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

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

The AP [6/4/2025 6:39 PM, Colleen Slevin and Rebecca Santana, 56000K] reports that a federal judge on Wednesday ordered the government to immediately halt deportation proceedings against the family of a man charged in the firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado, to ensure the protection of the family’s constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher granted a request from the wife and five children of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who are Egyptian, to block their deportation. U.S. immigration officials took the family into custody Tuesday. “The court finds that deportation without process could work irreparable harm and an order must issue without notice due to the urgency this situation presents,” Gallagher wrote. Soliman, 45, has been charged with a federal hate crime and state counts of attempted murder in the attack in downtown Boulder on Sunday. Witnesses say he threw two Molotov cocktails at a group demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, and he confessed to the attack in custody. His family members have not been charged. Federal authorities have said Soliman has been living in the U.S. illegally, and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said earlier Wednesday that the family was being processed for removal. It’s rare that a criminal suspect’s family members are detained and threatened with deportation. “It is patently unlawful to punish individuals for the crimes of their relatives,” attorneys for the family wrote in the lawsuit. The New York Times [6/4/2025 6:12 PM, Hamed Aleaziz] reports Judge Gordon P. Gallagher of the U.S. District Court in Colorado wrote that the administration “shall not remove” the woman, Hayem El Gamal, and her five children from the United States until further rulings in the case, adding that deportation could cause “irreparable harm.” He set hearings in the case for next week. Ms. El Gamal is the wife of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the Egyptian man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at the crowd in Boulder on Sunday. She was arrested on Tuesday along with her five children by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. The White House indicated on social media on Tuesday that the family could be deported imminently, and the Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday, before the judge’s order, that ICE was “processing Soliman’s family members for removal proceedings from the U.S.” Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said her agency would be investigating what the family knew about the attack before it happened. The Washington Post [6/4/2025 6:19 PM, Maria Sacchetti, Roman Stubbs and Marianne LeVine, 32099K] reports that the White House and the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that they had detained Mohamed Sabry Soliman’s wife and children, revoked their visitor visas and would deport them as soon as that evening. In court records obtained by The Washington Post, the family’s lawyers described a frantic search for them after they were detained late Tuesday morning. They said the family was being held incommunicado and without access to a lawyer. The attorneys also noted the family has applied for asylum and that the government cannot legally accelerate their deportation. The Washington Post [6/4/2025 6:23 PM, María Luisa Paúl, 32099K] reports that Soliman, who was born in Egypt, entered the United States in August 2022 on a B-2 tourist visa, according to DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin. Though that visa expired in February 2023, she said Soliman had filed for asylum in September 2022. DHS did not respond to questions about the status of his asylum case. People who have applied for asylum are generally protected from deportation while their cases are pending. USA Today [6/4/2025 5:22 PM, John Bacon, 75552K] reports "Today, DHS and ICE are taking the family of suspected Boulder, Colorado, terrorist, and illegal alien, Mohamed Soliman, into ICE custody," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday in a post on X. "This terrorist will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it." FBI and police officials said the family has cooperated with investigators, and Soliman said his family had no knowledge of his plans. CNN [6/4/2025 4:38 PM, Danya Gainor] reports that following the attack, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem directed multiple federal agencies under her purview to ramp up the review of immigration records and "crackdown on visa overstays," DHS said Wednesday. "We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it. I am continuing to pray for the victims of this attack and their families. Justice will be served," Noem said in a statement Wednesday.

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The Washington Examiner [6/4/2025 5:49 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1934K] reports Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem ordered immigration authorities to crack down on immigrants who have overstayed their visas, a move that comes after an Egyptian national allegedly targeted Jews at a public demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in that attack, had overstayed his visa, receiving a work permit after he later applied for asylum in 2023 under the Biden administration. "There is NO room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers. Anyone who thinks they can come to America and advocate for antisemitic violence and terrorism – think again," Noem said in a statement. "You are not welcome here. We will find you, deport you, and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law." Todd Lyons, acting director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, previewed the stepped-up review of visas on Monday, telling Fox News that "there’s a big push right now at ICE to identify all these individuals." Noem’s order was also directed toward Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, two other agencies under her purview at the Department of Homeland Security. A number of suspects in recent high-profile crimes were also in the United States with an expired visa. Breitbart [6/4/2025 3:26 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports that on Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the agency would ramp up immigration records reviews to check foreign nationals who have yet to leave the United States despite their expired visas. DHS has long estimated that about half of the 11 to 22 million illegal aliens who reside in the United States initially arrived on visas but overstayed. Annually, hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals overstay their visas. The crackdown comes after 45-year-old illegal alien Mohamed Sabry Soliman of Egypt allegedly used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to burn several Americans during a peaceful pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado.

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Washington Examiner [6/4/2025 2:34 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1934K] reports that the House Homeland Security Committee launched an investigation into the immigration history of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in an attack that targeted Jews in Boulder, Colorado, earlier this week. House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) and Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX) notified the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday that the committee’s investigation was underway with an examination of Soliman’s immigration status and why he was not deported by the federal government after overstaying his visa, according to a letter that committee leaders sent to the DHS obtained by the Washington Examiner. "[T]he individual who conducted the most recent attack in Boulder is part of a broader pattern — he overstayed his visa and was allowed to remain in the country," Green said in a statement. "The House Homeland Security Committee has an important responsibility to assess how DHS can address the national security threats posed by individuals who are unlawfully present in the country.". In the letter, Green and Pfluger informed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that the committee was investigating the details surrounding Soliman’s admission to the United States. The committee leaders asked Noem to provide Soliman’s "Alien File," a term for the immigration forms and documents related to a non-U.S. citizen’s interactions with the government and law enforcement. Green and Pfluger asked for the information by June 10.

Free Beacon [6/4/2025 2:20 PM, Adam Kredo, 773K] reports before carrying out the firebombing attack on peaceful Jewish demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, foreign national Mohamed Soliman filmed himself declaring that "jihad for Allah’s sake" is more important than his mother, wife, and children. The 45-year-old Soliman, who was born in Egypt and lived in Kuwait before moving to Colorado and overstaying a visa, made the remarks in an Arabic-language video obtained and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute. "I say to my mother, my wife, my children, my brothers, my people: I attest before Allah and before you that Allah, his messenger, and jihad for Allah’s sake are more beloved to me than you and the whole world are," he said. Soliman was charged Monday with a federal hate crime and faces additional state charges, including 384 years for 16 counts of attempted murder, 48 years for 2 counts of using an incendiary device, and 192 years for 16 counts of attempted use of an incendiary device. "Allah is greater than anything," he said in the video. "Allah is greater than the Zionists, Allah is greater than America and its weapons, Allah is greater than the F-35 planes, Allah is greater than everything else. So why do we fear those who are inferior to Allah, rather than Allah himself?" Federal immigration authorities detained Soliman’s family, the Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday. They face "expedited removal."

Axios [6/4/2025 1:32 PM, Alayna Alvarez, 13599K] reports that the number of victims identified in Sunday’s Boulder Molotov cocktail attack rose from 12 to 15 people — plus one dog, the Boulder District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday. Why it matters: The suspect could face additional charges. Already, he has been charged with a federal hate crime, along with 16 counts of attempted murder in the first degree. If convicted on his existing charges, it would mean a maximum sentence of 384 years in prison, according to authorities. Details: The victims include eight females and seven males, per the Boulder DA, ranging in age from 25 to 88. What they’re saying: "We continue to work closely with our federal, state, and local partners in strong response to this horrific attack," District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a statement. "We are united in our commitment to pursuing justice for all the victims, their many loved ones, and this community. We stand with the Jewish community and the people of Colorado against hate and terror." Driving the news: The Department of Homeland Security alleged Soliman was in the country illegally after his B2 visa expired in February 2023. His wife and five children, including two minor sons and two minor daughters — all of whom are Egyptian citizens — were taken into custody by ICE on Tuesday "for expedited removal," the White House posted on X.

FOX News [6/4/2025 1:56 PM, Elizabeth Elkind, 46878K] reports House Republicans are unveiling a new resolution to condemn the Boulder, Colorado, terror attack against a pro-Israel demonstration over the weekend. The resolution would call for the deportation of people who overstay their visas in the U.S., as was allegedly the case with the attacker. The legislation is being led by Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., who is Jewish, and Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, chair of the 189-member-strong Republican Study Committee. A man identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman allegedly threw Molotov cocktails and used a "makeshift flamethrower" to set peaceful pro-Israel activists on fire Sunday, according to officials. He allegedly yelled, "Free Palestine," while committing the attack. Officials have since said Soliman was in the U.S. illegally at the time of the attack. The Trump administration said he and his family will now be deported. Pfluger told Fox News Digital, "The antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder that targeted 12 innocent Americans, including a Holocaust survivor, could have been prevented if Mohamed Sabry Soliman hadn’t been allowed to illegally overstay his visa by the Biden administration." The Texas Republican warned of a "pattern" of violence against Jews in the U.S., citing the recent attack as well as the deadly shooting outside a Jewish museum in Washington and the attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home. Their bill text noted there was a Holocaust survivor among those who were hurt in the attack. It also said the attack "comes amidst an alarming rise in antisemitic violence sweeping the United States." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The New York Times [6/4/2025 12:53 AM, Hamed Aleaziz, 138952K] reports President Trump on Wednesday signed a travel ban on 12 countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, reviving an effort from his first term to prevent large numbers of immigrants and visitors from entering the United States. The ban, which goes into effect on Monday, bars travel to the United States by citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Mr. Trump also imposed restrictions, but stopped short of a full ban, on travel from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. People from those countries cannot come to the United States permanently or get tourist or student visas. The decision resurrects a policy from Mr. Trump’s first term, which caused chaos at airports and led to legal challenges. It is the latest move in Mr. Trump’s sweeping crackdown on immigration, after he blocked asylum at the southern border, barred international students from Harvard University and ordered immigration raids across the country. The decision came days after an Egyptian man in Colorado was arrested and charged with carrying out an attack on a group honoring hostages being held in Gaza. Trump administration officials had warned that there would be a crackdown after that attack. FOX News [6/4/2025 8:45 PM, Jasmine Baehr, Brooke Singman, Patrick Ward, 46878K] reports that the new travel restrictions — announced under Executive Order 14161 — apply to nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen, all deemed "very high risk" due to terrorist activity, weak or hostile governments, and high visa overstay rates. Seven more countries, including Venezuela, Cuba and Laos, face partial restrictions. "President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson to Fox News Digital. She called the restrictions "commonsense" and targeted at countries that "lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information.” In a video posted Wednesday night, Trump said, "The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas. We don’t want them.” "In the 21st century, we’ve seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign visa overstayers from dangerous places all over the world," he added. "Thanks to Biden’s open-door policies, today there are millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.” Trump said his first-term travel restrictions were "one of our most successful policies" and "a key part of preventing major foreign terror attacks on American soil.” Afghanistan, for example, has a student visa overstay rate of 29.3% and is controlled by the Taliban, a designated global terrorist group. Iran remains a state sponsor of terrorism and has refused cooperation with U.S. authorities. Libya, Somalia and Yemen all lack functioning governments capable of issuing secure documents. "We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States," Trump said. "That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya and numerous others," he concluded. "We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm, and nothing will stop us from keeping America safe." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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Washington Post [6/5/2025 4:00 AM, Niha Masih, Rick Noack and Amanda Coletta, 32099K] reports President Donald Trump’s latest announced travel ban has spread fear and uncertainty among those directly affected and is expected to trigger chaos and disruption to travel and daily life, especially for communities already facing precarious circumstances. On Wednesday night, Trump declared that, starting Monday, foreign nationals from 12 countries would be restricted from entry to the United States, and imposed partial restrictions on another seven nations. There would be some exemptions, including lawful permanent residents and athletes participating in the World Cup or Olympics. The presidential proclamation would fully restrict the entry of individuals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also partially restricts the entry of travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Many on the list are Muslim-majority nations, including Iran, Somalia and Yemen. Others have adversarial relations with the U.S., such as Venezuela and Cuba. In Sudan, a civil war has raged since 2023, prompting tens of thousands of civilians to flee. The Trump administration cited visa overstays as justification for imposing the ban on multiple countries. But it was not immediately clear why some nations were targeted while others with higher overstay rates were left off the list. In some cases, the overstay rate was high, but the total number of visas issued was relatively small. In announcing the move, Trump referred to the attack Sunday that injured 15 demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, marching for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Federal authorities said the attack was carried out by an immigrant from Egypt who arrived on a visa. Egypt is not on the list of restricted countries. Trump’s first-term travel ban for predominantly Muslim countries in 2017 sparked widespread confusion, anxiety and a wave of protests across the country. Governments of most nations impacted by the ban did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Afghanistan, the ban’s impact is likely to be most severe for people who fled the Taliban-run regime with the promise of relocation to the United States. Afghanistan, the proclamation said, lacked a “competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents” and “appropriate screening and vetting measures” under the Taliban — referred to as “a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group” in the document.

The AP [6/4/2025 9:56 PM, Collin Binkley, 56000K] reports President Donald Trump is moving to block nearly all foreign students from entering the country to attend Harvard University, his latest attempt to choke the Ivy League school from an international pipeline that accounts for a quarter of the student body. In an executive order signed Wednesday, Trump declared that it would jeopardize national security to allow Harvard to continue hosting foreign students on its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “I have determined that the entry of the class of foreign nationals described above is detrimental to the interests of the United States because, in my judgment, Harvard’s conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers,” Trump wrote in the order. It’s a further escalation in the White House’s fight with the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university. A federal court in Boston blocked the Department of Homeland Security from barring international students at Harvard last week. Trump’s order invokes a different legal authority. Trump invoked a broad federal law that gives the president authority to block foreigners whose entry would be “detrimental to the interests of the United States.” On Wednesday, he cited the same authority when announcing that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the U.S. and those from seven others would face restrictions. Trump’s Harvard order cites several other laws, too, including one barring foreigners associated with terrorist organizations. In a statement Wednesday night, Harvard said it will “continue to protect its international students.” “This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights,” university officials said. It stems from Harvard’s refusal to submit to a series of demands made by the federal government. It has escalated recently after the Department of Homeland Security said Harvard refused to provide records related to misconduct by foreign students. Harvard says it has complied with the request, but the government said the school’s response was insufficient. Breitbart [6/5/2025 3:44 AM, Neil Munro, 3077K] reports President Donald Trump used his authority over the nation’s borders Wednesday to deny F-1 education visas to foreigners seeking places at Harvard University. The no-visas policy damages Harvard’s claim to be a center for global elites, and was imposed after Harvard officials filed a lawsuit against Trump’s demand the university show it is complying with Americans’ civil rights laws. The White House’s statement says: The Proclamation suspends the entry into the United States of any new Harvard student as a nonimmigrant under F, M, or J visas. It directs the Secretary of State [Marco Rubio] to consider revoking existing [emphasis addded] F, M, or J visas for current Harvard students who meet the Proclamation’s criteria. The M and F visas are used by more than 400,000 migrants each year to get white-collar work permits via the quasi-legal Curricular Practical Training and the Optional Practical Training programs. Those programs are a springboard for migrants seeking to get white-collar H-1B visas, U.S. careers, and U.S. citizenship. The J visa is often used by migrants who want to displace Americans from jobs at universities’ science laboratories. Roughly one-in-four Harvard students are migrants, reducing ordinary Americans’ access to prestigious educational qualifications. In 2024, roughly 6,800 migrants were given spaces sought by hard-working Americans. CNN [6/5/2025 3:20 AM, Emma Tucker, 875K] reports that a Harvard spokesperson said the university will "will continue to protect its international students.” "This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights," the university spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. In a CNN interview in May, a Harvard junior said the Trump admin. is using international students as ‘poker chips’. The White House said the latest move is an attempt to "safeguard national security," accusing Harvard of having "concerning foreign ties and radicalism." The announcement also cited the university’s alleged failure to "provide sufficient information" about foreign students and "reporting deficient data on only three students.” "Harvard is either not fully reporting its disciplinary records for foreign students or is not seriously policing its foreign students," the White House said. It also accused the Ivy League institution of failing to address antisemitism on campus as well as its persistence in "prioritizing" diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The new proclamation "exempts aliens whose entry is deemed in National Interest" and does not apply to aliens attending other US universities through the SEVP program. The president’s order is scheduled to last six months unless extended, according to the proclamation, which gives the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security 90 days to make a recommendation on whether it should be extended. "Harvard’s conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers," the proclamation reads. FOX News [6/4/2025 9:47 PM, Louis Casiano, 46878K] reports that last month, the State Department said that it would begin scrutinizing all visa holders associated with Harvard University, not just student visa holders. The investigation is aimed at identifying potential security vulnerabilities or other abuses of the visa system. Wednesday’s proclamation cited Harvard’s history "concerning foreign ties and radicalism." "Harvard has failed to provide sufficient information to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about foreign students’ known illegal or dangerous activities, reporting deficient data on only three students," it said. It said Harvard has also developed "extensive entanglements with foreign adversaries," while receiving more than $150 million from China alone. In exchange, Harvard has "hosted Chinese Communist Party paramilitary members and partnered with China-based individuals on research that could advance China’s military modernization." The Trump administration has accused Harvard of failing to stamp out antisemitism on campus, among other issues. The proclamation said Harvard has seen a "drastic rise in crime in recent years while failing to discipline at least some categories of conduct violations on campus."

