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.

CBS News [6/17/2025 12:42 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez and Nicole Sganga, 51860K] Video: HERE reports the Trump administration has lifted a short-lived pause on immigration arrests at farms, hotels and restaurants, reversing a major policy pivot just a few days after issuing it internally, two sources familiar with the latest guidance told CBS News. One of the sources said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were told they could continue carrying out worksite enforcement operations to arrest unauthorized immigrants at farms, hotels and restaurants, as long as they are targeted in nature. The sources, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said ICE officials were informed of the new guidance during a call Monday. In a statement, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, "The President has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts." "Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability," McLaughlin added. "These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation." Last week, ICE officials were directed to suspend worksite enforcement operations targeting farms, hotels and restaurants, amid growing concerns among industry leaders that President Trump’s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration was spooking their foreign-born workers, many of whom are in the country illegally or on temporary humanitarian programs his administration has sought to curtail. Mr. Trump himself last week recognized how U.S. farmers and hotel operators rely on immigrant employees, and appeared to preview an upcoming order to protect these industries. Still, last week’s scaling back of worksite immigration enforcement was, in many ways, at odds with the Trump administration’s vow to deport millions of immigrants living in the U.S. unlawfully. Two of his top immigration advisers, Stephen Miller and Tom Homan, have both talked about increasing immigration arrests at worksites to fulfill the administration’s mass deportation plans. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The Hill [6/17/2025 10:37 AM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18649K] reports that the White House over the weekend suspended the raids, with President Trump backing the idea. "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," the president wrote Thursday. "This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!" he added. But Trump shifted his tune Tuesday morning, again blaming his predecessor while saying he planned to continue operations in large, often Democratic-led cities. NBC News [6/17/2025 11:57 AM, Gabe Gutierrez and Suzanne Gamboa, 44540K] reports that just six days ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement paused arrests at worksites in agriculture industries, including fisheries and meatpacking plants, restaurants and hotels, according to an internal policy memo obtained by NBC News last Thursday "Effective today, hold on all worksite enforcement investigations/ operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants, and operating hotels," said the memo from Tatum King, Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge of the San Francisco field office. But by Tuesday morning, the White house was contradicting that position, saying "anyone present in the United States illegally is at risk of deportation.” The New York Post [6/17/2025 10:27 AM, Jennie Taer, 49956K] reports "Severe disruptions to our food supply would harm Americans," wrote Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on X Sunday. "It took us decades to get into this mess and we are prioritizing deportations in a way that will get us out.” `All the while, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has further pushed ICE to meet the 3,000 daily arrest quota the administration has set. "[W]e must dramatically intensify arrest and removal operations nationwide," she wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. "This is a nonnegotiable national priority.” ICE agents will be judged "every day by how many arrests you, your teammates and your office are able to effectuate," she wrote, adding, "Failure is not an option.” She also said worksite sweeps are "a cornerstone" of the mass deportation push, adding, "There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts.”

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NewsMax [6/17/2025 1:57 PM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4622K] reports that Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, told Newsmax on Tuesday that worksite operations are "very much a cornerstone" of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations. "Oftentimes, these worksites are hubs for drug trafficking, for human trafficking, for labor trafficking," McLaughlin said on "National Report." "Actually, there was just an operation in Los Angeles that picked up some drug traffickers at a worksite, so, these are places where we do find the worst of the worst, these criminal illegal aliens that the president has a mandate to get off of American streets." She added, "So we will continue to do that. We’ll continue to primarily target these violent criminal aliens. But criminal aliens in this country should know that there is no safe haven for them. There is no safe harbor, whether it be a church or a courthouse or a worksite. We will come for you; we will arrest you; you will be deported.". On Monday, DHS told agents it will reverse guidance issued last week that paused immigration raids at farms, hotels and restaurants. The move follows President Donald Trump’s weekend post on Truth Social that expressed disapproval at how farmers and hotels were being impacted by his administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts. The president also directed federal immigration officials to prioritize deportations from Democrat-run cities following the large anti-enforcement protests that have erupted in Los Angeles and other major U.S. cities.

New York Times [6/17/2025 8:05 PM, Tyler Pager, Miriam Jordan, Hamed Aleaziz and Emmett Lindner, 138952K] reports President Trump is sending conflicting messages about his immigration crackdown, promising a reprieve for certain industries that rely on immigrant labor while doubling down on his promise to arrest and deport anyone who is living in the United States illegally. The situation has left business owners unclear on exactly what the Trump policy is, just days after the president said “changes are coming” to help those in the farming and hospitality industries whose employees are too scared to show up for work. “One minute you have a message saying they won’t go after agriculture, the next something else,” said Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nisei Farmers League, a growers organization in the Central Valley of California. Mr. Cunha said it was causing “tremendous havoc” in the country’s largest agricultural region. “First thing this morning I got calls from my growers asking, ‘Does this mean they are going to come after the workers in the fields?’” Mr. Cunha said. The muddled messages coming out of the White House and from Trump officials suggest the president is caught between competing factions on an issue that has come to define his political identity and that he credited for his victory last year. Last week, Mr. Trump drew immediate backlash from even his most fervent supporters after he acknowledged that his hard-line policies were hurting certain industries that rely on immigrant labor, like farming, hotels and restaurants. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials then issued a directive pausing most raids on those work sites to align with Mr. Trump’s position, frustrating many people inside the White House who have pressed for a more aggressive approach. In the days since that ICE directive went out, Trump administration officials have scrambled to contain the fallout — insisting that the president is fully committed to deporting millions of people. But they have also been careful not to directly contradict Mr. Trump’s attempt to give a respite to business leaders in key industries.

AP [6/17/2025 7:34 PM, Rebecca Santana and Eric Tucker, 56000K] reports U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after experiencing an allergic reaction, her spokeswoman said. “She is alert and recovering,” said the statement from department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, who said the hospital treatment was out of an “abundance of caution.” Noem, 53, heads a sprawling department with roughly 260,000 employees handling immigration enforcement, airport security, disaster response and other matters. She has been among the more high-profile members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, traveling extensively and maintaining a robust social media presence. She is often the public face of his mass deportation effort, frequently goes out on immigration enforcement operations and has appeared in commercials encouraging immigrants in the country illegally to voluntarily leave the U.S. She held a press conference last week in California where U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, was forcibly removed as he tried to speak to Noem about immigration raids. Padilla recalled the incident during an emotional speech from the Senate floor Tuesday. Homeland Security said the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the secretary, “thought he was an attacker.” They also accused Padilla of “disrespectful political theater.” Video of the incident shows a Secret Service agent on Noem’s security detail grabbing Padilla by his jacket and shoving him from the room. In the hallway outside he was forced to the ground and handcuffed.

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AP [6/17/2025 5:52 PM, Mike Catalini, 56000K] reports one of the two detainees still missing after escaping from a New Jersey federal immigration detention center has been arrested, the FBI said Tuesday. Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes, from Honduras, has been taken into custody, FBI spokesperson Amy Thoreson said in an email. Andres Felipe Pineda-Mogollon, from Colombia, is still missing from Thursday night’s escape, the bureau said. Bautista-Reyes and Pineda-Mogollon and two other men busted out of the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark during reports of disorder there by breaking through a wall and escaping from a parking lot, according to Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, and Homeland Security officials. All four men were in the country illegally and had been charged by local police in New Jersey and New York City, federal officials said. Bautista-Reyes was charged in May with aggravated assault, attempt to cause bodily injury, terroristic threats and a weapon crime. Pineda-Mogollon, from Colombia, was charged with minor larceny and burglary crimes. The details surrounding Bautista-Reyes’ capture were not immediately clear. Messages seeking information were sent to the FBI and the Homeland Security Department, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that they were grateful to law enforcement for apprehending the men. The FBI on Monday had increased the reward for information leading to their arrest to $25,000 from $10,000.

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Breitbart [6/17/2025 4:53 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports New Jersey State Police refused to take custody of an illegal alien, accused of burglary and theft, who escaped the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey, even as he tried to turn himself in. The refusal to take custody of the illegal alien escapee is a result of New Jersey’s strict sanctuary state policy. As Breitbart News reported, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been searching for four illegal aliens, all accused of crimes, who escaped from Delaney Hall on June 12. The following day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and FBI agents located and arrested one of the illegal alien escapees — Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez — while another, Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada, was arrested on June 15. Shockingly, DHS officials have revealed, Castaneda-Lozada had tried to turn himself in to the New Jersey State Police at their office in Bridgeton, New Jersey, on June 13. Thanks to the state’s sanctuary policy, though, state police refused to take custody of Castaneda-Lozada even as he was wanted by the FBI. On June 15, Castaneda-Lozada surrendered himself to ICE agents and FBI agents in Millville, New Jersey. ICE and the FBI are continuing to ask the public for help in locating the two other illegal alien escapees, Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes and Andres Pineda-Mogollon. The FBI is offering a $10,000 cash reward for information that leads to their arrest.

Reuters [6/17/2025 9:08 PM, Staff, 24051K] reports that New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was detained for several hours after being arrested at an immigration court on Tuesday, the latest politician opposed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration raids to get caught up with law enforcement. Lander, who is among 11 Democratic candidates seeking to replace current Mayor Eric Adams, was released after New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul went to the courthouse. She left the building with Lander and said charges had been dropped against him. Lander, the city’s chief financial officer, said he had been escorting a defendant out of immigration court when he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He said he was "fine," only losing a button on his shirt as he was arrested by federal agents. "The rule of law is not fine and our constitutional democracy is not fine," Lander said outside the court, adding that families were being separated and immigrants denied due process in Trump’s immigration crackdown. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lander was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer. "It is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment. No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences," she said. Lander denied that accusation. "I certainly did not assault an officer," he said. A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office said it was investigating Lander’s actions at the federal building on Tuesday. The New York Times [6/17/2025 1:32 PM, Luis Ferré-Sadurní, 153395K] reports that videos taken by reporters at the courthouse show Mr. Lander standing by a migrant man in a hallway on the 12th floor when several men in plainclothes who appear to be law enforcement officers, some wearing masks, push past a crowd in the hallway to arrest the migrant. Mr. Lander repeatedly asks the agents whether they have a judicial warrant, refusing to let go of the migrant as the agents seek to shepherd the man toward the elevators, according to one of the videos, which was posted on social media by a reporter from The City, a digital news outlet. Mr. Lander was held at 26 Federal Plaza for several hours before being released on Tuesday afternoon, as Gov. Kathy Hochul and other Democrats showed up at the federal offices demanding his release. At a news conference, Mr. Lander rejected claims that his arrest had been a premeditated publicity stunt and denied that he had assaulted anyone, saying, “Seriously?” “I did not come today expecting to be arrested,” Mr. Lander said. “But I really think I failed today because my goal was really to get Edgardo out of the building,” he added, referring to the migrant ICE had detained. In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, the parent agency of ICE, said that Mr. Lander “was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.” “Our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413 percent increase in assaults against them,” she added. “It is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment. No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences.”

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New York Times [6/17/2025 7:16 PM, Adeel Hassan, 138952K] reports they’re elected to make policy, or to enforce the law. But in recent weeks, several prominent elected officials and a judge have been handcuffed, arrested or charged while protesting President Trump’s immigration agenda. On Tuesday, Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller, was arrested at an immigration court in Lower Manhattan, the latest lawmaker to be swept up in the protests against the administration’s immigration raids and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. He was trying to escort a migrant whom agents were seeking to arrest. Mr. Lander, a candidate in the Democratic primary for mayor, was seen in a video posted to his personal account on X being placed in handcuffs and led into an elevator by men in plain clothes wearing backward baseball caps and surgical masks. A few of the men wore vests that read “police federal agent.” “You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens,” Mr. Lander said repeatedly, while being jostled by the men. A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said that Mr. Lander, who was held for several hours and then released, had assaulted and impeded a law enforcement officer, though federal prosecutors did not bring charges on Tuesday. Mr. Padilla was shoved out of a room, told to drop to his knees in a hallway and handcuffed, after he tried to question Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, during a news conference last Thursday. Federal officials arrested Mr. Baraka, the mayor of Newark, outside an immigration detention center in Newark on May 9. He was taken to another ICE building in Newark and charged with trespassing. He was released about five hours later and was greeted by a crowd that had grown throughout the afternoon to more than 200 supporters. Ms. McIver, a United States representative from Newark, was charged last month with assaulting two federal agents as she tried to block the arrest of Mr. Baraka on May 9 outside the new federal immigration detention center in Newark, known as Delaney Hall. Judge Dugan of Milwaukee County Circuit Court was arrested in April and accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade federal agents. She was indicted by a federal grand jury in May on charges of concealing a person from arrest and obstruction of proceedings.

FOX News [6/17/2025 3:00 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, discuses the agency’s plan moving forward and focus on both public and officer safety threats on ‘America Reports.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [6/17/2025 8:40 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin discusses the arrest of New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [6/17/2025 11:02 PM, Michael Katz, 4622K] reports the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday fired back at the mainstream media, accusing them of not properly portraying an illegal alien from Mexico who was arrested last week on suspicion of spitting on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Los Angeles. Several media outlets, including KTTV in Los Angeles and the New York-based Latin Times, referred to Omar Pulido-Bastida, a Mexican national who was charged June 11 with a felony after an ICE agent was spat upon, as a "South LA man" or "man," instead of referring to him as an illegal immigrant. The British-based Independent referred to him as an "L.A. man." "The media is attempting to force feed Americans that this is a ‘L.A. Man’ — it’s not," Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a news release. "This is a criminal illegal alien who should have never been in our country." DHS said Pulido-Bastida was previously convicted of robbery and has been arrested on murder and assault charges. Earlier this year, he was charged with being in the country illegally after previously being deported, according to the Department of Justice. "This previously deported illegal alien criminal spit on an ICE law enforcement officer," McLaughlin said. "Too many members of the media continue to purposefully mislead the public about illegal alien crime. Americans deserve to know the facts."

The Hill [6/17/2025 3:06 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 18649K] reports that Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) teared up during a Tuesday speech on the Senate floor while recounting being "physically" and "aggressively forced out" of last week’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference in Los Angeles. The Democratic lawmaker said his federal escorts "stood by silently" as he was wrestled to the ground for interrupting DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday. "I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a United States senator and I had a question for the secretary. Even as the National Guardsman and the FBI agent who served as my escorts and brought me into that press briefing room stood silently, knowing full well who I was," Padilla said on the floor. He said agents forced him to the ground flat on his chest, while his thoughts raced. "I pray you never have a moment like this," Padilla said, with a choked voice, as he referenced Noem. "In that moment, a lot of questions came to mind. First of all, ‘Where are they taking me, because I know I’m not just being escorted out of the building? Am I being arrested here?’" he asked. "And, ‘What will a city already on edge from being militarized think when they see their United States senator handcuffed just for trying to ask a question?’" Noem said Padilla’s behavior at the press conference "wasn’t appropriate." White House officials backed his detainment. "I think everybody in America would agree that that wasn’t appropriate. That if you wanted to have a civil discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a conversation," Noem told reporters during the press conference.

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AP [6/17/2025 5:57 PM, Mary Clare Jalonick and Michael R. Blood, 56000K] reports that Sen. Alex Padilla on Tuesday encouraged Americans to peacefully protest against President Donald Trump’s administration and said it’s “it’s time to wake up” in his first extended remarks in the Senate since he was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles last week as he tried to speak up about immigration raids. In emotional remarks on Tuesday, Padilla, a California Democrat, recounted the altercation, in which security forced him out of the room and onto the ground after he tried to ask Noem a question. Padilla said that even though he was accompanied by a National Guardsman and an FBI agent, “I was pushed and pulled, struggled to maintain my balance” and ended up flat on his chest on the floor. “I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway repeatedly asking, ‘Why I am being detained?’” Padilla said as several of his colleagues from both major political parties sat in their chairs and listened. “Not once did they tell me why.” He said he wondered in the moment if he was being arrested — he wasn’t — and, if he was, what the city and his family would think. “What will a city already on edge from being militarized think when they see their U.S. senator being handcuffed for just trying to ask a question?” Padilla said. In a statement afterward, the Department of Homeland Security said that Padilla “chose disrespectful political theater” and that the Secret Service “thought he was an attacker.” The statement claimed erroneously that Padilla did not identify himself — he did, as he was being pushed from the room.

Politico [6/17/2025 3:18 PM, Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing, 16523K] reports Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) castigated President Donald Trump as a “vindictive president on a tour of retribution” and warned of what the administration was doing to Americans around the country in “places where there are no cameras” in his first comments on the Senate floor since his handcuffing at Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press briefing last week. Padilla’s handcuffing marked a sharp turn in an already dramatic week for Los Angeles, where Trump last week deployed National Guard troops and Marines to contain protests and unrest that erupted in response to the administration’s immigration detentions in the city. The altercation sparked outrage from Democrats, who slammed the administration’s heavy-handed response to a sitting senator. In a statement released at the time, Padilla — as well as other Democrats who jumped on the messaging bandwagon — warned that his treatment by federal law enforcement portended higher risks for ordinary Americans. He emphasized the same message to his Senate colleagues on Tuesday, cautioning that such a crackdown threatened to scare Americans into silence. “How many Americans in the year 2025 see a vindictive president on a tour of retribution, unrestrained by the majority of this separate and coequal branch of government and wonder if it’s worth it to stand up or to speak out? If a United States senator becomes too afraid to speak up, how can we expect any other American to do the same?” Padilla said on Tuesday. The California senator got emotional while describing how he struggled to maintain his balance as he was manhandled and forced out of the briefing room last week, before he was shoved to the ground and handcuffed, “first on my knees and then flat on my chest,” he recounted. Padilla said he was placed in cuffs after attempting to ask a question pushing back against Noem’s claim that “the purpose of federal law enforcement and the purpose of the United States military was to ‘liberate Los Angeles from our governor and our mayor,’” which the senator decried as an “un-American” sentiment. Noem and other administration officials have defended the actions, saying Padilla was just trying to draw attention to himself. “It wasn’t becoming of a U.S. senator or a public official, and perhaps he wanted the scene,” Noem told Fox News shortly after the dustup.

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Breitbart [6/17/2025 10:22 PM, Pam Key, 3077K] reports Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The Weeknight” that President Donald Trump’s immigration raids in blue cities were a “clear partisan political attack.” Padilla said, “Let’s just do a little play by play. On Thursday, what happened to me happened, come Friday there was an announcement that the president was directing DHS to let up on enforcement in hotels and agricultural fields and restaurants. And we thought, oh, maybe there’s a glimmer here. Maybe there’s a baby step in the right direction. By Friday, that was all gone. No no no no, not only are we restoring that, we’re doubling down in blue cities is what he said. So the clear partisan political attack, he’s saying the quiet part out loud.” He added, “So while we try to appeal to our republican colleagues, we know that what will really move them is the people. and one of The best things that has happened over the last several days is the millions of people who came out across the country on Saturday, by and large, very, very peaceful. But you can’t deny the numbers. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle cannot deny the numbers.” Padilla added, “Donald Trump, he may be there his four year term, but at some point that’s going to come to an end. The people ain’t going nowhere. And so my big message is for the general public is please stay engaged. Donald Trump would like nothing more than for us to be fearful and stay quiet, for us to cower and stay home. No. We have to continue to defend our First Amendment rights by exercising our First Amendment rights. Be peaceful, but stay loud, you know, keep the faith, but keep organizing.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [6/17/2025 9:30 AM, Staff, 1805K] reports Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was forcefully removed from a press briefing led by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem after creating a scene and interrupting Noem’s speech by shouting a question about immigration and citizenship. Video shows Padilla being dragged into the hallway by security, where he was handcuffed and led away. In a follow-up video on X, Padilla said, "If they can do that to me, if they’re willing to do that to me, a United States senator with a question, doing my job on behalf of the people of California and our country, what are they doing to a lot of the folks that are out there when the cameras are not on?" "Not the dangerous violent criminals that they say they’re targeting — I have no issue with that — but I’m talking about all the otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants," he added. "I love that he says they were law-abiding," BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says on "Sara Gonzales Unfiltered." "If they are here illegally, they are not law-abiding."

Federalist [6/17/2025 7:30 AM, M.D. Kittle, 1142K] reports after hearing hours of heartbreaking stories of families victimized by criminally violent illegal immigrants, Democrats at Thursday’s Capitol Hill hearing on the devastating policies of sanctuary states tried to manufacture a martyr out of grandstanding Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., in their war on the rule of law. Padilla had been "forcibly" removed from a Department of Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles in which Secretary Kristi Noem was addressing the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots. Video shows an uninvited and unannounced Padilla disrupting the event, yelling about his opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts, and at one point lunging at Noem. Not recognizing the senator, U.S. Secret Service agents removed the leftist senator from the conference room and started to handcuff him before he identified himself. Padilla’s handlers immediately pushed the video out and he held a hasty press conference outside the federal building where the DHS presser was taking place. In short order, the grandstanding senator was appearing on accomplice media outlets everywhere declaring that his First Amendment rights had been violated. That assertion is as absurd as Padilla’s made-for-TV disorderly conduct was staged.

