said he had satisfied all of the court’s requirements to go free and that the government’s lawyers missed a Friday morning deadline to challenge the judge’s Wednesday ruling. After Farbiarz’s ruling Friday, Khalil’s legal team criticized his continued detention. "Mahmoud Khalil was detained in retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights. The government is now using cruel, transparent delay tactics to keep him away from his wife and newborn son ahead of their first Father’s Day as a family," said lawyer Amy Greer, an associate at Dratel & Lewis. The Hill [6/13/2025 3:46 PM, Lexi Lonas Cochran, 18649K] reports tha the change comes after District Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled Wednesday the federal government could not detain Khalil due to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination he is a threat to U.S. foreign policy. The decision isn’t a shock after Farbiarz said in his Wednesday ruling the Trump administration could appeal or keep detaining Khalil based on other justifications. The federal government waited until the last moment to present its argument, after Farbiarz originally said Khalil, an Algerian citizen, was to be released by 9:30 a.m. Friday morning. CNN [6/13/2025 3:41 PM, Andy Rose, Dalia Faheid, 21433K] reports Judge Michael Farbiarz said the determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student’s presence in the country had "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States" was likely unconstitutional. But attorneys for the Department of Justice said the judge’s decision did not prevent them from continuing to hold Khalil on a second claim – that he failed to give required information in his application to become a legal permanent resident of the US, in their response letter to the judge on Friday. Farbiarz did not specifically strike down that charge as a reason for detaining Khalil – a distinction the Trump administration is seizing on – and on Friday the judge ruled that the administration’s interpretation of his order is correct. Farbiarz denied Khalil’s request for relief on Friday afternoon, saying his legal team "did not put forward factual evidence as to why it might be unlawful to detain him on the second charge." Khalil, who played a central role in negotiations on behalf of pro-Palestinian student protesters last year, has not been charged with a crime. The New York Times [6/14/2025 3:30 AM, Jonah E. Bromwich, 330K] reports that although he has not been accused of a crime, he was arrested in March and transferred to Louisiana, where he has been held in a federal detention center for more than three months. Shortly after Mr. Khalil was taken into custody, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, justified his detention by invoking a rarely cited law. He declared the Columbia graduate’s presence in the United States a threat to the government’s foreign policy goal of preventing antisemitism. Mr. Khalil’s lawyers have countered that argument by citing their client’s comments on CNN that “antisemitism and any form of racism has no place on campus and in this movement.” Judge Farbiarz, of Federal District Court in New Jersey, found that the law Mr. Rubio invoked was most likely unconstitutional, and he ruled on Wednesday that the government could no longer detain Mr. Khalil under that justification. He paused his order to give the administration time to appeal. Instead, Justice Department lawyers wrote in a court filing submitted Friday afternoon that Mr. Khalil was being held on the allegations that had been added more than a week after his arrest: that he had failed to disclose his membership in certain organizations when he applied for legal residency in March 2024. Scott Shuchart, a former senior homeland security official, said the government’s shifting rationale in Mr. Khalil’s case was typical of the administration’s broader approach to immigration cases. “I find it outrageous just with regard to the disrespect with which they’ve treated the court and the entire process throughout this case,” he said, adding, “It shows nothing but contempt for the rule of law.” A spokeswoman from the Homeland Security Department did not respond to a request for comment. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment, referring to the legal filings. The Trump administration has accused Mr. Khalil of not having disclosed his work with a United Nations agency that assists Palestinian refugees or his membership in Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of student groups involved in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia. The administration has also said that Mr. Khalil did not list his continuing employment with the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, after 2022.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [6/13/2025 5:54 PM, Alana Mastrangelo, 3077K]
NewsMax [6/13/2025 6:03 PM, Michael Katz, 4622K]

USA Today [6/13/2025 2:40 PM, Zac Anderson, 75552K] reports that Missouri has joined Texas in preemptively activating the state’s National Guard ahead of the "No Kings" protests planned at about 2,000 sites across the nation on June 14 against President Donald Trump. Both Republican-led states followed Trump’s lead after he tapped the California National Guard to respond to protests in Los Angeles. "While other states may wait for chaos to ensue, the State of Missouri is taking a proactive approach in the event that assistance is needed to support local law enforcement in protecting our citizens and communities," GOP Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe wrote on social media June 12 in announcing his executive order activating the Missouri National Guard. Kehoe’s order declares a state of emergency in Missouri "due to civil unrest." The move is another sign of the increasingly militarized response to unrest surrounding Trump’s policies. Responding to demonstrations against ICE raids, the president deployed the California National Guard in Los Angeles over Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objections, and also sent U.S. Marines. Trump’s decision to bypass Newsom and federalize the California National Guard drew protests from Democrats. Newsom described it as the act of a "dictator.” Republican governors in Texas and Missouri are activating the Guard on their own.

Wall Street Journal [6/13/2025 4:24 PM, Will Swain, 646K] reports the week’s riots in Los Angeles kicked off with the June 6 arrest of David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union’s California chapter. You might expect a union boss to favor immigration enforcement in the name of protecting his members’ jobs. But SEIU California has built its brand—and its business—by obliterating the line between legal and illegal immigration. Operating as an open-borders lobby shop that also organizes workers, it has for four decades amassed political and cultural power in the Golden State for the purpose of undermining federal authority over immigration. Alerted by activists who monitor the movements of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in the city, Mr. Huerta led a group that attempted to block federal agents from executing search warrants at a warehouse in the city’s Fashion District. ICE agents asked Mr. Huerta and others to clear a driveway for official vehicles. A federal criminal complaint alleges he rallied his comrades to “stop the vehicles” and told them, “It’s a public sidewalk, they can’t stop us.” Mr. Huerta refused a federal agent’s order to move out of the driveway. He struggled with the officer, stumbled and fell but continued fighting. He was reportedly pepper-sprayed, handcuffed and taken to a hospital before being moved to the Metropolitan Detention Center. Mr. Huerta is charged with conspiracy to impede an officer, which can carry up to six years in prison. Following his arraignment Monday, he was released on a $50,000 appearance bond. By then he was already being hailed as a hero by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state’s largest newspapers, and union leaders from the United Farm Workers, the Los Angeles teachers union and the California Federation of Labor. Even the Screen Actors Guild voiced its support. Mr. Huerta declared himself a victim of police violence and a representative of something universal. “What happened to me is not about me,” he said in an SEIU statement. “This is about something much bigger. This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that’s happening.” But there’s another possible factor in Mr. Huerta’s arrest and the ensuing violence: money.

Wall Street Journal [6/13/2025 7:45 PM, Staff, 646K] reports during an 8 hour hearing in Washington, D.C., Minnesota’s Tim Walz, Illinois’s JB Pritzker and New York’s Kathy Hochul all defended their states’ immigration policies. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from Kristi Noem’s press conference on ICE protests. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The AP [6/13/2025 8:49 PM, Kimberly Kindy and Amanda Seitz, 56000K] reports President Donald Trump’s administration this week provided deportation officials with personal data -- including the immigration status -- on millions of Medicaid enrollees, a move that could make it easier to locate people as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown. An internal memo and emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns. Nevertheless, two top advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the dataset handed over to the Department of Homeland Security, the emails show. Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were given just 54 minutes on Tuesday to comply with the directive. The dataset includes the information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington, D.C., all of which allow non-U.S. citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs that pay for their expenses using only state taxpayer dollars. CMS transferred the information just as the Trump administration was ramping up its enforcement efforts in Southern California. NewsMax [6/13/2025 4:55 PM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4622K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly using Medicaid enrollment data, including immigration status, to pursue its sweeping nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration. According to The Associated Press, the personal data of millions of Medicaid enrollees was shared this week with immigration officials despite an attempt by officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to block the data transfer. Citing an internal memo and emails, the outlet reported that Medicaid officials objected to the sharing of the data on legal and ethical grounds. According to the memo and two people familiar with the matter, the data includes the names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and claims data for enrollees in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington, D.C. — all of which allow illegal immigrants to enroll in Medicaid programs funded by state taxpayer dollars. The emails reportedly show that two of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s top advisers ordered that the dataset be handed over to DHS within 54 minutes on Tuesday. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant DHS secretary for public affairs, said that President Donald Trump "promised to protect Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries." "To keep that promise after [former President] Joe Biden flooded our country with tens of millions of illegal aliens, CMS and DHS are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans," she said in a statement.

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The Hill [6/13/2025 1:39 PM, Amalia Huot-Marchand, 18649K]
Univision19 [6/13/2025 4:08 PM, Staff, 4992K]
Washington Examiner [6/13/2025 2:16 PM, Haisten Willis, 1934K]

Newsweek [6/13/2025 2:52 PM, Dan Gooding, 52220K] reports California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has expressed concern for the privacy of immigrants in his state, following reports that the Trump administration has shared Medicaid data with immigration officials. An internal memo and emails obtained by the Associated Press showed that Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns. Nevertheless, two top advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the dataset handed over to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the emails show. Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) were given just 54 minutes on Tuesday to comply with the directive. "We deeply value the privacy of all Californians," Newsom’s office told Newsweek in a statement. "This action by the federal government has implications for every person on Medicaid, but it is especially alarming for our immigrants and American mixed-status families who are already under relentless, indiscriminate attack by this administration. The federal government continues to instill fear across this nation and shroud its continued violation of Americans’ privacy rights in propaganda." DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek in a statement: "President Trump consistently promised to protect Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. To keep that promise after Joe Biden flooded our country with tens of millions of illegal aliens CMS and DHS are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding American."