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NBC News [6/4/2025 7:14 PM, Gary Grumbach and Nnamdi Egwuonwu, 44540K] reports a federal judge ordered the Trump administration Wednesday to provide hundreds of migrants sent to CECOT, a maximum-security terrorism confinement center in El Salvador, with habeas relief, ordering the government to give them opportunities to challenge their detentions and removals under President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The order applies to all noncitizens removed from U.S. custody and transferred to CECOT "on March 15 and 16, 2025, pursuant solely to the Presidential Proclamation entitled ‘Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua.’" It will not apply to migrants such as Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man removed from the country around the same time, but for reasons other than Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. "Defendants plainly deprived these individuals of their right to seek habeas relief before their summary removal from the United States — a right that need not itself be vindicated through a habeas petition," U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of Washington, D.C., wrote in the order. "Perhaps the President lawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act. Perhaps, moreover, Defendants are correct that Plaintiffs are gang members. But — and this is the critical point — there is simply no way to know for sure, as the CECOT Plaintiffs never had any opportunity to challenge the Government’s say-so." Reuters [6/4/2025 8:06 PM, Luc Cohen, 51390K] reports that the judge gave the Trump administration one week to detail how it would facilitate the deportees’ filing of legal challenges. In his ruling, Boasberg wrote that the individuals were deported without adequate notice or the right to contest their removals. "That process - which was improperly withheld - must now be afforded to them," Boasberg wrote. "Absent this relief, the government could snatch anyone off the street, turn him over to a foreign country, and then effectively foreclose any corrective course of action." It was not immediately clear how the migrants would file the legal challenges, known as habeas corpus petitions, from within El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center. The Hill [6/4/2025 6:23 PM, Rebecca Beitsch and Zach Schonfeld, 18649K] reports District Judge James Boasberg did not outline specific steps the administration must take, providing one week to propose how it intends to comply. Boasberg said he realized the ruling "may implicate sensitive diplomatic or national-security concerns" but said the administration "also has a constitutional duty to provide a remedy that will ‘make good the wrong done.’" It’s a complex scenario for the administration to carry out. The Trump administration has argued they have no ability to secure the return of anyone held at CECOT, a notorious Salvadoran prison known by its acronym in Spanish. And Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has said he will not return a mistakenly deported man sent to the facility under regular immigration authorities. That raises the prospect he would decline to do so for Venezuelans being incarcerated in a country that has also been criticized for due process violations in locking up gang members. But the situation spurred an unusual ruling from Boasberg, who turned to literature in determining the men must be given the opportunity for due process.

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ABC News [6/4/2025 5:27 PM, Peter Charalambous and Laura Romero, 31733K]

Politico [6/4/2025 10:40 PM, Kyle Cheney, 2100K] reports the Trump administration has returned a Guatemalan man who was improperly deported to Mexico, obeying a federal judge’s order that he be brought back to the United States to receive due process. The man, identified in court papers only as O.C.G., is bound for an immigration detention facility in Arizona, his attorney Trina Realmuto confirmed, while he awaits further immigration proceedings ordered by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, a Massachusetts-based appointee of President Joe Biden. The administration signaled last week that it was working to arrange O.C.G.’s return. The New York Times first reported that O.C.G. was back in the United States. Although O.C.G. is a Guatemalan national, an immigration judge in February blocked his deportation there over O.C.G.’s fear of persecution in his native country. The Trump administration then abruptly deported him to Mexico. But in a class action lawsuit, O.C.G. said immigration officials never asked whether he had any similar fear of persecution in Mexico, a country where he says he has been raped and targeted for being gay. As a result, O.C.G. accepted an offer from Mexico to be deported to Guatemala, where he says he has been living in hiding ever since. Initially, the Trump administration contested O.C.G.’s account, relying on a sworn statement from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official to insist that O.C.G. was given a chance to express fear of deportation to Mexico and said he had no concerns. But officials later retracted that account, saying it was based on an erroneous note in an ICE database. Murphy quickly ordered the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate O.C.G.’s return to the United States. Though it is reminiscent of similar cases in which judges have ordered the return of wrongly deported immigrants — like Kilmar Abrego Garcia — O.C.G.’s return was less cumbersome to arrange because he was not incarcerated in Guatemala. Department of Homeland Security officials used the development to lob new attacks at Murphy, who they have criticized for issuing a sweeping ruling blocking so-called “third country” deportations to places other than an immigrant’s native country, without a chance to assert fear of torture or persecution. “America’s asylum system was never intended to be used as a de facto amnesty program or a catch-all, get-out-of-deportation-free card,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, calling Mexico a “safe third option” for O.C.G. “Yet, this federal activist judge ordered us to bring him back, so he can have an opportunity to prove why he should be granted asylum to a country that he has had no past connection to. The Trump administration is committed to returning our asylum system to its original intent.”

CNN [6/4/2025 6:33 PM, Priscilla Alvarez, 21433K] reports a Guatemalan national who says he was wrongfully deported to Mexico is back in the United States, his legal team told CNN, in what appears to mark the first time the Trump administration has brought back a migrant after a judge ordered the administration to facilitate their return. O.C.G., a pseudonym the migrant is using in the case, landed in the United States on Wednesday and made contact with a member of the litigation team challenging the Trump administration’s moves to send migrants to countries where they have no ties, according to Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance. The team expects he will be taken into the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, though it’s unclear where he’ll be detained, Realmuto told CNN. The Hill [6/4/2025 6:46 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18649K] reports that the man, known in court documents at O.C.G., made contact with his attorneys after landing in the U.S., Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, confirmed to The Hill. Realmuto said they expect O.C.G. will be detained. Justice Department lawyers told the court last week that they were working to secure a spot for O.C.G. on the return leg of a deportation flight. Lawyers for the man contested his removal as part of a broader case before Massachusetts-based U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy. O.C.G.’s attorneys have said their client is gay and was already protected from being returned to his native Guatemala. But they argued the Trump administration failed to account for his fear of being deported to Mexico, where he was previously raped and extorted. The government previously indicated Trump officials planned to give the man "Significant Public Benefit Parole," a form of humanitarian parole that would allow him to enter the country. The New York Times [6/4/2025 8:14 PM, Alan Feuer and Mattathias Schwartz, 138952K] reports that last week, the Justice Department said it would comply with a federal judge’s order to “facilitate” the return of O.C.G., a gay man who was sent to Mexico this year despite having told American authorities that he had experienced violence there and was afraid to go back. That administration officials obeyed the instructions of the judge, Brian E. Murphy of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts, was a significant departure from the defiant stance that the White House has staked out in other immigration matters. That includes the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man living in Maryland who remains in El Salvador after being deported in March, despite a previous court order forbidding him from being sent there. When Judge Murphy ordered the government last month to bring O.C.G. back to the United States, he criticized officials for having claimed that the man was not afraid of being sent to Mexico, before they admitted that they were “unable to identify” any officials to whom he had supposedly made that statement. Judge Murphy also found that the administration had violated an order he issued in April that barred officials from deporting immigrants to countries not their own without first giving them a “meaningful opportunity” to contest their removal. In a sworn statement filed to Judge Murphy by his lawyers while he was in hiding, O.C.G. said that he was in Guatemala after being sent there from Mexico, living “in constant panic and constant fear.” “I can’t be gay here," he wrote, “which means I cannot be myself.” The case of O.C.G. was a rare victory on the part of immigration lawyers who have been contesting the Trump administration’s effort to aggressively ramp up deportations.

CBS News [6/4/2025 3:56 PM, Melissa Quinn, 51860K] reports that the federal judge overseeing the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia ordered a batch of documents to be unsealed Wednesday in response to a request from a media coalition that includes CBS News. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said seven records must be made available on the public docket for Abrego Garcia’s case, though one of the documents contains redactions. She also said the transcript from an April 30 hearing will be partially unsealed and include redactions that aim to protect potentially classified information or other sensitive material. Xinis’ order was in response to a request to unseal court records made by more than a dozen news organizations, including CBS News. The judge found that the media outlets "rightly contend that, at common law, the public enjoys a presumptive right to access court records, overcome only when outweighed by competing interests." The Justice Department opposed the request to make the records public on two grounds: the filings in question are discovery materials that are typically not available to the press and the public; and keeping the documents sealed is needed to protect national security and prevent sensitive information from being disseminated. As to those arguments, Xinis said "neither withstand scrutiny." [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The Washington Examiner [6/4/2025 6:30 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1934K] reports that in a separate order, Xinis approved a request from Abrego Garcia’s legal team to file a motion for sanctions, which is due June 11 — a move that opens the door for plaintiffs to pursue formal penalties if the administration is found to have acted in bad faith or knowingly defied court orders. The two rulings mark a sharp escalation in a months-long legal fight over whether federal officials have complied with orders to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. following his March deportation to El Salvador — an act the administration has since admitted was an error due to an immigration judge’s limited withholding of removal order in 2019, which meant Abrego Garcia could not be deported to his home country. The media coalition, which includes outlets such as Fox News, NBC, New York Times, and NPR, argued the public has a right to access court records in a case involving potential violations of constitutional protections and international diplomacy. Xinis agreed, writing that the public "enjoys a presumptive right to access court records, overcome only when outweighed by competing interests," and that such access is essential to maintain the "trustworthiness of the judicial process.". Trump officials maintain that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the MS-13 gang, an allegation previously accepted by an immigration judge. While he has never been charged with a crime in either the U.S. or El Salvador, he was pulled over during a traffic stop in Tennessee in 2022 for speeding, where officers at the time suspected his involvement in human trafficking, according to to the Department of Homeland Security. The April 30 transcript has not yet been made available on the court’s docket. The Trump administration is now seeking to dismiss Abrego Garcia’s lawsuit, arguing the government is under no continuing obligation to facilitate his return. Xinis could soon rule on this motion. FOX News [6/4/2025 12:32 PM, Breanne Deppisch, 46878K] reports that the one-two punch from Xinis could give plaintiffs new ammo to pursue more formal punishments against the Trump administration if officials are found to have been acting in bad faith or knowingly defying court orders. It will also give new access to media outlets covering the case. Xinis agreed to grant in part a request from a group of 14 major media outlets and publishers – including Fox News, NBC News, CBS News, New York Times, the Washington Post and NPR – who filed a motion to unseal records in the Abrego Garcia case, citing concerns over the lack of public access, as well as over government efforts, or lack thereof, to facilitate his return to the U.S. In her order, Xinis agreed with the contention of the news outlets – referred to jointly as the "Press Movants" – that the public "enjoys a presumptive right to access court records, overcome only when outweighed by competing interests.

Reported similarly:
AP [6/4/2025 4:28 PM, Ben Finley]

Breitbart [6/4/2025 12:00 PM, Sean Moran, 3077K] reports that Rep. Addison McDowell (R-NC) introduced legislation on Wednesday that would seek to end a Biden-era abuse of the immigration system. “Joe Biden and his administration blew the side door into America wide open—turning immigration parole into a mass-entry pipeline for millions of unvetted foreign nationals,” McDowell said in a written statement to Breitbart News. “My bill ends this Biden-era loophole and cuts the head off the snake for good. No more will a woke president be able to flood our communities, putting the safety of American families and our country at risk.” McDowell’s legislation, the Preventing the Abuse of Immigration Parole Act, aims to shut down the mass parole loophole, which his office said in a release was abused by Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, who granted parole to over 2.8 million aliens, bypassing visa procedures, skipping background checks, and overwhelming American communities. The legislation would specifically: Bar Chinese, Iranian, Russian, North Korean, Cuban, and Syrian nationals from obtaining parole without a waiver from the Secretary of State. Limit the number of parolees at 3,000 individuals per fiscal year starting in 2029. FOX News [6/4/2025 3:37 PM, Cameron Arcand, 46878K] reports that the "Preventing the Abuse of Immigration Parole Act" would cap parole admissions into the U.S. at 3,000 people a year starting in fiscal year 2029. It would also "establish congressional findings" that parole for people trying to enter the country should only be conducted "case-by-case." It would also not allow those from "a country of concern" like Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, and Russia to be given parole unless there is special permission granted by the Department of State. McDowell’s bill was inspired by the congressional U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations & Accountability’s finding that 2.8 million individuals were given parole while former President Joe Biden was in office under the purview of former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [6/4/2025 4:18 PM, James Morley III, 4622K]

NBC News [6/5/2025 5:00 AM, Chloe Atkins, 44540K] reports President Donald Trump’s sweeping bid to deport foreign students who have condemned the war in Gaza has been brought to a standstill by federal judges who have repeatedly ruled against the administration, according to an NBC News review of recent court filings. First, Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student, was arrested and transported hundreds of miles from his home. Then a graduate student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, Rümeysa Öztürk, was grabbed off the street by masked plainclothes federal agents. A third student, Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University postdoctoral scholar and professor, was arrested at his home, while another Columbia student, Mohsen Mahdawi, was detained at his naturalization interview. Since then, though, federal judges have rejected the administration’s arguments about court jurisdiction and the continued detention of three of the four students. Federal judges freed Öztürk, Mahdawi and Suri. And a ruling on Khalil’s possible release is expected soon. In separate legal setbacks for the administration, federal appeals courts upheld lower courts’ orders requiring the government to transfer Öztürk to Vermont for a bail hearing and to release Mahdawi. And late last month, a judge issued an injunction blocking the administration from terminating the legal status of international students at universities across the United States. The judges have been appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents, including Trump. "It has been very heartening to see the courts recognize the legal issues at play here and recognize that what the administration has been doing is unconstitutional," said Esha Bhandari, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents several of the students. "This reinforces just how important it is to have an independent judiciary that can protect individual rights and act as a check when the executive branch overreaches.” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin predicted in a statement to NBC News that the administration would eventually prevail in court. "These rulings delay justice and seek to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers," she said. "We expect a higher court to vindicate us in this. We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side.” The Trump administration’s primary legal argument is that foreign students and scholars can be deported under an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The law allows the secretary of state to remove noncitizens whose presence in the country would have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

CNN [6/4/2025 6:00 AM, Priscilla Alvarez, 21433K] reports the Trump administration is taking hundreds of migrant children already residing in the United States out of their homes and into government custody, at times separating them from their families and making it more difficult for them to be released, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump and his top aides have repeatedly cited the influx of children who arrived at the US southern border under the Biden administration without a parent or guardian as a critique of his predecessor and his handling of border security. Trump officials argue that hundreds of thousands of those children went unaccounted for — and are in potentially dangerous situations. While former Biden officials contend that the surge of kids in 2021 placed tremendous pressure on the federal system, they and several experts in the field refute claims that there are large numbers of children missing from the system. Still, the notion that there are thousands of such children has served as the impetus for a major campaign by the Trump administration to set up a makeshift "war room" to pore over sensitive data and deploy federal authorities to children’s homes nationwide. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has taken around 500 children into government custody following so-called welfare checks since Trump returned to the White House, according to three sources familiar with the matter, either because their situations were deemed unsafe or because of immigration enforcement actions against sponsors, the majority of whom are the kids’ parents or other family members. That number is more than previously known and an unprecedented departure from previous years when such occurrences were rare. Advocates, experts and former Health and Human Services officials point to post-release services and programs already in place to check in on children. They warn the latest actions by the administration stand to hurt, not help, children. Trump officials maintain the steps they’ve taken are for the safety of the children and are necessary ones, casting the Biden administration’s handling of migrant children as scrambled and mishandled. "DHS is leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure they are safe and not being exploited. These welfare checks have resulted in arrests of some sponsors of these unaccompanied minors and as a result the children have been placed in the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody," Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. In a House panel hearing in May, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told lawmakers, "President Trump has made it a priority of every Cabinet secretary and agency to make sure those children are located, that they’re returned to safety. … The refugee program and sponsors were greatly abused in the previous administrations. The department of HHS is bringing some integrity back to the program.".

