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.

FOX News [6/2/2025 5:05 PM, Cameron Arcand, 46878K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be directing more resources to its 24/7 tip line after the antisemitic Boulder, Colorado, terrorist attack, as the suspect overstayed his visa. "For four years, the Biden Administration allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens – including terrorists, gang members, and other violent criminals – to pour into our country," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Monday. "Yesterday’s terrorist attack by a suspect illegally in our country, underscores the importance of getting these illegal aliens out of our country," McLaughlin added. "Secretary Noem is revamping ICE’s illegal alien tip line to devote more resources and personnel to help remove these criminal illegal aliens from our country. To report suspicious criminal activity, call 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) – help President Trump, Secretary Noem and our brave law enforcement remove these public safety threats from our communities and to make America safe again." According to a news release, the tip line is being used so ICE can gather information from the public and authorities from around the country, and more staff will be added as part of the revamp. On Sunday, 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman allegedly burned eight people, including a Holocaust survivor, who were rallying for the return of hostages in Gaza. The attack has brought renewed attention to the long-term impacts of Biden-era immigration policies, as the suspect was granted work authorization in the United States after applying for asylum in 2022 while in the country on a tourist visa. He was permitted to work a month after his visa expired in March 2023, and the work permit expired in March 2025. Breitbart [6/2/2025 8:26 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports that according to police, Soliman used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to injure eight Americans at a gathering near Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall for the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas terrorists. Soliman shouted, "Free Palestine," as he allegedly sought to murder those gathered. Federal prosecutors have similarly charged Soliman with a hate crime. In the wake of the attack, ICE officials announced that they are relaunching the agency’s tip line for Americans to call in criminal or suspicious activity with suspects they believe are illegal aliens. Soliman arrived in the United States via LAX in Los Angeles, California, on a tourist visa in August 2022. The visa expired in February 2023, but Soliman never departed the U.S. as required by federal law, making him an illegal alien. Even after his visa had expired, former President Joe Biden’s administration approved a work permit for him to hold an American job in March 2023. That work permit expired in March of this year. Soliman reportedly previously attempted to enter the U.S. 20 years ago but was denied a visa. He remains held in Colorado custody and prosecutors have asked for a $10 million cash bond.

The Wall Street Journal [6/2/2025 5:35 PM, Sadie Gurman, Jack Morphet, and Victoria Albert, 646K] reports the man accused of using a flamethrower in an attack on a Jewish group in Boulder, Colo. told investigators he had been planning it for a year because he “wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” according to new court documents. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was charged with a federal hate crime in the Sunday afternoon ambush that left eight people injured, some with burns, which took place as the group was holding a weekly gathering to bring attention to the hostages taken from Israel by Hamas. Witnesses said they heard Soliman yell “Free Palestine” before throwing Molotov cocktails into the crowd demonstrating on the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall. The attack sent shock waves through the college town known as a welcome and tolerant community home to the state’s flagship university. Soliman was in the U.S. from Egypt on an expired visa, the Department of Homeland Security said, having entered the U.S. in August 2022 on a B2 visa. That visa, typically used for tourism, expired in February 2023, a department spokeswoman said on X, adding that he had filed for asylum in September 2022. Soliman had been living with his wife and five children about 100 miles south of Boulder in Colorado Springs. He told authorities he was born in Egypt and lived in Kuwait for 17 years before moving to Colorado. The court documents say he was waiting for his daughter to graduate from high school before executing the attack. He told investigators he researched how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube and targeted the group Run for Their Lives, which advocates for hostages being held in Gaza, after learning about the event online. He arrived about five minutes early and waited for them. Soliman said he “did this because he hated this group and needed to stop them from taking over ‘our land,’ which he explained to be Palestine,” an FBI agent wrote in the documents. He can be seen in a video shirtless and backing back and forth while holding the glass bottles, saying “how many children killed” and “end Zionist.” The eight victims of the attack include a Holocaust survivor. Four are women and four men, range in age 52 to 88, police said, and all have survived. NewsMax [6/2/2025 12:54 PM, Staff, 4622K] reports FBI leaders immediately declared the attack an act of terrorism and the Justice Department denounced it as a "needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans." The AP [6/2/2025 8:01 PM, Colleen Slevin and Eric Tucker, 48304K] reports twelve people were injured in the Sunday attack. He had gas in a backpack sprayer but told investigators he didn’t spray it on anyone but himself “because he had planned on dying.” “He said he had to do it, he should do it, and he would not forgive himself if he did not do it,” police wrote in an affidavit. He didn’t carry out his full plan “because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before.” Mohamad Sabry Soliman, 45, planned the attack for more than a year and specifically targeted what he described as a “Zionist group,” authorities said in court papers charging him with a federal hate crime. The suspect’s first name also was spelled Mohammed in some court documents. Soliman was living in the U.S. illegally after entering the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on the social platform X. Axios [6/2/2025 12:21 PM, April Rubin and Avery Lotz, 13599K] reports "We will never tolerate this kind of hatred," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement announcing the hate crime charge. "We refuse to accept a world in which Jewish Americans are targeted for who they are and what they believe." Soliman was charged with a hate crime "involving actual or perceived race, religion, or national origin." In a Monday statement, President Trump said the attack "will not be tolerated." "My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!" he wrote on Truth Social.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [6/2/2025 1:00 AM, Matthew Cullen, 138952K]
New York Times [6/3/2025 3:58 AM, Mark Walker, Michael Levenson, Thomas Fuller, 153395K]
Washington Post [6/2/2025 3:15 PM, Kim Bellware, Ben Brasch, and María Luisa Paúl, 32099K]
New York Post [6/2/2025 10:44 AM, Chris Nesi, 49956K]
Blaze [6/2/2025 11:19 AM, Candace Hathaway, 1805K]

NewsMax [6/2/2025 10:49 AM, Sam Barron, 4622K] reports Mohamed Soliman, the man accused of lighting people on fire at a Boulder mall on Sunday, was in the country illegally, Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary, wrote on social media. "The Colorado Terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country," McLaughlin wrote, with screenshots of articles. "He entered the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired on February 2023. He filed for asylum in September 2022.” Soliman, 45, was booked into the Boulder County jail north of Denver after allegedly hurling an incendiary device into a crowd that had gathered to raise awareness for Israeli hostages in Gaza. While no criminal charges were immediately announced, authorities said they would move to hold Soliman – who is believed to have acted alone – accountable. The Washington Examiner [6/2/2025 10:50 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 1934K] reports "The Colorado Terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country," Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a post to X Monday morning. "He entered the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired on February 2023. He filed for asylum in September 2022." Soliman would have entered the U.S. on a B2, nonimmigrant visa, meaning he was approved to stay in the country temporarily. FOX News [6/2/2025 1:07 PM, Ashley Oliver and Bill Melugin, 46878K] report that the suspect accused of firebombing peaceful pro-Israel activists in Colorado on Sunday is a noncitizen who received a work permit two years ago from the Department of Homeland Security. Mohamed Sabry Soliman’s work permit, given to him during the Biden administration, expired in March, three senior DHS and ICE sources told Fox News. A DHS spokeswoman said Soliman, an Egyptian national, was living in the country illegally at the time of the attack. He entered the United States in August 2022 with a visa that expired in February 2023, the spokeswoman said, noting he applied for asylum during that time. Soliman received the work permit from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in March 2023, the sources said. Soliman allegedly injured eight adults, including elderly victims up to 88 years old, at an outdoor mall in Boulder, according to the FBI. Soliman is being detained in Boulder County Jail on charges of murder, crimes against at-risk and elderly adults, using incendiary devices, and assault. In addition to state charges, federal charges are also possible. "Department of Justice agents with local law enforcement are investigating the tragic attack in Boulder, Colorado," a DOJ spokesperson said. "Our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected by this needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans. We will follow the facts and prosecute all perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law." Reuters [6/2/2025 12:19 PM, Evan Garcia, Patrick Wingrove, and Rich McKay, 51390K] reports Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Soliman had overstayed a tourist visa and had an expired work permit. Trump administration officials immediately seized on Sunday’s violence as an example of why they are cracking down on illegal immigration. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the suspect would be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law for what was described as an "antisemitic terror attack." A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson previously said Soliman had entered the United States in August 2022 and filed for asylum the following month. "The suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country," the spokesperson said. "There are millions of individuals like this that we are attempting to locate from the past administration that weren’t properly screened that were allowed in," Lyons, the acting ICE director, said during a press conference in Boston. "I will tell you that’s a huge effort for ICE right now."

Reported similarly:
DailySignal [6/2/2025 10:12 AM, Virginia Allen, 558K

The New York Post [6/2/2025 4:24 PM, Chris Nesi, 49956K] reports suspected Colorado terrorist Mohamed Sabry Soliman is a married dad from Egypt who allegedly harbored hatred against Jews and told cops he waited until his daughter graduated high school to carry out his fiendish plot. Soliman, 45, of Colorado Springs — about 100 miles south of Boulder where the attacks took place — left messages to his wife and five children hidden in a desk drawer before he left to carry out the attack, which he later told cops had been in the works for more than a year, authorities said. He is currently facing federal hate crime charges for perpetrating the monstrous firebomb attack Sunday afternoon on a group of people who gather once a week to remember the Israelis still being held hostage by Hamas. During an interview with investigators after his arrest, Soliman voiced hateful views about Jewish people, stating he wanted to "kill all Zionist people" and that he "wished they all were dead." However he said he kept a lid on his murderous urges until his daughter’s high school graduation, at which point he allegedly went through with the plot. The target of his ire was the group Run For Their Lives, a pro-Israel group who organizes weekly walks in solidarity with Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. He told cops his hatred of "Zionists" was because he needed to stop them from taking over "our land" — which he explained meant Palestine. While disguised as a landscaper, Soliman was said to have shouted "free Palestine!" as he allegedly sprayed members of the group with 87 octane gasoline from a garden hose he fashioned into a makeshift flamethrower Sunday. He also lobbed a pair of Molotov cocktails, stripping down to his bare chest after his shirt caught fire. Investigators later found a plastic container with an additional 14 homemade incendiary devices he fashioned from Ball jars and red rags for fuses. He purchased the gas as he drove his 2015 Toyota Prius to Boulder, he told cops. Eight people were badly burned in the incident, which is being investigated as an act of terrorism by the FBI. Soliman was in the country illegally after overstaying a visitor’s visa by more than two years. He first entered the country via Los Angeles International Airport on a B2 visa on Aug. 27, 2022, sources told The Post. A month later, he applied for asylum and a work visa, sources said. His asylum request was still pending at the time of the attack. His work visa, though granted, expired in March. CBS Austin [6/2/2025 4:57 PM, Kristine Frazao, 558K] reports that, now booked in a Colorado jail, the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: "The suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country. He entered the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023. He filed for asylum in September 2022.” In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla. said, "This man was in the country illegally. Had overstayed a visa. It was pretty telling. It should have been a red flag when he filed for asylum one month after receiving his temporary visa. But again, he overstayed his visa when it expired.” In a post on Truth Social Monday, President Donald Trump said that the suspect "came in through Biden’s ridiculous open border policy, which has hurt our country so badly. He must go out under "TRUMP" policy. That "Trump policy" includes a recent crackdown by the Department of Justice on migrants who have not yet registered with the federal government online, a mandate stemming from a law passed in 1940 used in large part to target Japanese Americans. The requirement was incorporated into an Executive Order signed by President Trump on his first day in office, which he titled "PROTECTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AGAINST INVASION.”

Wall Street Journal [6/2/2025 6:41 PM, Sadie Gurman, Jack Morphet, and Victoria Albert, 646K] reports Mohamed Sabry Soliman bought flowers and disguised himself as a gardener in an orange vest so he could get as close as possible to members of a Jewish group in Boulder, Colo., before attacking them with incendiary devices, authorities said Monday. On his back, Soliman wore a commercial-grade weed sprayer full of gasoline that he intended to use as a makeshift blowtorch to burn himself to death, he told investigators, part of a plan he developed in secret over the course of a year. “He said he had to do it, he should do it, and he would not forgive himself if he did not do it,” a police detective wrote in court documents. Soliman brought 18 homemade Molotov cocktails with him to the crowded Pearl Street pedestrian mall, but threw just two of them because “he got scared,” the documents say. A Homeland Security spokesperson said Soliman, an Egyptian citizen, applied for asylum in September 2022 and overstayed his U.S. tourist visa in February 2023. He told authorities he lived in Kuwait for 17 years before moving to Colorado. Officials said Monday that 12 people—more than previously known—suffered injuries in Sunday’s attack, which took place as the group was holding a weekly gathering to bring attention to the hostages taken from Israel by Hamas. The victims, ages 52 to 88, included a Holocaust survivor. Three people were still in the hospital as of Monday evening, the authorities said.

AP [6/3/2025 4:07 AM, Colleen Slevin and Eric Tucker, 56000K] reports a man in Boulder disguised as a gardener who wounded 12 people in an attack on a group holding their weekly demonstration for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza had planned to kill them all but appeared to have second thoughts, according to authorities. Mohamed Sabry Soliman had 18 Molotov cocktails but threw just two during Sunday’s attack in which he yelled “Free Palestine,” police said. He didn’t carry out his full plan “because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before,” police wrote in an affidavit. The two incendiary devices he did throw into the group of about 20 people were enough to wound more than half of them, and authorities said he expressed no regrets about the attack. The 45-year-old Soliman — whose first name also was spelled Mohammed in some court documents — planned the attack for more than a year and specifically targeted what he described as a “Zionist group,” authorities said in court papers charging him with a federal hate crime. “When he was interviewed about the attack, he said he wanted them all to die, he had no regrets and he would go back and do it again,” Acting U.S. Attorney J. Bishop Grewell for the District of Colorado said during a news conference Monday. Federal and state prosecutors filed separate criminal cases against Soliman, charging him with a hate crime and attempted murder, respectively. He faces additional state charges related to the incendiary devices, and more charges are possible in federal court, where the Justice Department will seek a grand jury indictment. An FBI affidavit says Soliman told the police he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people,” a reference to the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel. Soliman was living in the U.S. illegally after entering the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on the social platform X

The New York Times [6/2/2025 6:59 PM, Hamed Aleaziz, Matthew Mpoke Bigg, Jenny Gross, and J. David Goodman, 138952K] reports the man who federal investigators say threw Molotov cocktails at marchers in Boulder, Colo., as they voiced support for hostages in Gaza had been planning the attack for a year, he said after his arrest. He was also clear on his motive, saying he wanted to “kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” according to papers filed in federal court. FOX News [6/2/2025 7:00 PM, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, 46878K] reports Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national whose visa, which was granted during the Biden administration, expired in March 2025, told federal authorities that the violence was a long time in the making. In an interview with authorities, according to the federal complaint, the suspect said he was waiting for his daughter’s graduation before carrying out the attack. Following his daughter’s milestone, he allegedly proceeded with his plan. Court documents say he researched how to build incendiary weapons on YouTube, collected the ingredients over time, and transported the homemade devices to Boulder in his silver Toyota Prius. On Sunday, June 1 at 12:55 p.m. MST, Soliman arrived early to the gathering, according to the complaint. He told authorities that he discovered "Run For Their Lives," a group organizing weekly walks to bring awareness to the Israeli hostages, through social media. As participants assembled in Boulder’s Pearl Street area, Soliman allegedly yelled "Free Palestine!" and launched two lit Molotov cocktails into the throngs of people at 2 p.m. MST. He was arrested shortly after. The incident, which the FBI described as a "targeted terror attack," left twelve people, ages 52 to 88, with injuries, including one in critical condition. None of the victims have died. Soliman later told investigators he specifically targeted what he called a "Zionist group" and Law enforcement recovered at least 14 unlit Molotov cocktails, along with gasoline, red rags, and a weed sprayer that may have been intended for dispersing flammable liquid, according to the complaint. NewsMax [6/2/2025 3:25 PM, Solange Reyner, 4622K] reports that Soliman, 45, who was charged with a federal hate crime, told investigators he "researched on YouTube how to make Molotov Cocktails, purchased the ingredients to do so, and constructed them," according to court documents. He also told police he wanted to "kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead." FBI leaders immediately declared the attack an act of terrorism, and the Justice Department denounced it as a "needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans." Soliman was charged in the attack that injured eight people, some with burns, as the pro-Israeli group was concluding its weekly demonstration to raise visibility for the hostages who remain in Gaza.

FOX News [6/2/2025 5:00 PM, Peter D’Abrosca, 46878K] reports new video shows the FBI’s early Monday morning raid on the home of the man suspected of firebombing pro-Israel demonstrators outside of Boulder, Colorado. Mohamed Soliman, 45, an Egyptian national living in the United States illegally after overstaying a work visa, allegedly used homemade incendiary devices, including a makeshift flamethrower, in the attack. "Like any investigation, but especially a terror investigation, you’re looking to see if there are other actors, other co-conspirators, or [to] make sure that it is a lone wolf who acted out on his own with no particular orders, no particular direction," retired FBI supervisory special agent Scott Duffey told Fox News Digital. The demonstrators were advocating for the release of Israeli hostages from the clutches of Hamas terrorists in Gaza on Sunday afternoon when the firebombing took place. Eight people, ages 52 to 88, were injured in the attack, according to the FBI. One person is in critical condition. Soliman yelled "Free Palestine" during the attack. "First and foremost, they want to know what type of neighbor he is. Is he a quiet guy? Has he been loud and boisterous?" Duffey asked. "Do you hear him spouting off against, in this particular case, the Jewish people [or] against the state of Israel? They’re also looking for, ‘Hey, have you seen him with anybody? Are there people who come and go on a regular basis that caught your attention? And whether you thought it was suspicious or not, any out-of-state plates?’". An arrest affidavit for Soliman says he lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his wife and five children. The affidavit indicates that Soliman left an iPhone in a desk drawer in his home with messages for his family. He also left a journal of a similar nature behind.

