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 Washington Post [3/12/2025 8:51 PM, Silvia Foster-Frau and Alex Horton, 31735K] reports the Trump administration has removed all the migrants who were being held at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba and flown them back to the United States, a Defense Department official said Wednesday. The 40 men have been transported to Louisiana, where there is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Alexandria. It comes two weeks after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent another group of 48 migrants back to the same city from Guantánamo. It is unclear why DHS routed the group of migrants back to the United States after the costly flights to the military base on Cuba. The agency did not immediately respond to a request about the latest transfer. The defense official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations. Both of the transfers back were on ICE Air, a less expensive option compared with the 17 military flights that have transported migrants to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since the Trump administration’s migrant operation began more than a month ago. A nonmilitary flight departed Guantánamo on Tuesday afternoon bound for Alexandria, according to flight trackers. Nearly 300 migrants have been detained in Guantánamo since President Donald Trump took office in January. He ordered the U.S. government to begin holding detainees at the naval station as part of its plan to carry out the largest number of deportations in U.S. history. On Feb. 20, the Trump administration deported a group of 177 Venezuelan men — the highest number of migrants detained in Guantánamo under the Trump administration at one time — back to their homeland. That was the first time it cleared out its migrant detainee population. During those first weeks of the Guantánamo operation, DHS sent one migrant back to El Paso. Two Democratic members of Congress who toured Guantánamo last week said officials told them that they had asked that migrants with medical conditions and behavioral issues not be sent to Guantánamo. As of Monday, 23 of the 40 migrants being held in Guantánamo were considered “high threat” and were held in the military detention facility, while 17 others were detained in a separate space known as the Migrant Operations Center, according to a Pentagon official. The New York Times [3/12/2025 6:39 PM, Carol Rosenberg and Charlie Savage, 145325K] reports that the move comes days before a Federal District Court judge in Washington is set to hear a major challenge to aspects of the policy. It is the second time the administration has brought people to Guantánamo Bay only to remove them after a few weeks, a costly and time-consuming exercise. In late February, the administration abruptly emptied two detention sites the government had used to hold 177 Venezuelans flown in from the United States, including a military prison building formerly used to hold terrorism detainees. But in moving those detainees on Feb. 20, the administration repatriated the migrants to the custody of their home government. This time, the officials said, the men were taken to an international airport in Alexandria, La. The Homeland Security Department’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The airport in central Louisiana, which services military and charter flights, has emerged as a hub of immigration detention activity. ICE has sent nearly 100 migrants there from Guantánamo, starting with 48 on March 2. One of them was sent to a processing center in Pine Prairie, about an hour south of the airport. ABC News [3/12/2025 7:05 PM, Luke Barr and Matt Seyler, 34586K] reports that in late January, President Donald Trump announced he was signing an executive order "to instruct the departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay.” But since then, the number of migrants sent to be temporarily held there has only reached the low hundreds, and now the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security are discussing whether to make further use of the base. U.S. officials confirmed the 195 tents, capable of housing 500 migrants, at Guantanamo Bay did not meet ICE’s requirements for holding migrants, such as having air conditioning and other amenities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in February that Guantanamo Bay’s high-security prison facility could house "the worst of the worst" criminals being deported. He called the base "the perfect place to provide for migrants who are traveling out of our country," including for "hardened criminals." Hegseth then visited Guantanamo Bay in late February, and a bipartisan congressional delegation toured the migrant detention facility on Friday. However, there are now no more military flights carrying migrants to Guantanamo Bay scheduled for at least the next 48 hours, the official said. U.S. officials told ABC News it is possible some of the hundreds of U.S. troops sent to the base to help prepare it to house migrants might be relocated to help with the southern border mission in another capacity.

Reported similarly:

VOA News [3/12/2025 2:13 PM, Jeff Seldin, 2913K]

AP [3/13/2025 12:07 AM, Valerie Gonzalez, 24727K] reports the Trump administration has launched a review of organizations that provide temporary housing and other aid to migrants, suggesting they may have violated a law used to prosecute smugglers. The Department of Homeland Security has “significant concerns” that federal grants used to address a surge of migration under former President Joe Biden were used for illegal activities, wrote Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. His letter, dated Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press, asks recipients of grants from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program to provide names and contact information for migrants served and “a detailed and descriptive list of specific services provided” within 30 days. The letter says funding will be withheld during the review. While it doesn’t explicitly threaten criminal prosecution, it raises concerns that recipients may have violated U.S. Criminal Code Section 1324, a felony offense against bringing people across the border illegally or transporting them within the United States. It also says executive officers must sign sworn statements that they have no knowledge or suspicions of anyone in their organizations violating the smuggling law. FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday. The demand appears to be a new salvo against organizations that provide food, housing and travel aid to people who cross the border. Migrants often arrive exhausted, low on money and unsure how to navigate on their own through bus stations and airports. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who was at odds with the Biden administration over immigration and is closely aligned with the Trump White House, took a similar tack against migrant aid groups but was blocked in court. FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program awarded $641 million to dozens of state and local governments and organizations across the country in the 2024 fiscal year to help them deal with large numbers of migrants who crossed the border from Mexico. They include the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Denver, as well as the United Way of Miami, the San Antonio Food Bank and several branches of Catholic Charities. It was unclear if any any governments received the letters, but the Trump administration has fiercely criticized states, counties and cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Last month, it sued Chicago over laws that it said thwarted federal law enforcement.

NBC News [3/12/2025 11:13 AM, Nicole Acevedo, 44742K] reports that with a mobile app and an expansive ad campaign, the Department of Homeland Security is ramping up its efforts to convince immigrants who don’t have legal status to self-deport. The efforts come as the number of deportations is lower than what President Donald Trump expected in his first couple of months in office after making the issue a key campaign promise. This week the Trump administration revived the CBP One app under another name and with a different purpose. Under the Biden administration, the app allowed migrants to apply to enter the U.S. legally as asylum-seekers. Now relaunched as the CBP Home app, the mobile application has "a self-deportation reporting feature," DHS announced Monday. According to the agency, self-deportations are "the safest option" for undocumented immigrants, "while preserving law enforcement resources.” Revamping the app is part of a larger messaging campaign from the government that includes ads starring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem encouraging immigrants who are not legally present in the U.S. to leave the country. According to DHS, the agency is spending $200 million on these efforts. So far, TV stations in parts of New Jersey, New York, California and Florida have aired the ad, as well as stations in cities such as Phoenix, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington. DHS also released an international version of the ad that is similar, but instead discourages people from entering the U.S. illegally.

Roll Call [3/12/2025 2:02 PM, Chris Johnson, 503K] reports that President Donald Trump has said he does not need Congress to create so-called gold cards to offer foreign nationals a path to citizenship at the price of $5 million, but immigration policy experts and some Republican lawmakers cast doubt that a president could implement such a plan alone. As nebulous as Trump’s proposal stands at this point, current law imposes limits on green cards such as the number of cards that can be issued in the EB-5 program that Trump ultimately wants to replace, as well as the price and conditions for making it happen, experts say. And interviews with Senate Republicans engaged on homeland security and immigration issues suggest any legislative plans for authorization of the gold card was not at the forefront of their minds. Shev Dalal-Dheini, director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said any creation of a new visa category "has to be done by statute.” "Whether you create a new category or get rid of a different category, you need a statute to do so," Dalal-Dheini said. "And even if it was a question about raising the limit of how much money is invested into the EB-5 program, that’s also statutorily so it will require some congressional action to make this go forward."

New York Times [3/12/2025 4:26 PM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz, 145325K] reports for months now, President Trump has been threatening to deport foreign students who took part in last year’s campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Behind the scenes, his administration got to work. Investigators from a branch of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that typically focuses on human traffickers and drug smugglers scoured the internet for social media posts and videos that the administration could argue showed sympathy toward Hamas, administration officials said. The investigators handed over reports on multiple protesters to the State Department, which used an obscure legal statute to authorize the arrest over the weekend of a 30-year-old lawful permanent resident: Mahmoud Khalil. Mr. Trump said this week that Mr. Khalil’s case was the first of “many to come.” Civil rights groups say the arrest of Mr. Khalil, who is a legal permanent resident and is married to an American citizen, is a clear violation of the First Amendment. But it also illustrates how Mr. Trump is using the tools of the federal government to launch a crackdown not only on those who break the law — but also on dissent more broadly. Mr. Khalil has not been charged with any crime. Instead, the government is using a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act to argue that his actions during protests at Columbia University harmed U.S. foreign policy interests by fomenting antisemitism.

NPR [3/12/2025 3:51 PM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Adrian Florido, 30K] reports a federal judge in New York is now considering whether a pro-Palestinian activist and lawful permanent resident sent to an immigration detention center in Louisiana must be returned to New York, the place where he was initially arrested. U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman will decide whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s decision to transfer Khalil to a federal detention facility in Louisiana violated the law, given that his attorney had filed a challenge to his arrest in New York, where he was initially detained. Earlier this week, Furman blocked Khalil’s deportation until the court ruled on the challenge to his detention. Judge Furman gave the U.S. government until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday to respond to Khalil’s attorney’s petition to bring Khalil back to New York. The government said it’ll likely ask the court to move Khalil’s case to Louisiana or New Jersey, the two states where he’d been held after a brief detention in New York. President Trump said on Monday that Khalil’s arrest is "the first arrest of many to come" of students "who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity." Speaking to reporters on his flight from Saudi Arabia to Canada Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Khalil’s arrest was "not about free speech." Khalil’s attorneys insist he is not a supporter of Hamas. The New York Times [3/12/2025 10:38 PM, Matthew Cullen, 145325K] reports outside a Manhattan courthouse today, hundreds of protesters gathered to criticize the Trump administration’s plan to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate who helped lead protests there against Israel. Inside, a judge said he would grant Khalil’s lawyers the ability to speak with him privately for the first time since he was arrested and sent to immigration detention in Louisiana. The case is at the center of President Trump’s effort to expel foreign students who took part in last year’s campus protests over the war in Gaza. After months of threatening deportations, Trump celebrated the arrest of Khalil, a legal permanent resident with a green card, as the first of “many to come.” Behind the scenes, federal investigators who typically focus on human traffickers and drug smugglers have been searching social media for posts showing protesters’ sympathy toward Hamas. The authorities have not accused Khalil of having any contact with the terrorist group or providing material support to it. Instead, Trump’s aides are arguing that he had organized antisemitic activities on campus, which makes him deportable under an obscure legal statute. “This is not about free speech,” Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said today. “This is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.” Trump’s critics argue that Khalil’s pending deportation is a clear violation of the First Amendment. The arrest put a spotlight on Columbia, which has been struggling with the competing demands of free speech and student safety. Last week, the Trump administration revoked $400 million in federal funds for the school.

Reuters [3/12/2025 9:29 PM, Luc Cohen, Jonathan Allen and Tom Hals, 2913K] reports a U.S. judge on Wednesday extended his order blocking federal authorities from deporting a detained Columbia University student, in a case that has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s pledge to deport some pro-Palestinian college activists. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman had temporarily blocked Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation earlier this week, and extended the prohibition on Wednesday in a written order following a hearing in Manhattan federal court to allow himself more time to consider whether the arrest was unconstitutional. The Department of Homeland Security says Khalil, 30, is subject to deportation under a legal provision holding that migrants whose presence in the country are deemed by the U.S. Secretary of State to be incompatible with foreign policy may be removed, according to a document seen by Reuters. "The Secretary of State has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States," read the DHS document, dated March 9, ordering Khalil to appear before an immigration judge on March 27. The document did not provide additional detail. The DHS did not immediately responded to requests for comment. Khalil’s lawyers say his arrest on Saturday by DHS agents outside his university residence in Manhattan was in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy against Israel’s military assault on Gaza following militant group Hamas’ October 2023 attack, and thus violated Khalil’s right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. "Mr. Khalil was identified, targeted, detained and is being processed for deportation on account of his advocacy for Palestinian rights," Khalil’s lawyer Ramzi Kassem said in court. In her first media interview, Noora Abdalla, Khalil’s wife, told Reuters after the hearing she hoped her husband would be free and back in New York in time for the birth of their first child, who is due next month. "It’s been so hard not having him here," she said. "There’s a lot of emotions and pain. He’s been there for me truly every step of the way." Outside the courthouse on Wednesday, Kassem told reporters that the legal provision DHS referred to was rarely-used and was not meant to silence dissent.

New York Times [3/13/2025 3:23 AM,Jonah E. Bromwich and Anusha Bayya, 330K] reports lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate detained by the Trump administration last weekend, have not been able to hold a private conversation with their client since his arrest. That revelation came during a hearing in Manhattan federal court Wednesday, as lawyers for Mr. Khalil and the government appeared in front of a judge, Jesse Furman, to discuss Mr. Khalil’s detention, which has raised concerns about free speech protections amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Mr. Khalil, a prominent figure in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the Columbia campus, was arrested by federal immigration agents in New York on Saturday and is being held at a facility in Louisiana. He has not been charged with any crime. But the Trump administration has accused him of siding with terrorists, and justified his detention by citing a little-used statute that grants the secretary of state the power to initiate deportation proceedings against anyone whose presence in the United States is “adversarial” to the country’s foreign policy and national security interests. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters during a stop in Ireland on Wednesday, accused Mr. Khalil of participating in antisemitic activities, including protests that Mr. Rubio said had expressed support for Hamas. Mr. Rubio said that anyone who did so would be removed from the United States. “This is not about free speech,” he said. “This is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.”

NBC News [3/12/2025 7:08 PM, Daniella Silva, Chloe Atkins, Laura Jarrett, and Adam Reiss, 44742K] reports that the Trump administration has filed a document seeking to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who played a major role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, saying he is “subject to removal from the United States” in documents obtained by NBC News. Federal immigration agents arrested Khalil, 30, in New York City on Saturday and briefly took him to a detention center in New Jersey before he was transferred to the facility in Jena, Louisiana. He is an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent, married to a U.S. citizen and a legal permanent resident of the United States. In the document, the Department of Homeland Security cited a provision in immigration law that gives the secretary of state the authority to deport someone if it is determined that the person “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” “The Secretary of State has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States,” it continued. The agency issued Khalil a notice to appear before an immigration judge for deportation proceedings, with a hearing set for March 27 at the detention center in Louisiana where he is being held, according to the document obtained by NBC News. DHS said Khalil “refused to sign” the document, which was dated as having been served to him Sunday, the day after he was arrested.