Daily Caller [6/13/2025 12:09 PM, Jason Cohen, 1010K] reports Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons warned on a Friday podcast that Democrats’ rhetoric against his agency will lead to killing. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin accused Democrats of stoking violence against ICE in a Saturday statement on the riots in Los Angeles, California, which included assaults of federal immigration officers. Lyons agreed with host Vince Coglianese on “VINCE” when he expressed concern about assaults escalating to killing due to Democratic rhetoric. “So far we’ve seen assaults, but the thing I’m on guard for — and I’m sure you’re worried about too — is whether or not an ICE agent gets killed,” Coglianese said. “That’s what I’m worried about because I think — I’ve been saying that this type of gross language is going to get an ICE officer killed. And if that happens, it sounds like you’re saying the same thing I’m saying, which is these Democrats will have blood on their hands.” “Well, 100%, I think anyone that calls for violence against one of the men and women that I have the privilege to lead is responsible for it … the reason why I’m so adamant about the mask situation or them protecting themselves, because under the last administration in 2022, I had Antifa protesters show up my house and threaten my family at three o’clock in the morning,” Lyon replied. “So I know exactly what these officers and agents are going through.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Caller [6/13/2025 1:01 PM, Jason Cohen, 1010K] reports Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons said on a Friday podcast that he fears his agents could face violent attacks during nationwide left-wing protests planned for Saturday. “No Kings” protests are slated to occur across the nation on Saturday to oppose President Donald Trump’s administration, prompting worry among law enforcement regarding potential violence. Lyons said on “VINCE” that he and his agency support peaceful protests, but voiced concern that the Saturday protests present “the perfect catalyst” to assault ICE agents. “When you bring in these agitators, these anarchists, these funded groups disrupt those protests — they go into the cover of peaceful protest to initiate violence to get their point across in the cause,” Lyons said. “And that’s the biggest fear for me is that that negative energy is going to be directed toward ICE agents. And this is the perfect catalyst to jump on that.” The protests coincide with a planned military parade on Saturday, which is the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, Flag Day and Trump’s birthday. Millions are anticipated to participate in the over 1,800 protests planned, a spokesperson for “No Kings” told the Daily Caller. “No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance,” the organization stated. “From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like.” Lyons also warned on “VINCE” that Democrats’ anti-ICE rhetoric against his agency will lead to killing. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin also accused Democrats of inflaming violence against ICE in a Saturday statement on the riots, which included assaults on federal immigration officers.

Government Executive - Management [6/13/2025 5:29 PM, Eric Katz, 2515K] reports as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to detain and deport undocumented immigrants across the country, it is increasingly relying on federal employees to take on new roles to supplement those enforcement efforts. Within DHS, many components are providing support to ICE in different roles. In a new partnership, the Transportation Security Administration is offering 100 Federal Air Marshals to the agency. The vast majority of those employees volunteered for the assignment. On flights organized by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division, the marshals will conduct in-flight security functions using ICE’s authorities and protocols. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees have also received a push to sign up for ICE deployments, as it did in 2019. Fifty employees from the refugee office alone have signed up for the assignments, meaning nearly one-in-four employees there are currently working for ICE. Around 250 Internal Revenue Service agents are currently detailed to DHS under an agreement between Kristi Noem, the department’s secretary, and Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent, to provide added immigration enforcement manpower. The agents have been authorized under Title 8 of the U.S. Code to make arrests for civil violations of immigration law, according to a government official familiar with the agreement. The employees are serving for six months to start and the administration will then evaluate whether to move forward. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is also providing resources to ICE, including by providing access to its data and with boots on the ground.

Reuters [6/13/2025 2:04 PM, Ted Hesson, 51390K] reports the number of people booked into immigration detention who have been charged only with immigration violations has jumped eight-fold since President Donald Trump took office, government data shows, undercutting his anti-crime message. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention statistics show the number of detainees arrested by ICE with no other criminal charges or convictions rose from about 860 in January to 7,800 this month - a more than 800% increase. Those arrested and detained with criminal charges or convictions also rose, but at a lower rate of 91%. Trump took office in January pledging to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, framing the push as needed to remove serious criminals. The White House said ICE had arrested more than 100,000 immigrants as of early June, putting the daily average at more than double the pace last year under former President Joe Biden. Still, it remains far below what Trump would need to remove millions from the U.S. Top White House official Stephen Miller in late May demanded that ICE begin arresting 3,000 migrants per day - three times an earlier quota of 1,000. Raids in Los Angeles and in other parts of the country swept in non-criminals and have sparked protests calling for ICE to stand down. “When you have an agenda that sets quotas at 3,000 arrests a day, there are not even enough people that pose a public safety threat to meet that number,” said Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration think tank. Under Trump, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has frequently highlighted arrests of convicted criminals. During recent raids in Los Angeles, DHS put out a press release with mug shots of migrants convicted of murder, a child sex offense and drug trafficking, among other serious crimes. At the same time, DHS stopped issuing detailed statistical reports on immigration enforcement after Trump took office, which makes it challenging to gauge the scope of the crackdown. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the administration had targeted "the worst of the worst - including gang members, murderers, and rapists." McLaughlin said 75% of immigration arrests during Trump’s first 100 days in office were of people with convictions or pending charges.

New York Times [6/14/2025 3:30 AM, Allison McCann, 330K] reports that, on Feb. 15, Carlos Enrique Itriago Arevalo put on a mint-green softball uniform, ate a bowl of cornflakes and rushed out the door to his rec league game. It was early, just after 7 a.m., and his wife and 9-year-old son were still asleep. He was in such a hurry that he forgot his phone. He didn’t make it past the gates of his Florida housing complex before multiple Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled him over. Carlos never made it to the game. His teammates began to worry, calling and texting him several times that day. Carlos knew he fit the profile of a “criminal alien” the Trump administration had pledged to target. Not long after coming to the United States from Venezuela, he had been convicted of fraud. But he had served his sentence and, years later, had been granted relief from deportation in the form of Temporary Protected Status. “I was never worried about it — about being deported — because I had T.P.S.,” he said. About an hour after his arrest, Carlos called his wife, Emily, from the ICE offices in Jacksonville and told her what had happened. He warned her not to put herself or the rest of their family, all recent immigrants from Venezuela, at risk by coming to see him. In the family group chat, Emily was despondent. The Itriago Arevalo family, like many recent immigrant families, is extremely close. A walking path of turf patches connects their two family homes. One was shared by Carlos, Emily and their son; the other by his parents, two brothers, sister-in-law and niece. Most of them had overstayed their visas and later sought protection from deportation under the Biden administration, which offered new legal pathways for Venezuelans fleeing their nation’s political and economic crisis. President Trump had promised a sweeping crackdown on undocumented immigrants and a reversal of many Biden-era protections, including the extension of T.P.S., which Republicans had opposed. But Mr. Trump was barely a month in office when Carlos was arrested. The Supreme Court would not allow the administration to proceed with ending the program’s protections until May. The family was not sure whether Carlos’s criminal record meant he had been specifically targeted that Saturday, or picked up randomly. Over the next few months, as Carlos was moved to three detention facilities across three states, the family members kept one another updated about his situation through text and audio messages on WhatsApp. These messages, shared with New York Times, show a family caught up in Mr. Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement. (The messages were translated from Spanish and in some cases condensed for clarity.) They grappled with the turmoil of Carlos’s abrupt detention and the threat of his deportation. They watched what was happening to other Venezuelans and worried about what it could mean for their own status. They struggled to understand the law, and how to help Carlos without endangering themselves.

Washington Post [6/13/2025 6:29 PM, Samantha Schmidt, 32099K] reports a Venezuelan activist seeking asylum in the United States after reportedly being tortured by the government of U.S. adversary Nicolás Maduro has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities weeks before his preliminary hearing. Gregory Sanabria Tarazona, who as a university student participated in 2014 demonstrations against Maduro, was severely beaten while he was held at El Helicoide, the notorious headquarters of Maduro’s intelligence service, the United Nations and Amnesty International reported. Now 31 years old, he is scheduled to appear at his preliminary asylum hearing on July 1. He was checking in with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Houston on Thursday when he was taken into custody. According to ICE records online, he’s being held at the Montgomery Processing Center in Houston. Sanabria, allowed a brief phone call to a friend, said he was told by an immigration official that he could be deported to El Salvador, his family said. ICE officials did not respond to a request for comment. A Venezuelan lawyer who is working with Sanabria’s family said he fears the threat of removal to El Salvador is aimed at "generating anguish to force him to sign a self-deportation order" back to Venezuela. The lawyer, Kelvi Zambrano, in Washington, said he would ask the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the U.N. Committee Against Torture for protective measures. If Sanabria is deported to Venezuela, his family and lawyers fear, he could face serious threats to his safety — and possible persecution by the security forces that imprisoned him for years. "There’s every reason to fear that Gregory Sanabria would be abused if he is returned to Venezuela," said Juan Pappier, deputy Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "His case has the hallmarks of a textbook refugee claim, and the United States should protect him.” "No matter what, he can’t go back," said his mother, María Graciela Sanabria Tarazona, who lives in Colombia. "I ask God that he will be freed.”