Reuters [6/4/2025 3:52 PM, Nate Raymond, 51390K] reports a U.S. appeals court appeared likely on Wednesday to conclude that President Donald Trump’s executive order curtailing automatic birthright citizenship is unconstitutional, though it may wait for the Supreme Court to first decide whether to narrow judicial orders that have prevented it from taking effect. During arguments in Seattle, a majority of a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals expressed skepticism about the administration’s claim that the U.S. Constitution does not extend citizenship to nearly all children born in the United States regardless of immigration status. The Republican president signed the order on January 20, his first day back in office. Trump directed federal agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of U.S.-born children who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident, also known as a "green card" holder. The directive is part of his hardline approach toward immigration. The Constitution’s 14th Amendment citizenship clause states that all "persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." Justice Department lawyer Eric McArthur argued that this language was being wrongly interpreted in a way that encourages "birth tourism" by expectant mothers traveling to the United States to give birth and secure citizenship for their children. "It forces our immigration law to be at war with itself, prohibiting illegal immigration with one hand while inducing and rewarding it with the other," McArthur said. "The Constitution does not require those perverse results."

Washington Examiner [6/4/2025 6:46 PM, Jack Birle, 1934K] reports a federal appeals court in Washington state focused its questioning during a hearing on Wednesday about the Trump administration’s attempt to end birthright citizenship on the language of the 14th Amendment and whether it indeed confers citizenship on anyone born on U.S. soil. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit heard arguments on the merits of the January executive order by President Donald Trump that sought to end birthright citizenship for children who do not have at least one U.S. citizen parent. The three judges, one a Trump appointee and the other two Clinton appointees, expressed skepticism at the Trump administration’s arguments. Justice Department lawyer Eric McArthur argued before the court that the Trump administration believes the 14th Amendment’s grant of citizenship to people born or naturalized in the U.S. "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" applies to people who fall under the "political jurisdiction" of the U.S. rather than its "regulatory jurisdiction." Judge Michael Hawkins, a Clinton appointee, questioned what the difference between the forms of jurisdiction was in the Trump administration’s view, to which the Justice Department lawyer responded that while "regulatory jurisdiction" is within "political jurisdiction," the latter form of jurisdiction "goes beyond that." The DOJ lawyer leaned on deliberations by senators at the time of the 14th Amendment’s approval in the 1860s, but McArthur’s argument was met with skepticism by the judges. The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling by the end of the month.

CNN [6/4/2025 6:18 PM, Kaitlan Collins, 21433K] reports a Department of Homeland Security official conceded Wednesday that an undocumented migrant believed to have been framed with threatening to kill President Donald Trump is no longer under investigation. DHS and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had initially highlighted the arrest of Ramon Morales-Reyes in connection with the threat before CNN reported law enforcement believed he was a victim of a setup. The department has not issued a correction or taken down a news release on the case since then, though the DHS official conceded Morales-Reyes is no longer being examined for the purported threat. The judge said she would only be weighing whether Morales-Reyes is a danger to the community or a flight risk during the next hearing, scheduled for June 10. The Hill [6/4/2025 2:51 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 18649K] reports that a Wisconsin inmate is facing charges over allegations he forged threatening letters against President Trump in an effort to frame a potential witness in an upcoming criminal trial and get him deported before he could testify. Demetric Deshawn Scott was charged on Monday with identity theft, bail jumping and felony intimidation of a witness, according to a court filing. Prosecutors say Scott is responsible for several letters sent to U.S. officials that included threats to kill the president and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The letters purported to be from Ramón Morales Reyes, whose name and return address were written in blue ink on each letter. "The letters were all handwritten and, although not exactly the same, all wrote about immigration policy and threatening to kill ICE agents or President Donald Trump. Those letters also appeared to be written by the same person," prosecutors said in the filing. Morales Reyes was arrested by ICE agents, and his arrest was publicized online by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which posted his image as well as one of the letters. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also issued a statement describing him as an "illegal alien" and said he would remain in custody "pending his removal proceedings."

Reported similarly:
USA Today [6/4/2025 1:02 PM, Donovan Slack, Eva Wen, and Ashley Luthern, 75552K]

CNN [6/4/2025 11:53 AM, Holmes Lybrand, 875K] reports that an immigration judge on Wednesday said she needed more time to review the case of an undocumented immigrant who police investigators say was set up and delayed a hearing for a week. The man, Ramon Morales-Reyes, appeared before immigration Judge Carla Espinoza Wednesday morning over video conferencing, calling in from the Wisconsin jail he’s currently being held in. In late May, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Morales-Reyes after receiving a letter purporting to be from him threatening to kill President Donald Trump before self-deporting. Police quickly suspected a setup and, from reviewing jailhouse phone calls, discovered that a man who allegedly assaulted Morales-Reyes in 2023 had orchestrated the letters in order to have the migrant deported, court records allege. That man, Demetric Scott, has now been charged with several new counts including identity theft. Judge Espinoza said she needed more time to review evidence filed by Morales-Reyes over the letter, which was submitted last night by his attorney. "A different individual has now confessed to writing that letter," Morales-Reyes’ attorney, Cain Oulahan, told the judge. Department of Homeland Security attorney Caitlin Corcoran told the judge that

CNBC [6/4/2025 3:02 PM, Dan Mangan, Halle Lukasiewicz, 35761K] reports an undocumented immigrant who prosecutors say was framed by an inmate for writing threatening letters about President Donald Trump was ordered to remain detained by a judge in Chicago. But an attorney for Ramon Morales-Reyes said he was hopeful that the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, resident would be released on bond after another immigration court hearing next week. Demetric Scott, a Wisconsin inmate charged with robbing Morales-Reyes in 2023, confessed to writing the letters about Trump in an effort to get the immigrant deported, prosecutors say. The judge at the hearing will consider whether the 54-year-old Morales-Reyes is a flight risk or a danger to the community, said Cain Oulahan, his lawyer. At Wednesday’s bond hearing for Morales-Reyes in Chicago immigration court in Chicago, DHS attorney Caitlin Corcoran told Judge Carla Espinoza that she needed time to review the DA’s criminal complaint against Scott, which she had only received on Tuesday evening. Corcoran did not argue against Morales-Reyes’ eligibility for bond. DHS has said Morales-Reyes has a criminal record that includes arrests for "felony hit-and-run, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier." But at Wednesday’s hearing, Corcoran said she does not have proof that Morales-Reyes was convicted of the hit and run, which occurred in 1996. The DHS lawyer said the immigrant does have a 1996 conviction for disorderly conduct.

AP [6/4/2025 4:35 PM, Sophia Tareen, 56000K] reports a man falsely accused of threatening President Donald Trump’s life faces deportation even as Wisconsin authorities say the Mexican immigrant was framed and is a victim of a violent 2023 attack. Ramón Morales Reyes was thrust into the national spotlight last week when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused him of writing letters threatening Trump. Agency officials quietly acknowledged Wednesday that Morales Reyes is no longer a suspect in that threat, a day after another man was charged in Wisconsin for forging the letters. But Trump administration social media posts blasting Morales Reyes as a potential presidential assassin remained online. Attorneys for Morales Reyes say he isn’t a danger to the public, and activists believe he’s a scapegoat in an increasing hostile environment for immigrants. Meanwhile, federal authorities say they’re pushing ahead with deportation in part because the 54-year-old doesn’t have legal permission to live in the country.

Federalist [6/4/2025 7:19 AM, M.D. Kittle, 1142K] reports Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan last month entered a not guilty plea to charges of helping an illegal immigrant facing battery allegations evade federal law enforcement authorities. Even if she did sneak previously-deported Mexican national Eduardo Flores-Ruiz out the back door of her Milwaukee courtroom as she is accused of doing, her attorneys claim she "has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution." Not quite, says constitutional law expert Hans von Spakovsky. "That is an absolutely ridiculous claim," the senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation told me on a recent episode on The Benjamin Yount Show in Milwaukee. Dugan’s dream team of lawyers, including former Solicitor General Paul Clement who served under Republican President George W. Bush, argues that the charges should be dismissed. Under absolute immunity, the judge is free to do what she pleases in her courtroom because "judges are empowered to maintain control over their courtrooms specifically and the courthouse generally." According to the criminal complaint, Dugan was "visibly angry" with a "confrontational, angry demeanor," in dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. She demanded the federal law enforcement agents speak with the court’s chief judge, the complaint states. While the agents were preoccupied, Dugan escorted Flores-Ruiz and his legal counsel out of the courtroom through the "jury door," which leads to a non-public area of the courthouse, according to the charges. "According to the affidavit, Judge Dugan’s actions directly resulted in Flores-Ruiz temporarily avoiding federal custody. He was ultimately arrested outside the courthouse, following a brief foot pursuit," the U.S. Department of Justice stated in a press release.

CNN [6/4/2025 5:02 PM, John Fritze, 21433K] reports a group of migrants that the Trump’s administration has been holding on a military base in Djibouti have been unable to contact their attorneys, immigrant rights groups told the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The detainees, who were initially bound for South Sudan, are part of a high-profile emergency appeal pending at the Supreme Court over the administration’s effort to remove migrants to places other than their homeland. Lower courts have required officials to provide those migrants additional notice and an opportunity to claim a fear of being tortured.

USA Today [6/4/2025 4:59 PM, Josh Meyer, 113K] reports in a rare moment of congressional bipartisanship, Republicans and Democrats on June 4 announced a new Cartel Task Force to best weaponize U.S. spies and intelligence analysts against Mexican fentanyl trafficking and human smuggling organizations. The task force will be run through the House Intelligence Committee and led by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas. The task force will hold hearings on how to improve intelligence collection against drug cartels, and conduct site visits for on-the-ground insight into the U.S. fight against fentanyl and migrant smugglings, Crenshaw said. The Cartel Task Force is an “actionable response” to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s 2025 Annual Threat Assessment, said committee chairman Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark.

New York Post [6/4/2025 10:31 AM, Ariel Zilber, 49956K] reports that Walmart has begun laying off employees at some of its Florida stores after a recent Supreme Court ruling allowed the Trump administration to revoke legal protections previously extended to hundreds of thousands of migrants. The company has informed staff in at least two locations that continued employment is contingent on obtaining valid work authorization, individuals familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News. The layoffs stem from the expiration of temporary legal residency status, affecting workers who had previously been permitted to live and work in the US under programs established during the Biden administration. These terminations are tied to compliance with federal I-9 forms, which employers must use to verify both the identity and employment authorization of their workers. While the exact number of terminated employees remains unclear, the move is part of a broader wave of corporate responses to a changing legal landscape. Last month, the Walt Disney Company informed some Florida-based employees who are losing temporary legal status that their jobs would be terminated. Disney confirmed that it placed 45 workers on leave after the legal ruling, citing compliance with federal immigration laws as the reason.

Washington Examiner [6/4/2025 1:05 PM, Emily Hallas, 1934K] reports that White House Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller emphasized facets of President Donald Trump’s "big beautiful bill" that pertain to stifling illegal immigration in an attempt to pressure Republican skeptics into backing the legislation. The House passed the bill last month. However, GOP fiscal hawks in the Senate, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Johnson (R-WI), are threatening to derail the legislation over concerns led by former Trump adviser Elon Musk that it fails to sufficiently slash federal spending levels. In a flurry of social media posts Tuesday evening, Miller pushed back on those concerns. But while Trump and the White House have typically led the branding of the "big beautiful bill" in terms of the steep tax cuts the legislation seeks to enshrine into law, Miller — one of the president’s most trusted senior advisers who has held Trump’s ear for years on immigration — honed in on border provisions within the legislation. A failure to support the bill, Miller implied, marks a failure to support efforts to target illegal immigration, a move that could be politically unpopular for lawmakers like Paul, hailing from deep red states. "The BBB will increase by orders of magnitude the scope, scale and speed of removing illegal and criminal aliens from the United States," Miller, who is viewed by critics as an anti-immigration zealot, said. "For that reason alone, it’s the most essential piece of legislation currently under consideration in the entire Western World, in generations."

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [6/4/2025 11:50 AM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4622K]

Reuters [6/4/2025 2:24 PM, Jonathan Landay, 51390K] reports that the U.S. State Department has moved $250 million to the Department of Homeland Security for voluntary deportations by migrants without legal status, a spokesperson said, an unprecedented repurposing of funds that have been used to aid refugees uprooted by war and natural disasters. The money has been transferred "to provide a free flight home and an exit bonus to encourage and assist illegal aliens to voluntarily depart the United States," the State Department spokesperson told Reuters. Historically, those funds have been used "to provide protection to vulnerable people" overseas and to resettle refugees in the U.S., said Elizabeth Campbell, a former deputy assistant secretary of state. The re-routing of the money comes as President Donald Trump pushes to reshape U.S. government agencies to serve his "America First" agenda. The State Department’s planned reorganization explicitly states that the agency’s refugee bureau now largely will focus on efforts to "return illegal aliens to their country of origin or legal status.". The funds came from Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) overseen by the Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration. Its website says its mission is to "reduce illegal immigration," aid people "fleeing persecution, crisis or violence and seek durable solutions for forcibly displaced people.".

The Hill [6/4/2025 12:00 PM, Sheldon H. Jacobson, 18649K] reports that the Trump administration is acting to keep international students from enrolling at Harvard. In addition, it is targeting all visa holders at the university, with the possibility that many must return to their home countries. So far, a federal judge has blocked the administration’s actions. Keeping international students from enrolling at Harvard, or any university for that matter, is ill-conceived, and inadvertently creates a national security threat that will live on far beyond the current administration. U.S. universities are a national treasure. Any ranking of the top worldwide institutions of higher education is filled with U.S. schools. Places like Harvard, MIT and Stanford consistently rank among the very best in the world. Many of our nation’s public schools, such as the University of Michigan, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, are also internationally recognized. All such schools are magnets for the brightest minds and talent in the world, including domestic students. All students compete for a place in such schools, gaining not only a superb education but the chance to contribute to society and the nation’s economy for many decades in the future. The number of seats available in such schools exceeds domestic student demand, giving international students the opportunity to succeed in ways that their home countries may not provide. In 2023-2024, over 1.2 million international students were enrolled at U.S. universities and colleges, an all-time record, contributing $44 billion to the national economy and the U.S. service trade surplus.

The Hill [6/4/2025 2:00 PM, Nolan Rappaport, 18649K] reports that on March 25, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem terminated the categorical parole programs the Biden administration established for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Three weeks later, a U.S. district court judge issued an order staying the termination of the program. Then, on May 30, the Supreme Court stayed the district court judge’s order pending the outcome of a decision on the merits of the termination. This is just one of many lawsuits that have been filed to prevent President Trump from implementing his policies. People have a right to oppose a president’s policies, but there has to be a limit. After all, he was duly elected by the people — as was his agenda. The ACLU is the most aggressive of the litigants. During Trump’s first term, it filed 434 legal challenges against his administration. According to the ACLU, this succeeded in blocking some of Trump’s most egregious measures, such as his travel ban. When the ACLU learned that Trump was going to run again, it prepared a roadmap for another barrage of lawsuits. Trump had to go all the way to the Supreme Court to prevail in the travel ban fight. The high court held that it was a lawful exercise of his authority to suspend the entry of illegal immigrants into the United States. I expect the same outcome for the challenge to Noem’s termination of this parole program. The program granted "parole for up to two years to 532,000 aliens whose continued presence in the United States the Secretary deems contrary to U.S. interests."

NewsMax [6/4/2025 10:29 AM, Debra J. Saunders, 4622K] reports that the nightmare stories aren’t going away. The latest outrage is the firebombing of a group of activists who were participating in a peace march in Boulder, Colorado, Sunday to bring attention to the 58 hostages still remaining in Gaza. "We have to end Zionists," said the illegal immigrant who has been charged in the attack that injured eight innocent protesters, including a Holocaust survivor. Two victims remain in the hospital, Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn told reporters Monday. This horrible story has two elements that keep popping up in the worst ways. First, there is the sorry specter of antisemitism, which has gained some momentum on left-wing college campuses, where activists chant "From the River to the Sea" and "Free, free Palestine." Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, who was charged with a federal hate crime offense Monday, allegedly repeated the "Free Palestine" mantra during the Sunday attack. "This will end when Palestine is free and for us," he also said. A car registered to Soliman included paperwork with the words, "Israel," "Palestine" and "USAID," according to the federal criminal complaint. When detaining Soliman, local law enforcement found 16 unlit Molotov cocktails. Thank you, Boulder police. Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian citizen, originally entered the country through Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 27, 2022, Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement sources told Fox News. He unsuccessfully tried to claim asylum that year.