Bloomberg [3/12/2025 2:48 PM, Katia Porzecanski, Alicia A. Caldwell, and David Voreacos, 16228K] reports the Trump administration is employing a little-used immigration provision to try to deport a Palestinian activist with permanent residency status in the US. Mahmoud Khalil, a recent student at Columbia University, was arrested by immigration officers over the weekend after months of helping lead anti-Israel protests at the Ivy League campus. While US officials cited his support for Hamas — a designated terrorist organization — as justification for his detention, his attorneys say it’s intended to silence his free speech. The White House said Tuesday his residency was revoked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio who, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, can do so in cases where a foreigner’s presence is detrimental to US foreign policy. Khalil’s notice to appear in immigration court, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg, confirms he was charged with that reasoning as grounds for his removal. The provision cited as justification for Khalil’s deportation is rarely used. Lawmakers have warned that it should be used only in unusual circumstances because it’s up to the discretion of the secretary of state, immigration attorneys told Bloomberg. Typically, revoking a green card is done through the Department of Homeland Security and involves allegations of fraud or criminal activity. There are separate provisions that would allow for removing green card holders for acts related to terrorism or war crimes. President Donald Trump has said Khalil’s arrest is the “first of many to come.” At a hearing Wednesday, US District Judge Jesse Furman deferred ruling on Khalil’s request to be in New York as he challenges the legality of his arrest and detention. Furman said he must first determine whether New York is the proper place to hear the case. He didn’t review the merits for Khalil’s detainment. The Hill [3/12/2025 4:23 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 12829K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio has initiated removal efforts for Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist, by citing Section 237(a)(4)(C)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which denotes individuals whose presence poses serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States as deportable. Government officials allege that Khalil promoted pro-Hamas rhetoric on the campus of Columbia University, where he formerly attended classes as a student, during large scale protests.

The Hill [3/12/2025 12:32 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 12829K] reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio knocked the notion that Mahmoud Khalil’s federal court case is about First Amendment rights but rather his legal standing to remain in the U.S. after he led pro-Palestinian demonstrations. "This is not about free speech. This is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with," Rubio said during a Wednesday briefing with reporters. "No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card," he added. Khalil’s detainment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has drawn widespread attention and objections from lawmakers who claim he was illegally arrested. The former Columbia University student is a green card holder who helped organize campus protests against Israel in support of Palestine. Rubio told reporters the country retains the right to deny visas for "virtually any reason." "If you tell us, when you apply, ‘Hi, I’m trying to get into the United States on a student visa, I am a big supporter of Hamas, a murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children, that rapes teenage girls, that takes hostages, that allows them to die in captivity, that returns more bodies than live hostages,’" he said. "If you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, and if you tell us, when you apply for your visa, and by the way, ‘I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, antisemitic activities, I intend to shut down your universities.’"

Reported similarly:
FOX News [3/12/2025 10:59 AM, Danielle Wallace, 46189K]

Washington Post [3/12/2025 5:59 PM, Cate Brown, Maria Sacchetti, and Shayna Jacobs, 31735K] reports that as the Trump administration moves to deport Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil, the government has so far provided just one reason for doing so: Secretary of State Marco Rubio has determined Khalil’s presence in the United States could have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” A government notice for Khalil to appear in a federal immigration court, which was obtained by The Washington Post, provides no other evidence or specific accusations. A court hearing Wednesday, four days after his arrest, yielded no additional information. Khalil’s lawyers have urged a judge to release the pro-Palestinian activist or return him to New York, where immigration agents arrested him at his apartment Saturday and moved him 1,300 miles away, to a detention center in Louisiana. President Donald Trump has vowed to deport international students he alleges are engaging in “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American” campus protests over the war between Israel and Hamas, while defenders of Khalil and others say the government is trampling on the First Amendment right to free speech. White House officials said the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investigated Khalil’s activities, but immigration officers provided no written evidence to support his deportation beyond Rubio’s determination based on a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

CBS Philadelphia [3/12/2025 7:03 PM, Graham Kates, Nathalie Nieves, and Katrina Kaufman, 51661K] reports that an activist who led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University will remain detained in Louisiana following a brief Wednesday court hearing. Judge Jesse Furman said he would grant a request by Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyers allowing them to have privileged phone calls with Khalil at least twice — today and tomorrow. Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities Saturday night at his university-owned apartment. Lawyers said in court Wednesday he was first brought to a detention center in New Jersey before being flown to another site in Louisiana. Khalil’s attorneys said they have been unable to have privileged communications with him since. They said the detention facility holding Khalil wouldn’t allow that type of call until March 20. The federal judge on Monday temporarily halted Mahmoud Khalil’s removal from the U.S., barring the government from deporting him before Wednesday’s hearing. Furman did not rule Wednesday on an effort by Khalil’s lawyers to have him moved closer to his New York home. In the meantime, Khalil will remain in detention in Louisiana. Amy Greer, Khalil’s attorney, said officials were acting on a State Department order to revoke Khalil’s student visa and green card. Khalil was sent to a detention center in Jena, Louisiana. He will not be present at the New York hearing, his lawyers said.

The Hill [3/12/2025 6:00 AM, Julia Mueller and Jared Gans, 12829K] reports Progressives have emerged as the most aggressive voices condemning the detention of Palestinian activist and U.S. green card-holder Mahmoud Khalil, arguing that Democrats must unite in denouncing the Trump administration’s move. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Khalil, a recently graduated Master’s student at Columbia University, on Saturday over the administration’s allegations that he supports Hamas despite Khalil being a legal permanent resident who hasn’t been accused of any crime. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would move to deport additional "Hamas supporters" in the country on visas or green cards. Influential figures on the left have quickly united behind Khalil’s cause, arguing his detention is a clear violation of free speech and that Democrats must unite on the issue. "There’s never going to be the ideal situation to protest against, but this is one of those moments where a fundamental right is being called into question, and therefore, I think it’s imperative that progressives and moderate Democrats speak with one voice," said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the progressive group Our Revolution. The Department of Homeland Security said over the weekend that ICE arrested Khalil "in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism," alleging that the recent Columbia graduate "led activities aligned to Hamas." The president on Truth Social said it was "the first arrest of many to come," likening Khalil and other student protesters to "terrorist sympathizers.” On Monday, a federal judge halted the government from moving forward with deportation efforts against Khalil before a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday. In response, progressive voices on Capitol Hill and beyond have been sounding the alarm that the move has free speech and civil rights implications that cross party lines. Geevarghese called the Trump administration’s move to detain Khalil an "abuse of power.” "And specifically in this situation, it’s important because it’s about something bigger than just the Israeli-Hamas conflict," he said. "It’s really about our right to protest and to dissent, and Donald Trump is using this to test the limits, not just of the law, but also of the opposition.”

New York Times [3/12/2025 2:58 PM, Liam Stack and Katherine Rosman, 145325K] reports days after immigration officers arrested a prominent pro-Palestinian campus activist, administrators at Columbia University gathered students and faculty from the journalism school and issued a warning. Students who were not U.S. citizens should avoid publishing work on Gaza, Ukraine and protests related to their former classmate’s arrest, urged Stuart Karle, a First Amendment lawyer and adjunct professor. With about two months to go before graduation, their academic accomplishments — or even their freedom — could be at risk if they attracted the ire of the Trump administration. For the past two academic years, student protests against the war in Gaza have forced Columbia into a high-stakes balancing act between the competing demands of free speech and student safety. The two moves sent shock waves through Columbia — and the world of higher education — and put the school on the front lines of the Trump administration’s escalating attacks on both elite universities and immigrant communities. It was an outcome Columbia had tried hard to avoid.

FOX News [3/12/2025 5:30 AM, Landon Mion, 46189K] reports about a dozen protesters demonstrating in support of former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil were arrested on Tuesday as they clashed with New York City Police. Immigration enforcement agents arrested Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident, in New York on Saturday, and he has been moved to an immigration detention center in Louisiana as the Trump administration seeks to revoke his legal status and deport him for his involvement last year in anti-Israel protests on campus. The White House said Tuesday that Khalil distributed pro-Hamas flyers on campus. "This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda flyers with the logo of Hamas," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman has ordered that Khalil, whose American wife is eight months pregnant, not be deported while the court considers the legal challenge brought by his lawyers, who argue the government is unlawfully retaliating against him for constitutionally protected speech. His lawyers want him brought back to New York and released under supervision. On Tuesday, the NYPD made arrests after several protesters blocked a downtown street in Manhattan, even after warnings to clear the roadway, according to the New York Post. One demonstrator was tackled to the ground by a pair of officers during his arrest. "Move cops, get out the way, we know you’re Israeli-trained," some protesters shouted as police blocked them from entering City Hall Park. "Oink, oink, piggy, piggy. We’re gonna make your lives s--tty." Police repeatedly warned protesters that if they remained on the roadway, they would be arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [3/12/2025 9:47 PM, Jonathan Allen, 41523K] reports two days before U.S. agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and Palestinian activist asked his wife if she knew what to do if immigration agents came to their door. Noor Abdalla, Khalil’s wife of more than two years, said she was confused. As a legal permanent resident of the U.S., surely Khalil did not have to worry about that, she recalls telling him. "I didn’t take him seriously. Clearly I was naive," Abdalla, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant, told Reuters in her first media interview. U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents handcuffed her husband on Saturday in the lobby of their university-owned apartment building in Manhattan. Earlier on Wednesday, Abdalla sat in the front row of a Manhattan courtroom as Khalil’s lawyers argued to a federal judge that he had been arrested in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy against Israel’s military assault on Gaza following militant group Hamas’ October 2023 attack. They told the judge that was a violation of Khalil’s right to free speech. U.S. President Donald Trump has said on social media that Khalil supported Hamas, the Islamist group that governs Gaza. But his administration has said he is not accused of or charged with a crime and it has not provided evidence of Khalil’s alleged support for the militant group.

CBS New York [3/12/2025 6:06 PM, Marcia Kramer, 51661K] reports White House "border czar" Tom Homan met with Republican lawmakers in Albany Wednesday to demand an end to sanctuary city laws. Homan slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul and praised New York City Mayor Eric Adams for agreeing to help him deport immigrants who commit crimes. Republicans were thrilled. Democrats were not. Tempers flared.

Reuters [3/12/2025 10:05 PM, Brad Brooks, 41523K] reports the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday opened an investigation into the operation of New York City hotels as migrant shelters, according to media reports. The Guardian newspaper and New York Times, both saying they obtained a copy of a federal subpoena sent to a New York hotel that houses migrants, reported prosecutors are seeking a full list of names of migrants staying there. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the investigation, nor did the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The Times reported that the target of the subpoena was the Hotel Chandler in Manhattan. A phone number listed for that hotel did not ring through and no email was listed on the hotel’s website. The Times reported the subpoena requested testimony and evidence from the hotel related to "an alleged violation" of immigration law and for the names of individuals and entities responsible for the "funding and management of the illegal immigrant/migrant shelter program.” New York and other cities have come under fire from the administration of President Donald Trump and other Republicans for their receipt of millions of dollars in federal funds to defray the costs of housing recently arrived migrants. Earlier this month, a U.S. judge declined to order the Trump administration to return to New York City $80.5 million in grants it had pulled back to help cover housing costs. New York state is bound by a decades-old consent decree from a class-action lawsuit to provide shelter for those without homes. As more migrants have arrived, a range of approaches to housing them, from tents to relocation to other parts of the state, has been tried. New York’s Mayor Adams, a Democrat, separately faces criminal corruption charges brought last September under the Biden administration. Trump’s Department of Justice wants to dismiss that case, in part to free Adams to help Trump crack down on illegal immigration. The New York Times [3/12/2025 8:16 PM, Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Chelsia Rose Marcius, 145325K] reports that the investigation appears focused at least in part on the management and funding of hotels acting as shelters, but its full scope was unclear as of Wednesday, as was whether other hotels had received subpoenas. The grand jury subpoena was issued by the office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. A spokesman for the office, Nicholas Biase, referred questions to the Department of Justice in Washington. A spokesman there declined to comment on what he said was “an ongoing criminal investigation,” adding that he could not discuss the scope or contours of the inquiry. New York City, which is housing about 43,000 migrants in shelters across the city, including dozens of converted hotels, had not received a subpoena as of Wednesday, according to an official briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. Liz Garcia, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams, declined to comment, saying, “We cannot comment on any type of federal investigation.” The Guardian first reported on Wednesday that a Manhattan hotel, which they did not name, had received a subpoena.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 7:23 PM, Molly Crane-Newman and Josephine Stratman, 52868K]

New York Times [3/12/2025 8:35 PM, Aishvarya Kavi, 145325K] reports the Trump administration said on Wednesday that it had stopped using the largest U.S. operator of shelters for migrant children over allegations of sexual abuse and harassment of minors at the facilities, and moved to dismiss a Biden-era lawsuit that sought to hold the nonprofit accountable for enabling that abuse. A joint statement issued by the Health and Human Services and Justice Departments on Wednesday cited concerns over allegations detailed in the lawsuit filed last year, namely that employees for the provider, Southwest Key Programs, subjected children to abuse and harassment. The suit accused employees of Southwest Key, which has worked with the federal government for more than two decades, of exploiting “children’s vulnerabilities, language barriers and distance from family and loved ones” from 2015 through at least 2023, including President Trump’s first term. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in the statement, blamed the Biden administration’s immigration policies for enabling the abuses. “Under the border policies of the previous administration, bad actors were incentivized to exploit children and break our laws: this ends now,” Ms. Bondi said, adding, “securing our border and protecting children from abuse are among the most critical missions of the Department of Justice and the Trump administration.” Anais Biera Miracle, a spokeswoman for Southwest Key, maintained the nonprofit denied the claims of abuse. She said it was “pleased” that the Justice Department had dropped the case in its entirety, and that charges cannot be refiled. “There is no settlement or payment required,” Ms. Miracle said in an email. “We are glad this matter is now concluded.”

Bloomberg [3/13/2025 12:01 AM, Ben Steverman and Alexandre Tanzi, 16228K] reports New York City’s population is growing again, according to Census Bureau estimates, part of a broader rebound in many areas that saw the largest losses in the pandemic’s early years. A key driver, though, is international arrivals — raising the question of how demographics in the nation’s biggest city may shift under President Donald Trump’s threatened immigration crackdown. Overall, Americans continue to move south to the US Sunbelt. Nine of the ten fastest-growing metro areas are in the South, more than half of them in Texas or Florida, according to figures from the latest Census survey published Thursday. Populations in almost a quarter of metro areas remained smaller than in March 2020 when the pandemic hit. The population of New York City rose 1% from mid-2023 to mid-2024, more than double its growth rate the previous year — even as the nation’s largest city, with 8.5 million residents, remains some 325,000 smaller than in early 2020. More than 1 million people have left the wider New York metro area since then, but there have been inflows too. The number of international arrivals climbed 21% last year, bringing the total since mid-2022 to above 525,000, the Bureau estimates. Over the same period, some 350,000 NYC-area residents moved away, though domestic outmigration last year was less than half its 2022 level. "Increasingly, population growth in metro areas is being shaped by international migration," said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division, in the release. "While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas.” Trump has vowed to deport unauthorized migrants in unprecedented numbers, as well as bolstering US border controls to slow the flow of new arrivals. The data show many big US cities are still losing residents to smaller metro areas, as Americans leave more expensive urban centers in search of cheaper housing. The spread of remote work has made such moves easier. "The overall pandemic pattern is still very much there," said University of Virginia demographer Hamilton Lombard. "Lower-cost areas are pulling in residents." But migration rates seem to be slowing as high interest rates make new mortgages more expensive, he said.

