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.

USA Today [3/1/2025 2:05 PM, Tom Vanden Brook, 75858K] reports the Pentagon ordered the deployment of as many as 3,000 additional troops with armored vehicles to the southern border, according to Defense Department officials. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at the direction of President Donald Trump, ordered a Stryker Brigade Combat Team and an aviation battalion to a border security mission. They will arrive in coming weeks, according to Defense Department officials who were not authorized to speak publicly. The troops add to a growing U.S. military presence on the border. In January, Trump ordered 1,500 active-duty troops to support about 2,500 National Guard and Reserve troops already there. Headquarters personnel from the 10th Mountain Division have been at the border for about a week to help direct the operation, one official said. The soldiers will support the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who will deal directly with migrants at the border. The soldiers will set up observation posts, conduct patrols and call ICE officials when they see breaches in the border. They do not have authority to make arrests. Between 2,500 and 3,000 new troops will be sent in this deployment, the official said. Trump has declared a national emergency at the border to address immigration challenges, which were the hallmark of presidential campaign. Previous administrations have also sent active-duty troops to the border. The Pentagon has taken more steps recently to increase the military presence at the border. In late February, the Army began planning to house as many as 30,000 migrant detainees at bases inside the United States. Fort Bliss in Texas and Fort Huachuca in Arizona have been identified as likely sites for such detention camps. Officials have been taking inventory of tents and razor wire in preparation.

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Bloomberg [3/1/2025 4:31 PM, María Paula Mijares Torres, 16228K]
AP [3/1/2025 3:45 PM, Lolita C. Baldor, 4K]
NPR [3/1/2025 1:39 PM, Scott Neuman, 29983K]
Washington Post [3/1/2025 11:22 AM, Dan Lamothe, 31735K]
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Washington Examiner [3/1/2025 5:22 PM, Staff, 2296K]
Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 4:22 PM, Gustaf Kilander, 52868K]

AP [3/1/2025 12:00 PM, Gisela Salomon, 34586K] reports a group of American citizens and immigrants is suing the Trump administration for ending a long-standing legal tool presidents have used to allow people from countries where there’s war or political instability to enter and temporarily live in the U.S. The lawsuit filed late Friday night seeks to reinstate humanitarian parole programs that allowed in 875,000 migrants from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who have legal U.S. resident as sponsors. President Donald Trump has been ending legal pathways for immigrants to come to the U.S. and implementing campaign promises to deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally. The plaintiffs include eight immigrants who entered the U.S. legally before the Trump administration ended what it called the “broad abuse” of humanitarian parole. They can legally stay in the U.S. until their parole expires, but the administration stopped processing their applications for asylum, visas and other requests that might allow them to remain longer. None are identified by their real names because they fear deportation. Among them are Maksym and Maria Doe, a Ukrainian couple; Alejandro Doe, who fled Nicaragua following the abduction and torture of his father; and Omar Doe, who worked for more than 18 years with the U.S. military in his home country of Afghanistan. “They didn’t do anything illegal. They followed the rules,” Kyle Varner, a 40-year-old doctor and real estate investor from Spokane, Washington, who sponsored 79 Venezuelans and is part of the lawsuit, told The Associated Press. “They have done nothing but work as hard as they can. ... This is just such a grave injustice.” Almost all of the immigrants sponsored by Varner have lived in his house for some time. He paid their plane tickets. He helped them learn English and get driver’s licenses and jobs. He had 32 applications that were awaiting approval when the Trump administration ended the program in January. Other plaintiffs include two more U.S. citizens who have sponsored immigrants, Sandra McAnany and Wilhen Pierre Victor, and the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a California-based organization that assists immigrants with legal advice. “The Trump administration is trying to attack parole from all angles,” said Esther Sung, an attorney from the Justice Action Center, which filed the lawsuit with Human Rights First in federal court in Massachusetts and provided the AP a copy in advance. “The main goal, above all, is to defend humanitarian parole. These have been very, very successful processes.”