Bloomberg [6/13/2025 12:57 PM, Rthvika Suvarna, 19320K] reports that the Trump administration is tapping 41 companies to compete for contracts in his $45 billion push to expand immigration detention centers. They include private prison operators, tent companies and disaster relief providers. At least nine companies specialize in temporary, soft-sided facilities, which is raising concerns that the administration is seeking speed over quality. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is currently holding over 50,000 people in detention, despite being funded for an average holding capacity of 41,500. With the new “emergency acquisition” process, ICE is seeking to secure at least 100,000 detention beds as it ramps up efforts to meet the administration’s 3,000 daily arrest quota — prompting protests nationwide — Rachel Adams-Heard, Sophie Alexander and Fola Akinnibi report. Today on CityLab: As Part of a $45 Billion Push, ICE Prepares for a Vast Expansion of Detention Space.

CBS Boston [6/13/2025 9:05 PM, Paul Burton, 51860K] Video: HERE reports speaking from their backyard in Milford, Massachusetts, Maureen and Mike Maloney say their 23-year-old son Matthew was struck and killed by an undocumented immigrant who was driving drunk. "It opened my eyes to the problem of immigration, really specifically illegal immigration," Mike Maloney said. Back in 2011, the family says Matthew Denice was on his way home from helping a friend, when the motorcycle he was riding was hit by Nicolas Guaman of Milford. Police say Guaman was drunk and failed to stop and plowed into Matthew in his ford pickup, dragging him for a quarter mile. Guaman who was an undocumented immigrant, faced eight different charges including vehicular homicide and driving without a license. "If we had a secure border and immigration laws enforced, Matthew would still be alive and thousands of others of innocent victims would still be alive," Maloney said. Today, the Maloneys are speaking on behalf of their son and in support of the recent ICE raids taking place across the country. "ICE is out there looking for dangerous criminals. They have to go out into the community and with that there is the risk of collateral damage of picking up otherwise nonviolent people who are in the county unlawfully," Maureen Maloney said. The Maloneys still live in Milford, the same town that has gained national attention when 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes da Silva was detained two weeks ago after his visa expired. ICE said he was not the intended target; his father was for traffic violations. Marcelo was released a few days later and reunited with his family. "The bottom line is, no matter how traumatic that was for him, he got to go home and be reunited with his parents. Even if they get deported, they will do so as a family. I would do anything to have more time with my son Matthew. Matthew will never be back. I go to the cemetery, that’s how I visit my son," Mike Maloney said.

The New York Times [6/13/2025 6:16 PM, Luis Ferré-Sadurní, 138952K] reports a state judge on Friday indefinitely blocked Mayor Eric Adams from letting federal immigration authorities open an office at the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City, a priority for the Trump administration as it seeks to expand its immigration crackdown. The City Council had sued the Adams administration on April 15 in an effort to halt the return of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to Rikers Island. The Council argued that letting ICE into the city’s largest jail facilities, a decade after the agency was banned from Rikers, would lead to mass deportations. Friday’s action by Justice Mary Rosado of State Supreme Court in Manhattan represented the third time she had sided with the City Council. In April, she had temporarily blocked the mayor’s efforts, and then extended the short-term block. The latest ruling — a preliminary injunction — is a longer-term order and will be in place until the judge reaches a decision. In an 18-page ruling, the judge found that the City Council had “shown a likelihood of success” because of its argument about the appearance of a quid pro quo between the Trump administration and Mr. Adams. The mayor had moved to allow ICE into Rikers shortly after the Justice Department dropped corruption charges against him. The two-month legal fight has pitted Mr. Adams against fellow Democrats who control the City Council. While the case is far from over, the City Council cast the ruling on Friday as a victory. “Over the past months, we’ve witnessed the Trump administration repeatedly disregard the U.S. Constitution, disappearing residents within our country without due process and wrongfully arresting local government officials,” Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker, said in a statement. “This attempted corrupt bargain to allow ICE to set up a center on Rikers would only make our city, and all New Yorkers, less safe.” Justice Rosado ordered Mr. Adams not to sign any agreements with ICE or other federal agencies that are interested in opening offices at Rikers, which would give the Trump administration a greater foothold in the city’s 400-acre jail complex and open a new front in the federal government’s immigration crackdown in New York. ICE agents in the city have already conducted hundreds of arrests in homes, immigration courts and the agency’s Manhattan offices. The AP [6/13/2025 8:19 PM, Staff, 24051K] reports that city lawmakers filed a lawsuit in April accusing Adams of entering into a "corrupt quid pro quo bargain" with the Trump administration in exchange for the U.S. Justice Department dropping criminal charges against him. Rosado temporarily blocked the executive order in April. In granting a preliminary injunction, she said city council members have "shown a likelihood of success in demonstrating, at minimum, the appearance of a quid pro quo whereby Mayor Adams publicly agreed to bring Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") back to Rikers Island in exchange for dismissal of his criminal charges.” Rosado cited a number of factors, including U.S. border czar Tom Homan’s televised comments in February that if Adams did not come through, "I’ll be in his office, up his butt saying, ‘Where the hell is the agreement we came to?’ ". Adams has repeatedly denied making a deal with the administration over the criminal case. He has said he deputized his first deputy mayor, Randy Mastro, to handle decision-making on the return of ICE to Rikers Island to make sure there was no appearance of any conflict of interest.

Breitbart [6/13/2025 10:23 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 3077K] reports anti-ICE protesters who were shaking the gates of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey, were seen getting pummeled by ICE agents. Video footage posted to social media showed protesters leaning against a fence and appearing to shake the gates to Delaney Hall ICE detention facility, before the gates are opened. As the gates are opened, law enforcement officials can be seen rushing forward and pushing the protesters back. "Back up, back up," law enforcement officials can be heard saying, as they instruct the crowd to go to the "other side of the line.” Other law enforcement officials were heard telling protesters to "get up and go.” One protester can be seen using a megaphone and telling law enforcement officials that they hope they "kill" themselves. Protesters were also heard being told to get on the ground, and were also instructed to "move to the sidewalk.” This happened after four illegal aliens escaped from Delaney Hall ICE detention facility. Breitbart News reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced a $10,000 reward "to anyone who has information that leads to the arrest" of the four illegal aliens: On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FB) announced that a $10,000 reward is being offered to anyone who has information that leads to the arrest of illegal aliens Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes, Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez, Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada, and Andres Pineda-Mogollon, who escaped from Delaney Hall on June 12. Delaney Hall ICE detention facility is also where Reps. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) gathered to conduct federal oversight of the ICE detention facility. Baraka was initially arrested for having allegedly criminally trespassed at the facility, though charges against Baraka were later dismissed. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba later revealed that McIver would be charged for reportedly "assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officers.” While McIver has claimed there is "no video that supports" the allegation that she body slammed anyone, DHS shared a video on X showing Democrat lawmakers pushing and shoving law enforcement officials at the ICE detention facility. A federal grand jury recently indicted McIver after she was reportedly caught on camera storming the ICE detention facility. McIver could face up to 17 years in federal prison if found guilty.

Blaze [6/13/2025 10:40 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K] reports that Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey made abundantly clear to radicals during a press conference on Thursday that Florida handles rioters a whole lot differently than authorities on the West Coast, underscoring that violence will be met with violence, and the odds are not in radicals’ favor. Sheriff Ivey, flanked by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, noted at the outset that Americans are moving to the Sunshine State in record numbers, in part, "because they know their families will be safe here, their businesses will be safe. They won’t have to contend with what we’re seeing in places like Los Angeles and New York and Chicago.” Ivey indicated that this coveted safety is the result, in part, of Florida law enforcement’s approach to crime and the state AG’s support for law enforcement. Uthmeier announced Thursday that violence and intimidation against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will not be tolerated and indicated he had directed the Florida Highway Patrol to partner with federal law enforcement to ensure that Florida-based federal agents doxxed by radicals have a direct line of communication with local FHP leadership. The Florida AG also instructed FHP to have troopers conduct routine welfare checks on doxxed agents’ residences to ensure their safety and the safety of their families. "Border Patrol and ICE agents enforcing immigration law deserve protection from leftists trying to harm them," Uthmeier said in a statement. "If the left doxxes these agents, we will have their backs. Whether you make the poor choice to riot or publish an agent’s personal information online to bring harm, you are committing a crime in Florida. We will find you and hold you accountable."