CBS Austin [3/12/2025 10:54 AM, Katie Bente, 602K] reports that Florida is home to an estimated one million undocumented immigrants, and the costs to taxpayers are substantial. A new state report reveals that hundreds of millions of tax dollars are being used to cover unpaid medical bills for individuals who are not legally in the U.S. As part of our CBS12 News Waste Watch segment, our mission is to uncover and expose taxpayer waste, ensuring your hard-earned money is spent wisely by government officials. According to the report, undocumented immigrants racked up nearly $659.9 million in healthcare costs last year alone—much of it passed on to taxpayers. The report refers to this as a "burden," citing the nearly $660 million in unpaid hospital costs incurred by undocumented migrants across Florida in 2024, based on data from the "Hospital Patient Immigration Status Report" released by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). However, this figure is based only on the 94,000 patients who self-identified as undocumented. Another 840,000 patients did not answer the question regarding their immigration status. The report is required under Senate Bill 1718, which, as of July 1, 2023, mandates that hospitals accepting Medicaid include a section in the registration process where the patient or their representative must indicate whether the patient is a U.S. citizen, lawfully present in the U.S., or not lawfully present. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [3/12/2025 4:22 PM, Greg Wehner, 46189K] reports a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) director in Michigan has been accused of running a scheme to defraud the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after a series of floods damaged her home in 2023. The Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed a criminal complaint against 55-year-old Serina Baker-Hill on Wednesday, charging her with engaging in a scheme to defraud FEMA and lying to federal agents. FEMA approved Michigan’s request for a federal disaster declaration after a series of floods devastated the Detroit area in August 2023. The disaster declaration allowed residents to apply for FEMA assistance. The DOJ said Baker-Hill applied for assistance after her home was damaged by flooding, and a FEMA inspector determined there had been damage to the basement of the house. Investigators reviewed Baker-Hill’s bank records and say they discovered that none of the money was used for rental, hotel or utility expenses. The investigation is ongoing. Once complete, a determination will be made on whether to seek a felony indictment. UPI [3/12/2025 6:06 PM, Allen Cone, 1890K] reports Beck announced in Detroit. Baker-Hill was released on a $10,000 bond after an initial appearance in federal court, the Detroit News reported. She is charged with three crimes: wire fraud, lying and fraud in connection with a major disaster, and could face at least 20 years in federal prison. Her husband, 56-year-old Maurice Hill, was charged Wednesday in a separate federal case involving narcotics trafficking. Serina Baker-Hill, director of Excellence and Expertise over Automotive and Aerospace Engineering, was a career employee of the agency, which cracks down on illegal immigration. Baker-Hill did not serve in a sworn law enforcement role and was not involved in immigration enforcement activities. After floods in the Detroit area in August 2023, Michigan’s request for a federal disaster declaration was approved on Feb. 9, 2024, allowing for residents to apply for FEMA assistance. Baker-Hill applied for help on March 14, 2024, and a FEMA inspector determined there was damage to the basement in her home, DOJ said. During the inspection, Baker-Hill informed the inspector she couldn’t live safely in the home while the repairs were being made. FEMA approved benefits to assist with home repairs and for two months of rental assistance. She received $6,315 to fix the damage and $31,90 for rental assistance, according to the affidavit obtained by the Detroit Free Press. The approval letter noted that the rental assistance money was to be used solely to help Baker-Hill pay rent and essential utility costs while she was in temporary housing. But none of the FEMA funds was used for rental, hotel or utility expenses, DOJ said. The FBI’s Detroit Border Corruption Task Force and CBP-OPR conducted the investigation of Baker-Hill with assistance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security--Office of Inspector General.

Reported similarly:
CBS Detroit [3/12/2025 1:00 PM, Paula Wethington, 51661K]
Detroit Free Press [3/12/2025 3:56 PM, Christina Hall]

Chicago Tribune [3/13/2025 12:01 AM, Robert McCoppin, 524K] reports the Chicago metropolitan area and Cook County both saw slight increases in population according to the most recent estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau, as international immigration outpaced domestic departures in many big cities nationwide. The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area grew by 70,762 people — less than 1% — from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024. That was the ninth-largest numeric growth of any metropolitan area in the country. But the population of the metropolitan area was still lower than it was five years earlier because of declines during the COVID pandemic. The metro area’s population stood at 9,408,576 in 2024, down from 9,454,363 in 2020. Cook County gained around 40,000 people between 2023 and 2024, or 0.8%, but its population remained 1.8% below its 2020 level. "Increasingly, population growth in metro areas is being shaped by international migration," said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. "While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas.” More than 51,000 immigrants have come to Chicago since 2022, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants north to the city. The city has spent more than $600 million on housing and other services for the arrivals, prompting complaints from some residents who wanted to see the resources address chronic community problems. Cook County remained the second largest county in the union behind Los Angeles County, with just under 5.2 million people. The collar counties also saw modest growth between 2023 and 2024. DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will each gained slightly less than 1%. Fast-growing Kendall County gained 2.1%, and 8.6% since 2020. Statewide, the population has dropped 0.9% since 2020, driven mainly by losses of 2% to 5% in a number of western and southern counties. Champaign County was an exception, with a significant immigrant community that has helped drive an increase of nearly 6,000 people, or 2.9%, since 2020. The U.S. population grew by nearly 1% between 2023 and 2024, the fastest growth since 2001. That too was primarily due to immigration, which reached record highs in 2023, but has fallen to the lowest levels in 25 years amid a border crackdown and deportations ordered this year by President Donald Trump.

Texas Tribune [3/12/2025 2:12 PM, Natalia Contreras, 1487K] reports that with unanimous Republican support, the Texas Senate appears poised to pass a priority bill requiring Texans to prove their citizenship before they could vote in state, local, and presidential elections. Senate Bill 16, which would apply to new registrants as well as existing registered voters who did not provide proof of citizenship when they registered. That would include voters who registered through a voter registration drive or by mail, rather than while obtaining a Texas drivers license or state ID through the Department of Public Safety. Voters who don’t provide proof of citizenship would be placed on a separate voter roll and could cast ballots only in U.S. House and Senate races. Voters on that list wouldn’t be allowed to vote for president under the bill, which experts say could invite a legal challenge. The bill would create a new barrier to voting for some of Texas’ more than 18 million registered voters, and could diminish the rights of eligible voters who are not able to provide documents proving their U.S. citizenship. It would subject election officials to potential criminal penalties, making it a felony punishable by jail time to knowingly register an applicant without first verifying that they are citizens.

Miami Herald [3/12/2025 6:26 PM, Verónica Egui Brito and Syra Ortiz Blanes, 3973K] reports the Department of Homeland Security issued a notice on Wednesday requiring millions of immigrants to register their presence in the United States with the federal government or face stiff penalties. Those who must register include people who entered the U.S. without being processed by immigration authorities as well Canadians without evidence of an arrival or departure record, which often includes tourists and those on business. The registration process will be effective by April 11. If people don’t register within the next month, they could face a $5,000 fine, up to six months in jail, or both. Homeland Security estimated in public documents that the rule could apply to between 2.2 million and 3.2 million people. The required registration is the latest move by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration and targets some undocumented immigrants, who must now make the choice between registering — and exposing themselves to deportation — or not register and risk criminal prosecution. The agency has created a new form and an online process that people can use to register. Immigrants who do not need to register include permanent residents, those with an arrival and departure record known as an I-94 document, individuals in immigration court proceedings or with pending green card applications, those with work permits, and those who have been issued an immigrant or non-immigrant visas. Under the new rule, Canadian non-immigrants staying in the U.S. for 30 days or longer, and who were not issued a registration document like Form I-94 upon entry, will need to submit the new form. Traditionally, Canadians have not been required to register with the federal government, but Homeland Security is changing the rule, according to the notice. Many Canadians spend their winters in Florida. According to Visit Florida, the agency created by the state to promote tourism, close to 3.3 million Canadians visited the state last year.

FOX News [3/12/2025 12:56 PM, Danielle Wallace and Bryan Llenas, 46189K] reports that the United States will require Canadians visiting for more than 30 days to register with authorities and have their fingerprints taken, according to a new interim final rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The new requirement, which takes effect on April 11, applies to all foreign nationals who cross the U.S.-Canada land border and are at least 14 years old who stay in the U.S. for 30 days or more. The rule was submitted to the Federal Registrar on Wednesday amid an escalating trade war between the United States and its northern neighbor. Canada, meanwhile, announced $21 billion in new U.S. tariffs on Wednesday. The change will impact some Canadians who were previously exempt from this requirement, including many Canadian snowbirds – retirees who spend winter months in U.S. states – who now have to register with the government or face fines. The interim final rule confirms that children under age 14, whose parents or guardians must register them, will not be fingerprinted. Biometrics will also be waived for Canadian business and tourist visitors who enter by land, but they also must register if they remain in the country for 30 days or more. DHS recognized that the "affected population impacted by this rule are those who are currently unregistered and who would use the general registration form designated under this rule.” "DHS estimates the affected population to be between 2.2 million and 3.2 million," the rule said.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [3/12/2025 11:24 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12829K]

Newsweek [3/12/2025 6:32 PM, Nick Mordowanec, 52220K] reports another new immigration requirement for Canadians entering the United States is causing additional consternation for citizens north of the border. The Federal Register Interim Rule was published today and takes effect April 11, 2025. Under the general rule, fingerprints are required to cross the border. However, Canadians are exempt and instead must create a U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) account and register their biographical information and U.S. presence. That document will then be posted to the individual’s myUSCIS account. Foreign nationals who now enter the U.S. via a land border and do not receive a document from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must register with the U.S. government if their stay exceeds 30 days. This modification of a nearly 30-year-old precedent affects colloquial Canadian "snowbirds" seeking respite in the southern U.S. during cold winter months. Illegal immigrants who do not follow such requirements face the threat of a penalty of $5,000 or six months in prison, or both.

Reuters [3/12/2025 8:04 AM, Lizbeth Diaz, 24727K] reports President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has coincided with a surge in U.S.-bound migrants in Mexico seeking help to return to their home countries, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM). In January and February, the agency received 2,862 requests for its assisted voluntary return program, more than triple the requests logged during the same period last year, according to IOM data shared exclusively with Reuters. The record number of requests, which has not been previously reported, reveals the fallout of Trump’s wide-ranging immigration crackdown, which has left thousands, if not tens of thousands, of migrants stranded in Mexico. It’s also the first hard evidence of a shift in attitudes among migrants who once viewed the opportunities offered in the U.S. as worth the hazards involved in the journey northward. The shift jibes with other recent numbers showing migrant arrests at the U.S. southern border dropping dramatically. Over the last two months, the agency has received requests from migrants seeking to return to Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and other countries, Alberto Cabezas, spokesman for IOM in Mexico, said. He did not elaborate on the reasons behind the increase. Israel Ibarra, a researcher with the Mexican think tank COLEF, said the increase reflects the sharply limited legal pathways now faced by migrants waiting in Mexico. “There’s no options for them,” he said. Starting on January 20, Trump has taken a series of measures aimed at cracking down on migration, including implementing a broad ban on asylum for migrants encountered at the southern border and ending some legal pathways for migrants to enter the U.S. The abrupt termination of one such humanitarian parole program, known as CBP One, left thousands of migrants from around the world suddenly stranded in Mexico with few, if any, legal pathways to reach the U.S. About 20 migrants in Mexico told Reuters that since CBP One ended on January 20 they’ve sought to return to their home countries, but lack the money or documents to do so. Some don’t have valid passports, required for boarding international flights.

Bloomberg [3/12/2025 1:20 PM, Michael O’Boyle and Carolina Millan, 16228K] reports that Mexico is delaying its response to US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports as President Claudia Sheinbaum avoids retaliation while both countries negotiate to avert levies on a wide range of products and services. Sheinbaum, whose cool-headed approach has become a model to many world leaders dealing with Donald Trump, said on Wednesday she’d rather wait until the US president decides whether or not to impose 25% tariffs on Mexican imports in general. Such levies, part of a US strategy to force its neighbors to combat illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking, are currently on hold until April 2 for products covered by North America’s free trade agreement. Sheinbaum’s response stands in stark contrast with that of Canada, which earlier unveiled 25% counter-tariffs on about $21 billion of US-made items after the Trump administration went ahead on Wednesday with global levies on imports of steel and aluminum. “Given that we have a trade agreement and there are no tariffs from Mexico to the United States, well, there shouldn’t be any reciprocal tariffs,” Sheinbaum said at her daily press conference. “So we’ll wait until April and then make our decision on whether or not to impose reciprocal tariffs.”

NPR [3/12/2025 9:07 PM, Ayana Archie, 61K] reports a person of interest has been named in the investigation of a missing 20-year-old U.S. college student who disappeared last week in the Dominican Republic while on spring break with friends. The missing woman, Sudiksha Konanki, traveled to Punta Cana with five other people last Monday, according to the Dominican Republic’s national police force. Three days later, Konanki entered a beach area with a group at 4:15 am on Thursday near a Riu hotel, according to surveillance video. Konanki disappeared around that time, Dominican national police said. Konanki is a resident of Loudoun County, Va., and a junior at the University of Pittsburgh studying biological sciences and chemistry on the pre-med track, the university told NPR. The person of interest is also from the U.S. Joshua Riibe, a 22-year-old from Iowa, is being named a person of interest in the case because he may have been the last person to see Konanki, said Thomas Julia, the director of media relations with the Loudoun County, Va., sheriff’s office, on Wednesday. He stressed that this is not a criminal investigation and Riibe is not a suspect. Julia said he cannot share what Riibe has divulged to authorities, but that there have been inconsistencies among the stories shared by interviewees, including Konanki’s travel companions. They have not been publicly named, but one of them is being investigated, the Dominican national police said Sunday. A challenge authorities are facing is that many who could be helpful to the investigation are U.S. tourists and have returned home since the disappearance, according to Julia. However, Riibe and Konanki’s friends are still being detained, he said. The U.S. Embassy alerted Dominican law enforcement of Konanki’s disappearance Friday morning, the Dominican national police said. They also said authorities are conducting a search by land, air and water, and are using everything from drones, helicopters, divers, boats and canines, among other methods. The University of Pittsburgh said in a statement it is cooperating with the investigation, which is also being handled by the U.S. State Department, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Administration and Loudoun County sheriff’s office, alongside Dominican authorities.