New York Times [6/18/2025 3:18 AM, Charlie Savage and Laurel Rosenhall, 330K] reports a federal appeals court appeared inclined on Tuesday to allow President Trump, against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom, to keep using California’s National Guard for now to protect immigration enforcement agents and quell protesters in Los Angeles. Throughout a 65-minute hearing, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit signaled skepticism of the idea that the judiciary should second-guess Mr. Trump’s determination that deploying the state militia to Los Angeles is necessary to protect federal agents and buildings. The hearing came at a time when local organizers have vowed to continue protesting against immigration raids, though demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles have quieted since the weekend. A district court judge, Charles Breyer, determined last week that Mr. Trump’s use of the National Guard was illegal and temporarily ordered the president to return control of the forces to Mr. Newsom. But the Trump administration immediately appealed the ruling, and the Ninth Circuit panel stayed the lower court decision while it considered the matter. It seemed likely on Tuesday that the panel, which consists of two appointees of Mr. Trump and one of former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., would keep that stay in place. The two Trump appointees, Judges Mark J. Bennett and Eric D. Miller, did the bulk of the talking. Both appeared skeptical of the Justice Department’s argument that courts have no ability to review Mr. Trump’s decision to invoke a statute allowing him to call up the Guard. But they also seemed inclined to find that the sometimes violent protests in Los Angeles were enough to defer to Mr. Trump’s decision. And when a lawyer for California argued that Congress had not granted presidents sweeping discretion to decide when federalizing the National Guard would be justified, the Biden appointee, Judge Jennifer Sung, expressed doubt about his view. “If we were writing on a blank slate, I would tend to agree with you, but the problem I see for you,” she said, is that an 1827 Supreme Court precedent interpreting a president’s power under a similar law “seemingly rejected the exact argument that you’re making.”

Los Angeles Times [6/17/2025 7:05 PM, Sonja Sharp, 14672K] reports the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday questioning both President Trump’s decision to deploy federal troops to Los Angeles and the court’s right to review it, teeing up what is likely to be a fierce new challenge to presidential power in the U.S. Supreme Court. A panel of three judges — two appointed by President Trump, one by President Biden — pressed hard on the administration’s central assertion that the president had nearly unlimited discretion to deploy the military on American streets. But they also appeared to cast doubt on last week’s ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that control of the National Guard must immediately return to California authorities. A pause on that decision remains in effect while the judges deliberate, with a decision expected as soon as this week. "The crucial question ... is whether the judges seem inclined to accept Trump’s argument that he alone gets to decide if the statutory requirements for nationalizing the California national guard are met," said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. The questions at the heart of the case test the limits of presidential authority, which the U.S. Supreme Court has vastly expanded in recent years. When one of the Trump appointees, Judge Mark J. Bennett of Honolulu, asked if a president could call up the National Guard in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in response to unrest in California and be confident that decision was "entirely unreviewable" by the courts, Assistant Atty. Gen. Brett Shumate replied unequivocally: "Yes.” "That couldn’t be any more clear," Shumate said. "The president gets to decide how many forces are necessary to quell rebellion and execute federal laws.” "It’s not for the court to abuse its authority just because there may be hypothetical cases in the future where the president might have abused his authority," he added. California Deputy Solicitor General Samuel Harbourt said that interpretation was dangerously broad and risked harm to American democratic norms if upheld. "We don’t have a problem with according the president some level of appropriate deference," Harbourt said. "The problem ... is that there’s really nothing to defer to here.” The appellate court’s stay left the Trump administration in command of thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines in L.A. through the weekend, when demonstrators flooded streets as part of the nationwide "No Kings" protests. The events were largely peaceful, with just more than three dozen demonstrators arrested in L.A. Saturday and none on Sunday — compared to more than 500 taken into custody during the unrest of the previous week. Hundreds of Marines still stationed in L.A."will provide logistical support" processing ICE detainees, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Tuesday. Under last week’s executive order, National Guard troops will remain deployed for 60 days.

Wall Street Journal [6/17/2002 5:47 PM, Jess Bravin, 646K] reports a Trump administration lawyer told a federal appeals court Tuesday that judges have no power to review the president’s decision to federalize the California National Guard over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objection, and asked it to throw out an order requiring Trump to return command of those troops to the governor. The district court’s order “upends the military chain of command. It gives state governors veto power over the president’s military orders,” Justice Department lawyer Brett Shumate told the three-judge panel during the hearing. Conditions in Los Angeles, where protests against Trump’s aggressive deportation policy have at times turned violent, amount to “rebellion against the authority of the United States,” he said. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel, assembled remotely from chambers in different states, questioned both sides vigorously, pressing Shumate on his claim that Trump’s mobilization of a force normally under state control couldn’t be challenged in court. “If the president or a future president simply invokes the statute, gives no reasons for doing it, provides no support for doing it, and there is nothing which would appear to a court to justify it, the court still has no role at all?” said the presiding judge, Mark Bennett, a 2018 Trump appointee who sits in Honolulu. In June, after protests broke out in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, Trump signed an order federalizing some 4,000 members of the California National Guard. Newsom, the state Guard’s commander in chief, sued, arguing that the situation fell far short of invasion, rebellion or breakdown in civil order, the conditions set out under federal law for the president to deploy those forces. The case involves one of the Trump administration’s most serious confrontations with Democratic-led states over his use of executive authority. In Los Angeles last Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters the administration aimed “to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city,” referring to Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass.

CBS News [6/18/2025 12:14 AM, Faris Tanyos, 51860K] reports another 2,000 California National Guard troops are being deployed to the Los Angeles area, the Defense Department announced Tuesday. It comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown in the region, which has sparked a series of at times contentious protests in downtown L.A. over the past few weeks. U.S. Northern Command said in a statement that the troops were being activated under the Title 10 law, which President Trump previously invoked when he first announced on June 7 that he was deploying National Guard troops to L.A. in response to the demonstrations. The soldiers will "support the protection of federal functions, personnel, and property in the greater Los Angeles area," USNORTHCOM said in a statement. USNORTHCOM later updated its statement to reflect that the 2,000 National Guard troops set to be activated had already been announced last week and were not in addition to those numbers. They will join about 2,100 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines who are already deployed in L.A. The decision to activate them was at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, officials said. USNORTHCOM did not elaborate on what prompted Hegseth to expand the troop count in L.A. Ahead of their arrival, the new batch of soldiers are "completing training on de-escalation, crowd control, and use of the standing rules for the use of force in advance of joining the federal protection mission," USNORTHCOM said. The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a statement to CBS News Los Angeles shortly after the announcement, which read: "This is clean up from the Pentagon. This isn’t a new deployment — it’s the same group of soldiers who have been diverted from critical wildfire work and work at the border, now twiddling their thumbs for Donald Trump’s political theater. This is the deployment of the second set of 2000 federalized Guard soldiers, under the June 9 order. The description of what they are and aren’t going to be doing is meant to be consistent with their legal position, rather than the immigration enforcement support we’ve seen them doing in Los Angeles."

FOX News [6/17/2025 12:42 PM, Julia Bonavita, 46878K] reports Los Angeles officials have announced sweeping charges filed against numerous individuals accused of sparking violence as riots against immigration efforts continue to plague the sanctuary city. In a news conference Tuesday, LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli and California Highway Patrol Southern Division Chief Chris Margaris announced additional federal and state charges filed against numerous alleged rioters. "This group wanted to commit crimes," Hochman said. "They looked at the protest as a cover, an opportunity to go ahead and ply their illegal trade and commit a whole variety of crimes that, in many ways, has done a huge disservice to the legitimate protesters out there." Several arrests have stemmed from peaceful protesters reporting acts of violence, and over 45 law enforcement agencies aided in the efforts to maintain order throughout the city, Hochman said. Of the most violent offenses, an illegal immigrant from Mexico was charged with attempted murder last week after authorities say he threw a Molotov cocktail during a demonstration, according to the Department of Homeland Security. "Emiliano Garduno-Galvez is a criminal illegal alien from Mexico who threatened the lives of federal law enforcement officers by attacking them with a Molotov cocktail during the violent riots in Los Angeles," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously said in a statement. "ICE arrested Garduno-Galvez, and he is now being charged with attempted murder. These are the types of criminal illegal aliens that rioters are fighting to protect." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

USA Today [6/17/2025 1:16 PM, Staff, 75552K] reports a First Amendment group representing journalists covering protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles sued the city and Los Angeles Police Department on June 16, alleging that officers violated press rights under both state and federal law. The First Amendment Coalition filed the federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of the Los Angeles Press Club and the independent media outlet Status Coup. The complaint against the city and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell accused police officers of using "excessive force" against members of the media and making journalism a "dangerous profession" in the city. "The widespread use of force against journalists by LAPD officers indicates an intent to prevent public scrutiny of police conduct toward demonstrators, a refusal to abide by constitutional and statutory safeguards for journalists in these circumstances, and an institutional failure by the LAPD," the lawsuit said. It came a week after the groups sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that said federal officers in Los Angeles "may have violated the First Amendment rights" of journalists. The letter said federal officers are required to uphold the freedom of the press under the First Amendment and referenced court cases that affirmed individuals’ right to record law enforcement officers executing their duties in public places and journalists’ exemption from general dispersal orders so long as they are not interfering with law enforcement actions. The Los Angeles Press Club had at that point documented at least 30 cases of journalists being injured while covering the protests. Several of those incidents were caught on camera. New York Post photographer Toby Canham was shot in the head with a rubber bullet, Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was hit in the leg and Los Angeles Police Department officers detained CNN correspondent Jason Carroll. The letter said officers could be held liable for such incidents but said officials could "take measures to not make the problem worse.” "It appears LAPD did not heed this warning," First Amendment Coalition Executive Director David Snyder said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

Chicago Tribune [6/17/2025 8:13 AM, Joey Cappelletti and Mary Clare Jalonick, 3987K] reports members of Congress will attend emergency briefings this week after the killing of a Minnesota state lawmaker brought renewed fears — and stoked existing partisan tensions — over the security of federal lawmakers when in Washington and at home. The suspect in the attack had dozens of federal lawmakers listed in his writings, besides the state lawmakers and others he’s accused of targeting. The man is accused of shooting and killing former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs and wounding another lawmaker and his wife at their home. The shootings come after credible threats to members of Congress have more than doubled in the last decade, the troubling tally of an era that has been marked by a string of violent attacks against lawmakers and their families. "I don’t have a solution to this problem right now," said Minnesota Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, a friend of Hortman’s who received increased security after the attack. "I just see so clearly that this current state of play is not sustainable." Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said lawmakers are "clearly at the point where we have to adjust the options available to us." While members of Congress may be high profile, they do have some resources available that might not be available to state and local lawmakers, said Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who was a member of the South Dakota state Senate for 10 years before he was the state’s governor. In the state legislature, "it just wasn’t feasible all the time" to have increased security, said Rounds, a Republican. As threats have increased, members of Congress have had access to new funding to add security at their personal homes. But it is unclear how many have used it and whether there is enough money to keep lawmakers truly safe.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [6/17/2025 6:00 AM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18649K]

New York Times [6/17/2025 6:23 AM, John Yoon, 153395K] reports officials in at least three states said on Monday that they were investigating or prosecuting people for making threats against politicians, a day after the police in Minnesota arrested and charged a man over the assassination of a state lawmaker. In Texas, the authorities said that an armed man who had threatened to harm lawmakers at the State Capitol had been detained. In Georgia, a man was arraigned after prosecutors said he had threatened sexual violence against two United States senators. And in Virginia, a former Coast Guard officer was arrested and accused of making threats against President Trump online. Threats and violence against local, state and federal officials in the United States have become part of America’s political landscape. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a Democrat, was the target of a kidnapping plot in 2020, and a man bludgeoned the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022. President Trump was the target of two assassination attempts during his second presidential campaign. And in April, the home of Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, was set on fire as he and his family slept inside. The Department of Homeland Security’s annual assessment of threats to the United States said last year that politically motivated violence was among its top concerns for 2025. The number of concerning statements and direct threats against members of Congress alone more than doubled from 2017 to 2024, according to an investigation by the United States Capitol Police.

The Hill [6/17/2025 6:34 PM, Al Weaver, 18649K] reports Senators on Tuesday pleaded with top Capitol Police officials for an uptick in member security funding in the wake of the fatal shooting of a Minnesota state legislator. The killing of Melissa Hortman, a Democratic former Speaker of the Minnesota House, and her husband over the weekend sent a chill down the spine of lawmakers who were already concerned about the heightened political rhetoric and increasing number of threats against officials. That prompted the Capitol Police and the Senate sergeant at arms to hold a briefing for members, during which multiple lawmakers made the case for more security funding. "We need a more systematic approach to dealing with the security threats. The security threats are clearly going up and I think we need an overall plan and we need better security," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who attended the briefing. "It’s both funding and coordination, and general situational awareness," he continued. "If threats are coming in against members, it might help to ensure everybody’s aware of it because everyone else may be experiencing something similar and we’d be able to be on the lookout.” The briefing came at the request of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) days after an assailant, later identified by police as Vance Boelter, 57, killed Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounded state Sen. John Hoffman (D-Minn.) and his wife, Yvette. According to Schumer, members on both sides of the aisle — Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and David McCormick (R-Pa.) — called for spending to be increased to boost the security of senators. "The Capitol police and the [Senate] Sergeant at Arms gave a very detailed discussion about how they can protect members here, back in our states, in our homes, in our offices. The violences, the threats against elected officials, including people in the Senate, has dramatically increased," the Democratic leader said. "That means we need more protection. We need more money," he said. "The rhetoric that’s encouraging violence is coming from too many powerful in this country. We need firm, strong denouncement of all violence and violent rhetoric. That should be from the president and all of the elected officials.”

ABC News [6/17/2025 7:12 PM, Bill Hutchinson, 31733K] Video: HERE reports that, a investigators probe the extent of alleged political assassin Vance Boelter’s plot targeting Minnesota lawmakers, authorities have yet to publicly answer several major questions about the suspect’s weekend rampage. The 57-year-old Boelter, a married father who friends said was trying to start a security business, is accused of killing Rep. Melissa Hortman, D-Minn., and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday, after he allegedly shot Sen. John Hoffman, D-Minn., and his wife, Yvette, at their residence. Boelter was disguised as a police officer when he allegedly committed the shootings and was driving an unmarked black SUV that was fitted with emergency lights to make it appear to be a law enforcement vehicle, officials said. Police said the suspect also went to the homes of two other Minnesota lawmakers before dawn on Saturday, but one was not home and he was apparently scared off by law enforcement who showed up at the home of the second politician while he was at the scene. "As for why, it remains unclear," Minnesota U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said at a news conference on Monday when asked about a possible motive. Police officers were sent to Hortman’s home to conduct a welfare check after hearing of the shooting at Sen. Hoffman’s home, officials said. The officers arrived at Hortman’s home about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday and spotted the suspect just feet from the front door and his vehicle parked in the driveway. Thompson said that as the officers approached the home, Boelter, who was dressed as a police officer and wearing a hyper-realistic mask, opened fire. Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said it remains under investigation whether Boelter fired at the officers or was shooting into the door of Hortman’s home. When officers opened fire, the suspect entered the home, fatally shooting Hortman and her husband, Mark, Thompson said. After allegedly gunning down Rep. Hortman and her husband, Boelter fled out the back door of the house, Thompson said. Police found the suspect’s 9mm Beretta, body armor and mask ditched behind Hortman’s home. In Boelter’s vehicle left in the driveway with its emergency lights flashing, police discovered five more firearms, including assault-style rifles and a large quantity of ammunition, Thompson said. Also in the car was a notebook containing the names and addresses of more than 45 Minnesota state and federal elected officials, including information on Hortman. Information on elected leaders from other states and abortion-rights supporters was also found in the notebook, as well as detailed notes from surveillance excursions the suspect allegedly conducted on potential targets, Thompson said. "I’ve seen nothing like a Unabomber-style manifesto in his writing," said Thompson, referring to Theodore Kaczynski, who was arrested in 1996 and laid out his nearly 20-year bombing campaign in 40,000 pages of documents that expressed his hatred of modern technology and industrial society.

(B) NBC News Daily [6/17/2025 1:32 PM, Staff] reports that a man accused of targeting Minnesota lawmakers in a deadly attack is now facing charges on state and federal levels. Vance Boelter made a hit list to ambush the victims at their home. Federal authorities allege this is something that took months of planning. Authorities say they found multiple notebooks of Democratic lawmakers, prominent lawyers, and members of the media, but did not spell out why he did the alleged crimes.

CNN [6/17/2025 6:00 AM, Casey Tolan, Rob Kuznia, Curt Devine, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Audrey Ash, Isabelle Chapman, and Majlie de Puy Kamp, 875K] reports for decades, Vance Boelter seemed to be living a typical midwestern American life. His resume showed him climbing the corporate ladder at food service companies like Gerber and 7-Eleven as he raised a family with five kids and two German shepherds and bought a series of bigger and bigger homes in Wisconsin and Minnesota suburbs. Then, in 2021, Boelter abruptly quit his job and headed to the Democratic Republic of Congo on what he described as a mission to end world hunger. He began regularly jetting to Central Africa to preach sermons, funding his travels by working at Minnesota funeral homes – sometimes collecting bodies from crime scenes, he told roommates at a run-down rental house where he lived part-time. As police work to piece together the motive behind Boelter’s alleged assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband Saturday morning – in what authorities describe as a brazen plan to hunt down a long list of elected officials – a CNN review of public records and interviews with people who knew Boelter suggest his life took a strange turn in recent years.

CBS News [6/17/2025 3:11 PM, Staff, 51860K] Video HERE reports President Trump said Tuesday that he won’t call Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after the targeted shootings of two state lawmakers because it would "waste time." One of the lawmakers and her husband were killed. The president spoke to reporters early Tuesday aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington after abruptly leaving the G7 summit in Canada. The White House said the president wants to better monitor the rising tensions in the Middle East between Israel and Iran. Asked if he planned to call Walz, Trump said the Democratic governor is "slick" and "whacked out" and said, "I’m not calling him." Presidents often reach out to other elected officials at times of tragedy to offer condolences. Trump added, "The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. So, you know, I could be nice and call him, but why waste time?". A source close to the governor’s office told CBS News Minnesota that Walz spoke with Vice President JD Vance on Saturday about the shootings. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

ABC News [6/17/2025 6:58 PM, Doc Louallen, 31733K] reports a Sunday evening at home with her children took a dark turn for Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Hillary Scholten when she says state police delivered the horrifying news that she was on a suspected killer’s alleged target list. "It was truly chilling," Scholten told ABC News on Tuesday, describing the moment she says authorities told her she was among 45 people targeted by the suspect accused of killing Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home on Saturday. The 57-year-old suspected gunman, Vance Boelter, allegedly maintained detailed surveillance notes on his intended victims, including Democratic politicians, abortion-rights advocates and healthcare officials, according to law enforcement sources. Boelter is also accused of wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Before the fatal shooting at Hortman’s home, authorities say he had already attempted to reach two other lawmakers who weren’t at their residences. For Scholten, a mother of two boys, her first instinct was to be protective. "As a mom, my first instinct, of course, was to protect my two boys who were at home with me," she said. Scholten told ABC News that local law enforcement responded immediately and stationed troopers outside her home around the clock while the suspect remained at large in a nearby state. She also wants answers to why she was on Boelter’s alleged list. "You know, I think that’s one of the things we’re still trying to figure out, and that we are really pushing the FBI and the Capitol Police to get us answers to," Scholten said. "We will not be intimidated or silenced by an individual like this," Scholten said. "As the first woman in history to do this job, I feel that it is so important to, yes, always be smart and safe, but to continue to push back against this type of violence.”

FOX News [6/17/2025 11:23 AM, Elizabeth Elkind, 46878K] reports a group of House Democrats from New York are claiming President Donald Trump’s annual government funding proposal, if enacted, could leave big cities vulnerable to massive terror attacks. "We are writing to express the gravest concerns about the existential threat that the Trump Administration’s proposed budget poses to the homeland security of New York City," the Democrats wrote. "Here is the bottom line: the Trump budget, if enacted, would leave America’s largest city woefully unprepared to prevent and respond to a second 9/11." The bold new accusation comes as left-wing lawmakers continue to criticize Republicans’ efforts at slashing federal spending. The national debt, meanwhile, is climbing toward $37 trillion. The letter was signed by New York City Democratic Reps. Ritchie Torres, Yvette Clarke, Gregory Meeks, Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler. They argued that "Draconian cuts" to homeland security grants "would all but dismantle the FDNY’s capacity for emergency management and would reduce the NYPD’s post-9/11 counterterrorism apparatus to a shell of its former self." When reached for comment on the letter, the White House referred Fox News Digital to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A DHS spokesperson said, "Claims that DHS is reducing focus on terrorism prevention are unequivocally false.” "Allegations of weakening these programs are baseless. DHS is enhancing intelligence and infrastructure protection to keep cities secure. We remain fully dedicated to preventing another 9/11 with robust, targeted investments," the DHS spokesperson said.