Daily Wire [6/2/2025 8:48 PM, Tim Pearce, 3816K] reports the man accused of using a makeshift flamethrower and molotov cocktails to attack a demonstration in support of hostages in Gaza originally planned to use a gun, according to Boulder County officials. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a press conference Monday afternoon that Mohamed Sabry Soliman attempted to purchase a gun to attack demonstrators, but was blocked by gun laws. Soliman planned the attack for at least a year, according to authorities. His initial plan involved using a firearm. He took a concealed carry class to learn how to shoot. But when he attempted to buy a gun, he was stopped because his visa had expired, Dougherty said. Documents filed in a state court say that Soliman “had to use Molotov cocktails after he was denied the purchase of a gun due to him not being a legal citizen,” according to ABC News. Soliman “researched on YouTube how to make Molotov Cocktails, purchased the ingredients to do so, and constructed them,” the documents say. The suspect is an Egyptian national who is in the United States illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said Monday that Soliman is in the United States on an expired visa. “The Colorado Terrorist attack suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country,” said McLaughlin. “He entered the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired on February 2023. He filed for asylum in September 2022.” Boulder County prosecutors have charged Soliman with 16 counts of first degree murder, as well as using incendiary devices to commit a felony and assault. Soliman faces over 600 years in prison if convicted on all charges, according to Dougherty. Soliman allegedly attacked the group of demonstrators with a makeshift flamethrower and firebombs. A dozen people so far have reported injuries from the attack. None of the victims have died. FBI Director Kash Patel called the incident a “targeted terror attack.” Federal prosecutors have charged Soliman with a hate crime.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [6/2/2025 5:35 PM, Chris Nesi, 49956K]

Bloomberg [6/2/2025 12:30 PM, Stephanie Lai, 19320K] reports President Donald Trump condemned an attack in Boulder, Colorado that targeted a march in support of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas and said he would work to remove the suspect in the attack from the US. “Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America,” Trump said Monday on his social-media platform. Trump went on to blame the immigration policies of former President Joe Biden for the presence of the suspect, identified by the FBI as 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman of Egypt. US officials said Soliman has been residing in the US on a visa that expired in 2023. “He came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly,” Trump said. “He must go out under “TRUMP” Policy. Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland.” The FBI is investigating the incident — which left eight people injured and has renewed fears about rising antisemitic violence in the US — as an attack of terrorism. Witnesses say they saw the suspect use a makeshift flamethrower and throw an incendiary device in the attack, and the individual was heard to yell “Free Palestine,” according to law enforcement. The victims were participating in an event hosted by the group Run for Their Lives-Boulder, which has held demonstrations since 2023 in response to the attack by Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union. Politico [6/2/2025 5:10 PM, Megan Messerly, 2100K] reports FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino posted Sunday on X that the FBI was investigating a “targeted terror attack” in Boulder. “This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts,” Bongino posted. “We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it.” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard wrote in a social media post that the National Counterterrorism Center is working with the FBI on the investigation.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [6/2/2025 12:47 PM, Diana Glebova, 49956K]
The Hill [6/2/2025 12:46 PM, Alex Gangitano, 18649K]
ABC News [6/2/2025 2:04 PM, Alexandra Hutzler and Michelle Stoddart, 31733K]

The Hill [6/2/2025 6:21 PM, Alex Gangitano, 18649K] reports President Trump and his administration are leaning into immigration more than antisemitism in the wake of an attack in Boulder, Colo., that targeted a pro-Israel gathering. The administration has made it its mission to usher in tough immigration policies, and it has also gone after universities for antisemitism over campus protests related to the Gaza war. The attack on the group demonstrating in Boulder for the release of hostages held by Hamas fits into several arguments the administration is making about what needs to change in the country, particularly since the suspect behind the attack was living in the U.S. on an expired visa. So far, the response from the administration has been much more focused on highlighting that immigration status. Trump’s response to the attack a day later began by ripping his predecessor President Biden for what he deems a "ridiculous open border policy.” The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, was "revamping" the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tip line to "report suspicious criminal activity by illegal aliens including terrorist activity, gang related crimes, and suspected sex trafficking" in its response to the event in Boulder. "For four years, the Biden Administration allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens—including terrorists, gang members, and other violent criminals—to pour into our country. Yesterday’s terrorist attack by a suspect illegally in our country, underscores the importance of getting these illegal aliens out of our country," assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. DHS’ response to the attack on Sunday involved immediately highlighting that the suspect had been in the U.S. illegally. The Washington Times [6/2/2025 12:18 PM, Kerry Picket, 2106K] reports White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller blamed the Biden administration for allowing into the U.S. the man accused of attacking pro-Israel demonstrators Sunday in Boulder, Colorado, with Molotov cocktails and a home-made flamethrower. "A terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado, by an illegal alien. He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa," Mr. Miller said on social media. "In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit. Suicidal migration must be fully reversed," he said."Immigration security is national security. No more hostile migration. Keep them out and send them back." The suspect has been identified by federal officials as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, an Egyptian national. He is being held with bail set at $10 million. Mr. Soliman entered the U.S. in August 2022 on a B2 visa. He filed for asylum in September 2022, according to Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. His B2 visa, which is usually a tourism visa, expired in February 2023, Ms. McLaughlin said. The DailySignal [6/2/2025 10:50 AM, Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, 558K] reports that “the Biden Admin granted the alien a visa and then, when he illegally overstayed, they gave him a work permit," said Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff. "Immigration security is national security," Miller said on X. "No more hostile migration. Keep them out and send them back.” FOX News [6/2/2025 1:26 PM, Cameron Arcand, 46878K] reports that multiple Department of Homeland Security sources confirmed to Fox News on Sunday night that the suspect, 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, originated from Egypt and came to the United States through Los Angeles International Airport in August 2022 on a tourism visa that was good through Feb. 2023 but overstayed it. He filed an asylum claim with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in September 2022, and he was given a work permit that lasted from March 2023 to March 2025 – meaning he was given the permit after his visa was overstayed in 2023 and then stayed past that work authorization this year. The antisemitic terrorist attack resulted in eight injuries after the suspect allegedly set people on fire as they peacefully rallied on behalf of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. Soliman was heard yelling "Free Palestine" and other criticisms of Israel during the attack. Leo Terrell, Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, said on X that one of the victims is a Holocaust survivor. "She endured the worst evil in human history. She came to America seeking safety. And now, decades later, she’s victimized again by a terrorist screaming ‘Free Palestine,’" Terrell wrote. In the halls of Congress, the attack raised newfound urgency on the reconciliation bill, which is meant to codify many aspects of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [6/2/2025 12:39 PM, Ryan King, 49956K]

New York Times [6/2/2025 8:58 PM, Miriam Jordan, 138952K] reports the suspect in the Boulder, Colo., attack highlights a type of immigrant who has been largely absent from the heated political messaging on immigration: a person who arrives in the United States legally, on a tourist or other temporary visa, and remains after their permission to stay has lapsed. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national accused of carrying out the attack in Colorado, entered on a tourist visa in August 2022 that would have allowed him to remain in the country for six months once he presented his passport to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official at an airport on arrival. Only later did he apply for asylum. Federal officials shared more information on Mr. Soliman’s immigration status on Monday. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said he had been granted a work permit in March 2023 after he applied for asylum with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within the department. But that permit had expired, she said, even as Mr. Soliman had not received a final decision on his application. In the fiscal year 2023, the government estimated there were about 400,000 such overstays, according to an official report issued by the Department of Homeland Security. That year, about 2,400 Egyptians in the United States had overstayed their visas, or about 4 percent of all arrivals from that country, the report said. But overall, the numbers are significant, even if President Trump and Republicans in Congress tend to talk up migrants who cross the southwestern border to enter the United States or present themselves to border agents and request asylum. More than 40 percent of the undocumented immigrants in the country flew in with a visa, passed inspection at the airport and then stayed unlawfully, according to estimates by the Center for Migration Studies, a nonpartisan think tank. “Scholars have long recognized that visa overstays constitute a significant share of the undocumented population,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration scholar at Cornell Law School. “This segment has not received nearly as much attention as people entering illegally across the U.S.-Mexico border because they are simply not as visible,” he said.

Federalist [6/2/2025 3:06 PM, Brianna Lyman, 1142K] reports on Sunday, a suspected radical illegal alien from Egypt allegedly burned several peaceful demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, while shouting, "Free Palestine.” The suspect, 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, entered the United States under the Biden administration but overstayed his visa, Fox News reported. Soliman was supposed to leave the country on Feb. 2, 2023, but the Biden administration granted him a work permit that lasted until March 2025, according to the report. But this alleged act of terror by an illegal alien who overstayed his visa is not an isolated incident — it is an indictment of a dangerous U.S. immigration system. For decades, the system has prioritized paperwork over principles, admitting individuals not on the basis of shared values or cultural compatibility, but box-checking. Soliman’s reported rampage lays bare what the Trump administration has argued in recent months: Namely, the people of the United States must fundamentally rethink whom they allow into the country. The efforts by the Trump administration to revoke visas for individuals who espouse anti-American, anti-Western ideologies strike at the core of the problem: Not all cultures are equal, and not all people are compatible. Not everyone who enters "legally" should be allowed to stay, and not all who come here "legally" assimilate to the degree necessary to have a functioning and proper country. Soliman overstayed his visa by two years. Instead of facing deportation, he was rewarded with a work visa. He’s just one example of a system that has abandoned discretion in favor of blind adherence to "process.” Take Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, who was detained by immigration officers near Tufts campus and had her student visa revoked because, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesman, a federal investigation found Ozturk "engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” Or Syrian-born Palestinian activist and former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained after the DHS said he "led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization." As reported by the New York Post, "Khalil and Columbia United Apartheid Divest … were among those taking part in the campus takeover [of Columbia University] at the start of the school year." The coalition, led by Khalil, sought the "total eradication of Western civilization," according to the outlet. The Trump administration also detained Badar Khan Suri, whose wife is reportedly the daughter of a senior adviser to Hamas leadership. Suri’s wife has posted Hamas propaganda, including a post declaring "America is the plague," according to the National Review. Taken together, these are not isolated issues resulting from our immigration policy — these are the predictable result of a dangerously naive visa system that values process over principle. For too long Americans have repeated the mantra that "as long as they come here legally," then immigrants should be welcome. But legality is not synonymous with compatibility.

The Hill [6/2/2025 10:35 PM, Tara Suter, 18649K] reports Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) on Monday linked what he called "sanctuary state" policy in his state to the recent attack in Boulder. During an interview on NewsNation’s "The Hill," a clip was shown from a Monday press conference on the attack in which Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said that the suspect "was not on our radar in Boulder.” "We don’t — we had no prior contacts with him here," he added. "I don’t and can’t speak to his criminal history, I’m not sure if the special agent in charge has anything to add, but this was not someone we were aware of prior.” "Yeah. And here’s why I’m frustrated, because one of the major points of the 9/11 Commission, which says, ‘How do we prevent major terrorist attacks from happening in the United States again?’ says that federal, state and local law enforcement have to be able to work together and share information," Evans told Burman on "The Hill.” "Unfortunately, Colorado is a sanctuary state where our governor, just within the last month, signed into a law another bill that fines state and local law enforcement $50,000 if they share information with immigration and customs," he added. "We know this guy overstayed two visas. We know this guy is illegally present in the United States, and that makes him off limits for any information sharing between state and local law enforcement with their federal authorities. In 2019, according to Courthouse News Service, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed a law practically barring arrests by local law enforcement for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Polis also recently signed a bill barring people’s personal information from being given to federal immigration authorities by local governments, according to Washington Post. Mohamed Soliman, who is alleged to be behind the recent Boulder attack, was said on Sunday by the White House to be an "illegal alien" who overstayed his visa. "A terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado by an illegal alien," Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, said previously on the social platform X. "He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit. Suicidal migration must be fully reversed," he continued.

FOX News [6/2/2025 11:39 AM, Elizabeth Elkind, 46878K] reports one of four Jewish Republicans serving in the House of Representatives is calling for the federal government to deport the alleged illegal immigrant accused of setting Jewish people on fire in Colorado on Sunday. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., called for both the alleged perpetrator and his family to be kicked out of the United States in an interview with Fox News Digital Monday. "I’m very angry, if you can’t tell. Many of us have been talking about this stuff for years," Fine said sternly. "Maybe next time somebody says, ‘Globalize the Intifada, resistance by any means necessary,’ maybe people will take it seriously.” A man identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman allegedly threw Molotov cocktails and used a "makeshift flamethrower" to set peaceful Jewish activists on fire Sunday, according to officials. He allegedly yelled, "Free Palestine," while committing the attack. "The entire Palestinian cause is a lie… The entire justification of the cause is to eradicate Israel and to exterminate Jews," Fine said. "Find me a single person who yells, ‘Fee Palestine,’ who says they’re OK with Israel existing. You won’t find them. Find someone who says, ‘Globalize the intifada,’ who thinks Israel should exist. This is a philosophy built on evil. And this is what happens when we don’t do anything about it.” Fine told Fox News Digital that House Republicans’ massive tax and spending reconciliation bill – President Donald Trump’s "one big, beautiful bill" – would give the White House resources to help mitigate such risks. "President Trump needs the resources to round up and deport every single illegal immigrant, everyone – number one, starting with the family of Mohamed, who’s sitting at home illegally in Colorado right now.” The immigration status of Soliman’s relatives – and whether he has family in the U.S. – is not immediately clear. But the Department of Homeland Security said Monday morning that the suspect was in the U.S. illegally. Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X, "He entered the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired on February 2023. He filed for asylum in September 2022.” It comes after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources told Fox News that Soliman is an Egyptian immigrant who overstayed a visa but then was given a work permit during the Biden administration.

ABC News [6/2/20251:41 PM, Emily Shapiro and Luke Barr, 31733K] reports a Holocaust survivor was among the eight victims in an alleged "act of terrorism" carried out during a pro-Israel demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, according to a Department of Justice official. The Holocaust survivor, who was not identified, "endured the worst evil in human history" and "came to America seeking safety," Leo Terrell, the Justice Department official in charge of the antisemitism task force, wrote on social media. "Now, decades later, she’s victimized again.” "The attack on this survivor reminds me of the horror of October 7, [2023], when Holocaust survivors were murdered and dragged away by Hamas terrorists in Israel," Terrell said. "But this time, it happened here. In our country. This is all caused by the same type of hatred: antisemitism.” "Holocaust survivors should not spend the final chapter of their lives experiencing or witnessing this hatred again," Terrell wrote. "We must fight this terror together.” The suspect, 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman, allegedly used a "makeshift flamethrower" and threw an incendiary device into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators on a pedestrian mall on Sunday afternoon, according to the FBI. He allegedly yelled "Free Palestine" during the attack, the FBI said. The attack took place during a Run for Their Lives walk, which aims to raise awareness about the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and calls for their immediate release. Eight victims, ranging in age from 52 to 88, were hospitalized with burns, police said. Six of the eight have since been released from hospitals, a security source briefed on the situation told ABC News on Monday. Two victims remain in critical condition but are expected to survive. In April, a suspected arsonist firebombed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence because of "what [the governor] wants to do to the Palestinian people," according to a search warrant signed by Pennsylvania State Police. The suspect was arrested. On May 21, two Israeli Embassy staff members were killed as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. When the suspect was arrested, he began to chant, "free, free Palestine," according to police. Two days after the D.C. attack, the Department of Homeland Security warned in a bulletin that the Israel-Hamas conflict "continues to inspire violence and could spur radicalization or mobilization to violence against targets perceived as supporting Israel.”

FOX News [6/2/2025 11:08 AM, Staff, 46878K] Video: HERE reports Ed Victor joins ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss his firsthand account of the Boulder, Colorado attack, which the FBI is investigating as terrorism.

New York Post [6/3/2025 12:11 AM, Victor Nava, 49956K] reports border czar Tom Homan warned Monday that he’s "convinced" the US will suffer a major terrorist attack as a direct result of former President Joe Biden’s immigration and border policies. "It’s coming," Homan said of the possibility of a 9/11-style attack conducted by migrants who illegally snuck across the southern border under Biden. The roughly 2 million so-called "gotaway" migrants that border patrol agents never apprehended during the previous administration concerns Homan more than the drug smuggling or sex trafficking that took place on the US-Mexico boundary during Biden’s only term in office, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "These 2 million known gotaways scares the hell out of me," Homan said, adding that he fears some could be terrorists. "I’m convinced something’s coming unless we can find them," he warned. Homan, who President Trump has tasked to oversee efforts to carry out his mass deportation plan, noted that it was alarming to him that millions of migrants went to great, and expensive, lengths to avoid detection when the Biden administration was quickly releasing illegal border-crossers into the US. "Why did 2 million illegal aliens pay more to get away?" Homan told Hannity. "They could have paid half of what they paid to cross the border, turn themselves into border patrol agents, get released that same day, get a free airline ticket to the city of their choice, get a free hotel room, get three meals a day, plus free medical care and work authorization.” "Two million people paid more to get away," he argued. "They didn’t want to be vetted. They didn’t want to be fingerprinted. Why?". "This scares the hell out of me and I’ve been doing this for 40 years. It should have scared the hell out of every American what the Biden administration did.” Homan described the "gotaways" as "the biggest national security vulnerability this country’s ever seen" and predicted the US will be grappling with the effects of Biden’s border policies "for the next ten years.” The border czar’s comments come one day after a madman who was in the country illegally torched and wounded 12 people with a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails in an antisemitic terror attack in Boulder, Colorado. The suspected firebomber, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is a 45-year-old Egyptian national who entered the country on a tourist visa in 2022, sought asylum and later obtained a work permit from the Biden administration, according to the Trump administration. Soliman’s work visa expired this past March, meaning he was no longer in the country legally. Homan lamented that "even through the legal process, the Biden administration was bringing people unvetted" and "handing out work visas like they’re candy.”

AP [6/2/2025 3:27 PM, Janie Har] reports an estimated 5,000 Venezuelans granted temporary protected status can continue to work and live in the U.S. despite a Supreme Court ruling revoking protections while their lawsuit against the Trump administration is pending. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco ruled Friday that Venezuelans whose Temporary Protected Status was extended to October 2026 are not affected by the Supreme Court’s order and are not eligible for deportation. The Supreme Court last month gave the go-ahead for the Republican administration to strip TPS from an estimated 350,000 Venezuelans that would have expired in April. In doing so, the court put on hold Chen’s order blocking the administration from revoking protections granted under President Joe Biden. The justices provided no rationale, which is common in emergency appeals. But they singled out applicants who had received work authorization and other paperwork with new expiration dates of Oct. 2, 2026. Chen said at a hearing Friday that the justices could have stayed silent as to that subset of people, but didn’t. His court continues to hear the underlying claim that the revocations by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were unlawful.

