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.

Roll Call [3/17/2025 12:38 PM, Chris Johnson, 503K] reports that President Donald Trump’s legal maneuver to invoke a 1798 law to deport certain alleged Venezuelan gang members in the United States raised questions about whether he defied a court order that sought to temporarily pause those removals. Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order Saturday blocking for 14 days the removal of all noncitizens in U.S. custody targeted under Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. And he set a quick schedule for the Trump administration to seek to lift the order. But the Trump administration conducted the removals in a way the groups say amounted to defying a court order. As the issue was litigated in court, the U.S. government deported more than 260 migrants to El Salvador, including 137 alleged Tren de Aragua members under the 1798 law, according to media reports. The ACLU in a court filing Monday said Boasberg at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday had "unambiguously directed the government to turn around any planes carrying individuals being removed," and that the government "has chosen to treat this Court’s Order as applying only to individuals still on U.S. soil or on flights that had yet to clear U.S. airspace as of 7:26pm." "If that is how the government proceeded, it was a blatant violation of the Court’s Order," the ACLU court filing said. New York Times [3/18/2025 3:29 AM, Alan Feuer and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, 330K] reports the Trump administration on Monday stonewalled a federal judge seeking answers about whether the government had violated his order by deporting more than 200 people over the weekend, including those officials identified as members of a Venezuelan criminal gang. The hearing in Federal District Court in Washington escalated a conflict between the White House and the courts that threatened to become a constitutional crisis. A Justice Department lawyer refused to answer any detailed questions about the deportation flights to El Salvador, arguing that President Trump had broad authority to remove immigrants from the United States with little to no due process under an obscure wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The tense back-and-forth in court between the judge, James E. Boasberg, and the Justice Department lawyer, Abhishek Kambli, left open the possibility of further conflict down the road. Judge Boasberg directed Mr. Kambli to certify in writing by noon on Tuesday — under seal if needed — that no immigrants were removed after his written order went into effect, a piece of information that will be crucial as the judge seeks to determine whether the Trump administration flouted his authority. The legal battle over the removal of the immigrants was the latest — and perhaps most serious — flashpoint yet between federal courts, which have sought to curb many of Mr. Trump’s recent executive actions, and an administration that has repeatedly come close to openly refusing to comply with judicial orders. The Washington Post [3/17/2025 6:03 PM, Justin Jouvenal, Natalie Allison and Ann E. Marimow, 31735K] reports White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Monday that the administration acted within "the bounds of immigration law in this country," even though planeloads of Venezuelan deportees landed in El Salvador hours after Boasberg issued both his verbal and his written orders. The Justice Department is appealing the ruling. Several legal experts said the deportation flights mark a dramatic — and troubling — escalation in the Trump administration’s pushback against the courts, which has grown more aggressive in recent weeks as the administration faces a deluge of lawsuits seeking to restrain it. White House "border czar" Tom Homan defended the flights, telling Fox News on Monday that Boasberg’s orders came too late for the court to have jurisdiction over the matter.

Reported similarly:
Politico [3/17/2025 5:01 PM, Kyle Cheney, Megan Messerly and Josh Gerstein]

FOX News [3/17/2025 6:11 PM, Breanne Deppisch, David Spunt, 46189K] reports a federal judge on Monday denied the Trump administration’s request to call off a court hearing involving President Donald Trump’s use of a wartime law to deport hundreds of Venezuelan nationals, and whether the White House knowingly violated the court order – an extraordinary effort that came just moments before administration officials were due to testify under oath. The Justice Department’s filing came shortly after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered lawyers to court Monday for a "fact-finding hearing" involving Trump’s use of the 1798 wartime-era Alien Enemies Act, and whether the Trump administration knowingly violated his earlier court order blocking the Trump administration from invoking the law to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals and alleged members of violent gang Tren de Aragua, for 14 days. During Monday’s hearing, which lasted about 45 minutes, Judge Boasberg at times appeared frustrated as he pressed government lawyers for more details as to why his Saturday order—which called for the administration to immediately return all planes with expelled migrants, including the Venezuelan nationals and alleged Tren de Aragua gang members—were not brought back to the U.S. Both parties are due back in court Friday for a hearing over the Trump administration’s request to vacate the case. During the hearing, the Trump administration repeatedly declined to provide information to Judge Boasberg about how many flights carrying migrants took off on Saturday, citing national security protections. Judge Boasberg, in response, ordered the Justice Department to provide the court with more information in writing by Tuesday at noon. Judge Boasberg also ordered the Trump administration Saturday to immediately halt any planned deportations, and to notify their clients that "any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States," he said. But the decision apparently came too late to stop a plane filled with more than 200 migrants who were deported to El Salvador. CBS News [3/17/2025 8:44 PM, Jacob Rosen, Callie Teitelbaum, 51661K] reports that a Justice Department attorney argued that because the judge did not put his order demanding the planes to return to the U.S. in writing, the government was not bound by it, but he added that even if the order had been written, the president had the authority to keep the flights en route to their final destination. "You’re telling me your first argument is when I said those things, because I didn’t say it in a minute order that the plaintiffs didn’t have to turn around, you didn’t have to comply?" Boasberg said. "You’re saying that you felt you could disregard it because it wasn’t in a written order?" The attorney did not provide details about how many deportation flights left Saturday, claiming that there were "operational issues" prohibiting him from answering. When Judge Boesberg mentioned the two flights that departed Texas at 5:26 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. local time, the attorney said that he was "not at liberty" to provide information about the flights. It sparked a tense back and forth between Judge Boesberg and the government over whether or not it was asserting the flight information was classified. The Justice Department also argued that because the planes were over international waters and airspace by the time the judge ordered them to turn around, that Boasberg no longer had jurisdiction over the migrants. The judge responded that his order applied to the planes, regardless of where they were in the air. The Trump administration said the two planes had left before the judge made his decision, and a third plane left for El Salvador shortly afterwards, though details about the passengers on that plane are unclear. Despite Boasberg’s ruling, 261 people were deported to El Salvador Saturday,137 of whom were removed under the Alien Enemies Act over alleged gang ties, a senior administration official said. The judge’s ruling responded to a federal civil lawsuit against Mr. Trump and other administration officials filed Saturday by five Venezuelan men in immigration custody in Texas and New York local jails. The New York Times [3/17/2025 3:48 PM, Alan Feuer and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, 145325K] reports that the Trump administration asked a federal judge in Washington to cancel a hearing set for Monday evening where he planned to press officials about whether they have violated an order he issued barring the deportation of any detained noncitizens — including several suspected Venezuelan gang members — with little or no due process. In a remarkable display of defiance, the administration filed court papers less than two hours before the hearing was to be held, and told the judge, James E. Boasberg, that there was no reason for officials to come to court because they were not going to provide him with any further information about the deportation flights. “Because the government is not prepared to disclose any further national security or operational security details to plaintiffs or the public, the court should vacate the hearing scheduled for this afternoon,” lawyers for the Justice Department wrote on the administration’s behalf. “The government does not make this request lightly.”

AP [3/17/2025 10:02 PM, Nicholas Riccardi, 10355K] reports that plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed to halt deportations under a rarely-used 18th century wartime law invoked by President Donald Trump asked a federal judge Monday to force officials to explain under oath whether they violated his court order by removing more than 200 people from the country after it was issued and celebrating it on social media. The motion marks another escalation in the battle over Trump’s aggressive opening moves in his second term, several of which have been temporarily halted by judges. Trump’s allies have raged over the holds and suggested he does not have to obey them, and some plaintiffs have said it appears the administration is flouting court orders. On Saturday night, District Judge James E. Boasberg ordered the administration not to deport anyone in its custody over the newly-invoked Alien Enemies Act, which has only been used three times before in U.S. history, all during congressionally-declared wars. Trump issued a proclamation that the 1798 law was newly in effect due to what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. Trump’s invocation of the act could allow him to deport any noncitizen he says is associated with the gang, without offering proof or even publicly identifying them.

NBC News [3/17/2025 6:54 PM, Jonathan Allen, et al., 44742K] reports President Donald Trump and his allies have launched a multipronged attack on the judiciary, punctuated over the weekend by his decision not to comply with a federal judge’s order to halt the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador. It was not the first time the two-month-old Trump administration had not complied with a federal court. Judges have said Trump has brushed aside their orders to unfreeze spending on a variety of foreign and domestic programs. Battling the judiciary could face its ultimate test if the Supreme Court, which includes three justices appointed by Trump, rules against the administration. So far, the court has stayed largely on the sidelines. The administration is also using its immigration policies to push the limits of how laws are applied to legal permanent residents and visa holders. The Department of Homeland Security has cited Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s power to revoke green cards and visas of those it believes "would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States," and it is using that argument to take away the green card of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who finished his graduate studies at Columbia University in December. The administration has said it has evidence of Khalil’s connections to Hamas but has not shared it publicly. He has not been charged with committing any crimes. A similar case was made in deporting Dr. Rasha Alawieh, an assistant professor at Brown University, over the weekend. The power was there, but the use of it in this manner against legal permanent residents is rare.

Reported similarly:
USA Today [3/17/2025 5:19 PM, Josh Meyer, 75858K]

The Hill [3/17/2025 4:59 PM, Zach Schonfeld, 12829K] reports the Trump administration is pushing to change the judge overseeing a challenge to the president’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to carry out swift deportations. The Justice Department made the request in a new filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where the administration is appealing U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s Saturday order blocking the administration’s plan nationwide. The request came ahead of a 5 p.m. EDT hearing in the case, where Boasberg is set to consider whether the administration violated his court order by sending planes to El Salvador on Saturday evening. Boasberg is an appointee of former President Obama. Boasberg on Monday denied the government’s motion to cancel the hearing. The Trump administration says the planes were carrying suspected members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, and argues officials did not violate the judge’s order because the planes were already out of U.S. territory by that time.

Newsweek [3/17/2025 6:02 PM, Sonam Sheth, 52220K] reports a federal judge hauled the Trump administration into court on Monday to explain why it defied his verbal order to hold off on deporting some Venezuelan nationals accused of being Tren de Aragua gang members. The hearing sets up a potentially explosive constitutional showdown between the executive and judiciary branches of government and comes as Trump allies have repeatedly suggested impeaching or otherwise removing judges who issue rulings unfavorable to the White House. The Department of Justice (DOJ) argued Monday that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s verbal order to hold off on deporting the Venezuelan nationals was "not enforceable." The government made its remarkable claim in a court filing submitted to Boasberg shortly before a hearing in which Boasberg asked the DOJ to explain whether it violated his order to stand down on deporting more than 200 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador over the weekend. Trump officials have insisted that the White House complied with Boasberg’s order, while also saying federal courts "have no jurisdiction" over Trump’s power to deport undocumented immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has historically only been invoked in wartime. Boasberg appeared deeply skeptical of the assertion that a verbal court order is not enforceable.