San Diego Union Tribune [6/4/2025 9:00 AM, Andrew Nietor, 1611K] reports on Friday evening, ICE agents stormed Buona Forchetta in South Park, one of San Diego’s most beloved neighborhood restaurants. Without warning, heavily armed agents handcuffed employees, pushed the manager against a wall, used flash-bang grenades on members of the community, and turned a peaceful dining establishment into a scene of fear, confusion and trauma. Three workers were taken into custody, the restaurant was forced to shut down for the night, and neighbors were left stunned. What happened in South Park — and is happening in communities around the country — was not law enforcement; it was intimidation. And it doesn’t make San Diego safer — it does the exact opposite. These raids in the community do not target terrorists or violent criminals. They target workers. Neighbors. Family members. People trying to earn a living and contribute to a city they call home. ICE’s conduct at Buona Forchetta was not about public safety — it was a show of force meant to sow fear among immigrants and the people who care about them, and to send a message to everyone who disagrees with the policies of an administration that will accept no dissent. Let’s be clear: The use of handcuffs, riot-style tactics and smoke grenades near a family-friendly restaurant during dinner hour has no place in a city like ours. It was traumatizing for the workers, shocking for the owners, and deeply disturbing to the many customers and neighbors who witnessed it. This was not law enforcement — it was spectacle. It was not an operation in public safety — it was an exercise in intimidation. Employees went home in fear. Families are left wondering where their loved ones are. Businesses are wondering if they’re next. Our community feels targeted and violated.

NBC News [6/4/2025 7:07 PM, Julia Ainsley, Laura Strickler, and Didi Martinez, 44540K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement made the most immigrant arrests in a single day in its history Tuesday, detaining more than 2,200 people, according to a source familiar with the arrests and an ICE spokesperson who confirmed the numbers, as the agency responds to pressure from the White House to rapidly and dramatically increase arrests. Hundreds of the people who were arrested had been enrolled in ICE’s Alternative to Detention (ATD) program, three sources familiar with the arrests said. Under the program, ICE releases undocumented immigrants who are deemed not to be threats to public safety and then keeps track of them through ankle monitors, smartphone apps or other geolocating programs, along with periodic check-ins at ICE facilities. At least some of the arrests appear to be the result of a new ICE tactic: Immigration attorneys across the country told NBC News that some of their clients on ATD were asked in a mass text message ICE sent out to show up ahead of schedule for check-ins at ICE offices, only to be arrested when they arrived. About the arrests of immigrants with ankle monitors who were reporting for appointments, the ICE spokesperson said, "Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order." Asked for clarification, as multiple lawyers who have spoken with NBC News said their clients did not have final orders of removal, the spokesperson did not immediately respond. The White House deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, threatened in a meeting with ICE leadership last month to fire senior officials if the agency does not start making 3,000 arrests per day, according to two sources who spoke to attendees. President Donald Trump has promised to deport "millions," while his border "czar," Tom Homan, has said the administration will focus on deporting the "worst of the worst." But former ICE officials say it will not be possible for ICE to hit the numbers Trump that has talked about and that it is under increasing demands to reach quickly while it focuses only on people with criminal histories.

Reported similarly:
Telemundo [6/4/2025 11:03 PM, Julia Ainsley, Laura Strickler and Didi Martinez, 3352K]

Politico [6/4/2025 5:55 AM, Myah Ward and Hailey Fuchs, 2100K] reports Republicans in Congress are anxious that the Trump administration is spending beyond its means to meet the president’s ambitious deportation goals. The White House is moving ahead anyway. The showdown over one of President Donald Trump’s signature priorities is the latest fight between the two branches over who has the power of the purse. It comes as the administration is pressuring lawmakers to pass a megabill that would add billions in funding for border security — with appropriators quietly urging Trump officials to slow down and not act based on the hype of potential legislation of which passage is not guaranteed. And even as lawmakers publicly and privately plead for the administration to stick within its budget, top White House officials, including senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, have instead intensified efforts to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. “You think that Stephen Miller is going to accept, ‘sorry Stephen, I’m just waiting on my annual appropriation, I’ll get back to you?’” said an administration official, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. “That’s not a response you give him.” Trump’s top aides are pressing ICE for higher arrest numbers, with Miller calling for at least 3,000 apprehensions a day — double what the agency was tasked with during Trump’s first month in office. Acting ICE director Todd Lyons said the agency is currently averaging 1,600. Concerns on Capitol Hill spilled into the open during a hearing last month. Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) chair of the House appropriations subcommittee overseeing resources to the Department of Homeland Security, said his office lacked the information it needed to ensure the agency was spending funds approved by Congress. The administration, he said, could be risking a violation of the Antideficiency Act, which bars federal agencies from using resources before Congress has greenlit the spending. “I would appreciate it if you, for your part, would let folks know up your chain of command that this information, if it’s not coming in real time, is not useful,” Amodei told Lyons, who was on hand to testify. “[We] have to keep in mind things like the Antideficiency Act … and I’ll just be honest with you, speaking for me, I don’t know that I have the information that I need to make sure that we’re doing our job in the context of that.”

Bloomberg [6/4/2025 7:00 AM, Rachel Adams-Heard and Fola Akinnibi, 19320K] reports the Trump administration is seeking to issue a contract worth up to $25 million to DNA-test families being targeted for deportation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The effort coincides with a dramatic increase in immigration arrests in the nation’s interior, with ICE apprehending people at court hearings as well as high school students and families with children who are US citizens — groups ICE has not historically pursued. On Wednesday, CNN reported that ICE has taken roughly 500 children from their homes and into government custody through so-called welfare checks since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. In mid-May, the agency issued a contract to SNA International LLC, which was founded in the wake of 9/11 to identify remains in mass fatality events. On May 23, Bode Cellmark Forensics Inc. filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office challenging the award, which wasn’t open to other bidders. ICE issued a stop-work order on May 27 in response to the protest, according to an emailed statement from the agency. Advocates say giving ICE’s Enforcement and Removals office, which oversees deportations, the ability to DNA-test families would pave the way for the administration to separate children from the adults who care for them. Last week, Senator Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem outlining what he called “grave concerns” over recent incidents in which children were separated from their primary caregivers.

New York Post [6/4/2025 4:43 PM, Jennie Taer, 49956K] reports immigration agents have dramatically ramped up arrests, cuffing 2,200 illegal migrants on Tuesday alone — just days after the Trump administration demanded that they step up deportation raids, sources told The Post. The new arrest numbers mark a 37% jump from the 1,600 daily arrests last week, sources said. And Immigration and Customs Enforcement sources say the pressure is on as they work around the clock with "no days off," while they’re being instructed to take to the streets and "not be at the office." Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly expressed their frustrations with the current level of arrests to ICE leadership at a May 21 meeting, when they pushed ICE to make a "minimum" of 3,000 arrests per day, according to Axios. In the first 100 days of the effort, ICE arrested 66,463 illegal migrants and deported 65,682 individuals, according to the agency.

Univision [6/4/2025 10:26 AM, Patricia Clarembaux, 4992K] reports since February 2025, Donald Trump’s administration has been adding more deportations and arrests to its outpost every month: it went from 11,500 people removed in January to 19,558 through the end of May 2025, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data. But that’s not the only number that could grow. With his policies, he will also cause the undocumented population to grow by leaving at least 600,000 people who have lived legally in the United States for at least two years without status. With executive orders, in court or even in the Supreme Court. The government and its lawyers argue - without having convinced all the judges - about the alleged harm caused to the US by immigration benefits such as the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans and Haitians, or the humanitarian parole CHNV, which protects for two years - from their arrival in the US - citizens from those countries but also from Cuba and Nicaragua. Almost all of them are nations convulsed by the political, economic and social crises created by their governments. ICE revealed that so far in fiscal year 2025 (October through May), 169,956 deportations have taken place. Not all of them correspond to Donald Trump’s administration, but in the midst of the fear campaign generated by the government, some spokespersons are rounding the figure up, such as border czar Tom Homan, who spoke last week of close to 200,000 deportations. Univision Noticias asked ICE for different blocks of month-by-month figures on operational apprehensions and deportations since Trump took office for his second presidency. It did not get a response on the data. Homeland Security Undersecretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a mailer only that the operations fulfill “the mandate of President Trump and the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal immigrants and make America safe.”

Daily Wire [6/4/2025 7:06 AM, Virginia Kruta, 3816K] reports that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has vowed to identify every single Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who engages in raids while wearing a face mask — even though, according to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, they’re wearing the masks to protect their families. After weeks of facing death threats and having their photos and personal information published on the internet, Lyons confirmed that ICE agents have resorted to wearing face masks in order to avoid added risks. "People are out there taking photos of the names, their faces, and posting them online with death threats to their family and themselves," Lyons explained. Jeffries seemed unconcerned with the real reason that ICE agents had opted to cover their faces, and instead claimed that their efforts to enforce federal immigration law were "engaged in… aggressive overreach" and suggested the masks were simply an effort to avoid being held accountable for that. "This is America. This is not the Soviet Union. We’re not behind the Iron Curtain. This is not the 1930s. And every single one of them, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, will, of course, be… pic.twitter.com/fPN1hQesK9. "Every single ICE agent who’s engaged in this aggressive overreach and are trying to hide their identities from the American people will be unsuccessful in doing that," Jeffries said.

New York Post [6/4/2025 3:12 PM, Ryan King, 49956K] reports Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn rolled out legislation Wednesday to make the doxxing of law enforcement officials illegal after multiple Democrats — including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — have pushed to identify Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carrying out the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. Under the Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act, those who release the name of an officer "with the intent to obstruct a criminal investigation or immigration enforcement operation" could face up to five years behind bars and a fine. Her new bill is a direct response to Democratic Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell after it emerged that his office had been keeping track of engagement between ICE authorities and local officials. O’Connell has framed the effort as a transparency push.

Washington Examiner [6/4/2025 11:20 AM, Jenny Goldsberry, 1934K] reports that Border czar Tom Homan predicted that increasing opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will lead to someone being killed. ICE continues to fight allegations from Democratic lawmakers and false reports about its operations. This week, an anonymous immigrant’s arrest was filmed by a bystander who called the ICE agents "f***ing losers" and told them to "put a bullet in your head." "It is disgusting. A lot of our congressional representatives who are vilifying ICE on the border every day are driving this hate. I’m telling you it’s only a matter of time before there is an incident where an ICE agent is going to have to take a life or an ICE agent is going to lose a life," Homan said Tuesday on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle. The Department of Homeland Security shared the video mentioned above on its X account, condemning the "inexcusable" behavior. According to the agency, "our ICE officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults while carrying out arrests." "I worked for six presidents. No one even comes close to the success of President Trump. I’m proud every day to wake up and work for this man because we’re making a difference. We’re making this country safe again one illegal alien at a time," Homan said. "You can hate it all you want, we are going to do it. You are not going to stop us. We’re going to continue doing exactly what we are doing. Take all the pictures you want. Scream all you want. Doesn’t matter. We are going to do the job."

Blaze [6/4/2025 11:43 AM, Julio Rosas, 1805K] reports that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) made clear he believes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, along with all other federal immigration officers participating in raids, need to be "identified" — even as those same agents are facing doxxing and death threats. The tension is starting to reach a boiling point as recent ICE operations undertaken across the country have involved members of the public getting confrontational with the agents, who have had to use pepper spray and flash-bangs to disperse the agitated crowds. To protect their identities, agents often wear face coverings during operations, furthering angering Democrats. "Every single ICE agent who is engaged in this aggressive overreach, and are trying to hide their identities from the American people, will be unsuccessful in doing that. This is America. This is not the Soviet Union. We’re not behind the Iron Curtain. This is not the 1930s. And every single one of them, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, will, of course, be identified," Jeffries said during a press conference. On Monday, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons spoke about the growing threats federal law enforcement officers are facing for operations aimed at removing illegal aliens, often with lengthy criminal records, from the United States. "People are out there taking photos of the names, their faces, and posting them online with death threats to their family and themselves. So I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, and their family on the line, because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is," Lyons explained.

FOX News [6/4/2025 8:07 AM, Andrew Mark Miller, 46878K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had issued a detainer in Massachusetts for a criminal illegal immigrant charged with raping a child with force in a crime that was captured on video. Lorenzo Lopez Alcario, a 30-year-old Guatemalan national accused of tying up and brutally sexually assaulting a young girl in a video that was ultimately found by the girl’s mother, had the ICE detainer placed on him this week, according to a press release from DHS. The press release states that Alcario first entered the United States illegally on an unknown date before being arrested in 2017 in Arlington, Virginia, for drug possession. Later that year, in September, Alcario was ordered by a judge to be removed by the United States and was deported by aircraft on Sept. 28, 2017. However, according to DHS, Alcario re-entered the United States in June 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration despite his criminal history and previous deportation. In a statement, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin made the case that Alcario should never have been allowed back into the United States and that the ICE detainer is aimed at ensuring Alcario does not victimize anyone else in the future. "Lorenzo Lopez Alcario is a pedophile illegal alien from Guatemala who should’ve never been in the U.S. in the first place," McLaughlin said. "Despite his previous criminal charges and deportation, President Biden released this barbaric criminal into American communities in 2022. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE lodged a detainer to ensure this criminal illegal alien will not be allowed to terrorize American citizens and will deport this child predator to prevent further victims." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [6/4/2025 3:51 PM, John Binder, 3077K]

DailySignal [6/4/2025 1:11 PM, Virginia Allen, 558K] reports that U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah Foley has fired back at Boston Mayor Michelle Wu after Wu called federal agents making immigration arrests "secret police." Recently, "Wu made reckless statements and inflammatory statements regarding enforcement efforts made by federal immigration authorities across the commonwealth," Foley said. In an interview at the WBUR Festival in Boston at the end of May, Wu said people in Massachusetts "are terrified for their lives and for their neighbors." WBUR-FM is a public radio station operated by Boston University. The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now. "Folks [are] getting snatched off the street by secret police who are wearing masks, who can offer no justification for why certain people are being taken and then detained," Wu said. Calling federal agents "secret police" is not only "offensive," according to Foley, but also incorrect. "There are no secret police. [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents, along with other federal law enforcement partners, are making immigration arrests. That is no secret," the U.S. attorney said. Foley, initially appointed by then-acting Attorney General James McHenry on Jan. 20, also pointed out that agents wear marked jackets and vests when they make arrests and are "masking the faces because people like Mayor Wu have created false narratives about their mission.". The Massachusetts U.S. attorney says federal agents are hiding their faces because the agents and their families have received threats.

AP [6/4/2025 7:12 PM, Holly Ramer, 56000K] reports the family of an 18-year-old Massachusetts high school student arrested on his way to volleyball practice pleaded with immigration officials to release him Wednesday. “I love my son. We need Marcelo back home. It’s no family without him,” João Paulo Gomes Pereira said in a video released by his son’s attorney. “We love America. Please, bring my son back.” Marcelo Gomes da Silva, who came to the U.S. from Brazil at age 7, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Saturday. Authorities have said the agents were looking for the teenager’s father, who owns the car Gomes da Silva was driving at the time and had parked in a friend’s driveway. “Like any local law enforcement officer, if you encounter someone that has a warrant or … he’s here illegally, we will take action on it,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told reporters Monday. Gomes da Silva initially entered the country on a visitor visa and was later issued a student visa that has since lapsed, said his attorney, Robin Nice. She described him as deeply rooted in his community and a dedicated member of both the Milford High School marching band and a band at his church. A federal judge considering Gomes da Silva’s request to be released while the immigration case proceeds has given the government until June 16 to respond and has ordered that Gomes da Silva not be moved out of Massachusetts without 48 hours’ notice given to the court. The government sought permission Wednesday to move Gomes da Silva to a detention facility in a different New England state, Nice said, a move his lawyers oppose because they fear it would delay an immigration hearing scheduled for Thursday. A judge quickly denied the request. The assistant U.S. attorney representing the government did not respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday. U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said earlier this week that ICE officers were targeting a “known public safety threat” and that Gomes da Silva’s father “has a habit of reckless driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour through residential areas.” “While ICE officers never intended to apprehend Gomes da Silva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest,” she said in a statement. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo News [6/4/2025 11:27 AM, Rhian Lubin, 59943K] reports the Department of Homeland Security has hit back at claims that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has a “white supremacist” tattoo after footage circulated online during an arrest operation in Martha’s Vineyard. An ICE officer was spotted on the Massachusetts island last week with what appeared to be a Valknot tattoo, a Nordic symbol of the god Odin. Charlie Giordano confronted the ICE agents and posted the footage on Instagram, the Martha’s Vineyard Times first reported. “When reviewing the images I made of ‘ICE Agents’ on Martha’s Vineyard yesterday, I noticed several had the ‘Valknot’ tattooed on their arms,” Giordano posted on Instagram. “It’s a symbol often used by white supremacy groups.” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin characterized the claim as a “smear” in a post on X Tuesday and said the officer was “a combat veteran.” “His tattoo is a tribute to fallen warriors —a pretty common tattoo in the military among combat veterans who embrace the Nordic Viking warrior culture,” McLaughlin said. “Attempting to smear this ICE officer and pretend his tattoo is meant to be a tribute to White Supremacy is false, pathetic, and insulting to veterans.” The symbol has been appropriated by white supremacists, the Anti-Defamation League says on its website. “Some white supremacists, particularly racist Odinists, have appropriated the Valknot to use as a racist symbol.” However, the organization also noted that “non-racist pagans may also use this symbol,” so it should be “carefully examine[d] it in context rather than assume that a particular use of the symbol is racist.”