CBS News [6/2/2025 7:37 PM, Joe Walsh, 51860K] reports a judge in California on Monday blocked the Trump administration from using the wartime Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants in the Los Angeles area, ruling that the government hasn’t promised adequate due process. The ruling by U.S. District Judge John Holcomb — who was nominated by President Trump in 2019 — is the latest to limit the administration’s controversial practice of rapidly deporting people accused of being members of the gang Tren de Aragua under the 1798 law, which allows removals during an "invasion" or "predatory incursion" of the United States. Courts in three other states have also blocked Alien Enemies Act removals, though under different arguments. Holcomb’s preliminary injunction applies to most migrants who are in custody in the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles, Orange County and several bordering areas. The judge previously issued a temporary restraining order last month. The case reached Holcomb’s desk after a Venezuelan man named Darwin Antonio Arevalo Millan petitioned for his release last month. Arevalo says he applied for asylum but was arrested at a scheduled Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in and told he was detained in part due to his tattoos. The government told the court that he wasn’t detained under the Alien Enemies Act, but Holcomb concluded that Arevalo still "faces an imminent threat of removal" under Mr. Trump’s order invoking the law. Holcomb ruled that Arevalo is likely to succeed in showing the government hasn’t provided adequate notice for him to challenge his deportation. The judge said that in a hearing the government "refused to tell the Court how much notice it actually intends to provide.” "Arevalo seeks to avoid being deported as an alien enemy without being afforded the opportunity to challenge that designation—not to avoid deportation altogether," Holcomb wrote. However, unlike some other federal judges, Holcomb said Arevalo was unlikely to show the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act illegally. He wrote that it’s up to the president, not the court system, to decide whether an invasion or predatory incursion has occurred under the law. CBS News has reached out to the White House for comment. Monday’s ruling adds to a complicated legal landscape for the Alien Enemies Act since March, when Mr. Trump first invoked the law against people accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua.

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FOX News [6/2/2025 3:46 PM, Louis Casiano, 46878K]

The Hill [6/2/2025 12:25 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18649K] reports Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) is demanding an investigation into the detention of one of his staffers as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers entered his office. The Wednesday incident took place as protestors gathered in a federal building that is home to both Nadler’s office and an immigration court. "DHS was upset that some of my staff members were watching them grab immigrants emerging from an immigration court in the same building, a floor — a floor below. And they were upset that my staff invited some of the observers up to my office," Nadler said during a Monday morning interview on CNN. "They then came up to the office and demanded entrance. One of my staff members said, you can’t come in here, you need a warrant. They said, no, we don’t need a warrant, which is incorrect. This is — and they barged in. And, in barging in, one of the officers, a very big, heavy-set fellow, pushed my aide, a very petite young woman, and they then said that she pushed back and they shackled her and took her downstairs. And she was obviously traumatized," he added. "Now, the fact is that this was totally unacceptable. The tactics were totally unacceptable.” "I’m asking for an investigation. I’m communicating with Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, demanding an investigation of this incident – of generally – of ICE tactics, which are, frankly, very threatening to liberty," Nadler said. Axios [6/2/2025 12:16 PM, Andrew Solender, 13599K] reports Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Monday he will seek a congressional investigation after a Department of Homeland Security officer handcuffed one of his staffers at his office. The incident — part of a series of confrontations with federal immigration authorities — has further escalated tensions between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration. DHS officers handcuffed one of Nadler’s aides at his district office in New York City last Wednesday and demanded entry to the office, accusing them of "harboring rioters," video of the incident shows. Nadler said in a CNN interview that DHS was "upset that some of my staff members were watching them grab immigrants emerging from an immigration court in the same building" and "invited some of the observers up to my office." "They then came up to the office and demanded entrance. One of my staff members said, ‘You can’t come in here, you need a warrant.’ They said, ‘No, we don’t need a warrant,’ which is incorrect," Nadler added. A DHS spokesperson said the officers "responded to information that protesters were present" in the office and "went to the location to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those present." "Upon arrival, officers were granted entry and encountered four individuals. Officers identified themselves and explained their intent to conduct a security check, however, one individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office." The officers detained the staffer "for the purpose of completing the security check," the spokesperson said. USA Today [6/2/2025 12:54 PM, Sudiksha Kochi, 75552K] reports Nadler further claimed that one of the officers pushed his aide and she pushed back, and was then shackled. Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin alleged in a statement that the aide "became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office." Nadler wrote in a statement after the incident that no arrests were made and that he was "alarmed by the aggressive and heavy-handed tactics" used by the Department of Homeland Security. NewsMax [6/2/2025 12:03 PM, Sam Barron, 4622K] reports that according to a DHS statement, a Federal Protective Service officer showed up at Nadler’s Lower Manhattan office Wednesday because they were concerned about the safety of the federal employees in an office. "Upon arrival, officers were granted entry and encountered four individuals. Officers identified themselves and explained their intent to conduct a security check, however, one individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office," DHS said in a statement. "The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check. All were released without further incident."

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Breitbart [6/2/2025 12:30 PM, Pam Key, 3077K]
Washington Examiner [6/2/2025 9:40 AM, Jenny Goldsberry, 1934K]

Blaze [6/2/2025 11:50 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K] reports Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) accused President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security on Saturday of "sowing chaos" after footage emerged showing DHS officials handcuffing one of Nadler’s aides during an apparent rioter hunt. The White House and the DHS subsequently set the record straight, the White House telling Blaze News that Nadler’s condemnation over law enforcement actions was "shameful.” The DHS rescinded Biden administration guidelines last month that previously barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests in courthouses. Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS’ assistant secretary for public affairs, noted at the time that "the ability of law enforcement to make arrests of criminal illegal aliens in courthouses is common sense," adding that it "conserves valuable law enforcement resources because they already know where a target will be.” Making good use of its newfound liberty, ICE arrested Dylan Josue Lopez Contreras, a 20-year-old illegal alien from Venezuela after his hearing in an immigration court in lower Manhattan on May 21. The DHS noted that Contreras was an illegal alien who stole into the U.S. over a year ago and was cut loose by the Biden administration. While characterized by the liberal media as a "Bronx high school student," Contreras — whom Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres (N.Y.) said was "making good on the promise of the American dream" — actually finished high school in his home country and was taking college prep classes at the time of his arrest. He now faces expedited removal proceedings. A week after Contreras’ arrest, protesters descended on another immigration courthouse in the city — housed within the same federal facility as Nadler’s Manhattan office — decrying the arrest of Contreras and other illegal aliens and clashing with police. According to the Gothamist, police arrested and charged five people and issued criminal summonses to 18 other radicals. While radicals raged against police outside, DHS Federal Protective Service officers entered the facility to ensure the safety of the federal employees on the premises, including in Nadler’s office. The DHS noted in a statement obtained by Blaze News that "upon arrival, officers were granted entry and encountered four individuals. Officers identified themselves and explained their intent to conduct a security check; however, one individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office. The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check.” The DHS noted and Nadler confirmed that the staffers were released without further incident. The staffer who was handcuffed told the Gothamist that "everything resolved.”

Roll Call [6/2/2025 6:15 PM, Chris Johnson, 692K] reports the Department of Homeland Security put up a website last week with a warning that it would name and shame officials in sanctuary jurisdictions, but they started removing some jurisdictions within days and have now taken down the list completely. DHS announced the list in a social media post on Thursday that said the identified jurisdictions "are deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws and endangering American citizens." "We are exposing these sanctuary politicians who harbor criminal illegal aliens and defy federal law," the post stated. President Donald Trump on April 28 signed an executive order that among other things tasked DHS with making a "list of States and local jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of Federal immigration laws." The directive also instructed the attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security to notify these jurisdictions of potential violations of U.S. law. But not long after the social media post went online, the National Sheriffs’ Association issued a statement crying foul, asserting it was put online in a way that lacks transparency and accountability. The organization says it represents more than 3,000 sheriffs throughout the United States. "This list was created without any input, criteria of compliance, or a mechanism for how to object to the designation," said National Sheriffs’ Association President Sheriff Kieran Donahue. "Sheriffs nationwide have no way to know what they must do or not do to avoid this arbitrary label." On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the list on Fox News show "Sunday Morning Futures," saying that "some of the cities have pushed back, they think because they don’t have one law or another on the books they don’t qualify, but they do qualify." "That list is absolutely continuing to be used and it is going to be identifying those cities and those jurisdictions that aren’t honoring law and justice," Noem said.

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(B) WJLA 24/7 News ON YOUR SIDE at 2 [6/2/2025 2:11 PM, Staff]

Federal News Network [6/2/2025 5:46 PM, Justin Doubleday, 2346K] reports DHS’ 2026 budget would eliminate the CWMD office and shift its responsibilities to multiple components, including CISA and the Coast Guard. The Department of Homeland Security’s fiscal 2026 budget would eliminate the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction directorate and split its functions among other DHS components. That is among the major changes in the Trump administration’s new budget request for DHS, which also proposes reductions at the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Trump administration is also proposing to eliminate more than 1,000 positions at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The CWMD elimination would transfer 286 positions and $306 million in funding to other DHS components. The proposed shutdown of CWMD will likely raise questions from Congress about DHS’s preparations for securing the 2026 World Cup and other high-profile U.S. events over the next few years. Meanwhile, the budget request would boost funding for TSA procurement, but cut more than 2,600 jobs at TSA. Nearly half of those job cuts would come through eliminating TSA’s current responsibility to provide coverage of exit lanes at 99 airports. TSA’s budget justification argues that "staffing exit lanes is not a screening function, but rather a function that falls under the purview of access control." TSA would also eliminate funding for nearly 1,300 vacant positions under the 2026 budget proposal. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also proposing to cut funding at USCIS by about $445 million and eliminate nearly 900 full-time equivalent positions. The agency is largely fee-funded, but does receive some direct appropriations. Most of the cuts would come from eliminating about 780 full-time equivalents within USCIS’s operations and support program who were processing refugee and asylum applications.

NBC News [6/2/2025 6:30 PM, Suzanne Gamboa, 44540K] reports the Trump administration has been turning to DNA technology to help find and arrest immigrants, including children, but immigration advocates say it has been slow to spell out how it’s using and overseeing the genetic information. Three groups sued the Department of Homeland Security on Monday after trying to get records about the data collection program since last summer, during the Biden administration. The plaintiffs are the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology, part of the Georgetown University Law School that focuses on privacy and surveillance law and policy; the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and Americans for Immigrant Justice, both immigrant rights groups. The groups describe in their lawsuit their back-and-forth with DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection since they originally requested information about their DNA collection from noncitizens on Aug. 1, 2024.Since 2020, DHS has expanded its DNA collection program and increased DNA contributions to the FBI’s database, CODIS, by 5,000%, becoming the largest contributor, according to the Georgetown center. The DNA database of the FBI can be accessed by police across the country for criminal investigations, the plaintiff groups said in a statement. Stevie Glaberson, director of research and advocacy at the Georgetown center, said in a statement that DHS is expanding its database by "collecting DNA from people accused of no crime and while operating with none of the constraints that are supposed to be in place before the government compels someone to give over their most sensitive personal information.” He said Americans deserve more visibility on the program and said DHS’s lack of transparency is unacceptable. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Washington Examiner [6/2/2025 5:07 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1934K] reports the Trump administration must face a trial next month over allegations that it used immigration powers to retaliate against foreign student protesters in a case that could test the outer bounds of constitutional protections for noncitizens involved in anti-Israel activism. U.S. District Judge William Young, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, ruled Monday that a lawsuit brought by academic groups, including the Harvard and New York universities’ chapters of the American Association of University Professors, will proceed to trial on July 7 in Boston. The plaintiffs said the administration used arrests, visa revocations, and deportation threats to punish "free speech" critical of Israel and U.S. foreign policy. Young denied the administration’s motion to dismiss the case and outlined what the trial will seek to determine. Speaking directly to the plaintiffs, Young said his task at trial will not be to review or reverse individual deportation decisions made since Trump returned to the Oval Office but to determine whether the Department of Homeland Security’s main objective was to suppress political speech or sincerely defend the country’s national security. He said the question of whether that justification served as cover for a coordinated crackdown on political expression must be addressed at trial. Still, Young ruled that the plaintiffs must present evidence that the administration’s intent was not simply immigration enforcement but proof of viewpoint-based retaliation.

NPR [6/2/2025 6:54 PM, Mark Betancourt, 37958K] Audio: HERE reports The U.S. is bound by international law to protect migrants who are likely to be tortured by their own governments if they go home. The Trump administration is changing the screening process.

Bloomberg [6/2/2025 6:01 PM, David Voreacos and Janet Lorin, 19320K] reports Harvard University lawyers urged a federal judge to rule quickly that the Trump administration’s freeze on about $2.6 billion in federal funding is illegal and that it violated the school’s free speech and regulatory rights. In a court filing Monday, Harvard argued that the US has not produced enough evidence to show that the administration’s action was a legally justified response to address antisemitism and a perceived liberal bias on campus. The school asked US District Judge Allison Burroughs to grant summary judgment, meaning to move more quickly than she might in a typical lawsuit to reinstate Harvard’s funding. “The government’s rush to freeze and terminate billions of dollars in current and future federal funding to Harvard for critical research lacks the basic requisites of reasoned decision making,” Harvard’s lawyers wrote in the filing in Boston federal court. As the richest and oldest US university, Harvard has become the main target of President Donald Trump’s attempts to force schools to crack down on antisemitism, remove perceived political bias and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Trump also wants to cap Harvard’s foreign student enrollment at 15%, revoke its tax-exempt status and cancel its remaining federal contracts. Burroughs has temporarily blocked both the funding freeze and a US bar on letting Harvard enroll international students, which is the subject of a separate lawsuit. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Harvard claims that the US violated the Administrative Procedure Act and its First Amendment rights by seeking to dictate decisions on faculty hiring, academic programs and student admissions. It also claims Trump retaliated against Harvard for refusing his demands to make sweeping changes at the school. The school, which sued the US on April 21 over funding, demanded then that the Justice Department provide “all formal and informal communications between and among any federal agency employees involved in the decision to freeze grants to and contracts with Harvard.” Those records should “include directions by White House officials,” attorney Steven Lehotsky wrote. The government provided those records, which aren’t publicly available, to Harvard in heavily redacted form. In its filing, Harvard’s lawyers wrote that the federal records confirm “the government’s rush to judgment” and that they are “devoid of any individualized assessments of Harvard’s funded projects, the University’s efforts to confront antisemitism, or any connection between the two.” The school made similar procedural and free-speech claims in its May 23 lawsuit over the foreign student ban that the US imposed. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shocked the campus a day earlier by immediately revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, despite the school participating in a US program for more than 70 years. Noem said the school failed to answer questions about foreign students and discipline. To regain permission, Harvard was given 72 hours to provide information about foreign students, including disciplinary records and video of those engaged in protests. After Harvard sued, Noem’s investigators issued a “notice of intent to withdraw” Harvard from its Student and Exchange Visitor Program ahead of a May 29 hearing. That notice appeared to address Harvard’s claim that Noem’s revocation failed to follow procedures or let the school fix its problems.

Reuters [6/2/2025 7:41 PM, Tom Hals, 51390K] reports Harvard University asked a federal judge on Monday to issue a summary judgment ruling to unfreeze $2.5 billion in funding blocked by President Donald Trump’s administration, which Harvard said was illegal. Harvard’s filing in the U.S. District Court in Boston said that it had received 957 orders since April 14 to freeze funding for research pertaining to national security threats, cancer and infectious diseases and more since the country’s oldest and wealthiest school rejected a White House list of demands. Trump has said he is trying to force change at Harvard - and other top-level universities across the U.S. - because in his view they have been captured by leftist "woke" thought and become bastions of antisemitism. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs has set arguments for July 21 on Harvard’s motion for summary judgment, which is a request for a judge to decide a dispute without a trial to determine material facts. Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, alleging the funding freeze violated the school’s right to free speech and was arbitrary and capricious. In Monday’s court filing, Harvard detailed the terminated grants, including $88 million for research into pediatric HIV, $12 million for increasing Defense Department awareness of emerging biological threats and $8 million to better understand dark energy. The school said ending the funding would destroy ongoing research into cancer treatments, infectious disease and Parkinson’s. The Trump administration has opened numerous investigations into Harvard. Some are looking at threats against Jewish students and faculty after pro-Palestinian protests broke out following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli military actions in Gaza. Other investigations are probing whether Harvard discriminates based on sex and gender, along with the school’s ties to foreign governments and international students.

NewsMax [6/2/2025 7:42 PM, Jim Mishler, 4622K] reports South Carolina GOP Gov. Henry McMaster posted Monday about a cooperative law enforcement bust in the Charleston area early Sunday, "This is what years of open borders got us.” Sheriff’s deputies and federal agents made 80 arrests at an illegal nightclub in Ladson in the early morning hours on Sunday. Ladson is an urban community in metropolitan Charleston, about 15 miles northwest of Charleston’s downtown area. Charleston County Sheriff Carl Ritchie told The Charleston City Paper that at least two "high-level" drug cartel members were among those arrested, along with an international murder suspect. Deputies rescued a missing child held at the bar and discovered several human trafficking victims who are receiving assistance. The case began last November as a noise complaint but quickly grew into something much bigger. The previous county sheriff pulled the department out of a cooperative program with federal law enforcement in 2021, but Ritchie rejoined earlier this year. Federal agents’ involvement helped to bring the case to a head over the weekend with the bust at a nightclub operating without a liquor license. McMaster stressed that this kind of situation should never have been allowed to develop. He blamed the former Biden administration’s open border policy. "This is what years of open borders got us, but now things have changed. We will continue to have more investigations like this one to rid South Carolina of these criminals.”

The Hill [6/2/2025 6:57 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18649K] reports the Justice Department disclosed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading negotiations for the return of a Venezuelan man sent to a Salvadoran prison. The disclosure, made in Monday court filings, is no guarantee the Trump administration will secure the return of a man known only in court documents as Cristian, who was deported in spite of court-ordered protections. But it strikes a less aggressive tone as the Trump administration has otherwise resisted efforts to comply with various court orders requiring them to return migrants who were wrongly removed. The filing notes Rubio’s long-standing relationship with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. "Based on his deep diplomatic experience with El Salvador and the secretary’s familiarity with political and diplomatic sensitivities in that country, he is personally handling the discussions with the government of El Salvador regarding persons subject to the court’s order detained in El Salvador," the State Department said in a statement included in the filing. It adds that Rubio has "read and understands this court’s order and wants to ensure the court he is making prompt and diligent efforts" to comply. Cristian was the second publicly reported case of someone mistakenly deported to El Salvador. The 20-year-old Cristian was among those who entered the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor, part of a lawsuit that protected him and others from removal while they were permitted to seek asylum. In another case, Salvadoran man Kilmar Abrego Garcia was sent to a prison in the country despite a 2019 order from an immigration judge protecting him from being removed and sent to his native country. In that case, the Trump administration has resisted a Supreme Court order to return the man, saying the directive to "facilitate" his return requires only sending a plane to receive him should El Salvador wish to release him. Bukele has said he will not release Abrego Garcia.