The Hill [3/17/2025 7:02 PM, Rebecca Beitsch and Brett Samuels, 12829K] reports the Trump administration’s removal of more than 130 Venezuelans amid a court battle to block their deportation has ignited alarm it may have violated a court order barring its use of the Alien Enemies Act. President Trump on Saturday signed an order igniting the 1798 law and invoking war powers to remove any Venezuelan national believed to be a member of the Tren de Aragua gang. Hours later, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered flights carrying the Venezuelans to a Salvadoran prison to turn around — a directive he gave verbally in a court hearing as well as in a written order after it closed. Nonetheless, the administration continued with two flights — sparking questions from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that said despite some disagreement over the timing of the flights the Venezuelans had not yet been released from American custody at the time Boasberg’s order was issued, and therefore should have been returned to the country. After a Monday full of White House aides blasting Boasberg and diminishing his authority, a Justice Department lawyer refused to answer questions about the flights, a remarkable confrontation in which the attorney asserted that the administration complied with the judge’s written order but declined to provide any evidence. "The Trump talking point about this has been no court order was violated because the judge has no jurisdiction to tell the president what to do when it comes to matters under his commander in chief powers. It’s just not true. The court has the power to interpret the law, and so this violation of a court order, I think, is very alarming to people," said Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney who now teaches law at the University of Michigan. "A president [who] feels free to violate court orders is a very dangerous precedent. We have three separate and co-equal branches of government to avoid one of those branches from abusing its power. And if President Trump thinks he can do everything without judicial review, then we are in a constitutional crisis.”

The Hill [3/17/2025 4:54 PM, Brett Samuels, 12829K] reports senior White House aide Stephen Miller on Monday asserted a federal judge did not have the authority to direct how the administration carried out the deportations of alleged gang members amid a clash over flights carrying deportees to El Salvador. Miller spoke to reporters at the White House ahead of a court hearing over a federal judge’s ruling that directed the administration to turn around planes carrying Venezuelan migrants out of the country. Miller and other White House officials have argued Trump was well within his authority to use the Alien Enemies Act because he was expelling members of the gang Tren de Aragua, which was designated a foreign terrorist organization. "The judge issued his unlawful order without receiving any information on this terrorist organization and the diplomacy that has been conducted," Miller said. "Let alone the fact that he’s trying to issue the movement of aircraft that is operating outside of the United States. "It is without doubt the most unlawful order a judge has issued in our lifetimes," Miller continued. "A district court judge has no authority to direct the national security operations of the executive branch. The president has operated the absolute apex of his constitutional authority.” Miller said Trump will use a "full suite" of authorities in the coming days to continue to remove Tren de Aragua members. Trump over the weekend signed an order invoking wartime powers to swiftly deport anyone suspected of membership in the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The process does not allow for a hearing, sparking fears it will lead to widespread deportations of Venezuelans without connection to the gang.

Washington Examiner [3/17/2025 10:55 AM, Jenny Goldsberry, 2296K] reports that "Border czar" Tom Homan reprimanded the judge who attempted to stop the deportation flights of 261 illegal immigrants. Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling on Saturday night that prohibited deportation flights for 14 days while he oversees a case involving five immigrants with active deportation orders. The Trump administration went through with the deportations as the planes were already airborne when Boasberg’s ruling came out. "I’m the border czar," Homan said Monday on Fox News’s Fox and Friends. "Once you are outside the border, it is what it is. Whether in international waters, already on the way south close to landing. Do you know what? We did what we had to do: Remove terrorists, significant public safety threats to the United States, by the order proclamation the president of the United States. We did the right thing. It just defies logic. I mean who in the right mind, whether you are a judge or not, wants known [Tren de Aragua], a recognized terrorist organization sent here by the Maduro regime, to create havoc to unsettle the United States?" "Another flight," Homan said. "Another flight every day. Teams are going to be out there every day. Every day, the men and women of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] are going to be in the neighborhoods of this nation arresting criminal illegal aliens, public and national security threats. Lawrence, they’re not going to stop us."

FOX News [3/17/2025 2:15 PM, Kristine Parks, 46189K] reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed with CBS host Margaret Brennan over the State Department’s order to revoke the green card of former Columbia University student activist, Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil, a Palestinian raised in Syria and a permanent U.S. resident, was arrested and detained by immigration officials earlier this month for leading activities "aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization," according to the Department of Homeland Security. On "Face the Nation" Sunday, Brennan cited a Wall Street Journal editorial critical of the Trump administration’s revocation of Khalil’s green card. She asked Rubio if he had evidence showing Khalil had supported terrorism or if Khalil had simply espoused a "controversial political" view. Rubio defended the administration’s actions, saying that anyone who enters the U.S. on a visa is a "guest" and will be deported if they support "pro-Hamas" activities, which run "counter to the foreign policy interests of the United States." "It’s that simple," he said. "If you had told us that you were going to do that, we never would have given you the visa. Now you’re here. Now you do it. You lied to us. You’re out. It’s that simple. It’s that straightforward," he added. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NPR [3/17/2025 6:05 PM, Staff, 29983K] Audio: HERE reports the judge ordered the Trump Administration not to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador. That came after a Brown University physician in the United States on an H1-B visa from Lebanon was sent back. Even though a federal judge issued an order that she appear at an in-person hearing on Monday. In a court filing today, lawyers for the government said US Customs and Border Patrol officers said they didn’t learn of the order until after the doctor was sent back. The administration insists it is not defying court orders. Trump hasn’t yet openly and explicitly defied the courts. Can he undermine them just by flirting with defiance?

MeriTalk [3/17/2025 3:25 PM, Lisbeth Perez, 45K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has named Antoine McCord its new chief information officer (CIO), a spokesperson for the agency confirmed to MeriTalk. McCord – who began to perform the duties of the CIO last week – will be tasked with overseeing DHS’s roughly $11 billion IT budget and lead the department’s enterprise-wide IT strategy, cybersecurity operations, and digital modernization efforts. McCord is taking over the CIO role from Eric Hysen, who held the position during the Biden administration and also led the department’s artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, including the creation of DHS’s AI Corps, the publication of an AI roadmap and the release of commercial generative AI guidance.

The Hill [3/17/2025 1:16 PM, Elizabeth Crisp, 12829K] reports that a Navy warship is joining the effort to secure the U.S. southern border — an unusual move announced by the Pentagon over the weekend. The USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer most recently deployed to the Middle East, departed Virginia on Saturday on its new mission to operate in U.S. and international waters, according to the Pentagon. A specialized Coast Guard maritime policing team, known as a Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET), will be aboard the ship. "Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty and security," Northern Command leader Gen. Gregory Guillot said in a statement. President Trump declared a national emergency on the border and signed multiple executive orders shortly after taking office in January to bolster security efforts there. "As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do," Trump said in his inaugural address. Thousands of active-duty troops have been deployed, but the use of a guided missile-destroying ship is new. Adm. Daryl Caudle of the Naval Forces Northern Command said the deployment "marks a vital enhancement to our nation’s border security framework." "In collaboration with our interagency partners, Gravely strengthens our maritime presence and exemplifies the Navy’s commitment to national security and safeguarding our territorial integrity with professionalism and resolve," he said in a statement. Yahoo! News [3/17/2025 1:50 PM, Michelle Del Rey, 52868K] reports that the effort is part of an interagency response to combating maritime-related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction and illegal seaborne immigration. Deploying the vessel is unusual because the waters in the area - which Trump has renamed the Gulf of America from the Gulf of Mexico - are usually protected by the U.S. Coast Guard. A U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment will be placed on the ship, signaling that it could be utilized against migrants found in the ocean. The U.S. Coast Guard is the country’s primary maritime law enforcement agency.

CBS Boston [3/17/2025 9:38 PM, Louisa Moller, 51661K] Video: HERE reports according to now-sealed court filings, a Brown University doctor from Lebanon was denied entry into the United States after Customs and Border Protection found images of Hezbollah fighters on her phone. Dr. Rasha Alawieh was granted an HB1 or work visa on March 11. On March 13, she flew into Boston’s Logan Airport where CBP officials searched her phone and conducted an interview with her, court documents state. During that interview, a Customs and Border Protection official asked Alawieh why she had photos of Hezbollah on her phone, including photos of the designated terror group’s assassinated leader, Hassan Nasrallah. She allegedly told the official that some of the photos came from family and friends from a WhatsApp group and that Nasrallah, "Is a religious and spiritual person.” According to the court documents, Alawieh also admitted to attending a Hezbollah rally. "I attended the commemoration of the death of Nasrallah during this trip while I was waiting for my visa," she allegedly told the official. After the interview, the government stated it denied Alawieh’s admission into the U.S. and revoked her visa. She was put on a flight back to Paris and is now in Lebanon. Immigration attorney Stephen Roth says Customs and Border Protection can search anyone’s phone for national security reasons inside an airport, and reserves the right to refuse admission to immigrants, even if their visa has been approved by the State Department. "CBP has statutory, regulatory and legal precedent on their side that allows them to search anyone’s phone coming into the United States," Roth said. Lawyers for Alawieh say Customs and Border Protection "willfully" ignored an order by a federal judge allowing the doctor to stay in the U.S. for 48 hours while her case was reviewed. The judge granted the order on Friday. On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement saying in part, "A visa is a privilege not a right-glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security.”

The Hill [3/17/2025 3:37 PM, Lexi Lonas Cochran, 12829K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Monday on the social platform X the deported assistant professor from Brown University’s medical school attended the funeral of a terrorist in Lebanon. The agency said Rasha Alawieh went to Lebanon in February to go to the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, a former secretary-general of Hezbollah. "Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah," the agency continued, referring to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Alawieh, who was on an H-1B visa, was deported after a judge decided she would remain in the U.S., with the federal government saying in court filings that the agents who sent her out of the country were not aware of the court order before doing so. According to a court filing seen by Politico, the government says Alawieh also had "sympathetic photos and videos" of Hezbollah members in a deleted items folder on her phone. She told federal agents she followed Nasrallah’s teachings "from a religious perspective," not a political one, Politico reported.

NBC News [3/17/2025 2:17 PM, Daniel Arkin, 44742K] reports that U.S. immigration authorities arrested and interrogated a German national who is a legal permanent U.S. resident at Boston Logan International Airport on March 7, according to the man’s mother and his partner. Three days later, law enforcement officers took him to a hospital before he was transferred to a federal detention facility. Fabian Schmidt, 34, is now being held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement online database. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an emailed statement Monday, an assistant commissioner of public affairs at U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said: "If statutes or visa terms are violated, travelers may be subject to detention and removal." "Due to federal privacy regulations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection cannot disclose details about specific cases," said the assistant commissioner, Hilton Beckham. Astrid Senior, Schmidt’s mother, said in a phone interview Monday that her son contacted her March 11, four days after he was scheduled to land in Boston. She said that she and her son moved to the U.S. from Germany in 2007 and received green cards in 2008. He lives in New Hampshire and renewed his legal permanent resident status last year, she said. Senior said she has no idea why her son is being detained by U.S. immigration officials. She said her son, who once lived in California, faced misdemeanor charges roughly a decade ago. He has no active legal or court issues, Senior said.