Washington Post [6/18/2025 1:55 AM, Frances Vinall, 32099K] reports a federal judge found Florida’s attorney general in civil contempt of court Tuesday for violating a restraining order, which required state attorneys to tell officers to stop enforcing a newly enacted immigration law. That same judge, Southern Florida District Judge Kathleen M. Williams had issued a temporary restraining order in April halting the enforcement of a law that made it a state crime for any “adult unauthorized alien” to enter or reenter Florida, with a mandatory minimum prison sentence of nine months. That law had been signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in February. Afterward, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) sent a letter to state law enforcement agencies saying he could not prevent them enforcing the new law. "It is my view that no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce Florida’s new illegal entry and reentry laws," he wrote in the letter. Williams on Tuesday found this letter to be in contempt of her order. The letter followed a previous memo from Uthmeier that informed law enforcement agencies of the temporary restraining order and instructed them to comply with it. But the second letter, which Uthmeier said was sent to clarify his original memo sent five days earlier, told law enforcement: "Judge Williams ordered my office to notify you of the evolving scope of her order, and I did so. But I cannot prevent you from enforcing [the new law], where there remains no judicial order that properly restrains you from doing so.” Uthmeier said on X, "If being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump’s agenda on illegal immigration, so be it.” Williams, who was appointed by then-President Barack Obama, ordered Uthmeier to file biweekly reports on whether any arrests, detentions or other actions had been made under the new law. He must immediately inform the court if he becomes aware of any arrests, she added. If he does not comply, the court would consider further sanctions such as fines, she wrote. The lawsuit challenging the Florida law, introduced as Senate Bill 4-C, was led by the Florida Immigrant Coalition and argues that immigration is a federal responsibility. Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, which is part of the plaintiffs’ legal team, said the law is "not just unconstitutional — it’s cruel and dangerous" when the lawsuit was filed in April. The law also instructs law enforcement to notify federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of any arrests made. A U.S. citizen was arrested and detained for more than 24 hours under the law in April, immigration advocates said. A federal court appeals panel in Atlanta rejected Uthmeier’s challenge to Williams’ original restraining order earlier this month.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [6/17/2025 5:34 PM, Patricia Mazzei, 138952K]
NBC News [6/17/2025 7:51 PM, Dareh Gregorian, 44540K]

Washington Post [6/17/2025 10:02 PM, Lauren Kaori Gurley and Mariana Alfaro, 32099K] reports industry and business groups that depend on immigrant workers are scrambling to respond to President Donald Trump’s heightened deportation efforts, after winning a partial reprieve on raids last week that was reversed days later. The administration on Monday walked back a pause on immigration raids at farms, meatpacking plants, hotels and restaurants, sending renewed shock waves through the broader business community, parts of which are still pushing the White House for relief from workplace raids. The pause had come after heavy lobbying efforts from farms, hotels and restaurants, as well as the meatpacking, construction, manufacturing, retail, elder care and dairy industries, among others, said Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum, an advocacy organization that represents Fortune 500 companies on Capitol Hill. Industries have lobbied lawmakers in Congress and White House officials. "To see such a quick overturn, I think, was disheartening for many. A lot of these business and trade associations that need workforce solutions have been very supportive of the administration," Murray said. "That’ll be something they continue to be disappointed about for a while.” The American Farm Bureau Federation, the country’s powerful lobbying group for farmers, expressed "concern" that the policy had been reserved. "President Trump recently emphasized agriculture faces unique circumstances that warrant a different approach to enforcement practices," Zippy Duvall, the federation’s president, said in a statement Tuesday. The policy reversal appeared to take effect immediately. On Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided Delta Downs, a horse racing track in Vinton, Louisiana, rounding up nearly 100 equine caretakers, some of whom fled the scene as drones swarmed overhead, according to Eric J. Hamelback, chief executive of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. Hamelback said he had been under the impression that horse racing had been included in the administration’s agricultural carve-out. The group estimates that nearly 75 percent of its workforce is foreign-born, mostly from Latin America. "The only change that we have to make is to get even more aggressive with both the administration and Congress," Hamelback said, noting that his organization had been lobbying Washington lawmakers and the administration in recent weeks and months — including a meeting with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) in March. The pause on workplace raids in agriculture and hospitality went out hours after Trump said in a post Thursday on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he was sympathetic to concerns that executives raised about his deportation plan. Trump wrote last week that "changes are coming" to help "protect our Farmers" from losing workers. However, a White House official told Washington Post at the time that no actual policy changes were proposed by the White House.

Los Angeles Times [6/17/2025 8:49 PM, Jessica Garrison and Melissa Gomez, 14672K] reports that, as the crucial summer harvest season gets underway in California’s vast agricultural regions, farmers and their workers say they feel whiplashed by a series of contradictory signals about how the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration might affect them. California grows more than one-third of the country’s vegetables and more than three-quarters of the nation’s fruits and nuts in the fertile expanses of the Central Valley, Central Coast and other farming regions. The industry produced nearly $60 billion in goods in 2023, according to state figures — an output that depends heavily on the skilled labor of a workforce that is at least 50% undocumented, according to University of California studies. Without workers, the juicy beefsteak tomatoes that are ripening and must be hand-harvested will rot on the vines. The yellow peaches just reaching that delicate blend of sweet and tart will fall to the ground, unpicked. Same with the melons, grapes and cherries. That’s why, when federal immigration agents rolled into the berry fields of Oxnard last week and detained 40 farmworkers, growers up and down the state grew worried along with their workers. Farm laborers, many of whom have lived and worked in their communities for decades, were terrified of being rounded up and deported, separated from their families and livelihoods. Farmers worried that their workforce would vanish — either locked up in detention centers or forced into the shadows for fear of arrest — just as their labor was needed most. Everyone wanted to know whether the raids in Oxnard were the beginning of a broader statewide crackdown that would radically disrupt the harvest season — which is also the period when most farmworkers earn the most money — or just a one-off enforcement action. In the ensuing days, the answers have become no clearer, according to farmers, worker advocates and elected officials. "We, as the California agricultural community, are trying to figure out what’s going on," said Ryan Jacobsen, chief executive of the Fresno County Farm Bureau and a farmer of almonds and grapes. He added that "time is of the essence," because farms and orchards are "coming right into our busiest time.” After the raids in Ventura County last week, growers across the country began urgently lobbying the Trump administration, arguing that enforcement action on farm operations could hamper food production. They pointed to the fields around Oxnard post-raid, where, according to the Ventura County Farm Bureau, as many as 45% of the workers stayed home in subsequent days. The same day, according to a New York Times report, a senior official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote regional ICE directors telling them to lay off farms, along with restaurants and hotels. "Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels," the official wrote. Many in California agriculture took heart. Then on Monday came news that the directive to stay off farms, hotels and restaurants had been reversed. "There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts," Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said, according to Washington Post. "Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability.” In California’s heartland, Jacobsen of the Fresno County Farm Bureau spoke for many farmers when he said: "We don’t have a clue right now.” Asked Tuesday to clarify the administration’s policy on immigration raids in farmland, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the Trump administration is committed to "enforcing federal immigration law.” "While the President is focused on immediately removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from the country," Jackson said, "anyone who is here illegally is liable to be deported.”

Axios [6/17/2025 7:18 AM, Monica Eng, 13599K] reports uncertainty has returned to the food industry days after President Trump raised the hopes of its leaders that he would pause immigration raids on food and hospitality businesses. Illinois employs about 600,000 food and hospitality workers and thousands more in agriculture and meatpacking, all of which rely heavily on unauthorized labor. On Thursday, President Trump wrote on social media, "our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away." The same day, a senior U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official sent nationwide orders to "hold on all worksite enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meatpacking plants), restaurants, and operating hotels." "We worked along with the American Business Immigration Coalition’s Rebecca Shi and their whole board and we advocated very hard for this," Illinois Restaurant Association president Sam Toia tells Axios. "We’re very happy to see that the Trump administration is going to back off of restaurants because restaurants do not exist without the immigrant community here in the United States."

Wall Street Journal [6/17/2025 6:50 PM, Owen Tucker-Smith and Patrick Thomas, 646K] reports Chobani Chief Executive Hamdi Ulukaya said that the Trump administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement poses risks to the food supply chain. “We need to be very realistic,” Ulukaya said at The Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum in Chicago. “We need immigration and we need workers for our food system to work.” Trump’s immigration crackdown is roiling America’s food system. Produce farms, dairies and recently a meat processing plant in Nebraska have been ensnared in immigration raids, disrupting production and threatening to shrink an already tight labor pool. Stepped-up enforcement is sowing fear among legal immigrant workers, now nervous about moving to new jobs or even leaving home, employers have said. About two-thirds of U.S. crop farmworkers are foreign-born and 42% of those aren’t legally authorized to work in the country, according to the Labor Department. Immigrants without legal status are estimated to perform about 70% of the labor on dairy farms in Wisconsin, according to a report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Farmers are highly dependent on immigration,” Ulukaya said Tuesday. The Trump administration last week said it directed immigration authorities to pause arrests at farms, as well as at restaurants and hotels, aiming to refocus those efforts on people in the U.S. illegally with criminal backgrounds. A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said this week that worksite enforcement on farms, restaurants and hotels hasn’t been ruled out, and authorities will prioritize places believed to employ people with criminal records. A labor squeeze could ultimately raise prices for consumers, food industry officials say.

Wall Street Journal [6/17/2025 5:34 PM, Staff, 646K] reports is cruelty part of the White House strategy for mass deportation? Sometimes it appears so, and a case in point is the legal ambush to deny in-state tuition to the so-called Dreamers. These are the adults who were brought to the U.S. illegally while they were children. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, championed a 2001 state law that granted those children the in-state tuition rate at state colleges rather than the higher rate charged to non-residents. The students must have lived in the state for at least three years prior to graduating from high school and a year before enrolling in college to qualify. The idea is to make it easier for these children to attend college since noncitizens don’t qualify for federal loans. Their future economic contributions could more than pay for the tuition subsidy. Some two dozen states have followed the Texas example. Immigration restrictionists claim the tuition break encourages illegal migration and results in undocumented students taking the admissions slots of citizens. But Dreamers have to meet the same admission standards as state residents, and the tuition discount encourages assimilation and academic achievement. Do they really think child migrants have rushed across the border so they can pay a lower cost to attend a Texas public college? Enter the Trump Department of Justice, which recently sued Texas to block the tuition break. DOJ claims the Texas program violates a 1996 law that says “an alien who is not lawfully present . . . shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State . . . for any postsecondary education benefit” unless U.S. citizens from other states are eligible for the same benefit. No President has sought to enforce this law, and one reason is it likely violates the Constitution’s anti-commandeering doctrine. That’s the principle that the federal government cannot compel states to take or not take certain actions. The Supreme Court in 2018 cited these grounds to strike down a federal law that barred states from legalizing sports gambling. Rather than defend the law, Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately struck a settlement with DOJ to enjoin the tuition law, which was blessed the same day by a federal court. This rapid-fire “sue and settle” ploy—a longtime tactic of the environmental left—prevented third parties from intervening in court to defend the law.

Washington Post [6/17/2025 7:00 AM, Staff, 32099K] reports elected leaders all over the country are on edge. The assassinations this past weekend of a former Minnesota House speaker and her husband, along with the shooting of a state senator and his wife, were followed by revelations that the alleged perpetrator had a roster of 70 potential targets and visited the homes of at least two other elected officials. The roommate of the suspected shooter says he often complained about Gov. Tim Walz (D), former U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and former president Joe Biden. Fortunately, those three have robust security details. Unfortunately, most politicians are soft targets. The alleged killer’s list included 11 Wisconsin state legislators. For context, the United States has 7,386 state legislative seats. Around a half-million Americans hold elected office, including those on school boards and city councils. That’s far more than the 435 members of the U.S. House and the 100 U.S. senators. Federal cases draw a lot of attention: President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated last July and targeted again in September; Pelosi’s husband was attacked at home in 2022; and a gunman opened fire on a GOP baseball practice in 2017. In 2024, the U.S. Capitol Police investigated 9,474 concerning statements and direct threats against members of Congress, including their families and staff. Senators will receive a security briefing on Tuesday, while House members, on recess this week, will get a virtual update. But state and local elected officials have seen an uptick in threats and harassment. In April, the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University counted 170 incidents across nearly 40 states since the start of the year. While several involved hot-button issues, such as transgender athletes, others were connected to more parochial concerns, such as road projects. Spending a fortune on round-the-clock security for most or all of America’s elected officials would certainly cut down on targeted political violence. But doing so would also isolate the nation’s leaders from those they represent. Social media interactions can’t replace in-person conversations with neighbors and direct participation in the community. So, elected officials need to strike a balance.

Washington Post [6/17/2025 7:45 AM, Karen Tumulty, 32099K] reports it should have occurred to President Donald Trump that his aggressive sweeps of places where large numbers of undocumented people work were going to be somewhat inconvenient for many employers. But no, that apparently didn’t dawn on him until complaints started coming in from the industries most affected. “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 last week on his Truth Social platform. So having created this entirely predictable mess, Trump ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pause its raids on farms, restaurants and hotels. As conservative commentator Charlie Sykes put it, the about-face has been "The Mother of All TACOS" — a wry reference to "Trump Always Chickens Out," the nickname financial traders have been using to describe the president’s on-again, off-again tariffs. And then, The Post has reported, came yet another reversal: ICE agents were told Monday to resume conducting roundups at those businesses. Therein lies the paradox and the incoherence that have long existed in this country’s immigration policy. These conflicting impulses are probably the greatest impediment to Trump carrying out his promise of mass deportations. Though presidents of both parties have tried to tighten the border and punish those who cross it illegally, none have been willing to do much about the economic incentives — the jobs — that make migrants willing to risk so much to come to this country. Employers rarely face consequences for hiring workers without verifying their legal status. That was supposed to happen after the last sweeping rewrite of immigration law, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which imposed criminal and civil penalties on those who knowingly hire workers not in the country legally. But, as things have turned out, employers have found they have little reason to fear. Meanwhile, fewer than 1 million of the roughly 8.3 million employers in this country make use of E-Verify, the government’s free online system through which employers can confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in this country. Congress has balked at making it mandatory. Last week, I asked the Department of Homeland Security — several times — whether it has any plans to crack down on employers along with the undocumented people they hire. What I got back was a boilerplate statement that "worksite immigration enforcement protects workers from exploitation and trafficking. … President Trump will not allow criminals to abuse and exploit workers for profit.”

Washington Post [6/17/2025 7:13 PM, Catherine Rampell, 32099K] reports President Donald Trump is finally building his wall. And Americans will pay for it. Trump has been walling off the United States from foreign-made goods, foreign-generated ideas, and most significantly, foreign-born humans. This month, Trump imposed a near-total ban on entry to the United States of citizens from 12 countries, plus a partial ban on nationals from nine additional countries. Last weekend, a leaked State Department memo said the administration might add 36 more countries to the list. The ostensible rationale for these bans is a grab-bag of excuses and grievances, based largely on garbage data and inconsistent metrics about purported immigration sins. One of the stated justifications for the bans, for example, is to prevent visa overstays. But some of the countries that are most guilty of this transgression — such as Canada, which can claim a huge share of all immigrants who overstay their visas in the U.S. — are somehow not on the list. Countries on the naughty list do have some things in common, however: They tend to be lower- or middle-income, and majority non-White. For instance, Trump’s expanded entry ban would cover most sub-Saharan African countries. (South Africa is a notable exception.). There is a way for these nations to be excused for having too much melanin or too little money. The State Department memo says Trump might overlook their purported failings if they are willing to accept third-country nationals kicked out of the United States. El Salvador has already blazed the trail for this by filling a wing of a notorious prison with Venezuelans sent by Trump. None of this should be surprising. Trump and his allies have made clear they don’t want immigrants, particularly those from what the president once referred to as "s---hole countries," in a dog whistle heard round the world. Last week, alt-right influencers such as Charlie Kirk tweeted out nearly identical talking points, calling on Trump to "ban third world immigration, legal or illegal.” Odious as this sentiment is, it is at least more honest than other claims that Trump and his supporters have made about his immigration agenda. It was never about "law and order" or hunting down criminal gangbangers or making sure people came in "the right way" through the "big beautiful door" in Trump’s wall. It is and always was about humiliating and discarding immigrants — regardless of their legal status or contributions to their communities, and especially if they are Black or Brown. That’s why, in recent months, the administration has stripped hundreds of thousands of lawful immigrants of their permission to live and work here, thereby converting "legals" into "illegals" by executive fiat. It’s also why Trump paused or shut down many orderly, legal pathways to enter the U.S. through visa programs (as students, au pairs, summer workers or refugees, for example).

Bloomberg [6/17/2025 7:00 AM, Jonathan Levin, 19320K] reports like it or not, parts of the US economy depend on undocumented and other low-wage immigrant workers. The system has evolved to assume they would always be here, especially in areas such as agriculture, hospitality and construction. You can’t strip them of their status, deport them or scare them into the shadows without unleashing a wave of complications. It’s no wonder that President Donald Trump is second-guessing his immigration policy, with enforcement guidance changing erratically every few days. The flip-flopping has been on display before the nation. One week, he’s announcing enforcement carve-outs for key industries and political constituencies. The next, his administration is undoing its own guidance. “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 Thursday on Truth Social. According to a New York Times report Saturday, senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official Tatum King sent an email the same day to regional leaders directing them to “hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels.” But by Monday, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, had ordered another U-turn, reversing the farm and hospitality guidance, according to the Washington Post. The Post cited sources as saying that Stephen Miller, an architect of the administration’s hardline policies, had lobbied against the carve-outs, while Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had taken the other side. The mixed messages point to the inherent impossibility of delivering on nativist political promises without shooting oneself in the foot economically.

Washington Times [6/17/2025 5:01 PM, Erin Schniederjan, 2106K] reports that illegal immigration tends to grab the biggest headlines these days, but visitors who overstay their visas pose a much bigger threat to our national security than most people realize. President Trump’s latest travel suspension, which went into effect June 9, is a commonsense approach to dealing with its greatest offenders. Mr. Trump recently signed a proclamation protecting America from foreign terrorists and national security threats. In this latest travel restriction, 12 countries face a total suspension: Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Seven countries face a partial suspension of select visa types: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. One who overstayed his visa is Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman. In a targeted terrorist attack this month, he threw a Molotov cocktail into a group of people gathering in support of the Israeli hostages, leaving many injured. Mr. Soliman had overstayed his visa and was granted a work permit, which had also expired. It is worth noting that Mr. Trump did not restrict visas to Egyptian nationals in his latest visa suspension because the United States and Egyptian governments cooperate regarding international travel, terrorism and immigration information. This demonstrates that the Trump administration carefully analyzed each country before issuing this limited visa restriction. Plus, the fact that nearly half the affected countries are not predominantly Muslim proves that this presidential action is not a "Muslim ban," as leftists intentionally and erroneously label it to recycle their "Islamophobia" card.

The Hill [6/17/2025 8:00 AM, Kelly McKinney, 18649K] reports this month, Ukraine pulled off its own Pearl Harbor, decimating more than 40 of Russia’s strategic bombers worth more than $7 billion. This despite lacking an air force. The attack was a masterclass in asymmetric warfare. It involved 117 explosive drones, hidden inside wooden sheds, quietly trucked to remote Russian bases from Siberia and the Arctic, then unleashed in coordinated waves. Flash back to early December 2024, when strange lights hovered over New Jersey skies. Residents flooded 911 and social media with reports. But what followed was worse: government paralysis. No one — not the Federal Aviation Administration, not the FBI, not Gov. Phil Murphy (D) — could say what the drones were, how many there were or where they came from. Instead, they gaslit the public, blaming the sightings on helicopters and meteors. We have seen this movie before, most recently in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, when government obfuscation and lack of coordination between local, state and federal agencies generated confusion, outrage and chaos. After the New Jersey drone debacle, we should all be sounding alarm bells about our unpreparedness in the face of this new threat. Complacency comes in a variety of forms — misplaced hope, denial, fatalism — but the results are always the same. It leaves you flat-footed in the face of imminent threats. It prevents you from doing what needs to be done to avoid a worst-case outcome. The antidote to complacency is vigilance, that is, having a plan for what we will do if suicide drone attacks start. Such a plan would start by breaking down the walls between silos such as the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, FAA, FBI and others within the federal government itself. It would hard-wire the broken connections with law enforcement at the state and local level. It would establish accountability: Who is going to keep watch around the clock, assess the threat in real time and notify everyone with a need to know?

USA Today [6/18/25 4:31 m, Sara Pequeño, 75552K] reports President Donald Trump has been busy trying to distract you by bullying immigrants. The president has been fighting with California Gov. Gavin Newsom over what to do about the unfolding protests in Los Angeles – protests that the president wanted you to believe were violent, unruly and tearing the country apart. Then, on June 14, he tried to capture your attention via a military parade. All of this seemed to serve one primary purpose: to keep people distracted from the continuous failures of the Trump administration. Distract from what? A few things, actually. By claiming a city is burning to the ground, the Republican Party tried to blind us from the upheaval of the new U.S. vaccine policy. You might have missed that Planned Parenthood has closed clinics across the country, impacting people seeking basic health care. You probably also saw a quick flash about Trump’s polling dropping, again.

Axios [6/17/2025 12:12 PM, April Rubin, 13599K] reports another 700 military personnel have been sent to aid immigration enforcement in Florida, Louisiana and Texas after nearly 5,000 National Guard members and Marines were sent to Los Angeles, the Pentagon said Tuesday. President Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to target undocumented immigrants in Democratically-run cities, but the latest deployment offers additional resources to red states likely to cooperate. The military generally cannot perform law enforcement functions on American soil, but the service members will help process undocumented immigrants at detention centers, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement. "This support provides critical resources to support ICE’s mission, freeing up law enforcement personnel to focus on law enforcement tasks and missions," Parnell said. "The Department remains committed to securing 100% operational control of the border." The military personnel will come from all components and operate in a Title 10 duty status, meaning their duty is federally controlled and federally funded. Their mobilization was authorized last week. NewsMax [6/17/2025 12:00 PM, Eric Mack, 4622K] reports "Last week, the Secretary of Defense authorized the mobilization of up to 700 DOD military personnel in support of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florida, Louisiana and Texas," Parnell wrote in a statement. "These service members, drawn from all components and operating in a Title 10 duty status, will provide logistical support and conduct administrative and clerical functions associated with the processing of illegal aliens at ICE detention facilities. They will not directly participate in law enforcement activities.” The statement continued, "In maintaining the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the United States, the Department of Defense works alongside with the Department of Homeland Security, the lead federal agency in this critical effort. The Hill [6/17/2025 12:43 PM, Colin Meyn, 18649K] reports that Title 10 of the U.S. Code outlines the structure and scope of the Armed Forces, including the president’s power to federalize state National Guard units in certain situations, such as rebellion. President Trump and Hegseth have cited the same power in mobilizing up to 700 Marines to support ICE agents in California, where thousands protested against the Trump administration’s workplace immigration raids and many were arrested. The Defense secretary was repeatedly questioned during congressional hearings last week on the necessity of deploying troops in Los Angeles. "Threatening to use our own troops on our own citizens at such scale is unprecedented, it is unconstitutional, and it is downright un-American," Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) told Hegseth. "In maintaining the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States, the Department of Defense works alongside with the Department of Homeland Security, the lead federal agency in this critical effort," the Pentagon said in Tuesday’s press release. "This support provides critical resources to support ICE’s mission, freeing up law enforcement personnel to focus on law enforcement tasks and missions," it added. "The Department remains committed to securing 100% operational control of the border.”