NBC News [6/4/2025 10:19 AM, Minyvonne Burke, 44540K] reports that New York City said it is standing behind a Bronx high school student from Venezuela who was detained last month by immigration agents after attending a routine court hearing. The city filed an amicus brief on behalf of Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 20-year-old student at Ellis Preparatory Academy, arguing that he is being detained without cause and in violation of his right to due process. "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," Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. "But instead of being rewarded for following the law, he was punished for doing what we all asked him to do," the mayor added. "Biden ignored the law and chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including violent criminals, into the country with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been," DHS said. "If individuals have a valid, credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation," the DHS added. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the city’s amicus brief. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Hill [6/4/2025 9:30 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 18649K] reports that Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka (D) on Tuesday called his arrest last month "egregious" and "authoritarian," as he made the case that interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba acted politically in bringing the misdemeanor charge. In an interview on MSNBC’s "The Beat with Ari Melber," Baraka backed up his claim that the arrest was political by noting Habba, President Trump’s former personal attorney, "started tweeting immediately as soon as I was arrested," and by pointing to past statements she made about turning New Jersey "red." "I mean, all of that is not the purview of the law enforcement agencies of the state, the federal government, or the city, for that matter," Baraka told Melber about Habba’s past comments. "We work together collectively to reduce violence and crime in our city. We don’t campaign," he continued. "When we ask the U.S. Attorney’s Office to help us or the DOJ [Department of Justice], we don’t ask them who they voted for for president. What we do is present evidence and information and try to organize with them to help us make our lives better in our city." "I think what they’ve done is egregious and it’s authoritarian. And it needs to be pushed back against," Baraka added. The interview was the mayor’s first since filing a lawsuit earlier Tuesday against Habba in her personal capacity over his arrest last month outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility he was visiting with three Democratic members of Congress.

Daily Caller [6/4/2025 12:55 PM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a suspected Al-Qaida member residing in a city notorious for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Authorities apprehended a Tajikistan-born Russian national in the early morning hours of May 23 in Philadelphia, according to ICE. The individual — who the agency has not yet identified — illegally crossed into the U.S. in 2023 and was eventually released into the country by the Biden administration before his alleged connections to terrorism were known. “Arresting individuals linked to terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaida reaffirms our unwavering commitment to safeguard the homeland,” Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia acting Field Office Director Brian McShane said in a prepared statement. “Through close collaboration with our outstanding partners at the FBI, we have taken decisive action to make our communities safer and prevent potential threats to the American people,” McShane continued. Immigration officials first encountered the 39-year-old Russian national in March 2023 at a port of entry along the California-Mexico border and charged him as an inadmissible alien because he didn’t have an immigrant visa, according to ICE. He was subsequently served with a notice to appear before an immigration judge and paroled into the country.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [6/5/2025 3:57 AM, Paul Bois, 3077K]

Breitbart [6/4/2025 11:09 AM, Bob Price, 3077K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the results of a raid on a Charleston, South Carolina, raid that led to the arrest of 72 illegal aliens. Officials report the nightclub is operated by a suspected member of Los Zetas cartel The cartel is designated by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations special agents received information regarding a nightclub in Charleston called "The Alamo." A suspected member of the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas allegedly used the club for human and drug trafficking. Information also indicated the presence of weapons in the nightclub. In a post on social media, DHS officials said, "We’re bringing ICE to the party." During the raid by HSI over the weekend, agents arrested 72 illegal aliens and took six juveniles into custody, according to a DHS statement. "Day in and day out, the brave men and women of ICE are working with local law enforcement to keep American communities safe. The successful operation that took place in the Charleston area resulted in more than 70 arrests of illegal aliens—including an international murder suspect and the dismantling of a nightclub run by a suspected cartel member where drug, weapon, and human trafficking were taking place," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, fugitives and law breakers are on notice: Leave now or ICE will find you and deport you." NewsNation [6/4/2025 2:00 PM, Crystal Bonvillian, 5801K] reports that the 3 a.m. operation, dubbed "Operation Last Stand," took place Sunday at the Alamo, which is described as an underground, illegally run nightclub in Summerville. Summerville is located about 25 miles outside of Charleston. ABC News 4 reported that around 200 federal, state and local agents descended on the club and arrested 80 people, the vast majority of them in the U.S. illegally. Authorities also recovered drugs, guns and cash from the premises. A Department of Homeland Security news release said that six juveniles were taken into custody, but authorities amended that number to 10 at a news conference Monday. Some of the teens taken into custody are believed to be victims of human trafficking. The youngest of the teens is 13, and one had previously been reported missing. State social services are providing care where needed. The Post and Courier reported that the investigation into the Alamo began in November, following noise complaints, and progressed from there. DHS officials said that the raid itself was based on a tip that the nightclub was being used for trafficking, as well as for stashing weapons and drugs.

Politico [6/4/2025 10:00 AM, Liz Crampton, 2100K] reports an unsteady truce between Nashville’s Democratic mayor and Tennessee’s Republican leaders just collapsed after an ICE dragnet in the city. Tension began to build in early May, when ICE started making traffic stops in partnership with the state highway patrol in the immigrant-heavy neighborhood of South Nashville, leading to the arrests of nearly 200 suspected undocumented immigrants. Mayor Freddie O’Connell quickly condemned the action as damaging to the community. And a GOP firestorm resulted, with Republicans accusing O’Connell of interfering with federal immigration enforcement. Four weeks later, a simple public policy spat has turned into a major conflict between some of the most powerful leaders in Tennessee, breaking a fragile peace between the city and the GOP supermajority legislature – and exposing Nashville to the wrath of the Trump administration. The feud, which shows no signs of ending soon, comes with real potential consequences for Nashville and other blue cities in red states being targeted over their immigration policies. “It’s unfortunate that he’s willing to support the law breakers instead of supporting us as the lawmakers,” state Rep. Rusty Grills, a Republican, said of the mayor. U.S. border czar Tom Homan has warned that Nashville could see larger immigration crackdowns as a result of O’Connell’s opposition. “We’ll flood the zone in the neighborhoods to find the bad guy,” Homan said on Fox News last week. “We’ll flood the zone at work sites to find the bad guy, but we’re going to do it, and [O’Connell’s] not going to stop us.”

Breitbart [6/4/2025 5:02 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 3077K] reports the U.S. Department of Homeland Security jumped to its X account last week to accuse Nashville’s Democrat mayor of “protecting illegal aliens and gang members over his constituents.” The accusation comes as Nashville’s radical Democrat Mayor Freddie O’Connell ramps up his efforts to hamstring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other immigration enforcement actions around the city by urging city employees to refuse to cooperate with ICE, working with left-wing migrant activist groups to set up warning networks, and creating policies that give aid to illegal aliens. “The Nashville Mayor is protecting illegal aliens and gang members over his constituents,” DHS wrote on May 29. “At a time when our ICE officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults, Mayor O’Connell is doxxing the names of law enforcement agents removing criminal illegal aliens from his city,” the department added. The message accompanied Newmax video of DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin pointing out some of O’Connell’s recent acts interfering with federal law enforcement. “It certainly looks like Mayor O’Connell was involved in some sort of obstruction or the harboring of criminal illegal aliens in the great city of Nashville. But also just last night, his office put out the names of Homeland Security investigators and doxxed our ICE enforcement officers,” McLaughlin told Newsmax. “They claimed it was a mistake. There’s zero chance that it was a mistake and there will be repercussions.” “Our ICE enforcement officers are already facing a 400 percent increase in assaults against them, and [O’Connell] is essentially handing over intelligence to these criminal gangs so they can target our ICE enforcement officers,” she added. “It’s wrong and it’s beneath the city of Nashville. And I hope he will face consequences.” Consequences may, indeed, be coming for O’Connell. On Monday, the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees opened investigations into the mayor’s possible acts of obstruction to see if he violated federal immigration laws by aiding and abetting criminals to escape law enforcement.

USA Today [6/4/2025 4:06 PM, Ana Goñi-Lessan, Valentina Palm, 75552K] reports family members and friends of the more than 100 construction workers detained in what was deemed Florida’s largest immigration raid this year say they are having trouble locating their loved ones. Some of the laborers were sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Baker County, while some went to Miami’s Krome Detention Center. Others were quickly flown to El Paso, Texas, and were still there awaiting removal as of June 3. And some are already in Mexico, just five days after being detained and bused away from their job site in Tallahassee, the state’s capital. But others are still silent, and their friends and family are worried and waiting for a call to know where they are – and if they’re safe. Questions about where the detainees were headed and in which detention facilities they would be held have been pending with federal authorities since May 29. Questions about how often detainees are transferred are also pending.

Telemundo51.com [6/4/2025 4:13 PM, Alejandro Isturiz, 177K] reports the four children of a Guatemalan immigrant couple are protesting outside ICE offices in Florida to demand a halt to their parents’ deportation. Although her parents were born in Guatemala, they have lived in the U.S. for 22 years and have been confirmed eligible for a U visa, which protects them from deportation. Until May 30, the Juárez family’s life was one way, but it changed radically when ICE arrested the father. Now, the same could happen to his wife, who went to an immigration appointment on June 4.

Washington Post [6/5/2025 3:05 AM, Kim Bellware and Anumita Kaur, 32099K] reports several people summoned to an office in the South Loop neighborhood for what they thought were routine immigration check-ins were instead taken into custody Wednesday by what appeared to be U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to witnesses and an immigration advocate, who warned that the Trump administration’s enforcement tactics are growing increasingly lawless. About a dozen people were detained Wednesday, according to Antonio Gutierrez, co-founder of Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD). Gutierrez and two friends of the detained individuals told Washington Post that they believed those taken into custody are all enrolled in ICE’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), an alternative to detention that allows people to be released into their communities while their immigration court hearings proceed. Waquas Mehmood, 38, of suburban Skokie, Illinois, and Carlos Pineda, 27, of Gurnee, Illinois, who regularly accompany their friends to these appointments, said the individuals received text messages Monday telling them to come to a government subcontractor’s office on Tuesday or Wednesday for a check-in. Such appointments tend to last about 75 minutes. On Wednesday, people went to their appointments and soon stopped answering their phones, according to Gutierrez, Mehmood and Pineda. The three said the people they had accompanied did not reappear until they were marched into a van outside the premises of BI Incorporated, a government contractor that administers the ISAP program. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CBS News [6/4/2025 11:31 PM, Charlie De Mar, 51860K] reports it was a chaotic scene in Chicago’s South Loop on Wednesday, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other officers took several people into custody. Community activists and city leaders clashed with the federal immigration agents at the scene. Agents spent several hours, starting around noon, at the BI Incorporated building at 2245 S. Michigan Ave. The company operates the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program for immigrants, a program that allows ICE to monitor migrants facing immigration proceedings without placing them in custody — sometimes through electronic monitoring. Migrants are called to the facility on a regular basis to ensure they are complying with the condition of their release from custody, and to make sure they appear in court when required. CBS News Chicago spoke to a number of people impacted by the detentions, and was provided screen shots of messages sent to immigrants asking them to come to the office for a routine appointment about their immigration status. Instead, they left in handcuffs in ICE custody. "People under this program has also received a similar text message, either yesterday or Monday, being told to come in and check in for an unexpected or unscheduled check-in," said Antonio Gutierrez, strategic coordinator and co-founder of Organized Communities Against Deportations. The heavily masked federal immigration enforcement agents showed up unannounced. CBS News Chicago’s cameras were there as agents detained several people. Some ICE agents carried non-lethal ammunition commonly used to disperse crowds. Witnesses said at least 10 people were loaded into vans. It was unclear why they were detained. A handful of Chicago alderpersons joined dozens of community activists and immigrant rights activists who were outraged by what they saw throughout the afternoon. "We don’t know who is arresting our brothers and sisters, because they are hiding behind masks," said Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22nd). "When they go inside, automatically they arrested them," one man said at the scene. The man said he dropped off friends who are Guatemalan asylum seekers at the office Thursday morning, and they were detained. He said they all received a message from ICE instructing them to come in for a review of their case. "We don’t know where they are," the man said. "We don’t know what happened when them.” Community members showed up in force Wednesday afternoon, yelling at ICE agents and trying to seek clarity on why people were being detained. "What we saw today is Gestapo-style abductions happening in front of all of us," said Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th). "People are not meant to be trapped," added Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th). "They need to live lives of dignity.”

Blaze [6/4/2025 2:01 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1805K] reports that assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have skyrocketed 413% since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, a Department of Homeland Security official told Blaze News. The anti-ICE and "abolish the police" movement among leftist groups continues to grow exponentially as the new administration ramps up on-the-ground efforts to detain illegal immigrants, particularly from sanctuary jurisdictions. A clash in Minnesota on Tuesday reflected this disturbing nationwide trend. The left’s anti-ICE sentiment boiled over when Minneapolis locals assumed that federal agents were there for an immigration enforcement raid, ultimately leading to violence. The operation centered around a Mexican restaurant near Bloomington Avenue and Lake Street. As federal authorities arrived at the location, an angry mob of protesters gathered to thwart their enforcement efforts. The tense encounter quickly devolved into mayhem that took over several blocks. Protesters also appeared to tag law enforcement vehicles with various messages. One vehicle read, "Don’t come back," and another, "Bitch Nazi.". Amid the melee, Shirley noted that Tuesday’s violent clash between officers and protesters occurred in the same Minneapolis area where mobs rioted in 2020 over George Floyd’s death. Mayor Jacob Frey (D) claimed the operation was not related to immigration enforcement. "While we are still gathering details, this incident was related to a criminal search warrant for drugs and money laundering and was not related to immigration enforcement. No arrests were made," Frey stated. "The Minneapolis Police Department’s only role was helping with crowd control and keeping the community safe as a large number of residents and bystanders had gathered at the scene." ICE also released a statement about the operation, confirming that its agents were a part of the effort.

Axios [6/4/2025 5:13 PM, Kyle Stokes, 13599K] reports some Minneapolis and Hennepin County elected leaders are questioning why local law enforcement officers were on the scene of a federally led raid Tuesday that involved agents from Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). The incident highlights a challenge facing city and county officials who have vowed not to assist federal law enforcement with the immigration crackdown President Trump has promised, but who also work with federal agencies to investigate other types of crime. The raid rattled a South Minneapolis neighborhood that has long been a hub for immigrants, and where Trump’s rhetoric has already put many residents on edge. On Tuesday, a federal task force — including some agents wearing ICE badges, though other agencies including the FBI were on-scene — raided a taqueria on East Lake Street on what the Minneapolis Police Department said was a warrant "for drugs and money laundering." The search "was not related to any immigration enforcement," read a statement from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, which had "partnered" with the federal agencies on the "criminal investigation." The raid was one of eight related search warrants the task force executed across Minnesota, the Star Tribune reported.

FOX News [6/4/2025 8:29 AM, Michael Dorgan, 46878K] reports a federal judge in Oregon on Tuesday issued an order barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from removing a Mexican asylum seeker from a Washington detention facility, according to local reports. The migrant, a 24-year-old transgender woman identified as "O-J-M" in court documents, was arrested outside a Portland courtroom on Monday and transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. SalU.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio, a President Joe Biden appointee, also demanded that ICE provide the exact date and time of the removal from Portland and explain why it was deemed immediately necessary. Baggio’s order was prompted after O-J-M’s attorneys said they were not aware of their client’s location and filed a habeas petition, a legal request asking a court to determine whether a person’s detention or imprisonment is lawful. The migrant’s attorney, Stephen Manning, of Immigrant Law Group, told OPB that O-J-M was processed into the Tacoma detention center, but he had not been granted access to her since her transfer.