Axios [6/13/2025 7:19 AM, Abbey Higginbotham, 13599K] reports protesters gathered downtown Tuesday in solidarity with demonstrators in Los Angeles, ahead of planned No Kings protests this weekend. The rallies follow a week of unrest nationwide sparked by President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdowns in immigrant communities. Gov. Mike Kehoe signed an executive order Thursday activating the Missouri National Guard as a precaution ahead of Saturday’s planned protests. In the order, Kehoe said Missouri is taking a "proactive approach" to potential civil unrest and emphasized support for peaceful protest, while pledging to "not tolerate violence or lawlessness." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Chicago Tribune [6/14/2025 6:00 AM, Alice Yin, 3987K] reports the Chicago city clerk is suspending the online application portal to a municipal ID program recently subpoenaed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the latest defense from local officials grappling with the threat of mass deportations under Republican President Donald Trump. Clerk Anna Valencia announced Friday that her office would take the CityKey online portal offline Friday night, a week after the Tribune reported that ICE subpoenaed her office for the personal information of applicants to the program that is often used by noncitizens. The clerk said that while CityKey’s in-person events — which do not leave behind a written trail that identifies applicants — will not be affected, her office decided to halt online applications after other elected officials and community groups expressed concern. "We did hear, ‘Let’s pause the online platform temporarily as we take a pulse and evaluate what’s happening,’" Valencia said during an interview with the Tribune. "We’re going to assess what’s happening daily and where the climate is, and if we feel we are in a different place, we can easily turn the online platform back on, but we are not going anywhere.” The April 17 subpoena from ICE, which Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has vowed to resist, represents a new frontier in the president’s immigration crackdown that has placed Chicago squarely in his crosshairs. But for those familiar with CityKey, news of the federal government’s unprecedented hunt for applicants’ personal information raised the question of why there were records to subpoena in the first place. When the municipal ID launched in 2017 under Valencia and then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, they promised the city would not keep identifying documents because the cards would be printed on the spot at in-person events. Years later, crushed by the surging demand during the Venezuelan migrant crisis, Valencia’s office debuted a website in December 2024 to sign up for appointments or apply for the card online. Because of local public records law, the city began retaining documents for those online applicants, more than 2,700 as of this month.

Univision [6/13/2025 5:41 PM, Liliana Cadavid, 4992K] reports Margarita Ávila, the 50-year-old gardener and mother of nine who ended up in an ICE prison in Houston after a false complaint from a postal worker, according to her lawyer, completed three months of imprisonment on June 12 and made a decision that surprised everyone. She gave up fighting his asylum case and chose to waive his right to appeal. She did so, she said, not because she lacked reasons to stay, but because she was put in an untenable situation. Margarita explained that she had been waiting two months for an appointment scheduled with a deportation officer for Tuesday, June 10, at 11 a.m., but the meeting never happened. She stressed that the treatment they receive at the detention center is "inhumane."

CBS News [6/13/2025 6:06 PM, Marissa Armas, 51860K] Video: HERE reports latino organizers and city leaders across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex are speaking out against ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. At a press conference Friday at Dallas City Hall, groups including LULAC, the American Business Immigration Coalition, and the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce urged the community to keep protests peaceful. The event addressed both Friday’s anti-ICE demonstration and the "No Kings" protests planned for the weekend. "There is a storm cloud right above us," said Besty Grimaldo, a student at UNT Dallas. "With the ever-changing heavy political climate that we’re in right now, America is seeing the highest rate of change, both positive and negative all across the board.” Advocates said the ICE raids are terrorizing Latino communities. LULAC President Roman Palomares criticized recent moves by President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott to deploy the National Guard, calling them politically motivated. "This weaponization of military force is against peaceful dissenters, and it has a very chilling effect on our communities," Palomares said. "We cannot ignore the signs of authoritarians.” LULAC also addressed a separate incident involving U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, who was forcibly removed and handcuffed Thursday while attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a press conference.

New York Times [6/13/2025 10:36 PM, Bernard Mokam and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, 138952K] reports tension has been growing for months over the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to deport people who remain in the United States illegally. But the situation escalated in Los Angeles about a week ago. After protesters converged on immigration raids and demonstrated against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, President Trump deployed 2,000 California National Guard troops to the city. While the focus has turned to ensuing protests in downtown Los Angeles and the heavy military response — the call-up has since increased to 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines — ICE agents have continued immigration raids each day in Southern California. It is difficult to have a comprehensive picture of the ICE efforts because the agency does not issue a list of people who have been detained each day nor the locations where they were taken from, and authorities did not confirm the number of raids they conducted in California this week. But residents, immigrant rights groups and elected leaders have cobbled together accounts of ICE workplace raids that they describe as indiscriminate attempts to find anyone who might be undocumented. Here is a sampling of the raids that have taken place in and around Los Angeles in the past week, according to activists and local residents: Home Depot in Los Angeles: Immigration authorities detained several people in the parking lot of a Home Depot, where day laborers regularly gather to find work, just west of downtown on June 6. Ambiance Apparel in Los Angeles: That same day, immigration authorities raided a clothing wholesaler. Dozens of federal agents wearing helmets and green camouflage arrived in two hulking armored trucks and other unmarked vehicles, and were soon approached by a crowd of immigrant-rights activists and supporters. Carwashes in Los Angeles: At least 25 workers and one customer at five carwashes in the city have been arrested in immigration sweeps since Sunday, according to a labor group. In one video, immigration agents could be seen chasing an employee who ran through a busy parking lot. Downey, Calif.: A man was detained without explanation in the parking lot of Downey Memorial Christian Church on Wednesday and was taken away in a black S.U.V., said the Rev. Tanya Lopez, the church’s senior pastor. She ran out of her office when she saw three S.U.V.s pull up and men get out to corner a Latino man. Mario Trujillo, a Downey City Council member, said that at least four people were also detained at a fitness center and two at a Home Depot in his suburb of Los Angeles.

Breitbart [6/13/2025 5:50 PM, Olivia Rondeau, 3077K] reports television star Dr. Phil McGraw shot back at the Democrats’ narrative on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that sparked a violent outburst from rioters in Los Angeles last week, revealing the "primary" business targeted in those raids was a clothing company "suspected of involvement in criminal activity.” While the daytime host and network boss was "embedded" with ICE during previous raids in Chicago, multiple establishment media outlets erroneously reported that he was once again "embedded" with agents conducting the raids last Friday, which was not the case.

Los Angeles Times [6/13/2025 5:06 PM, David Zahniser and Julia Wick, 14672K] reports with Los Angeles reeling from immigration sweeps and unsettled by nightly clashes between protesters and police, Mayor Karen Bass was asked by a reporter: What she did she have to say to President Trump? "I want to tell him to stop the raids," she said. "I want to tell him that this is a city of immigrants. I want to tell him that if you want to devastate the economy of the city of Los Angeles, then attack the immigrant population." Since agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal authorities fanned out across the region, searching for undocumented immigrants at courthouses, car washes and Home Depot parking lots, Bass has accused Trump of creating a "terrible sense of fear" in her city.

Univision [6/13/2025 3:56 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted an operation at a taco truck east of the city, where they reportedly arrested at least two people. The stand known as Jason’s Tacos is located at Whittier Boulevard and Bradshawe, where federal officers showed up heavily armed and without showing a warrant, according to witnesses. According to the owner, in less than two minutes, immigration agents took four customers and two workers, leaving the place completely empty and with the meat still on the grill. He later confirmed that, of those arrested, the whereabouts of an employee were unknown, as well as one of the customers, who had simply gone to buy something to eat and ended up arrested. This isn’t the only business targeted by ICE raids; around Los Angeles, numerous merchants are reporting drops in customers and sales due to fears of immigration enforcement operations. So far, federal authorities have not released information about the people arrested at the taco shop.

Telemundo52 [6/13/2025 2:56 PM, Chris Cabezas and Marvelia Alpizar, 103K] reports thousands of football and baseball fans will be gathering in Los Angeles Friday afternoon and throughout the weekend for various FIFA and Dodgers games. But many fans fear that a raid could occur during these events. One of them is the opening match of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will take place on Saturday, May 14, between Mexico and the Dominican Republic at SoFi Stadium. The operations of recent days have created concern among the migrant community in Southern California. Pasadena authorities claim that coordination with different levels of government is a simple security protocol and have criticized ICE’s actions.

FOX News [6/13/2025 6:46 PM, Jackson Thompson, 32092K] reports Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sent a message to U.S. immigration forces in Los Angeles, asking for grace for fans at the Mexico vs. Dominican Republic Gold Cup soccer game at SoFi Stadium Saturday. "We don’t believe that at any soccer match there will be any [immigration] action ... we call for none to be taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement," Sheinbaum said in a Friday press conference. "Mexico will always promote peace," she added. A now-deleted post to social media post by U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated a promise to be "suited and booted" at the first round of Club World Cup soccer matches this week. In response to its social media post, the CBP said it regularly provides security at big sporting events. "U.S. Customs and Border Protection is committed to working with our local and federal partners to ensure the FIFA Club World Cup 25 is safe for everyone involved, as we do with every major sporting event, including the Super Bowl. Our mission remains unchanged," it told The Associated Press on Thursday. Downtown Los Angeles remains under a curfew. Los Angeles police have made nearly 400 arrests and detentions since Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to disperse, according to the police department. A handful of more serious charges have included assault against police officers, possession of a Molotov cocktail and possession of a gun. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that several convicted criminals who are in the U.S. illegally were arrested as part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Los Angeles on Monday and Tuesday. The ICE operations in Los Angeles triggered protests and riots in parts of the city, and President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to protect the federal immigration officers while they continued arrests. "Murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers. These are the types of criminal illegal aliens that rioters are fighting to protect. How much longer will Governor Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass continue to prioritize these criminal illegal aliens over their own citizens?" Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Wednesday.