USA Today [3/12/2025 10:12 AM, N’dea Yancey-Bragg, John Bacon, and Thao Nguyen, 75858K] reports that authorities have identified a person of interest in the case of a college student who went missing during a spring break visit to the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, authorities in the Caribbean island continue their search to find 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Konanki’s hometown in Virginia, said Joshua Riibe was seen with the student at a resort before she went missing, spokesperson Chad Quinn told USA TODAY. Though Konanki’s father has asked local authorities to broaden the investigation, Quinn said the case is not a criminal investigation, so Riibe is not considered a suspect in Konanki’s disappearance. "This particular individual may have been the last one to have seen her, so is of particular interest," Quinn added in an email to USA TODAY. The Dominican Republic National Police said Tuesday it has worked with multiple U.S. agencies to establish a "high-level commission" to oversee the investigation and will be reinterviewing "targeted individuals" who were seen near or with Konanki at the time of her disappearance.

Reuters [3/12/2025 9:34 AM, Dave Sherwood, 41523K] reports Cuba has yet to discuss migration with the Trump administration, Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told Reuters, even as the U.S. plows ahead with a vast immigration crackdown that could leave many Cubans at risk of deportation. The Trump administration is planning to revoke legal status from some 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans allowed to enter the U.S. legally under temporary humanitarian "parole programs" launched under former U.S. President Joe Biden, Reuters reported last week. The move under consideration would be part of a broader effort to end Biden-era parole programs that allowed some 1.8 million migrants to enter the United States. But the Trump administration has not yet broached the subject of migration or any potential increase in deportations with Cuba, de Cossio told Reuters in an interview late Tuesday at Cuba`s Foreign Ministry in Havana. "There has been no request of that nature from the U.S. government," de Cossio said. "We have yet to even sit down to discuss if that would be a possibility." The White House, the U.S. State Department and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Under existing migratory accords, which date back to the 1980s, Cuba has routinely accepted immigrants deported from the U.S. by air and by sea. Two such repatriation flights have landed in Havana since January, de Cossio said. Most carry fewer than 100 deportees. But large scale deportations of Cubans initially admitted lawfully into the United States were never contemplated in the migratory accords between the two countries, the vice minister said. "When the agreements were made, the possiblity of the United States admitting people, and then unadmitting them, was not at the time seen as something reasonable. So anything (like that) would need to be discussed." De Cossio declined to say whether Cuba would be willing to cooperate with such an arrangement, calling it "unrealistic and unfair." Cuba has long alleged the U.S. stokes mass migration by attacking its economy with sanctions while at the same time incentivizing Cuban migration with laws that offer them a clearer path to citizenship than other nationalities. "They didn`t tear down a wall, they didn`t have to jump a fence to get into the U.S., they were invited," de Cossio said. The United States says Cuba is to blame for its migration crisis, accusing the island`s communist-run government of mismanaging the economy and violating human rights. Cubans rank among the top groups crossing the U.S.-Mexico border both through Biden-era legal entry programs and illegally in recent years. Upwards of one million Cubans have left the island since 2020, roughly a tenth of the population, an exodus demographers say has few parallels outside of war.

CNN [3/12/2025 11:29 AM, Osmary Hernández and Manuel Cobel, 908K] reports that with his hands and feet handcuffed, tied leg to leg with other detainees, José Daniel Simancas Rodríguez was put on a plane. He says he was told he would go to Miami. Hours later, when they landed, Simancas and his fellow passengers were transferred to a bus with the windows covered by bags. By then he already suspected where he had arrived: Guantanamo. What he did not imagine was that this was just the beginning of a nightmare that would last 15 days. Simancas was one of 177 Venezuelans deported by the United States who had been transferred to the US naval base in Cuba, a measure criticized by human rights organizations who say the base is not appropriate for housing migrants. He says he can attest to these complaints: in the place where they locked him up, there was barely a sheet and pillow, they gave him almost no food and he was completely isolated, Simancas told CNN. The only sound that accompanied him during what he describes as "hell" were the screams of the other prisoners. The experience was so unbearable that, he says, he even thought about suicide. Reached for comment about these allegations, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency told CNN that it cannot comment because there is pending litigation. Court documents allege that Simancas re-entered the United States illegally after being expelled the first time. Simancas denies this.

AP [3/12/2025 9:25 PM, Matias Delacroix and Megan Janetsky, 24727K] reports that they crossed oceans to get to the U.S., fleeing conflict, religious persecution, poverty and government crackdowns in countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia, Cameroon, China, Pakistan and Iran. After flying to Central and South America, they bused through countries where they didn’t speak the language and walked through unfamiliar jungle to get to the U.S.-Mexico border. Within days, they were detained and put on military aircraft that flew nearly 300 of them to Panama as U.S. President Donald Trump sought to accelerate deportations to more complicated destinations. Panama was supposed to be a stopover. But for those unwilling to return home — mostly out of well-founded fear — Panama sent them to a guarded camp without access to lawyers in the same Darién jungle many had crossed months earlier on their way north. Over the past week, under legal pressure, the Panamanian government dropped them off at a bus station in the capital with 30 days to figure out where they will go next. “It feels like the whole world is crushing down on me. It’s like everything is stopping,” said Isha Len, a 29-year-old from Cameroon. “I risked everything, my life, everything, crossing the Darién Gap, just to be sent back.”

Wall Street Journal [3/12/2025 5:59 PM, Staff] reports the Trump Administration’s decision to revoke the green-card immigration status of anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil is becoming a cause celebre, for better and maybe worse. Mr. Khalil may deserve deportation, but he also deserves due process, and revoking green cards as a policy would have costs beyond any individual’s fate. The latter is what Mr. Trump seems to have in mind. “This is the first arrest of many to come,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social. “We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country—never to return again,” he elaborated on X.com. Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted that the Administration “will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.” The deportation of green-card holders shouldn’t be taken lightly. They are permanent residents who sought legal approval and were vetted through official channels. Millions of people consider the green card a guarantee of secure U.S. residency and build their lives around it. The Khalil case has many green-card holders wondering if they could also be grabbed and deported for espousing controversial political views. That’s why the facts of his case and a day in court matter. A green card comes with legal obligations, including the disavowal of terrorism. Under 8 USC 1182, an alien is “inadmissable” if he or she “endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity” or is “a representative of . . . a political, social, or other group that endorses or espouses terrorist activity.” Mr. Khalil seems to have violated that obligation. He belongs to Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and was a lead negotiator during last spring’s anti-Israel encampment on the campus. Those protests glorified Hamas. CUAD was also a key player in the school’s encampment, which was a “Zionist-free zone,” a designation that excluded Jews from a large part of campus.

Newsweek [3/12/2025 7:00 AM, Khalil Cumberbatch and Marc A. Levin, 52220K] reports the recent proposal by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to house convicted felons from the United States—including U.S. citizens—in the country’s notorious CECOT mega-prison, also known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, raises profound constitutional and human rights concerns. While framed as a cost-saving measure and a solution to crime, this idea clashes with fundamental American legal principles, including due process, the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, and the broader framework of rehabilitation and reintegration into society. At the heart of this issue is the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of due process and equal protection under the law. The notion that American citizens convicted of crimes could be transferred to a foreign prison system—one that operates under vastly different legal standards—undermines the fundamental rights to which they are entitled. The Supreme Court has long affirmed that incarceration does not erase constitutional protections. If American prisons are required to adhere to these rights, outsourcing incarceration to a foreign country that does not meet these standards is legally and morally dubious. Equally troubling is the potential violation of the Eighth Amendment. Reporting details overcrowding, indefinite detention, and brutal conditions in CECOT including many individuals being confined to their cell for all but 30 minutes a day, raising serious concerns about cruel and unusual punishment. The American legal system has long prohibited inhumane treatment of incarcerated individuals, and the transfer of people in U.S. prisons to a facility where these protections are uncertain at best could expose the government to legal challenges. Furthermore, this proposal contradicts the principles of rehabilitation and reentry that anchor our correctional system. One of the key purposes of incarceration—aside from accountability—is to prepare individuals for their return to society. Transferring incarcerated Americans to a foreign prison severs their connection to family, legal representation, and reentry programs that are crucial for a successful reintegration. Instead of promoting rehabilitation, such a practice would create further isolation and recidivism risks. Ironically, it was President Donald Trump who signed the landmark First Step Act in 2018, which facilitated successful reentry by requiring, with some exceptions, people in federal prison to be housed within 500 miles of their home. There are also serious legal questions about whether the U.S. government has the authority to carry out such a transfer. The vast majority of those incarcerated in the U.S. are held in state facilities under the jurisdiction of state governments, meaning that any policy to relocate those not in federal prisons to El Salvador would require cooperation from individual states. Even for people in federal custody, existing laws governing transfers generally apply to voluntary relocations with treaty agreements—not unilateral decisions by an administration.

ABC News [3/12/2025 12:48 PM, Mireya Villarreal and Luke Barr, 34586K] reports that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has arrested over 32,000 migrants who are living in the United States without legal status since Jan. 21, a day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. Those numbers include at-large arrests made by ICE, arrests made in the Criminal Alien Program and a partnership program called 287g, according to a senior ICE official. In the first 50 days of the Trump administration, immigration officials arrested over 14,000 convicted criminals, 9,800 migrants who have pending criminal charges 1,155 suspected gang members and 44 foreign fugitives, according to a senior ICE official. But on a call with a group of reporters on Wednesday, senior ICE official called the remaining 8,718 "immigration violators." During previous interviews with ABC News and other outlets, ICE has referred to these arrests as "collateral damage" -- people who are not necessarily the target but get swept up in the process. "We ended catch [and] release, and we have returned ICE to its core mission, which is arresting people who violate our immigration law," acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said. "Secretary Noem and I are changing the culture of ICE to one of action and accountability." Newsweek [3/12/2025 12:59 PM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made 32,809 migrant arrests between January 20 and March 10, officials said at a news conference on Wednesday. By comparison, ICE arrested and detained about 255 people each day last year under Biden. Despite the sharp increase, the numbers still fall narrowly short of his election promise to carry out "the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America," when he referenced the 1954 "Operation Wetback," which rounded up an estimated 1 million people. At the current daily rate, over a four-year term, more than 950,000 arrests would be made, though that does not mean they would all be deported. There are more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, according to analysts. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on January 29 that the new Trump administration recognized all undocumented migrants as criminals "because they illegally broke our nation’s laws."

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [3/12/2025 12:37 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 2296K]

Reuters [3/12/2025 11:44 AM, Staff, 41523K] reports that U.S. immigration detention is filled to capacity at 47,600 detainees, a senior U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said on a call with reporters on Wednesday, adding that the Trump administration was seeking more bed space. The official, who requested anonymity as a condition of the call, said ICE was expanding its bed count with support from the U.S. Defense Department, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Prisons. ICE is currently funded to house an average of 41,500 detainees. The official said the agency was working with U.S. lawmakers to secure more detention funding. U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has vowed to deport record numbers of migrants in the U.S. illegally, saying it is needed after high levels of illegal immigration under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said in December 2024 that the administration would need at least 100,000 beds for the mass deportation effort. ICE has stepped up arrests since Trump took office on January 20, including of immigration violators with no other criminal charges or convictions. From January 20-March 10, ICE made about 32,800 arrests, of whom 27% were alleged immigration violators with no other criminal charge or conviction, the ICE official said. The Biden administration in all of fiscal year 2024 made 113,400 total arrests, ICE figures show.

Newsweek [3/12/2025 1:33 PM, Gabe Whisnant and Dan Gooding, 52220K] reports that U.S. immigration detention facilities have reached full capacity with 47,600 detainees, a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official told Reuters on Wednesday. The Trump administration is now seeking additional bed space to accommodate the growing number of detainees. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that ICE is expanding its capacity with assistance from the U.S. Defense Department, U.S. Marshals Service, and Bureau of Prisons to manage the overflow. President Donald Trump promised voters he would drastically increase the number of illegal immigrants being arrested and then deported once he returned to the White House on January 20. ICE only has a limited capacity to accommodate illegal immigrants, however, and has come under increasing pressure to deliver on the President’s promise. ICE has at least 7 million individuals on its non-detained docket, referring to immigrants with final orders or removal or who are going through removal proceedings, but are not seen as public safety threats. The agency, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, had a capacity across its detention sites for around 41,000 in November, according to ICE’s 2024 annual report.

CBS Miami [3/12/2025 8:57 AM, Morgan Rynor, John MacLauchlan, 51661K] reports Hialeah Police will now help federal and state agencies detain undocumented immigrants. During a meeting on Tuesday, the city counsel gave approval for Mayor Esteban Bovo to enter into a partnership agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Six members voted in favor of the partnership agreement, one member was absent. Under the federal 287(g) agreement, Hialeah Police officers will gain the authority to stop, interrogate and arrest individuals suspected of violating immigration laws. The 287(g) program allows state and local law enforcement to collaborate with (ICE) in detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants. Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a statewide expansion of immigration enforcement, granting all 67 county sheriffs the authority to act as federal immigration agents under the 287(g) program. Some residents who spoke at the meeting said they were concerned about entering the partnership because it would cause mistrust in the community. "My message is do not talk to the police. They took an oath to the Constitution to not violate your rights, which is the Fourth Amendment, okay do not talk to the police. Don’t talk to ICE, don’t talk to any police officer, okay, because they’re trying to incriminate you, to put you away, to take you away from your family," Juan Santana said. It remains to be seen how the agreement will be enforced. When one commissioner asked Hialeah Police Chief George Fuentes if officers would be asking for immigration paperwork when they pull someone over, he replied no. City officials said they don’t want immigrants to fear the police. Bovo said the police will just be providing support to ICE agents and they will not be conducting raids at churches. "The police department and Hialeah are here to serve them. If they run into a situation where they need the police, do not hesitate to call police and fire if that is warranted. I think that’s the first and most important thing to do. Number two is, if you are here illegally, do not violate the law. Very important. You’ve already violated the law coming to this country, so I would say be as quiet as a church mouse, that way police don’t have to go and knock on your door for some issue," he said. Once a sanctuary for Cubans escaping economic and political oppression, CBS News Miami partner The Miami Herald reports that the city has been wrestling with the presence of new immigrants from Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America.

NBC News [3/12/2025 3:07 PM, Didi Martinez, 44742K] reports the Department of Homeland Security says its immigrant detention centers are at capacity, housing about 47,600 individuals. Speaking to reporters Wednesday on background, DHS officials said they are working with the Marshals Service, Department of Defense and Federal Bureau of Prisons to increase bed space as they ask Congress for more funding. Arrested individuals are also being released from detention on a case-by-case basis using ICE’s Alternatives to Detention program based on medical or humanitarian concerns, they said. The senior DHS and ICE officials also provided new arrest data cataloging Trump’s first 50 days back in office. According to DHS data, from Jan. 20 to March 10, 2025 ICE has arrested 32,809 individuals. According to officials, of those, 14,111 were convicted criminals, 9,980 have pending criminal charges and 8,718 have only immigration-related violations. In terms of those with suspected ties to criminal organizations using the same time frame, officials said ICE had arrested 1,155 suspected gang members and 39 known or suspected terrorists. DHS did not say on the call how many people have been deported under the new Trump administration.