Reuters [3/17/2025 2:47 PM, Nate Raymond, 41523K] reports that U.S. authorities on Monday said they deported a Rhode Island doctor to Lebanon last week after discovering "sympathetic photos and videos" of the former longtime leader of Hezbollah and militants in her cell phone’s deleted items folder. Dr. Rasha Alawieh had also told agents that while in Lebanon she attended the funeral last month of Hezbollah’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, whom she supported from a "religious perspective" as a Shi’ite Muslim. The U.S. Department of Justice provided those details as it sought to assure a federal judge in Boston that U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not willfully disobey an order he issued on Friday that should have halted Alawieh’s immediate removal. The 34-year-old Lebanese citizen, who held an H-1B visa, was detained on Thursday at Logan International Airport in Boston after returning from a trip to Lebanon to see family. Her cousin then filed a lawsuit seeking to halt her deportation. In its first public explanation for her removal, the Justice Department said Alawieh, a kidney specialist and assistant professor at Brown University, was denied re-entry to the United States based on what CBP found on her phone and statements she made during an airport interview.

Reported similarly:

USA Today [3/17/2025 2:04 PM, Tom Mooney, 75858K]

CBS News [3/17/2025 3:34 PM, Graham Kates and Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51661K] reports that a federal judge canceled a Monday morning hearing for a doctor who was deported to Lebanon after demanding to know whether U.S. Customs and Border Protection had "wilfully" disobeyed his order to keep her in the country amid a challenge to her deportation. Lawyers for the government said the doctor, Rasha Alawieh, "had already departed the United States" by the time Customs and Border Protection officers at Boston’s Logan Airport received notice of Judge Leo Sorokin’s instructions, the judge said in a brief order Monday. Alawieh, a Rhode Island transplant doctor and assistant professor at Brown University, was detained on Thursday in Boston after visiting family in Lebanon, her cousin claimed in a lawsuit challenging Alawieh’s detention. Sorokin ordered on Friday that Alawieh be kept in the U.S. and brought to a court hearing on Monday. He wrote Monday morning that "Dr. Alawieh is now in Lebanon." The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Monday that Alawieh had told Customs and Border Protection officers that she traveled to Beirut to attend the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. "A visa is a privilege not a right—glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security," the DHS statement continued. An attorney for Alawieh’s cousin did not immediately reply to questions sent by CBS News. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Miami Herald [3/17/2025 9:25 AM, Ian Stark, 3973K] reports that U.S. Customs and Border officials are set to appear in federal court Monday after allegedly ignoring a judge’s order not to deport a Rhode Island doctor who was detained last week. Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a Lebanese citizen and kidney doctor at Brown Medicine landed at Logan Airport in Boston Thursday after visiting family in Lebanon and was detained there by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, officials. She was also sent to France with a flight scheduled to take her to Lebanon, defying a court order to keep her detained instead of sending her outside of the country. U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin issued an order on Sunday calling for a court hearing on Monday at 10 a.m. for CBP to explain its decision to send her back to Lebanon, where she arrived Sunday morning. Alawieh’s cousin Yara Chehab filed a suit Friday naming U.S. Department Of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Kristi Noem, Customs and Border Commissioner Peter Flores and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as defendants, alleging that "CBP refuses to provide any justification for their detention, refuses to allow the attorneys to talk to Dr. Alawieh, and refuses to provide assurances that Dr. Alawieh will not be deported."

CBS New York [3/17/2025 11:41 PM, Lisa Rozner, 51661K] reports the Columbia University student who fled the country shortly after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to her door last week is speaking out. Ranjani Srinivasan flew to Canada in the days following the detention of recent graduate Mahmoud Khalil. She is disputing allegations that she advocated for violence and terrorism. "I have done nothing wrong". Srinivasan, 37, is sharing why she left her Columbia apartment and boarded a plane out of LaGuardia last week. The doctoral student says days earlier she learned her student visa was revoked, and immigration agents visited her without a warrant. "That I would be detained indefinitely. That was really my greatest fear and with little legal recourse to fight anything that they throw at me," Srinivasan said. She sat down with Lilia Luciano in an interview that will air on CBS Mornings on Tuesday. Last week, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the citizen of India and Fulbright Scholar was involved in activities supporting Hamas. "I have done nothing wrong and I was unsure why they were sort of persecuting me," Srinivasan said. Her lawyers say she was mistakenly detained while trying to get into her apartment near last year’s Hamilton Hall takeover. Other than that, they say she attended a handful of protests, and had shared or liked social media posts related to Palestinians in Gaza. This all comes as President Trump is threatening to pull all federal funding from Columbia unless certain conditions are met. Columbia has a Wednesday deadline to respond to a letter the Trump administration sent last week that outlines multiple steps the school needs to take, including a mask ban, reforming admissions practices, and adopting a definition of antisemitism. "We applaud the current administration. If you can’t define something, how in the world can you fight it and fix it essentially?" said Liora Rez, founder and executive director of Stop Antisemitism. "The federal government can’t bully people with dollars". However, attorney Jeremy Rosenthal says it’s unconstitutional for the administration to withhold all federal funding, even though in its letter it says it can because the school is violating the Title 6 Civil Rights Act. "Title 6 is Congress. It’s not the executive," Rosenthal said. "The federal government can’t bully people with dollars for them to give up constitutional rights. We can’t start denying cancer research because of how Columbia defines antisemitism.” Columbia University declined to comment.

Border Report [3/17/2025 7:57 PM, Sandra Sanchez, 117K] reports a wildfire that started in Mexico hopped the wide Rio Grande on was burning in South Texas on Monday. The fire first crossed the river on Sunday night but Donna Fire Chief David Simmons tells Border Report that they had it under control after it burned over 40 acres. Then on Monday morning it reignited, spurred by high winds that are hitting this are near the Gulf Coast. "Look at the winds. It doesn’t take much. That’s why we’re always out there trying to educate the public about burning trash. A little ember is going to float," Simmons told Border Report. Behind him, a row of palm trees were catching fire and igniting every few minutes for several hours as the fire was making a slow march toward Military Highway – the most southern highway in Texas. This is an area near the Santa Anna National Wildlife Refuge. It’s also an area where federal officials are starting to build new segments of border wall. A contract for $70 million was recently secured to rebuild 7 miles of border wall in Hidalgo County. Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol spokeswoman Christina Smallwood confirmed to Border Report on Monday that the area is near Donna. Trucks carrying bundles of bollards could be seen on the border levee on Monday and the drivers were turned back by fire officials as the smoke grew thick and was spreading quickly. "It’s burnt right up to the river. The last night fire that we had we were actually on the bank of the water so it’s right there. And again it’s our safety too," Simmons said. He said he had to have his fire troops retreat Sunday night around 10 p.m. because it was too dark to safely see the smoldering sections. State and federal officials on Monday sent resources. Simmons and several other local firefighting agencies were battling the fire along with help from the Texas Division of Emergency Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Texas AM Forest Service. By evening over 130 acres had burned Monday, Abbie Tijerina with Texas A&M Forest Service told Border Report. The fire was 75% contained, she said. However, a quick glimpse on the other side of the border wall showed acres and acres of border landscape completely charred. That’s where fire officials had their command post for much of the day. Simmons said the concern with containing the fire near Santa Anna National Wildlife Refuge is that it’s located on a part of the Rio Grande where it curves and with these high winds embers could easily fly across from Mexico again and reignite more brush.

FOX News [3/17/2025 11:01 AM, Alec Schemmel, 46189K] reports that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced the building of seven miles of new border wall in Arizona as part of the administration’s efforts to "make America safe again." Noem’s announcement, coming in a short video posted to her X account, marks the beginning of additional border wall construction along the southern border during the second Trump administration. The DHS said in a press release Friday that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) had awarded the first contract of President Donald Trump’s second term to Granite Construction Co. for more than $70 million, which will result in seven miles of new border wall in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, according to Noem’s announcement. "Everybody, I’m here in Arizona, and right at this spot, you can see where the border wall ends," Noem said while standing along the border, donning a CBP hat and jacket. "As of today, we’re starting 7 new miles of construction, we’re going to continue to make America safe again." The new wall will be paid for via CBP’s Fiscal Year 2021 funds, per DHS.

Reported similarly:
Newsweek [3/17/2025 1:21 PM, Gabe Whisnant and Dan Gooding, 3973K]

Newsweek [3/17/2025 5:49 PM, Dan Gooding, 52220K] reports the Mexican government said Monday that it had arrested a known member of the MS-13 gang, who is listed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Top Ten Most Wanted list. Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales was detained in Veracruz as part of a joint operation between the United States and Mexico, officials said. The FBI alleges that Roman-Bardales is a senior leader in the MS-13 gang, which was recently designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the Trump administration. Roman-Bardales, also known as "Veterano de Tribus," is a Salvadoran national wanted in the U.S. for multiple alleged offenses, including acts of violence towards civilians and rival gang members. The 47-year-old is also accused of being involved in drug distribution and extortion schemes, according to the FBI. A federal arrest warrant was issued in September 2022, out of the Eastern District of New York. That document includes charges of conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists; narco-terrorism conspiracy; racketeering conspiracy; and alien smuggling conspiracy. Roman-Bardales was taken to Mexico City where he will be turned over for deportation to the U.S., Mexican officials said.

Reuters [3/17/2025 5:09 PM, Raphael Satter, Ted Hesson, and David Shephardson, 41523K] reports the Trump administration’s decision to deport Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador despite a judge’s explicit order that the planes carrying them be turned around represents an extraordinary escalation in the president’s challenge to the U.S. Constitution’s system of checks and balances. What follows is a timeline – mainly drawn from court filings and the plane tracking website Flightradar24 – showing how the deportation operation proceeded on Saturday, as the judge ordered it to come to a halt.

CNN [3/17/2025 5:04 PM, Michael Rios, 22131K] reports El Salvador’s Cecot mega-prison was notorious long before the Trump administration’s recent decision to deport hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members there. It is now home to some of the country’s most hardened criminals, including mass murderers and gang members billed as the "worst of the worst" and is notorious for the spartan conditions in which they are kept. Some 10,000 to 20,000 prisoners are currently thought to be housed there, with the most recent arrivals being the 261 people the Trump administration deported from the US over the weekend – 238 of whom it accused of belonging to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and 23 alleged members of the MS-13 gang. El Salvador’s leader Nayib Bukele – a strongman president and self-styled "world’s coolest dictator" – offered to house the US deportees in Cecot as part of an unprecedented deal in which the US will pay $6 million dollars in return. The money will help sustain El Salvador’s penitentiary system, which currently costs $200 million a year.