Reported similarly:
AP [6/13/2025 8:53 PM, Staff, 56000K]
Telemundo52 [6/14/2025 12:38 AM, Staff, 103K]

Daily Caller [6/13/2025 12:34 PM, Philip Lenczycki, 1010K] reports the leader of a Chinese American political action committee involved in organizing upcoming protests against federal immigration enforcement under the "No Kings" banner is also a director of a taxpayer-funded group with extensive ties to Beijing’s intelligence network, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has discovered. Asian Americans For Progressive America (AAPA) is a California-based political action committee promoting an upcoming national protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) targeted enforcement operations, according to announcements and flyers. AAPA’s president, Elaine Peng, also serves as an executive for United Chinese Americans (UCA), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that has received U.S. government grants worth roughly $370,000 for a mental health program it runs called WAVES, for which Peng is the "director of training." UCA claims to be focused on "enriching and empowering Chinese American communities through civic engagement" and has often invoked racial discrimination as the reason it holds protests against U.S. national security initiatives and immigration enforcement. However, translated Chinese government and state media reports reveal a significant number of the nonprofit’s leaders have also served as members of the Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and/or Beijing’s intelligence arms, raising concerns among analysts about foreign influence.

CBS Salisbury [6/13/2025 7:09 PM, Kyle Orens] reports he Department of Homeland Security is sending termination notices to immigrants paroled into the United States under the CHNV program. CHNV allowed certain nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to apply for entry to the U.S. for a temporary stay of up to two years. The Biden Administration opened the program in 2023. The notices, sent to program participants via email, inform them that their parole and parole-based employment authorization have been revoked. According to the DHS press release, parole recipients who have not yet obtained lawful status to remain in the U.S. must leave the country immediately. "The Biden Administration lied to America. They allowed more than half a million poorly vetted aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela and their immediate family members to enter the United States through these disastrous parole programs; granted them opportunities to compete for American jobs and undercut American workers; forced career civil servants to promote the programs even when fraud was identified; and then blamed Republicans in Congress for the chaos that ensued and the crime that followed," said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. The directive is sending shockwaves through Wicomico County, which is estimated to have the largest Haitian population in the state of Maryland. "I don’t know how many came through the Biden program, but at this point, there might be, probably at this moment over 3,000 [to] 4,000 Haitians in Wicomico County," said Reverend Roosevelt Toussaint, Executive Director of the Haitian Development Center of Delmarva. Toussaint said the CHNV program offered a lifeline to those seeking to escape a country plagued by violence and political unrest.

NewsMax [6/13/2025 9:34 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4622K] reports Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham and Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday released vastly different competing proposals on border security for President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill," with Graham calling for full funding and Paul pushing for far less funding. Graham, R-S.C., released draft text allocating about $46.5 billion for the border wall and surrounding infrastructure, which is in line with the version of the bill passed in the House, reports Politico. His plan also includes $45 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detentions and $10 billion to reimburse states for border security costs, as well as other new funding related to the border. "As Budget Chairman, I will do my best to ensure that the President’s border security plan is fully funded because I believe it has been fully justified," Graham commented through a statement. "I respectfully disagree with Chairman Paul’s proposal to cut the Trump plan by more than 50 percent.” Paul, R-Ky., Thursday night released a plan allocating $6.5 billion for border immigration efforts. His plan also frees $2.5 billion for Customs and Border Protection facilities and checkpoints, in comparison to $5 billion in the House version of the bill. Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is responsible for crafting border security provisions for the tax and spending bill, but Graham, by releasing his own plan, appears to be trying to override him, notes Politico. Republicans are expected to go with Graham’s plan rather than Paul’s. The Kentucky Republican voted against the framework, giving his committee instructions to spend $175 billion, mostly on border security. The Trump administration is pushing for Congress to provide ICE with a large influx of cash through the bill for use in its crackdown on illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, the relationship between Paul and the Trump White House is reportedly tense, with Trump dis-inviting Paul and his family to the White House picnic, and then reversing course and inviting them.

New York Times [6/14/2025 5:01 AM, James Wagner, 138952K] reports Tijuana had migrants sleeping in its parks, shelters packed with families, and claimed to be the busiest border crossing by land in the Western Hemisphere. Now, the migrants trying to pass through Tijuana’s gateway to Southern California have all but disappeared from sight. The street where people lined up, waiting for asylum appointments to try to enter the United States legally, lies deserted. At the border wall, which some migrants climbed in desperate attempts at illegal crossings, the only ruckus nearby is road construction. On Thursday morning, five people waited on the Mexico side of the border crossing where crowds had once gathered. “People aren’t coming here,” said Lenis Mojica, 49, a Venezuelan migrant who has been living in a shelter here since January. “Everyone has left. No one else has arrived.” Mexican cities along the border have reported similar drop-offs in migrant numbers in recent months, a fall that began before President Trump was inaugurated but that has grown more dramatic since he took office, promising a crackdown on immigration. In April, U.S. border agents apprehended 8,383 people along the U.S.-Mexico border, down from 129,000 apprehensions in April 2024, and far below the record of nearly 250,000 apprehensions in December 2023. Officials in the Trump administration have hailed the decline as a victory, including the secretary for Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, who in April wrote on social media, “The world is hearing our message: do not come to this country illegally.” But despite the fall in crossings, Mr. Trump and other aides have also maintained that there is an emergency at the border, and the president said this week that he deployed the National Guard to quell protests in California and “liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion.” Residents and the few migrants who remain in Tijuana, a border city of over two million people, say that don’t see evidence of anyone rushing the border — or of much activity at all. “The reality is this: There are no migrants,” said José María García, 58, the founder of a shelter just a few blocks from the United States. “It’s very calm,” he added. Unlawful border crossings began to drop under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., as he imposed asylum restrictions and Mexico’s hardened its own crackdown on migrants. The decline grew much sharper after Mr. Trump shut down an app that allowed migrants to schedule asylum appointments to gain entry into the United States.

FOX News [6/13/2025 5:59 PM, Julia Bonavita, 46878K] reports two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling biological materials into the United States appeared in court Friday as federal authorities fight to keep them detained in cases they say concern "national security." University of Michigan post-doctoral research fellow Yunqing Jian and Huazhong University of Science and Technology student Chengxuan Han were ordered to remain in federal custody as their separate cases remain ongoing. During the hearing, Han, who is accused of mailing packages containing biological materials to the University of Michigan’s laboratory, became visibly emotional and was seen choking back tears when she learned her preliminary hearing had been pushed to a later date. In her brief detention hearing Friday, Han’s attorney said her client is consenting to detention without prejudice and will remain in federal custody. Han’s preliminary hearing was initially set for June 23, but was subsequently rescheduled for June 30. Both Han and Jian will remain in federal custody until their next hearings. Jian and her boyfriend, Chinese researcher Zunyong Liu, were charged this month after they first attempted to transport Fusarium graminearum, a "potential agroterrorism weapon" that can inflict dangerous health effects on humans, into the country in August 2022, prosecutors said.