New York Times [3/1/2025 2:05 PM, Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt, 145325K] reports President Trump has rescinded Biden-era limits on counterterrorism drone strikes and commando raids outside conventional war zones, reverting to the looser set of rules he used in his first term, according to officials familiar with the matter. Under restrictions imposed by the Biden administration, U.S. military and C.I.A. drone operators generally had to obtain permission from the White House to target a suspected militant outside a conventional war zone. Now commanders in the field will again have greater latitude to decide for themselves whether to carry out a strike. The relaxation of the rules suggests that the United States is likely to more frequently carry out airstrikes aimed at killing terrorism suspects in poorly governed places that are not deemed traditional battlefield zones, like Somalia and Yemen. It also means there may be greater risk to civilians. The Trump administration did not formally announce the change, elements of which were reported earlier by CBS News. The report also said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had signed a directive, apparently implementing the change for the U.S. military’s Africa Command, in a meeting last month at its headquarters in Germany. Mr. Hegseth linked to the CBS report in a social media post, stating only: “Correct.” But another person familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, clarified that Mr. Trump had reinstated the rules he had put in place in October 2017, specifically revoking a set of rules Mr. Biden had signed in October 2022. A senior Pentagon official confirmed that account. It is not clear when Mr. Trump made the change, but it appears to have been after an airstrike targeting ISIS militants in Somalia on Feb. 1. In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 21, Sebastian Gorka, the National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism, dramatically described Mr. Trump personally approving that operation. That step would no longer have been necessary after the switch. Mr. Hegseth was in Germany on Feb. 11. There was a strike targeting ISIS militants on Feb. 16, according to U.S. Africa Command. Mr. Gorka did not mention that one in his speech, but he declared: “We have unleashed the hammers of hell on ISIS.”

Reuters [3/1/2025 6:55 PM, Valerie Volcovici and Alexandra Alper, 35355K]
the Trump administration sent out a second round of emails on Friday evening demanding all federal employees summarize their work over the past week after the first effort a week ago fizzled amid a wave of confusing directives. Reuters has confirmed that the emails from the government’s human resources arm, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, were sent to multiple agencies, asking workers to list five things they accomplished during the week. The move marks a renewed push by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team to assess the performance of government employees as the administration looks to mass layoffs to dramatically trim the federal footprint. “The President has made it clear that this is mandatory for the executive branch,” Musk wrote on X. “Anyone working on classified or other sensitive matters is still required to respond if they receive the email, but can simply reply that their work is sensitive." Musk attempted a similar tack last week, along with a threat that noncompliant workers could be fired, but he was stymied when some agencies such as the State and Justice Departments told their employees to stick to the chain of command. Ultimately, OPM informed agencies that responding to the emails was voluntary. But Musk, with President Donald Trump’s backing, continued to press for the emails as a means they said to hold workers accountable. Both men suggested that some federal employees on the payroll do not exist. Critics, including Democratic lawmakers and labor unions, say widespread cuts could hamper crucial government functions and services. The second round of emails does not include any threat of retaliation for noncompliance but says workers are expected to send responses at the beginning of each work week. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed Pentagon workers to comply, according to media reports, but the State Department again told their employees to hold off, according to a directive seen by Reuters. The Department of Homeland Security told its employees to respond to an internal DHS email address, labeled "accountability" because of its national security responsibilities, according to a memo reviewed by Reuters. The Justice Department also received the directive. The acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, told workers in his office to comply, according to a message seen by Reuters. "All federal government departments are cooperating with @DOGE," Musk posted on Saturday. "For State, DoD and a few others, the supervisors are gathering the weekly accomplishments on behalf of individual contributors."