Miami Herald [3/17/2025 6:00 PM, David Catanese, 3973K] reports a U.S. District Court judge in Washington on Monday told attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice they needed to provide a written case by noon Tuesday for why they could not reveal specific details about flights they used to deport 261 alleged gang members to El Salvador this weekend. Judge James Boasberg ordered Trump administration attorneys to appear at the fact-finding hearing to clarify details about its weekend deportation flights and whether they violated his court order. Boasberg, an appointee of President Obama confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate, issued a temporary restraining order on Saturday against Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The judge verbally ordered the two planes back to the U.S., but they continued on and landed in El Salvador. On Monday, the Department of Justice in a letter to the Clerk of the Court of the United States Court of Appeals requested that the case be reassigned to a different judge. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier Monday there are questions about whether Boasberg’s verbal order carried the same weight as his written one, which came about 40 minutes later, around 7:25 p.m. on Saturday evening. Boasberg appeared unmoved by that argument during Monday’s hearing, according to The Guardian.

Reuters [3/17/2025 7:26 PM, Sarah Kinosian and Kristina Cooke, 41523K] reports family members of Venezuelan migrants who suspect their loved ones were sent to El Salvador as part of a rapid U.S. deportation operation over the weekend are struggling to get more information as a legal battle plays out. Advocates have launched a WhatsApp helpline, for people searching for family members, while immigration attorneys have tried to locate their clients after they went dark. In a proclamation, published on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport what the White House said were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The Trump administration used the authority to deport 137 Venezuelans to El Salvador on Saturday even as a judge ordered the removals halted, sparking a legal standoff. The sudden move caused confusion among family members and immigration advocates. "This chaos is purposeful," said Anilú Chadwick, pro bono director of the advocacy group Together & Free. "They want to exhaust people and exhaust resources.” The Trump administration has provided few details so far on the identities of those who were deported. But Solanyer Sarabia believes she saw her 19-year-old brother, Anyelo, among images shared online of the Venezuelans deported to El Salvador’s mega-prison. His head had been shaved and he was dressed in white prison garb. Anyelo had told his sister on Friday night that he would be deported to Venezuela, she said in a phone interview with Reuters from Texas. Solanyer said her brother had been detained on January 31 after an appointment at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. He had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally with Solanyer and another sister in November 2023 and had been released to pursue a claim for asylum. Solanyer said an ICE officer told her that her brother was detained because of a tattoo that linked him to Tren de Aragua, a violent gang with Venezuelan prison origins that has spread through the Americas. She said the tattoo depicted a rose and that he had gotten it in a tattoo parlor in Dallas. "He thought it looked cool, looked nice, it didn’t have any other significance," she said, stressing that he is not a gang member. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has gained international attention for his crackdown on gangs in the Central American country. Supporters say his tactics have driven down violent crime, but rights groups have accused his administration of torture, arbitrary detentions, and other abuses in the country’s prisons.

New York Times [3/17/2025 10:23 PM, Annie Correal, 145325K] reports shortly after the Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador this weekend, the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, posted a three-minute video on social media. It featured shackled men being marched off a plane over a dramatic electronic soundtrack and into prison, where they were shaved bald. Mr. Bukele also taunted the U.S. judge who unsuccessfully ordered the flights turned around, posting on X, “Oopsie … Too late,” with a laughing emoji. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared the video, as did Elon Musk. Mr. Trump thanked Mr. Bukele online, saying, “We will not forget!” El Salvador’s role in the Trump administration’s deportation strategy signals a new level of power and global visibility for Mr. Bukele, who became president at 37 in 2019 and was re-elected by a landslide last year. He has become Latin America’s most popular leader for his takedown of gangs, even as he has suspended key civil liberties and has been accused by U.S. prosecutors of secretly negotiating with the same gangs. He is now positioning himself as a crucial regional ally to Mr. Trump. Mr. Bukele uses social media to project a slick and casual look — often wearing a backward baseball cap and aviator shades — and to respond to criticism of his iron-fisted approach to crime and violence. In spring 2022, after a surge in gang violence rocked El Salvador, the government imposed a state of emergency that has been in place ever since. Mr. Bukele empowered police and the military forces to carry out mass arrests, which human rights groups say have allowed him to bypass due process and have ensnared people who have no gang ties. Many of the 85,000 Salvadorans apprehended have disappeared into the prison system, held for years without trial and without their families knowing if they are alive. Last month, Mr. Bukele took Mr. Rubio on a sun-drenched tour of the presidential residence outside San Salvador. Afterward, Mr. Rubio announced that Mr. Bukele had offered to take in deportees of any nationality, including Americans, and to house them in CECOT — for a fee. A White House spokeswoman said on Monday that El Salvador would receive $6 million for taking in the deportees, who the U.S. government said were members of Tren de Aragua, without offering evidence or the detainees’ names.

Miami Herald [3/17/2025 9:43 PM, Staff, 3973K] reports Venezuela will do "whatever it takes" to free hundreds of its citizens deported by the U.S. to a notorious prison in El Salvador, according to National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez. "We will resort to all countries and bilateral relations, legal strategies," Rodríguez said in a press conference on Monday. "We will even talk to the devil so that Venezuelans are returned to their homes." President Donald Trump’s administration deported 238 Venezuelans over the weekend, accusing them of membership of the Tren de Aragua gang. The deportees face incarceration in El Salvador’s so-called Terrorism Confinement Center under a deal reached between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Nayib Bukele. The U.S. hasn’t yet detailed how it identified the Venezuelans as members of the gang, which is designated a foreign terrorist organization. The dispute threatens to complicate Venezuela’s attempts to get sanctions lifted in return for cooperating with Trump’s policy of mass deportations of migrants. The government of President Nicolás Maduro is particularly anxious that Washington continue to allow Chevron Corp to function in the country, since the oil major now supplies about 20% of Venezuela’s crude output, providing a large proportion of the economy’s hard currency. In a three-minute video released by Bukele, the migrants are shown being dragged out of planes and later forced to kneel and shaved by security officials before being imprisoned. "Why do they beat them? Why do they humiliate them? Why do they have to shave their heads?" Maduro said on state TV on Monday evening. Maduro said that the government was recommending against travel to U.S. and called for marches to protest the migrants’ detentions on Tuesday. On Saturday, Trump moved to accelerate deportations by invoking seldom-used powers under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a statute previously employed to justify the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The Trump administration insisted on Monday it had not defied a court, saying a judge’s order to halt the flight to El Salvador was issued after the migrants had already left U.S. territory. The White House said the president has a constitutional authority to conduct foreign affairs and to "repel a declared invasion." Rodríguez did not add details on a deal reached last week in which the U.S. would resume deportation flights to Venezuela. The flights had been initially halted after Trump’s decision to revoke Chevron’s license to operate in the country.

Yahoo! News [3/17/2025 4:59 PM, George Stockburger, 52868K] reports U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement recently detained five members of Dauphin County’s Bhutanese Nepali community, according to Dauphin County officials. According to the county, the individuals "are long-time members of the Bhutanese refugee community" who resettled in Dauphin County and are "legal permanent residents.” The residents were "transferred to out-of-state detention centers," according to the county. According to a study conducted in 2023, Pennsylvania is among the top 10 states with Bhutanese Nepali refugees, with the Harrisburg-Carlisle area "containing a dense population" with an estimated population of 47,000. County officials and state leaders are expected to release more information on the detention during a Tuesday press conference.

WSBTV [3/17/2025 3:19 PM, Staff] reports Gov. Brian Kemp announced the Georgia Department of Public Safety would be strengthening its partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through a new training program. Kemp’s office said that DPS Commissioner Billy Hitchens has asked for all 1,100 state troopers and other sworn officers in the department be trained by ICE to "better assist in identifying and apprehending illegal aliens who pose a risk to public safety in the state." That means they’ll be participating in what’s called the 287(g) Program, which authorizes ICE to delegate some of its authority for immigration officer functions to state and local law enforcement via the federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Officials said that last week, ICE contacted the GDOC requesting two additional corrections officers to assist in the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes as part of the current 287(g) agreement. Right now, the department has a sergeant and three GDOC officers assigned to the program’s measures. The governor’s office said the state’s corrections department has about 1,730 "criminals on ICE detainers who have been taken off the streets" in their custody.

Univision [3/17/2025 2:58 PM, Staff, 5325K] reports Noticias 23 reported last week that ICE detained several Cuban women with I-220A status as they attended their immigration appointment in the city of Miramar, South Florida. This is the case of Laura de la Caridad González Sánchez, a Cuban woman who had an isolation appointment and who does not have a criminal record, but who was detained on Monday, March 10, at her control appointment at the immigration offices in Miramar. Her mother, Celia Sánchez, who had said she was devastated by what happened to her only daughter, contacted Noticias 23 this weekend to report that her daughter had been transferred to another state. According to her mother, Laura de la Caridad is in Arizona, in transit to California. In addition, her mother said that Laura Caridad’s appointment for her asylum was canceled. Laura entered the United States at the southern border in September 2022, was granted an I220-A, and then applied for asylum. Her first appointment was scheduled for December 25, 2025. Noticias 23 spoke with the families of Laura de la Caridad González, Yadira Cantallops, and Denice Reyes, three Cuban women who found themselves in this situation and are now awaiting answers from a detention center in Miramar.

Yahoo! News [3/17/2025 4:56 PM, Ken Kolker, 52868K] reports all around the closed prison north of Baldwin are signs of poverty in one of Michigan’s poorest counties: boarded up and abandoned homes. When the North Lake Correctional Facility was open, with its glistening concertina wire, it was Lake County’s biggest employer. Even closed, it’s the county’s biggest taxpayer. The 1,800-bed private prison, owned by Florida-based GEO Group, closed in 2022 after President Joe Biden issued an executive order to end the federal government’s use of private prisons. "They’re a private prison, for the most part, selling beds to the feds," Lake County Administrator Tobi Lake said. "And the feds have gone Republicans, Democrats, Republicans, Democrats. It seems like every four to eight years, we’re kind of stuck in the middle." Now, the American Civil Liberties Union says it has obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act that show under President Donald Trump, the pendulum is swinging back. The GEO Group, the ACLU says, has offered to reopen the prison for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold detainees. "This is certainly an offer by the facility to become an immigration detention facility," Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project in Washington, D.C., said. The GEO Group could not be reached for comment. An ICE spokesman refused to discuss the Lake County prison. "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s enhanced enforcement operations and routine daily operations have resulted in a significant number of arrests of criminal aliens that require greater detention capacity," the spokesman said in an emailed statement. "While we cannot confirm individual pre-decisional conversations, we can confirm that ICE is exploring all options to meet its current and future detention requirements.”