Los Angeles Times [6/13/2025 10:25 PM, Brittny Mejia, 14672K] reports Brian Gavidia was at work on West Olympic Boulevard in Montebello at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday when he was told immigration agents were outside of his workplace. Gavidia, 29, was born and raised in East Los Angeles and fixes and sells cars for a living. He said he stepped outside. And saw four to six agents. Within seconds, he said, one of them — wearing a vest with "Border Patrol Federal Agent" written on the back — approached him. "Stop right there," he said the agent told him. Then the agent questioned whether Gavidia was American. "I’m an American citizen," Gavidia said he told the agent at least three times. Despite his responses, the agent pushed him into a metal gate, put his hands behind his back and asked him what hospital he was born in, Gavidia said. Rattled by the encounter, he said he couldn’t remember the hospital. Video taken by a friend shows two agents holding Gavidia against a blue fence. He tells them they are twisting his arm. "I’m American, bro!" Gavidia said in the video. "What hospital were you born?" the agent asked again, this time recorded in the video. "I don’t know dawg!" he said. "East L.A. bro! I can show you: I have my f—ing Real ID.” His friend, who Gavidia did not name, narrated the video. As the incident continued, he said: "These guys, literally based off of skin color! My homie was born here!" The friend said Gavidia was being questioned "just because of the way he looks. ". Gavidia said he gave the Border Patrol agent his Real ID, but the agent never returned it to him. The agent also took his phone and kept it for 20 minutes, he said, before finally returning it. Even after the agent saw his ID, Gavidia said, he never apologized. In a response to questions from the Times, U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not answer questions about the encounter with Gavidia. The agency said in a statement that it is "conducting targeted immigration enforcement in support of ICE operations across the Los Angeles area. Enforcing immigration law is not optional — it’s essential to protecting America’s national security, public safety, and economic strength.” The statement continued: "Every removal of an illegal alien helps restore order and reinforce the rule of law.” Pressed by The Times for answers about that specific encounter, a CBP spokesperson said: "The statement provided is the only info available about the operation at this time.” The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FOX News [6/13/2025 2:44 PM, Angelica Stabile, 46878K] reports that flight passengers need to know about a new way hackers can access personal information. In a public statement posted to Facebook, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) warned that just simply plugging your phone into USB ports for a charge while sitting in the airport can be a cybersecurity risk. (See the video at the top of this article.). "In this technology age, cybersecurity has never been more important," TSA wrote in the post. "Hackers can install malware at USB ports (we’ve been told that’s called ‘juice/port jacking’)." It continued, "So, when you’re at an airport, do not plug your phone directly into a USB port." The agency instead suggested bringing a TSA-compliant power brick or battery pack to charge your devices. TSA also reminded travelers not to use free public Wi-Fi, especially when planning to make online purchases. "Do not ever enter any sensitive info while using unsecure Wi-Fi," the agency warned. In an appearance on "Fox & Friends" earlier this week, Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson revealed that the issue with USB "juice jacking" in airports has grown. "This is not new in terms of how they’re doing this," Knutsson said. "Criminals tamper with the popular USB charging ports that are located throughout the terminal when you’re at the airport, especially in the gate areas," he said. "What they do is – you plug your phone in, and they’ve got something in front of it that then installs malware on your phone while it’s charging. [And] you’ve got no idea." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS New York [6/13/2025 5:54 PM, Frederick Sutton Sinclair and Ryan Hughes, 51860K] reports that a wildfire is burning in the area of the Emilio Carranza Memorial in the Wharton State Forest in Shamong Township, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service and Department of Environmental Protection said Friday. "The fire has got some serious burning going on right now and with that, we’re having a hard time to control it," said NJFFS Chief Bill Donnelly during a press conference Friday night. "So as of right now, the fire is 2,500 acres in size and it is 25% contained." Donnelly said roughly 150 firefighters are fighting the wildfire, which has been named the Mines Spung Wildfire. Additionally, 25 fire trucks/brush trucks, 25 fire engines from local departments are assisting with the firefight, the NJFFS chief said. The fire was first reported by a private aircraft flying over the area around 5 a.m. Officials said the dry, sandy soil has fueled the flames. "The main challenge is we’re in a very remote area, Wharton State Forest, so limited access," NJFFS assistant firewarden David Achey said. "No cellphone service communications have been a little bit of an issue, but we’re working on straightening that kind of stuff out. So, just the remoteness of the location and the fuels we’re dealing with. This is the heart of the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, so very violate fuels." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS Philadelphia [6/14/2025 12:23 AM, Staff, 51860K] Video: HERE reports a major wildfire burning in South Jersey has exploded in size. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service said the fire has burned over 3,200 acres and is 30% contained. New video from Chopper 3 shows smoke billowing out of the Wharton State Forest in Shamung Township, Burlington County. The fire was first spotted by a private plane. Officials said fighting the fire has been a challenge.

CBS Baltimore [6/13/2025 10:45 AM, JT Moodee Lockman, 51860K] reports that Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday requested that the Trump administration issue a Major Disaster Declaration to help communities that were impacted by severe flooding in May. The request comes after damage assessments conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Maryland Department of Emergency Management found that estimated recovery costs would surpass $15.8 million. The flash flooding on May 13 damaged more than 200 homes and impacted businesses, roads, sewer systems, drinking water and public utilities, according to the governor’s office. Nearly 200 people were rescued from schools during the flooding event. Some students were trapped overnight amid power outages and evacuations. Gov. Moore declared a state of emergency, mobilizing state and local responders and federal partners. According to the governor, the effort to fully recover is beyond the capacity of state and local agencies. "After a thorough assessment of the damage, it’s clear that additional support is necessary," Gov. Moore said. "We must continue to deploy essential resources to ensure a full and robust recovery. This declaration marks an important continuation of that ongoing push.” "With a natural disaster where residents, businesses, and public infrastructure are impacted on this scale, recovery is an all-hands-on-deck approach," said Maryland Department of Emergency Management Secretary Russ Strickland. "We are already working tirelessly at the local and state level, but the flooding caused incredible destruction. The addition of much-needed federal assistance is necessary to get those affected back to their regular lives and to allow those communities to fully recover in months instead of years.”

CBS Colorado [6/13/2025 6:52 PM, Christa Swanson, 51860K] reports another round of summer storms moved into Colorado on Friday afternoon, bringing the chance of scattered hail, strong wind gusts and frequent lightning. The NWS said the severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for much of northeastern Colorado through 10 p.m. As of 4:30 p.m., they have issued two tornado warnings in connection with the storm, one in Adams County south of E. 152nd Avenue and one affecting the areas around Lochbuie and Hudson. Both warnings expired at 4:30 p.m. A special weather statement warned of hail and possible 50 mph winds near Hugo, Boyero and Karval until 6:45 p.m. Brush, Hillrose and Snyder are under a severe thunderstorm warning until 6:45 p.m.

The New York Times [6/13/2025 9:13 PM, Aishvarya Kavi and Amy Graff, 138952K] reports the death toll from flash flooding that overwhelmed the San Antonio region rose to 11 after six more bodies were recovered following heavy rain that inundated the area, the authorities said on Friday. Several people remained missing around two creeks in the city, the city’s Fire Department said. The authorities said that canine units and a Texas-based Federal Emergency Management Agency task force that specializes in urban search and rescue were helping in the searches. The teams were “conducting detailed ground searches across creek beds, low-water crossings and debris fields,” the city said. Five people were reported killed on Thursday but more bodies were recovered as search efforts continued. At least three of the 11 dead, two men and a woman, were publicly identified as of Friday afternoon, according to the medical examiner for Bexar County. The San Antonio Police Department was investigating the deaths and identifying next of kin, the city said. The Fire Department said it had responded to more than 80 water rescues and investigations since the flooding began on Thursday. NBC News [6/13/2025 6:29 PM, Dennis Romero, 44540K] reports "Several individuals remain unaccounted for," the San Antonio Fire Department said in a statement Friday afternoon. A search effort that includes help from the San Antonio Police Department and Texas A&M Task Force 1, one of 28 national search and rescue teams organized under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is focusing on areas of Salado Creek, near Perrin Beitel Road, and Leon Creek, the fire department said. "These teams are conducting detailed ground searches across creek beds, low-water crossings, and debris fields," it said.

FOX News [6/13/2025 2:00 PM, Peter D’Abrosca, 10702K] reports the U.S. Secret Service confirmed Thursday that it is "aware" of threatening "Kill Trump" graffiti messages spray-painted around the city of Los Angeles during this week’s riots. A spokesman for the protective agency would not confirm whether an investigation is underway but did say that it knows of the violent messaging directed at both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The messaging was seen in the city’s downtown area amid civil unrest following Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of criminal illegal immigrants. "Kill Trump," the other said, with "JD Vance" spray-painted below. Trump activated the California National Guard and U.S. Marines. He has been in a legal battle with Gov. Gavin Newsom over control of the National Guard. Other federal law enforcement agencies have also turned their attention to the city amid the tension. FBI Director Kash Patel warned those who commit violence against police, saying "if you assault a law enforcement officer, you’re going to jail—period." The Trump administration, which says it has arrested criminal illegal immigrants who have been convicted of murder, sex crimes against children and battery, is continuing its ICE operations. "Murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers. These are the types of criminal illegal aliens that rioters are fighting to protect. How much longer will Governor Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass continue to prioritize these criminal illegal aliens over their own citizens?" Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Wednesday. "Secretary Noem has a message to the LA rioters: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE will continue to enforce the law and arrest criminal illegal aliens," McLaughlin added. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Times [6/13/2025 4:08 PM, Lindsey McPherson, 2106K] reports the Secret Service is poised to receive a significant funding boost in Republicans’ "big, beautiful bill" for increased resources needed to protect President Trump and other top officials. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s portion of the budget reconciliation package includes $1.17 billion for the Secret Service to spend on resources such as personnel, training facilities and technology over the next four years. The version of the bill the House passed last month includes the same funding provision, all but ensuring that the Secret Service will receive the money if a final package clears both chambers and makes it to Mr. Trump’s desk. House and Senate Republicans’ decision to provide the agency more money in the big beautiful bill – a nearly 10% boost in its annual budget over the next four years – suggests the heightened threat around Mr. Trump continues, although the money is not earmarked specifically for his protection. Another portion of the Senate bill released late Thursday by Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, includes $300 million to reimburse state and local law enforcement for supporting the Secret Service’s work to protect the private residences of current and former presidents. The provision, which was also included in the House-passed bill, applies only to costs incurred since July 1 of last year. That suggests the bulk of the funding is likely related to costs incurred to protect Mr. Trump at his various residences, primarily his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

Bloomberg [6/13/2025 10:30 AM, Jason Leopold, 19320K] reports when it comes to the former FBI director, there are few public figures who’ve managed to stoke such ire on both sides of the political aisle. Democrats blame Comey for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential election loss. Republicans have their own litany of grievances against him. President Donald Trump, who fired Comey in May 2017, has called for Comey’s prosecution many times, alleging he was part of a “deep state” conspiracy to derail his presidency. Since then, Comey has evolved into one of Trump’s most incandescent critics. His social posts about the president, and pretty much anything else on his mind, almost always seem to backfire on him (CNN has a good rundown with examples). Since then, Comey has evolved into one of Trump’s most incandescent critics. His social posts about the president, and pretty much anything else on his mind, almost always seem to backfire on him (CNN has a good rundown with examples). Last month, Comey pulled a Comey again. He posted a photo on Instagram of seashells arranged in the sand that spelled out “86 47.” Many would interpret that as code for ejecting Trump from office. Trump is the 47th president and the number “86” is commonly understood to mean “get rid of,” “eject,” “ban” or “remove,” according to Webster’s Dictionary. Less commonly, it is slang for “to kill.” Trump said he believed Comey’s post to be a call for his assassination. (Comey deleted the photo and explained in a separate Instagram post that he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.”) Can you guess what happened next? Yep, the Secret Service launched an investigation to find out if Comey poses a threat to Trump.