USA Today [6/17/2025 7:06 AM, Sara Chernikoff and Ramon Padilla, 75552K] reports following a weekend of nationwide protests and the Army’s "Grand Military Parade and Celebration," President Donald Trump directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to ramp up efforts to detain and deport migrants from large Democratic-run cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Trump called for the expanded deportation June 15 post on Truth Social. Since Trump took office, the average number of people held in immigration detention centers has increased 25%, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The uptick in detentions comes against a backdrop of a divisive national debate over immigration enforcement. Trump deployed California’s National Guard to Los Angeles to quell protests over immigration policies and ICE arrests. California is one of six states with laws preventing local and state agencies from partnering with ICE to enforce federal immigration laws. Under the California Values Act – the state’s sanctuary law – state and local police are prohibited from investigating, detaining, or deporting its residents for purposes of immigration enforcement, according to CalMatters. The law does not prevent the federal government from deporting undocumented residents living in California, but rather limits local and state police cooperation with federal immigration officers. More than 600 state and local agencies throughout the country have signed agreements to work with ICE through the 287(g) Program. Depending on the type of agreement, local law enforcement can question inmates about their immigration status, serve warrants or work on task forces. As of early June, there are 629 agreements between local law enforcement and ICE. Agencies in Florida represent 43% of total agreements, followed by Texas with 14%.

New York Post [6/17/2025 7:00 PM, Jennie Taer, Diana Glebova and Chris Nesi, 49956K] reports a tense tug-of-war has erupted in the White House over illegal immigration enforcement as the Trump administration whipsaws between targeting exclusively hardened criminals and going after low-hanging fruit like farm workers to meet arrest quotas. "Battle lines" have been drawn between Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins over the issue, a source close to the White House told The Post. Miller, an avowed immigration hawk, along with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, uncorked on Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership last month, demanding agents triple the number of daily migrant arrests being made to 3,000, according to reports. This promptly led to a "leadership alignment" at ICE involving more than half a dozen personnel changes, a shake-up the agency said would help it "achieve President Trump and the American people’s mandate of arresting and deporting criminal illegal aliens and making American communities safe.” As the agency clamored to meet the new Trump-blessed edict, ICE agents began casting a wider net in their raids, rounding up meat processing plant workers, farmhands and day laborers at Home Depot, instead of strictly detaining those with criminal records or active deportation orders. Last week, Rollins warned Trump that US farmers were concerned that the spike in arrests was harming their business. "Severe disruptions to our food supply would harm Americans," wrote Rollins on X Sunday. "It took us decades to get into this mess and we are prioritizing deportations in a way that will get us out.” That same day, the hotel magnate president took to Truth Social to acknowledge that the crackdown was negatively impacting American industries, including hospitality and agriculture. "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, adding that, "Changes are coming.” The "unmaintainable" marching orders also stretched federal immigration officers thin as they grappled to achieve the new sky-high arrest figures, dampening the spirits of agents, according to ICE insiders. "It’s killing morale," they added. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson on Tuesday emphasized the "critical" need for ICE to receive more funding from Congress through "Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill" to continue the mass deportation raids. The bill would fund "at least" one million deportations, 10,000 new ICE officers and 3,000 border agents, she said. The abrupt about-face was buttressed by Homeland Security, which ordered ICE leadership to continue raiding the very same businesses Trump was defending just 24 hours earlier. "Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability," DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, adding, "These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation.”

Axios [6/17/2025 6:37 AM, Marc Caputo and Russell Contreras, 13599K] reports President Trump surprised immigration hardliners last week when his administration announced it would pause some immigration raids that were hurting the agriculture and hospitality industries. Then just as quickly, the MAGA pendulum swung back. Trump said Sunday that a new wave of raids would target immigrants in Democrat-run cities — and Monday there were signs that farms, hotels and restaurants again will be subject to raids. The whiplash in Trump’s approach to his mass deportation plans is the latest illustration of how much his whims — and who speaks with him last — are shaping his decision-making, even on his signature policy issue. By Monday, White House insiders were casting the president’s latest strategy as "a recalibration," as one senior official said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials were told Monday that agents should resume raids on hotels and restaurants, but also agricultural businesses, the Washington Post reported. Immigrant rights groups said Monday they were skeptical about Trump’s announced pause in arrests of immigrant workers in those industries. They said the constant shifts in enforcement announcements — along with continued raids by masked federal agents, often in unmarked vehicles — were fostering confusion along with fear.

New York Post [6/17/2025 7:00 PM, Jennie Taer, Diana Glebova and Chris Nesi, 49956K] reports a tense tug-of-war has erupted in the White House over illegal immigration enforcement as the Trump administration whipsaws between targeting exclusively hardened criminals and going after low-hanging fruit like farm workers to meet arrest quotas. “Battle lines” have been drawn between Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins over the issue, a source close to the White House told The Post. Miller, an avowed immigration hawk, along with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, uncorked on Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership last month, demanding agents triple the number of daily migrant arrests being made to 3,000, according to reports. This promptly led to a “leadership alignment” at ICE involving more than half a dozen personnel changes, a shake-up the agency said would help it “achieve President Trump and the American people’s mandate of arresting and deporting criminal illegal aliens and making American communities safe.” As the agency clamored to meet the new Trump-blessed edict, ICE agents began casting a wider net in their raids, rounding up meat processing plant workers, farmhands and day laborers at Home Depot, instead of strictly detaining those with criminal records or active deportation orders. Days later, ICE raided a meat processing plant in Omaha, Neb., and detained workers at a California blueberry field, according to the Los Angeles Times. Last week, Rollins warned Trump that US farmers were concerned that the spike in arrests was harming their business. “Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, adding, “These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation.”

FOX News [6/17/2025 9:22 AM, Cameron Arcand, 46878K] reports California State Sen. Scott Wiener is introducing legislation to prohibit law enforcement from hiding their faces when working with the public, as well as making sure they can identify themselves. The scrutiny comes as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is increasing arrests in Los Angeles and throughout California, which triggered anti-ICE protests and riots in the region last week. The bill would likely face legal challenges as it attempts to regulate federal authorities at a state level if signed into law. "We’re announcing new legislation — the No Secret Police Act (SB 627) — to ban local/state/federal law enforcement, w/ some exceptions, from covering their faces when interacting w/ the public & require them to wear identifying info," Wiener posted to X on Monday. "We’re seeing the rise of secret police — masked, no identifying info, even wearing army fatigues — grabbing & disappearing people. It’s antithetical to democracy & harms communities. The No Secret Police Act can help end the fear & chaos this behavior creates in communities," the Democrat continued. A DHS spokesperson pushed back on Wiener’s proposal and anti-ICE rhetoric, calling it "despicable." "Sen. Scott Wiener’s proposed legislation banning our federal law enforcement from wearing masks and his rhetoric comparing ICE to "secret police"—likening them to the Gestapo—is despicable," Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "While ICE officers are being assaulted by rioters and having rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at them, a sanctuary politician is trying to outlaw officers wearing masks to protect themselves from being doxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers." "Not only is our ICE law enforcement facing a more than 400 percent increase in assaults, but we’ve also seen thugs launch websites to reveal ICE officers’ identity. We will prosecute those who dox ICE agents to the fullest extent of the law," she continued. "The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminal illegal aliens to protect and defend the lives of American citizens. Make no mistake, this type of rhetoric is contributing to the surge in assaults of ICE officers through their repeated vilification and demonization of ICE." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [6/17/2025 3:05 PM, Charles Creitz, 46878K] reports Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned "rogue state actors" who are not cooperating with ICE and federal immigration enforcement that they may be on the hook to clean up their own mess. With riots and fires continuing to break out in Los Angeles, along with confrontational demonstrations in other cities around the country, Duffy suggested political leaders should work better with the Trump administration. According to the message cited by Duffy, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City may be ignored by USDOT.

Breitbart [6/17/2025 11:47 AM, Hannah Knudsen, 3077K] reports Americans want criminal illegal aliens deported, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said during a Breitbart Fight Club Founders’ Roundtable discussion on Monday. When asked about her additional thoughts on Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, a Democrat, interfering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Blackburn said his actions should not be tolerated. "The way they doxed the law enforcement officers, the Homeland Security investigators and the ICE agents in their work with the Tennessee Highway Patrol — that is something that ought not to be tolerated," she began, noting that she has asked the Department of Justice to investigate. "The House is also carrying out an investigation at Homeland Security. Congressman Mark Green is chairman of Homeland Security. He’s a Tennessean, and so they are working on that investigation. Congressman Ogles has requested that investigation, and their House Judiciary Committee. We’ll see where the facts take us in this. We’ll see what DOJ finds out," she said. "Whether it’s Tennessee or L.A., you have people that have been convicted — not discharged — but convicted of rape, murder, burglary, sexual assault, child sexual assault, people that are drug traffickers, people that are sex traffickers," she pointed out. And indeed, the Department of Homeland Security affirmed in press releases throughout the week that those they arrested as part of their L.A. operations included those with criminal histories including sexual battery, child molestation, second degree murder, and more. "Nobody wants these individuals in their communities and endangering their families," Blackburn stressed. "They want them deported, and they want them deported now.”

New York Post [6/17/2025 7:01 AM, Brandon Cruz, 49956K] reports Long Island officials are doubling down on their anti-sanctuary stance and pledging to help federal immigration authorities — in stark contrast to several other municipalities across the country. Cops and elected officials pledged that Nassau and Suffolk counties aren’t and wouldn’t be sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, brushing off calls from activists pushing back on what they claim is overreach by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a massive crackdown on illegal immigration. "They have a job to do, and we are going to support them the same way we support the DEA or the FBI chasing terrorists," Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told The Post. Police in both counties said they would only assist ICE when directly called upon — which has not happened so far — but said they wouldn’t hesitate to help, while vowing there would be no raids at schools, hospitals or churches. President Trump has announced the national crackdown will target major cities and Democrat-controlled governments with sanctuary policies on the books. The comments come as activists have pushed back on the Trump administration’s hardline stance on illegal immigration, and launched a series of protests against the crackdown. "We have spoken to ICE and they’re on board with us," Ryder said. "We will not go into a house of worship, we will not go into a school, and we will not go into a hospital. We also do not ask the immigration status of any victim or any witness, we don’t do that, that’s our policy in Nassau County." "Long Island is not a sanctuary county and will not become one," a Suffolk County spokesperson said. Suffolk County officials said they’re following the same protocols — and standing by them, despite a $60 million court ruling earlier this year tied to their past work with ICE.

Daily Caller [6/17/2025 11:42 AM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is seeking over half a million in taxpayer funds for a New York City nonprofit group under congressional investigation for allegedly coaching people how to avoid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehension. In a formal request letter to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, Schumer requested a total of $600,000 for the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC). The liberal nonprofit group has been under public fire since a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation uncovered large sums of Chinese government-connected cash flowing to the group and its connection to an organization accused of promoting Chinese Communist Party interests. Schumer’s spending request — submitted to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies in May and released by his office earlier in June — reflects federal funding priorities Congress members make every year. The Senate Minority Leader’s request was first flagged by the Washington Free Beacon. Schumer’s office did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

Univision [6/17/2025 6:32 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports a New York immigration judge agreed to reopen the asylum case of a high school student detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) on his way out of a court date, after Donald Trump’s administration asked the judge to close her case. The young man, named Dylan, is a 20-year-old Venezuelan who was studying at a high school in the Bronx, New York. Judge Olivia L. Cassin, who analyzes his request, decided to "accept the defendant’s motion to reconsider the dismissal of the proceedings," which led to his arrest by ICE since 21 May 2025. ccording to a court document, Judge Cassin accepted the request for reconsideration of the dismissal on June 12 because Dylan’s hearing "had procedural judgments and greatly harmed the defendant with an pending asylum and related protection application." "The court considers that the defendant was not given a significant opportunity to make an informed decision on whether he opposed the Department of Homeland Security’s motion to dismiss his trial," Judge Cassin’s order states. "His lack of objection to the Department’s motion is due to the fact that he lacked the information necessary to make a conscious and informed decision," stresses the judge, who also stresses that Dylan should have "been in the court’s juvenile file with an immigration judge who understands the nuances of the law that applies to young people." An important observation by Judge Cassin is that, in her opinion, "the answers that the court and the Department of Homeland Security gave to the defendant’s and her mother’s questions about the possible dismissal of the asylum were vague and potentially misleading." The DHS "did not inform the respondent or this court that, if these expulsion proceedings were dismissed, it intended to initiate expedite deportation proceedings against the defendant and arrest him immediately. Instead, the Department assured this court that, if the proceedings were dismissed, the defendant could continue to apply for the Special Youth Immigrant Status as a ‘collateral’ appeal and could file an affirmative asylum application with the USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services)," says the immigration judge.

Axios [6/17/2025 6:20 AM, Mike D’Onofrio, Russell Contreras, and Brittany Gibson, 13599K] reports more law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania are assisting federal efforts to arrest and remove undocumented immigrants this month, according to an Axios analysis. The removal of unauthorized immigrants has accelerated in Pennsylvania since the start of the year, per the latest data from the nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). This comes as President Trump ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the weekend to "expand efforts to detain and deport" undocumented immigrants in Democratic-run cities. Nearly 860 removal orders were issued to Pennsylvanians in April, about 28% of which were for Philadelphians, the TRAC data shows. The number of Pennsylvania removal orders has been steadily ticking up each month from 567 in January. In April 2024, Pennsylvanians received about 440 removal orders. As of Monday, ICE had 14 deals in place with local law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania, which include the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office and the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office. That’s three more than last week. Another three agreements with agencies in the state are pending.

Axios [6/17/2025 6:49 PM, Sommer Brugal, 13599K] reports city of Miami commissioners on Tuesday approved a measure that will allow its police department to enforce federal immigration laws — despite hundreds of residents speaking in opposition to the agreement. The commission voted 3-2, with Commissioners Joe Carollo, Miguel Gabela and Ralph Rosado voted in favor of the measure and Chair Christine King and Damian Pardo voting no. The measure’s approval, which came after more than five hours of public comment where residents urged the commission to vote down the deal, comes amid heightened tensions in Miami regarding President Trump’s immigration crackdown. But the vote also underscores the divide among commissioners on how to follow federal and state policies related to immigration. While Gov. Ron DeSantis has made it clear he wants all municipalities with 25 or more officers to partner with the federal program, there is no state of federal law requiring the city to enter into the agreement. DeSantis has threatened to suspend law enforcement officials who don’t cooperate. Miami Police Department Chief Manuel Morales told commissioners the situation is a "Catch 22," because state statute "requires us to do certain things that we are unable to do if we don’t proceed" with the agreement.

CBS Miami [6/17/2025 11:28 AM, Morgan Rynor, 51860K] Video HERE reports Miami commissioners are scheduled to discuss whether the city’s police force will assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in detaining undocumented immigrants during Tuesday’s meeting. The federal 287(g) program allows state and local law enforcement to collaborate with (ICE) in detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants. Under the federal 287(g) agreement, Miami police officers will gain the authority to stop, interrogate and arrest individuals suspected of violating immigration laws. The county already participates in the program, along with a growing list of municipalities including Doral, Coral Gables, Hialeah and Homestead. Half of Miami’s residents are foreign born. Local organizations are calling on residents to show up at the meeting to voice their opposition to the resolution. A vote against the resolution would be in direct opposition to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The governor has made it clear he wants all agencies with 25 or more officers to partner with the federal program and has asked the legislature to empower him to suspend law enforcement officials who don’t cooperate.

Univision [6/17/2025 6:58 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports the Miami Commission approved by a 3-2 vote that the city police collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in agreements 287 (g). These agreements empower Miami police officers to exercise immigration control functions, such as interrogating, arresting and detaining people who are violating immigration law, without the need for a court order. In addition, if a person commits a crime in the city and is an undocumented immigrant, the police will report it to ICE. Miami-Dade County and all Florida counties have signed up to these agreements (g). Inside Miami-Dade, cities such as Hialeah, Doral and Sweetwater have already approved to be part of these agreements. Others, such as Miami Beach and Miami Gardens, have not yet signed up to these agreements. According to the latest census, 58 percent of Miami city residents were born in other countries, and 70 percent of residents are Hispanic. ICE operations in South Florida have increased in recent days, and several undocumented immigrants have been arrested as they head to work.

CBS Miami [6/17/2025 5:40 PM, Nikiya Carrero, 51860K] reports that U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez on Tuesday became the first Republican lawmaker to visit the Federal Detention Center in Downtown Miami where immigration detainees are being held, following a Miami Herald investigation that raised concerns about inhumane conditions. But after touring the facility, Gimenez said what he found contradicted the reports. "Not the Ritz, but not inhumane." "I saw no deplorable living conditions here. This is not the Ritz-Carlton. It is a detention center. But there’s nothing inhumane about what’s going on," Gimenez said. The congressman said he was motivated to visit after reading reports that the center was overcrowded and rundown. However, he noted that the facility’s official capacity is 500, and it currently houses 311 detainees. "They have two detainees to each cell, which [is] what they’re designed for," he said. Gimenez also acknowledged a recent incident involving use of force at the facility. "There were 42 inmates or detainees that refused orders, that had knocked some sprinklers and were looking to rip out some toilets in a holding cell facility as they were being processed," he said. The Miami congressman also addressed the Biden administration’s move to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [6/17/2025 6:23 PM, Ashley Oliver, 46878K] reports Department of Justice attorneys asked a federal judge on Tuesday to reject anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil’s request for authorities to release him or transfer him from an immigration detention center in Louisiana to one in New Jersey. The government attorneys said the courts do not have the authority to intervene with the executive branch’s decision to detain a noncitizen who is in removal proceedings. "Congress authorized detention of aliens and gave the Executive significant discretion in that regard," they wrote. The attorneys also said that logistically speaking, the Trump administration could not transfer Khalil even if it wanted to. Khalil had asked a judge on Monday to release him from ICE detention in Jena, Louisiana, on bail while his case proceeds or to transfer him to the Elizabeth, New Jersey, facility, which is closer to his wife, newborn and legal team. The DOJ attorneys cited an ICE official’s affidavit, which revealed that the ICE facility in Elizabeth had 355 detainees, meaning it was over capacity by 51 people. "ICE retains discretion to detain Khalil where it so chooses," the attorneys wrote. "Additionally, factual considerations counsel against transferring Khalil to Elizabeth. Simply, the facility is over capacity.” Khalil, a lawful permanent resident, was arrested in March outside his apartment at Columbia University. An immigration judge deemed him removable based on a memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that said Khalil’s anti-Israel activism on campus ran counter to the United States’s foreign policy interests. Rubio cited a rarely used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act to justify his finding. Khalil’s case has garnered enormous attention from First Amendment advocates, who have argued the government is chilling free speech by revoking the green card of a noncitizen who outspokenly and aggressively opposes the Israeli government amid its offensive in the Gaza Strip and its escalating conflict with Iran. Khalil, who was born in Syria but has Algerian citizenship, left off the government application form that he was a member of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest, and he failed to disclose other places he worked, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in 2023, according to the DHS. The DHS alleged that Khalil "procured his legal status through ‘fraud or by willfully misrepresenting a material fact,’" in violation of immigration laws.

Axios [6/17/2025 7:18 AM, Russell Contreras, Brittany Gibson, and Chelsea Brasted, 13599K] reports Louisiana is among some of the nation’s more cooperative states when it comes to assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement with arresting and removing people living here illegally, according to an Axios analysis. How law enforcement agencies cooperate with ICE often reflects any push and pull between local and state government, such as is the case in a blue dot amid a red state, like New Orleans. Efforts to arrest and remove unauthorized immigrants appear most aggressive in five southern states with Democratic-leaning cities, while deeply red, rural states are seeing less activity, according to Axios’ analysis. Law enforcement agencies in Florida have been the most cooperative with ICE. The state has 295 deals known as 287 (g) agreements, which represent a willingness to work with ICE. Louisiana has 10 such agreements either pending or in place. More may be on the way. Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order in May urging more local law enforcement to enter into 287 (g) agreements. Both the New Orleans Police Department and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office are generally bound from cooperating with ICE agents because of existing agreements.