AP [3/17/2025 4:01 PM, Sophia Tareen] reports federal immigration agents violated the rights of 22 people, including a U.S. citizen, in immigration enforcement arrests during the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, Chicago activists and attorneys alleged Monday. The arrests allegedly violate a 2022 agreement between Chicago groups and the federal government detailing how U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers can make "collateral arrests," where agents detain others besides those being targeted. The NIJC detailed alleged violations in a federal complaint filed last week on behalf of advocacy groups in Chicago. Among other things, the agreement says ICE agents can make a warrantless arrest only when they have evidence that an individual is likely to escape. The groups are seeking the release of two people who remain detained, sanctions against arresting officers and more transparency in how the agency conducts its operations, among other things. Of those arrested, two were deported, 19 were released on bond and one was a U.S. citizen who was released after being handcuffed for hours. Most in the complaint do not have criminal records aside from one person with a driving under the influence charge, according to attorneys.

Colorado Public Radio [3/17/2025 6:23 PM, Allison Sherry and Ben Markus, 574K] reports standing before a judge in Denver’s immigration court last week, government lawyers made a bold request typically reserved for people charged with or convicted of violent crimes: The Venezuelan immigrant should be held in detention indefinitely until he was ordered deported. The evidence that the man was a threat to the community? His tattoos, which agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement said indicated ties to the violent gang Tren de Aragua, along with his attendance at a party in a Federal Boulevard warehouse. "He was somewhere where ICE did a raid, where they thought TdA was present at a club, I guess," said Elizabeth McGrail, an immigration judge for the U.S. Justice Department. "So he swept in with that, and all I know is respondent’s telling me that an officer told him that his tattoos seemed suspicious, but there’s nothing otherwise … that would connect him to this gang.” Despite the government’s assertions, McGrail granted Arnaldo Velasquez Vasquez a $5,000 bond. Should he post that, he’d be free to go and continue pursuing his asylum claim to remain in the U.S. With his decision over the weekend to invoke the 18th Century Alien Enemies Act as justification to snatch, detain and deport anyone the government declares is a member of Tren de Aragua, President Donald Trump may not appreciably increase the number of people captured by ICE in Colorado and elsewhere. When asked what process they use to determine whether someone is in a gang or if they have guardrails to make sure they’re not deporting non-gang members without court hearings, an ICE spokesman said, "As a matter of policy, ICE doesn’t comment on specific tactics, capabilities or operational details.” Terrance Roberts of Denver, an anti-violence activist and former gang member, said tagging someone as a gang member with no proof beyond maybe a tattoo or the color of a jacket is "racist.”

NBC News [3/17/2025 6:41 PM, Suzanne Gamboa, 44742K] reports attorneys are sounding the alarm about the unknown whereabouts of 48 people after immigration raids swept through three New Mexico cities in March. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico said in a civil rights complaint that the absence of families searching for loved ones who were taken away is an anomaly. They are calling for an investigation regarding the whereabouts and well-being of the "disappeared individuals" in the complaint filed Sunday with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The people were "snatched up" in Santa Fe, Roswell and Albuquerque, and ACLU and other organizations have been unable to locate them since the weeklong raids ended March 8, said Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at the ACLU New Mexico. "We don’t have anybody and that’s exactly the concerns, that they’ve been effectively ‘disappeared.’ We have yet to learn any of their identities or whereabouts or the authorities under which they were held or conditions of their detention. We don’t know if they’ve already been deported," Sheff said. "Disappeared" is a word that has most often been used in reference to people secreted away by military or law enforcement in repressive regimes in Latin America and other regions.

Yahoo! News [3/17/2025 6:26 PM, Sharon Knolle, 52868K] reports Jasmine Mooney, a Canadian actress and entrepreneur who appeared in an "American Pie" movie and "iZombie," said, "I feel like I’ve been kidnapped," after being detained by ICE at the Mexican border and held in custody for 12 days. Mooney, who was allowed to return to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Saturday, spoke to Canadian news outlet CTV News from an Arizona detention center before her release, "Without any warning about what was about to transpire, I was literally just taken. I feel like I’ve been kidnapped… All my stuff was taken from me and I was put in a jail cell.” She later told San Diego station KGTV, "I have never in my life seen anything so inhumane," saying that she and other female detainees had "up for 24 hours wrapped in chains.” An ICE spokesperson said via statement that Mooney did not have legal documentation to be in the U.S. and that she had been processed in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders. "All aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the U.S., regardless of nationality," the spokesperson said in the statement. Speaking to CTV after her release, Mooney said, "I still don’t even know how I’m home. My friends and my family and the media are the reason, I think, that I’m home." She said she was never received an explanation for her detention and that she was never charged with a crime.

FOX News [3/17/2025 11:42 AM, Audrey Conklin, 46189K] reports that the 2024 disappearance of a California mom of four is now being investigated as a homicide, according to authorities. Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain’s family reported her missing from her home in Anderson on May 22, 2024, after they last heard from her on May 18 of that year. "Since the initial investigation, Detectives have worked tirelessly to locate Nikki and to determine the events leading to her disappearance," the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said in a March 14 press release. "Detectives have served numerous search warrants, including a prior search warrant at Nikki’s residence. Furthermore, Detectives have interviewed family members, friends and acquaintances of Nikki, including citizens who have reported information about her disappearance." On March 14, detectives and agents with the Department of Homeland Security (HSI) and FBI served a warrant at Saelee-McCain’s Anderson home. Based on evidence gathered from the search and from interviews, and the fact that McCain’s family has not heard from her since May 18, 2024, detectives determined Saelee-McCain’s disappearance and presumed death to be a homicide. The sheriff’s office has identified persons of interest in her homicide but said their "identities are being withheld due to the ongoing nature of this investigation."

CBS Minnesota [3/17/2025 11:43 PM, Kirsten Mitchell, 51661K] reports Minnesota has long been a haven for refugees, with nearly 118,000 individuals resettling in the state since 1979, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. However, a toughening of U.S. immigration policies has created significant challenges for those hoping to start new lives in the state. While the administration’s hardline stance on immigration is widely known for cracking down on deportations, it’s also making it more difficult for refugees to enter the country. In January, President Trump signed an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. A federal judge blocked the move, but the administration has yet to fully resume operations. One organization deeply impacted by these changes is the International Institute of Minnesota, which provides crucial services to new Americans. "They want to make a life for themselves. They want safety for their families. And you know, that’s why that hasn’t changed. That’s still why people come here and to rejoin their family members that are here," said Executive Director Jane Graupman. Their work focuses on helping refugees access housing, healthcare and education, among other services. As a result of President Trump’s move, many organizations like the International Institute of Minnesota are struggling financially, with Graupman noting that they haven’t been paid for their services since November. As a result, they have had to turn to community support to continue their work. "It’s always important, but now it’s very important," she said. Despite these financial challenges, Graupman says that the need for refugee resettlement remains. She thinks the community will start to see the impact of fewer refugees entering the workforce. She says they’ve helped employ more than 3,500 people in the healthcare industry, which has been essential for filling labor shortages. Meanwhile, refugees and immigrants with varying citizenship statuses are increasingly fearful of deportation. Immigration attorney David Kubot shared that some immigrants are hesitant to travel outside the U.S., worried that they won’t be allowed to return, even with approved travel documents like Advance Parole. He explained that the decision to travel has become a complex risk calculation, particularly for those with pressing personal reasons like visiting a dying family member.

NPR [3/17/2025 4:17 PM, Juliana Kim] reports a U.S. Navy destroyer, designed to intercept ballistic missiles, has been deployed to the southern border as part of President Trump’s push to seal the border and crackdown on immigration, defense officials said. The USS Gravely set sail on Saturday from Naval Weapons Station Yorktown in Virginia. The warship previously served in the Middle East, where it was responsible for shooting down missiles fired by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. Now, it will help assist U.S. Northern Command in its mission to "protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security," Gen. Gregory Guillot, who oversees U.S. Northern Command, said in a statement. The command is the Defense Department’s operation lead in using military forces to tighten border security.

Yahoo! News [3/17/2025 11:24 PM, Io Dodds, 52868K] reports U.S. border agents have made more seizures of eggs and egg-based products than of fentanyl since the beginning of this year, official statistics show. According to data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), officials made 134 interceptions of the deadly drug in January and February 2025, compared to 197 the previous year. But that was nothing compared to the 3,254 egg-related seizures during the same period — more than twice as many as the same two months in 2024. The figures, first reported by Canadian business news website The Logic, only track the number of “seizure events” logged by CBP for each type of contraband, rather than the actual amount. The latter comparison is not possible because CBP only releases the weight of drugs it has seized, not the weight of agricultural products. Nevertheless, it illustrates the growing scale of egg smuggling as prices soared as high as $8.05 per dozen on average due to avian flu outbreaks and, allegedly, price gouging by the highly concentrated poultry industry. It also undermines the rationale for Donald Trump’s trade war against Mexico and Canada, which he claims is necessary to stop fentanyl flooding into the U.S. but which opponents say will raise the price of everyday products. (Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reported that less than 1 percent of fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada.) A CBP spokesperson told Newsweek that there had been a 36 percent year on year increase in "eggs being detained" at ports of entry during the five months ending with February. Prices have since dropped from their peak in late February, apparently because inflation-weary consumers are unwilling to shell out at such high tags.

AP [3/17/2025 3:24 PM, Megan Janetsky, 44742K] reports that the videos roll through TikTok in 30-second flashes. Migrants trek in camouflage through dry desert terrain. Dune buggies roar up to the United States-Mexico border barrier. Families with young children pass through gaps in the wall. Helicopters, planes, yachts, tunnels and jet skis stand by for potential customers. Laced with emojis, the videos posted by smugglers offer a simple promise: If you don’t have a visa in the U.S., trust us. We’ll get you over safely. At a time when legal pathways to the U.S. have been slashed and criminal groups are raking in money from migrant smuggling, social media apps like TikTok have become an essential tool for smugglers and migrants alike. As President Donald Trump begins to ramp up a crackdown at the border and migration levels to the U.S. dip, smugglers say new technologies allow networks to be more agile in the face of challenges, and expand their reach to new customers — a far cry from the old days when each village had its trusted smuggler. "In this line of work, you have to switch tactics," said a woman named Soary, part of a smuggling network bringing migrants from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, Texas, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition that her last name would not be shared out of concern that authorities would track her down. "TikTok goes all over the world."