CNN [6/13/2025 11:51 PM, Holmes Lybrand, 875K] reports a group of roughly 60 individuals were arrested outside the US Capitol on Friday evening after breaching a police line of bike racks and moving toward steps leading to the Capitol Rotunda, according to the Capitol Police. The group, made up of veterans and military family members, planned a sit-in on the Capitol steps to protest President Donald Trump deploying the National Guard and active-duty Marines in Los Angeles, as well as a military parade on Saturday, Trump’s 79th birthday, according to a news release from organizers. A group of approximately 75 protesters were demonstrating peacefully at the Supreme Court, just across the street from the US Capitol, according to a statement from the Capitol Police. As the group was leaving the area, officers began establishing a perimeter of bike racks to keep the protesters away from the Capitol. "A few people pushed the bike rack down and illegally crossed the police line while running towards the Rotunda Steps," the Capitol Police said. "Our officers immediately blocked the group and began making arrests.” Police said, "All will be charged with unlawful demonstration and crossing a police line. Additional charges for some will include assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.” The protest was organized by two advocacy groups – About Face: Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace. The brief sit-in followed a rally and press conference, according to the organizers’ news release. "We want a future where we invest in care for veterans, in health care, and in education, not where we spend $50 million on a parade," said Brittany Ramos DeBarros, an Army combat veteran and organizing director of About Face: Veterans Against the War, in a statement. The arrests come on the eve of one of the largest gatherings expected in Washington, DC, this summer as the Army celebrates its 250th birthday. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands are expected to attend various events around the Capitol as well as the military parade, which is estimated to cost around $45 million and will feature soldiers, tanks, airplanes and other military equipment. US Secret Service is leading security for the event, which will be maintained by similar fencing the protestors allegedly pushed down near the Capitol on Friday night, but will also be enforced by thousands of officers, 18 miles of anti-scalable fencing, surveillance drones, counter snipers and many other security features. Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office Matt McCool told CNN the Secret Service and other federal partners are monitoring the protests in Los Angeles and around the country but say they have already planned for the potential of mass protests Saturday. As of Friday evening, agencies are not monitoring any active threat against the parade and surrounding events.

Wall Street Journal [6/13/2025 8:00 PM, Aaron Zitner and Nancy A. Youssef, 646K] reports on Saturday, for the first time in more than 30 years, the U.S. military is holding a big parade. The event is intended to celebrate the 250th birthday of the Army and to remind Americans of their debt to men and women in uniform. “We want to show off a little bit,” said President Trump. But the spectacle of Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and more than 6,000 marching soldiers will do more than display the awesome powers of the Army. It will also bring into focus a range of challenges facing the armed forces in future conflicts. The Army is scrambling to keep pace with the changing nature of warfare, as expensive, old-fashioned military hardware becomes increasingly vulnerable to attack by cheap, off-the-shelf drones. There are personnel issues too. In two of the past three years, the Army has missed its recruitment goals, and surveys find that the public’s faith in the armed forces has ebbed. The parade also arrives at a tense moment in civil-military relations, with President Trump deploying Marines and federalized National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell protests and riots over the administration’s deportation policies. Trump’s actions, in the face of objections from California officials, have put at risk the military’s status as an apolitical institution, serving the Constitution and the country rather than a president or party.

ABC News [6/13/2025 5:10 PM, Luke Barr, 31733K] reports the nation’s capital is preparing for a large security presence ahead of the Army’s 250th anniversary parade. Thousands of law enforcement officers from across the country will arrive in Washington to assist in security, and land, air and water assets are deployed in an effort to secure the event, which coincides with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. "Since April 23, we’ve been working diligently, around the clock, to get this plan ready," Matt McCool, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, told ABC News, noting that officials typically have six months to a year to prepare for large-scale special security events. "This is a comprehensive plan," he said. The Secret Service has had five National Special Security Events, or NSSEs, in the past six months. "All threats are mitigated," he said. "There will be no line-of-sight issues when it comes to the president. Once you hit the Secret Service perimeter, it will be the most secure place on the planet." The U.S. Coast Guard, which is manning the waterways, told ABC News it is supporting throughout the day with security. The Secret Service and local officials have said they are expecting about nine small protests in Washington, though "No Kings Day" protests will occur nationwide, with the largest expected to be in Philadelphia.

Miami Herald [6/13/2025 12:26 PM, natalie Demaree, 3805K] reports that a father and son abandoned a fishing vessel that began sinking about 30 miles off the Virginia coast, officials said. Officials received a distress call just after 9 a.m. Thursday, June 12, reporting that the crew of the 57-foot sport fisher was evacuating using a life raft after the boat started taking on water, the United States Coast Guard said in a June 12 news release. The Coast Guard was able to locate and rescue Robert Hudson, 60, and his son Jeffrey Hudson, 30, after they activated their Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, officials said. A rescue helicopter found the men at about 10 a.m., and they were reunited with family members after a medical evaluation, officials said, adding that no one was injured. "The quick response and the mariners’ preparedness significantly contributed to the rescue," Chief Warrant Officer 3 Daniel Butierries, Sector Virginia command duty officer, said in the release. As of June 12, the ship was still partially sunken about 30 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, and a broadcast notice was issued telling mariners to avoid the area, according to officials.

Washington Examiner [6/13/2025 1:41 PM, Tom Rogan, 1934K] reports that Israel’s military operation against Iran’s nuclear program began with speed and impressive strategic effect on Friday. Still, the United States will face significant military and counterterrorism challenges as the conflict continues. Israel’s early successes are significant. Numerous high-ranking Iranian nuclear scientists and military officials, including the heads of the Iranian military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Guard’s Quds Force foreign covert action unit, were killed. The death of the latter official, Esmail Qaani, is manifestly good news for the U.S. — Qaani plotted numerous assassination attempts against top U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump. Numerous Iranian nuclear facilities have also been struck, and further Israeli military action is expected over the weekend and into next week. Similar to its 2024 action against the Lebanese Hezbollah, Israel has gutted Iran’s command and control apparatus and undermined its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s center of gravity. Khamenei is now forced to choose between risking his fragile regime with escalation or yielding to Israeli power. Khamenei may choose limited retaliation of a kind designed only to save face. But, believing this is the greatest existential challenge to Iran’s Islamic Revolution since the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, it is far more likely that he will choose persistent retaliation of a diverse and deadly kind. And if he does so, this conflict will carry significant challenges for the U.S.

FOX News [6/13/2025 11:52 AM, Michael Dorgan Fox, 46878K] reports that the NYPD said it is ramping up security at Jewish sites across New York City after Israel launched strikes on Iran overnight. The precautionary measures aim to protect Jewish communities amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. "Out of an abundance of caution, we’re deploying additional resources to Jewish, Israeli and other sites throughout NYC," the NYPD wrote on X late Thursday as the attacks were unfolding. "We’re coordinating with our federal partners and we’ll continue to monitor for any potential impact to NYC." New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he had been briefed on the unfolding situation in Israel and Iran, and that the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Unit is closely monitoring the situation. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are increasing security at houses of worship and at Israeli diplomatic sites,’ Adams wrote on X. "I am praying for peace in the region." Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch are scheduled to hold a joint press briefing later today ahead of anti-ICE protests already planned for the weekend. Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that there are no credible threats to New York at this time. She said security and cybersecurity protections for sensitive locations have been stepped up in the state. "My priority is keeping New Yorkers safe," Hochul wrote on X. There has also been increased security outside the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C., Fox 5 reported.