San Francisco Chronicle [6/4/2025 6:19 PM, Molly Burke, 4120K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained an unknown number of people outside Chavez Supermarket in South San Jose on Wednesday, NBC Bay Area reported. Immigration officials detained people behind the store on Blossom Hill Road near Cahalan Avenue less than a mile from where four people were detained the previous day. "Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order," a spokesperson for ICE said in a statement. The detentions in San Jose come a week after activists decried arrests of immigrants in the San Francisco and Concord immigration courts as people were leaving their court hearings. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement that his office had "heard reports of ICE activity in South San José." In a statement, Mahan sought to underscore the differences between the San Jose Police Department and federal immigration officials.

Reuters [6/4/2025 3:12 PM, Kristina Cooke and Ted Hesson, 51390K] reports the Trump administration is considering a $1,000 fee for tourists and other non-immigrant visa applicants seeking an expedited interview appointment though government lawyers have raised legal red flags over the plan, according to a U.S. official and an internal State Department memo. Individuals entering the U.S. on tourist and other non-immigrant visas already pay a $185 processing fee. The new $1,000 option the U.S. is considering would be a premium service that allows some people to jump to the front of the line for visa interviews. The program could arrive in pilot form as soon as December, the memo reviewed by Reuters said. But the State Department’s legal team said there was a “high risk” it would be rejected by the White House budget office or struck down in U.S. courts, the memo said. Setting a fee above the cost to provide the service "is contrary to settled Supreme Court precedent," the memo said.

Reuters [6/4/2025 2:57 PM, Ted Hesson, 51390K] reports that a group of 101 Democratic lawmakers is urging top Trump administration officials to restore deportation protections for thousands of Afghans in the U.S., warning they would be sent back to "devastating humanitarian and economic conditions" in Afghanistan. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the lawmakers called on the administration to restore access to the Temporary Protected Status program for Afghans, saying women and children could face particular harm under the Taliban-led government in place since 2021. "The grave conditions that forced Afghan nationals to flee and seek refuge in the U.S. following the return of the Taliban to power remain," the lawmakers said. "Because of this harsh reality, forcing Afghan nationals in the U.S. to return to Afghanistan would be reckless and inhumane, and would threaten the safety and well-being of thousands of individuals and families, especially women and girls.". The effort is being led by U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, Representative Glenn Ivey and Senator Amy Klobuchar. TPS provides deportation relief and work permits to people already in the U.S. if their home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event.

NBC News [6/4/2025 4:18 PM, Nicole Acevedo, 44540K] reports a traffic stop made in error upended the life of a 19-year-old woman who was born in Mexico and has lived in Georgia most of her life. It also shows the growing risks undocumented young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, known as Dreamers, face under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Ximena Arias-Cristobal is opening up about how being wrongly pulled over by police in the city of Dalton last month put her on immigration authorities’ radar and made her susceptible to deportation. Her case shows what nearly 2.5 million Dreamers living in the U.S. face as the Trump administration steps up the pace of deportations of immigrants who don’t have criminal charges or convictions, despite the president’s campaign vows to prioritize the deportations of violent criminals.

NPR [6/4/2025 5:08 PM, Martin Kaste, 37958K] Audio HERE reports ICE and Border Protection are cracking down on U.S. Permanent Residents with long-resolved criminal records. Now Green Card holders are afraid to leave the country, for fear of not being allowed back. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Daily Caller [6/4/2025 9:25 AM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports that a Chinese national allegedly voted in the last presidential election and fled the country one day before President Donald Trump’s inauguration into office, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Haoxiang Gao, a Chinese man attending the University of Michigan at the time, unlawfully registered to vote and cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election in Ann Arbor, Michigan, federal prosecutors are alleging in a new indictment. The DOJ suspects he was able to register his name by using his University of Michigan student ID and then lied about his citizenship on his voter registration application. "Illegal voting is a serious crime that cast doubt on our elections and serves to disenfranchise United States citizens by diluting their power at the ballot box," U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon said Tuesday in a prepared statement. "But illegal voting by a foreign national who is from a country controlled by a communist party dictatorship – with no modern history or tradition of democratic government – is beyond the pale.". The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s office and the Michigan Secretary of State’s office first revealed in October that an unnamed Chinese national had illegally voted, just days before the 2024 presidential election between Trump and then-Vice President Kamala Harris. However, few details about the identity of the individual were provided at the time.

Univision [6/4/2025 4:44 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports Sofía Vargas, a 4-year-old Mexican girl with a critical medical condition, will be able to remain with her family in the United States for at least another year, thanks to the approval of a humanitarian parole. The girl, whose name has been publicly changed for privacy reasons, suffers from short bowel syndrome, a rare condition that prevents her body from absorbing the nutrients necessary for life. The Vargas family arrived in the United States in 2023 from Mexico under a temporary humanitarian parole, seeking specialized treatment available only at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The girl and her parents currently reside in Bakersfield, California, from where they travel to Los Angeles every six weeks to continue their medical protocol. However, in April of this year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suddenly revoked the original permit and notified the family that they had to leave the country, a decision that sparked alarm among medical organizations, human rights advocates, and elected officials. USCIS’s response changed after an international outcry and the intervention of attorneys from the nonprofit law firm Public Counsel, who requested a new permit on May 14. The agency ultimately approved the one-year extension of the permit, which will now be valid until June 1, 2026. Although the family celebrates this partial victory, Sofía’s future remains uncertain. The new permit is for a limited period of time, and whether or not it can be renewed will depend on future administrative decisions.

NPR [6/5/2025 5:00 AM, Willem Marx, 37958K] reports the Trump administration’s proposals to tighten entry visa restrictions for international students could significantly reduce their numbers at U.S. universities in the years ahead. But several education experts say the consequences may also be felt by some students and schools in Britain, as elite U.K. institutions prepare for a potential influx of international applicants redirected from the U.S. More than a million international students — including thousands from the United Kingdom — are currently enrolled in American colleges, according to the State Department, contributing around $50 billion to the country’s economy each year. However, higher education application portals show the number of prospective students searching for U.S. universities has declined sharply since January, with one provider predicting demand among foreign students could fall significantly within a year. "There’s been a dramatic shift in relation to interest in studying in the United States," says professor Simon Marginson of Oxford University, who specializes in international higher education. "The internet data we have on search by prospective students and their families shows that there’s been a drop of about 50% in the volume of search for study in the U.S. between Jan. 5 and April 30 this year.” Uncertainty drives students to consider alternatives. Education consultants who guide British students through the U.S. application process are witnessing this uncertainty firsthand. David Hawkins, founder of education consultancy The University Guys, helps dozens of British students apply for U.S. universities each year. He’s advising his clients to delve into the policy details but is not surprised by their current concerns. "It’s those people who have options, who are looking at the U.S. with quite big question marks right now," Hawkins explains. "The nervousness that the students we’re working with in future years have is what I term the ‘floating voters’ — like they could go to the U.S., but if they got into a Canadian university they perceive as better, they might go there. If they get into Oxford or Cambridge, they would probably go there.” Sam Cox, director of client services for A-List Education, a London-based consultancy that supports students applying to top U.S. colleges, echoes these sentiments. "I do want to make it clear that I think there is still a real strong appeal to, particularly, an Ivy League education," Cox says. "But some of the conversations that I’ve been having over the last few weeks are really aimed at, ‘What’s a plan B? What’s a viable plan B that we can put together?’ ".

Breitbart.com [6/4/2025 4:55 PM, Bob Price, Randy Clark, 3077K] reports Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 8,500 migrants who illegally crossed the southwest border from Mexico into the United States in May, according to unofficial Border Patrol reports reviewed by Breitbart Texas. This is the second straight month of increased apprehensions. However, more than 99 percent of these were returned to Mexico or a safe third country. Unofficial Border Patrol reports reviewed by Breitbart Texas revealed that Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 8,500 migrants who illegally crossed the southwest border from Mexico in May. This is up slightly from the nearly 8,300 arrested in April. It represents the second consecutive month of increases following record-shattering declines in migrant apprehensions following President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. In the four and one-half months since President Trump took office, agents apprehended an average of 9,300 migrants per month. Of the 9,300 apprehensions per month, less than 80 migrants were released into the U.S. An official operating under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Breitbart that only migrants with extreme injuries or humanitarian issues are considered for release. Approximately one-third of those released are single adults. The remainder were described as family unit aliens. Nearly 99.2 percent of apprehended migrants are returned to Mexico, a safe third country, or their country of origin. According to these reports, the number of migrants released into the U.S. fell by more than 97 percent.

The Washington Post [6/4/2025 9:45 AM, Annabelle Timsit, 32099K] reports that two Chinese nationals have been charged with conspiracy and smuggling after attempting to bring a toxic fungus that is a “dangerous biological pathogen” into the United States, the Justice Department said. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Michigan accused Yunqing Jian, a researcher at the University of Michigan, and Zunyong Liu, a researcher at Zhejiang University in China, of working together to smuggle into the United States samples of Fusarium graminearum, which it described as a “noxious fungus.”The fungus causes head blight disease in wheat, barley, corn and other crops, affecting crop quality and yield. Outbreaks have been reported in several countries. The toxins produced by the fungus can cause vomiting and liver damage, and an article in a science journal described the fungus as "a potential agroterrorism weapon that could be used for targeting food crops," according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Edward Nieh. According to the affidavit, Liu, 34, and Jian, 33, were both studying biological pathogens that can infect crops, with Jian working as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction Laboratory at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Prosecutors said Liu attempted to smuggle samples of the fungus from China into the U.S. in July 2024 while visiting Jian, his girlfriend. They said Liu was stopped at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and questioned by Customs and Border Protection officers, who searched his backpack and found four transparent plastic bags containing different strains of Fusarium graminearum, concealed inside a wad of crumpled tissues. The Hill [6/4/2025 4:46 PM, Daylyn Huff, 18649K] reports Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said in a release. Jian was taken into federal custody in Detroit while Liu is believed to be in China. Liu, according to a criminal complaint, initially lied about why the fungus, Fusarium graminearum, was brought into the U.S. He later admitted to smuggling the fungus to research it at a laboratory at the University of Michigan, where Jian worked and he previously worked. The complaint reports Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on this pathogen in China. Investigators said they found information about Jian’s loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. Liu researches the same pathogen in China. This case is still under investigation, United States Attorney Gorgon reports. FOX News [6/4/2025 4:18 PM, Peter D’Abrosca, 46878K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) flagged Liu upon his arrival, searched his luggage and conducted an interview. He allegedly revealed his entire scheme to the investigators, including telling them that he planned to use the same laboratory that Jian used at the University of Michigan to conduct research. He said that some days during his visit, the lab would be open for use, according to the affidavit, and other days, Jian planned to let him in.

Reported similarly:
DailySignal [6/4/2025 10:48 AM, Virginia Allen, 558K]

Reuters [6/4/2025 8:01 PM, Maria Tsvetkova, Heather Schlitz and Julie Ingwersen, 51390K] reports a Michigan court has scheduled a bail hearing on Thursday for a Chinese researcher accused of smuggling biological samples into the United States. Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend Zunyong Liu, 34, who conducted biological studies in the same field, were accused of smuggling a fungus into the United States for research. Jian, who according to a federal criminal complaint has worked on research projects in the United States since 2022, made her first court appearance on Tuesday. Liu was denied entry into the United States last July, when the pathogen, a fungus identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as Fusarium graminearum, was found in his luggage. Liu said he wanted to conduct research on the fungus at a University of Michigan laboratory where Jian worked, according to the complaint. Prosecutors described the fungus as a dangerous biological pathogen that had the potential to be used as an agricultural terrorism weapon. The fungus is already widespread on U.S. farms, tested for and tightly controlled in grains, and is not considered dangerous unless consumed in large quantities. Clair Keene, an agronomist at North Dakota State University, said she was puzzled by U.S. authorities’ description of the fungus. "It’s a common pathogen. We have it here. The claim that Fusarium graminearum can be used as a biological weapon doesn’t strike me as accurate," she said. The fungus can cause Fusarium head blight, typically known as scab. It is common among wheat, barley and other grains especially during rainy years. The telltale salmon-pink streaks on the grain heads contain a toxic byproduct called vomitoxin, which in high quantities can cause nausea and vomiting when eaten. Keene said farmers often spray fungicide to protect their crop and researchers have developed strains of wheat that are resistant to the fungus. Reuters was unable to contact Jian or her lawyer for comment. The case involving the researchers comes as the University of Michigan and other universities have faced pressure from the Trump administration over allegations they have done too little to combat antisemitism on campus and what the administration depicts as radical ideology in the classroom. Universities’ ties to China also have come under scrutiny. The University of Michigan said in a statement it condemned "any actions that seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission.” "It is important to note that the university has received no funding from the Chinese government in relation to research conducted by the accused individuals," the university said, adding it will "continue to cooperate" with federal law enforcement in its ongoing investigation and prosecution. FBI director Kash Patel said in a post on X that the case was a reminder that China’s ruling Communist Party "is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences... putting American lives and our economy at serious risk.” The Chinese Embassy in Washington in response to a Reuters request for comment sent a statement from its spokesperson Liu Pengyu. "I don’t know the specific situation, but I would like to emphasize that the Chinese government has always required overseas Chinese citizens to abide by local laws and regulations and will also resolutely safeguard their legitimate rights and interests," Liu said.

Washington Examiner [6/4/2025 10:19 PM, Brady Knox, 1934K] reports two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling a dangerous fungus into the United States in a possible act of “agroterrorism” began doing so in 2022, according to an affidavit. U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. charged Chinese citizens and Michigan University researchers Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the U.S., false statements, and visa fraud, the Department of Justice announced. The duo smuggled Fusarium graminearum, a fungus the DOJ notes is classified by scientific literature as a “potential agroterrorism weapon.” According to the arrest affidavit, the smuggling was done from August 2022 to July 2024, when Liu was arrested. In the first smuggling attempt, Liu instructed Jian to smuggle the fungus in through one of her pairs of boots, an intercepted WeChat conversation showed. "Teacher Liang’s seeds must be placed well," Liu began. "I put them in my Martin boots … in a small bag. The ziplock bag. Very small," Jian said. In January 2024, Jian attempted to get a third party to smuggle Fusarium graminearum to her by shipping it in a statistics book. The package was intercepted and the fungus uncovered. The "noxious" fungus causes billions of dollars in economic losses every year, causing the "head blight" disease in wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Its toxins can cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in both humans and livestock, the release noted. Ten samples were recovered in that package alone. "These individuals exploited their access to laboratory facilities at a local university to engage in the smuggling of biological pathogens, an act that posed an imminent threat to public safety," Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said in a statement. "Thanks to the exceptional investigative efforts of the FBI Detroit Counterintelligence Task Force, in close cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations these dangerous activities have been effectively halted. The FBI remains resolutely committed to collaborating with our law enforcement partners to protect the residents of Michigan and defend the United States against such grave threats," he added. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Director of Field Operations Marty C. Raybon said the arrest came as the result of a "complex investigation involving CBP offices from across the country, alongside our federal partners.” Beijing was quick to deny any involvement. "I don’t know the specific situation, but I would like to emphasize that the Chinese government has always required overseas Chinese citizens to abide by local laws and regulations and will also resolutely safeguard their legitimate rights and interests," Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., told Fox News.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [6/4/2025 2:06 PM, Staff, 9K] reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Zaragoza International Bridge seized 27 pounds of cocaine on June 2. The narcotics were concealed in a pickup truck driven by a 21-year-old U.S. citizen. This seizure follows the 20 pounds of cocaine seized on May 28 at the same port of entry. "Once again, our CBP officers have demonstrated their vigilance in preventing dangerous and addictive narcotics from entering our country," said Arnie Gomez, CBP Director at the Ysleta Port. "This is the second significant cocaine seizure at the same port of entry in a week and demonstrates why our CBP officers train so diligently to detect hidden contraband attempting to smuggle itself into the United States." The vehicle used was a Silverado pickup truck driven by a 21-year-old American man from Mexico. He arrived at the Zaragoza International Bridge at 6:46 a.m. and was selected for secondary inspection. During the low-energy scan of the bridge, anomalies were discovered in the truck: it contained brown packages. The contents of the packages were analyzed and tested positive for cocaine. CBP officers arrested the man. He was turned over to special agents of Homeland Security Investigations to face charges under Title 21 of the United States Code, Section 952, for the importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office accepted the case for prosecution.