FOX News [3/12/2025 12:13 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46189K] reports that prominent House Republican Clay Higgins is telling local law enforcement agencies to "get geared up" to assist with ICE immigration operations because of "ongoing" enforcement actions throughout the country. While speaking during a House Federal Law Enforcement Oversight Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Higgins, who represents Southern Louisiana and chairs the subcommittee, cautioned local law enforcement to "get your mind right" and train up to help with the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down the border and deport illegal immigrants. "ICE is coming," he said. "You will very soon be given the opportunity to join a task force with ICE in your state and your community to remove criminal illegals.” "This is going to be an ongoing operation," he said, adding that the subcommittee will also be involved in the effort, which he described as a "restoration of law and order in our country." "In recent years we’ve seen the weaponization of our justice system, lawlessness in our cities and an open border that has allowed drugs and dangerous gangs into our country with deadly results," he said. Higgins vowed that "throughout this Congress, we’ll tackle these issues and ensure that President Trump has all the tools and resources he needs to address rampant crime."

AP [3/12/2025 7:24 PM, Valerie Gonzalez, 24727K] reports the Trump administration resumed family detention of immigrants last week in a South Texas facility after a Biden-era pause, a legal nonprofit group providing services to migrant families said Wednesday. Fourteen immigrant families with children as young as one year old were in the detention facility in Karnes County, Texas, about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of San Antonio, according to RAICES, which provides services to families at the center. The families are originally from Colombia, Romania, Iran, Angola, Russia, Armenia, Turkey and Brazil. Faisal Al-Juburi, the organization’s chief external affairs officer, said the families had been detained in the U.S. near the Mexican and Canadian borders. Some were in the U.S. for as little as 20 days and others for as long as about 10 years, Al-Juburi said. The nonprofit provided service to adult detainees at the center prior to last week’s shift in the center’s detention population when the adult detainees were moved out. Both the Obama administration and Trump’s first administration detained families until their immigration cases played out. Trump severely curbed asylum and forcibly separated children from their parents at the border in a policy widely denounced as inhumane.

Univision [3/12/2025 3:16 PM, Staff, 5325K] Video: HERE reports according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), more than 32,000 immigrants without legal status have been detained by ICE since President Donald Trump took office on January 20. Officials said more than 14,000 of those arrested have a criminal record. Look also: On the orders of a federal judge, ICE agents cannot arrest immigrants in some churches.

Border Report [3/12/2025 5:51 PM, Sandra Sanchez, 117K] reports the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is accusing the Biden administration of improperly inflating migrant arrest numbers and "misleading the American people." "The Biden administration was cooking the books," Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said during a call with reporters Wednesday. But he says that has drastically changed. Senior DHS officials said the number of at-large active arrests made by ICE agents since President Donald Trump almost equals total ICE at-large arrests for all of Fiscal Year 2024, which was under most of the Biden administration’s reign. During Fiscal Year 2024, ICE officers made 113,431 arrests. But senior DHS officials on Wednesday said those weren’t really arrests, but called them "pass through arrests" because they said the overwhelming majority of those cases were ICE officers processing new immigrant arrivals, not conducting enforcement actions, like detention or removals. But under the Trump administration, from Jan. 20 through March 10, ICE has already made 32,809 arrests, which included at-large arrests, a DHS senior official said. Of the ICE arrests made so far under the Trump administration, 14,111 immigrants, or 43%, are convicted criminals, and 9,980, or 30%, have pending charges, and 1,155 are suspected gang members, a senior ICE official said.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [3/12/2025 4:23 PM, Adam Shaw, 46189K]

NBC News [3/12/2025 6:42 PM, Nicole Acevedo, 44742K] reports a family that was deported to Mexico hopes they can find a way to return to the U.S. and ensure their 10-year-old daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, can continue her brain cancer treatment. Immigration authorities removed the girl and four of her American siblings from Texas on Feb. 4, when they deported their undocumented parents. The family’s ordeal began last month, when they were rushing from Rio Grande, where they lived, to Houston, where their daughter’s specialist doctors are based, for an emergency medical checkup. The parents had done the trip at least five other times in the past, passing through an immigration checkpoint every time without any issues, according to attorney Danny Woodward from the Texas Civil Rights Project, a legal advocacy and litigation organization representing the family. In previous occasions, the parents showed letters from their doctors and lawyers to the officers at the checkpoint to get through. But in early February, the letters weren’t enough. When they stopped at the checkpoint, they were arrested after the parents were unable to show legal immigration documentation. The mother, who spoke exclusively to NBC News, said she tried explaining her daughter’s circumstances to the officers, but "they weren’t interested in hearing that.” The Trump administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, has said "families can be deported together" regardless of status. Homan said it would be up to the parents to decide whether to depart the U.S. together or leave their children behind. But undocumented parents of U.S.-born children, if picked up by immigration authorities, face the risk of losing custody of their children. Without a power-of-attorney document or a guardianship outlining who will take care of the children left behind, the children go into the U.S. foster care system, making it harder for the parents to regain custody of their children in the future.

Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 10:14 AM, Desiree Nikfardjam, 52868K] reports that a Brazilian man who has been held by immigration authorities was arraigned on three counts of rape in Barnstable Superior Court on March 10, according to court records. William Vasconcelos-Dos Santos’ bail was set to $10,000 with prejudice, and his next court date for a pre-trial conference is April 11, according to court records. The bail amount is moot since he is in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Vasconcelos-Dos Santos was present in the courtroom, according to the Superior Court clerk’s office. Following his arraignment, Vasconcelos-Dos Santos, 21, was sent to the Barnstable County Correctional Facility in Bourne, where he will remain in custody, according to the correctional facility. He had previously been held in Plymouth at an ICE facility. On Jan. 20, Vasconcelos-Dos Santos was arrested by Falmouth police and arraigned later that day in Falmouth District Court on three counts of rape and one count of giving liquor to a person under the age of 21. That same day, ICE lodged an immigration detainer with Falmouth District Court against him. Vasconcelos-Dos Santos was first arrested in April 2024 by the U.S. Border Patrol near San Diego on a charge of entering the country illegally. He was released without bail and issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge.

Lebanon Daily News [3/12/2025 4:38 PM, Matthew Toth] reports the Lebanon County District Attorney has announced her office worked with Homeland Security investigations to detain two convicted criminals for deportation proceedings. Digvijaysinh Chauhan, 23, and Hemal Patel, 26, were sentenced for felony theft and conspiracy charges before the Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas on March 12. According to the DA’s office, following the sentencing both individuals were detained to face deportation proceedings. According to the DA’s office, both defendants were detained at the end of their sentencing hearings for the DHI. Officials said both Chauhan and Hemal waived any appeal rights which allows for their immediate detention and deportation. Graf has already announced her office will "actively assist with the location, detention and deportation of illegal criminals" for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. The office said that Christopher Pereyra Pena was detained for ICE in February after being charged with simple assault.

Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 8:12 AM, D.V. Wise, 52868K] reports that eleven law enforcement agencies teamed up for "Operation ICE Storm", including the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office and the North Augusta Department of Public Safety. The project was led by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. In a Facebook post, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said, "The presence of law enforcement agencies saturating a section of the interstate (I-95) during the operation not only promoted safety and prevented accidents but also protected the public by arresting criminals." The participating agencies included: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Customs and Border Protection (CBP)/Air and Marine Operations (AMO), Jacksonville, FL. Also participating in the operation were air units from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and Customs and Border Protection. While enforcing traffic laws, Operation ICE Storm completed 1,250 traffic stops for violations. Fifty of those stops required officers to deploy K-9s. One missing person was located who had been reported missing by family members from Florence County. The individual was found to be safe, and their family was notified. Officers seized illegal drugs, firearms, counterfeit goods, and illicitly gained currency during traffic stops.

Miami Herald [3/12/2025 11:52 AM, Charles Rabin, 3973K] reports that the Hungarian man charged last month with murders in Miami and Miami Beach after overstaying his visa waiver pleaded not guilty to the charges during a brief court hearing Wednesday morning. Zsolt Zsolyomi, 26, wasn’t present as his attorney Arthur McNeil made the plea before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Ramiro Areces. A tentative trial date has been set for May 12. Zsolyomi is charged with killing two older men two months apart and trying to cover up the murders. He was taken into custody on Feb. 19 after a seven-month odyssey that included charges of robbing a woman of $50 and a brief visit to the Krome Detention Center after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement discovered he’d overstayed a visa waiver by more than two years. Carlos Alonso Villaquiran, 66, was discovered face down in six inches of bathtub water in his Miami Beach apartment in November. And Rodolfo Fernandez de Velasco, 71, was found dead in his vehicle with the driver’s side seat belt fastened tightly around his neck after his car careened into a fence in Miami in January. Police believe Zsolyomi tried to cover up both murders, which were staged to appear as accidents. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner determined both deaths were caused by strangulation.

Telemundo [3/12/2025 11:26 PM, Staff, 171K] reports the FBI and ICE arrested an alleged former Cuban intelligence member in South Florida on Wednesday. The arrest took place in the city of West Park in Broward County, authorities said. The photo of the arrest was posted on the X-an account - former Twitter - of the Department of Homeland Security’s Miami headquarters, who confirmed that they will offer more details of this event this Thursday.

Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 9:37 AM, Corey Arwood, 52868K] reports that roofing workers were arrested on a new state immigration charge when deputies were called to look into reports of a possible burglary attempt at a building in the industrial complex where the men were working Monday. There was no burglary, and the incident was described in law enforcement records as a "miscommunication between the business owners." While at the site, deputies arrested at least three men between the ages of 26 and 35, on the new state immigration charge: "unauthorized alien entering Florida without inspection." The men have no local criminal histories, and were working at the industrial complex at the time. "The workers went to the scene lawfully," said Capt. Joe Abollo, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office spokesman. The men were all taken to Indian River County Jail Monday afternoon and held without bond because of their undocumented immigration status. The passports of at least two of them "did not hold a stamp showing legal entry," into the country, according to the report. One man told law enforcement officers he entered the country at its southern border by crossing the Rio Grande river in 2021. The charge - unauthorized alien entering Florida without inspection – emerges from a newly created chapter 811, of state law entitled Unauthorized Aliens, Nationality, and Immigration, which was signed as a bill by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Feb. 13.

Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 8:28 PM, Isabella Cheng, 52868K] reports an early morning traffic stop by Many Police Department resulted in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detaining alleged illegal immigrants working in the parish. According to the Many Police Department, nine immigrants who were working in Sabine Parish have been detained. Many Police posted via social media at 6 p.m. on Wednesday that "Three had been deported multiple times. None had valid paperwork. ICE Agents from Alexandria responded to a request for assistance in identification of the workers.” The post had 112 shares and 243 reactions at the time of publication. However, it has since been removed from their page.

Miami Herald [3/12/2025 10:20 AM, Jennifer Rodriguez, 3973K] reports that a former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was sentenced to prison after officials say he coerced sex acts from a migrant woman he supervised. Andrew Golobic, 53, was found guilty of obstructing a sex trafficking investigation, deprivation of rights under color of law, witness tampering and destruction of records in a federal investigation, according to a March 11 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. McClatchy News reached out to Golobic’s attorney but did not immediately hear back. From 2006 to 2020, Golobic was an ICE deportation officer in Blue Ash, Ohio. From 2015 to 2020 he was assigned to work at the Alternatives to Detention program, which allowed some low-risk asylum seekers to live in communities while their immigration cases were pending, officials said. Golobic had authority to determine the "type of monitoring, frequency of reporting and level of supervision, as well as the authority to recommend that ATD participants who violated conditions of the program be detained or deported," officials said. During his employment, Golobic forced a woman under his supervision into sex acts at his home, according to officials and the woman. Golobic said in court that he had "inappropriate sexual relationships with immigrant women he supervised" but denied forcing anyone to have sex with him, the news outlet reported.

Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 6:06 AM, Niraj Warikoo, 52868K] reports a Downriver father arrested by immigration agents last week is getting support from several advocates, including a prominent chef known for his humanitarian work who is asking President Donald Trump to release him. Jose Guadalupe Jaimes, 55, of Trenton, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 5 after he had dropped off his 8th grade child at Arthur Middle School. Born in Mexico, the immigrant father of five has lived in the U.S. for 30 years and doesn’t have a criminal record, according to his children and Wayne County records; ICE says he is an illegal alien who was ordered by a judge in 2014 to be removed. José Andrés, a chef who received the presidential medal of freedom from Joe Biden in January for his work feeding millions of people in need after disasters, wrote in a recent post on X that tagged and addressed Trump: "Sir please release this man….Mr. Jose Jaimes is a hard working immigrant." In his post on Sunday, Andrés also asked Trump to help pass immigration reform, writing: "please can you pass asap Immigration reform? Could be your biggest contribution to USA…..remember the immigration issue is not a problem for you to solve but an opportunity for you to seize." Trump has vowed to carry out a record number of deportations, linking the influx of immigrants from the southern border to crime. Since his arrest, Jaimes has received support from some state lawmakers including State Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, who said he was appalled and concerned that he was targeted while outside a school. State Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, who often speaks out on immigration issues, also expressed concern, writing in a Facebook post: "Why was he targeted?? Schools should be places for learning, NOT immigration enforcement. This one instance will impact not just one man, but his family, customers, and community." A GoFundMe account set up by his family to help pay for some of his legal defense has received more than $12,000 as of Tuesday afternoon. A spokesperson for GoFundMe, Angelique McNaughton, confirmed on Tuesday the account is legitimate. A rally was held Sunday at Memorial Park in Lincoln Park in support of Jaimes and others who face possible deportation. A daughter of Jaimes, Ana Jaimes, said at the rally she wants to bring awareness for all immigrants who have been arrested, a livestream of the rally showed. She said her father, who is currently in St. Clair County Jail, is aware of the support he’s getting. "He’s watching everyone," she said.

FOX News [3/12/2025 12:36 PM, Michael Dorgan and Matt Finn, 46189K] reports that a Venezuelan illegal migrant and suspected Tren de Aragua gang member was arrested in Chicago for a fourth time Tuesday after first being ordered deported under the Biden administration in 2022. Pedro Colmenares, 33, was arrested Tuesday morning on the sanctuary city’s west side in a multi-agency bust with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Chicago police and U.S. Marshalls involved, a DHS official told Fox News. Colmenares had a warrant for his arrest for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a former girlfriend in September, whom police said he threatened to shoot. Prior to Tuesday’s arrest, Colmenares was taken into custody by Chicago police last month for questioning in relation to a murder, but he was not charged. Instead, he was released on separate misdemeanor domestic battery charges in relation to the sexual assault, Fox News first reported. Since Fox News’ report about Colmenares being set free last month, a new warrant was issued for the kidnapping and sexual assault charges that led to the migrant’s arrest yesterday. Colmenares was arrested on Feb. 17 and questioned for three days about his suspected involvement in the shooting death of a 25-year-old Hispanic man last September.

Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 6:34 PM, Staff, 52868K] reports a Lewiston man was sentenced Wednesday for filing a fraudulent application for a loan from a COVID-19 pandemic relief program, the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Maine said in a news release. Shahied Golden, 30, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor to 12 months and one day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, the statement said. He was also ordered to pay $24,090.82 in restitution. Golden pleaded guilty Sept. 27, 2024. The sentence will be served consecutively to Golden’s 27-month state prison sentence for illegal possession of a firearm and a state probation violation. Golden filed a fraudulent loan application to the Paycheck Protection Program in April 2021 and received approximately $20,833 in funds, the release said. The application listed a false gross income for 2020 and falsely stated the loan proceeds were needed to make payroll payments for his alleged business. Golden also submitted a fraudulent document in support of his application, which falsely stated his gross income, among other things. Golden had the funds deposited into his personal bank account, quickly withdrew the funds, and did not use the PPP proceeds for approved expenses, the release said. Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.

CBS News [3/12/2025 6:10 PM, Doug Myers, 51661K] reports ICE Dallas arrested a 48-year-old Mexican national after determining he was removable from the U.S., citing a 2022 case in which he stabbed a man seven times and set his body on fire, the agency reported this week. Manuel Tellez, who was arrested on March 4 in Dallas, was initially charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2023 and was sentenced to eight years of community supervision. Tellez, who owned Maroches Bakery in Dallas, remains in ICE custody pending immigration removal proceedings. Josh Johnson, acting field office director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Dallas, described Tellez as an "egregious offender."

The Texas Tribune [3/12/2025 6:00 AM, Alejandro Serrano and Uriel J. García, 1487K] reports that, for four years while President Joe Biden was in office, Texas lawmakers passed a variety of state laws aimed at curbing illegal immigration into the state and approved spending billions of Texans’ taxpayer dollars in an effort to secure the border. The Legislature created a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for people convicted of human smuggling. Lawmakers passed a law that gave state and local police the authority to arrest people suspected of being undocumented — it has not gone into effect while its constitutionality is litigated. And legislators have plowed $11 billion into Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s ongoing border crackdown that deployed state police and Texas National Guard along the state’s nearly 1,300 miles of border with Mexico. Now with President Donald Trump back in office, lawmakers are not relenting. They have filed dozens of bills that could further cement the state’s role in immigration enforcement — long the sole responsibility of the federal government — should they become law. The proposals range from trying to force cooperation with federal immigration authorities to giving property tax breaks to border landowners who allow the state to build border barriers on their property. Lawmakers have filed at least nine similar bills that would require local law enforcement agencies enter into agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under a 1996 federal immigration law, ICE can delegate local authorities to carry out certain types of immigration enforcement in local jails — where officers can be deputized to question inmates about their immigration status and to serve administrative warrants — and in the field, where officers can be permitted to question people about their immigration status through a model the Trump administration has revived after it fell into disuse following allegations it led to racial profiling. Such programs serve as "force multipliers" for ICE, an agency of about 6,000 officers with limited resources, according to the federal agency, immigration lawyers and policing experts. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have called for Texas authorities to be required to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [3/12/2025 4:46 PM, Staff, 11K] reports ICE reported it arrested 48 undocumented immigrants who remained in the country despite having received a deportation order from an immigration judge, or who were charged or convicted of serious crimes while in the United States illegally. The arrests took place in the cities of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Roswell during a special operation that lasted a week and ended on March 8. The operations were joined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service. ICE also reported that 20 of those detained have been arrested or convicted of serious offenses, including homicide, criminal sexual penetration, sexual assault, assault of a household member, aggravated assault, drug trafficking, burglary, driving under the influence of alcohol, and shoplifting. Other people were arrested for violating immigration law. Twenty-one of those detained had final deportation orders.

San Diego Union Tribune [3/12/2025 5:09 PM, Alex Riggins, 1682K] reports San Diego-based canned tuna giant Bumble Bee Seafoods has known for years that fishing vessels in its supply fleet used forced labor but failed to stop the practice, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Diego federal court that’s believed to be the first ever to allege human trafficking against a U.S. seafood company. The plaintiffs, four men from rural Indonesian villages, allege they were promised good jobs on long-line tuna boats that are part of Bumble Bee’s "trusted fleet" but instead were subjected to physical abuse, deprived of adequate food and denied medical care. They allege they were ensnared in debt bondage and subjected to fees and paycheck deductions that left them destitute after months of excruciating labor and isolation at sea. The lawsuit alleges Bumble Bee, one of the top U.S. companies in the canned tuna market, violated the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and was negligent in ensuring that its fleet of suppliers did not use forced labor. The novel lawsuit comes after decades of reports by the U.S. State Department, the United Nations and other organizations that have identified forced labor as a particularly significant problem in the deep-sea fishing industry.

Univision [3/12/2025 5:17 PM, Claudia Carrera, 5325K] reports with a cracking voice, David Valdéz recalls the fear he felt when he was detained at the Otay Mesa border crossing in California. He had traveled to Mexico to visit his mother and, upon returning, was arrested by immigration agents, despite having all the necessary permits and being in the process of obtaining permanent residency. His legal representative attached all the documents that verified the legality of his immigration status: the approval of his family petition, his visa, his work permit, and his travel authorization. After 24 hours of uncertainty, the answer came: the case against him was cancelled, his work permit would be reinstated, and the deportation order would be annulled. However, to date, his legal representative has not received an explanation as to why he was detained and treated in this manner.

Univision [3/12/2025 12:02 PM, Staff, 5325K] reports accusations of sexual abuse of his inmates forced the closure of the permanent Dublin prison. Less than a year after the closure of the prison, reports indicate that this same place could be used as a detention centre for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE). This information was shared by KQED after a conversation with union leaders that brings together prison workers. Leaders said immigration and customs authorities would be considering a plan to turn Dublin prison into an immigration detention centre. Faced with these statements, women who were detained in this correctional facility ask not to reopen and shared with their testimony about their stay. My experience was horrible, anyway. No more than the conditions of how we lived, but also the abuse, the abuse was from verbal to sexual abuse, Marilú Nava, who ended up being deprived of his liberty in Dublin prison. According to his testimonies, it would not be a good idea to reopen this prison and above all dedicate it to a vulnerable population, such as the immigrant community. "In my experience that I had, the people who were undocumented were precisely the most abused...," said Karla Padilla, who was also deprived of her liberty in this prison.

NBC News [3/12/2025 1:07 PM, Suzanne Gamboa, 44742K] reports that all U.S. population growth in 2022-2023 happened because of immigration, not births — the first time that’s occurred since 1850, a migration think tank reported Wednesday. That immigration growth has happened as U.S. birth rates have fallen, the Migration Policy Institute reported as part of its latest edition of "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States." The immigrant population grew by 1.6 million people between 2022 and 2023, reaching a record high of 47.8 million in 2023, according to the analysis. That’s about a 3.6% population increase, the largest annual growth since 2010, the institute stated in its report. However, the foreign-born percentage of the U.S. population is 14.3%. That puts it slightly below the 14.8% registered in 1890, MPI said. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of immigrants in the U.S. are legally present and almost half are naturalized citizens, according to MPI. In addition to naturalized citizenship, those with legal status include green-card holders (legal permanent residents), refugees, those who have been granted asylum, had long-term visas as students, temporary workers or other categories. U.S. birth rates reached a historic low in 2023, falling 2% from the previous year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The fertility rate fell to 54.5 birth per 1,000 females of ages 15-44 in 2023, down from 56 in 2022. Newsweek [3/12/2025 2:45 PM, Dan Gooding, 52220K] reports California, Texas and Florida continue to be the top three states for immigrant population growth by numbers, but the Dakotas saw 80 percent-plus growth in their immigrant populations over roughly the last decade, while Delaware, Tennessee and South Carolina were also among the top 10 states seeing large percentage growth.

Border Report [3/12/2025 4:21 PM, Julian Resendiz, 117K] reports felony charges will stand against two migrants accused of assaulting contract detention officers at El Paso’s Service Processing Center. Two others also accused of making physical contact with guards during a Feb. 5 disturbance inside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility will be held on misdemeanor assault charges. That was the ruling by a federal judge during a Wednesday detention hearing in which attorneys for the four migrants grilled an ICE special agent over the official account of the incident and what security camera footage shows. Luis Ramon Batista Romero, Jean Carlos Chavez Gutierrez, Luis Daniel Castillo Perozo and Bruno Emilio Castillo Colmenarez are accused of assaulting, resisting and impeding contract detention officers from doing their job. Security footage is inconclusive due to several guards surrounding the migrants.

Miami Herald [3/12/2025 10:32 PM, Jay Weaver, 3973K] reports a former member of the Cuban intelligence agency was arrested on Wednesday by federal agents who said he fraudulently obtained a green card to live legally in the United States. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the man’s arrest but did not disclose his name. Nestor Yglesias, a spokesman for Homeland Security Investigations in Miami, said agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI made the arrest in West Park, a city of about 15,000 people in Broward County. HSI described the man’s arrest as “administrative” based on his falsely obtaining a green card — but the agency said it was not part of a parallel criminal investigation. That suggests he was detained solely for the purpose of deporting him to Cuba, which has diplomatic relations with the United States. The arrest was made as the Trump administration escalates a crackdown on immigrants suspected of being illegally in the United States. “HSI and its partners will continue their efforts to identify and arrest individuals who pose a threat to our national security,” Homeland Security Investigations said in a post on the social media site, X.

CBS News [3/12/2025 7:41 PM, Madeleine May, 51661K] reports that, in August 2021, Tamim Satari raced to the Kabul International Airport to evacuate Afghanistan after working with the American military as an intelligence officer, helping U.S. forces coordinate aerial bomb campaigns against the Taliban. But in the chaos of the U.S. withdrawal, his wife and newborn son were left behind. "It was so hard, and we didn’t want to lose our small son," Satari said. He was not alone. Thousands of Afghan families were separated in the rushed withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Babies were passed across throngs of people and over fences, and families scrambled to get through the gates to the airport. Three years later, more than 10,000 families remain separated, according to Shawn VanDiver, the founder of #AfghanEvac, a nonprofit that worked with the State Department to create a path to reunite separated Afghan families. "There’s all these moms or dads or young children who are stuck here without their family," said VanDiver. "These people are in danger because of us. And the least we can do is help them reunite.” He says the number of children separated from their parents includes 2,800 unaccompanied refugee minors — children who made it to the U.S. but whose parents did not, or who were left behind as their parents fled. PBS [3/12/2025 6:35 PM, Nick Schifrin, 10355K] Video: HERE reports some 200,000 Afghans left behind during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal are now left in further limbo by the Trump administration’s refugee program suspension. Many fought alongside the U.S. and received refugee visas last year, now they may never be allowed to come to the U.S. Nick Schifrin and producer Sonia Kopelev spoke to refugees hoping to fulfill a dream they thought they had been promised.

FOX News [3/12/2025 1:49 PM, Elizabeth Elkind, 46189K] reports that House Republicans are pushing legislation to ban Chinese nationals from getting student visas in the U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., has been sounding the alarm for weeks over what he sees as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) exploitation of the American visa program meant for studying in the U.S. He is now expected to introduce the Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act, or the Stop CCP VISAs Act, on Friday. The bill is still being circulated for co-sponsors, Fox News Digital was told, but people expected to support the bill include Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Brandon Gill, R-Texas. "Every year, we allow nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals to come to the U.S. on student visas. We’ve literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security," Moore said. "Just last year, the FBI charged five Chinese nationals here on student visas after they were caught photographing joint US-Taiwan live-fire military exercises. This cannot continue.” He called on Congress to act on "China’s exploitation of our student visa program." "It’s time we turn off the spigot and immediately ban all student visas going to Chinese nationals," he said.

Miami Herald [3/12/2025 9:19 PM, Staff, 3973K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection in February apprehended 8,347 migrants attempting to cross the southern border, the lowest in history and a tiny fraction of one year ago, as arrests of undocumented people already in the nation are rising. In the first full month since Donald Trump became president again, the apprehensions averaged 298 per day at the southern border and 330 nationwide, according to data from the agency released Wednesday. The southern border encounters are 71% decrease from January 2025 when there were 29,101. In February 2024 when Joe Biden was president, there were 140,641 encounters. "The men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection continue to aggressively implement the President’s Executive Orders to secure our borders, and as a result of this leadership, we have achieved historic lows in border apprehensions," Acting Commissioner Pete Flores said. "At the direction of the administration, we remain unwavering in our mission to prioritize American safety, secure the border, and enforce consequences for those who violate United States law.” CBP’s Office of Field Operations, which manages customs operations, encountered 3,362 inadmissible migrants at ports of entry along the southwest border last month. This is a 90% decrease from January when OFO encountered 32,346 inadmissible ones, and a 93% decrease from February 2024 when OFO encountered 49,272 inadmissible migrants. CPB monitors 300 ports of entry secured by U.S. Border Patrol and Air and Marine Operations. Working with the Department of Defense, CPB has dramatically increased active patrols of the international borders. "President Trump and Secretary Noem have sent a clear message: if you cross the border illegally, you will be deported without an opportunity to try another day, or in a few hours," the agency said. So far this year the total number of U.S. Border Patrol and field operations encounters are 502,547. In fiscal year 2024 there were 2,901,142 enforcement actions with 3,201,144 in 2023, 2,766,582 in 2022 and 1,956,519 in 2021. The most during Trump’s presidency was 1,148,024 in 2019. In June 2024, the Biden administration announced a new executive action on immigration that bars asylum to migrants who cross the southern border unlawfully. An average of no more than 2,500 migrants who unlawfully cross the U.S. southern border per day potentially will be eligible for asylum, Biden said. This year there have been 4,323 criminal noncitizens encountered and 289 criminal noncitizens with outstanding wants or warrants by Border Patrol.

Border Report [3/12/2025 2:48 PM, Sandra Sanchez, 117K] reports unaccompanied migrant children who cross the border will no longer be put in shelters operated by the country’s largest provider, Southwest Key Programs, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday. Southwest Key had operated 27 residential shelters for unaccompanied children in three states: Texas, Arizona and California. The HHS announcement comes after the Department of Justice in July filed a civil lawsuit against Southwest Key alleging that employees at the migrant shelters had subjected children to a pattern or practice of sexual abuse and harassment. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas and alleged that from 2015 to 2023 multiple Southwest Key employees engaged in inappropriate touching, solicitation of sex acts and nude photos and sexual comments with children at the shelters, the Justice Department said in July. HHS said it is conducting a review of all of its grants with the company. The Department of Justice has dismissed its lawsuit against Southwest Key, HHS says.