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Washington Post [3/1/2025 7:44 PM, Evan Halper, Dan Lamothe and Hannah Natanson, 31735K]

Miami Herald [3/1/2025 7:17 PM, Grace Hase, 3973K] reports nearly a dozen cities and counties - including several in the Bay Area - have signed onto a recent lawsuit led by Santa Clara County and San Francisco against the Trump administration, as the fight grows between the feds and local governments that have declared themselves "sanctuaries" for immigrants living in the country illegally. The lawsuit, which was originally filed Feb. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, attempts to block an executive order that threatens to withhold billions of dollars in federal funds from local and state governments that refuse to aid federal immigration officials. The amended complaint was filed on Thursday and adds 11 sanctuary jurisdictions with these policies to the lawsuit, including seven California localities: San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Emeryville and Monterey County. Minneapolis, Seattle, Santa Fe, New Mexico; and St. Paul, Minnesota, were also added. "These are local governments, large and small, in very different parts of the state and the nation, that are taking a stand against the federal government’s attempt to unconstitutionally commandeer local resources to assist with immigration enforcement," Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti said in a news release. "These are jurisdictions that believe in local governments’ right to ensure that their limited resources are used to care for communities rather than tear them apart.” President Donald Trump has ramped up his rhetoric about sanctuary jurisdictions since taking office in January, going as far as threatening to prosecute local officials who don’t comply with his orders. The Department of Justice has already targeted Chicago and the state of Illinois, claiming in a lawsuit earlier this month that local policies are in violation of federal immigration laws. Santa Clara County and San Francisco argued in the lawsuit that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, and commandeering local law enforcement distracts from local issues. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement that "unfairly targeting cities based on ideology goes against the democratic values that created this country.” San Jose has avoided used the term "sanctuary city," instead deeming itself a "welcoming city." The city has had a policy since 2007 that it will not be involved with immigration enforcement. "The truth is, our policies related to immigration enforcement mirror those in places like Dallas, Texas, and Charlotte, North Carolina," Mahan said. "And that’s because whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or anything in between, the fundamental responsibility of government is keeping people safe - and to unlawfully threaten to withhold funding for programs like DNA analysis and police equipment makes us all less safe.”

The New York Times [3/1/2025 2:58 PM, Charlie Savage and Carol Rosenberg, 145325K] reports the Trump administration faced the first direct legal challenge to its policy of sending migrants to the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for continued immigration detention with a lawsuit filed on Saturday by a coalition of human rights and immigrant advocacy organizations. “Plaintiffs seek this court’s intervention to put a stop to these cruel, unnecessary and illegal transfers to and detention at Guantánamo,” the newly filed complaint said. The plaintiffs, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, are for now seeking a judicial stay to block the transfer of 10 migrants whom the coalition signed up to represent. But it appears to lay the groundwork to seek a potential broader order against the transfer policy, which has raised many novel legal issues. The 10 migrants named in the lawsuit each has final removal orders, it said, and comes from countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Venezuela. The lawsuit asserts that none are gang members, and some have been specifically threatened with transfer to Guantánamo. “In attempting to justify the transfers, the government has claimed that the individuals it sent to Guantánamo are members of gangs and dangerous criminals — the ‘worst of the worst,’” the complaint said, citing a remark in January by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It continued: “That characterization is patently false. It is also legally irrelevant because the government lacks statutory authority to send any immigration detainees from the United States to Guantánamo.” The Justice Department press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit is not the first to challenge aspects of President Trump’s policy. Last month, a judge prevented the government from moving three Venezuelan men who were being held in immigration detention in New Mexico to the base, and a group of legal aid organizations sued the administration asking that migrants taken there have access to lawyers. Neither of those cases, however, directly addressed the legality of the overall policy. The new lawsuit claims that it exceeds the government’s authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to take the migrants to Cuban soil, and that the government has no statutory authority to detain people outside the United States for immigration purposes. Reuters [3/1/2025 5:21 PM, Ted Hesson, 2913K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said they are sending "the worst of the worst" to Guantanamo, but about a third of the initial group of 177 Venezuelans had no criminal record, according to the department. The ACLU lawsuit alleges that migrants detained at Guantanamo have been held in windowless rooms for at least 23 hours per day, subjected to invasive strip searches, and unable to contact family members. The suit said that guards "engage in verbal and physical abuse," including strapping detainees to a chair, withholding water, threatening to shoot detainees, and fracturing one person’s hand. "These degrading conditions and extreme isolation have led to several suicide attempts," the complaint said. A federal judge blocked the possible transfer of several Venezuelan migrants to Guantanamo in mid-February but the men - also represented by ACLU - were then deported to Venezuela.