ABC News [6/4/2025 11:03 AM, Megan Forrester, 31733K] reports that the manhunt continued on Wednesday for 32-year-old Travis Decker, who is accused of killing his three young daughters near a campground in Washington, with officials saying he could be "anywhere within the nation." Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, were killed after they left home for a "planned visitation" with Decker at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday, according to the Wenatchee Police Department. At approximately 3 p.m. on Monday, officials located Decker’s vehicle unoccupied near the Rock Island Campground in Chelan County, Washington, police said in a press release on Tuesday. Additional law enforcement officers responded to the scene and found the bodies of the three girls, but "Decker was not located," police said. A $20,000 reward has been offered for any information leading to Decker’s arrest, police said during a press conference on Tuesday evening. Local officials are working with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshal’s Office in their search for Decker. "We will not rest until we have located him," Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said during the press conference. "He can be anywhere within the nation, so that’s why we have our federal partners on scene helping us bring in additional resources." Decker, who is homeless and has been living in his vehicle or at various motels or campgrounds in the area, is currently wanted for three counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree kidnapping, police said. He is a former member of the military with "extensive training," but it is unknown whether he is currently armed, officials said. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

(B) Wisconsin News Now at 11 am [6/4/2025 12:00 PM, Staff] reports that a man is on the run after police discovered his three daughters dead in Washington state. The girls were reported missing on Friday. Prosecutors have charged Travis Decker with the kidnapping and murder of his daughters. The FBI, Border Patrol, Homeland Security, and sheriff’s office investigators comb the area near the Rock Island campground. The deputy on patrol found his truck and then the children’s bodies about 100 feet away. Police found key pieces of evidence near the truck. The girls’ mother said Decker was homeless and had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Records show no one was concerned about violence.

New York Post [6/4/2025 1:58 PM, Ben Cost, 49956K] reports that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Passengers waiting for their flights can often be seen plugging into the free USB power ports that litter airports around the globe these days. But while they might seem like a lifesaver for those low on battery, the Transportation Security Administration is warning against the common activity for a surprising reason. "When you’re at an airport do not plug your phone directly into a USB port," the TSA warned in a PSA on Facebook. According to officials, hackers can "install malware" at USB ports in a trend known as "juice/port jacking." Cybercriminals can then ransom your device or steal your passwords. Instead of juicing one’s device using flight hub re-fueling stations, security officials recommend bringing one’s own "TSA-compliant power brick or battery pack" and plugging in there, per the advisory. TSA officials are echoing warnings by the FBI, FCC, as well as countless techsperts. The TSA also warned against using free public WiFi, especially when making purchases or otherwise entering sensitive information. As the cybersecurity experts at Norton point out, unencrypted hotspots "transmit data in plain text, making them vulnerable to cybercriminals with the right tools."

Boston Globe [6/4/2025 5:14 PM, Staff, 3554K] reports the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday accused the Biden administration of politicizing a controversial federal travel watchlist, citing the removal of New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s husband from the list in 2023. William Shaheen, a prominent Lebanese American attorney and former New Hampshire US attorney who is a longtime fixture in the state’s Democratic politics, was first subjected to enhanced security screenings while traveling to and from Boston to Washington, D.C. in July 2023, according to a DHS news release. Three months later, he was stopped again and subjected to extra screening by TSA when he was identified as a co-traveler of someone designated as a "Known or Suspected Terrorist" by the FBI. According to a CBS News report Tuesday, William Shaheen’s October 2023 traveling companion was also "an Arab American attorney." The CBS report said that it was unclear why the person William Shaheen traveled with was placed on the terrorism list, and that the person was later removed by the FBI in 2023. Following the October incident, DHS said, Senator Shaheen had a meeting with then-TSA administrator David Pekoske, who served in that role during the first Trump administration and the Biden administration. Two days later, William Shaheen was exempted from the Quiet Skies watchlist program — which involves undercover federal air marshals monitoring domestic travelers who are not suspected of a crime or on any terrorist watch list — and all other enhanced TSA surveillance programs. Shaheen’s special status has been revoked by the Trump administration, DHS said.

Washington Examiner [6/4/2025 2:23 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1934K] reports that the Trump administration is accusing a Democratic senator of lobbying the Biden administration to remove her husband from a Transportation Security Administration surveillance program after the government determined that he had flown with someone known internally as a suspected terrorist. The Department of Homeland Security revealed Wednesday morning that Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) contacted the TSA about her husband, William “Billy” Shaheen, being subjected to enhanced screening. The department alleges that the senator personally lobbied former TSA Administrator David Pekoske to give her husband a blanket exemption from its Silent Partner and Quiet Skies program, which is used to surveil and more carefully track certain airline passengers. “It is clear that this program was used as a political rolodex of the Biden Administration — weaponized against its political foes and to benefit their well-heeled friends,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “This program should have been about the equal application of security, instead it was corrupted to be about political targeting. The Trump Administration will restore the integrity, privacy, and equal application of the law for all Americans, including aviation screening.”

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [6/4/2025 9:16 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 3077K]

CNN [6/4/2025 8:29 PM, Gabe Cohen, 21433K] reports in early April, President Donald Trump approved millions of dollars in assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Virginia, which was reeling from devastating winter storms and flooding. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, issued a news release touting the president’s decision to sign his disaster declaration request, and local news outlets began reporting that funding would soon be flowing to the state. But a key partner hadn’t been notified: FEMA. Leaders at the disaster relief agency, which is tasked with delivering that aid, were caught off guard when they eventually saw the smattering of headlines, FEMA officials told CNN, given such news would almost always come directly from the White House. It wasn’t until at least four days later that official word reached FEMA – an alarming delay in an otherwise urgent process. The breakdown in communication forced hard-hit Virginia communities to wait an extra week or so for critical assistance, agency officials said. The sources said this reflects a troubling pattern in Trump’s second term. It’s among several concerns raised by current and former FEMA officials about the White House’s approach to disaster relief as forecasters are already keeping a close eye on potential storms at the start of hurricane season. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, told lawmakers in mid-May that “there is no formalized, final plan” for disaster response this summer but insisted the administration will be prepared. “FEMA is full-steam ahead with an effective and focused plan to respond to hurricane season, while empowering states to further lead their own disaster response,” a DHS spokesperson told CNN in a statement Tuesday. “There is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this Hurricane Season.” But the lack of a concrete plan has left some FEMA leaders worried the agency is not prepared to execute such an opaque mission.

NPR [6/5/2025 5:13 AM, Rebecca Hersher, 37958K] reports recent fixes to long-standing problems at the Federal Emergency Management Agency are in jeopardy as the Trump administration slashes programs and cuts staff, emergency experts warn. FEMA has been plagued for decades by accusations that it fails to help the most vulnerable victims of disasters. Poor people, racial minorities and those who live in rural and tribal areas have been chronically ignored or denied crucial help after disasters, with long-term and even deadly consequences for families, NPR investigations have found. Under the Biden administration, FEMA took some concrete steps to address those problems. For example, the agency simplified forms that disaster victims must fill out to apply for money, loosened requirements to prove residency and made some money for essential items like food and diapers available immediately. Now, some of those efforts have been canceled, while others face an uncertain future. President Trump has repeatedly said that he believed FEMA should not exist in its current form. He has also moved to eliminate so-called equity programs meant to ensure that the federal government serves Americans from all economic, geographic and ethnic groups. The agency has cut billions of dollars of programs and lost hundreds of staff. A recent White House budget request for FEMA included a significant increase in disaster relief funding, but a presidentially appointed FEMA review council is working on recommendations to pare down or eliminate the agency. FEMA did not respond to questions from NPR about how it intends to help all Americans adequately after disasters, or whether reforms made under the Biden administration will be rolled back. "There was a lot of headway being made," says Chauncia Willis-Johnson, the former emergency manager for Tampa, Fla., and the leader of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management. "Now, not only have we stopped, but we’ve actually regressed.”

NBC News [6/4/2025 8:21 AM, Patrick Smith and Shaquille Brewster, 44540K] reports at least one person died in rising floodwaters in Texas overnight, authorities said, as the Midwest and parts of the South were battered by storms, flooding and suspected tornadoes. Dallas Fire-Rescue said in a statement that a boat team found two submerged vehicles in the north of the city. The fire department said "early reports" indicated two people were seen leaving one vehicle, but rescuers had to wait for water levels to fall before searching a second vehicle. "Unfortunately, once first responders were able to search the second vehicle, they found one adult male still inside who was pronounced dead," the department’s public information officer said. The victim has not been identified. Tumultuous weather hit a huge area stretching up to Kansas and Missouri.

The Hill [6/4/2025 4:39 PM, Tara Suter, 18649K] reports Canadian wildfire smoke is reaching the northeastern part of the United States, with multiple National Weather Service (NWS) offices saying they are experiencing issues with the smoke. One NWS office in New York City in a post on social platform X showed photos of a hazy sky. "The haze is from smoke high up in the atmosphere from Canadian Wildfires," the New York City office added in its post. A map on a Canadian government website showed widespread swaths of harmful air pollutants known as particulate matter 2.5 across parts of North America. "Wind patterns are forecasted to transport plumes of smoke from these fires across much of New England and New Hampshire," the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services said in a press release Tuesday, talking about Canadian wildfires. "In addition to the health effects, these smoke plumes also diffract light causing a hazy appearance in the sky and reduced visibility of distant objects. The smoke may even be noticeable by smell during hours of higher concentration," the department added.

Politico [6/4/2025 7:26 PM, Nicholas Wu, Chris Marquette and Katherine Tully-McManus, 16523K] reports the next chief of the U.S. Capitol Police will be Michael Sullivan, a former interim chief of the Phoenix Police Department, the department announced Wednesday. Before serving in Phoenix, Sullivan had stints at the Baltimore Police Department as deputy commissioner of compliance and deputy commissioner of operations, according to his Linkedin profile. He was also a deputy chief at the Louisville Metro Police Department, where he spent more than two decades as an officer. Sullivan prevailed over another finalist, former Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private selection process. Sullivan will be sworn in June 30. When he took the interim chief job in Phoenix, the department was under a Justice Department “pattern or practice” investigation, an independent probe conducted by civil rights attorneys into potential systemic misconduct. After a 34-month inquiry, a June 2024 report found the department had a pattern of “depriv[ing] people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law” as well as “pervasive failings” in policies, training, supervision and accountability systems “that have disguised and perpetuated these violations for years.” “The Board is confident in Chief Sullivan’s experience, leadership, and approach in protecting the Congress as an institution to ensure the legislative process is unimpeded,” the department said in a statement. “The Congressional Community is fortunate to have a seasoned professional who will lead with integrity, ensure accountability, and draw on his experience in providing a safe and secure environment for Members of Congress, staff, and visitors.” It’s the second time in four years that department overseers have decided to go outside the department for a chief. The board passed over Sean Gallagher, the interim head of the department and assistant chief, who has been with the department for more than two decades and served in a wide variety of roles across the agency. He was part of the leadership team during the Jan. 6 insurrection, weathered a no-confidence vote by the union and eventually worked to help stabilize the agency after a time of tectonic tumult. The union signaled it was opposed to Gallagher’s selection as interim chief, with union chair Gus Papathanasiou saying in a Tuesday statement: “We’re astounded the Board would even consider [Gallagher] for the role. The Capitol Police force cannot continue to see problem officers ‘fail upwards’, winning promotions instead of demotions commensurate with their actions.”

Washington Post [6/4/2025 2:10 PM, Aaron Gregg, 32099K] reports that a cargo ship carrying hundreds of electric vehicles from China to Mexico this week burned so stubbornly that the ship’s fire suppression system was unable to contain it, forcing the evacuation of 22 crew members who escaped to a nearby commercial vessel. The ship, called the Morning Midas, was in the Pacific Ocean about 1,200 miles from Anchorage when crew members saw smoke in a section of the vessel containing EVs, according to an emailed statement from Zodiac Maritime, the ship’s London-based manager. The ship is carrying roughly 3,000 vehicles, including about 800 EVs, the company said. The crew tried to put out the fire, but it reignited after the CO2 in the ship’s firefighting system was “exhausted” by the initial attempt to control the blaze, according to Steve Roth, chief of media relations for the Coast Guard. The boat was still ablaze as of midmorning Wednesday, Roth said. It’s another case of EVs morphing into infernos, a chronic safety and public relations headache for the fast-growing industry. Although the initial cause is not yet known, fire safety experts said the presence of so many vehicle batteries on board would almost certainly worsen the situation beyond what the cargo ship’s fire suppression systems could reasonably handle.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg Law News [6/4/2025 11:30 AM, Staff, 88K]

CNN [6/5/2025 3:20 AM, Hanna Park, 21433K] reports emergency crews from a host of government agencies were working through the night to clean up an estimated 2,000-gallon diesel spill along part of Baltimore’s waterfront that started on Wednesday. The spill originated at a Johns Hopkins Hospital facility in East Baltimore, according to a news release from Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott. Johns Hopkins first reported the spill around 11:00 a.m. and initially estimated it at 100 gallons. Seven hours later Hopkins updated their report to reflect a 2,000-gallon uncontained spill. The fuel contains a red dye and has stained a section of the water roughly 100 by 250 yards near the South Central Avenue Bridge, the release said. "The water is red due to dye in the diesel fuel. There is no impact to drinking water in the area," the release from the governor and the mayor said. Moore said on social media that he was at the scene of the spill near Fells Point, a historic waterfront in Baltimore and a popular tourist destination. The US Coast Guard is leading the clean-up effort, which involves nearly a dozen state and city agencies. The Coast Guard is working with crews using oil absorbent materials and skimmers to remove fuel from the water. "Containment and cleanup efforts will continue through the night," officials said. CNN has reached out to John Hopkins and the Coast Guard for further details about the status and scope of the spill.

AP [6/4/2025 5:53 PM, Mark Thiesen and Lisa Baumann, 56000K] reports that the crew of a cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles to Mexico, including 800 electric vehicles, abandoned ship after they could not control a fire aboard the vessel in waters off Alaska’s Aleutian island chain. A large plume of smoke was initially seen at the ship’s stern coming from the deck loaded with electric vehicles Tuesday, according to U.S. Coast Guard photos and a Wednesday statement from the ship’s management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime. There were no reported injuries among the 22 crew members of the Morning Midas. Crew members abandoned ship, were evacuated onto a lifeboat and rescued by the crew of a nearby merchant vessel called the Cosco Hellas in the North Pacific, roughly 300 miles (490 kilometers) southwest of Adak Island. Adak is about 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) west of Anchorage, the state’s largest city. The crew initiated emergency firefighting procedures with the ship’s onboard fire suppression system. But they were unable bring the flames under control. “The relevant authorities have been notified, and we are working closely with emergency responders with a tug being deployed to support salvage and firefighting operations,” Zodiac Maritime said in a statement. “Our priorities are to ensure the continued safety of the crew and protect the marine environment.” The U.S. Coast Guard said it sent aircrews to Adak and a ship to the area. The status of the fire onboard the ship was unknown as of Wednesday afternoon, but smoke was still emanating from it, according to the Coast Guard.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [6/4/2025 1:43 PM, James Powel, 75552K]

New York Times [6/5/2025 2:59 AM, Francesca Regalado, 153395K] reports a fire on a cargo ship carrying electric vehicles that contain highly flammable lithium-ion batteries was burning off Alaska’s coast on Wednesday night, more than 24 hours after it broke out, the U.S. Coast Guard and the ship’s manager said. A deck carrying electric vehicles began smoking on Tuesday afternoon when the ship, the Morning Midas, was approximately 1,200 miles from Anchorage, according to its manager, Zodiac Maritime. The crew, unable to contain it, sent a distress alert 15 minutes later, the London-based shipping company said in a statement. All 22 crew members left the 600-foot ship on a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby commercial vessel, the Coast Guard said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the Coast Guard said that it was allowing the fire to burn out and watching from a safe distance because of the risk that lithium-ion batteries in the cars could explode. The agency plans to investigate the cause of the fire, said the spokeswoman, Petty Officer First Class Shannon Kearney of the Coast Guard’s 17th District in Alaska. She said it was too soon to conclude that the fire started from the electric vehicles.