Border Report [3/17/2025 4:47 PM, Alejandra Yañez, 117K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded the first border wall contract of President Donald J. Trump’s second term to construct approximately seven miles of new border wall in Hidalgo County. The contract was awarded to Granite Construction Co. for $70,285,846. According to a CBP release, the contract is funded by CBP’s 2021 fiscal year funds. Its purpose according to CBP is to "close critical openings in the border wall that were left incomplete due to cancelled contracts during the Biden Administration." CBP stated in its release that the Rio Grande Valley Sector is an area of high illegal entry and experiences large numbers of narcotics and people being smuggled into the United States.

Reported similarly:
Houston Chronicle [3/17/2025 5:21 PM, Jeremy Wallace, 1769K]

Border Report [3/17/2025 6:06 PM, Melissa Luna, 117K] reports a man is facing a charge of assault after he allegedly assaulted a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer last month at a post office in Santa Teresa, according to court documents obtained by KTSM. Court documents say Andrew Josiah Segura, 28, is facing the charge and was arrested by the U.S. marshals after he allegedly verbally threatened two CBP officers and assaulted one of them last month at a post office in Santa Teresa. A week prior to the incident, Segura was also involved in a separate verbal altercation with another officer.

Bloomberg [3/17/2025 1:55 PM, Joe Lovinger and Alicia A. Caldwell, 16228K] reports that Texas will close a centralized booking facility near its border with Mexico, the latest signal from the state that part of its massive border security apparatus may no longer be necessary. Governor Greg Abbott opened the facility in Jim Hogg County in 2022 as part of Operation Lone Star, an $11 billion effort to crack down on illegal immigration. Because Texas law enforcement couldn’t arrest people solely for crossing the border — a power that rests with federal authorities — the state instead charged migrants with crimes like trespassing on private property, which they had been given power to do under a 2021 rule. The strategy led to a sharp rise in arrests, with police booking 565 people for criminal trespassing in Jim Hogg County in the first full year of the program, up from just 11 the year before, according to state records. Now, under an agreement signed with the Trump administration in February, the Texas National Guard has been authorized to make immigration arrests and detain people.

Reported similarly:
Newsweek [3/17/2025 2:41 PM, Dan Gooding, 52220K]

Border Report [3/17/2025 7:59 PM, Julian Resendiz, 117K] reports a border Democrat on Monday ramped up her crusade against the Trump administration’s use of military resources to hold and deport migrants. U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, and eight other Democrats sent a letter to the White House protesting the taking of Department of Defense personnel away from their mission to protect the country against military threats and instead availing them for immigration enforcement. And in a news conference in El Paso, she said an oversight trip to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base reinforced her belief migrant detention in military bases is expensive, hinders oversight and affects military readiness. “The reason I keep bringing up the consequences of using military sites is because we have evidence it degrades our military, it sets back our readiness,” Escobar said. “And if folks aren’t concerned about the myriad of humanitarian reasons why we shouldn’t be doing this, they should at least be concerned about the impact to the United States military.” Her trip to Guantanamo preceded the administration’s decision to transfer to Louisiana all 40 migrants held at the naval base in Cuba. Still, Escobar said she wasn’t allowed to speak to any migrants while she was there. “The government should not use military bases as an extension of the Department of Homeland Security. We saw here in El Paso the previous administration use Fort Bliss for an emergency intake facility because there were no detention beds for unaccompanied children arriving,” Escobar said. “We also had Operation Allies Welcome after Afghanistan. We did an assessment after that experience and we noted that it set back our military readiness by two years. “There are real consequences to our national defense when we abuse our military and our installations.” Escobar also expressed concerns about the possible use of Fort Bliss as a “mass deportation hub,” as reported by national news media citing Trump administration sources. “I have not gotten a lot of information […] They told me no final decision had been made, but I can tell you based on the conversations it sounds that it’s highly likely that it will happen,” she said. Escobar said she has seen no evidence of upcoming bid requests for services, but allegedly heard talk of contractors ramping up activity in preparation. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

KRQE [3/17/2025 4:44 PM, Jordan Honeycutt] reports a Santa Teresa man is facing federal charges for threatening border officials. Andrew Segura, 28, is accused of calling a Border Patrol agent a "traitor" and saying he would hit him during an altercation at a travel stop on February 11. Federal prosecutors said he then threatened two other Customs and Border Protection employees at a post office a week later and got into a fight with one of them. Witnesses told investigators that Segura’s actions were not provoked.

AZCentral [3/17/2025 8:02 AM, Ray Stern, 4457K] reports a cartel scout caught near mountains south of metro Phoenix last month told authorities he helped smuggle about 1,000 undocumented immigrants into the country last year. He had continued his job even through the start of President Donald Trump’s border crackdown, records show. Border Patrol agents captured Edgar Armanda Vargas-de La Rocha on Feb. 24 north of I-8 near the town of Maricopa while investigating why "government equipment located in the South Maricopa Mountains had recently gone offline," according to court records released Friday. Vargas-de La Rocha was dressed in a camouflage outfit and equipped with binoculars. Agents soon found the man’s backpack, which contained a "black Motorola radio" and a mobile phone. He waived his Miranda rights and admitted he was in the country illegally working for the Los Memos cartel, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel. His job was to send reports on the locations of U.S. agents and border activity to cartel members. "In the previous season," he explained, the cartel paid him 200,000 pesos (about $10,000 U.S.) to work as a scout and that he’d helped smuggle "approximately 1,000 illegal aliens." The man told agents that in February, "he successfully helped illegally smuggle six groups" from the border fence to Interstate 8, where they were driven to Phoenix. The Arizona Republic reported last week how some immigrants deported under Trump’s crackdown are already returning. Vargas-de La Rocha signed a plea agreement on a felony conspiracy-for-financial-gain charge with federal prosecutors last week, court records show. His change of plea hearing is set for March 20 at the federal courthouse in Phoenix. He could get up to 10 years in prison but would get a lesser sentence as long as he continues to comply with court orders, the plea deal states. Still, the charge requires a three-year mandatory minimum prison sentence even for a first violation.

FOX News [3/17/2025 8:15 AM, Michael Lee, 46189K] reports U.S. military personnel sent by President Donald Trump to the southern border to assist in security operations have had a profound impact on the number of illegal crossing attempts, a veteran border agent tells Fox News Digital. "It’s a force multiplier," San Diego Sector acting Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Stalnaker said of the military assistance at the border in an interview with Fox News Digital. "It assists us to accomplish our mission." At the San Diego border sector, traditionally one of the busiest crossing areas of the U.S. border with Mexico, hundreds of service members from the Army, Marines, and Navy have been deployed to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents over the last several weeks. The deployments, which were ordered just days after President Trump took office, have helped put an almost sudden stop to the record-setting illegal crossings seen in recent years. The number of southern border apprehensions in February hit lows not seen since the year 2000, according to CBP data, while CBP agent encounters with illegal migrants have also fallen sharply, with the agency recording just 30,000 encounters in February, compared to the over 130,000 recorded during the same time period in 2023 and 2024. According to Stalnaker, the military forces currently assisting at the border have had a lot to do with the recent success. "It’s not just walls and c-wire, it’s also our weather roads. It gives us access, quick access, to be able to move our agents … to be able to respond to an event, a law enforcement event," he said. The nearly 500 Marines operating at the border as part of Task Force Sapper have helped CBP by reinforcing existing border barriers with additional protection, including the welding of razor wire that has been strategically placed to slow down any potential crossings and give CBP agents time to react.

FOX News [3/17/2025 12:25 PM, Michael Lee Fox, 46189K] reports that the change in administration from President Joe Biden to President Donald Trump has opened up stronger enforcement possibilities for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, the agent in charge of a key sector along the southern border tells Fox News Digital. "We have changed from a posture of catch-and-release to providing maximum consequences to the greatest extent possible for anyone and everyone who crosses," San Diego Sector acting Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Stalnaker told Fox News Digital. That reality has been in the typically busy San Diego border sector, Stalnaker said, a shift he credited to the new administration in the White House. "Once the new administration came in, we are able to exercise and provide consequences to the greatest extent, which then gets [illegal migrants] either jail time and/or provide them a repatriation to the country where they began their journey to the United States," Stalnaker said. "We were in a posture of catch and release… we would apprehend [illegal immigrants], take them to our soft site facility, we would run checks on them, and then try to get them out of our facility as quickly as possible… release them with the notice to appear to go see an immigration judge," he added. "The change now is we catch them, still take them to our soft side facility, however they are not being released, we are trying to find every consequence possible and deliver that consequence to them." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

WHNT [3/17/2025 3:01 PM, Rebecca Teutsch] reports according to the Transportation Security Administration, officers across the state of Alabama seized 130 guns at checkpoints in 2024. According to the TSA website, the largest increase in year-to-year comparisons was at Huntsville International Airport where officers took 33 guns in 2024 compared to 20 in 2023. TSA said this was a 65% increase. Of those 33 guns taken last year, TSA said 32 were loaded. In 2025 so far, TSA at Huntsville International Airport has taken one gun, a Glock, loaded with 16 rounds. The Alabama statewide total of 130 seized guns in 2024 was 23 percent higher than the 106 passengers who brought firearms to the checkpoints across the state in 2023.

AP [3/17/2025 2:58 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 48304K] reports a federal judge on Monday declined to force the Trump administration to immediately reimburse dozens of public broadcasting stations for upgrades to the nation’s emergency alert system. The nonprofit Corporation for Public Broadcasting sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency last Thursday, claiming the agency had unlawfully held up nearly $2 million in grant money for modernizing the alert system. The lawsuit says the delay in reimbursements is hampering the ability of federal, state and local authorities to issue real-time emergency alerts. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly denied a request for a court order and ruled that the CPB failed to carry its legal burden for showing how it has been irreparably harmed. The corporation hasn’t demonstrated that the alert system will stop working if the grant funding doesn’t start flowing right away, Kelly concluded as he rejected the CPB’s request for a temporary restraining order.

NPR [3/17/2025 6:04 PM, Frank Morris, 29983K] Audio: HERE reports recovery efforts are underway for residents and business owners in the Midwest and South that were hit by tornadoes and other dangerous weather over the weekend—that’s especially true in Missouri where six people lost their lives.

USA Today [3/17/2025 4:12 PM, Dinah Voyles Pulver, 75858K] reports a violent storm system that swept the nation over the weekend delivered an unusually powerful punch, spinning up more than 50 tornadoes, fanning wildfires and killing at least 42 people. The National Weather Service sent survey teams out all weekend, and again on Monday to try to assess the storm damage and total number of tornadoes, but it will be days before final numbers are ready, Bentley said. Over a three-day period Friday through Sunday, the storm prediction center received more than 1,000 severe weather reports, including tornadoes, high winds and hail. In total on Friday and Saturday, the weather service received 104 tornado reports. Bentley said that number could include more than one report from the same tornado, but sometimes no storm report is received in real time and meteorologists find tornado evidence after the fact during the post-storm surveys. As of Monday, around noon, the weather service had confirmed more than 50 tornadoes, including seven tornadoes of EF3 strength and two of EF4 strength, he said. As of Monday afternoon, officials had reported 42 deaths in eight states, as a result of multi-vehicle pileups during dust storms, wildfires fanned by the high winds and tornado damage.