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Telemundo [6/2/2025 7:31 PM, Staff, 3352K]

Politico [6/2/2025 6:40 PM, Eric Bazail-Eimil, 16523K] reports countries throughout the Western Hemisphere and Africa are finding ways to take advantage of President Donald Trump’s eagerness to thwart migration. But it’s not working for Cuba. Even as Cuba continues to accept its citizens deported from the U.S., the island nation finds itself increasingly at odds with the Trump administration, a senior Cuban official told POLITICO. The deterioration in relations between Havana and Washington comes as Trump administration officials and members of the Cuban exile community have pushed for a tougher line on Cuban leadership, arguing that the communist government represents a major national security threat. The U.S. is also facing a wave of migration from Cuba that has seen hundreds of thousands of Cubans enter the country since the Covid-19 pandemic. In an exclusive interview, Johana Tablada, one of the top Cuban officials in the country’s foreign ministry that works on relations with Washington, said that the bilateral relationship is currently “at zero” and that “the State Department is not interested in having conversations with Cuba that have existed” even when both sides were most at odds in the past. She added that under President Donald Trump, she and Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio have been snubbed by the State Department when they visited Washington — a change from past administrations, where Cuban officials were at least granted meetings with their U.S. counterparts. The icy attitude from the Trump administration is surprising, per Tablada, given that Cuba proposed further dialogue with the United States on migration and has continued upholding a 2017 agreement between both countries allowing for deportation flights of Cuban nationals back to the island. Since Trump returned to the White House, Cuba has accepted five deportation flights.

Washington Post [6/2/2025 6:17 PM, Staff, 32099K] reports the walkers in Boulder, Colorado, had gathered peacefully every Sunday afternoon at 1 o’clock to ensure that the world did not forget the hostages Hamas still holds, more than 600 days after the terrorist attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The Boulder effort, part of a global initiative called Run for Their Lives, has been profound yet modest: just a few dozen people wearing red, walking along a pedestrian mall and saying the captives’ names. On Sunday, the ritual made global news, for the wrong reasons. Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, allegedly used a makeshift flamethrower and tossed molotov cocktails into the crowd while yelling "Free Palestine" and "You all deserve to die." After being detained at the scene, he reportedly told police: "I did it to avenge my people." Federal charging documents allege that Soliman had been planning the attack for a year. President Donald Trump is using this hate crime to justify the continuation of his crackdown on foreigners. "This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland," he wrote Monday on social media. It’s true that Soliman should not have been in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security said on Monday that he is in the country illegally. He arrived at Los Angeles International Airport in August 2022 on a tourist visa, which expired in February 2023. He filed an asylum claim in September 2022 and was granted work authorization in March 2023, but this expired a few months ago. Crimes committed by those in the country illegally should not have happened. Even advocates of high levels of immigration must admit that the United States should know who is entering the United States, along with any threats they pose. Yet most immigrants come to this country for refuge and work. Those who commit crimes discredit the vast majority, legal or not. Cutting illegal immigration is doable — but ending it is impossible, and the high costs of trying would be intolerable.

Washington Examiner [6/3/2025 12:01 AM, Staff, 1934K] reports the executive branch is morally and legally obliged to "preserve, protect, and defend" the United States. The Biden administration neglected this duty in many ways, most egregiously by permitting, indeed helping, vast numbers of illegal immigrants cross into the U.S. over the southern border. The U.S. Center for Immigration Studies estimates 5.6 million immigrants illegally entered our country during his presidency, raising the number of illegal immigrants to 15.8 million. Former President Joe Biden even flew thousands in on special flights. The 46th president’s absurdly lax deportation efforts compounded the offense. In 2024, the Department of Homeland Security, through Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deported a paltry 47,732 illegal immigrants from the interior of the country, a rounding error in the grand total. The result of Biden engineering this invasion is a national security nightmare. Overwhelmed enforcement agencies cannot trace, let alone contain, people released into the country. They came from cultures overtly hostile to the U.S. and Western civilization as a whole, and those people are now mixed undetected with our multiethnic and polyglot citizenry at shopping centers, in airports, and on highways. Social services are strained to breaking point, as resources meant for Americans are depleted, which foments unrest and difficulties in maintaining public order and safety. This toxic combination of circumstances exploded in horrific fashion on Sunday on the picturesque Pearl Street walking mall in downtown Boulder, Colorado. The terrorist, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian, arrived in the U.S. through Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 27, 2022. He arrived with a non-immigrant visa that permitted him to stay until Feb. 26, 2023. He outstayed the visa and filed a claim with USCIS to stay and work. This was granted on March 29, 2023. This clearance lasted through March of this year. His terrorist attack on peaceful demonstrators on Sunday would have been prevented by common sense and the enforcement of immigration laws. But Biden’s dereliction of duty and subversion of the "rule of law" and "norms" allowed people like Soliman in without proper vetting and let them operate undetected. Now the Trump administration must continue its work to restore safety and security by ramping up deportations in defiance of Democrat bleating on behalf of the country’s enemies. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller summed up the administration’s position tidily on X in the aftermath of the attack: "A terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado by an illegal alien. He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit. Suicidal migration must be fully reversed.”

San Diego Union Tribune [6/2/2025 3:55 PM, Agustina Vergara Cid, 1611K] reports for the last five months, headlines about the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration have been ubiquitous. Deportations ramping up, people being sent to El Salvador to be imprisoned, the termination of legal status for hundreds of thousands of people, and the list goes on. But the impact of Trump’s war on immigration far exceeds its impact on immigrants. The administration’s display of its power over immigrants is having the effect of scaring away tourists, severely harming businesses in the tourism industry. The power to restrict immigration and peaceful visitors impinge on Americans’ ability, and sometimes the very right, to trade. The federal government should protect U.S. borders against threats, as it has been doing for decades to an extremely high degree of success. But preventing or dissuading peaceful foreigners from visiting and giving their business to willing Americans is an attack on both.

The Hill [6/2/2025 11:00 AM, Brandon Bolte and Isabel Skinner, 18649K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem incorrectly defined habeas corpus during a recent congressional hearing, augmenting serious doubts that top White House administration officials understand and are willing to respect the rule of law and legal rights of civilians on U.S. soil. Indeed, Noem oversees the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been "forcibly disappearing" undocumented immigrants, international students and permanent residents off the streets. ICE officers frequently wear masks, which could help them avoid accountability for tactics like warrantless arrests, "knock and arrests" and smashing car windows. In practice, ICE operates with relatively little oversight, but in principle, it is accountable to the federal government and has been subject to extensive civil litigation in the courts. Yes, ICE is deeply flawed, but there is a real risk of something far worse. The administration is already relying on dubious means to rush deportation processes while the courts try to slow them down. Consequently, the Department of Homeland Security is already choosing to ignore court rulings with some operations, like one recent deportation of migrants to South Sudan. Their willingness to violate the rule of law is captured by former acting ICE Director Tom Homan’s statement: "I don’t care what judges think.”

New York Post [6/2/2025 10:06 PM, Simon Hankinson, 49956K] reports I pledge allegiance, to the flag... I heard those strange words for the first time at Riverside Elementary School in 1976, as a First Grader who had just moved to the United States with my family. I learned quickly how to say the words, but it took me much longer to learn what they mean. Like Jefferson, Franklin, and Washington, I was born English but chose to become an American. I took US history in middle and high school, got a degree in history, and later taught American history to 8th and 11th graders. But though I knew the names and dates, nothing taught me to love my country like spending half my life outside of it, including 23 years as a US diplomat in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The singularity of American freedom and opportunity is best proven through comparison. Like many other Americans who came here legally and became citizens, nothing rankles me more than seeing disrespect, ingratitude, and even homicidal violence from some who have been granted the opportunity to come here — or allowed to remain despite coming illegally. You’d figure the least they could do would be to obey our rules and respect our culture and values. Watching Columbia University and other supposed elite institutions become hot-beds of radical protest and support for antisemitism and terrorist violence has been painful. It’s bad enough when the ill-informed youth are home-grown, but when foreign students here on visas are leading the charge, it’s too much to take. So, we shouldn’t – and we don’t have to. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent announcement that he will interpret our visa laws to keep out those who would steal our secrets, undermine our democracy, or obstruct our foreign policy abroad, is cheering news. He’s suggesting nothing new – our immigration law already contains many ineligibilities both statutory and discretionary, which he can wield. All across the developed West, the same crisis is playing out: who gets to decide who comes in, and who stays? Does our citizenship have any value? Do we ask nothing in exchange? The global Left does not believe in borders. They think anyone, anywhere should be allowed to live where they want. When they get there, the Left believes they should get all the rights of citizens – health care, education, welfare, and even the vote. For them, under no circumstances should a foreigner – invited or not, criminal or not – ever be evicted. This is a recipe for national suicide, and it’s a choice we should reject.

Bloomberg [6/2/2025 3:00 PM, Karishma Vaswani, 19320K] reports China is an easy scapegoat for America’s fentanyl addiction. The US has made it part of trade negotiations between the two superpowers, but recent shifts in production and supply tell a more nuanced story. Addressing fentanyl’s flow requires cooperation from both nations. That’s challenging, but not impossible. Beijing could work more closely with American law enforcement to crack down on Chinese chemical firms that export the ingredients going into the drug. Washington could stop using it as a political weapon, while also keeping up hard-fought momentum against the opioid crisis. Trade talks between the two have stalled due to various grievances. A back-and-forth in US courts about the validity of President Donald Trump’s tariffs is also complicating things. White House officials have suggested that Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will speak soon, but Beijing has yet to confirm. Instead, China on Monday accused the US of violating their agreement and vowed to take measures to defend its interests. Beyond this upheaval, it’s important to note that the US is finally making headway against fentanyl, which has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 Americans since taking over from heroin in the drug supply. Overdose deaths plummeted by 27% in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a stunning reversal that will require a careful balance of policy at home and abroad to maintain. The White House has made cracking down on the illicit trade a cornerstone of its narcotics policy. Trump explicitly pointed the finger at China, accusing it of “actively sustaining and expanding the business of poisoning our citizens.” It’s a view shared on both sides of the aisle. Nicholas Burns, the former US ambassador to Beijing under President Joe Biden, said on May 13 that as an authoritarian country it “has the capacity to stop the flow of these precursor chemicals.” China was once the main supplier of fentanyl to the US, but that changed in 2019 when Beijing announced the production, sales, and export of all fentanyl-class drugs were prohibited, except by authorized firms that the government had granted special licenses to. It was around that time that Mexico replaced China as the primary source, the US government reported. But Chinese chemical companies switched to supplying precursors — the ingredients needed to manufacture the opioid — and remain a critical player in the supply chain, according to the US Drug Enforcement Agency. These are often sold online on dark web platforms, and then shipped to Mexico through standard courier services, thus evading border controls. Despite that, Chinese officials have often claimed the country has achieved success in controlling the substances and done all it can for the US. In March, Beijing told Washington it should have said a “big thank you” instead of announcing levies on Chinese imports.

FOX News [6/2/2025 10:21 AM, Staff, 46878K] reports acting ICE Director Todd Lyons explains the mission of finding and removing individuals who have overstayed visas and discusses the arrest of an 18-year-old high school student in Massachusetts. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [6/2/2025 2:49 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports tn a press conference in Boston announcing nearly 1,500 immigrants were taken into custody in May, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons defends the use of masks by his agents and expresses frustration at sanctuary jurisdictions. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NBC News [6/2/2025 7:11 PM, Liz Kreutz, 44540K] Video: HERE reports top Trump aide Stephen Miller set a quote of 3,000 undocumented migrant arrests per day, in a meeting with ICE officials, according to two people who spoke with attendees. It comes as protestors confronted ICE agents during an immigration enforcement operation at a restaurant in San Diego.

CBS Boston [6/2/2025 5:44 PM, Riley Rourke, 51860K] Video HERE reports nearly 1,500 people have been detained in Massachusetts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the last month, the agency said Monday. ICE acting director Todd Lyons told reporters at a news conference in Boston that 1,461 people have been hauled into custody since Operation Patriot began in May. Of those detained, 790 had criminal records or charges pending, according to ICE. That would be 54% of all the people taken into custody in May. "Boston’s my hometown and it really shocks me that officials all over Massachusetts would rather release sex offenders, fentanyl dealers, drug dealers, human traffickers, and child rapists back in the neighborhoods," Lyons said. "ICE has arrested individuals with criminal convictions and criminal backgrounds which I support," responded Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. "By their own admission they have also arrested several hundreds of individuals in Massachusetts and taken them away who do not have criminal records.” "What I have said as a matter of due process and because everybody should be following the law here, following the rules here, ICE should be producing information about who has been arrested, what they’ve been charged with, what their circumstance was, and they should make that available to the public. That to me is consistent with public safety. And supporting our communities," the governor said. Lyons called out so-called "sanctuary cities" in Massachusetts demanding they change their policies. He said that they’ve arrested a sex offender living across from a playground and "a habitual drunk driver," among others. Pointing to a post with the mugshots of 14 men on it, Lyons said the general public should remember the faces of the people ICE has arrested. Lyons also defended ICE agents wearing masks during the raids in May, which has come under scrutiny from protesters in Massachusetts. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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Axios [6/2/2025 2:42 PM, Steph Solis, 13599K]
CBS Austin [6/2/2025 12:48 PM, Staff, 558K]
FOX News [6/2/2025 5:23 PM, Peter Pinedo, Bill Melugin, 46878K]
NewsMax [6/2/2025 12:32 PM, Sam Barron, 4622K]

Daily Caller [6/2/2025 2:34 PM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports that federal immigration authorities arrested well over 1,000 illegal migrants during a month-long enforcement operation across Massachusetts. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, working alongside a slate of other federal partners, arrested 1,461 illegal migrants throughout the Bay State during the month of May, the agency announced Monday. Most of the apprehended foreign nationals carried significant criminal histories, such as drug traffickers, sex offenders and murderers. "Make no mistake: Every person that we arrested was breaking our immigration laws, but most of these individuals had significant criminality," ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said in a prepared statement. "They are criminal offenders who victimized innocent people and traumatized entire communities — murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, child sex predators and members of violent transnational criminal gangs," Hyde continued. "Some were convicted of violent crimes in the United States, and others were wanted for criminality in their native countries. All made the mistake of attempting to subvert justice by hiding out in Massachusetts." Of the roughly 1,500 arrested by ICE agents, more than half had serious criminal convictions or charges, according to the agency. Nearly 800 of the migrant offenders were either convicted or charged of crimes in the U.S. or in another country.

Univision [6/2/2025 8:53 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports the detention by ICE agents of Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, an 18-year-old Brazilian student on his way to volleyball practice has caused commotion in the city of Milford, Massachusetts. Since the weekend, thousands of people demonstrated in the state, demanding the release of the student and questioning ICE’s actions. Politicians such as Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey expressed outrage and demanded answers about the legality of the detention and the treatment of the young man. ICE responded by arguing that they acted in accordance with immigration law. According to a statement from the agency, the target of the operation was not the young man, but his father, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira, 38. Gomes Da Silva is a high school student who entered the United States on a student visa in 2012, according to a lawsuit filed on his behalf following his arrest. Media reports indicate that although his visa had already expired, the young man has no criminal record and meets the requirements to apply for asylum and intends to do so. According to friends of the teenager, the young man excels in both academics and sports. He played drums at his church and last Sunday was to play at the high school graduation of his girlfriend, Julianys Rentas, but was unable to perform. Rentas told WCVB that "he is a member of his community and has never done anything wrong." Colin Greco, captain of the volleyball team of which Gomes is a member described the young Brazilian as "an amazing person and the light of the team." Although Marcelo was not the target of the operation, he was arrested for being in the country illegally. His father, who has not yet been arrested, has a history of reckless driving. At a press conference in Boston, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons stated that Gomes was not dangerous, but was in the country illegally. "We enforce all immigration laws. We are not going to let anyone avoid the consequences," he said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS Boston [6/2/2025 5:18 PM, Mike Toole and Paul Burton, 51860K] Video HERE reports the Milford, Massachusetts high school student who was detained by federal agents over the weekend on his way to volleyball practice was not the intended target, ICE said Monday. It was his father. Marcelo Gomes, an 18-year-old junior at Milford High School, was driving to practice with three teammates Saturday morning when his car was pulled over by three unmarked vehicles. Gomes was taken into custody. His family said he’s being held at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Burlington. ICE didn’t comment on the incident during the weekend, but issued a statement Monday afternoon that said, "The target of the operation was Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira, an illegally present Brazilian alien." ICE spokesman Mike Alvarez said officers spotted his car Saturday morning and stopped it "with the intention of apprehending Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira." "Officers identified the target’s vehicle, and initiated a vehicle stop with the intention of apprehending Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira. Upon conducting the vehicle stop, officers arrested Marcelo Gomes-Da Silva, an illegally present, 18-year-old Brazilian alien and the son of the intended target. Gomes-DaSilva was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest. Gomes-DaSilva remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings," Alavarez said. At a news conference in Boston Monday, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons was asked - what’s the danger of an 18-year-old to that community? "I’ll put it back on you," he told reporters. "What about an 18-year-old that was stopped for a traffic violation by Mass. State Police who’s wanted for being a habitual traffic offender on his way to graduation? Would you be asking that same question to the Mass. State Police for not arresting him? Like I didn’t say he was dangerous, I said he’s in this country illegally. We’re not going to walk away from anybody." "His dad hasn’t turned himself in yet and his dad knows he’s the target," Lyons said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [6/2/2025 1:59 PM, Nate Raymond, 51390K] reports that the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement defended on Monday his agency’s decision to arrest a Massachusetts high school student on his way to volleyball practice, saying "he’s in this country illegally and we’re not going to walk away from anybody.” Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, made those comments as reporters asked him during an event in Boston to explain why authorities on Saturday arrested 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, who has been in the United States since 2012. The Brazilian’s arrest sparked a massive protest on Sunday in the Boston suburb of Milford, where he lives, and a demand for information about the incident from Democratic Governor Maura Healey, who said she was "disturbed and outraged." Lyons spoke about Gomes’ arrest while announcing the results of an immigration enforcement surge in Massachusetts that resulted in nearly 1,500 people being taken into custody last month as part of Republican President Donald Trump’s hardline effort to ramp up mass deportations. Lyons and Patricia Hyde, the acting field director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Boston, said Gomes was not the target of the investigation that led to his arrest and that authorities instead were seeking his father, who remains at large. "So obviously, he isn’t the father of the year because he brought his son up here illegally as well," Lyons said.