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NBC News [3/1/2025 5:07 PM, Chloe Atkins, Benjamin Deeter and Alexandra Marquez, 44742K]
AP [3/1/2025 6:58 PM, John Hanna, 10355K]
NPR [3/1/2025 11:56 PM, Sacha Pfeiffer, 35747K]

New York Times [3/1/2025 12:25 PM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Maggie Haberman and Annie Correal, 145325K] reports the government of Honduras said it had begun the process of extraditing to the United States an undocumented immigrant who was accused of killing a young Iowa woman in 2016, a case that President Trump made a focal point in his first presidential campaign. The move to fulfill a U.S. request to extradite Eswin Mejia comes as Honduras and other Latin American countries have sought to demonstrate their willingness to cooperate with the Trump administration. Enrique Reina, Honduras’s foreign minister, said in an interview that the Supreme Court had ordered Mr. Mejia’s arrest and that a judge would determine whether to grant an extradition request by the United States.

New York Times [3/1/2025 5:38 PM, Farnaz Fassihi and Julie Turkewitz, 145325K] reports a group of high-profile lawyers on Saturday filed a suit against Panama over its detention of migrants deported from the United States, threatening to disrupt President Trump’s new policy of exporting migrants from around the world to Central American countries. The lawsuit, filed against the government of Panama before the Inter-American Commision on Human Rights, names 10 Iranian Christian converts and 102 migrants detained at a camp near a jungle in Panama as plaintiffs, according to a copy seen by New York Times. The suit argues that the United States violated the Iranian group’s right to asylum on account of religious persecution and that Panama has violated domestic and international laws, such as the American Convention on Human Rights, in its detention of the migrants. The lawsuit was filed only against Panama, although one of the lawyers involved said he planned to file a separate complaint against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security this coming week. Responding to a request for a comment on the lawsuit, a spokeswoman for President Raúl Mulino of Panama, Astrid Salazar, said that the migrants “are not detained” by the Panamanian government. “They are not in our command but rather that of IOM and UNHCR.” The migrants are being held at a fenced camp guarded by armed Panamanian police officers, and Panama’s security ministry controls all access to the facility. The International Organization for Migration and the U.N. Refugee Agency do not have regular presence at the camp, and have said that they are not in charge of the migrants, but rather are offering some humanitarian support, like providing funds for food. The suit filed on Saturday requests that the commission issue emergency orders saying that none of the detained migrants at the jungle camp should be deported to their countries of origin. “Panama’s government has no domestic or international authority to detain people under these circumstances,” said Ian Kysel, associate clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School and the plaintiffs’ lead counsel.

Yahoo! News [3/2/2025 4:00 AM, Staff, 52868K] reports candidate Donald Trump had his fellow Republicans in Congress kill a comprehensive bipartisan immigration deal a year ago that they helped write to deprive President Biden of a legislative success. So where is President Donald Trump’s bill to reform a badly in need of reforming immigration system? Instead of a wholesale repair of the leaky structure, the White House is rolling out ineffective piecemeal measures that won’t achieve anything. One example is leaning on a post-WWII law to say that all undocumented immigrants who did not enter the U.S. with a visa — about 60% of the current undocumented population — and are over 14 should register with the government or face potential criminal penalties. When these immigrants call their bluff — and it is a bluff, given the administration’s ultimate inability to force compliance with its current capacity and demonstrated incompetence — then we’re just back where we started, but now with an undocumented population more fearful than before, which is of course a big part of the objective.