New York Post [6/18/2025 12:52 AM, Joshua Q. Nelson, 49956K] reports Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson voiced concerns Monday about potential federal troop deployment to his city as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, warning the move could be unconstitutional and legally challenged. Speaking at a City Hall news conference, Johnson responded to reports of federal plans to escalate immigration enforcement in sanctuary cities like Chicago, calling the idea a threat to civil liberties and local governance. "It’s just another example of his animus towards working people," Johnson said. "I think it’s important that the president respects the Constitution. If you’re asking me whether this president will work with city leaders, it’s clear he’s not interested in doing that.” Johnson’s remarks came in response to a statement from a Trump administration official to Rolling Stone, saying, "Chicago is next, if they go too far," in reference to recent protests and the city’s sanctuary policies. "The second they do, the president is prepared to prove that nobody is above the law," the official added. The comments follow anti-ICE and anti-Trump protests in Chicago that echoed demonstrations nationwide, prompting federal officials to reportedly monitor the situation closely, especially after the Trump administration deployed National Guard forces to Los Angeles. "We will continue to resist," Johnson said. "Whether it’s in the courts, in the streets, or through public policy, we’re going to stand up for working people.” Mary Richardson-Lowry, the city’s Corporation Counsel, emphasized the legal limitations of such a deployment. "We believe it is a violation of the Constitution to deploy troops or National Guard absent authority under the Constitution," she said. Last week, Johnson called for Chicagoans to "rise up" against ICE and what he called immigration enforcement "terrorism.” Chicago has received more than 51,000 migrants from the southern border since August 2022, many bussed from Texas under GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s relocation effort. The latest tensions come after Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker testified before Congress last week in defense of the state’s sanctuary city policies. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

FOX News [6/17/2025 6:30 AM, Alexander Hall, 46878K] reports Chicago city clerk Anna Valencia suspended the online application method of obtaining CityKey IDs after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent a subpoena to her office for the information of applicants. As the Trump administration continues its efforts to deport an unprecedented wave of illegal immigrants allowed to enter the country during the Biden administration, it faces resistance from local officials. Leaders of particularly Democratic-leaning cities like Chicago are some of the most outspoken about their efforts to protect illegal immigrants from being deported. Valencia announced Friday that her office would take the CityKey online portal offline, the Chicago Tribune reported. CityKeys are a local government-issued form of ID that is accessible to Chicago residents regardless of their immigration status, gender identity, or criminal history. Her decision to suspend the online application portal occurred after ICE subpoenaed her office for the information provided by noncitizens, in their mission to pursue illegal immigrants. The Chicago Tribune noted that when the municipal ID program was first introduced in 2017, it was intended to skirt public records law and protect personal information by only processing applications in-person. However, as the migrant crisis spiked in the subsequent years, the city created an online portal to process applicants; documents that the office is not allowed to destroy under public records law. Responding to advocates alarmed at the online retention of documents that could be used by ICE, Valencia paused that aspect of the program. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [6/17/2025 6:00 AM, Ashley Killough, Ed Lavandera, and Jeremy Harlan, 21433K] reports Rina Salado’s coworkers had just popped confetti. They surprised her with the news that she’d been promoted to supervisor at the credit card manufacturing plant where she’s worked for nearly three years. Her team asked her for a photo so they could blow it up and post it on the wall with her new title. Elated and overwhelmed, Salado, 25, ran outside to her car to retrieve a photo on her phone and call her family. She couldn’t wait to share her big update. But then her world stopped. She saw a stream of missed calls and voicemails from her mother. A barrage of texts from her family members. A wide range of people trying to alert Salado that her mother had been detained. Her mom, Rina Ramirez, had been swept up that morning by immigration officials in a raid at Glenn Valley Foods, a meatpacking plant cross town in Omaha — the largest worksite enforcement operation in the state since President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January. Salado called her mom right away, and to her surprise, she answered. She was in a room with other employees at the plant where she’d worked for 13 years, surrounded by armed federal agents with their faces covered, but still able to use her phone. "My mom said, ‘Take care of yourself, take care of your sister. Immigration is here. I don’t know what will happen,’" Salado told CNN, describing the conversation. Salado returned to her coworkers in tears. She told them she had to go and walked out bawling, with no explanation. "I didn’t even clock out. I just left," she said. She raced to her mother’s home to be with her father and younger sister. "I don’t know how fast I was driving, but I felt I couldn’t drive fast enough." Salado’s mother was one of more than 70 workers detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement last Tuesday. Salado said her mom, a Mexican national, has been in the US for 25 years, working and raising a family, and never even receiving a speeding ticket. Many of those detained from the plant could be charged on various issues including misuse of visas, illegal reentry, resisting arrest, and misuse of social security numbers, according to federal authorities.

FOX News [6/18/2025 2:50 AM, Sophia Compton, 46878K] reports an armed crew of nine suspected Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members were caught on camera wreaking havoc at a Colorado apartment complex earlier this month, in an incident Aurora police are calling "very reminiscent" of the violence previously incited in the area by the Venezuelan gang. Doorbell video shows the group pointing guns and repeatedly knocking on an apartment door in a building near 6th Avenue and Potomac Street in Aurora, Colorado, on June 9, Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said during a press conference on Tuesday. "This might sound like déjà vu," Chamberlain said. "… We are addressing this actively, effectively and immediately.” The people who lived in the apartment were also from Venezuela and had just moved in two days prior to the incident, Chamberlain noted, acknowledging that it’s a good thing the residents did not open the door after hearing the knocking. "I shudder to think what might have happened to them, but unfortunately that is what we have seen at that apartment complex, and it’s what we’ve been dealing with," he said. Following the incident, police began investigating and identifying the suspects in the video. On June 11 and 12, law enforcement arrested two suspects. Four others known to be involved in prior criminal activity were also detained, according to Aurora Police. The investigation to identify and arrest the remaining suspects in the video is ongoing. Since August of last year, the Aurora Police department has received 44 radio calls for service at the apartment complex, which they narrowed down to about 12 separate individual incidents. These calls were related to shots fired, kidnapping, assault, and more, Chamberlain said. "I want everyone to understand and to know that we are ahead of this," Chamberlain said. "This isn’t something that we’re reacting to. This is something that we are proactively addressing with everything that we can possibly do.” The shocking footage comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement works to remove TdA from U.S. soil. In February, the U.S. declared TdA a global terrorist organization. Aurora is the third-largest city in Colorado with a population of more than 398,000, according to the City of Aurora website. Last summer, an Aurora apartment complex was at the center of the TdA gang takeover controversy after a viral video showed heavily armed gang members taking over an apartment by busting down the door with heavy artillery. Earlier this year, nine suspected TdA members were charged following a violent home invasion, kidnapping and robbery in Aurora. Aurora Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Daily Signal [6/17/2025 8:00 AM, Isela Becerra and Wilson Beaver, 558K] reports protesters in Los Angeles once again launch violent assaults this weekend against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and law enforcement officers. Agitators at the Federal Building in downtown LA threw rocks, bottles, and fireworks. Police deployed tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber bullets to try and maintain order. Protesters even went after police horses. Over 70 people were arrested. The protests started on June 6 after federal agents swept through the city’s garment district for illegal immigrants, arresting 118, including five gang members. The operation ICE conducted that these protesters are objecting to included detaining criminals who presented clear national security threats such as Jordan Mauricio from Honduras, who was arrested for distribution of heroin and cocaine; Filipino national Rolando Veneracion-Enrique, who was convicted of multiple sexual assault offenses; and Jesus Alan Morales, who attempted to smuggle an illegal alien into the U.S. Instead of praising ICE agents for a successful operation that protected the public, Mayor Karen Bass demonized them by saying, "These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our community." Bass’ outcry against ICE is a cry against the safety of those who inhabit her city. On the third day of the protests, rioters began setting cars on fire and blocked off major highways, including the crucial 101 Freeway. On June 8, President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 California National Guard troops to defend federal agents and police who were pelted with slabs of concrete by angry protesters. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that National Guard soldiers will "provide safety around buildings and to those that are engaged in peaceful protests, and also to our law enforcement officers so they can continue their work daily." States have an obligation to protect federal law enforcement, but Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have refused to acknowledge the attack on federal agents in LA. Last week border czar Tom Homan addressed the American people saying, "This is about enforcing the law, and again, we’re not going to apologize for doing it.”

AP [6/17/2025 3:42 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports that District Attorney Nathan Hochman says a “large number” of the arrests that have happened during immigration protests involve misdemeanor charges. Most people, he says, are protesting peacefully. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS Los Angeles [6/18/2025 12:45 AM, Staff, 51860K] reports Laurie Perez reports from Pico Rivera, where hundreds of community members gathered for a protest on Tuesday night after video began to circulate on social media, showing ICE agents arresting a U.S. citizen who they say was standing up for another man. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [6/17/2025 10:00 PM, Michale R. Blood and Jaimie Ding, 1611K] reports that Downtown Los Angeles businesses hoped customers would return quickly on Tuesday after Mayor Karen Bass lifted a curfew she had imposed last week to prevent vandalism and break-ins during nighttime protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The protests, which have been concentrated in a few blocks of downtown where federal and local government buildings are, were in response to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city and subsequent deployment of the National Guard and Marines. The curfew set in place June 10 provided “successful crime prevention and suppression efforts” and protected stores, restaurants, businesses and residents, the Democratic mayor said. It covered a relatively tiny slice of the sprawling city. On Tuesday afternoon, the impact of days of protests could be seen in the boarded-up windows lining the streets of Little Tokyo, a historical Japanese American district right next to a federal detention building still heavily guarded by military troops. A steady stream of tourists stopped in the neighborhood to take photos of baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani wearing Dodgers blue in a massive mural on the side of a hotel. Don Tahara, the owner of Far Bar, said businesses in the area have been hit hard with vandalism and some break-ins.

Washington Examiner [6/17/2025 5:00 AM, Mia Cathell, 1934K] reports out of 575 arrests made in connection with the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots in Los Angeles that started earlier this month, to date, the district attorney’s office has only confirmed that a dozen or so suspects have been criminally charged. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, an independent, announced last week that more than a dozen defendants were charged with crimes tied to the anti-ICE uprisings, following numerous nights of rioting, rampant looting, vandalism, and violence against immigration enforcement agents. However, as of Monday, Hochman’s office indicated to the Washington Examiner that more charges may come. A public information specialist previously said prosecutors are reviewing arrests on a case-by-case basis to decide whether to bring criminal charges. "Cases are being presented to our office for filing consideration and prosecutors are determining whether cases should be filed, declined or referred to other agencies in accordance with the law," the spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. "At this time, we are gathering information about how many protest-related cases have been filed with our office and will provide details when we have them.”

Reuters [6/17/2025 6:41 AM, Tim Reid and Kristina Cooke, 51390K] reports Juan Ibarra stands outside his fruit and vegetable outlet in Los Angeles’ vast fresh produce market, the place in the city center where Hispanic restaurateurs, street vendors and taco truck operators buy supplies every day. On Monday morning, the usually bustling market was largely empty. Since Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials began conducting immigration raids more than a week ago, including at a textile factory two blocks away, Ibarra said business has virtually dried up. His street vendor customers are at home in hiding, while restaurant workers are too scared to travel to the market to pick up supplies. Most of the market’s 300 workers who are in the U.S. illegally have stopped showing up. Ibarra, who pays $8,500 a month in rent for his outlet, which sells grapes, pineapples, melons, peaches, tomatoes and corn, usually takes in about $2,000 on a normal day. Now it’s $300, if he’s lucky. Shortly before he spoke to Reuters he had, for the first time since the ICE raids began, been forced to throw out rotten fruit. He has to pay a garbage company $70 a pallet to do that. "It’s pretty much a ghost town," Ibarra said. "It’s almost COVID-like. People are scared. We can only last so long like this - a couple of months maybe." Ibarra, 32, who was born in the U.S. to Mexican parents and is a U.S. citizen, is not alone in seeing President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally devastate his small business. It’s happening across Los Angeles and California, other business owners and experts say, and threatens to significantly damage the local economy. A third of California’s workers are immigrants and 40% of its entrepreneurs are foreign-born, according to the American Immigration Council. The Trump administration, concerned about the economic impacts of his mass deportation policy, shifted its focus in recent days, telling ICE to pause raids on farms, restaurants and hotels. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said violent protesters in Los Angeles had created an unsafe environment for local businesses. "It’s the Democrat riots - not enforcement of federal immigration law - that is hurting small businesses," Jackson told Reuters.

CBS News [6/17/2025 6:53 PM, Madeleine May and Hannah Marr, 51860K] reports an Afghan man who worked alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers last week in San Diego. In a video obtained by CBS News, two unidentified ICE agents put Sayed Naser in handcuffs and escorted him from the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego after he attended a mandatory immigration hearing on Wednesday, June 11. "For more than three years I worked for the U.S. military back in my home country," Naser said in the video as the masked officers took him into custody. "I came here to make a better life. I didn’t know this was going to happen like this for me.” Naser was legally paroled into the U.S in 2024, according to his lawyer, Brian McGoldrick. In addition to an active asylum case, he has a pending Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) case because of his long history supporting the U.S. military. SIVs are provided to foreign nationals who worked with U.S. military forces in war zones including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Naser has no criminal record in the U.S. or Afghanistan, according to court records reviewed by CBS News. "This man served with our troops. He came through the front door. He followed every rule. And we locked him up anyway," said Shawn VanDiver, executive director for #AfghanEvac, a nonprofit that advocates for U.S. wartime allies. He said it’s unknown how many Afghan allies have been detained by ICE officials. The Department for Homeland Security and ICE did not respond to a request for comment. Naser served as a civilian interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan from 2015 to 2018. He and his brothers also co-owned a logistics company that provided anti-mining support to American troops, according to employment records viewed by CBS News. "This individual was an important part of our Company commitment to provide the best possible service for our clients, who were the United States Military in Afghanistan," says one employment document submitted as part of Naser’s SIV application. As part of his asylum process, Naser was required to attend an in-person hearing last week in front of a judge and a lawyer from the Department of Homeland Security. But when Naser showed up to court, the DHS lawyer said that his case was "‘improvidently issued.” "Nobody knows what that means," said McGoldrick, who tried to dispute the ruling. When pressed, the DHS lawyer refused to clarify further. When Naser left the courtroom after his hearing ended, he was immediately detained by ICE agents. Naser is now being held in the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. According to McGoldrick, he could be kept there for up to three months while his asylum case is adjudicated. If he is denied asylum, Naser will be put on an expedited removal list and likely deported. His lawyer does not know where he would be deported to, and DHS did not respond to our request for more information. Reports from within the administration say that White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem have been pushing agencies since late May to meet a higher quota of deportations — including as much as 3,000 immigration-related arrests per day.

(B) NBC News Daily [6/17/2025 2:37 PM, Staff] reports that there is a new video showing the moment officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a man who claimed he helped the US military in Afghanistan. His lawyer speaking on his behalf claimed he was repeatedly threatened in Afghanistan, was unable to get out with the air lift, and came to border where he used the CBP app to claim asylum.

New York Times [6/17/2025 1:55 PM, Jonathan Wolfe, 138952K] reports that a proposed law in California would bar law enforcement officials from wearing masks while interacting with the public. The bill was introduced as a series of immigration raids across the country — carried out in some instances by masked officers — have touched off intense protests in California and elsewhere across the nation. The proposed law, announced by two Democratic lawmakers on Monday, would apply to local, state and federal law enforcement officials. It would make it a misdemeanor for them to wear masks while on duty, except in certain circumstances. The bill would also “state the intent of the Legislature” to pass separate legislation requiring officers to display their name and badge number on their uniforms. “We’re seeing the rise of secret police — masked, no identifying info, even wearing army fatigues — grabbing and disappearing people,” State Senator Scott Wiener, one of the lawmakers who proposed the bill, wrote in a social media post announcing the legislation. “It’s antithetical to democracy and harms communities,” added Mr. Wiener, whose district includes San Francisco. The bill, known as the “No Secret Police Act,” would provide an exemption for SWAT members and officers who use masks to reduce harm, including to prevent disease transmission or smoke inhalation. But the proposed law is still in the early stages of the approval process, and it’s unclear if, or how, it could be applied to federal officers. say that masks are necessary to protect law enforcement officers. In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, called the California bill “despicable.” She said that ICE officers were facing an increasing number of threats and attempts to publish their personal information online.

Bloomberg News [6/17/2025 8:03 PM, Andrew Kreighbaum, 88K] reports nearly 70,000 immigrants admitted to the US through a Biden-era parole program targeted by the Department of Homeland Security had pending asylum claims before the agency froze new benefits. Almost 60,000 parolees from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela applied for green cards while another 136,000 filed for relief known as Temporary Protected Status before new benefits were blocked in February, according to court filings in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s termination of the "CHNV" program. Altogether, about half of the roughly 500,000 parolees admitted through the CHNV program now facing possible deportation applied for the benefits.

NewsMax [6/17/2025 8:37 PM, Michael Katz, 4622K] reports Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Monday that nearly 70,000 people have signed up for President Donald Trump’s gold card visa, which will grant foreigners legal residency in the U.S. for a $5 million investment. On Monday morning, Lutnick said his department’s internal online dashboard showed 67,697 people on the waiting list. Within an hour, the number jumped to 68,703, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. "The card will be made of gold," Lutnick told the Financial Times. "It will be beautiful. Donald Trump appreciates these kinds of things. He cares about how it looks. He cares about how it feels. "I mean, he deeply cares about that and thinks if you’re going to buy and make this investment in America, we should give you something that is beautiful.” The chief executive of a global technology company who asked not to be named told the Financial Times through a spokesperson that his group would seek to buy more than 100 gold cards if the program comes to "fruition," adding he viewed the initiative as a way "to welcome the world’s best and brightest to the United States — particularly entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists.” The White House still needs to determine key details about the program, including the design of a special tax structure for gold card holders, the Financial Times reported. Although the vetting of applicants is expected to be done by the departments of Homeland Security, State, and Commerce, Trump has not decided whether citizens of any particular countries would be excluded from applying. Trump has banned travel to the U.S. from a dozen nations and is reportedly considering others.

Breitbart [6/17/2025 6:52 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 3077K] reports a Chinese national in the country illegally has been arrested in Alabama over a scheme aimed at defrauding a vulnerable elderly American of her life savings, a crime that has been on the increase in the U.S. Xiahezhati Xiaokelaiti, 23, who has illegally overstayed a student visa, was arrested Friday and accused of defrauding an elderly woman out of around $400,000 over a three-week period, WEAR-TV reported. "It’s life-changing when it happens to somebody like that," Spanish Fort, Alabama, Police Chief John Barber told the press. "Somebody that’s in their retirement years and did so well to save this money. And here in just a matter of weeks, somebody has changed their life.” "We have enough home-grown criminals here, and we don’t need other people coming into our country and victimizing our residents that shouldn’t even be here," the chief added. Investigators say the illegal alien conned the woman into thinking he was a federal marshal working with the U.S. Treasury Department and convinced her to turn her cash into gold and give it to him. The woman, investigators say, thought she was following orders from federal law enforcement. Eventually she became suspicious and involved police whereupon an investigation was begun. Federal agents have been reporting a wide network of similar scammers targeting elderly Americans, many of them run by Indian and Chinese nationals, most here illegally. Perpetrators often call these scams "hog butchering," because the elderly and easily fooled Americans often have a fat bank account.

CBS Miami [6/17/2025 6:16 PM, Tania Francois, 51860K] Video: HERE reports a Haitian man living in South Florida under a temporary parole program said he was told to self-deport, despite being granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a directive that has left him fearful, confused and uncertain about his future in the United States. His story is one of more than half a million migrants who came to the U.S. hoping to find safety and stability, only to be faced with the looming threat of deportation. CBS News Miami is protecting his identity at his request and referring to him as Paul. "Every day, that’s the current situation, not only for me — for all the people that came under this program," Paul said. He arrived in South Florida in 2023 from Delmas, a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince plagued by escalating gang violence. It’s the very danger he says forced him to flee. "We’re living now in the country because they say they’re gonna send us back home," he said. "And then for me, I don’t have any place I have to go back home. All my family actually are here.” Paul said that on June 13, he received a letter revoking both his parole and work authorization — effectively ending the stability he had worked to build. That same day, he was told to self-deport. "I put myself on learning online, you know, so we got a lot of stuff to pay and not working is not something, you know, that can help us," he said. Since arriving, Paul has maintained steady employment, financed a car, and taken online courses to better his future. Though his family helps when they can, he said he’s determined to support himself. The original two-year humanitarian parole program was intended as a temporary measure, under the assumption that conditions in home countries might improve. For Paul, that hope has faded. For now, TPS for Haitian nationals is set to expire on August 5. Paul and many others in his position remain in limbo, waiting for clarity, and hoping they won’t be forced to return to a place they no longer recognize as home.

Bloomberg Law [6/17/2025 11:01 AM, Ryan Autullo, 1707K] reports Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into 33 potential noncitizens who allegedly voted in the November 2024 general election, his office announced Tuesday. The investigation follows an executive order from President Trump directing the Department of Homeland Security to offer states free access to a database that verifies a person’s immigration status. On June 5, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson after reviewing information from the database asked Paxton to investigate the names of the 33 potential noncitizen voters. NewsMax [6/17/2025 12:08 PM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4622K] reports "Noncitizens must not be allowed to influence American elections, and I will use the full weight of my office to investigate all voter fraud," Paxton said in a statement posted on X. "In order to be able to trust the integrity of our elections, the results must be determined by our own citizens – not foreign nationals breaking the law to illegally vote.” "These potential instances of unlawful voting will be thoroughly investigated, and I will continue to stand with President Trump in fighting to ensure that our state’s elections are safe and secure," he added. The cases were referred to Paxton after the Texas Secretary of State’s Office flagged the voter registrations using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database. The system, which is operated by the Department of Homeland Security, helps verify immigration status and naturalized or acquired U.S. citizenship. In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that directed DHS to share the database’s information with the states to help ensure compliance with the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act, which require accurate and up-to-date state voter rolls. The development follows Paxton’s announcement in May that multiple individuals were indicted and arrested in Frio County for an alleged illegal vote harvesting scheme, including a county judge, a former county elections administrator, Pearsall City Council members, a Pearsall ISD trustee, and a suspected "Frio County vote harvester.”