ABC News [6/2/2025 4:49 PM, Staff, 31733K] reports protests have erupted over the arrest of an 18-year-old Massachusetts high school student who state officials say was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents over the weekend while on his way to volleyball practice. Marcelo Gomes da Silva, a Brazilian national who is a junior at Milford Public High School, was arrested on Saturday, according to a court filing from his attorney. Students at the high school staged a walkout on Monday in support of Gomes da Silva, holding signs that said "Free Marcelo." The protest followed community demonstrations at the Milford Town Hall on Sunday calling for his release. The teen, who is currently in ICE custody, was not the target of the operation but was a collateral arrest, according to ICE officials. "When we go out into the community and we find others who are unlawfully here, we are going to arrest them," ICE acting Field Director Patricia Hyde said at a press briefing on Monday. "We’ve been completely transparent with that. He’s 18 years old. He’s unlawfully in this country.” Gomes da Silva’s father was the actual target of the operation, according to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. The father, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira, was sought because he "has a habit of reckless driving" at speeds over 100 mph, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Agents made a traffic stop on the father’s vehicle, which Gomes da Silva was driving at the time of his arrest, Lyons said during the briefing. The father has not turned himself in yet, he said. Gomes da Silva entered the U.S. in 2012 through a student visa, which has since lapsed, according to his attorney. He has no criminal history and is "eligible for and intends to apply for asylum," his attorney stated in a habeas corpus petition filed Sunday seeking his release. A federal judge issued an emergency order Sunday afternoon directing the government not to remove Gomes da Silva from the U.S. or to transfer him out of the judicial district of Massachusetts for at least 72 hours. On Monday, a federal judge ordered that the government not transfer the teen out of Massachusetts without first providing the court at least 48 hours advance notice of and reasons for the move. The ICE detainee locator website lists Gomes da Silva as being in custody but does not list where he is being held. His habeas petition indicates "on information and belief" that ICE is detaining him at a field office in Burlington, Massachusetts. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she is "demanding immediate answers from ICE" about the teen’s arrest, where he is being held and "how his due process is being protected.” "I’m disturbed and outraged by reports that a Milford High School student was arrested by ICE on his way to volleyball practice yesterday," Healey said in a statement on X on Sunday. "Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions.”

CBS Boston [6/2/2025 6:45 PM, Logan Hall, 51860K] Video: HERE reports the family of 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes is speaking out after the Milford High School student was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Saturday while on his way to volleyball practice. Gomes, who is undocumented, remains in ICE custody at a detention facility in Burlington. "He was telling ICE agents that he’s a kid, he needs to go back to school and get his homework done," said Julia Sampaio, Gomes’ cousin, who was at the scene of the arrest. Sampaio said at least six or seven ICE agents and multiple unmarked vehicles were involved in the arrest. She was not permitted to speak to her cousin when she arrived, a moment she described as deeply frustrating. "I wanted answers not for myself but for his family," she said. Gomes was not the initial target of the operation. ICE was reportedly looking for his father, Jao-Paolo Gomes, whose name the car was registered under. Marcelo’s arrest has since spread fear through the family. "They’re scared to leave their homes, they’re even scared to walk their dogs or throw their trash out because the moment they step out of their homes they could be detained at any point," Sampaio said. An underage passenger in the car, who is also undocumented and requested anonymity, shared the emotional toll the experience took on him. "I think mainly sadness. Sadness that the thought of everything that my parents left behind, everything that my parents sacrificed for in the ten years we’ve been here," he said. "All of that just gone down the drain. Everything I had personally worked for in my high school career all of that just down the drain.” Since the arrest, ICE agents have reportedly remained outside the Gomes family home.

The Hill [6/2/2025 7:07 PM, Tara Suter, 18649K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday explained in a reply to a post by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) that it "never intended to apprehend" a high schooler. In a statement posted to the social platform X on Sunday, Healey said she was "disturbed and outraged by reports that a Milford High School student was arrested by ICE on his way to volleyball practice yesterday.” "Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions.” DHS responded to Healey’s post on X a day later by saying that officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "engaged in a targeted immigration enforcement operation of a known public safety threat and illegal alien, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira.” "Local authorities notified ICE that this illegal alien has a habit of reckless driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour through residential areas endangering Massachusetts residents," the department added. "Officers identified the target’s vehicle, and initiated a vehicle stop with the intention of apprehending Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira.” ICE arrested 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes-Da Silva amid the traffic stop, DHS said in their post, referring to the teenager as "illegally present," a "Brazilian alien," and "the son of the intended target.” "While ICE officers never intended to apprehend, Gomes-DaSilva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest," DHS said in the post.

Axios [6/2/2025 3:19 PM, Steph Solis, 13599K] reports Mercedes Pineda said having Temporary Protected Status and no criminal record didn’t stop federal agents from detaining her husband, Jose, at work. Pineda, who spoke at a panel organized by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley in East Boston, said hers is far from the only family to get torn apart by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Pineda’s husband, a TPS recipient from El Salvador, was released after two days, but she said the family is still grappling with the aftermath. Neither of them is sleeping well. Jose’s doctor warned he’s one traumatic event away from a deadly stroke. Pineda later told Axios she learned he was detained through videos that circulated, but couldn’t confirm it until he managed to call hours later. They still don’t know why he was held and say he has no criminal record. Protections for Salvadoran TPS recipients last until Sept. 9, 2026, per U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

CBS New York [6/2/2025 6:27 PM, Marcia Kramer, 51860K] Video: HERE reports New York City is taking legal action against federal immigration officials after a Bronx public school student was arrested and sent for expedited deportation after a routine asylum hearing. The filing against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons and their departments seeks the student’s release from ICE custody. New York City claims the student, identified as Dylan, is being detained without cause and in violation of his right to due process. The 20-year-old Ellis Prep High School student was arrested two weeks ago at federal immigration court in Lower Manhattan. His arrest sparked chaotic protests in the city. Mayor Eric Adams, who has a close working relationship with President Trump and White House "border czar" Tom Homan, took issue with the arrest Monday, saying the student went through the "exact legal proceedings" he was supposed to in order to get work papers and be able to provide for his family. "But instead of being rewarded for following the law, he was punished for doing what we all asked him to do," Adams’ statement said. "For generations, New York City has been defined by its diverse immigrant communities, and we are sending a message to those communities. We stand with you, and you deserve to live your lives freely.” When asked about the case last week, Adams told CBS News New York the city had no role in the student’s arrest and that sanctuary laws prohibit coordinating with ICE. The suit, backed by Adams, comes amid a major uptick in ICE arrests at courthouses over the last two weeks, apparently to meet Mr. Trump’s demand to increase arrest quotas. Congressman Dan Goldman said he confronted ICE agents arresting asylum seekers at routine court appearances last week. "These are people seeking legal status here the right way," Goldman said Sunday on "The Point with Marcia Kramer." "None of these people are criminals, none of them are murderers or child rapists. None of that.” There’s concern the arrests will drive other immigrants into the shadows.

New York Post [6/2/2025 7:52 PM, Craig McCarthy and Matt Troutman, 49956K] reports Mayor Eric Adams belatedly offered support Monday for a Big Apple high schooler rounded up in President Trump’s deportation blitz — reversing his original assertion that the Venezuelan migrant’s arrest by ICE wouldn’t discourage other migrants from seeking city services. The city’s top lawyer filed a legal brief backing Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 20-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker who was detained in a Manhattan courthouse on May 21 after attending a mandatory immigration hearing. Contreras’ arrest drew protests from hundreds of his fellow high school students last week, as well as a wave of criticism for Adams after he conspicuously declined to question the migrant’s detention. The legal brief sounded the alarm that ICE’s tactics threaten to deter people from participating in the court system — a key promise of New York City’s sanctuary policies. "The implications threaten to reach well beyond the immigration arena and reach the countless other matters affecting public welfare that require our residents to appear in court every day," the brief states. Mayor Eric Adams, in a statement echoing the brief’s arguments, said Contreras was punished for following the law. "Dylan Lopez Contreras was going through the exact legal proceeding that we encourage new arrivals to go through in order to be able to work and provide for their families — and even accessed the center that we created for migrants to be able to avoid city shelters and become independent," Adams said. But Adams sang a different tune last week when asked by The Post whether Contreras’ arrest would discourage other migrants from going through the court system. "No, I don’t," Adams said. A City Hall spokesperson tried to walk back Adams’ initial comments, asserting the mayor was speaking with limited information. Adams has consistently voiced support for most sanctuary city policies that he maintains will ensure anyone, regardless of immigration status, will continue to call police and respond to court, if ordered. The mayor has also pushed to roll back certain sanctuary city policies to increase cooperation with ICE.

Daily Caller [6/2/2025 6:09 PM, Ashley Brasfield, 1010K] reports a multi-agency operation at a nightclub in Charleston, South Carolina, resulted in the arrests of 80 people allegedly in the country illegally, according to Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. Early Sunday morning, Charleston County Sheriff’s deputies—working alongside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and other federal, state, and local partners—conducted a targeted enforcement operation at the Alamo nightclub, an unlicensed bar in the Charleston area, officials stated Monday. Charleston County Sheriff, Carl Ritchie, said during a Monday press conference that law enforcement began investigating the case in November of 2024, after repeated noise complaints and suspicion of drug activity, assaults and potential money laundering prompted deputies to take a closer look at the nightclub’s operations. Ritchie said that during the sting operation, dubbed “Operation Last Stand,” law enforcement arrested 80 people. He also mentioned that several potential trafficking victims were rescued and are now receiving help, and that a missing juvenile was found at the scene.

Breitbart.com [6/2/2025 5:55 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee and House Judiciary Committee are launching an investigation into Nashville, Tennessee, Mayor Freddie O’Connell (D), accused of obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting illegal aliens. In a letter to O’Connell, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Mark Green (R-TN), Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Andy Ogles (R-TN) accused the progressive Democrat of taking a series of citywide actions to impede ICE operations in Nashville. The congressmen are asking O’Connell’s office to hand over all documents and communications referring to ICE operations in Nashville, including those relating to ICE arrests of illegal aliens.

(B) NBC News Daily [6/2/2025 1:35 PM, Staff] reports President Trump’s immigration crackdown is ramping up with sweeping raids across the State of Florida as the Supreme Court gives the president a major victory allowing the administration to revoke the legal status for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. A construction site in Tallahassee was the site of one of the largest immigration raids in state history. About 200 people showed up for work with more than 100 of them detained. Detainments are being reported at courthouses as migrants show up to their immigration hearings. ICE deported over 17,000 people last month, up more than 50% from deportations in February. The border czar Tom Homan says it is not enough.

Breitbart [6/2/2025 10:59 AM, Bob Price, 3077K] reports Texas legislators passed a bipartisan bill that will require all county sheriffs who operate jails to cooperate with U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Both chambers approved the conference committee’s version of SB8 and passed the bill to Governor Greg Abbott for his signature. Texas State Representative David Spiller (R-Jacksboro) told Breitbart Texas that the compromise bill (SB8) will mandate all Texas sheriffs who operate or contract out a county jail to enter into an agreement with ICE under a program commonly known as 287(g). The program provides training and access to immigration databases, enabling deputies to perform limited immigration law enforcement. Spiller told Breitbart, "This is about public safety." He called the bill the "most aggressive" immigration enforcement measure to come out of the Texas Legislature this session. Three Texas Democrats joined with House Republicans to approve the conference vote by a vote of 89-52, Spiller said. The bill passed the Texas Senate on a vote of 20-11. The bill now moves to the desk of Governor Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign the legislation. In a written statement published by the Texas Tribune, Governor Greg Abbott’s Deputy Press Secretary Eduardo Leal said, "Gov. Abbott has made it clear that cities and counties across Texas must fully cooperate with the federal government’s efforts to arrest, jail, and deport illegal immigrants. The Governor will review this legislation, as he does with any legislation sent to his desk that helps achieve that goal.” Spiller said that one compromise in the final version changed the funding model from a grant and reimbursement model to a pure grant model. "Sheriffs will be able to apply for and obtain the funds up front," so they can quickly move forward with compliance. In a statement Sunday night, ACLU of Texas spokesperson Sarah Cruz said SB8 "will not make our communities safer." She said it will force sheriffs to "do the work of ICE in support of the federal government’s shameful mass deportation efforts.”

AP [6/2/2025 5:48 PM, Lindsay Whitehurst, 56000K] reports the Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an appeal from a private prison company facing a lawsuit claiming immigration detainees were forced to work and paid a $1 a day in Colorado. The GEO Group appealed to the high court after a judge refused to toss out the 2014 lawsuit saying the detainees had to perform both unpaid janitorial work and other jobs for little pay to supplement meager meals. The company says the lawsuits are really a back door way to push back against federal immigration policy, and its pay rates are in line with Immigration and Customs Enforcement regulations. They say the migrants can’t sue because it’s running Aurora, Colorado, facility on behalf of the government, which is immune from such lawsuits. Attorneys for the migrants say the lawsuit is only about people being paid "almost nothing" for their work, and the contract didn’t require them to pay so little. A lower court judge allowed the lawsuit to go forward and the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals found it couldn’t review the immunity claim before trial. The GEO Group argued to the Supreme Court that government contractors should be able to argue that issue on appeal quickly.

Axios [6/2/2025 9:25 AM, Andrew Keatts, 13599K] reports an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid Friday at Buona Forchetta restaurant shook the South Park neighborhood and grew into a national controversy through the weekend. Three employees at the restaurant were taken away when they couldn’t show identification, after armed ICE agents cuffed the entire staff at 4:30pm Friday. Videos of the incident quickly went viral, after a crowd confronted the agents, screaming at them and blocking their vehicles, before agents used flash-bang grenades to scatter the scene. Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera posted a message on Instagram with the word "terrorists" written over the armed agents in combat gear. "This isn’t a war zone — it’s a neighborhood in our city," he wrote. "This isn’t safety — it’s state-sponsored terrorism." "We are living in the age of leftwing domestic terrorism," Trump aide Stephen Miller wrote on X in response to Elo-Rivera, accusing him of encouraging violence against law enforcement. The official Department of Homeland Security X account wrote that it was "sickening" to compare ICE agents to terrorists.

Axios [6/2/2025 6:32 PM, Andrew Keatts, 13599K] reports San Diego congressional representatives and other elected officials criticized a federal judge during a Monday press conference for issuing the warrant that led to the chaotic scene following an ICE raid in South Park. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained four Buona Forchetta employees Friday during an operation that devolved into a confrontation with community members, with flash-bang grenades deployed in the street. Rep. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego), who lives blocks from the incident, challenged U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford’s decision to issue a warrant allowing agents to detain all employees in the restaurant, regardless of immigration status. He demanded a meeting with the chief judge of the Southern District of California to understand how the warrant was approved. To think, that quiet neighborhood had flash-bang grenades going off and people with machine guns, to arrest a cook — why? Because the court allowed it," Vargas said. "It’s outrageous and they shouldn’t have done it." Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego), Rep. Mike Levin (D-Dana Point), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) and Vargas said there has been no indication the targeted employees had criminal histories, beyond their immigration status. Trump aide Stephen Miller demanded ICE agents supercharge immigration arrests nationwide in a tense meeting last month. "I acknowledge that enforcement actions are taken daily, but not all of them result in what we saw on the streets of our city, and we must say that made no one safe," said Mayor Todd Gloria.

San Diego Union Tribune [6/2/2025 11:37 AM, Karen Kucher, Alexandra Mendoza, and Roxana Popescu, 1611K] reports Buona Forchetta restaurants announced that all its San Diego and Orange County locations would be closed Monday and Tuesday after four workers were detained by immigration officers in a surprise raid Friday. “We wish we could find stronger words, but the truth is we are heartbroken. The traumatic incident involving a federal enforcement operation at our original and beloved South Park location has left a mark on all of us. A wound that is still raw, still echoing in our kitchens, our dining rooms, and our hearts,” the company said in a post on Instagram late Sunday. The restaurants were open over the weekend, but the owners decided to close for a couple of days. “Through the weekend, we showed up with smiles because that is who we are. We served our guests with love because that is what we know. But behind those smiles, we were carrying something heavy,” the company said in the post. On Friday, at least 20 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents confronted employees at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta in South Park, handcuffing at least some workers. The operation was to execute two criminal search warrants on criminal violations of hiring and harboring undocumented immigrants and making false statements, according to Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations, an agency under ICE. Four people in the U.S. illegally were arrested, she said. It was unclear if any faced criminal charges. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that during the investigation into businesses that “knowingly hired illegal aliens in San Diego,” officers were confronted by more than 250 protesters who “verbally harassed ICE agents, pounded on car windows, and even blocked roadways to prevent ICE from leaving.” “The officers took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that ensures the success of the operation and prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers,” she said. That included deploying “flash-bang” devices, officials said. San Diego police officers responded to the scene after DHS put out an “urgent request for assistance,” according to police officials.

Newsweek [6/2/2025 10:44 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were surrounded on Friday by protesters who chanted "shame" after carrying out operations at two restaurants in San Diego. "On May 30, while executing two criminal search warrants of businesses that knowingly hired illegal aliens in San Diego, over 250 protesters verbally harassed ICE agents, pounded on car windows, and even blocked roadways to prevent ICE from leaving," Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek. California, which is considered to be a sanctuary state, has resisted efforts by federal immigration authorities to collaborate with local law enforcement, setting the stage for clashes over ICE’s expanded authority. Federal agents conducted a work site enforcement operation Friday evening at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta, two Italian restaurants located on Beech Street in San Diego’s South Park neighborhood. The enforcement action drew a visible response from community members, some of whom gathered outside the restaurant and voiced opposition to the presence of federal agents. Some individuals shouted "Shame, shame, shame" as the agents retreated to their vehicles. One protester was heard calling federal agents "f****** Nazis." DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek: "The officers took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that ensures the success of the operation and prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers. In large part due to protests like this, our ICE officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults while carrying out arrests."