Los Angeles Times [3/12/2025 3:26 PM, Andrea Castillo, 13342K] reports a couple from Venezuela were arrested by federal immigration agents this week and charged with misdemeanor illegal entry, more than two years after their arrival at the southern U.S. border. The timing of the arrests and charges is unusual and reflects the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive immigration tactics. The couple had been granted temporary protection from deportation while their claims for asylum were being adjudicated. Advocates for the couple say it is the first time they’ve seen such a case, in which immigrants have been charged with illegal entry long after the fact. They say the case could set legal precedent and may affect thousands of other immigrants who similarly entered the U.S. illegally but were granted legal protections. Cesar and Norelia are being held by the U.S. Marshals Service in Washington, D.C. A federal district judge is scheduled to hear their case Wednesday afternoon.

KIRO 7 [3/12/2025 3:43 PM, Staff, 52868K] reports a woman departing from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was found with more than 18 pounds of meth in her carry-on, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The 33-year-old woman was headed to Seoul, South Korea, on February 28 when CBP officers and Port of Seattle officials searched her bag and found "bundles of a white crystal substance," CBP said in a press release. Officials say the substance tested positive for meth and the woman, who is a U.S. citizen, was arrested by Port of Seattle Police.

Reuters [3/12/2025 8:04 AM, Lizbeth Diaz, 41523K] reports President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has coincided with a surge in U.S.-bound migrants in Mexico seeking help to return to their home countries, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM). In January and February, the agency received 2,862 requests for its assisted voluntary return program, more than triple the requests logged during the same period last year, according to IOM data shared exclusively with Reuters. The record number of requests, which has not been previously reported, reveals the fallout of Trump’s wide-ranging immigration crackdown, which has left thousands, if not tens of thousands, of migrants stranded in Mexico. It’s also the first hard evidence of a shift in attitudes among migrants who once viewed the opportunities offered in the U.S. as worth the hazards involved in the journey northward. The shift jibes with other recent numbers showing migrant arrests at the U.S. southern border dropping dramatically. Over the last two months, the agency has received requests from migrants seeking to return to Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and other countries, Alberto Cabezas, spokesman for IOM in Mexico, said. He did not elaborate on the reasons behind the increase. Israel Ibarra, a researcher with the Mexican think tank COLEF, said the increase reflects the sharply limited legal pathways now faced by migrants waiting in Mexico. "There’s no options for them," he said.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [3/12/2025 4:05 PM, Staff, 11K] reports the Border Patrol has completed its work in the area of the Rio Grande where a clandestine tunnel was discovered on January 10. Mexican authorities reported that the work involved drilling holes with a special machine to create vents before filling the passage on the U.S. side with cement in the coming days. The tunnel, which was believed to be used by organized crime for illegal human trafficking, has already been closed by both Mexican and U.S. authorities. Authorities on both sides of the border withdrew from the site after completing these drilling operations. However, it is reported that new drilling will be carried out in the coming days to continue sealing and securing the area.

AP [3/12/2025 4:11 PM, Staff, 52868K] reports that a Pennsylvania man who was going through security at a New Jersey airport was found to have a live turtle concealed in his pants, according to the federal Transportation Security Administration. The turtle was detected Friday after a body scanner alarm went off at Newark Liberty International Airport. A TSA officer then conducted a pat-down on the East Stroudsburg man and determined there was something concealed in the groin area of his pants. When questioned further, the man reached into his pants and pulled out the turtle, which was about 5 inches (12 centimeters) long and wrapped in a small blue towel. He said it was a red-ear slider turtle, a species that is popular as a pet. The man — whose name was not released — was escorted from the checkpoint area by Port Authority police and ended up missing his flight. The turtle was confiscated, and it’s not clear if the turtle was the man’s pet or why he had it in his pants. "We have seen travelers try to conceal knives and other weapons on their person, in their shoes and in their luggage, however I believe this is the first time we have come across someone who was concealing a live animal down the front of his pants," said Thomas Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey. "As best as we could tell, the turtle was not harmed by the man’s actions."

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CBS Pittsburgh [3/12/2025 11:09 AM, Kerry Breen, 51661K]
AZ Central [3/12/2025 11:49 AM, Julia Gomez and Max Augugliaro, 4457K]

Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 6:46 PM, Staff, 52868K] reports Mark Douglas McCormick, 61, of Orwigsburg, has been identified as the man who attempted to pass through security with a loaded gun to Harrisburg International Airport on Monday. Scott Miller, a spokesperson for the airport, identified the man Wednesday. Charging documents show the Harrisburg International Airport Police Department filed a summary charge of prohibited acts in the office of Magisterial District Judge David H. Judy, Royalton, Dauphin County. A plea to the charge had not yet been entered as of Wednesday, court records show. McCormick had a valid concealed carry permit in Florida. The 9mm handgun was intercepted at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at the airport Monday. The gun was loaded with seven bullets and contained one in the chamber. When TSA officers detected the gun, the checkpoint lane came to a halt until police responded. Police then removed the carry-on bag from the X-ray machine and removed the handgun. Police cited McCormick on a weapons charge and allowed the man to return the firearm to his vehicle. It was the first firearm that TSA officers have intercepted at Harrisburg International Airport so far this year. In 2024, TSA officers at Harrisburg detected four guns at the checkpoint.

AP [3/12/2025 5:52 PM, Jeff Amy, Russ Bynum, 48304K] reports tens of billions in aid for victims of Hurricane Helene should start flowing later this month, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins pledged Wednesday, but delays are already making it hard this year for some farmers to plant crops. Congress set a deadline of March 21 to hand out the money when it passed a $100 billion disaster relief package on Dec. 21. The late September storm cut a swath from Florida’s Big Bend across eastern Georgia and upstate South Carolina before causing historic flooding in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. The National Centers for Environmental Information says Helene is the seventh-most expensive disaster in the United States since 1980, causing an estimated $78 billion in damage and 219 deaths. At a news conference in Atlanta on Wednesday, Rollins pledged the aid would begin to be disbursed before the deadline. In South Carolina, Republican legislative leaders decided to wait to approve Helene damage relief money in the state’s regular budget instead of an emergency bill in part because they expected federal officials to get relief money out quickly. Most but not all of the disaster relief bill is earmarked for Helene. It includes $21 billion to help farmers, $8 billion to rebuild damaged roads and highways, $12 billion in grants to help communities and individuals recover and $2.2 billion in low-interest loans for businesses, nonprofits and homeowners. Officials have estimated that Helene caused property and economic damage to the agriculture sector totaling $5.5 billion in Georgia and $4.9 billion in North Carolina. South Carolina officials estimated $620 million in agriculture damage in 2024, not just from Helene, but also from other weather disasters. North Carolina lawmakers are negotiating the details of a supplemental Helene relief bill that may total more than $500 million, in part to provide more funds for crop losses. It would be North Carolina’s fourth Helene aid package to be enacted. The state has requested close to $1.9 billion from the disaster relief law approved by Congress in December. Most of that money would go to address crop and timber losses, debris removal, stream restoration and erosion. The South Carolina House on Wednesday gave final approval to a budget that includes $220 million in Helene relief for farmers and others as a match to money from the federal government. They also set aside $50 million to give to the state Department of Transportation to pay back what they spent repairing roads and clearing trees.

Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 5:00 AM, Greg Childress, 52868K] reports storm debris and ruined household goods are common throughout disaster areas. (Photo: Greg Childress). The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has granted Gov. Josh Stein’s request for an extension for state, tribal, and local governments, as well as some non-profit organizations, to apply for its Public Assistance program. The new deadline is April 7. FEMA’s Public Assistance program provides supplemental grants to help communities respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies. The program — FEMA’s largest grant program — provides funding for emergency assistance to save lives and to help permanently restore community infrastructure affected by a disaster. Gov. Josh Stein (right) inspects a trailer on a visit to western North Carolina. (Photo courtesy of the governor’s office.). "I am grateful to FEMA and the Trump administration for granting our request to extend the deadline to apply for this critical program," Stein said in a press release. "Communities across North Carolina are in need of increased federal resources to remove debris and restore public facilities, and public assistance grants have been critical to their local recovery. I encourage city and county governments and non-profits to seize the moment and apply for these grants.” The news about the Public Assistance grants comes a week after FEMA granted. Stein’s request for a 30-day extension for the Individual Assistance Program that provides resources directly to disaster survivors. The FEMA Public Assistance program provides reimbursement cost share funding for units of state, local, tribal, and some non-profit organizations to offset costs associated with the response and recovery from Tropical Storm Helene.

KXAN [3/12/2025 1:39 PM, Julianna Russ] reports the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) said it helped prevent more than $5.2 million in potential losses to victims after an operation in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. According to TDLR, two Romanian citizens were arrested Saturday after law enforcement officers uncovered a fully operational credit card skimmer factory inside the suspect’s residence after executing a search warrant. TDLR said the suspects, who were identified as Petruta Camelia Ciuperca, 34, and Alexandru Constantin, 34, were actively constructing and assembling skimming devices designed to attach to ATMs. Both Ciuperca and Constantin were booked into the Dallas County jail Saturday. TDLR said authorities were still seeking an unnamed third suspect.

CBS Los Angeles [3/12/2025 3:22 PM, Chelsea Hylton, 51661K] reports three individuals have been federally charged for allegedly committing fraud to receive disaster relief from the recent wildfires in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney said. At a news conference Wednesday morning, Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally announced charges against two individuals in Southern California and one in Texas. McNally told reporters the individuals are charged with allegedly making false claims to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and for receiving fraudulent financial assistance. Joyce Turner, 55, was arrested in Texas Tuesday and has been charged in a criminal complaint for allegedly submitting an application claiming her home had been destroyed in the Eaton Fire, a statement from McNally’s office said. Federal officials claim Turner has never lived in California and had no connection to the address she submitted the application for. She is also accused of forging a lease claiming she lived at the residence. McNally said through her fraudulent application she received more than $25,000 from FEMA. Turner is expected to appear in court in the Central District of California in the coming weeks, McNally said. Tyrone Barnes Jr., 38, was arrested Tuesday after he was named in an indictment for allegedly submitting a false claim for disaster relief to FEMA for a property in Altadena owned by people who did not know him. The U.S. Attorney said Barnes is expected to appear in court Wednesday afternoon in downtown LA. Hedeshia Robertson, 36, was arrested Tuesday after being charged in a criminal complaint claiming she filed a fraudulent application to FEMA, McNally said. The U.S. Attorney claims Robertson filed the application on Jan. 28 relating to a damaged residence in the Pacific Palisades area she did not own, rent or live in. She is accused of allegedly receiving more than $24,000 in FEMA benefits. Federal officials said at the time of her arrest she was allegedly attempting to obtain additional relief. She is expected to appear in court Wednesday afternoon.

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UPI [3/12/2025 6:42 PM, Chris Benson, 1890K]
Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 6:05 PM, Michele McPhee, 52868K]

Los Angeles Times [3/12/2025 3:32 PM, Brittny Mejia] reports three people have been arrested and charged with fraudulently trying to obtain tens of thousands of dollars in federal disaster-relief money by falsely claiming their properties were destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades wildfires, federal authorities announced Wednesday. Joyce Turner, a 55-year-old Texas resident; Tyrone D. Barnes Jr., 38, of Paramount; and Hedeshia Robertson, 36, of Lakewood were arrested Tuesday after being charged with defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. The defendants allegedly took advantage of a FEMA program created in the wake of the Eaton and Palisades fires, disasters that began tearing through the state in early January and collectively burned nearly 37,600 acres, destroyed more than 16,000 structures and resulted in the deaths of 29 people.

CNN [3/13/2025 4:56 AM, Karina Tsui, 908K] reports a powerful March storm has been lashing the West Coast with heavy rainfall, gusty winds and snowfall in the mountains –– shifting southward and posing a particular threat to communities scorched by the deadly Los Angeles wildfires from the start of the year. Evacuation warnings were issued for parts of Los Angeles County on Wednesday, with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass warning that burn areas from the January fires at greater risk of debris flows and stormwater runoff from the rainfall and may contain hazardous substances. "While we prepare for another storm headed towards LA, I want to urge Angelenos to stay vigilant, especially in burn scar areas," Bass said in a statement. "My number one job is to keep Angelenos safe, so please heed all evacuation warnings, stay vigilant and stay informed.” "The risk of mudflow and landslides is real," Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a news conference Wednesday, adding that fire-impacted communities "need to be on alert.” The Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday visited and issued evacuation orders to 133 houses, according to the mayor. More than 20 million people across Southern California are under flood watches until Thursday afternoon, with the Weather Prediction Center issuing a level 2 or 4 warning for excessive rainfall in parts of the region. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said Wednesday it has positioned rescue personnel and equipment in 11 counties where heavy impact from the storm is expected, including Los Angeles County. Twenty-four-hour, 360-degree live-stream cameras have also been placed in burn scar areas for the public to monitor potential threats of debris flow. In Santa Barbara, a shelter-in-place has been set up for places associated with the Lake Fire burn scar, with the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management warning those affected to retreat "to innermost room or higher ground such as a second floor" in the event of debris flows and rockslides.

Miami Herald [3/12/2025 5:36 PM, Julia Marnin, 3973K] reports a Nevada man who supports President Donald Trump was accused of trying to assassinate Trump after deputies arrested him near a rally in October, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the man. As a "deeply involved" Trump supporter since 2016, Vem Miller got tickets to attend a rally for the then-presidential candidate in the Coachella Valley in Riverside County on Oct. 12, 2024, according to complaint filed March 10. But Miller missed the rally because he was detained outside the event, a complaint says. Then, according to Miller, a second deputy arrived. The deputies violated his constitutional rights by detaining him instead of giving him a citation and searched his car, the complaint says. They arrested him on charges of carrying/loaded firearm and large capacity magazine, according to the filing. Afterward, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco publicly declared deputies stopped "the third ‘would-be Trump assassin,’" according to the complaint. While speaking to news outlets, Bianco wrongly accused Miller of plotting to assassinate Trump, defaming him as a result, the complaint says. Now, Miller is suing Bianco and is seeking at least $100 million in damages. His lawsuit also names Riverside County, the sheriff’s office and one deputy as defendants. When deputies searched Miller’s car near the rally, they were joined by agents from the FBI and the Secret Service, according to the complaint.

San Diego Union Tribune [3/12/2025 7:39 PM, Caleb Lunetta, 1682K] reports a Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued 15 migrants on a drifting vessel southwest of San Diego Tuesday. In the morning, federal officials received a report of a disabled boat adrift and in need of rescue about 60 miles off the San Diego shore, Coast Guard officials said. A helicopter carrying rescue swimmers reached the boat, and two team members jumped in the water, officials said. The Coast Guard rescue swimmers helped hoist the group of migrants onto the helicopter, authorities said. The migrants were taken back to shore in two trips. The migrants were then transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody. No injuries were reported.