Houston Chronicle [3/17/2025 11:07 AM, Yvette Orozco, 1769K] reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved assistance grants to help with damage caused by wildfires that broke out over the weekend in Crabapple near Fredericksburg, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced. The fire was about 55 percent contained as of Sunday night, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. Fredericksburg fire and EMS responders continued to work on the estimated 9,500 acres affected, which stretched from Lower Crabapple to Farm-to-Market Road 1631, city officials said in an online update. Officials reported no air quality concerns due to the fires, and winds were expected to decrease to allow opportunity for responders to make progress. It was unclear as of Sunday night how many people were evacuated or displaced. The Red Cross stationed a shelter at Zion Lutheran Church at 426 W. Main St. in Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg, known for its rolling hills and vineyards, is about a four-hour drive from Houston and was recently named the most "picturesque small town in US" by North Carolina Travel Guides. FEMA’s approval of assistance grants will make Texas eligible for 75 percent reimbursement from the federal government for the costs associated with the multi-agency response, according to the governor’s website.

Yahoo! News [3/17/2025 12:34 PM, Jeff Abbott, 52868K] reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is blocking the reimbursement of funds to El Paso area charities and local governments until they provide the names of migrants and their addresses that were served using federal grants. FEMA, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, sent the letter on March 11 to charities and local governments that received federal grants as part of the efforts to address the massive arrival of migrants at the border. The letter states that the DHS has "significant concerns" that Shelter and Services Program "funding is going to entities engaged in or facilitating illegal activities." The city of El Paso, the county, local charities — including the Salvation Army, Opportunity Center for the Homeless, Annunciation House, Reynolds House — and Catholic and Baptist groups, including the El Paso Diocese, all received federal grants. Both El Paso County and the city confirm that they received the letter. But they both say that they have not billed any funds to be reimbursed. "El Paso County did not bill any services under the Shelter and Services Program because we expected challenges with the reimbursement process of the program in the new administration," El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego told the El Paso Times in a statement. "We were able to step up to the plate to serve migrants being processed in our community because of separate FEMA funds. It is disappointing that we answered the call to serve and now communities who were awarded these funds to treat people with dignity are being attacked by the current administration."

Axios [3/17/2025 9:20 AM, Shawna Chen and Alex Fitzpatrick, 13163K] reports that California, which some risk assessments cite as the worst state for climate disasters, could face greater financial burdens in a world with less federal relief assistance, a new analysis finds. Why it matters: President Trump earlier this year floated "fundamentally overhauling or reforming" FEMA, or "maybe getting rid" of it entirely — fueling concerns that U.S. disaster relief could be thrown into chaos even as California continues to grapple with its home insurance crisis. Driving the news: Trump is reportedly mulling an executive order empowering state and local governments to handle disaster readiness and relief, and he has already created a "FEMA review council." FEMA and other federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), already funnel billions of dollars to individuals and communities affected by disasters, ranging from building and infrastructure assistance to financial and direct services for households. It’s unclear how or whether Trump’s order could change that. Part of FEMA’s utility is also overseeing people, including relief experts who can be dispatched to states as needed after disaster strikes.

AP [3/17/2025 9:10 PM, Zeke Miller and Michelle L. Price, 1682K] reports President Donald Trump said Monday he was ending “immediately” the Secret Service protection details assigned to Democrat Joe Biden’s adult children, which the former president had extended to July shortly before leaving office in January. The Republican president on social media objected to what he said were 18 agents assigned to Hunter Biden’s protective detail while in South Africa this week. He said Ashley Biden has 13 agents assigned to her detail and that she too “will be taken off the list.” There was no immediate reaction from the former president’s office. Former presidents and their spouses receive life-long Secret Service protection under federal law, but the protection afforded to their immediate families over the age of 16 ends when they leave office. But outgoing presidents can extend protection for those who might otherwise not be eligible for up to six months after they leave office, something Biden did for his children and Trump did for his family after leaving office in 2021. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush also extended protection for their families for a period. “We are aware of the President’s decision to terminate protection for Hunter and Ashley Biden,” the agency said in a statement. “The Secret Service will comply and is actively working with the protective details and the White House to ensure compliance as soon as possible.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [3/17/2025 8:44 PM, Shawn McCreesh, 145325K]
The Hill [3/17/2025 6:33 PM, Brett Samuels, 12829K]
CBS News [3/17/2025 7:58 PM, Caitlin Yilek and Nicole Sganga, 51661K]
Newsweek [3/17/2025 6:28 PM, Gabe Whisnant, 52220K]
Washington Examiner [3/17/2025 5:49 PM, Haisten Willis, 2296K]
Washington Times [3/17/2025 5:11 PM, Kerry Picket and Jeff Mordock, 1814K]

Yahoo! News [3/17/2025 6:58 PM, Timothy Nazzaro, 52868K] reports authorities are asking for the public’s help identifying two suspects accused of installing credit card skimmers at a grocery store over the weekend. According to Sturbridge Police, the two suspects pictured walked into Micknuck’s Fresh Marketplace on Main Street around 5 p.m. and installed card skimmers at the self-checkout stations. The suspects reportedly worked quickly and with expertise. Anyone with information about the two men is asked to contact Detective Ronald Obuchowski at 508-347-2525. Customers who used the self-checkout at Micknuck’s between 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10:25 a.m. Monday is asked to monitor their credit card and bank statements closely. An identity theft packet, which provides guidance on safeguarding your personal information, is also available at the Sturbridge Police Department.

WMBB [3/17/2025 3:54 PM, Jakson Hurst] reports Bonifay Police Department warns the public to watch for customers paying with "motion picture" money. Bonifay Police said they found motion picture money on the side of the road. They advise any businesses and the public to examine the bills carefully to determine if they are fraudulent. Police also recommend using a counterfeit marker for verification. Officials said anyone who spots one of the fake bills should contact the police department.

CBS News [3/17/2025 1:56 PM, Nicole Sganga, 51661K] reports that more than 130 probationary employees fired last month from the nation’s top cyber defense agency will be reinstated Monday, after the Trump administration scrambled to comply with a sweeping court order issued last week. The employees — all of whom were hired or promoted within the past three years — won’t immediately return to the office, but instead will be placed on paid administrative leave. Maryland U.S. District Judge James Bredar on Thursday demanded the Trump administration reinstate the probationary employees it initially terminated if they were part of the mass firing, though he did not ban the government from lawfully terminating probationary employees under a reduction in force or for cause. In an email sent Sunday night and obtained by CBS News, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, informed the workers that their employment has been restored at the pay rate they had before they were terminated. "Upon reinstatement, your pay and benefits will restart, and all requirements of federal employment will be applicable including your ethical obligations," the email read. "If you do not wish to be reinstated, please respond with a written statement declining to be reinstated as quickly as possible. Nothing in this process implicates your ability to voluntarily resign." CBS News has reached out to both CISA and DHS for comment. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] Government Executive [3/17/2025 5:06 PM, David DiMolfetta, 819K] reports Trump officials have vowed to downsize the nation’s leading cybersecurity agency. Ex-officials have said the moves would be harmful to national security. The nation’s premier cybersecurity agency is trying to contact certain employees affected by layoffs based on their employment status after federal judges ruled last week that the Trump administration must reinstate workers it fired in the last month after the terminations were deemed unlawful. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency "is making every effort to individually contact all impacted individuals," the DHS agency put on its homepage Monday, adding that those who believe they fall under the order’s parameters and have not yet been contacted should email the agency with a password-protected attachment that includes identifying information, dates of employment and any termination notices sent to them.

AZ Central [3/17/2025 12:10 OM, Jonathan Limehouse, 4457K] reports that federal authorities are warning users of Gmail, Outlook, and other popular email services about dangerous ransomware linked to a group of developers who have breached hundreds of victims’ data, including people in the medical, education, legal, insurance, tech, and manufacturing fields. The ransomware variant is called "Medusa," it was first identified in June 2021, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and FBI announced on March 12. "This joint Cybersecurity Advisory is part of an ongoing #StopRansomware effort to publish advisories for network defenders detailing various ransomware variants and ransomware threat actors," the agencies said. "These #StopRansomware advisories include recently and historically observed tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) to help organizations protect against ransomware.” As of February 2025, the cyber attacks have impacted more than 300 victims, according to the agencies. The Medusa developers normally recruit access brokers and pay them between $100 and $1 million to work for them, and these affiliates will use common techniques to breach the data of potential victims, such as phishing campaigns and exploiting unpatched software vulnerabilities, the FBI and CISA said.

Reported similarly:
Houston Chronicle [3/17/2025 11:31 AM, Octavia Johnson, 1769K]”

Reuters [3/17/2025 4:32 PM, David Shepardson, 41523K] reports a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Monday asked the Homeland Security Department to turn over documents on the federal government’s response to reported massive Chinese hacking incidents. House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green and the chairs of two subcommittees asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to turn over records detailing the government’s response to two major Chinese hacking incidents, including "Salt Typhoon," which lawmakers have called the largest telecommunications hack in U.S. history, and "Volt Typhoon" that involved espionage into critical infrastructure organizations.

MeriTalk [3/17/2025 1:42 PM, Grace Dille, 45K] reports that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr has created a new Council for National Security within the FCC to oversee telecom supply chain risks, cyber threats, and emerging technologies. The FCC said the new council will promote America’s national security and counter foreign adversaries, particularly the threats posed by the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party. Chairman Carr also named Adam Chan, his national security counsel, as the first director of the FCC’s Council on National Security. "Today, the country faces a persistent and constant threat from foreign adversaries, particularly the CCP," Chairman Carr said in a March 13 press release. "Because these threats now cut across a range of sectors that the FCC regulates, it is important that the FCC’s national security efforts pull resources from a variety of FCC organizations." The council has a three-part goal, the first of which is focused on reducing the U.S. technology and telecommunications sectors’ trade and supply chain dependencies on foreign adversaries. The second goal of the council is to mitigate America’s vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, espionage, and surveillance by foreign adversaries. Finally, the third goal is to "ensure the U.S. wins the strategic competition with China over critical technologies, such as 5G and 6G, AI, satellites and space, quantum computing, robotics and autonomous systems, and the Internet of Things."