Washington Post [3/1/2025 6:32 PM, David Ignatius, 31735K] reports “This is going to be great television,” said President Donald Trump at the end of his shouting match with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday. Thus is the fate of nations decided in this administration’s cage-fighting version of diplomacy. As someone who has visited Ukraine multiple times since the war began, watching Friday’s car wreck was sickening. I think of the horribly wounded Ukrainian soldiers I’ve met, or the civilians I’ve seen in shelters waiting for the all-clear. The idea of an American president extorting Kyiv in exchange for maintaining a lifeline to help it resist Russian aggression seems to me a betrayal of what the United States should stand for. But as Gen. George C. Marshall liked to say, “Don’t fight the problem.” Meaning, put your emotions aside and solve the problem. So, here’s an attempt to think dispassionately about how to end this terrible war in a way that doesn’t reward Russian President Vladimir Putin and punish his Ukrainian victims. Friday’s White House blowup was stomach churning, but it didn’t change the fundamentals in this war. Russia’s manpower and military might is slowly grinding down Ukraine. The United States, under Trump, has moved from supporting Kyiv to being a peace broker — “demander” might be a better word — with a growing sympathy for Russia. Trump’s tilt is bad news for our European allies, nearly all of whom expressed support for Zelensky after his verbal pummeling from Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The Europeans can help Zelensky stay in the fight, but they can’t give him victory. Trump was unfortunately correct in admonishing the Ukrainian leader, “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now.” What the Europeans can do, however, is bolster Ukraine enough to get a more fair deal — and deter Russia from further aggression after a ceasefire is agreed. Europe could start by giving Ukraine the Russian assets it has seized — and putting that money to work in Ukraine’s growing defense industry. This is Europe’s moment to draw some red lines for Putin.

NPR [3/1/2025 10:00 AM, Joel Rose, 29983K] reports the first month of the Trump administration’s crackdown yielded a jump in arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration authorities are making more arrests per day on average than they did under President Biden. Yet the latest data from the Department of Homeland Security shows that ICE arrests still have not kept up with the goals set by Trump administration officials. The most recent DHS data released this week shows that fewer than 600 people per day have been booked into ICE detention facilities across the country during the first three weeks of February — well below the pace of 1,200 to 1,500 arrests a day that administration officials have said they want. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced this week that the administration had arrested 20,000 immigrants without legal status in its first month. That’s more than ICE had been arresting on average under the Biden administration, though still not enough to satisfy the White House’s stated quota. In an official statement from DHS, she said that ICE’s February arrest total represents a "627% increase in monthly arrests compared to just 33,000 at large arrests under Biden for ALL of last year," a claim she repeated on social media. But immigration experts say Noem’s math is misleading because she’s comparing total ICE arrests under the current administration with a smaller subset of arrests under another.

Washington Examiner [3/1/2025 7:00 AM, Anna Giaritelli, 2296K] reports the National Education Association, which represents 3 million educators, parents, students, and activists, encouraged educators to know their rights and school boards to adopt "safe zone" policies, according to an NEA spokesman. Despite an all-out effort by concerned parents and teachers to secure schools, the NEA told the Washington Examiner that it was not aware of any incidents in which ICE pulled a student from school.

AP [3/1/2025 1:03 PM, Michael Casey] reports as Mayor Michelle Wu prepares to go to Congress to defend Boston’s protections of immigrant communities, the city is in a war of words with the Trump administration and Republican representatives over how much police should support deportations. President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan teed off against Boston’s police commissioner in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, saying there are at least nine accused "child rapists" in jail who local authorities won’t turn over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He promised to come to Boston and "bring hell with him." ICE public affairs didn’t respond to a request for information about these cases, and Homan didn’t elaborate on any travel plans. Boston isn’t alone: ICE has accused state and local authorities around the country of failing to cooperate to get people charged with violent crimes deported. At Wednesday’s hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Wu will be joined by the mayors of Chicago, New York and Denver, all caught in the crosshairs of what it means to be a "sanctuary city."