AP [6/13/2025 7:16 PM, Nadia Lathan, 44540K] reports an Afghan man in Oklahoma accused of planning an Election Day attack in the U.S. on behalf of the Islamic State group pleaded guilty Friday to terrorism-related charges in federal court. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, pleaded guilty to two offenses: conspiring and providing support to the Islamic State group, and attempting to receive firearms to commit a federal crime of terrorism. The Islamic State is designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization. Tawhedi faces up to 35 years in prison. "The defendant admits he planned and obtained firearms to carry out a violent terror attack on Election Day in 2024, a plot that was detected and disrupted through the good work of the FBI and our partners," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. A phone message was left seeking comment from Craig Hoehns, an attorney for Tawhedi. Tawhedi was living in Oklahoma City last year when he acquired two AK-47-style rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition to target large crowds, according to court documents. Authorities said he had conspired with multiple people, including his brother-in-law, Abdullah Haji Zada, for several months to plot out the attack. Zada, who was 17 at the time, was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty in April. He faces up to 15 years in prison. Tawhedi arrived in the U.S. in September 2021 on a special immigration visa shortly after the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul, was captured by the Taliban. At the time of his arrest on Oct. 7, Tawhedi was on parole while his immigration status was pending, according to the Justice Department. His parole status has since been revoked. FBI agents had testified earlier that Tawhedi, who worked as a rideshare driver and at auto shops, was under surveillance for more than a month before his arrest.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [6/13/2025 10:56 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 18649K]

NPR [6/13/2025 5:22 PM, Allison Sherry, 37958K] reports that Mohammed Soliman tried to buy a gun to attack people in Boulder, Colo., who support Israeli hostages. His application was denied, and DHS was notified but did not follow up on that information.

Sponsor Message MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: The man who attacked people in Boulder, Colorado, two weeks ago with Molotov cocktails tried to buy a gun to use in that attack. He was not able to, and Colorado police alerted the Department of Homeland Security when his gun purchase was denied, but federal authorities apparently took no action. Colorado Public Radio’s Allison Sherry reports. ALLISON SHERRY, BYLINE: Mohamed Soliman told police he hated all Zionists and had been planning an attack for a year. He found a Boulder group online, which has conducted weekly marches since October to support Israeli hostages in Gaza. In November, he tried to buy a gun from a Colorado sporting goods store, but as an Egyptian national with no legal status, his purchase was denied. Earlier this month, when he attacked the marchers, he used homemade firebombs he learned to make online. A witness to the attack shared this cellphone video on YouTube. SHERRY: Fifteen people were injured. Eight had to be hospitalized for burns. Soliman was quickly taken into custody and faces felony charges, including for hate crimes. More than a week after the attack, Colorado Republican Congressman Gabe Evans faulted Colorado authorities for not telling federal law enforcement about the failed gun purchase. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

AP [6/13/2025 9:56 PM, Josh Boak and Marc Levy, 56000K] reports President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order paving the way for a Nippon Steel investment in U.S. Steel, so long as the Japanese company complies with a "national security agreement" submitted by the federal government. Trump’s order didn’t detail the terms of the national security agreement. But U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel said in a joint statement that the agreement stipulates that approximately $11 billion in new investments will be made by 2028 and includes giving the U.S. government a "golden share" — essentially veto power to ensure the country’s national security interests are protected. "We thank President Trump and his Administration for their bold leadership and strong support for our historic partnership," the two companies said. "This partnership will bring a massive investment that will support our communities and families for generations to come. We look forward to putting our commitments into action to make American steelmaking and manufacturing great again.” The companies have completed a U.S. Department of Justice review and received all necessary regulatory approvals, the statement said. "The partnership is expected to be finalized promptly," the statement said. The companies offered few details on how the golden share would work and what investments would be made. Trump said Thursday that he would as president have "total control" of what U.S. Steel did as part of the investment. Trump said then that the deal would preserve "51% ownership by Americans." The Japan-based steelmaker had been offering nearly $15 billion to purchase the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel in a merger that had been delayed on national security concerns starting during Joe Biden’s presidency. Trump opposed the purchase while campaigning for the White House, yet he expressed optimism in working out an arrangement once in office. "We have a golden share, which I control," said Trump, although it was unclear what he meant by suggesting that the federal government would determine what U.S. Steel does as a company. Trump added that he was "a little concerned" about what presidents other than him would do with their golden share, "but that gives you total control.” Still, Nippon Steel has never said it was backing off its bid to buy and control U.S. Steel as a wholly owned subsidiary. The order signed Friday by Trump said the CFIUS review provided "credible evidence" that Nippon Steel "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States," but such risks might be "adequately mitigated" by approving the proposed national security agreement. The order doesn’t detail the perceived national security risk and only provides a timeline for the national security agreement. The White House declined to provide details on the terms of the agreement.

Reuters [6/13/2025 6:09 PM, Staff, 51390K] reports Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel (X.N) poses a national security risk, but those concerns can be mitigated if the companies fulfill certain conditions laid out by the Trump administration, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a executive order on Friday. "I additionally find that the threatened impairment to the national security of the United States arising as a result of the Proposed Transaction can be adequately mitigated if the conditions set forth in section 3 of this order are met," Trump said in the order released by the White House.

Axios [6/13/2025 6:37 AM, Barak Ravid, 13599K] reports President Trump on Friday called on Iran to go back to the negotiating table and cut a nuclear deal "before there is nothing left" after Israel attacked its nuclear sites. The Trump administration wants to use the war Israel started to get the Iranians back to the nuclear talks when they are in a weaker position. A U.S. official said White House envoy Steve Witkoff still wants to meet Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday for the planned sixth round of the nuclear talks. But the Iranians said they are not going to participate.

Washington Examiner [6/13/2025 12:26 PM, Luke Gentile, 1934K] reports Israel’s ambassador to the United States said Friday that his nation’s operation against Iran will be completed with the "elimination" of the Fordow enrichment facility. "This entire operation really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordow," Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter told Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. "Fordow is the main site, deep, deep, deep underground, which is where the enriched uranium and the weapons are put together, coupled, and poses the greatest danger.” Israel launched a series of strikes against Iran with the aim of eliminating the Islamic nation’s ballistic missile capabilities and decapitating its military leadership. Missile sites, nuclear facilities, military command-and-control centers, and the apartments of military leaders and nuclear scientists were all struck, killing top Iranian leaders, including Gen. Hossein Salami, the chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and multiple nuclear scientists. "The top brass of the IRGC, that’s the terrorist wing of the military that sponsors international terrorism, their leadership has been taken out almost entirely," according to Leiter. "Many of the top brass in the army itself have been taken out, and the infrastructure at the site of Natanz, which is the first site for the production of weapons-grade uranium, has been destroyed, we believe, almost entirely.” The ambassador said attack analysis is underway, and more strikes may be required.

ABC News [6/13/2025 5:17 PM, Shannon Kingston, 31733K] reports that the U.S. was represented at the UN Security Council’s emergency session on Friday by State Department Senior Bureau Official McCoy Pitt, who said the U.S. was advised by Israel that the actions carried out against Iran overnight were "necessary for its self-defense." "Every sovereign nation has the right to defend itself and Israel is no exception,” Pitt said. "The United States was informed of the strikes ahead of time but was not militarily involved in these strikes." Pitt repeated Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement, saying Iran and its proxies should refrain from targeting American interests in the Middle East in response to the attack, and stressed that the Trump administration would continue to pursue diplomacy with Iran. "The United States will continue to seek a diplomatic resolution that ensures Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon or pose a threat to stability in the Middle East," he said. "Iran’s leadership would be wise to negotiate at this time."

Daily Wire [6/13/2025 6:28 AM, Hank Berrien, 3816K] reports leading GOP senators bluntly declared their support for Israel’s strikes targeting Iran on Thursday night, stating that Israel was helping America by attacking the anti-American terror regime that routinely chants, "Death to America.” "Iran is the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism, has the blood of thousands of Americans on its hands, and is rushing to build not only nuclear weapons, but also missiles that can strike the United States," Arkansas senator Tom Cotton wrote on X. "We back Israel to the hilt, all the way. And if the ayatollahs harm a single American, that will be the end of the ayatollahs." Texas Senator Ted Cruz echoed, "President Trump has been clear that Iran must completely dismantle their nuclear capacity. Iran has given President Trump the middle finger. Israel is acting to defend themselves, and we should stand with them."

USA Today [6/13/2025 11:30 PM, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, 75552K] reports President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 13 paving the way for Japan-based Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel as long as the company remains "in compliance" with a national security agreement. The companies announced that they had entered a national security agreement with the U.S. government, which mandates $11 billion in new investments by 2028. "This partnership will bring a massive investment that will support our communities and families for generations to come," the companies announced in a joint statement. "We look forward to putting our commitments into action to make American steelmaking and manufacturing great again.” The agreement brings the companies one step closer to completing the $14.3 billion sale of U.S. Steel that the companies agreed to in December 2023. The companies also said the partnership will bring investments in steelmaking and protect and create more than 100,000 jobs. In January, former President Joe Biden issued an executive order to halt Nippon’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, saying it would place America’s largest steel producers under foreign control and create a "national security" risk. "Steel powers our country: our infrastructure, our auto industry, and our defense industrial base," said Biden in January. "Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure.” In February, Trump said that Nippon Steel would look to invest in U.S. Steel, rather than own the iconic American company. Trump doubled U.S. tariffs on steel imports to 50% on June 4. The takeover will set up the ailing American steel icon to receive the critical investment, and allow Nippon Steel to capitalize on a host of American infrastructure projects. It also absolves the Japanese firm of paying $565 million in breakup fees if the companies failed to secure approvals.

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