Federal News Network [6/4/2025 7:00 PM, Justin Doubleday, 2346K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency faces an uncertain future after more than one-third of the agency, including more than a dozen senior leaders, have left their positions in recent months. Meanwhile, many of CISA’s engagements with industry have been paused after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem terminated a key partnership council in March. CISA also faces the prospect of losing longstanding information sharing authorities in September and is tasked with finalizing landmark cyber incident reporting rules by November. The inflection point comes as Sean Plankey, the nominee for CISA director, testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday morning. Plankey has previously served in cybersecurity positions at the Energy Department and the Coast Guard. He enjoys broad support from the cyber industry and former officials. Plankey is likely to face questions about the deep workforce reductions and low morale at CISA. One current CISA employee said approximately 1,000 staff have either been placed on administrative leave or have resigned from the agency. The reductions represent about one-third of CISA’s workforce. Axios first reported the number of CISA reductions. Many employees took the most recent "fork in the road" offered by the Department of Homeland Security. The resignations include 14 senior leaders, including the heads of several CISA operational divisions, regional divisions and key administrative posts. A former CISA employee who recently retired said dozens of agency employees turned in their badges, laptops and other equipment last Friday, the deadline for employees who took one of the most recent buyout offer. "It was like an assembly line," the former employee said. CISA employees had to decide about whether to stay or go with little information about the Trump administration’s plans for the agency, according to current and former employees. The White House directed all agencies to develop workforce reduction plans in February. The initial plans were due to the White House in March. But even after DHS offered the latest buyout options in April, CISA employees said they were kept in the dark about the ultimate plan for the cyber agency. Beyond CISA’s staffing cuts, Plankey will likely face questions about the future of CISA’s public-private partnerships. If he’s confirmed in the coming weeks, he’ll be staring down a Sept. 30 expiration for the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015. The law underpins many of CISA’s cyber threat intelligence sharing activities with industry. Cyber leaders in Congress have already introduced bills to reauthorize the law. But they face a tight timeline in a narrowly divided Congress with a packed agenda over the coming months. In March, DHS also terminated the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council amid a broader purge of federal advisory committees.

Reuters [6/4/2025 4:40 PM, Ismail Shakil, 51390K] reports corporate investigators found evidence that Chinese hackers broke into a U.S. telecommunications company in the summer of 2023, indicating the hackers penetrated the U.S. communications system earlier than previously known, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. Investigators working for the telecommunications firm discovered last year that malware used by Chinese state-backed hacking groups was on the company’s systems for seven months starting in the summer of 2023, Bloomberg reported, citing two people familiar with the matter and a document.

NewsNation [6/4/2025 6:02 PM, Crystal Bonvillian, 5801K] reports the FBI on Tuesday released a report that shows active shooter incidents decreased by 50% from 2023 to 2024. The federal agency designated a total of 24 shootings as active shooter incidents in 2024. That number was down from 48 incidents the year before, according to a news release. Between 2020 and 2024, a total of 223 active shooter incidents occurred in 43 states and the District of Columbia. The 2024 incidents occurred in 19 states and represented five location categories. Those categories included commerce, education, government, houses of worship and open space. According to the FBI report, there were 106 casualties in the 2024 shootings, including 23 people killed and 83 wounded. The total represents a 57% decrease from 2023. Texas had the most incidents, with four shootings, followed by California and North Carolina, which each saw two incidents. The highest number of shootings, five, occurred in June, followed by four in September.

NewsMax [6/4/2025 8:39 PM, Michael Katz, 4622K] reports lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in Congress are pushing for the Muslim Brotherhood to be labeled as a foreign terrorist organization. The push comes amid a rapid rise of antisemitic attacks on U.S. soil, including Sunday, when an Egyptian man is accused of tossing Molotov cocktails and using a makeshift flamethrower to injure more than a dozen people at a peaceful rally sponsored by a Jewish group in Boulder, Colorado. The suspect, Mohamed Soliman, reportedly praised the Muslim Brotherhood on social media in the years before the attack. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., wrote a letter Tuesday to President Donald Trump, urging him to conduct a "comprehensive investigation" into designating the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, the Jewish News Syndicate reported Wednesday. "This action would align U.S. policy with that of several key partners and reinforce our commitment to combating extremist ideologies that threaten national and global security," Moskowitz wrote in the letter, a copy of which he posted on his X account. "At a time when we are witnessing a shocking increase in antisemitic violence, it must be noted that such ideological influence not only fosters division but also encourages radicalization against the United States, our allies and the foundational principles that define our society.” Also Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote in a post on X, "In the coming days, I will be circulating and reintroducing a modernized version of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, which I have been pushing for my entire Senate career.” "The Muslim Brotherhood uses political violence to achieve political ends and destabilize American allies, both within countries and across national boundaries," Cruz told The Washington Free Beacon. "The Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood is Hamas, a terrorist group which on Oct. 7 committed the largest one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, and which included the murder and kidnapping of dozens of Americans.” Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, a member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security subcommittee, told the Free Beacon the Trump administration’s efforts to target terror factions tied to Iran could provide the groundwork for an expansion that covers the Muslim Brotherhood’s international affiliates. "[The] Muslim Brotherhood — or any terrorist organization, for that matter — should be designated as such," Hinson said. "I’m thankful to the Trump administration for defending the U.S. from our adversaries and brutal terrorists — something [former President Joe] Biden failed to prioritize. Peace through strength is back in the White House, and we must continue signaling deterrence.”

FOX News [6/4/2025 4:52 PM, Diana Stancy, 46878K] reports a GOP lawmaker on the House’s Homeland Security Committee is spearheading a hearing on growing antisemitic violence in the U.S. in response to recent attacks in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C. These attacks are not outliers, according to the chairman of the committee’s counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, Rep. August Pfluger of Texas. He has scheduled a hearing for June 11 to examine the rise of anti-Israel terrorist attacks within the American homeland. The measure has received bipartisan support, and Democratic Rep. Jimmy Panetta of California is a co-sponsor.

AP [6/4/2025 7:01 AM, Luis Andres Henao and Mariam Fam, 56000K] reports for the leaders of U.S. Jewish institutions, the recent attacks in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., are stark reminders of their responsibility to remain vigilant despite years of hardening their security measures and trying to keep their people safe. Now, they’re sounding the alarm for more help after a dozen people were injured in Boulder while demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza on Sunday. And just over a week earlier, two Israeli Embassy staffers were fatally shot outside a Jewish museum in Washington. After that shooting, 43 Jewish organizations issued a joint statement requesting more support from the U.S. government for enhanced security measures. Specifically, they asked Congress to increase funding to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion. "Every Jewish organization has been serious about security for years. We have to be," said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. "The grants are to harden the buildings, for things like cameras and glass, and some kind of blockage so they can’t drive a truck into the building." "These are the everyday realities of Jewish life in the 21st century in America. It’s a sad reality, but it is an essential responsibility of leadership to make sure that people are first and foremost safe." The attacks in Washington and Boulder only heighten the urgency, said its national director Sydney Altfield. "Some people see this as an isolated instance, whether it is in Colorado, whether it’s in D.C.," she said. "But we have to step up and realize that it could happen anywhere. … It is so important that our most vulnerable, our children, are secure to the highest extent.".

CBS News [6/4/2025 5:00 PM, Scott MacFarlane, 51860K] reports Szabo, a Romanian national, has pleaded guilty to leading a scheme to target dozens of politicians and social media influencers with a wave of "swatting" attacks. According to court filings, Szabo began building a network of "swatters" in 2018 to unleash havoc on public figures in the United States. According to the Justice Department, "Szabo made false reports to U.S. law enforcement including a threat in December 2020 to commit a mass shooting at New York City synagogues, and a threat in January 2021 to detonate explosives at the U.S. Capitol and kill the President-elect"—likely referring to Joe Biden. A plea agreement reviewed by CBS News said Szabo’s co-conspirators also targeted at least 25 members of Congress or their families, six executive branch officials and Cabinet members, judges, members of the media and at least two dozen former government officials. He was extradited from Romania late last year and will be sentenced on federal conspiracy and threat charges in October.

Federalist [6/4/2025 10:33 AM, Sebastian Gorka, 1142K] reports that I’m not in it for the clicks. Really. I know social media is addictive. As my wife can attest. As can the screentime usage calculator on my phone. But I use X, Facebook, Truth Social, and Instagram to ingest news or post on things I hold to be important. I don’t agonize over how to "maximize engagement" or "hack the algorithm" as so many influencers are wont to do. As the commander-in-chief stated after the last attack, we will not tolerate religious war in America. In response to not taking the threat seriously for four years, Secretary Noem has secured our borders. Tom Homan, our border czar, is locating the most egregious threats Biden and Harris allowed unvetted into our Republic and is having them deported. Stephen Miller, President Trump’s Homeland Security Advisor, is implementing a whole range of measures to secure the Continental U.S. Pam Bondi, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino are identifying the Jihadists who are plotting against the innocent, and my team at the NSC has prepared the president’s new draft of the U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy, which returns us to the truth about who the enemy is. To top all that, our military and intelligence assets have killed more than 160 ISIS and al Qaeda Jihadists around the globe, thanks to President Trump giving us the green light just 8 days into his second term.

Washington Post [6/4/2025 1:14 PM, Jonathan Edwards, 32099K] reports that the FBI has charged a man with helping bomb a Southern California fertility clinic last month, an attack authorities have described as terrorism. Daniel Jongyon Park, 32, of Kent, Washington, was arrested Tuesday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said Wednesday at a news conference. Park was charged with providing material support to a terrorist and is accused of supplying 270 pounds of ammonium nitrate, an explosive precursor commonly used in homemade bombs, to 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus. On May 17, Bartkus detonated a car bomb, destroying the American Reproductive Centers clinic in Palm Springs, damaging surrounding buildings, injuring several people and shooting debris some 750 feet in an explosion that killed only himself, the U.S. attorney said. Bartkus had help from Park in the months before the bombing, Essayli said. The men met online and bonded over a shared “pro-mortalist, anti-natalist and anti-pro-life extremist ideology,” he added. “They don’t believe that people should exist,” said Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. Park is scheduled to have an initial federal court hearing in Brooklyn, but authorities said he will be transported to Southern California in the coming weeks. FOX News [6/4/2025 11:37 AM, Julia Bonavita, 46878K] reports "Law enforcement learned that Park spent approximately two weeks visiting [the primary suspect’s] residence in 29 Palms in late January and early February of this year, spending time together running experiments [in the suspect’s] garage, where the FBI recovered large quantities of chemical precursors and laboratory equipment after the bombing," Essayli said in a news conference. A search of Park’s home in Kent, Washington revealed six packages of explosive materials, according to authorities, leading them to believe the items were allegedly mailed to Southern California prior to the attack.

Reported similarly:
AP [6/4/2025 2:56 PM, Staff, 5801K]
CBS News [6/4/2025 3:46 PM, Andres Triay, Richard Esposito,et al., 51860K]
Detroit Free Press [6/4/2025 3:54 PM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 4241K]

New York Post [6/4/2025 11:09 PM, Kyle Schnitzer and Shane Galvin, 49956K] reports the deranged "manifesto" of Luigi Mangione revealed the image-obsessed accused killer chose to "wack the CEO" of UnitedHealthcare during an investor conference in New York City to generate "headlines" — and had previously planned a bombing "catastrophe," court documents revealed. Parts of Mangione’s scrawlings in red-spiral notebooks were revealed as part of a filing from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Wednesday, giving insight into the thought process of the 27-year-old who allegedly targeted Brian Thompson, 50, on Dec. 4, 2024, to prove a political point about the health insurance industry which he wrote "extracts human life force for money.” "So say you want to rebel against the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel. Do you bomb the HQ? No. Bombs=terrorism," Mangione wrote in the notebook, which he had in his backpack when he was arrested five days after he allegedly shot the exec in the back on a Midtown street. Instead, one should "wack [sic] the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted and precise and doesn’t risk innocents," Mangione reasoned on Oct. 22, just six weeks before the cold-blooded slaying. Elsewhere in the manifesto, Mangione wrote that UnitedHealthcare and other insurance providers were justifiable targets because the company "literally extracts human life force for money.” The mad screeds further revealed that the University of Pennsylvania graduate had apparently planned a mass-casualty event that could have included a bomb — expressing relief that he had not followed through on the atrocity. "I’m glad — in a way — that I’ve procrastinated because it allowed me to learn more about UHC.” "In MD would’ve been an unjustified catastrophe that would be perceived mostly as sick, but more importantly unhelpful," Magione wrote of a potential attack in his native Maryland. It is not clear what exactly Mangione had planned, but he insinuated that "innocents" would have been killed. The reason the "model prisoner" of his Brooklyn lockup targeted Thompson was "self-evident," he wrote. "The point is made in the news headline Insurance CEO killed at annual investors conference," Mangione wrote. "It conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming. "Members of the public can focus on greed, on the event through reasonable acceptable discussion," he said of the public reception the apparently planned murder would receive.

Reported similarly:
CNN [6/4/2025 10:16 PM, Dalia Faheid, 21433K]

Bloomberg [6/5/2025 1:04 AM, Andrea Palasciano, 19320K] reports NATO’s defense ministers gather in Brussels today to formally sign off on a massive weapons ramp-up that should lead to a new alliance-wide defense spending target of 5% of GDP. They will also further discussions on how to keep US President Donald Trump as happy as possible at the alliance’s upcoming summit. Europeans have insisted that a so-called US backstop is essential to deter Russia from breaching any future ceasefire deal. But the US is refusing to provide air defenses to back the "reassurance force" the UK and France are planning in a postwar Ukraine, we’ve been told. Keeping Trump happy will also be a top concern for Germany’s Friedrich Merz, who’ll be in the White House today. Trump’s determination to dial back military support for Europe will shift a massive burden onto Germany. The country is uniquely vulnerable to the president’s efforts to transform the way the world does business, and many Germans don’t have the stomach for the challenges ahead.

NBC News [6/5/2025 3:24 AM, Chantal Da Silva, 44540K] reports Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of two hostages with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai, a married couple whose remains were being held in Gaza since the beginning of the war there in October 2023. The Israeli military and Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency, recovered the bodies of Weinstein-Haggai, 70, and Haggai, 72, in a special operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Thursday morning. The couple, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, were killed during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Since then, more than 54,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Gaza during Israel’s ensuing military offensive, according to the Palestinian health ministry there. The Israeli military and Shin Bet said in a joint statement Thursday that Weinstein-Haggai and Haggai were killed and taken into Gaza by members of the Mujahideen Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement. It said its operation was made possible by precise intelligence from Israeli authorities and added that the loved ones of the couple and community of Nir Oz had been notified of the recovery of the couple’s bodies. The status of Weinstein-Haggai and Haggai had initially been unclear in the aftermath of the attacks, but President Joe Biden said in December 2023 that Weinstein-Haggai was found to have been killed on Oct. 7, along with Haggai. "Our hearts ache for the most terrible loss. May their memory be blessed," Netanyahu said after the bodies of Weinstein-Haggai and her husband were recovered. "We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our abductees home — the living and the dead alike," he added. Weinstein-Haggai and her husband were among four Israeli-Americans whose bodies were believed to remain in Hamas captivity, with Itay Chen, 19 and Omer Neutra, 21, still believed to be held in Gaza. Edan Alexander, who was believed to be the last living U.S. citizen held captive in Gaza, was freed on May 12 after being taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

Wall Street Journal [6/4/2025 7:33 AM, Benoit Faucon, Laurence Norman, Alexander Ward, 646K] reports Iran’s supreme leader effectively rejected a U.S. proposal that allows temporary uranium enrichment in the country before ending it completely, forcing the White House to reconsider its approach as tensions mount over Iran’s nuclear program. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking Wednesday on the anniversary of the death of his predecessor, said the recent U.S. offer to Iran to resolve the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program breached Tehran’s principles of independence. “To the American side and others we say: Why are you interfering and trying to say whether Iran should have uranium enrichment or not? That’s none of your business,” Khamenei said on X. Iran and the U.S. have held five rounds of nuclear talks so far, but the two sides have clashed over Washington’s insistence that Tehran give up enrichment. Western officials believe Iran wants to enrich to retain the option of producing a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear work is peaceful. Last week, President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff submitted what U.S. officials called a term sheet to Tehran, which one U.S. official said allows Iran to enrich a limited amount of uranium for a period of time before phasing it out. Iran is in the process of responding formally to the U.S. offer, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday. Khamenei is the country’s decision maker on security matters and his comments on Wednesday are the clearest indication of Iran’s likely formal response. The U.S. official said this week Washington expected Tehran to reject the initial U.S. offer and the U.S. will have to consider its next steps. Negotiations could continue this weekend, officials say.

Reuters [6/5/2025 2:58 AM, Mikhail Flores, 51390K] reports the Philippines and United States militaries have sailed together in the South China Sea for a seventh time to boost interoperability between the two sides, Manila’s armed forces said on Thursday. The exercises, held on Wednesday in waters off the provinces of Occidental Mindoro and Zambales and away from contested features, included joint operations near shorelines as well as fire support. "The MCA (maritime cooperative activity) is a demonstration of both nations’ resolve to deepen cooperation and enhance interoperability in line with international law," the Philippine armed forces said in a statement. The joint sail also showcased the Philippine vessel Miguel Malvar, a 118-metre guided missile frigate commissioned last month. It is one of two corvettes built by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (329180.KS) under the Philippines’ military modernisation programme. Military engagements between the treaty allies have soared under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has pivoted closer to Washington in response to China’s growing presence in the South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over nearly all the South China Sea, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

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