CBS News [6/17/2025 10:58 AM, Staff, 51860K] Video HERE reports apopular Mexican band under investigation for glorifying a wanted drug lord has released an anti-narco song in a bid to clear its name. The band, Los Alegres del Barranco, is accused of condoning crime over a song praising Nemesio Oseguera, head of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel in western Mexico. In April, the United States, which has designated the cartel as a terrorist organization, revoked the band’s visas for displaying images of Oseguera during a concert and last month prosecutors in Jalisco state opened an investigation into the group. Oseguera — better known as "El Mencho" — has a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head. In a bid to curry favor with the authorities, the band released a new song on YouTube on Sunday titled "El Consejo" (The Advice). Its lyrics warn that there are only two avenues open to those who become involved in drug trafficking: "the pantheon (of dead traffickers) or prison." The Jalisco prosecutor’s office reacted positively to the new track, which had garnered nearly 80,000 views on Monday, saying that "by spreading a positive message in a song, there is a possibility that the investigation will be suspended." However, the band remains under investigation for suspected illicit funding, prosecutors said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [6/17/2025 2:59 PM, Frances Robles, 138952K] reports that the U.S. State Department revoked the travel visas of a former president of Panama and a Panamanian presidential candidate, a move the politicians said was direct retaliation for speaking out against recent deals their country made with President Trump. Martín Torrijos, who was president of Panama from 2004 to 2009, announced at a news conference on Monday that he had been notified by the U.S. government that his visa had been canceled. Ricardo Lombana, a lawyer who came in second in Panama’s presidential election last year, said he received word in an email on Monday that his visa had also been yanked. “I want to warn you that this is not just about me, and not just in my capacity as former president of the republic,” Mr. Torrijos said. “This is a warning to all Panamanians that criticism of the Panamanian government’s actions regarding its relations with the United States will not be tolerated.” The visa revocations came after months of tensions between Panama and Mr. Trump, who quickly after taking office vowed to take back the Panama Canal, which was built by the United States, but returned to Panama by President Jimmy Carter. Panama’s current president, José Raúl Mulino, vowed to stand up for Panama’s sovereignty but then took measures that his critics called concessions to Mr. Trump. Mr. Mulino agreed to accept non-Panamanian migrants deported from the United States and signed an agreement that would allow more U.S. troops on three former U.S. bases in Panama. The United States said Mr. Mulino had also agreed to waive the fees American warships pay to transit the canal — a deal Mr. Mulino denied making, but later agreed to.

FOX News [6/17/2025 10:10 PM, Greg Wehner, Bill Melugin, 46878K] reports Trump administration border czar Tom Homan said the president’s leadership has resulted in the most secure border in U.S. history after Border Patrol encountered just 95 illegal immigrants in a single day. "In the last 24 hours the Border Patrol encountered a total of 95 illegal aliens across the entire southern border," Homan posted to X Tuesday night. "That is the lowest number EVER recorded. Compare that to the Biden administration, who surpassed more than 10,000 per day.” Homan added the Biden administration released the "vast majority" of the illegal immigrants its border patrol agents encountered back into the U.S. "How many were released under Trump for May?" Homan asked. "Zero.” Homan said 62,000 aliens were released in May 2024 under former President Joe Biden. It was the first time a two-digit number was ever recorded at the border. The number of illegal aliens encountered yesterday also shows the border is locked down. Border Patrol officers have told Fox News they are bored because there are few gotaways to chase. "To continue this great work and make it more permanent, we need the Big Beautiful Bill passed so we can finish the job, to include the biggest deportation operation the American people voted for," Homan said in his post on X. "God bless the men and women of [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] and [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. President Trump is the Game Changer!". Homan’s numbers highlight a common trend since Trump returned to the Oval Office in January. In April, Homan touted how the administration had released a shockingly low number of illegal immigrants. Homan noted at the time that nine illegal aliens had been released, compared to hundreds, if not thousands, of releases in a single day under under Biden. As for the nine who were released, Homan explained the unusual circumstances. "Four of them were material witnesses in a criminal investigation. We needed them here to testify in a serious criminal trial. Four was extreme medical condition," he said. "We couldn’t return them because we were in such bad shape. And one was a humanitarian issue.”

Daily Wire [6/17/2025 5:30 PM, Spencer Lindquist, 3816K] reports Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not release a single illegal alien into the United States during the month of May, a new report from the federal immigration enforcement agency revealed. The figure lies in sharp contrast to May of 2024 under the Biden administration, when approximately 62,000 illegal aliens were released into the United States. CBP agents encountered just 8,725 illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States between ports of entry last month. The number marks a whopping 93 percent decline since last May, when immigration enforcement authorities encountered more than 117,000 illegal aliens between ports of entry on the southwestern border. Acting Commissioner of CBP Pete Flores touted the success, highlighting the work of the Trump administration. “Under the leadership of this administration, CBP has received historic support resulting in another 93% decrease in illegal crossings along the southwest border this month when compared with last year,” Flores said. “Border numbers continue to trend at historic lows, reinforcing the sustained success of our enforcement efforts in securing the homeland and protecting American communities.” “This administration has seen the fastest improvement in American border security of all time,” Customs and Border Protection posted on X. CBP agents also seized hundreds of pounds of deadly drugs, including 718 pounds of fentanyl. The law enforcement agency noted that cocaine seizures jumped by 19 percent from April to May, while heroin seizures surged 191 percent during the same period of time.

NewsNation [6/17/2025 3:53 PM, Julian Resendiz, 5801K] reports El Paso continues to lead the nation when it comes to detaining people coming over from Mexico illegally. The El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 2,014 illegal entries in May, followed by Tucson, Arizona, with 1,588 and the Rio Grande Valley Sector of Texas with 1,439. It’s the fourth consecutive month the region stretching from Hudspeth County, Texas, to the New Mexico-Arizona state line reports the most migrant encounters on the Southwestern border. Most detainees — nationwide as well as in El Paso — involve Mexican citizens. A total of 309 Guatemalan migrants were apprehended in the sector in May, compared with 1,441 Mexican migrants. The remaining 1 percent came from other countries, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. This comes at a time federal authorities report a 93 percent year-to-year decrease in migrant traffic at the Mexican border, with a total of 8,725 apprehensions in May. But smugglers are still active on both sides of the Rio Grande.

AP [6/17/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports that two national leaders in fentanyl activities are uniting to share statistics and warnings about illicit fentanyl. Dr. Donna J. Nelson shifted the focus of her creative activities from being the Science Advisor for the fictional Breaking Bad television show to mitigating the real-world illicit fentanyl crisis in the U.S. Jim Rauh founded Families Against Fentanyl after his oldest son died from a fentanyl poisoning. Fentanyl is a synthetic, very potent opioid painkiller, which is safe when obtained from a medical professional, but often lethal when obtained on the street. A U.S. House Committee Report states that fentanyl precursors are shipped from China to Mexico, where they are assembled to create illicit fentanyl, which is smuggled across the border into the U.S. and laced into other drugs being sold on the street. A private CDC communication advised that the most accurate illicit fentanyl death rates are the “final” CDC data, which should be used to study fentanyl deaths when possible. When fentanyl death rates, using CDC “final” data, numbered over 200 people per day in 2022 and 2023, the illicit fentanyl crisis received much attention from many organizations and people, including Donald Trump who, throughout the 2024 election, promised to end the fentanyl crisis. Annual CDC fentanyl deaths plotted 1999 - 2023 reveals that deaths have plateaued.

Washington Examiner [6/17/2025 9:15 AM, Bethany Blankley, 1934K] reports another Guatemalan human smuggling ring has been busted, this one with major operations in Arizona, California and New Mexico. Nine of 10 members of a Guatemalan Lopez Crime Family human smuggling operation who were indicted in June 2023 have now pleaded guilty to their roles in an extensive "alien smuggling" conspiracy. All nine admitted to conspiring to bring, harbor and transport groups of illegal foreign nationals into and throughout the U.S. for financial gain, according to court documents. Lopez-Escobar, 47, of Guatemala City, the alleged leader of the Lopez Crime Family, remains a fugitive. Guatemalan nationals illegally residing in Phoenix involved in the scheme who pleaded guilty include Rosa Adriana Lopez-Escobar, 43; Franklin Leonardo Chilel-Ramirez, 39; Junior Vanegas Portillo and Jose Denilson Lopez Chilel, 26. Guatemalans illegally living in Long Beach, Calif., who pleaded guilty include Deysi Marisela Lopez-Ambrosio, 27, and Mildred Yanira Lopez-Ambrosio, 23. Arizona residents who pleaded guilty include Jose Gianluca Lopez-Perez, 21, (Phoenix); Sebastian Rolando Cortez, 22, (Tempe); and Carlos Chavez-Hernandez, 22, (Avondale), according to the charges. Between October 2021 and April 2023, members of the Lopez human smuggling organization maintained a base of operations out of Luna County, New Mexico, using "peer-to-peer money transfer apps to facilitate payments among co-conspirators and instructed others to pick up and move groups of undocumented individuals in exchange for money.” Of the nine who pleaded guilty, four have already received sentences. Vanegas Portillo was sentenced to 37 months in prison; Rolando Cortez was sentenced to one year probation; Chavez-Hernandez was sentenced to time served and two years of supervised release; Denilson Lopez Chilel was sentenced to 45 months. The other defendants have yet to be sentenced. Homeland Security Investigations New Mexico led the investigation supported by HSI-Arizona; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California; Border Patrol agents in New Mexico, California and Arizona; U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center/Operation Sentinel; Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office; and the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section. The announcement comes one month after one of the largest Guatemalan human smuggling operations in U.S. history was dismantled by federal and local law enforcement officers. In this case, leaders of a smuggling group were indicted on charges of smuggling roughly 20,000 Guatemalans into the U.S. over a period of five years, transporting them from Phoenix to Los Angeles and elsewhere, The Center Square reported.

(B) Today [6/17/2025 7:56 AM, Staff] reports that a federal judge in Burlington granted a restraining order yesterday to keep Jose Ignacio de la Cruz and Heidi Perez from being transferred out of state amid deportation proceedings. They are the father and daughter that were detained by Border Patrol agents over the weekend. US Customs and Border Protection says there were stopped due to suspicious border activity and that the pair has no legal status in the US.

AP [6/17/2025 12:13 PM, Ed WHite, 56000K] reports lawyers for a Chinese scientist charged with conspiring to nurse a toxic fungus at a University of Michigan lab already are in talks to try to resolve the case, according to a court document filed Tuesday. "The parties are currently engaged in plea negotiations and request this additional time so that they can continue engaging in plea negotiations," a prosecutor and defense attorneys said in a joint filing. Yunqing Jian, 33, was a researcher at the University of Michigan when she was arrested on June 3. She’s accused of helping her boyfriend, another Chinese scientist, try to work with a pathogen known as Fusarium graminearum, which can attack wheat, barley, maize and rice. Zunyong Liu, 34, was was turned away at the Detroit airport in July 2024 and sent back to China after red plant material was discovered in his backpack, the FBI said. After first denying it, Liu acknowledged that he was carrying different strains of Fusarium graminearum, investigators said. The university had no federal permits to work with the material. Jian’s Boston-based lawyers have declined to comment. She remains in custody without bond.

NewsMax [6/17/2025 10:50 PM, Staff, 4622K] reports Texas has stopped putting new money toward building a U.S.-Mexico border wall, shifting course after installing a fraction of the hundreds of miles of potential barrier that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott set out to construct four years ago. State lawmakers this month approved a new budget that does not include continued funding for the wall, which had been a multibillion-dollar priority for Abbott as part of a sprawling immigration crackdown. He even took the unusual step of soliciting private donations for construction, saying in 2021 that many Americans wanted to help. On Tuesday, Abbott’s office said President Donald Trump’s aggressive efforts to curb immigration allowed the state to adjust. The halt in funding was first reported by The Texas Tribune. "Thanks to President Trump’s bold leadership, the federal government is finally fulfilling its obligation to secure the southern border and deport criminal illegal immigrants," Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris said. "Because of these renewed federal assets in Texas, our state can now adjust aspects of state-funded border security efforts.” The state has completed 65 miles of border wall since construction began. The Texas border with Mexico is roughly 1,200 miles. The wall has gone up at a slow pace as the state has navigated the drawn-out process of buying private land and confronting local opposition in some places. Abbott announced plans for the wall at a time when large numbers of migrants were showing up at the border, saying in 2021 that he believed a combination of state-owned land and volunteered private property would "yield hundreds of miles to build a border wall.’. The number of migrant crossings has fallen dramatically this year. "There was no need for it in the first place," said Scott Nicol, a board member at Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, a habitat preservation group in the Rio Grande Valley. He has criticized the wall as ineffective. "The only thing that’s changed is the political dynamic," he said. The new budget approved by Texas lawmakers allocates about $3.4 billion for border security for two years. That amount will not be used to build out new projects for the wall and instead go to the Texas Department of Safety and the Texas National Guard, the main agencies responsible for Operation Lone Star, Abbott’s immigration program launched in 2021 during the Biden administration. The money allocated for border security is nearly half the $6.5 billion that was dedicated to immigration efforts the last time lawmakers earmarked the state budget two years ago.

CBS Austin [6/17/2025 5:10 PM, Amanda Moreno, 558K] reports that over $1 million in methamphetamine was discovered in a vehicle attempting to enter the country over the weekend. The seizure was conducted at the Laredo Port of Entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Saturday. According to CBP, the vehicle was pulled over at the border crossing for secondary inspection. During inspection, eight packages containing over 112 lbs of alleged meth was found in the car. The drugs have an estimated street value of over $1 million, and the driver was arrested.

FOX News [6/17/2025 10:50 AM, Pilar Arias, 46878K] reports a South Florida man who pretended to be a flight attendant booked "more than 120 free flights," the Department of Justice (DOJ) said. Tiron Alexander, 35, was convicted by a federal jury of wire fraud and entering a secure area of an airport by false pretenses on June 5, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Authorities say from 2018 to 2024, Alexander booked free flights on an airline carrier’s website that were only meant for pilots and flight attendants. Of all the flights booked, Alexander flew on 34 "without paying for any of them by posing as a flight attendant who worked for other airlines." The website Alexander used required credentials, such as airline employed by, date of hire and badge number. Over the years, he said that he worked for seven different airlines and used about 30 different badge numbers and dates of hire.

Reuters [6/17/2025 11:08 AM, Nathan Layne, 51390K] reports when Hurricane Helene’s flood waters slammed into Lake Lure’s century-old dam last September, gouging a massive scar into one embankment and cascading five months’ worth of rain down its sides, town commissioner Dave DiOrio worried it might fail. Emergency sirens blared. "DAM FAILURE IMMINENT!" the National Weather Service warned in a social media post, urging 3,000 residents living downstream to seek higher ground. In the end, the dam held. But the disaster galvanized the North Carolina resort town’s efforts to seek federal funding for an ambitious rebuilding plan - including $200 million for the dam alone. The initial response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency seemed encouraging. Deanne Criswell, who then headed the agency under President Joe Biden, told Lake Lure leaders that FEMA wanted to invest in projects that would harden areas against future disasters. Now President Donald Trump’s plans to shrink or even abolish FEMA, and push some of the costs of responding to disasters onto the states, have injected uncertainty into Lake Lure’s recovery, town officials said.

Bloomberg [6/17/2025 3:18 PM, Zahra Hirji, Jason Leopold, and Lauren Rosenthal, 19320K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to prepare a memo on how to abolish itself and create a re-branded, radically smaller disaster response organization, according to a copy of the document reviewed by Bloomberg News. As recently as last week, President Donald Trump and Noem said they wanted to wind down FEMA but offered few details publicly. The March 25 memo offers insight into how the administration has weighed which of its current functions to cut. Technically, only Congress can eliminate the agency. Titled “Abolishing FEMA,” the memo was addressed from then-acting FEMA head Cameron Hamilton to his bosses at the Department of Homeland Security and outlines a number of functions that “should be drastically reformed, transferred to another agency, or abolished in their entirety,” possibly as soon as late 2025. Potential changes included eliminating long-term housing assistance for disaster survivors, halting enrollments in the National Flood Insurance Program and providing smaller amounts of aid for fewer incidents — moves that by design would dramatically limit the federal government’s role in disaster response. Instead, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin wrote in an email: “It’s not a secret that under Secretary Noem and Acting Administrator Richardson, FEMA, as it is today, will no longer exist. Federal Emergency Management will shift from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens. The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades.”

Politico [6/17/2025 6:00 PM, Arianna Skibell, 2100K] reports the nation’s top emergency response agency has repeatedly warned that it will run out of money to respond to natural disasters by August. So some emergency managers found it jarring when White House budget chief Russ Vought insisted that the federal disaster fund is “flush” through September, writes Thomas Frank. They began asking: Is Vought misinformed — or is the administration planning to keep the money pot full by slashing aid to states as the Atlantic hurricane season revs up? President Donald Trump has long promised to reduce the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s aid to states, putting pressure on governors to handle ballooning disaster costs as climate change intensifies storms, floods and wildfires. A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget declined to address Tom’s questions about the contradiction between FEMA’s assessments and remarks that Vought made in the Oval Office on June 10. “We’re in a very good place,” Vought said at the time, standing behind Trump. The budget chief added that the disaster fund had $13 billion, and that other federal disaster accounts “are funded, they’re flush.” In an email, Rachel Cauley affirmed Vought’s statement that the disaster fund “is fully funded.”

NPR [6/17/2025 2:02 PM, Rebecca Hersher, 37958K] reports that the leader of the country’s top disaster coordination office has resigned, the latest high-level official to resign from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as President Trump moves to eliminate the agency. Jeremy Greenberg led the National Response Coordination Center at FEMA since 2020. He resigned last week, he confirmed to NPR. The top FEMA position is currently held by an interim leader, David Richardson, who has no prior emergency management experience. After he was installed in May, Reuters reported more than a dozen top FEMA employees resigned. Greenberg’s resignation further hobbles the agency, as the U.S. enters its busiest season for extreme weather disasters including hurricanes, floods and wildfires. Climate change is causing more severe weather across the country. The National Response Coordination Center acts like air traffic control for first responders after a hurricane, tornado, flood, wildfire, earthquake or other national emergency. It’s a crucial role, because responding to deadly disasters requires equipment, employees and expertise from multiple federal agencies and from state and local governments. For example, when Hurricane Helene barreled ashore last year, millions of people across multiple states were under evacuation orders. Greenberg’s team was activated three days before the storm made landfall, according to Congressional testimony by then-FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell.

Bloomberg Government [6/17/2025 7:57 PM, Kellie Lunney, 111K] reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency official in charge of the southeastern US has resigned three weeks into the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. Robert Samaan, the agency’s Region 4 administrator since 2023, announced his departure in a June 17 email to colleagues obtained by Bloomberg Government. "I am not leaving because I am dissatisfied or upset with anything or anyone and I hope that you don’t take my departure as such," Samaan wrote, calling the decision to leave "very difficult."

CBS Baltimore [6/17/2025 6:27 PM, Staff, 51860K] Video: HERE reports nearly $82 million in funding from FEMA grants has been canceled in Maryland after the agency called the grant program "wasteful."

Axios [6/17/2025 6:20 AM, Kathryn Varn and Yacob Reyes, 13599K] reports after a century of minor hurricane impacts on Tampa Bay, last year’s punishing storm season was both a wake-up call and a learning experience. In the months since, local government leaders have been analyzing and adjusting their approaches to preparing for, weathering and recovering from hurricanes. Here’s what they told Axios about lessons learned. Helene and Miltion overwhelmed Tampa Bay’s drainage systems. Local officials tell Axios they’ve been working to get ahead of the next storm: adding pumps, installing flood mitigation devices and clearing pipes. Hillsborough County cleaned 57 miles of pipes, upgraded its equipment, as well as completed inspections and maintenance at all lift stations, which pump sewage from homes into the county’s system. Officials also set up agreements with the state to fast-track emergency requests for additional equipment and installed diesel-powered pumps at "critical" lift stations to keep sewage moving during power outages. Tampa is also upgrading dozens of its lift stations to better withstand extreme weather, including installing more backup generators. In St. Petersburg, where some residents couldn’t use the bathroom during Helene and Milton due to two vulnerable sewage plants, Mayor Ken Welch moved to accelerate more than $700 million in infrastructure improvements through the St. Pete Agile Resilience (SPAR) plan. "We’re working based on science, based on projections, but those projections unfortunately show that the climate change impact is more on the extreme level than we’d hoped," Welch told Axios. "So we adjusted our plans." Several projects, including flood-proofing sewer plants, are already in the works. The question remains how to fund the expedited plan, Welch said. Officials are considering taking on debt and paying it back via revenue from an additional property tax. Such a plan would have to be approved by residents through a referendum.

CBS News [6/17/2025 10:12 PM, Jared Ochacher, 51860K] reports two wildfires in New Mexico are burning over 80,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders and an emergency response from state officials. The Buck Fire is burning over 57,000 acres in Catron County and is 15% contained as of Tuesday night, according to New Mexico Fire Information. Lightning sparked the fire on June 11, authorities said. The Trout Fire started a day later and is burning nearly 25,000 acres in the south of the Gila National Forest. It has no containment, and its cause has not yet been determined. Extreme drought conditions, combined with hot and dry temperatures caused the blaze to grow on Monday, the U.S. Forest Service said in an update Tuesday. Residents of about 2,000 homes have been forced to evacuate, according to Stefan La-Sky, a spokesperson for the team managing the Trout Fire. Officials said they were not aware of any injuries or burned structures. Around 875 personnel and 10 helicopters worked to slow the fire on Tuesday, La-Sky said. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in response to the Trout Fire. The governor’s declaration will direct the New Mexico Department of Finance Administration to allocate $750,000 to the state’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for emergency response efforts. The New Mexico National Guard will also be deployed to assist, according to the governor’s declaration. "I appreciate our federal partners for taking this threat seriously and for doing their part in supporting the responders who are working their hardest to protect the community," Grisham said. The state’s Department of Health issued a smoke advisory for Grant and Catron counties. Health officials warned that the smoke will travel based on wind conditions, and air quality may be affected as far as Las Cruces — nearly 130 miles away. A red flag warning is in effect through Wednesday, as temperatures remain in the 90s with extremely low humidity, and wind gusts are expected up to 35 miles per hour. Red flag warnings are issued to indicate the highest level of fire danger.