Los Angeles Times [6/3/2025 2:02 AM, Ruben Vives, 14672K] reports tensions remain high in San Diego after last week’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement work raids at two Italian restaurants that ended with federal agents using flash-bang grenades against residents protesting the operations. Elected officials reacted with outrage. The incidents occurred Friday when heavily armed ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents executed search warrants at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta in South Park, a serene and tree-lined neighborhood with popular restaurants, according to immigration and city officials. Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokesperson for HSI, a branch within ICE, said the warrants were related to alleged “violations of hiring and harboring illegal aliens and false statements.” She said four people living in the country illegally were taken into custody. Citing an ongoing investigation, she provided no other details. In a statement, Buona Forchetta said it was working with its attorneys to locate and support its employees and their families. It said it was also providing support to its staff who witnessed and experienced the incident firsthand. O’Keefe said as immigration agents were serving the court-authorized warrants, a large crowd began to gather, chanting “Shame!” and eventually preventing federal agents from leaving the area. “The demonstrators became unruly and as a result less lethal noise flash diversionary devices were deployed to allow law enforcement to exit the scene as safely as possible,” O’Keefe said. “When gatherings like these are formed, it not only places law enforcement in danger but also the demonstrators and onlookers attempting to impede law enforcement activity.” Videos taken by demonstrators and bystanders have since circulated on social media. They show dozens of residents demanding federal agents to leave the neighborhood while cursing at them and calling them “Nazis” and “fascists.” They also show residents standing in front of a silver Chevy SUV, prompting a federal agent to use a flash-bang grenade to disperse the crowd but with no effect. At some point, five federal agents, most of them armed with assault rifles, approached the crowd as the government vehicles reversed and exited through another street. San Diego city officials denounced the operation and questioned the use of rifles and stun grenades for a worksite enforcement raid, which ultimately led to the public’s response. “Federal actions like these are billed as a public safety measure, but it had the complete opposite effect, “ San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement. “What we saw undermines trust and creates fear in our community.”

Telemundo [6/3/2025 2:27 AM, Marinee Zavala, 37K] reports that, this Monday, June 2, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement gave details of why ICE agents conducted a raid at the Italian restaurant Buona Forchetta last Friday in which they threw at least three sound bombs at people who refused the agents’ actions. In the series of documents sent, federal authorities indicated that the operation was a response to two federal search warrants at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta in San Diego, California, for crimes of recruitment, concealment of undocumented immigrants and false statements. They detailed that for several months they investigated more than 10 employees and showed evidence of documents, which they considered that some were not legitimate. They also confirmed that agents arrested four people. ICE assured in two communiqués that the reason why their operation included noise bombs in the commercial zone and even flashing between 30th and Ash Streets, was because according to the federal government the "citizens and protesters became unruly and verbally harassed the agents". A reality that the affected citizens said was experienced very differently. They assured that, in some cases, it was the agents who brought violence to their community. "It wasn’t humane, it was like this very angry administration, very aggressive," said Kendra Brandstein, a South Park resident. Kendra said that on that Friday she was on her way home from her two daughters’ classes when she passed by that street and saw sirens and agents with long guns. She allowed her daughters to speak with TELEMUNDO 20 to relate their experience during the operation last Friday, May 30. "I saw a lot of crying, a little bit of anger. And I saw a lot of people who had people there that they really loved," explained Hope, a 9-year-old student. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [6/2/2025 8:56 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 50,000 kilograms of chemicals used to produce methamphetamine and other illegal narcotics for the Sinaloa Cartel. According to the report, the shipment of dicumyl peroxide came from China and was destined to reach the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. However, the shipment was intercepted by ICE and CBP agents at the Port of Long Beach in California. The shipment was identified as a result of a 2019 ICE initiative, where agents use all of their expertise and sophisticated tools and techniques to detect suspicious shipments of precursor chemicals from China, India and other countries. According to the report, this initiative has resulted in the seizure of more than 1,700,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and fentanyl chemicals. In addition to seizing these chemicals, this initiative has helped locate and eliminate some 13 drug laboratories operated by Los Chapitos of the Sinaloa Cartel.

NPR [6/2/2025 4:54 PM, Adrian Florido, 37958K] reports no one knows exactly how many immigrants are living without legal status in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Rebecca González-Ramos, ICE’s top investigator on the island, estimates it’s about 20,000, and since January it’s been her job to track down and deport every last one of them. They’ve adopted more aggressive strategies than in past administrations. They’re expanding surprise raids at hotels and construction sites, knocking on the doors of people with deportation orders, and questioning others on the street. She says they’ve asked Puerto Rico’s department of motor vehicles to hand over the names and addresses of the roughly 6,000 people who got licenses under an immigrant-friendly law that extended driving privileges to people without legal status. They take informant tips from everyday citizens calling in to report on their neighbors. González-Ramos sat down for an interview with NPR in her San Juan office last week. She said to date ICE agents in Puerto Rico have arrested close to 500 immigrants for deportation in the four months since Trump returned to power. Fewer than 80 had criminal records, and among those who did, the single charge most had faced was for re-entering the United States after a prior deportation. Three-quarters of those arrested have been Dominican nationals. González-Ramos’s operations on the island offer a glimpse into how ICE offices nationwide are ramping up their surveillance, investigation and enforcement tactics to deliver on President Trump’s mass deportation promises.

Bloomberg [6/2/2025 1:01 PM, Andrew Kreighbaum, 1707K] reports that Homeland Security Department career staffer Angelica Alfonso-Royals will serve as the new interim leader of the agency that administers legal immigration benefits. Alfonso-Royals was appointed acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services last week, taking over the role filled by former chief financial officer Kika Scott since February. Alfonso-Royals has served in various Homeland Security and USCIS positions, according to the agency’s website, among them chief of the Office of Legislative Affairs and chief of the Office of Communications. [Editorial note: consult extended commentary at source link]

FOX News [6/3/2025 5:00 AM, Michelle Steel, 46878K] reports a suspected communist Chinese spy got so close to Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell in 2015 that the FBI had to step in to shut down the threat. The Chinese communist agent was a fundraising "bundler" for Swalwell’s congressional re-election, had volunteered for numerous Democratic campaigns and facilitated intern assignments in Swalwell’s office. And it all started with a student visa to a California university. The Fang Fang case exemplifies a disturbing pattern: Chinese communist spies gaining entry and access to policymakers through seemingly innocuous student visas to U.S. colleges and universities. It’s a stark reminder of the urgent need for President Donald Trump’s strong and decisive action to aggressively revoke visas of students linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). "Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields," Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday. "We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.” The new visa policy is long overdue. Beijing thinks in centuries, patiently deploying operatives as students for a payoff years later. In July 2020, FBI Director Chris Wray warned, "China – the Chinese Communist Party – believes it is in a generational fight to surpass our country in economic and technological leadership.” The Swalwell spy affair isn’t an isolated incident. "She was just one of lots of agents," a senior U.S. intelligence official said when news of the Swalwell case broke. At that time, the FBI maintained roughly 2,500 active FBI counterintelligence cases related to China. Chinese communist espionage starts on college campuses, where connections are formed with aspiring political leaders. Fang Fang’s path, according to the FBI, was a textbook example: enrollment at California State University, East Bay, followed by active participation in student political organizations, even leading campus chapters of the Chinese Student Association and the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs. Chinese Embassy and consulate officials have helped facilitate 124 chapters of Chinese students and scholars associations. It’s through those very campus organizations that the Chinese spy first made contact with Swalwell and other Democratic politicians. "CSSAs often attempt to conceal or obscure their ties to the Chinese government, frequently omitting incriminating language from the English-language versions of their websites—the ones typically reviewed by university administrators," the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission concluded in 2018. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [6/2/2025 10:42 PM, Michael Katz, 4622K] reports an estimated 4,700 or more foreign-born students have been affected since the Trump administration began revoking their visas and terminating their legal status in March. Even though some federal judges imposed injunctions, the State Department announced last week it is "aggressively" targeting a group of Chinese scholars amid national security concerns. But the administration’s plan to pause new student visa interviews at U.S. embassies and consulates to tighten vetting processes is affecting American families who rely on au pairs coming to the U.S., Newsweek reported Monday. Although much of the administration’s actions regarding the pause have focused on F-1 student visas, the J-1 visa encompasses a range of programs allowing workers to come to the country temporarily, including camp counselors, medical staff, and au pairs, Newsweek reported. About 5,600 au pairs were expected to enter the U.S. in the next four months. Mark Overmann, executive director of the Alliance of International Exchange, told Newsweek that many potential visa holders had begun making travel plans and were matched with host families before the pause. "All that, every day that the pause continues, will start to get thrown into disarray," Overmann said. "That will disrupt potential au pairs’ travel plans, and experience plans, for the next year, but also really put American families, working families, who are counting on having this au pair in their home to care for their children, that will really disrupt their lives in meaningful and difficult ways.” InterExchange, which also advocates for and helps with the J-1 program, estimated that au pairs spend an average of $143.8 million per year in the U.S., and that 87% of families that rely on au pairs would not be able to find sufficient childcare if they did not have access to the program, according to Newsweek.

Bloomberg Law [6/2/2025 4:53 PM, Andrew Kreighbaum, 1707K] reports the Trump administration will terminate deportation protections for several thousand Cameroonian immigrants in the US, adding to a series of recent moves to curtail temporary humanitarian relief for immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security determined that Cameroon no longer meets the requirements for a Temporary Protected Status designation, according to a Federal Register notice released Monday. Monday’s notice acknowledged that Cameroon is still experiencing two major conflicts involving extremist insurgent groups in the Far North and English-speaking separatists in the Northwest and Southwest of Francophone country. But DHS found that those conflicts are contained to limited regions and Cameroonian immigrants as a result can return to a majority of the country without facing threats to personal safety. The termination will go into effect 60 days after the notice’s publication in the Federal Register on June 4. Casa Inc. and Georgetown Law School have already challenged TPS terminations for Cameroon and Afghanistan in a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the District of Maryland. DHS estimated that about 5,200 immigrants from Cameroon hold TPS under the current designation. A decision on whether to renew or terminate the TPS designation for Cameroon was required by April 8 but no official announcement came from DHS after that date passed.

AP [6/2/2025 2:06 PM, Michelle Gumede, 56000K] reports a second group of white South Africans has arrived in the United States under a refugee program announced by the Trump administration, officials and advocacy groups said Monday. Nine people, including families, arrived late last week, said Jaco Kleynhans, head of international liaison at the Solidarity Movement, a group representing members of South Africa’s white Afrikaner minority. The group traveled on a commercial flight to Atlanta, he said. A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy said in an email to The Associated Press that “refugees continue to arrive in the United States from South Africa on commercial flights as part of the Afrikaner resettlement program’s ongoing operations.” An initial group of 59 white South Africans arrived at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on a chartered flight last month under the new program announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in February. The Trump administration fast-tracked the resettlement of white South Africans after indefinitely suspending other U.S. refugee programs. The Trump administration said it is offering refugee status to white South Africans it alleges are being persecuted by their Black-led government and are victims of racially motivated violence. The South African government has denied the allegations and said they are a mischaracterization of the country.

Breitbart.com [6/2/2025 4:33 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 3077K] reports there are 300,000 Chinese nationals on student visas in the United States, Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) said during an interview on Breitbart News Daily, walking through his bill that would end this. Moore spoke about his legislation, the Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act (Stop CCP VISAs Act), contending that it is all about national security. When asked about those fleeing China, Moore noted that they have visas for those individuals.

FOX News [6/2/2025 6:23 PM, Louis Casiano and Liz Friden, 46878K] reports the Defense Department (DOD) is starting a voluntary program for its civilian employees to go to the southern border to support Department of Homeland Security (DHS) efforts there. The agency released a memo Monday authorizing its civilian employees to volunteer to travel and support border operations. "Protecting our homeland from bad actors and illegal substances has been a focus of the President and of the Secretary of Defense since Day One of this Administration," said Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesperson. "Whether on the border or in our communities, allowing qualified DoD civilian employees to support DHS will accelerate the progress already made by Service members in achieving our national security goals.” This voluntary program was at the request of DHS, a U.S. official told Fox News. It was not clear how many DOD civilian employees are expected to volunteer or what kind of work they will do. Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOD and DHS. The memo, authored by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, reads, "Detail assignments may be either reimbursable or non-reimbursable. "Non-reimbursable details are authorized where the expected benefit of a detail would be comparable to training or development programs that otherwise would be conducted at a DoD Component’s expense.”

Federal News Network [6/2/2025 4:44 PM, Terry Gerton, 2346K] Video: HERE reports the reconciliation bill includes $6.2 billion to increase staff at CBP. To make that happen, the agency has to address both retention and hiring challenges.

Bloomberg Law [6/2/2025 10:04 AM, Ellen M. Gilmer, 1707K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is waiving environmental reviews and other laws to expedite barriers along the US-Mexico border. Noem’s waivers — which apply to a 12-mile stretch near Yuma, Ariz., and about eight miles scattered in New Mexico, near El Paso — mark an early step in President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand the wall, close gaps, reinforce sections, and add related infrastructure in a broader crackdown on illegal immigration. The administration is separately pushing Congress to approve $46.5 billion for a blitz of wall construction.

FedScoop [6/2/2025 12:30 PM, Staff, 56K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection is implementing an AI chatbot called “chatCBP” for its workforce, following in the footsteps of similar federal government creations like DHSChat and StateChat. “CBP’s chatCBP is an AI-powered chatbot designed to improve efficiency and access to information for CBP personnel while meeting CBP’s security standards,” a CBP spokesperson told FedScoop in an emailed statement. The tool uses a large language model and gives workers responses and guidance in a conversational format “quickly and securely.” According to the spokesperson: “chatCBP offers features like document summarization, compilation, information extraction, and multi-file analysis, reducing the time spent searching for and interpreting documents.” News of the chatbot comes after other agencies within the federal government have launched their own internal chatbots in an attempt to more securely provide the type of generative AI assistance made popular by ChatGPT. That includes the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security, CBP’s parent agency. DHSChat, for its part, was announced last year and is similarly aimed at aiding workers with routine tasks. But, per the spokesperson, chatCBP is different in that it’s designed to meet unique operational needs that the subagency has, such as requiring more control over LLM development, monitoring, data management and security. Four senators asked Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to reestablish the Cyber Safety Review Board, citing the need to investigate a landmark breach of telecommunications networks by Chinese hackers known as Salt Typhoon. In a letter last Thursday, the senators also said the board has conducted important oversight of other incidents before DHS removed its members in January, such as its report on a breach of Microsoft by other Chinese hackers.

New York Times [6/2/2025 8:40 PM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz, 153395K] reports the Trump administration this year ordered federal border agents and customs officers not to attend events hosted by organizations that support women or minority groups in law enforcement, according to a senior border official. Customs and Border Protection, the largest law enforcement agency in the federal government, issued a little-noticed internal memo in late March telling its officials not to attend events or conferences hosted by organizations like Women in Federal Law Enforcement and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, or NOBLE, said the senior official, Timothy Quinn. Mr. Quinn worked at the agency for nearly 12 years until he retired on Friday as a result of the policy. In an interview on Monday, Mr. Quinn said the directive was included in a broader travel advisory issued on March 28 to senior officials at the agency, who were then expected to pass along the instruction to the rank and file. The memo, which invoked President Trump’s executive order banning diversity practices across the federal government, barred attendance at events or conferences “that have a gender basis, race basis or a culture basis,” Mr. Quinn said. “I think that’s discrimination,” said Mr. Quinn, the former head of Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Intergovernmental Public Liaison. “I don’t understand why we wouldn’t engage with these organizations to share this kind of information.” In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection, said the agency’s “personnel are free to participate in outside groups on their own time.” “However, C.B.P. will not use taxpayer dollars and official duty hours to fund identity-based events or programs,” Ms. McLaughlin said. “As a federal law enforcement agency, our focus is on the mission.” The directive to an agency at the center of Mr. Trump’s favorite policy — immigration — is another effort by the administration to purge anything resembling steps for ensuring a more diverse work force.

The Hill [6/2/2025 10:26 AM, Alexander Bolton, 18649K] reports Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) declared Monday that the Democratic Party mishandled the critical issue of border security under President Biden by letting millions of migrants into the country over four years, giving Republicans a potent issue to campaign on. Fetterman took his own party to task on immigration and border security during a debate, aired on Fox Nation, with Pennsylvania’s Republican Sen. Dave McCormick at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. "That’s a mistake that our party made, and that’s the border," Fetterman told "Fox News Sunday" anchor Shannon Bream, who moderated the debate, which was co-hosted by the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation. Fetterman said he supports the roughly $150 billion in President Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" that would go toward securing the U.S.-Mexico border and ramping up immigration enforcement within the nation. "I absolutely support those kinds of investments to make our border secure," he said, acknowledging "I’ve lost some support in my party" for taking that position.

FOX News [6/2/2025 7:01 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46878K] reports Washington Post is being mocked online and by the White House for "pathetic" reporting on what the liberal-leaning news outlet calls a "mysterious" decline in fentanyl flowing across the border. Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that is often trafficked into the United States across the southern and northern borders by cartels and other criminal elements. In 2024, fentanyl was linked to the death of 48,422 persons in the United States, according to the CDC. During his campaign, President Donald Trump vowed to wage a war against fentanyl traffickers through increased border security and by cracking down on illegal immigration. Since taking office, Trump has deployed U.S. troops to the southern border, targeted cartels and transnational criminal groups as "foreign terrorist organizations" and hit cartel leaders with sanctions. According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the U.S. law enforcement seizures of fentanyl, which the group explains is a "key indicator of broader total smuggling at and between the southern border’s ports of entry," have dropped 50% since the November election. CIS states that this significant decline indicates a "greater decline in total fentanyl smuggling.” Washington Post reports on this decline, stating that U.S. seizures at the southern border are down by almost 30 percent compared with the same period in 2024. The outlet, however, states that the drop "represents something of a mystery.” "After years of confiscating rising amounts of fentanyl, the opioid that has fueled the most lethal drug epidemic in American history, U.S. officials are confronting a new and puzzling reality at the Mexican border. Fentanyl seizures are plummeting," wrote the Post. Among the possible reasons listed by the outlet are cartels finding other ways to smuggle the drug into the U.S., cartel internal strife, ingredient shortages and a possible decline in demand. Charlie Kirk, a popular conservative influencer, also commented, saying: "Four months into the Trump administration, Washington Post is marveling at the ‘mysterious’ drop in fentanyl seizures on the Mexican border … Is the Post simply lying, or are their reporters as dumb as the people they’re writing propaganda for?". The Department of Homeland Security’s official X account also replied, commenting: "It’s no mystery. On day one, [President] Trump closed our borders to drug traffickers.” DHS said that "from March 2024 to March 2025 fentanyl traffic at the southern border fell by 54%.” "The world has heard the message loud and clear," said DHS. Abigail Jackson, another White House spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital that "the drop in fentanyl seizures at the border is only a mystery to Washington Post reporters suffering from Trump-Derangement Syndrome.” "As of March, fentanyl traffic at the Southern Border had fallen by more than half from the same time last year – while Joe Biden’s open border was still terrorizing America," said Jackson. "Everyone else knows the simple truth: President Trump closed our border to illegal drug traffickers and Americans are safer because of it.”