Washington Examiner [3/12/2025 9:09 AM, Jenny Goldsberry, 2296K] reports that President Donald Trump named Sean Plankey to lead the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. CISA operates under the Department of Homeland Security, where Secretary Kristi Noem promised to "rein" in the agency. During her confirmation hearing in January, Noem alleged that CISA had drifted "far off mission.” Plankey retired from the United States Coast Guard in 2023 and is joining the Trump administration a second time. During Trump’s first term, Plankey worked as director for cyber policy at the National Security Council and then as principal deputy assistant energy secretary for cybersecurity, energy security, and emergency response. U.S. Telecom President and CEO Jonathan Spalter praised Plankey’s return. "As our nation navigates an increasingly complex cyber threat landscape from sophisticated adversaries, effective public-private sector collaboration is more essential than ever to ensure our security. We congratulate Sean Plankey on his nomination to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and look forward to working alongside him and the CISA team to advance this critical mission," Spalter said in a statement.

The Hill [3/12/2025 12:15 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12829K] reports that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that Congress will investigate attacks against Tesla vehicles and their owners as Elon Musk’s flagship electric vehicle company faces mounting backlash over its CEO’s controversial role in the Trump administration’s cost-cutting initiatives. Johnson described Musk’s efforts as "heroic" in a post on social platform X, which is also owned by the tech billionaire, and claimed without evidence that the "radical Left" is behind the attacks against Tesla. "The heroic work of @elonmusk has so panicked the radical Left that they’re now calling him ‘racist’(?!) and engaging in domestic terrorism to attack Tesla owners and their vehicles!" Johnson wrote, sharing a clip of his appearance on Fox News’s "Outnumbered" defending Musk. "Congress will investigate the sources of these attacks and help the DOJ [Department of Justice] & FBI ensure those responsible are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," he added. Musk responded to Johnson’s post with his own thanking him and including American flag and saluting emoji. The Hill has reached out to Johnson’s office for more information.

Yahoo! News [3/12/2025 4:45 PM, Erica Pauda, 52868K] Video: HERE reports a lockdown was lifted at McCallum High School Wednesday after a report of a threat at the campus, according to an alert from the city. A spokesperson for the Austin Independent School District told KXAN the campus, located at 5600 Sunshine Drive, was placed on a hold after the threat was reported. A hold is when hallways are cleared and students stay in their classes. Instruction also continues as normal. KXAN was on the scene at the high school, where the law enforcement presence was seen leaving. The school was seen dismissing students around 4:30 p.m. It all began with a reverse 911 call from the city that reported a heavy police presence at the high school, and those near the campus were asked to stay clear of the area. A reverse 911 call is when residents within the area are notified by emergency services, which is not a typical 911 call when residents contact emergency services.

Wall Street Journal [3/12/2025 12:41 PM, Kim Mackrael] reports the European Union and Canada announced retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on Wednesday, further escalating a global trade war after the U.S. imposed levies on global steel and aluminum imports. Canada said it would put 25% tariffs on an additional $20.6 billion in U.S. imported goods including steel and aluminum products and other American goods such as computers and sports equipment. The Canadian tariffs are set to take effect Thursday. The EU said it plans 50% tariffs on imports of American whiskey, motorcycles and motorboats starting April 1, hitting some of America’s best-known products including Kentucky bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Other goods facing new or raised import duties at the beginning of the month include cranberries, garden umbrellas, tablecloths and handkerchiefs, the bloc said. A second set of EU levies is due to take effect in mid-April. An initial list of goods ranges from American chewing gum to poultry, beef, white chocolate, soybeans, carpets and watermelons. The bloc said it would consult with member states and stakeholders before completing that list. The bloc’s tariffs will also target U.S. steel and aluminum products. Canada and the EU announced the retaliatory tariffs Wednesday in response to U.S. steel and aluminum levies that took effect overnight. “The U.S. administration is once again inserting disruption and disorder into an incredibly successful trading partnership and raising the costs of everyday goods for Canadian and American households alike,” Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said. In the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Trump said that “of course” he would respond to the EU tariffs. European officials said the list of American products they are targeting is intended to maximize the political and economic cost of tariffs for the U.S. while minimizing the harm to European businesses and consumers.

AP [3/12/2025 8:29 PM, Jill Lawless, 1682K] reports that the captain of a cargo ship that collided with a U.S. tanker is a Russian national who remains in U.K. police custody, the vessel’s owner said Wednesday, as it emerged that the ship failed several safety checks last year. The 59-year-old man, who hasn’t been named by authorities, was arrested by police in northeast England Tuesday on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence over the collision. He hasn’t been charged. Shipping company Ernst Russ, which owns the Portugal-flagged cargo vessel Solong, said that the ship’s 14 crew were a mix of Russian and Filipino nationals. U.K. authorities say they have found no evidence of foul play in the crash, and there is nothing so far to indicate that it’s connected to national security. Humberside Police said that detectives were conducting inquiries alongside partner agencies. The U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch is also involved in investigating what caused the Solong, bound from Grangemouth, Scotland, to Rotterdam, Netherlands, to hit the stationary tanker, which was anchored about 10 miles (16 kilometers) off the English coast. The investigation is being led by the U.S. and Portugal, the countries where the vessels are flagged.

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FOX News [3/12/2025 7:41 AM, Greg Norman, 46189K]

Miami Herald [3/12/2025 12:14 PM, Doug Cunningham, 3973K] reports that the United States on Wednesday sanctioned Swedish gang the Foxtrot Network and its fugitive leader Rawa Majid. The Treasury Department alleged the Foxtrot Network is an international drug and weapons trafficking organization that was behind an attack on Israel’s Stockholm Embassy for Iran in January 2024 and that Majid has specifically cooperated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security." "Iran’s brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime’s attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. Swedish authorities said at the time they classified the January attack as a terrorist crime after finding what they described as a "dangerous object" at the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm. "The hatred against Israel is frightening. Violent extremism must be stopped," Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebb Nusch said on social media after the object was found. In 2023 Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson blamed "failed integration" for an increase in gang violence in the country.

Reported similarly:
VOA News [3/12/2025 3:06 PM, AFP, 2913K]

Washington Examiner [3/12/2025 7:12 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 2296K] reports that, in a video address to his citizens last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his full-throated endorsement to the U.S. proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire that would put the onus on Russia to show it is ready to bring the three-year war to a close. "Ukraine is ready for peace. Russia must also show whether it is ready to end the war – or continue it," Zelensky said. "Ukraine’s proposal for this meeting with the Americans consisted of three points: silence in the skies — meaning no missiles, bombs, or long-range drones — and silence at sea," Zelensky said. "During the discussion, there was a proposal specifically from the American side to immediately take the first step beyond that and try to establish a complete ceasefire for 30 days, not only with regard to missiles, drones, and bombs, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire frontline.” "An important element in today’s discussions is America’s readiness to restore defense assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support. Once the agreements take effect, during these thirty days of silence, we, together with our partners, should have enough time to prepare all the aspects at the level of framework documents to ensure a reliable peace and lasting security guarantees.” "Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take this step … that is, we agree, and if the Russians agree, the silence will take effect at that very moment," Zelensky said. "An important element in today’s discussions is America’s readiness to restore defense assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support.” Zelensky made sure to heap praise on President Donald Trump and express thanks for the "constructive nature" of the dialogue with the U.S. "The American side understands our arguments and considers our proposals.” In a joint statement released after the talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, noted Ukraine’s acceptance of "an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation.” "We’re going to take the offer to them. We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking, and now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the negotiating session. "I hope they’re going to say yes. And if they do, then I think we made great progress. If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”

Newsweek [3/12/2025 8:48 AM, Maya Mehrara and John Feng, 52220K] reports the Kremlin has said it does not want to get ahead of itself after Ukraine announced it was ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire with Russia. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said Moscow expects to be briefed in the coming days about negotiations held between Ukraine and the U.S. in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. "Look, you are getting a little ahead of yourself, we don’t want to do that," Peskov said on Wednesday, according to the Russian news outlet RIA Novosti. "Yesterday, when talking to the press, both Rubio and Waltz said that they would pass on to us detailed information about the essence of the conversations that took place in Jeddah through various diplomatic channels. First, we need to get that information.” Newsweek has contacted Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs for comment. The outcome of expected upcoming negotiations between Russia and the U.S. will determine whether Moscow agrees to a temporary ceasefire with Ukraine. A halt in the war, even just for 30 days, could save thousands of lives and create a path to long-term peace. Ukraine said in joint statement with the U.S. on Tuesday that it was open to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, subject to the Kremlin’s agreement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would present the ceasefire offer to officials in Moscow. "We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no," he said at a press conference in Jeddah. In response to the U.S. announcement, Peskov said on Wednesday that a phone-call between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin had not been ruled out, and that it could be organized rapidly, according to Reuters. However, a senior Russian source told the outlet that Putin would have a difficult time agreeing to the ceasefire in its current form. "Putin has a strong position because Russia is advancing," they said. Putin has also previously said on numerous occasions that a truce is not the way to end the war. "We don’t need a truce, we need a long-term peace secured by guarantees for the Russian Federation and its citizens," he said in December. Separately, the Trump administration also announced on Tuesday that it would immediately lift its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, more than a week after imposing the bans to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into peace talks with Russia.

New York Times [3/12/2025 7:17 PM, Paul Sonne, 145325K] reports Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, dressed in fatigues, visited a command post near the front in Kursk late Wednesday to cheer on his military’s ejection of Ukrainian forces from much of the territory they had been occupying in the Russian border region. The Russian leader’s pointed visit came a day after a U.S. delegation met in Saudi Arabia with Ukrainian officials, who agreed to a 30-day cease-fire in the war. American officials planned to take the proposal to Mr. Putin, who has previously said he is not interested in a temporary truce. Dressed in a green camouflage uniform, Mr. Putin sat at a desk with maps spread out in front of him, according to photos released by the Kremlin. He appeared with Russia’s top military officer, Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov. In video footage released by Russian state media, Mr. Putin praised the Russian military formations that had taken back much of the territory captured by Ukraine in the Kursk region. He called on the troops to seize the territory for good from Ukrainian forces, who have been occupying portions of the Russian border region since last summer. Kyiv had hoped to use the territory as a bargaining chip in peace talks. The Russian leader also demanded that Ukrainian forces taken prisoner in the region be treated and prosecuted as terrorists under Russian law. General Gerasimov said more than 400 Ukrainian troops had been captured in the operations. “People who are on the territory of the Kursk region, committing crimes here against the civilian population and opposing our armed forces, law enforcement agencies and special services, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, are terrorists,” Mr. Putin said. Russian forces stepped up an offensive to push Ukrainian troops out of the region this week, as Kyiv reeled from the Trump administration’s decision last week to freeze U.S. intelligence and military assistance to Ukraine after an explosive confrontation in the Oval Office between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. After talks on Tuesday with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, the Trump administration announced that it would resume the assistance.

Washington Examiner [3/12/2025 1:07 PM, Timothy Nerozzi and Mike Brest, 2296K] reports that Russia is offering notes on peace plans with Ukraine before U.S. officials have even laid out their proposal. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz are expected “to inform [the Kremlin] through various channels about the details of the negotiations and the understanding reached in the coming days.” But the country’s top diplomat is preemptively taking certain possibilities completely off the table. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during an interview with multiple U.S. bloggers, published Wednesday, that his country would not accept NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine "under any conditions." One of Russia’s justifications for its war is that NATO, a purely defensive alliance, has expanded closer to its border. But Russia’s border with NATO members effectively doubled in size with the ascension of Finland and Sweden, which occurred after Russia’s full-scale invasion. President Donald Trump, in recent weeks, shared some of those sentiments, effectively placing the blame on his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

Newsweek [3/12/2025 1:01 PM, Maya Mehrara, 52220K] reports that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington is not "providing armaments to Russia" during a briefing with the press at an airport in Ireland on March 12, according to C-SPAN. Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry for comment via email outside normal business hours. Rubio’s statement that the U.S. is "not providing armaments to Russia" does not negate the fact that President Donald Trump’s administration has not pushed for Moscow to make concessions as it has pressured Ukraine by halting the provision of military aid and intelligence. Further, Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained leverage in peace negotiations with Kyiv as he refuses to make concessions and gets the final say on whether to pursue the 30-day ceasefire. Rubio spoke about the current U.S. approach to handling diplomatic relations with Russia in response to a question about applying pressure on Moscow should they not agree to the ceasefire. In response to a journalist’s statement that the administration has not "taken any concrete action to punish Russia," Rubio said. "To be clear, as far as I am aware, the United States has not provided armaments to Russia. The United States is not providing assistance to Russia. Every single sanction that has been imposed on Russia remains in place, every single sanction the president has inherited remains in place.

FOX News [3/12/2025 1:00 PM, Alex Nitzberg, 46189K] reports that as the Trump administration seeks to mediate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced that he plans to propose "bone-breaking sanctions and tariffs" this week in a bid to goad Russia into making peace. The U.S. and Ukraine declared in a joint statement on Tuesday that Ukraine would be willing to agree to a 30-day ceasefire. "Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation," the statement noted. But Graham noted in a Wednesday post on X that he is "skeptical that Russia will accept the ceasefire" and is "very doubtful they want to end this war." "In order to move toward peace, I will be introducing bone-breaking sanctions and tariffs against Russia before the end of the week. If they do not pursue the ceasefire with the same vigor as Ukraine, there will be hell to pay," Graham warned. "I expect overwhelming bipartisan support for my proposal," he noted.

Bloomberg [3/12/2025 8:40 AM, Staff, 52868K] reports China said it has forcefully cracked down on the fentanyl trade and condemned President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as the world’s two largest economies remain at odds over the conditions for any talks to cool tensions. Officials from China’s Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Public Security said in a briefing on Wednesday the country has achieved success in controlling the drugs and done all it can for the US. The officials asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. A Foreign Ministry official said Beijing has done the US a favor and Washington should have said a “big thank you” instead of slapping levies on Chinese imports. He also called on the Trump administration to return to dialogue and expressed willingness to continue working with the US. In a separate statement, the National Medical Products Administration said authorities will strengthen the supervision of fentanyl-related drug production and enforce strict export approval process to prevent diversion into illegal channels. Talks between the US and China on trade and other issues are stuck at lower levels, with both sides failing to agree on the best way to proceed. Beijing said the US hasn’t outlined detailed steps they expect from China on fentanyl in order to have the tariffs lifted, Bloomberg News reported citing people familiar with the issue. A person familiar said Trump’s team rejected the assertion, saying the White House had sent messages to China through diplomats in Washington. In an executive order hiking tariffs on China last week, Trump said Beijing had done too little to alleviate the drug crisis and called the alleged flow of drugs into the US “an unusual and extraordinary threat.”

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