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 7:51 PM, Jessica Schladebeck, 52868K] reports a convicted double-killer from El Salvador has been arrested in New Jersey on a charge of “illegally reentering the United States,” prosecutors said. César Eliseo Sorto-Amaya was taken into custody by federal authorities in Elizabeth on Friday, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. ICE agents found him sitting on the front porch of a home at an address provided by law enforcement in El Salvador, where he’s wanted on charges of double aggravated homicide. Sorto-Amaya was convicted in absentia on April 24, 2024, and sentenced to 50 years in prison. No other information, including specific details about the crime, was provided. The 28-year-old suspect also has a long history of deportations that dates all the way back to 2015. In February of that year, he was arrested by border agents in Texas and sent back to El Salvador on March 3, 2015, according to the criminal complaint. Sorto-Amaya was again deported after he crossed paths with ICE in October 2016. He was behind bars in Elizabeth at the time and was eventually convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon. However, he was shipped home before he could be sentenced, per the criminal complaint. He was arrested again the following year and sent back to El Salvador for a third time on Aug. 26, 2017. While it’s unclear when Sorto-Amaya returned to the United States, El Salvadoran authorities reached out to ICE last month, alerting them on Feb. 12 to his potential presence and recent conviction, according to the criminal complaint. Sorto-Amaya made his initial court appearance in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday, though it’s not clear what action, if any, was taken.

FOX News [3/1/2025 7:47 AM, Michael Dorgan, Michael Tobin, Patrick McGovern] reports the arrest of an illegal migrant who was dropping students at school in Chicago earlier this week sparked local fury and a rally, but Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have since revealed the suspect is a violent gang member with a long rap sheet. Francisco Andrade-Berrera, 37, a Mexican citizen, was picked by ICE on Wednesday near a Southside Chicago school, leading to activists and local leaders holding a rally condemning the move. The arrest of an illegal migrant, left, who was dropping students to school in Chicago earlier this week sparked a protest, but ICE have since revealed the suspect is a violent gang member with a long rap sheet. He has been removed from the U.S. twice, in 2005 and 2013. He has at least four children, according to prior reports. The two students who were in the vehicle were taken to their schools after the arrest but agents did not attempt to enter either Victoria Soto High School or Jovita Idar Elementary, ICE and school officials confirmed. It is unclear if the students are his children.

AZCentral [3/1/2025 7:04 AM, Wren Smetana] reports an accused human trafficker who worked on the United States-Mexico border for several years was recently extradited to the United States from Mexico to face charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Paul Saucedo-Huipio, 49, was surrendered by Mexico to U.S. authorities on Feb. 21 to face previously filed charges in Arizona, the DOJ confirmed. He also made his initial appearance on Feb. 21 in California. Saucedo-Huipio was arrested in Mexico in 2023. A co-conspirator, 62-year-old Ofelia Hernandez-Salas, was extradited to the United States from Mexico in 2023 and pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States and substantive counts of bringing an alien to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations in Yuma are investigating the case with assistance from multiple other agencies.

San Francisco Chronicle [3/1/2025 8:00 PM, Molly Burke, 5046K] reports hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday in Dublin blocks from a closed federal prison to protest the possibility of turning the scandal-plagued facility into an immigrant detention center. Signs calling for “No ICE in Dublin” faced drivers passing by on Dublin Boulevard, with protesters gathered on all four corners of the intersection with Arnold Road. Kendra Drysdale, a formerly incarcerated woman at the Dublin facility, flew to the Bay Area from San Diego to protest the potential reopening of Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin. “We want this building demolished. We want the rape club demolished,” Drysdale said. “And we deserve that.” FCI Dublin was permanently closed in December months after its more than 600 inmates were relocated, with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons citing poor facility conditions and staffing shortages. The bureau agreed that month to pay $115 million to 103 women alleging sexual abuse at the women’s prison after a former warden and staff members were sentenced to prison for assaults and other crimes against inmates. The payment is the largest settlement in the history of the federal agency. On Tuesday, a judge in Oakland gave final approval to a consent decree over the abuse, which stipulates that the Bureau of Prisons is subject to independent monitoring and increased transparency at women’s prisons nationwide. The Trump administration issued a last-minute request to alter protections for transgender and noncitizen inmates, which was rejected. The protest came after speculation that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is considering a closed federal prison in Dublin as a site for expanded immigrant detention.