Los Angeles Times [6/2/2025 12:25 PM, Terry Castleman, 14672K] reports international travelers arriving at Los Angeles International Airport should expect some of the longest wait times in the country to make it through customs en route to their destination, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Every day, thousands of foreign visitors arrive at Southern California’s biggest travel hub on their way to visit family, conduct business or tour the region. But first, they need to pass through Customs. In fiscal year 2024, CBP says the agency processed more than 420 million travelers at ports of entry nationwide, up 6.6% from the year before. Thousands of those people passed through LAX, according to CBP data updated daily with the airport averaging 550 foreign arrivals every hour last summer, making it the busiest international terminal in the country at the time. With the high volume also came a dubious distinction: LAX arrivals had the second longest customs wait times of any major airport, averaging more than 30 minutes in line from June through August 2024. Only Chicago O’Hare International Airport was worse. Though the 30-minute wait time for foreign travelers was an average over the past 12 months, during peak travel periods, the wait was significantly longer, data shows. For noncitizens, during last year’s Labor Day weekend, travelers waited an average of 113 minutes and during the biggest backup, at least one unlucky passenger waited 245 minutes, or more than four hours, to make it through customs. U.S. citizens returning from abroad had much shorter wait times at LAX last summer — just under 19 minutes on average — but compared to other major airports, LAX was still third slowest for customs. Only O’Hare and Orlando International Airport saw longer waits.

AP [6/2/2025 7:05 PM, Martha Bellisle, 56000K] reports a federal judge on Monday granted a preliminary injunction to stop Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from killing a collective bargaining agreement for Transportation Safety Administration workers. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman of Seattle said in her order that an injunction is needed to preserve the rights and benefits that TSA workers have enjoyed for years while being represented by the American Federation of Government Employees. In their lawsuit, Pechman said, the union has shown that Noem’s directive to end the agreement “constitutes impermissible retaliation against it for its unwillingness to acquiesce to the Trump Administration’s assault on federal workers.” It also likely violated due process and AFGE is likely to succeed in showing that Noem’s decision was “arbitrary and capricious,” she added. “Today’s court decision is a crucial victory for federal workers and the rule of law,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a release. “The preliminary injunction underscores the unconstitutional nature of DHS’s attack on TSA officers’ First Amendment rights. We remain committed to ensuring our members’ rights and dignity are protected, and we will not back down from defending our members’ rights against unlawful union busting.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kipnis declined to comment on the judge’s ruling, according to Emily Langlie, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office. AFGE had entered into a new, seven-year collective bargaining agreement with agency last May, but Noem issued a memo Feb. 27 rescinding that agreement. One week later, TSA informed the union about Noem’s directive, saying the contract was terminated and all pending grievances would be deleted. AFGE filed a lawsuit against Noem, claiming the move was retaliation against the union for pushing back against the Trump administration’s attacks on federal workers. AFGE had filed a separate lawsuit Feb. 19 against the Office of Personnel Management to stop the firing of probationary workers. A judge issued a temporary restraining order Feb. 27 stopping the firings — the same day Noem issued her memo. Abigail Carter, representing AFGE during oral arguments before Pechman on May 27, said Noem’s move was retaliation and a violation of the union’s First Amendment right to protected speech and its Fifth Amendment right to due process. “The administration has made it clear that if you don’t disagree with it politically, you and your members can keep your rights, but if you do disagree, you lose them,” Carter said. She also argued that the collective bargaining agreement was necessary because TSA workers are not covered under the federal labor-management code. The agreement protects them from dangerous working conditions and unreasonable hours.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [6/2/2025 5:25 PM, Daniel Wiessner, 51390K]
CNN [6/2/2025 6:30 PM, Tami Luhby, 21433K]
FOX Business [6/2/2025 5:36 PM, Andrea Margolis, 9940K]
San Diego Union Tribune [6/2/2025 7:15 PM, Staff, 1611K]

New York Post [6/2/2025 9:58 AM, Brooke Steinberg, 49956K] reports even Dr. Meredith Grey has to worry about TSA. When going through security for a flight back in March, "Grey’s Anatomy" star Ellen Pompeo set off the alarms for a seemingly innocent snack — sunflower seeds. "I had a bag of sunflower seeds, like organic sunflower seeds from [upscale grocery] Erewhon, so they were probably the most expensive sunflower seeds money can buy," the 55-year-old actress told Travel + Leisure. "They literally held me for an hour, and they brought the bomb squad in," Pompeo shared. "And I was, like, ‘What is happening? Is this a joke?’ " She explained that the Transportation Security Administration told her the issue was "most likely" a chemical in the packaging of the unopened bag of "super expensive, fancy, organic, clean sunflower seeds" from the store. When she asked if she could just toss the seeds, they informed her that they needed her to stay and wait for the bomb squad to examine the seeds. On the surface, sunflower seeds seem like a harmless snack to take on a flight, so the incident begs the question: What foods are allowed in your carry-on luggage? While most foods are allowed to be brought on a plane, there are a few rules that travelers should be aware of.

Wall Street Journal [6/2/2025 6:23 PM, Scott Patterson and Tarini Parti, 646K] reports Federal Emergency Management Agency officials are scrapping a hurricane-response plan that its recently appointed leader, David Richardson, had said was close to completion, according to agency staff. With hurricane season kicking off this month, Richardson told staff Monday that the agency would be returning to the same guidance for hurricane response as last year. Some were confused how that would be possible, given the agency had already eliminated key programs and sharply cut its workforce. For example, FEMA’s hurricane guidance typically includes plans for staffers who go door-to-door helping storm survivors. But that program has been rolled back, leaving it unclear how the agency should now adjust those operations, which could have a domino effect on other responses. Richardson told FEMA staff in a Monday call that he didn’t want to create a new plan that might contradict what a newly created FEMA review council, co-chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, might propose. “Here’s the guidance,” Richardson said, according to participants. “It’s the same as it was last year,” he added. The new FEMA leader suggested he recently learned there was an annual hurricane season, stunning members of the workforce of the agency tasked with responding to disasters. He has expressed surprise in meetings at the scope of the agency’s mission, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. “Despite meanspirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this Hurricane Season,” said a FEMA representative, adding, “FEMA is laser focused on disaster response, and protecting the American people.”

Reuters [6/2/2025 8:15 PM, Leah Douglas, Ted Hesson and Nathan Layne, 24051K] reports staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said during a briefing that he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation. The U.S. hurricane season officially began on Sunday and lasts through November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast last week that this year’s season is expected to bring as many as 10 hurricanes. The remark was made by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in some other context. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s parent agency, said the comment was a joke and that FEMA is prepared for hurricane season. The spokesperson said under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Richardson "FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens.” Richardson said during the briefing that there would be no changes to the agency’s disaster response plans despite having told staff to expect a new plan in May, the sources told Reuters. Richardson’s comments come amid widespread concern that the departures of a raft of top FEMA officials, staff cuts and reductions in hurricane preparations will leave the agency ill-prepared for a storm season forecast to be above normal. Hurricanes kill dozens of people and cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually across a swath of U.S. states every year. The storms have become increasingly more destructive and costly due to the effects of climate change. Richardson’s comment purporting ignorance about hurricane season spread among agency staff, spurring confusion and reigniting concern about his lack of familiarity with FEMA’s operations, said three sources. Richardson, who has no disaster response experience, said during Monday’s briefing, a daily all-hands meeting held by phone and videoconference, that he will not be issuing a new disaster plan because he does not want to make changes that might counter the FEMA Review Council, the sources said. President Donald Trump created the council to evaluate FEMA. Its members include DHS head Noem, governors and other officials. In a May 15 staff town hall, Richardson said a disaster plan, including tabletop exercises, would be ready for review by May 23. Richardson has evoked his military experience as a former Marine artillery officer in conversations with staff. Before joining FEMA, he was assistant secretary at DHS’ office for countering weapons of mass destruction, which he has told staff he will continue to lead. Richardson was appointed as the new chief of FEMA last month after his predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, was abruptly fired. Despite Noem’s prior comments that she plans to eliminate FEMA, in May she approved Richardson’s request to retain more than 2,600 short-term disaster response and recovery employees whose terms were set to expire this year, one of the sources said, confirming an earlier report by NBC News.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [6/2/2025 9:52 PM, Christopher Flavelle and Lisa Friedman, 138952K]
CBS News [6/2/2025 7:19 PM, Nicole Sganga, 51860K]

NBC News [6/2/2025 10:31 PM, Gabe Gutierrez and Zoë Richards, 44540K] reports Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Richardson was joking when he said at a meeting Monday that he was not aware of the upcoming hurricane season, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. Reuters reported that Richardson said at a briefing that he was not aware the United States has a hurricane season, confusing staffers. The report, which said it was unclear if Richardson was serious or joking, cited four unnamed sources familiar with the situation. "Despite meanspirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this Hurricane Season. FEMA is laser focused on disaster response, and protecting the American people," a spokesperson for DHS said. The spokesperson added that Richardson is "activated in preparation for Hurricane Season.” Richardson took the reins at FEMA last month. The previous acting administrator, Cameron Hamilton, was removed from his job after he told lawmakers at a congressional hearing that he did not believe the agency should be eliminated. DHS has denied that Hamilton’s ouster was related to his testimony. FEMA is responsible for coordinating the government’s emergency response to areas affected by natural disasters, such as hurricanes. Hurricane season runs from June through November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted there is a 60% chance of an above-normal season this year, during which the United States could get six to 10 hurricanes, three to five of which could be "major.” Democrats blasted Richardson following the report about the meeting. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., referred to the Reuters report when he wrote on X, "And I’m unaware of why he hasn’t been fired yet.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., also took aim at Richardson, writing on X, "Bare minimum requirement for the leader of FEMA: know when hurricane season is.” President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly floated the idea of terminating the emergency disaster agency. During a visit to North Carolina in January to survey the damage of Hurricane Helene, which swept across the state late last year, Trump suggested overhauling or doing away with FEMA, calling it "very bureaucratic" and "very slow.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also suggested that FEMA should be eliminated. But without an alternative plan and with hurricane season approaching, Noem has also quietly made efforts to keep the agency running, sources familiar with the situation have told NBC News.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [6/3/2025 3:29 AM, Frances Vinall, 32099K]

Roll Call [6/2/2025 9:43 AM, Mike Magner, 692K] reports that now that the Atlantic hurricane season has officially begun, lawmakers and emergency preparedness officials around the country are becoming anxious about the Trump administration’s staffing cuts at the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The NWS, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the Commerce Department, has lost about 600 employees, or roughly 15 percent of its workforce, through layoffs or buyouts in the past four months. FEMA, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, has seen about 2,000 of its 6,100 employees leave since January, according to published reports. The cuts have come as NOAA warned in May of an active hurricane season, with a likelihood of 13 to 19 named storms, of which six to 10 could become hurricanes and three to five of those expected to be in Category 3, 4 or 5. The season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Last year there were 18 named storms in the Atlantic, 11 became hurricanes, and five — Beryl, Debby, Francine, Helene and Milton — made landfall in the U.S., causing extensive damage, NOAA reported. At FEMA, the Trump administration heightened concerns with suggestions that the agency could be dismantled and its responsibilities turned over to the states. Acting FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton said at a House hearing last month that he disagreed with the idea — which cost him his job. President Donald Trump fired him immediately. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have responded with proposals to revamp FEMA and are urging Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem not to gut the agency.

AP [6/2/2025 6:51 PM, Alexa St. John and Matthew Daly, 56000K] reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday it will hire for “mission-critical field positions” amid expert warnings that the National Weather Service has been cut too sharply just as hurricane season arrives. An agency spokesperson said in a statement the positions will be advertised under a temporary reprieve from the federal government’s widespread hiring pause “to further stabilize frontline operations.” NOAA also said they are filling some field office openings by reassigning staff, including some temporary hires. The agency didn’t say how many jobs would be posted and refused to provide more details. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cuts gutted NWS and NOAA — which provide daily weather forecasts, up-to-the-minute severe storm warnings, climate monitoring and extreme weather tracking — earlier this year. Hundreds of weather forecasters were fired and other federal NOAA employees were put on probationary status in February, followed by a later round of more than 1,000 cuts at the agency. By April, nearly half of NWS forecast offices had 20% vacancy rates. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has also been affected. The new hires would be seen by the scientific community as especially imperative as the agency predicts a busy hurricane season and more tornados. In recent years, greenhouse gas emission-driven climate change has fueled more frequent, deadly, costly and increasingly nasty storms.

CBS New York [6/2/2025 6:39 PM, Staff, 51860K] Video: HERE reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a 60% chance for an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season. CBS News New York’s Jennifer McLogan reports.

FOX Business [6/2/2025 8:00 PM, Staff, 9940K] reports ‘The Bottom Line’ panelists Lesley Pacey and Linda Murphy discuss the Biden administration’s health concerns about East Palestine after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in 2023. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NBC News [6/2/2025 12:13 PM, Mirna Alsharif, 44540K] reports air quality alerts remained in place Monday from Minnesota and Michigan to South Carolina due to smoke from wildfires in Canada. Over 180 fires scattered across Canada are actively burning, with 91 burning out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, a nonprofit that supports the government’s wildfire response. The fires have burned over 3.7 million acres since the beginning of the year. Over the weekend, hazy skies could be seen over Minneapolis and Duluth, and an air quality alert was issued for all of Minnesota on Monday by the state’s pollution control agency. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, the National Weather Service warned residents that outdoor grills, chain saws and ATVs "have the potential to throw a spark and ignite a dangerous and destructive fire.” The haze from the Canadian wildfire smoke drifted all the way into the Deep South of the U.S., with the NWS on Sunday reporting a "red sunrise" in the Charleston, South Carolina, area. The poor air quality will continue for Michigan, Minnesota and South Carolina through Monday night.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [6/2/2025 11:41 AM, Ian Livingston, 32099K]

The AP [6/2/2025 4:49 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports a Romanian citizen pleaded guilty on Monday to engaging in a plot to use “swatting” calls and bomb threats to intimidate and threaten dozens of people with bogus police emergencies, including a former U.S. president and several members of Congress. Thomasz Szabo, 26, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 23 by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C. Szabo was extradited from Romania in November 2024. He was charged with Nemanja Radovanovic, 21, of Serbia. Szabo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of making bomb threats. The two men targeted roughly 100 people with “swatting” calls to instigate an aggressive response by police officers at the victims’ homes, a federal indictment alleges. A U.S. Secret Service agent’s affidavit doesn’t name the former U.S. president or any other officials identified as victims of the hoax calls. The two defendants are not explicitly charged in the indictment with threatening a former president, but one of the alleged victims is identified as a “former elected official from the executive branch” who was swatted on Jan. 9. 2024. Radovanovic falsely reported a killing and threatened to set off an explosion at that person’s home, the indictment says. Charges against Radovanovic are still pending. Online court records indicate that he hasn’t made any court appearances in Washington yet. Roll Call [6/2/2025 5:42 PM, Ryan Tarinelli, 692K] reports that the Justice Department, citing court documents, said Szabo was the leader of an online community that "engaged in a pattern of bomb threats and ‘swatting,’" beginning in late 2020. Then in January 2021, Szabo made a call to a crisis intervention hotline and conveyed "threats to detonate explosives at the United States Capitol and kill the President-elect," according to the indictment. The spree victims also included members of the federal judiciary, along with former or then-current senior executive branch officials and then-current or former senior federal law enforcement officials, according to the department. Szabo’s sentencing is scheduled for October, according to the department. The Blaze [6/2/2025 6:58 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1805K] reports that officials said Szabo and his co-conspirators would target "government buildings, houses of worship, and private residences, including the homes of senior government officials.” He would go by various online monikers, including "Plank," "Jonah," and "Cypher.” "This defendant led a dangerous swatting criminal conspiracy, deliberately threatening dozens of government officials with violent hoaxes and targeting our nation’s security infrastructure from behind a screen overseas," said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. "This case reflects our continued focus on protecting the American people and working with international partners to stop these threats at their source.” Among the incidents attributed to Szabo by the DOJ were a mass shooting threat against New York City synagogues in Dec. 2020, as well as a threat to detonate explosives at the U.S. Capitol to kill the president-elect in Jan. 2021. The members of the online community went after members of Congress and their families, senior officials of the executive branch, members of the judiciary, state government officials, religious institutions, and some members of the press. The indictment said that Szabo targeted both the right and the left, and indicated that he was not on any partisan side.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [6/2/2025 6:37 PM, Raphael Satter, 51390K]

AP [6/2/2025 11:29 PM, Staff, 31733K] reports a Wisconsin man is facing charges accusing him of forging a letter threatening President Donald Trump’s life in an effort to get another man deported. Prosecutors said in a criminal complaint filed Monday that Demetric D. Scott was behind a letter sent to state and federal officials with the return address and name of Ramón Morales Reyes. Scott was charged Monday with felony witness intimidation, identity theft and two counts of bail jumping. His attorney, Robert Hampton III, didn’t immediately return an email from The Associated Press seeking comment. Immigration agents arrested Morales Reyes, 54, on May 21 after he dropped his child off at school in Milwaukee. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the arrest, saying he had written a letter threatening to kill Trump and would “self-deport” to Mexico. The announcement, which also was posted by the White House on its social media accounts, contained an image of the letter as well as a photo of Morales Reyes. But the claim started to unravel as investigators talked to Morales Reyes, who doesn’t speak English fluently, and obtained a handwriting sample from him that was different than the handwriting in the letters, according to court documents. Morales Reyes is listed as a victim in the case involving Scott, who is awaiting trial in Milwaukee County Jail on armed robbery and aggravated battery charges. The trial is scheduled for July. Law enforcement officers listened to several calls Scott made from the jail in which he talked about letters that needed to be mailed and a plan to get someone picked up by ICE so Scott’s trial could get dismissed, according to the criminal complaint. He also admitted to police that he wrote the letters, documents said. Morales Reyes works as a dishwasher in Milwaukee, where he lives with his wife and three children. He had recently applied for a U visa, which is for people in the country illegally who become victims of serious crimes, said attorney Kime Abduli, who filed that application. Abduli told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday that she was glad Morales Reyes was being cleared of any involvement in the letter writing.