Los Angeles Times [6/17/2025 7:02 PM, Staff, 14672K] reports a wildfire that erupted Tuesday afternoon in the San Diego County community of Lakeside was threatening structures, prompting mandatory evacuations. The fire, in the eastern part of the county, was spreading at a moderate rate and had charred 200 acres by about 4 p.m., according to fire officials. There was 0% containment. Officials issued evacuation orders in a rural area of the unincorporated community — in the El Monte Valley, near the base of El Capitan Mountain. The area includes horse ranches and lies just south of the riverbed of the San Diego River. The Monte fire was reported to have started just north of El Monte County Park. Images broadcast on KNSD-TV showed flames leaping toward a ridgetop as billowing gray smoke rose from the valley floor. Firefighting helicopters were unleashing water drops. The fire is just west of El Capitan Reservoir, one of the largest in the city of San Diego’s reservoir system. It was burning about nine miles northeast of El Cajon and 22 miles northeast of downtown San Diego.

AP [6/18/2025 12:28 AM, Staff, 56000K] reports the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department issued evacuation orders after a brush fire ignited in Lakeside, California on Tuesday. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says a fire in San Jose has burned at least 92 acres and is 40% contained. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Los Angeles Times [6/17/2025 6:00 AM, Richard Winton, 14672K] reports a man has been arrested and charged after allegedly shooting paintballs at a federal officer during the protests in downtown Los Angeles last week. Edwin Osvaldo Manriquez was accused of pulling the trigger on a paintball gun and dispersing multiple rounds on the afternoon of June 9 near the federal building on Los Angeles Street in downtown L.A., according to an affidavit filed by the FBI in court. An officer with the Federal Protective Service was hit. The service is an arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that protects federal buildings. "The paintballs hit him on the head, left ear, left cheek, left neck and left shoulder," the affidavit says; the officer wore a helmet and protective gear. Manriquez was charged with assault on a federal officer. The officers were stationed at the main entrance of the federal building to ensure protesters didn’t enter the structure, the affidavit says. The suspect is accused of pulling the trigger while in the passenger seat of a white 2005 Infiniti G35 coupe. After firing the paintball gun, the suspect allegedly "threw a hand sign with his left hand while still holding the paintball gun in his right hand," the affidavit says. Both the suspected shooter and the driver were wearing face coverings. Investigators were able to identify Manriquez and the driver after the vehicle’s license plate number was caught on video, according to the court document. After obtaining a warrant, FBI agents on Friday searched the driver’s home and "found the paintball gun used in the assault" in the person’s garage, and paintballs in both the car and the garage, the affidavit says. The man confirmed to the FBI that he was, indeed, driving the vehicle when the paintball rounds were fired, the affidavit says.

NewsMax [6/17/2025 11:32 AM, Mark Swanson, 4622K] reports a former lieutenant and sharpshooter in the Coast Guard has been arrested and charged with making threats to kill President Donald Trump, according to multiple reports. Citing unsealed court records and a 19-page FBI affidavit, ABC News and CBS News reported that Peter Stinson of Oakton, Virginia, was arrested Monday for making a series of threats toward the president spanning several years. A federal judge on Monday ordered Stinson to be detained pending a hearing on Wednesday, according to the reports. Prosecutors say Stinson, who served in the Coast Guard for 33 years and identifies as a member of the antifa — or, anti-fascist — movement, took to social media to issue threats against Trump from 2020 through this year, according to the reports. In one post, ABC News reported that Stinson suggested he would "pull the trigger" to get rid of Trump or would be the "driver" for someone else willing to assassinate him. In others, Stinson offered to "serve in a support capacity" or raise money for a "contract hit," CBS News reported. Trump was injured in an assassination attempt last year in Butler, Pennsylvania, and was the target of a second attempt at his golf club in Palm Beach, Florida, in September. Stinson also worked as a Federal Emergency Management Agency instructor, according to the reports.

Reported similarly:
Blaze [6/17/2025 11:25 AM, Cortney Weil, 1805K]

Axios [6/17/2025 7:00 AM, Sam Sabin, 13599K] reports cyberattacks are the latest crisis for U.S. retailers as they continue to weather tariff uncertainties and labor strife. Consumers are already feeling the squeeze from high prices and patchy inventory. And now, cyberattacks are adding yet another cost driver — both operationally and optically — for businesses trying to stay afloat. United Natural Foods, a major U.S. grocery supplier, has been battling an apparent cyberattack since June 6. The incident led to product shortages at Whole Foods and other grocery stores across the country. In a statement on Sunday, the company said it "made significant progress toward safely restoring our electronic ordering systems," allowing it to start receiving and delivering products to grocery store customers again. The breach is the latest in a string of cyber incidents hitting American retailers. In recent weeks, Victoria’s Secret, North Face, and Cartier were each targeted in separate cyberattacks. Victoria’s Secret had to shut down its online store for a full day. Google had warned last month that Scattered Spider — a group of teen hackers in the U.S. and U.K. with no clear links to any nation-state — had its sights set on American retailers after a similar spree in the U.K. None of the affected retailers have disclosed who may be responsible.

CyberScoop [6/17/2025 12:21 PM, Derek B. Johnson] reports the United States should move toward a new model where “target rich, resource-poor” community organizations like hospitals, schools, utilities and municipal governments share their cybersecurity responsibilities with “other, more capable actors” in the government and private sectors. That is the primary conclusion of a new report released Tuesday by the Cyber Resilience Corps, a volunteer organization led by the University of California Berkeley Center for Long Term Cybersecurity (CLTC) and the CyberPeace Institute. For years, policymakers have struggled to help these vital cogs of U.S. critical infrastructure level up their cybersecurity defenses in the face of rampant attacks from ransomware groups, nation-states and digital scammers. Many of the insights in the paper are drawn from conversations the authors had with grantees from the Craig Newmark Philanthropies in the Cyber Civil Defense Initiative and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the federal government’s primary contact with states and localities on cyber defense. “Emerging from both of these groups was one core theme: community organizations as a whole are falling through the cracks, and current efforts are not enough to help them protect themselves online,” wrote authors Sarah Powazek and Grace Menna. These community organizations are “highly interdependent; just as hospitals need water, small businesses need childcare, and utilities need city governments, which in turn need nonprofits, and so on,” the report states.

CyberScoop [6/17/2025 6:23 PM, Derek B. Johnson] reports multiple variants of jailbroken and uncensored AI tools being sold on hacker forums were likely generated using popular commercial large language models from Mistral AI and X’s Grok, according to research published Tuesday from Cato Networks. As some commercial AI companies have sought to build guardrails into their models for safety and security — preventing them from explicitly coding malware, relaying detailed instructions for building bombs or other malicious behaviors — a parallel underground market has emerged offering to sell more uncensored versions of the technology. These “WormGPTs” — named after one of the original AI tools first advertised on underground hacker forums in 2023 — are usually cobbled together from open-source models and other toolsets and can generate code, search for and analyze vulnerabilities, and are then marketed and sold online. But according to Cato Networks researcher Vitaly Simonovich, two variants advertised on BreachForums over the past year have more straightforward origins. “Cato CTRL has discovered previously unreported WormGPT variants that are powered by xAI’s Grok and Mistral AI’s Mixtral,” he wrote. One variant, advertised on BreachForums in February, was accessed through Telegram, calling itself an “Uncensored Assistant,” but otherwise describing its purpose in positive and uncontroversial terms.

DefenseScoop [6/17/2025 5:24 PM, Jon Harper, 260K] reports a day after the Defense Department announced a new deal with OpenAI, an official with the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and AI Office said announcements about additional partnerships with companies for “frontier AI” projects are on the horizon. In its daily list of new contract awards, the department announced Monday evening that the CDAO had awarded a $200 million prototype other transaction agreement to OpenAI Public Sector to “develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains.” The estimated completion date for the work is July 2026. The announcement did not provide any additional details about what those capabilities will entail or what specific mission sets they’ll be applied to. Last year, the CDAO listed a variety of “warfighting” use cases that its newly launched Artificial Intelligence Rapid Capabilities Cell would focus on, including command and control, decision support, operational planning, logistics, weapons development and testing, uncrewed and autonomous systems, intelligence activities, information operations and cyber operations. “Enterprise management” use cases include financial systems, human resources, enterprise logistics and supply chain, health care information management, legal analysis and compliance, procurement processes, and software development and cybersecurity. On Tuesday, DefenseScoop sent the CDAO questions seeking more information about the deal with OpenAI.

DefenseScoop [6/17/2025 10:25 AM, Mark Pomerleau, 260K] reports Brandon Pugh has been selected as the Army’s principal cyber adviser, according to a LinkedIn post. Pugh, who will be the third person to hold that role, most recently was director and a resident senior fellow for the R Street Institute’s Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats team. Additionally, he is an Army reservist serving as a national security law professor at the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, having previously been a paratrooper as well. The PCA position had been vacant since March 2024, when the last occupant, Michael Sulmeyer, was tapped to serve as the inaugural assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy. The principal cyber adviser is a congressionally mandated position created in the 2020 defense policy bill for each service. It aims to serve as the top adviser to the service secretary and chief, providing insights on recruitment, training and readiness of cyber forces and acquisition of offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, among other responsibilities. In addition to growing its cyber mission force contribution to U.S. Cyber Command, the Army is also expanding its own service-retained cyber forces that combine electromagnetic spectrum capabilities. It’s growing an additional unit, the 12th Cyber Battalion, after creating the 11th Cyber Battalion in 2022. Those forces consists of expeditionary cyber teams that provide on-the-ground cyber operations (mostly through radio-frequency effects), electronic warfare and information ops. Those forces are scalable and designed to augment units upon request while being expected to maneuver with units, plan tactical operations for commanders and conduct ops in theater.

Reuters [6/17/2025 7:52 PM, Staff, 24051K] reports Viasat Inc (VSAT.O) has been identified as a victim of the Chinese-linked Salt Typhoon cyberespionage operation during last year’s presidential campaign, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The breach at the satellite communications firm was discovered earlier this year and Viasat has been working with the government in the aftermath, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Viasat and its independent third-party cybersecurity partner investigated unauthorized access through a compromised device but found no evidence of customer impact, the company said in a statement. "Viasat believes that the incident has been remediated and has not detected any recent activity related to this event," the company said, adding that it was engaged with the government as part of its investigation. U.S. officials have previously alleged that hackers targeted telecom companies such as Verizon (VZ.N), AT&T (T.N), Lumen (LUMN.N), and others, stealing telephone audio intercepts along with a significant amount of call record data. In December, the officials added a ninth unnamed telecom company to the list of entities compromised by the Salt Typhoon hackers and said that the Chinese operatives gained access to networks with broad and full access, enabling them to "geolocate millions of individuals, to record phone calls at will".

Bloomberg [6/17/2025 6:23 PM, K Oanh Ha, Naomi Ng, and Yang Yang, 19320K] reports teams from China used to dominate international hacking competitions, until Beijing ordered them to stop attending and take part only in domestic tournaments. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Jamie Tarabay about how tournaments are helping boost China’s cyber-espionage capabilities and what that means for the world. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Federalist [6/17/2025 7:32 AM, Nicholas Giordano, 1142K] reports the Biden administration’s National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism was never about protecting Americans. It was about targeting them. From the day it was released, the strategy became a political weapon used against political opponents and anyone who dared to challenge government overreach. Now, four years after this deeply troubling document, one thing is clear: President Trump must immediately rescind this unconstitutional abomination. The bureaucracy should not have the power to label law-abiding citizens as potential terrorists under vague and intentionally undefined terms such as "anti-government" and "anti-authority.” This unprecedented strategy marked a shift in how the federal government views American citizens. Notice how it uses ambiguous terms as indicators of potential terrorism, yet it makes no mention of "anti-American sentiment." That glaring omission says it all. The true purpose was to criminalize dissent against the government rather than protect the nation. Recently declassified documents from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence show how the FBI and Department of Homeland Security "respond[ed] to incidents of concerning non-criminal behavior," reinforcing concerns about the weaponized agencies opening probes on Americans who weren’t breaking the law. The abuses of power were widespread. Consider who was targeted: parents who spoke at school board meetings, MAGA supporters, and Catholics who dared to hold traditional beliefs about the sanctity of life and the sexes, just to name a few. The FBI created threat tag systems to track these Americans and opened investigative files on citizens engaged in constitutionally protected activity. These actions are unconstitutional and extend well beyond the statutory authority granted to these agencies by Congress. The National Strategy and the mechanisms laid out in the Strategic Implementation Plan operate in a legal gray area where bureaucrats act independently and use vague, undefined criteria to investigate and target Americans with little oversight or accountability. This lack of oversight allowed millions of taxpayer dollars to be funneled to censorship initiatives such as Stanford’s Election Integrity Partnership, which collaborated with government agencies to flag and suppress online speech under the pretext of combating "misinformation." Americans shouldn’t have to pay to have their own voices silenced, especially by a government that was created to protect our God-given liberties, not undermine them.

NewsNation [6/17/2025 3:58 PM, Adam Benson, 5801K] reports a Conway teen is facing a terrorism charge after authorities said he spent months working to join ISIS and obtained instructions on how to build a weapon of mass destruction, authorities said Wednesday. Daniel Fox Fischer, 17, was arrested June 9 by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division on one count each of threatening or conspiring to threaten real or personal property using a destructive device and possession or using a weapon of mass destruction for an act of terrorism. Fischer was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center’s juvenile facility, and his case will be prosecuted by the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. According to a SLED warrant, Fischer "communicated his intent to join a foreign terrorist organization" later identified as ISIS between April and August of last year. An investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force found that Fischer obtained instructional videos and instructions for "making an explosive device, information about (improvised explosive devices) and recipes for making explosive material C4." Authorities also recovered training manuals and electronic communications "supporting terrorism activities," including Fischer showing support for ISIS while wearing an explosive vest.

New York Post [6/17/2025 10:58 AM, Thomas Barrabi, 49956K] reports Sam Altman’s OpenAI has secured a $200 million contract to provide artificial intelligence support to the US Defense Department. Work on the contract will be primarily performed in Washington DC and is expected to run through July 2026. The deal was announced months after OpenAI first revealed that it would collaborate with tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey’s defense firm Anduril to develop AI for "national security missions.” "Under this award, the performer will develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains," the Pentagon said in a statement. The ChatGPT maker’s move to work with the US military marked a departure from the company’s earlier position. The company’s terms of service once contained language stating that its AI products were prohibited for use in "military and warfare" circumstances – but the wording was removed last year. In a blog post alongside the Pentagon’s announcement, Altman’s firm said it was "launching OpenAI for Government, a new initiative focused on bringing our most advanced AI tools to public servants across the United States.” "Our goal is to unlock AI solutions that enhance the capabilities of government workers, help them cut down on the red tape and paperwork, and let them do more of what they come to work each day to do: serve the American people," the blog post said. OpenAI described its $200 million deal with the Pentagon as a "pilot program" meant to "help the Defense Department identify and prototype how frontier AI can transform its administrative operations, from improving how service members and their families get health care, to streamlining how they look at program and acquisition data, to supporting proactive cyber defense.”

CNN [6/17/2025 6:07 PM, Clare Duffy and Samantha Waldenberg, 21433K] reports TikTok just got another lifeline from the White House, with President Donald Trump set to delay enforcement of the sale-or-ban law by another 90 days. "President Trump will sign an additional Executive Order this week to keep TikTok up and running," Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said in a statement. "As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark. This extension will last 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.” It’s been about five months since a law requiring TikTok to be banned in the United States unless it’s sold off by its China-based parent company technically went into effect. But thanks to President Donald Trump’s promises not to enforce the law, neither of those things have happened, aside from an approximately 14-hour blackout in January. Tuesday’s announcement marks Trump’s third extension of the ban. The announcement means that the app will remain accessible for its 170 million American users despite the legislation that passed last year with bipartisan support over concerns that TikTok’s Chinese ownership poses a US national security risk. And it comes as both the United States and China seek leverage in tense trade talks, in which TikTok appears to have become a bargaining chip. The TikTok sale-or-ban law went into effect on January 19 after it was signed by former President Joe Biden last year. TikTok briefly took itself offline, sparking outcry from creators, but quickly came back after Trump signed an order delaying the ban’s enforcement by 75 days. It was one of his first acts as president, made in hopes of reaching a deal to keep the app "alive.” That pause was set to expire on June 19. Trump’s latest enforcement delay raises questions about the status of a deal that could secure TikTok’s long-term future in the United States. The Chinese government has offered little public indication that it would be willing to approve a sale beyond suggesting that any deal could not include TikTok’s "algorithm," which has been called the app’s secret sauce. Tuesday’s announcement comes after the United States and China agreed on a framework to ease export controls, a move that’s expected to ease tensions and prevent further escalation of export and other restrictions between the two countries. It’s not clear whether a TikTok deal is included in the framework, but cooperation between the two sides could make an agreement to transfer control of the app to a US buyer more likely.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [6/17/2025 6:42 PM, Miranda Nazzaro, 18649K]
Washington Examiner [6/17/2025 7:09 PM, Christian Datoc, 1934K]

Blaze [6/17/2025 10:15 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K] reports President Donald Trump’s track record and repeated commitment to keeping the nation out of "endless wars" suggest that he does not have the interventionist reflex common to most of his predecessors. Some lawmakers in Washington nevertheless appear uncertain amid the chatter about Iranian regime change, the recent buildup of U.S. forces in the region, the threat of an Iranian attack warranting American retaliation, and Trump’s recent remarks — "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" There is now a bipartisan effort underway to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to commit the United States to military actions without congressional approval.

US News & World Report [6/17/2025 12:06 PM, Staff, 24051K] reports President Donald Trump swapped the cool mountain breeze of Alberta, Canada, last night for swampy Washington, D.C., as he left the G7 summit early amid rising tensions in the Middle East. Trump is denying the accusation he left the summit to work on a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, saying in a social media post that French President Emmanuel Macron, who made the claim, "has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire.” Now, as Trump calls for a "real end" to the crisis between Iran and Israel, both sides are continuing to trade fresh strikes and the U.S. is reportedly beefing up its military presence in the region. Elsewhere in Washington, Senate Republicans released their version of the big budget reconciliation bill, which takes a hatchet to the tax portion of the bill passed by the House, setting up a potential battle with their congressional counterparts.

Washington Examiner [6/17/2025 6:47 PM, Naomi Lim, 1934K] reports President Donald Trump upped the price tag for Canada to be protected by his highly anticipated Golden Dome missile defense project as the two countries simultaneously negotiate a trade deal to mitigate the worst of Trump’s tariffs. The Golden Dome presents Canada with an opportunity to, in the words of one expert, "prove" itself to the United States after months of tensions because of Trump’s rhetoric and economic pressure. However, there are also political costs, including a lack of clarity regarding the project. Trump announced the new $71 billion price for Canada to be covered by his Golden Dome late Monday en route back to Washington after leaving the G7 summit in Canada early to address the latest Middle East conflict. The defense system would be similar to Israel’s Iron Dome but bigger and more complex, with hypersonic and space-based missile interceptors. Aboard Air Force One, Trump increased the cost from $61 billion, which he announced last month in a social media post, when asked about Canada becoming the 51st state, something he’s often suggested. "They’re going to have to pay a lot of money for the dome," Trump said. "They want to be a part of it. We may make a separate deal on that, by the way. We discussed it. They want to be at $71 billion, they’re gonna pay. They’ll be in the dome.” A spokesperson for the Canadian Embassy in Washington underscored how Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the summit’s host, have spoken publicly about their discussions regarding the Golden Dome. "Canada is looking at how it could participate in or complement the initiative," the spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. The U.S. and Canada currently comprise the only binational military command in the world, the North American Aerospace Defense Command. However, while NORAD provides missile warnings, it is the U.S. that provides ballistic missile defense, with Canada committing in 2022 to spend $27 billion modernizing the system. Rigby recalled being a member of the negotiating team regarding whether Canada should sign on to the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense Program 20 years ago, before Canada decided against doing so, mostly because of domestic politics and concerns it could be "destabilizing in terms of deterrence.” Now, two decades later, the politics have changed between the U.S., Canada, and the rest of the world, according to Rigby.

NPR [6/17/2025 5:31 AM, Joanna Kakissis, 37958K] reports one of the largest Russian attacks in months killed at least 15 people, mostly in Ukraine’s capital, injuring nearly 100 and severely damaging several apartment buildings. Rescue workers are digging through the rubble for survivors. The attack lasted for more than nine hours overnight. Amid the constant crackle of Kyiv’s air defenses, NPR’s bureau heard the moped-like buzzing sound of drones for hours, and, briefly, a missile’s whistling screech. Other parts of Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Odesa in the south, Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, Zhytomyr in the west and Chernihiv in the north. In a post on Telegram, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 280 attack drones and two Kinzhal ballistic missiles, with most aimed at Kyiv. In recent weeks, Russia has been sending swarms of drones to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and then following up with ballistic missiles, which are harder to shoot down. Kyiv residents heard explosions throughout the night as Ukraine’s air defense units shot down most of the aerial weapons. As the sun rose in Kyiv, the air smelled burnt as thick plumes of smoke rose from parts of the city. On social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it "one of the most horrifying strikes on Kyiv." At least a dozen sites were struck, many of them residential buildings, including a direct hit by a ballistic missile on a nine-story apartment building, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram.