AP [3/18/2025 12:02 AM, Aamer Madhani, 24727K] reports President Donald Trump is set to hold talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he looks to get buy-in on a U.S. ceasefire proposal that he hopes can create a pathway to ending Russia’s devastating war on Ukraine. The White House is optimistic that peace is within reach even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains skeptical that Putin is doing much beyond paying lip service to Trump as Russian forces continue to pound his country. The engagement is just the latest turn in dramatically shifting U.S.-Russia relations as Trump has made quickly ending the conflict a top priority, even at the expense of straining ties with longtime American allies who want Putin to pay a price for the invasion. “It’s a bad situation in Russia, and it’s a bad situation in Ukraine,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “What’s happening in Ukraine is not good, but we’re going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a ceasefire and peace. And I think we’ll be able to do it.” In preparation for the Trump-Putin call, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met last week with Putin in Moscow to discuss the proposal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had persuaded senior Ukrainian officials during talks in Saudi Arabia to agree to the ceasefire framework. The U.S. president said Washington and Moscow have already begun discussing “dividing up certain assets” between Ukraine and Russia as part of a deal to end the conflict. Trump, who during his campaign pledged to quickly end the war, has at moments boasted of his relationship with Putin and blamed Ukraine for Russia’s unprovoked invasion, all while accusing Zelenskyy of unnecessarily prolonging the biggest land war in Europe since World War II. Trump has said that swaps of land and power plants will be part of the conversation with Putin. Witkoff and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested that U.S. and Russian officials have discussed the fate of the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southern Ukraine.

Washington Examiner [3/17/2025 12:04 PM, Mike Brest, 2296K] reports that the United States is withdrawing its participation from the multinational effort designed to investigate the Russian leaders responsible for the invasion of Ukraine. U.S. officials told European allies that it would withdraw from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine, a spokesman for the group’s parent organization, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, confirmed to the Washington Examiner on Monday. "The work that the center is doing with its six core partners, authorities from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Poland, and Ukraine, will continue as is," the spokesman said. "Eurojust continues to support the national authorities through the ICPA with their investigations into the possible crimes of aggressions against Ukraine." The Biden administration joined the body in 2023, making it the only non-European country to participate. "The U.S. authorities have informed me that they will conclude their involvement in the ICPA" by the end of March, Michael Schmid, president of Eurojust, wrote in an internal email obtained by the New York Times.

Wall Street Journal [3/18/2025 3:57 AM, Feliz Solomon, Abeer Ayyoub and Alexander Ward, 13163K] reports Israel launched a series of attacks against Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing more than 300 people, according to authorities there, and threatening a return to war after talks to release the remaining hostages held in the enclave stalled out. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the attacks after Hamas failed to release the hostages or accept U.S. proposals for extending a fragile cease-fire that had held for two months, his office said. Gaza health authorities said 326 people were killed in the attacks, without specifying how many were combatants. The strikes continued later into the morning but at a lesser intensity than in the early hours. The strikes were the most extensive since the cease-fire took effect in January and were aimed at what Israel said were dozens of targets among Hamas’s leadership, midrank military commanders and infrastructure. Israel said the effort would continue and would expand beyond airstrikes. The evacuation orders extended to all areas around the enclave’s borders, particularly the northern city of Beit Hanoun and several neighborhoods of Khan Younis in the south, according to the Israeli military. “From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military force,” the prime minister’s office said. President Trump gave Israel the green light to restart attacks on Hamas after the U.S.-designated terrorist group failed to give up hostages, an Israeli official said. Israel then gave the U.S. a heads-up before starting the operation, the official said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Fox News that Israel had given advance notice of the attacks. She warned Hamas and other regional enemies of Israel and the U.S. “will see a price to pay.” “All hell will break loose,” she said, repeating a threat often made by Trump.

Newsweek [3/18/2025 5:09 AM, Amira El-Fekki, 52220K] reports the Iran-backed Houthi militia based in Yemen has claimed a new attack on the American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered strikes against them. The United States has not reported any damage and U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Alex Grynkewich, said the claims were "hard to confirm.” Newsweek has reached out to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and Houthi officials for comment. Conflict in the Red Sea region can disrupt one of the world’s most important shipping routes, potentially pushing up the prices of goods. The United States has said it aims to defend freedom of navigation through its strikes on the Houthis, who had threatened attacks on Israeli-linked shipping to pressure Israel over its blockade of the Gaza Strip in its war with Hamas. Also known as Ansar Allah, the Houthis, a faction within Iran’s broader Axis of Resistance coalition, have also fired missiles and drones against U.S. ally Israel. Ansar Allah’s military spokesperson said on Tuesday that the group targeted the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea with cruise missiles and drones, in the third attack on the aircraft carrier in the past few days. While the group said the operation resulted in U.S. warships "retreating to the northern Red Sea," Grynkewich questioned that. "Quite frankly, it’s hard to tell because while we’re executing precision strikes, they missed by over 100 miles," he said on Monday. U.S. forces continued attacks on the Houthis. Grynkewich said U.S. strikes hit nearly 30 Houthi targets including "terrorist training sites," unmanned aerial vehicle infrastructure, as well as weapons manufacturing capabilities and weapons storage facilities. Accusing Iran of maintaining complete control over Ansar Allah, Trump warned Tehran it would be "held responsible and face severe consequences" for any further attacks by the group, which he said, "will be met with great force.” Tens of thousands of people rallied in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, and other cities chanting "Death to America, death to Israel," in response to calls for protests by Ansar Allah’s leadership. A source within Ansar Allah also told Newsweek earlier that the group would react decisively to any U.S. strikes against the group or Iran. Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell: "There is a very clear end-state to this operation, and that begins the moment that the Houthis pledge to stop attacking our ships and putting American lives at risk."

Wall Street Journal [3/17/2025 5:13 PM, Alexander Ward, Stephen Kalin, 13163K] reports President Trump said Monday he would hold Iran responsible for any future attacks by the Houthis in Yemen, threatening unspecified consequences against the Islamic Republic after he ordered large-scale strikes in recent days against the militants. “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” Trump posted to social media. The U.S. message and strikes expand Trump’s efforts to halt Houthi attacks on shipping, potentially putting the U.S. in direct confrontation with Tehran. The threat raises questions about the extent of Iran’s control over the Houthis and whether Trump would risk a wider Middle East war over the Yemeni group’s disruptions to global commerce. Trump ordered attacks against the Houthis in Yemen over the weekend, shortly after the U.S.-designated terrorist group said it would resume attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea near the Yemeni coastline unless Israel allowed humanitarian aid back into Gaza. U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz said in television interviews Sunday that several Houthi leaders were killed in the barrage, adding that a secondary goal was “holding Iran responsible.” The U.S. said it resumed aerial attacks on Monday evening for a third day, hitting training sites, weapon storage facilities, other military infrastructure and “a terrorist compound where we know several senior Houthi unmanned aerial vehicle experts were located,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, director for operations for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff. The U.S. initial assessment is that no civilians were killed, Grynkewich said, despite conducting strikes in Yemen’s densely populated capital and claims by Yemeni health officials of dozens of deaths.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [3/17/2025 12:25 PM, Alex Gangitano, 12829K]

Newsweek [3/17/2025 7:47 AM, Amir Daftari, 3973K] reports Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned that any attack on the country will be met with a "devastating" response, as tensions escalate between Tehran and Washington. The statement from IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami follows a series of U.S. threats against Iran and comes in the wake of recent military action in Yemen. Salami’s warning underscores Iran’s stance amid growing hostilities with the United States, particularly over Yemen and Tehran’s broader regional influence. The latest exchange of threats follows a deadly U.S. airstrike in Yemen and heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, raising concerns about a wider conflict. Salami issued a stark statement, saying any act of aggression against Iran would result in a "tough, decisive and devastating reaction." He also said that Tehran takes full responsibility for its actions and will "overtly" acknowledge them when necessary. "If we attack anywhere or support anybody, we will unequivocally announce it," Salami said. However, he said that Iran does not dictate the policies of the Yemeni Houthi movement, which he stated make their own strategic decisions. His comments came after President Donald Trump threatened Iran, warning against support for Yemen’s government and militant groups. Iran’s Supreme Leader framed the strikes on Yemen as evidence that U.S. and its allies fear the growing strength of regional resistance. "The nation of #Yemen is definitely victorious. The only path is that of resistance," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei posted on his X account. He further said that Western military action reflects anxiety over shifting power dynamics, stating, "That which has caused the U.S. and its allies to panic today is the fact that the Muslim nations are standing firmly and that this resistance will prove to be effective." U.S. forces carried out airstrikes on a residential area in the Shuaab district of Yemen’s capital on March 15, killing at least 31 people and injuring over 100, according to officials there. Days before, the Yemeni Houthi rebels announced the reinstatement of their maritime blockade on Israeli shipping as a response to delays in humanitarian aid reaching Palestinians in Gaza. This blockade affects key waterways, including the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami said: "I warn all enemies that any threat being carried out will draw a tough, decisive and devastating reaction." U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran: "BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!"

Bloomberg [3/18/2025 2:05 AM, Dan Strumpf and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 16228K]
the US and India should enhance their cooperation on security and intelligence-sharing under the administration of President Donald Trump, a top American intelligence official said. Both Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi share a longstanding friendship, said US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, during an address at the Raisina Dialogue security conference in New Delhi on Tuesday. “I think there’s huge opportunity for continued growth and continued investment in our mutual interest,” said Gabbard, who was in New Delhi as part of a broader tour of Asia that includes stops in Japan and Thailand. Gabbard said she has had constructive meetings with Modi and other Indian leaders while in New Delhi, adding Trump remains committed to his country’s international partnerships including the Quad. The security grouping that also includes Japan and Australia has been seen as a counter to China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. Beijing has criticized the group as a “clique” that could stoke a new Cold War. “Both he and his team and our cabinet have already been engaging really from day one with our partners,” Gabbard said.

AP [3/18/2025 4:32 AM, Christopher Bodeen, 24727K] reports an unusually large number of Chinese military ships, planes and drones entered airspace and waters surrounding Taiwan between Sunday and Monday, the self-governing island republic’s Defense Ministry said. China said the drills were a response to recent statements and actions by the U.S. and Taiwan. The ministry on Tuesday published on its social media several images of Chinese drones and ships and said 43 out of 59 of them entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone but that no confrontations were reported. Taiwan monitored the situation and deployed aircraft, navy ships and coastal anti-ship missile defenses in response, the ministry said. China launches such missions on a daily basis in hopes of wearing down Taiwanese defenses and morale, although the vast majority of the island’s 23 million people reject Beijing’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan and its threat to use force to assert its control. It’s unclear what prompted the large Chinese deployment. Daily figures often vary widely based on statements by the Taiwanese authorities or their U.S. partners. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday the drills were “a resolute response to foreign connivance and support to Taiwan independence, and a serious warning to Taiwan separatist forces.” China’s military actions are “necessary, legal and justified measures to defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” Mao said. “In particular, the United States deleted the literal expression that reflected the one-China principle and that did not support Taiwan independence on the website of the U.S. Department of State, which indicates wrong signals to Taiwan separatist forces,” Mao was quoted as saying.

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