NewsNation [6/2/2025 1:40 PM, Taylor Delandro, 5801K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard, in coordination with the U.S. Navy, has seized over 860 pounds of cocaine worth $13.65 million from a vessel in the Caribbean Sea. According to the Coast Guard, the interdiction took place on May 25 by the crew of the USS Gravely (DDG 107), an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, along with a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment. The drugs were recovered in 19 bales. The Coast Guard said the Gravely’s Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure team, supported by the Coast Guard LEDET, led the operation. Operating under U.S. Northern Command’s maritime homeland defense authorities, Gravely works closely with LEDET teams to target illegal drug trafficking and other maritime threats. Using the LEDET’s tactical expertise and Gravely’s advanced surveillance and mobility, the joint team extends Coast Guard authority through Navy capabilities, enhancing maritime security in the region, the Coast Guard said. "Together, the Navy’s mobility and the Coast Guard’s jurisdiction deliver a strong, coordinated response to threats offshore. This is how sea power protects the #homeland," the Coast Guard said.

ABC News [6/3/2025 2:54 AM, Jon Haworth, 31733K] reports three people have been rescued from the Atlantic Ocean in the dark after their plane went down several miles offshore off the coast of Florida, officials said. Officials from Air and Marine Operations, an operational component of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, were alerted to a single-engine Cessna Skyhawk crashing down into the ocean on Sunday evening several miles offshore, according to a statement from of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday. "During the evening of June 1, an AMO Fort Pierce Marine Unit was alerted by the Indian River Shores Police Department that a single-engine Cessna Skyhawk had crashed approximately 2 to 3 miles offshore," officials said. "AMO crews immediately responded and arrived at the location, joining search and rescue efforts already underway by the U.S. Coast Guard, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Indian River Shores Police Department.” An Indian River County Sheriff’s Office helicopter was able to locate three heat signatures in the water which led to a focused search of the area and, at approximately 9:50 p.m. on Sunday night, AMO Marine Interdiction Agents located two survivors before finding the third one shortly after and bringing him on board as well. "The survivor identified himself as the pilot and confirmed that only three individuals had been aboard the aircraft at the time of the crash," CBP officials said. "AMO agents assessed the pilot’s condition, monitoring his vitals and providing initial care as he reported severe rib pain. The pilot was transferred to the Coast Guard 45-foot vessel for Emergency Medical Technician evaluation.” All three survivors were immediately taken to Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce for further medical treatment by local fire rescue personnel. "AMO remains committed to protecting lives and supporting partner agencies in search and rescue efforts across the nation’s coastal regions," officials said.

FOX News [6/2/2025 6:46 PM, Greg Wehner, 46878K] reports a Honduran national has been charged in federal court after he allegedly crashed a vehicle into a barricade outside the Pensacola, Florida, Navy base and entered the base illegally while running from law enforcement, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Orly Moises Garcia Hernandez, 34, has been charged with illegally entering a military, Naval or Coast Guard property, and resisting or impeding arrest by a federal officer, the DOJ said in a news release. On May 25, Garcia Hernandez allegedly crashed into a barricade outside a checkpoint at the Naval Air Station Pensacola gate, then ran from military forces onto the base to escape apprehension. Military police ultimately captured Garcia Hernandez at gunpoint after the foot pursuit. If he is convicted, Garcia Hernandez could face up to 18 months in prison and deportation. Santa Rosa County Jail records show Garcia Hernandez is being held without bond. The DOJ said the case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that streamlines efforts and resources within the Department of Homeland Security to not just crack down on illegal immigration but also achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and protect our communities from the "perpetrators of violent crimes.”

Axios [6/2/2025 3:07 PM, Kale Williams, 13599K] reports it’s Fleet Week, and that means big ships — and big traffic headaches — are heading our way. Several of the main bridges over the Willamette will see extended lifts as the vessels make their way into town, and starting Tuesday evening, the Steel, Broadway and Burnside bridges will close to traffic for longer than usual to accommodate the ships. All the ships will be departing Monday, with frequent lifts, and traffic delays, expected. Once the ships are docked, you can tour a number of vessels from the U.S. and Canadian navies, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Wall Street Journal [6/2/2025 2:19 PM, James Rundle, 646K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency would have its funding slashed by $495 million to a $2.38 billion allocation in President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal 2026. The falloff marks a stark reversal in budgetary trends for CISA, which saw its funding either climb or stay relatively flat over the past five years, from $2 billion in 2020 to almost $3 billion last year. Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, has repeatedly said she wants CISA to focus more on its core mission of protecting critical infrastructure and civilian federal agencies, and has criticized its past efforts in election security and monitoring disinformation. The budget will reduce the number of employees in CISA’s election-security program and shutter the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which the agency funded. Under the proposed budget, CISA will be a far leaner organization than in previous years. Along with funding cuts for various programs, the budget proposes a head-count reduction of approximately 1,000 positions, or around one-third of its workforce. Some of the steepest cuts in personnel and funding are to CISA’s outreach programs, which handle the agency’s liaisons with public and private sector partners. The proposed budget reduces staff positions to 53 from 200, and cuts funding to $37.6 million from nearly $100 million.

CyberScoop [6/2/2025 11:30 AM, Tim Starks] reports the fiscal 2026 budget proposal President Donald Trump unveiled last week would make deep cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency workforce, with a goal of eliminating 1,083 positions and chopping its budget by $495 million, to $2.4 billion. That’s a slightly deeper total cut than an earlier budget outline forecast. And a new document produced by the Department of Homeland Security details where those CISA personnel reductions would come from, alongside other documents that show planned decreases to other cybersecurity programs in the federal government. The latest budget documents still don’t offer a full picture of Trump’s plans, as the administration hasn’t produced a full Defense Department budget blueprint, and Congress is awaiting delivery of a rescission package that would allow it to cement some of the federal funding cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency. It’s also unclear what kind of fate awaits the Trump budget on Capitol Hill. The appropriations process of full-year funding bills has largely fallen by the wayside, with lawmakers instead routinely passing stopgap funding measures. But Republicans now control both chambers and the White House, and there are signs they want to avoid the stopgaps this year. There also have been bipartisan concerns about reductions for CISA specifically.

AP [6/2/2025 4:15 PM, Staff, 44540K] reports a naturalized U.S. citizen who pleaded guilty to receiving military training from the Islamic State group was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison. Lirim Sylejmani, 49, engaged in at least one battle against U.S.-led forces after he entered Syria in 2015, according to prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington, D.C., imposed Sylejmani’s prison sentence followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Sylejmani, who was born in Kosovo and moved to Chicago roughly 25 years ago, pleaded guilty last December to one count of receiving military training from a foreign terrorist organization. In November 2015, Sylejmani and his family flew to Turkey and then crossed the border into Syria, where he began training with other IS recruits, according to prosecutors. They said he was injured in a battle with Syrian forces in June 2016 and was captured with his family in Baghouz, Syria, in February 2019. “The conduct is far more than a single, impulsive act. He chose to jeopardize the safety of his family by bringing them to a war-torn country to join and take up arms for ISIS,” prosecutors wrote. Sylejmani’s attorneys say he isn’t a “committed jihadist” and doesn’t espouse violence. “He is guilt ridden for his actions and the harm he has visited on his family, who remain detained in a refugee camp in Syria living under terrible conditions,” his lawyers wrote. “He wishes only to complete his time and find his wife and children, so he can live an average law-abiding life with them.”

The Hill [6/2/2025 12:01 PM, Brooke Migdon, 18649K] reports the LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD on Monday said it tracked nearly 1,000 incidents over the last year specifically targeting LGBTQ people in the U.S., a statistic the group said was worrying but that also represented a more than 20 percent decline over the previous year. Between May 1, 2024, and May 1, 2025, GLAAD’s ALERT Desk, an online tracker of anti-LGBTQ extremism in the U.S., recorded 932 anti-LGBTQ incidents in 49 states and Washington, D.C., the equivalent of 2.5 incidents each day. Violent attacks over the past year have resulted in 84 injuries and 10 deaths, the group said Monday. "We know that there is this massive amount of hate and violence that LGBTQ people in the U.S. are experiencing on a daily basis, and we know that this is kind of different, sort of, depending on the different activities that people are engaging in or the different identities that people hold within the community," said Sarah Moore, an anti-LGBTQ extremism analyst at GLAAD who heads the ALERT Desk initiative. More than half of all incidents last year targeted transgender and gender-nonconforming people, for instance, up 14 percent from the previous year. "This goes along with the really intense conversations that we’re having right now around trans rights," said Moore.

Reported similarly:
NBC News [6/2/2025 11:54 AM, Brooke Sopelsa, 44540K]

New York Times [6/2/2025 4:04 PM, Ruth Graham, 138952K] reports the attack on demonstrators in Boulder, Colo., marching in support of hostages being held in Gaza would have been disturbing to Jewish people across the country even if it were the only recent event of its kind. The suspect told investigators after his arrest that he had been planning the attack for a year, according to court documents. Eight people were hospitalized. For many, the connections to other recent outbursts of violence were impossible to miss. The attack in Boulder came less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy employees were shot and killed as they left a reception at a Jewish museum in Washington. A month earlier, an arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion on the first night of Passover while Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, slept upstairs with his family. “What we’ve seen these last few months is a shocking pattern of anti-Israel sentiment manifesting itself in antisemitic violence,” said Halie Soifer, chief executive of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “With each incident, there’s a further shattering of our sense of security.” In Colorado and Washington, authorities said, the suspects shouted “Free Palestine” on the scene. In Pennsylvania, the arsonist later said he had set the fire as a response to Israeli attacks on Palestinians. Ms. Soifer pointed out that the Molotov cocktails used by the attacker in Boulder were strikingly similar to the incendiary devices used by Cody Balmer, the man accused of arson in Pennsylvania. The man charged on Monday with a federal hate crime in Colorado, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, told investigators that he wanted to “kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” according to papers filed in federal court. The drumbeat of violence erupting across the country and taking an unpredictable variety of forms has deepened anxieties among many American Jews, and contributed to a sense that simply existing in public as a Jewish person is increasingly dangerous. One of the victims of the attack at the march in Boulder was a Holocaust survivor, according to a friend of the victim who was at the scene. That all three attackers alluded to political objections to Israel raised concerns among many about the threat of left-wing political violence connected to the war in Gaza.

Axios [6/2/2025 6:52 PM, Alayna Alvarez, 13599K] reports Sunday’s attack on demonstrators in Boulder advocating for Israeli hostages is part of an alarming trend of violence targeting Jewish individuals and pro-Israel advocates — incidents that some experts link to a rise in antisemitism. Antisemitic incidents in the U.S. have soared almost 900% in the last 10 years, and last year reached their highest level recorded in nearly half a century, Axios’ Russell Contreras writes per a recent Anti-Defamation League (ADL) report. Colorado recorded 279 such incidents in 2024 compared with 198 in 2023 — a 40% spike. The rise comes as at least 33 extremist groups — including white nationalists, anti-LGBTQ+ organizations and anti-government militias — are currently active in Colorado, per the Southern Poverty Law Center. A pattern of violence has emerged nationwide in recent weeks, affecting both Jewish communities and individuals and groups publicly supporting Israel. The trend is raising concerns about the intersection of antisemitism and political tensions over the Israel-Hamas war.

ABC News [6/2/2025 1:31 PM, Peter Charalambous, 31733K] reports warning that a series of court decisions blocking President Donald Trump’s tariffs "disrupt sensitive, ongoing negotiations with virtually every trading partner," the Trump administration on Monday asked a federal appeals court to block an order last week that found the sweeping tariffs were "unlawful.” In a lawsuit brought by two children’s toy companies, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., last week ruled that Trump does not have power to unilaterally impose tariffs "to reorder the global economy." Issued less than 24 hours after a panel of judges on the Court of International Trade issued its own decision blocking Trump’s tariffs, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras reached the same conclusion about the unlawfulness of the tariffs, but issued a less sweeping order, only blocking enforcement of the tariffs against the two companies that filed the lawsuit. A federal appeals court subsequently temporarily delayed the Court of International Trade’s decision. In a filing Monday, the Trump administration argued that Judge Contreras’ ruling was flawed and that it undercuts the president while " negotiations currently stand at a delicate juncture." "By holding the tariffs invalid, the district court’s ruling usurps the President’s authority and threatens to disrupt sensitive, ongoing negotiations with virtually every trading partner by undercutting the premise of those negotiations -- that the tariffs are a credible threat," the filing said.

Daily Wire [6/2/2025 9:23 AM, Jayden Jelso, 3816K] reports that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard praised the progress made at Asia’s premier security conference in an interview with Morning Wire, saying it proves that global leaders are willing to engage in diplomacy that further facilitates peace. "The goal here within this region, as well as others around the world, is to be able to achieve [peace]," Gabbard told Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley. "That’s why these kinds of conferences are so important." Her remarks come after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated at the conference that "any attempt by China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world." On April 1, the Chinese military announced large-scale drills in the waters surrounding Taiwan, saying they were meant as a warning and a forceful containment against the country’s independence, The Daily Wire reported. Hesgeth met with counterparts in Japan and the Philippines afterward, promising to counter China’s aggression. Gabbard said the context of Hegseth’s statement at the conference is important, and that current indications show China does not intend to take military action. "The overwhelming message that Pete delivered is the message that we hear from President Trump, which is that he is the president of peace," Gabbard said.

Washington Post [6/2/2025 11:13 AM, Leo Sands, 32099K] reports a conservative nationalist backed by President Donald Trump was elected to Poland’s presidency over the weekend, capping a string of tightly fought contests that analysts say underscore the growing strength of far-right and populist parties in Europe — fueled in part by the influence of the MAGA movement from across the pond. Karol Nawrocki, a historian supported by Poland’s conservative Law and Justice party, narrowly defeated Warsaw’s liberal mayor in Sunday’s election, 50.89 percent to 49.11 percent. Last month, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem had urged Poles to elect him — the latest in a spate of controversial interventions by Trump administration officials into European domestic politics. Nawrocki’s victory comes a year after many far-right parties surged in the European parliamentary elections. Since then, far-right parties have continued to fare largely well: coming first in Austria, staging historic advances in Portugal and Germany, and making waves but ultimately falling short of expectations in Romania and France. Daniel Hegedüs, a regional director at the German Marshall Fund think tank, said the narrowness of the results showed how entrenched Europe’s divide between right-wing populists and centrists had become, reflecting political divisions in the United States. “There is a very significant overlying trend: Elections, not only in Europe but across Western democracies, are evolving into plebiscites,” he said in a phone interview Monday — effectively becoming referendums on populism. “Voters are presented with a really stark choice: either rules-based liberal democracies or MAGA-esque ethno-nationalist types of leaders,” said Armida van Rij, who leads the Europe program at Chatham House, while cautioning that the trend has been unfolding for as long as a decade. Although analysts said there is a strong political and cultural nexus between Trump and Europe’s emergent populist parties, what those ties mean in practice — and whether they are sustainable in the long term — is a matter of debate.

Reuters [6/2/2025 10:31 AM, Timour Azhari and Suleiman Al-Khalidi, 51390K] reports the United States has given its blessing to a plan by Syria’s new leadership to incorporate thousands of foreign jihadist former rebel fighters into the national army, provided that it does so transparently, President Donald Trump’s envoy said. Three Syrian defence officials said that under the plan, some 3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uyghurs from China and neighbouring countries, would join a newly-formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would also include Syrians. Asked by Reuters in Damascus whether Washington approved the integration of foreign fighters into Syria’s new military, Thomas Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey who was named Trump’s special envoy to Syria last month, said: "I would say there is an understanding, with transparency." He said it was better to keep the fighters, many of whom are "very loyal" to Syria’s new administration, within a state project than to exclude them.

NewsMax [6/2/2025 12:51 PM, Parisa Hafezi, 4622K] reports that Iran is poised to reject a U.S. proposal to end a decades-old nuclear dispute, an Iranian diplomat said Monday, dismissing it as a "nonstarter" that fails to address Tehran’s interests or soften Washington’s stance on uranium enrichment. "Iran is drafting a negative response to the U.S. proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the U.S. offer," the senior diplomat, who is close to Iran’s negotiating team, told Reuters. The U.S. proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who was on a visit to Tehran and has been mediating talks between Tehran and Washington. After five rounds of discussions between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, several obstacles remain. Among them are Iran’s rejection of a U.S. demand that it commit to scrapping uranium enrichment and its refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium — possible raw material for nuclear bombs. Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it’s seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

FOX News [6/2/2025 2:59 PM, Diana Stancy, 46878K] reports two foreign nationals have been charged for their role in a scheme to smuggle U.S. military equipment and technology — including missiles — into China, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The charges come as President Donald Trump and his administration have launched multiple efforts to beef up the vetting process for foreigners seeking visas in the U.S., particularly those from China. Cui Guanghai, 43, of China, and John Miller, 63, of the United Kingdom, were charged with interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking, conspiracy, smuggling and violating the Arms Export Control Act, the Justice Department announced Friday. Prosecutors believe that Cui was working on behalf of the Chinese government, according to court documents. Court documents allege that Cui, who is based in China, and Miller, who is a permanent resident in the U.S., sought to procure military equipment including missiles, an air defense radar, drones and cryptographic devices starting in November 2023. The two allegedly coordinated with two other individuals, who, unbeknownst to Cui and Miller, were working on behalf of the FBI, on ways to export the cryptographic device to China. Cui and Miller allegedly discussed how to hide the cryptographic device in a blender, other small electronics or a motor starter — or ship the device to Hong Kong first — to avoid detection. They paid $10,000 as part of a deposit for the cryptographic device, court documents say. Additionally, Cui and Miller allegedly recruited two people to help them conduct a scheme that sought to silence an unnamed U.S. citizen from speaking out against Chinese President Xi Jinping’s appearance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November 2023, court documents say. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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