Reuters [6/17/2025 9:04 AM, Andrew Osborn, 51390K] reports North Korea will send thousands of military construction workers and sappers to Russia’s Kursk region to help rebuild it after a Ukrainian incursion that North Korean troops helped Moscow repel this year, a senior Russian security official said on Tuesday. Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council and a former defence minister with close ties to President Vladimir Putin, spoke after talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, their second such encounter in just two weeks. Shoigu said he was carrying out what he said were "special instructions" from Putin. His visit came at a time when ties between Moscow and Pyongyang - who are drawing closer in the face of what they say is a hostile West - are developing at pace, and days after he said the first direct train since 2020 between Moscow and Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, had set off. He said he hoped direct flights between Moscow and Pyongyang would also restart for the first time in more than 30 years. Shoigu’s visit was likely to be scrutinised in the West as the United States, South Korea and Ukraine itself have accused North Korea of providing Russia with massive military assistance to keep its war against Ukraine going, something neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has publicly acknowledged.

Reuters [6/17/2025 5:20 PM, Staff, 51390K] reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday met with Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, in Pyongyang, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday. Kim and Shoigu discussed cooperation plans for what Russia calls its "special military operation" in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, the report said, confirming earlier reports of the meeting by Russian media. Plans to commemorate the "heroic feats" of North Korean soldiers in the operations in the Kursk region, a part of Russia which Ukrainian forces infiltrated last year, were also discussed during the meeting, KCNA said. North Korea will send thousands of military construction workers and sappers to the region to help rebuild it after the Ukrainian incursion that North Korean troops helped Moscow repel this year, Shoigu was cited as saying by the Russian state news agency TASS on Tuesday. His visit to Pyongyang and meeting with Kim came nearly two weeks after the last meeting with the leader of the reclusive state on June 4.

Reuters [6/17/2025 6:06 AM, Gram Slattery, 51390K] reports the Trump administration shelved in recent weeks an inter-agency working group it had set up to formulate strategies for pressuring Russia into speeding up peace talks with Ukraine, according to three U.S. officials. The effort, which was established earlier in the spring, lost steam in May as it became increasingly clear to participants that U.S. President Donald Trump was not interested in adopting a more confrontational stance toward Moscow, said the officials. Despite pledging during his campaign to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his presidency, Trump in recent months has grown increasingly frustrated that his push has yielded no breakthroughs. He has begun saying that the United States may abandon its efforts to broker peace altogether. In light of that threat, the working group’s task seemed increasingly irrelevant, added those officials, who requested anonymity to describe sensitive internal discussions. "It lost steam toward the end because the president wasn’t there. Instead of doing more, maybe he wanted to do less," one of the officials said. The death of the working group, the existence of which has not been previously reported, is likely to deepen European allies’ concerns over Trump’s at-times conciliatory tone toward Russia and his reluctance to express full-throated support for Ukraine ahead of a pivotal summit of NATO allies later this month.

Wall Street Journal [6/17/2025 9:21 PM, Michael R. Gordon, Tarini Parti, and Alex Leary, 646K] reports President Trump issued bellicose threats against Iran and its leadership Tuesday, suggesting the U.S. might join Israel’s strikes and pivot away from seeking a diplomatic agreement to restrict Tehran’s nuclear program. Calling for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” he said in a Truth Social post that the U.S. knew Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s location but wouldn’t kill him, “at least for now.” He added: “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” implying collaboration with Israel’s attacks, even though there is no indication U.S. war planes are operating over the country. After Trump met with his national security team at the White House, administration officials said no decision has been made on whether to proceed with an attack and that a strike was just one of the options that was discussed. Even so, it was a sharp escalation of his pressure on Iran, suggesting for the first time that he was contemplating use of U.S. forces not just to curtail Iran’s nuclear program but potentially to target its leadership. Since returning to office in January, Trump has said repeatedly that he favored negotiations with Tehran, which says its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes. But he has shifted course abruptly in recent days after aides said he had concluded such a deal appeared increasingly unlikely. Since Israel last Friday launched attacks, Trump has aligned himself more closely with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Israel’s attacks in Iran continued Tuesday, and the death toll rose above 450, according to a human-rights group. The Israeli military said it was conducting strikes in the Tehran area early Wednesday local time. Iran continued to fire missiles and drones at Israel, where 24 people have died as a result of the attacks. Israel’s military issued two warnings about incoming missiles early Wednesday morning, local time, saying it was trying to intercept them.

New York Times [6/18/2025 3:18 AM, Natan Odenheimer, David E. Sanger, Farnaz Fassihi and Michael Levenson, 330K] reports Israel said it had killed a newly installed senior Iranian military official on Tuesday, just days after his predecessor was slain, further destabilizing Iran’s military chain of command as the war entered its fifth day. Since Israel began bombing Iran on Friday, it has killed at least 11 senior generals while striking Iranian nuclear sites and missile launchers, in what it calls an effort to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. On Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said it had killed Maj. Gen. Ali Shadmani, describing him as the most senior military commander in Iran. He was appointed to his post four days ago, replacing a general who was killed by Israel on the first day of hostilities. Iran did not immediately comment on Israel’s claim about General Shadmani. If confirmed, his death would deal yet another blow to Iran’s beleaguered military leadership. A senior Israeli defense official said that the killing of General Shadmani reflected Israel’s decades-long effort to infiltrate Iran’s intelligence services, as well as the careless mistakes senior Iranian officials have been making as they try to flee Israeli attacks. Later on Tuesday, the Israeli military launched more airstrikes, with dozens of aircraft bombing the Isfahan area of central Iran, targeting missile launchers, according to Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman. He said in a televised briefing that Iran still had “significant capabilities that could cause serious damage.” President Trump declared on Tuesday that “we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran” and called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” amid growing signs that the United States was considering joining Israel’s bombing campaign. Military analysts have said that only the United States has the 30,000-pound bombs and B-2 stealth bombers capable of destroying Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear enrichment site, known as Fordo, which is built into the side of a mountain.

AP [6/17/2025 9:57 AM, Joseph Krauss, Jon Gambrell, Natalie Melzer and Melanie Lidman, 56000K] reports Israel pounded Iran for a fifth day in an air campaign against its longstanding foe’s military and nuclear program, as U.S. President Donald Trump warned residents of Tehran to evacuate and suggested the United States was working on something “better than a ceasefire.” Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran, telling reporters on Air Force One during the flight back to Washington: “I’m not looking at a ceasefire. We’re looking at better than a ceasefire.” When asked to explain, he said the U.S. wanted to see “a real end” to the conflict that could involve Iran “giving up entirely.” He added: “I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.” Trump’s cryptic messages added to the uncertainty roiling the region as residents of Tehran fled their homes in droves and the U.N. nuclear watchdog for the first time said Israeli strikes on Iran’s main enrichment facility at Natanz had also damaged its underground section, and not just the surface area. Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent its adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. The strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran.

CNN [6/17/2025 2:38 PM, Alayna Treene, Kevin Liptak, Kaitlan Collins, Kylie Atwood, and Natasha Bertrand, 21433K] reports President Donald Trump is growing increasingly warm to using US military assets to strike Iranian nuclear facilities and souring on the idea of a diplomatic solution to end Tehran’s escalating conflict with Israel, two officials familiar with the ongoing discussions told CNN. The new, more hawkish posture represents a significant shift in Trump’s thinking, though the sources said Trump remains open to a diplomatic solution — if Iran makes significant concessions. Over the weekend and into Monday, discussions among Trump administration officials had continued to center on trying to find a diplomatic solution to serve as an off-ramp, sources familiar with the talks said. But Trump signaled early Tuesday his patience for diplomacy was wearing thin. “I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate with Iran,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One returning early from the Group of 7 summit in Canada. He added that his objective in Iran was “an end, a real end, not a ceasefire,” or “giving up entirely.” Officials said Trump had, for now, moved away from the idea of dispatching top officials to a mutually agreed upon location in the Middle East to meet with the Iranians and attempt to hash out a deal. Military officials were preparing for the possibility that Trump would decide to order the US Air Force to help refuel Israeli fighter jets as they carry out strikes over Iran, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The sources said that is one reason why more than 30 US aerial refueling tankers have been surged to the region over the last several days.

AP [6/17/2025 9:25 AM, Aamer Madhani and Chris Megerian, 56000K] Video HERE reports President Donald Trump in about eight hours went from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained “achievable” to urging Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his visit to an international summit to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team. Trump arrived at the White House early Tuesday at a moment of choosing in his presidency. Israel, with five days of missile strikes, has done considerable damage to Iran and believes it can now deal a permanent blow to Tehran’s nuclear program — particularly if it gets a little more help from the Republican president. But deepening American involvement, perhaps by providing the Israelis with bunker-busting bombs to penetrate Iranian nuclear sites built deep underground or offering other direct U.S. military support, comes with enormous political risk for Trump. Trump, as he made his way back to Washington, expressed frustration with Iranian leaders for failing to reach an agreement. He said he was now looking for “a real end” to the conflict and a “complete give-up” of Tehran’s nuclear program. “They should have done the deal. I told them, ‘Do the deal,’” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “So I don’t know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [6/17/2025 6:11 AM, Kanishka Singh, 51390K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted a "real end" to the nuclear problem with Iran, with Iran "giving up entirely" on nuclear weapons, in comments he made to reporters on Air Force One on his way back from the Group of Seven summit in Canada. "Giving up entirely," Trump told reporters early on Tuesday. "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, it’s very simple." The air war between Iran and U.S. ally Israel - which began on Friday when Israel attacked Iran with airstrikes - has raised alarms in a region that had already been on edge since the start of Israel’s military assault on Gaza in October 2023. Trump said he may send U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff or Vice President JD Vance to meet with Iran. However, he added that "it depends on what happens when I get back". When asked if Israel would slow down its attacks on Iran, Trump said: "You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far." Trump also said he had not seen any signs yet of North Korea or Russia getting involved to help Iran. The president added Washington was working on helping Americans who were trying to flee the region amid the Israel-Iran war. "We’re working on that, we’re doing the best we can," he said.

ABC News [6/17/2025 8:02 AM, Kevin Shalvey, 31733K] reports President Donald Trump denied early on Tuesday having had contact with leaders in Iran, saying he hadn’t reached out about a potential ceasefire and that he was "not too much in the mood" to negotiate with Iran. "I’ve been negotiating. I told them to do the deal," Trump said. "They should have done the deal. The cities have been blown to pieces, lost a lot of people. They should have done the deal. I told them do the deal, so I don’t know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.” The comments came as Trump returned early Tuesday to the White House, where he’d asked his top national security staff to assemble in the Situation Room, after he departed the Group of Seven leadership summit in Canada early. He also seemed to dismiss a recent assessment from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who had said Iran wasn’t working on a nuclear weapon. Trump said on Tuesday he thought Iran was "very close" to having such a weapon. Trump in a post on his Truth Social network also said that he hadn’t reached out to Iran "in any way, shape or form," calling reports that he had done so "fabricated." "If they want to talk, they know how to reach me," Trump said in a post early on Tuesday. "They should have taken the deal that was on the table -- Would have save a lot of lives!!!".

New York Post [6/17/2025 6:36 AM, Patrick Reilly, 49956K] reports President Trump said he is seeking "a real end" to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and demanded a "complete give-up" by Tehran — as Israeli forces claim they’ve killed another Iranian senior military commander. "I’m not asking for a cease-fire, we’re looking at better than a cease-fire," the president told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the G7 summit in Canada. Trump clarified he wants to see "an end, a real end, not a cease-fire" and called for a "complete give-up" on Iran’s end. Trump also strongly denied contacting Iran in an attempt to broker peace talks after French President Emmanuel Macron said he had. "I have not reached out to Iran for ‘Peace Talks’ in any way, shape, or form. This is just more HIGHLY FABRICATED, FAKE NEWS!" he raged on Truth Social Monday night. "If they want to talk, they know how to reach me. They should have taken the deal that was on the table – Would have saved a lot of lives!!!". The president told reporters during his midnight departure from the G7 that he does not expect Israel to hold back its attacks on Iran. "You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far," a CBS journalist quoted Trump as saying on Air Force One.

Breitbart [6/17/2025 7:37 AM, Joel B. Pollak, 3077K] reports Israel will not stop fighting Iran until it has destroyed the Iranian regime’s ballistic missiles and its nuclear facilities, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Operations Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk said Tuesday. Basiuk spoke as speculation mounted about a possible ceasefire between Israel and Iran, as President Donald Trump left the G7 meeting in Canada early, and as Iran reportedly asked mediators to find an end to the war. The general’s response suggests that Israel will not leave its security up for negotiation any longer. Missile barrages have disrupted life in Israel, and highlighted the potential dangers of nuclear-armed warheads. As Israel destroys Iran’s missile launchers — it has already destroyed an estimated 200 of 360 — pressure on the home front will ease, and Israel will continue to enjoy complete freedom of operation in Iranian airspace.

AP [6/17/2025 1:20 PM, Chris Megerian and David Klepper, 56000K] reports Tulsi Gabbard left no doubt when she testified to Congress about Iran’s nuclear program earlier this year. The country was not building a nuclear weapon, the national intelligence director told lawmakers, and its supreme leader had not reauthorized the dormant program even though it had enriched uranium to higher levels. But President Donald Trump dismissed the assessment of U.S. spy agencies during an overnight flight back to Washington as he cut short his trip to the Group of Seven summit to focus on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. "I don’t care what she said," Trump told reporters. In his view, Iran was "very close" to having a nuclear bomb. Trump’s statement aligned him with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has described a nuclear-armed Iran as an imminent threat, rather than with his own top intelligence adviser. Trump was expected to meet with national security officials in the Situation Room on Tuesday as he plans next steps. Gabbard brushed off the inconsistency, blaming the media for misconstruing her earlier testimony and asserting that "President Trump was saying the same thing that I said.” "We are on the same page," she told CNN. Asked for comment, Gabbard’s office referred to those remarks.

NewsNation [6/17/2025 6:58 AM, Robert Sherman, Tom Dempsey, and Anna Kutz, 5801K] reports President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed “we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran” as Israel and Tehran exchanged strikes for a fifth day. “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff,’” Trump said on social media. “Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.” On Monday, Israel similarly said it had “full air supremacy” over Tehran. Trump also said he knows where Iran’s supreme leader is but would not target him “for now.” Israel’s surprise attacks on Iran’s military and nuclear program last week prompted retaliatory action from Tehran. Israeli missiles have continued to bombard Iran’s capital, including an attack on a state television studio while they were live on the air, while Tel Aviv said Tehran is targeting civilians with its strikes. On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance said Trump may take “further action” to prevent uranium enrichment for Iranian nuclear programs. Vance commended Trump’s “remarkable restraint” so far and alluded to potential “foreign entanglement” in the future. “But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue. And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus,” Vance said on social media.

NewsMax [6/17/2025 12:20 PM, Staff, 4622K] reports Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told Newsmax on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s recent comments about Iran may be "setting up" a "defensive action" against the country’s nuclear facilities that could include attacks by the United States. Iran and Israel on Tuesday continued to launch missile strikes against one another, which have killed hundreds in Iran and dozens in Israel, for the fifth day in a row. Trump said at the G7 summit on Monday that Iran "is not winning this war" and must "make a deal … before it’s too late." He added on the flight back to the United States that he is "not looking at a ceasefire, we’re looking at better than a ceasefire.” Cramer told "National Report" when asked about Trump’s comments, "judging from what the president said, judging from the fact that he’s probably in the Situation Room right now with his national security team, realizing that we have a number of tankers that are that are heading that direction, and another fleet going in that direction, I think what we’re setting up for is for defensive action, quite honestly.” The senator noted that although he sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, he does not have inside knowledge of the White House’s plans. He added, "The president has been pretty clear that unless American troops are attacked, he doesn’t want to use military force. Having said that, the only way to really end the nuclear capabilities that Iran has … would be for one of two things to happen: Either the United States flies some bombers with the 30,000 pound bunker busters and drops them on Fordow [fuel enrichment plant, one of Iran’s nuclear facilities] or the Israelis somehow are able to get there and on ground or some other way and take out that capability.”

CNN [6/17/2025 11:03 AM, Katie Bo Lillis and Zachary Cohen, 875K] reports when Israel launched its series of strikes against Iran last week, it also issued a number of dire warnings about the country’s nuclear program, suggesting Iran was fast approaching a point of no return in its quest to obtain nuclear weapons and that the strikes were necessary to preempt that outcome. But US intelligence assessments had reached a different conclusion – not only was Iran not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, it was also up to three years away from being able to produce and deliver one to a target of its choosing, according to four people familiar with the assessment. Another senior US official told CNN that Iran is "about as close as you can get before building (a nuclear weapon). If Iran wanted one, they have all the things they need.” Now, after days of Israeli airstrikes, US intelligence officials believe that so far, Israel may have set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a matter of months, according to one of those people, a US official. Even as Israel has done significant damage to Iran’s facility at Natanz, which houses centrifuges necessary to enrich uranium, a second, heavily fortified enrichment site at Fordow has remained effectively untouched. Israel lacks the capability to damage Fordow without specific US weapons and aerial support, defense experts say.

New York Post [6/17/2025 6:45 PM, Doree Lewak, 49956K] reports despite a current US State Department advisory against travel to Israel "due to armed conflict, terrorism and civil unrest" and closed airspace, some determined New Yorkers want to be in the Holy Land to show their solidarity with and support for the Jewish state. "I feel guilty that I’m not there with my brothers and sisters being subjected to these missiles," said Todd Richman, a Long Islander whose flight to Israel was canceled last Thursday as news broke of Israel’s preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear sites. "I feel guilty. It’s hard to explain.” Since airports are shuttered, the 55-year-old, who works in finance, said he’s looked into alternate means to get into the Jewish state, including a ship, to no avail. The minute flights open up, Richman declared, "I’m there.” The married dad-of-three added, "It’s hard to explain how you can want to be in a war zone right now, but there’s something you feel in your heart.” With friends and family running into bomb shelters every night amidst a barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Iran, there’s a sense of powerlessness. "I’m watching it through their eyes and I wish I was there with them," he said. "There’s something unique about the Jewish ruach (spirit) about being together during such a situation.” With 24 Israelis killed and hundreds injured in the days-long Iranian missile barrage, people are determined to stay resilient and strong in the face of evil. "They’re having bar mitzvahs in the shelters, singing in the shelters, celebrating life in the shelters," Richman said, adding, "I still feel safe there. In some ways you feel safer being in Israel with ballistic missiles landing than you do in most other parts of the world.” Chava Blivaiss, a 36-year-old trauma surgeon, feels similarly. "People think I’m crazy, [but] I just feel the need to be there," she told The Post. The Long Islander is on standby with a fully packed bag, passport and medical IDs sitting by the door.

FOX News [6/17/2025 6:26 PM, Brooke Singman, 46878K] reports allegations that the Chinese Communist Party manufactured fake driver’s licenses and shipped them to the U.S. in a scheme to influence the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden are being investigated by the Senate Judiciary Committee after the FBI revealed its own probe into the potential bombshell Monday night. FBI Director Kash Patel located and declassified the document at the request of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley in late May and transmitted it to the committee Monday evening. Grassley, R-Iowa, is demanding further information about the document, which alleges the plot sought to deliver fake driver’s licenses to Chinese sympathizers in the U.S. who would cast a vote for candidate Biden. The document does not say whether any ballots were cast as part of the scheme. "Chairman Grassley is in receipt of an FBI document (response) to a request he made based on legally protected whistleblower disclosures," a Grassley spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "The document alleges serious national security concerns that need to be fully investigated by the FBI.” Fox News Digital has reviewed the declassified document, which includes a "warning" section, stating it "is an information report, not finally evaluated intelligence.” "It is being shared for informational purposes but has not been fully evaluated, integrated with other information, interpreted or analyzed," the document states. "Receiving agencies are requested not to take action based on this raw reporting without prior coordination with the FBI," the document states. "Unless a conviction in a criminal proceeding occurs, a presumption of innocence exists for any person being reported in this IIR.” The subject states, "[REDACTED] Chinese Government Production and Export of Fraudulent US Drivers Licenses to Chinese Sympathizers in the United States, in Order to Create Tens of Thousands of Fraudulent Mail-In Votes for US Presidential Candidate Joe Biden, in late August 2020.” The document states that "in late August 2020, the Chinese government had produced a large amount of fraudulent United States drivers licenses that were secretly exported to the United States. "The fraudulent drivers licenses would allow tens of thousands of Chinese students and immigrants sympathetic to the Chinese Communist Party to vote for US Presidential Candidate USPER Joe ((Biden)), despite not being eligible to vote in the United States. "China had collected private US user data from millions of TikTok accounts, to include name, ID and address, which would allow the Chinese government to use real US persons’ information to create the fraudulent drivers license," the document states. "The fraudulent drivers licenses were to include true ID number and true address of US citizens, making them difficult to detect," the document adds. "China planned to use the fraudulent drivers licenses to account for tens of thousands of mail-in votes.”

Reported similarly:
New York Post [6/17/2025 2:02 PM, Ryan King, 49956K]
Breitbart [6/17/2025 10:59 AM, Sean Moran, 3077K]
Washington Examiner [6/17/2025 12:23 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1934K]
NewsMax [6/17/2025 7:49 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4622K]

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