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San Francisco Chronicle [3/1/2025 7:00 AM, Annie Vainshtein, 5046K] reports Jagninder Singh Boparai sat across a table at a Central Valley strip mall Starbucks from a man he believed was a contract killer, explaining what he wanted done to his enemies. Boparai was hiring a hitman to carry out three jobs: assault his former business associate, rob a business of $4 million and murder another man he had been feuding with. According to federal prosecutors, Boparai targeted both victims over the financial fallout of multiple real estate deals. Boparai, 48, pleaded guilty last month to conspiring to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Two other men, Dublin resident Ramesh Kumar Birla Jr., 45, and Tracy resident Shaminderjit Singh Sandhu, 51, who each allegedly helped Boparai broker the deal with the hitman, face similar charges. The case was the product of an investigation by the FBI with help from seven police departments, multiple sheriff’s offices, Homeland Security Investigations, the California Highway Patrol and other agencies. Boparai is scheduled to be sentenced on May 8. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The two other defendants are scheduled for a status conference on April 10. If convicted, they face the same penalties as Boparai.

CNN [3/2/2025 6:00 AM, Catherine E. Shoichet, 22131K] reports the Oval Office announcement caught many immigration experts by surprise. Last week the president known for touting his mass deportation plans floated a new way he wants to draw wealthy foreigners to the US: a "gold card" that offers investors a path to US citizenship for $5 million. "I think it’s going to be very treasured. I think it’s going to do very well. And we’re going to start selling, hopefully, in about two weeks," President Donald Trump said on Wednesday. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the plan could raise $1 trillion to pay down the national debt, and that it would replace the existing EB-5 investor visa. But immigration law experts say the "gold card" proposal is far more complicated and uncertain than Trump and Lutnick made it sound. Here are several reasons why: The gold card Trump described would be a new visa granting lawful permanent resident status in the US and a pathway to citizenship. But a president alone can’t create a pathway to citizenship – a fact that’s also foiled Trump’s predecessors’ desires for significant immigration reforms.

Newsweek [3/2/2025 6:00 AM, Dan Gooding, 52220K] reports a visa program for religious workers coming to the United States has just over two weeks left before it closes for good, potentially leaving some organizations unable to fill positions including counselors and translators. Those wishing to get into the U.S. under the Special Immigrant Religious Workers visa, known as EB-4, only have until March 13 to do so. Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment via email Friday morning. Miguel Naranjo, director of immigration servives at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, told Newsweek: "Allowing the Special Immigrant Religious Worker Visa to expire would be devastating for religious organizations of all faiths across the U.S. These organizations rely not only on clergy but also on men and women performing essential religious work—ministering to communities, supporting the elderly, caring for children, and aiding those facing hardships. "If these religious workers are forced to leave, the communities they serve—often the most vulnerable—will suffer the most. At a time when so many are in need, losing these dedicated workers would create an even greater hardship for our neighbors and communities."

San Diego Union-Tribune [3/1/2025 8:00 AM, Alexandra Mendoza, 3973K] reports standing in line with a large bag and suitcase at the San Ysidro pedestrian border crossing, among the many others waiting to enter the U.S., was a 40-year-old mother who was deported to Mexico 14 years ago. When she reached the end of the line, Marilú Montalvo was finally able to return Monday to the country where her U.S.-citizen children live. “God has given me this miracle to be able to come back,” she said. Montalvo is the latest in a group of deported mothers who have waited more than a decade, under Democratic and Republican administrations, to legally reunite with their families in the United States. She was granted a U nonimmigrant visa, which is given to victims of certain crimes that either occurred in the U.S. or violated its laws. The Tijuana-San Diego Dreamers’ Moms group was founded in 2014 to support deported women and mothers who had been separated from their families. While not officially tied to the DREAM Act, which allows certain youth who immigrated to the U.S. illegally as young children to remain legally in the country, the group’s name is an ode to the broader movement advocating for reform to keep such families together. To date, five mothers have returned as a result of their advocacy. Her return to the U.S. now is an especially meaningful victory given the political climate, as the new Trump administration prioritizes mass deportations and a crackdown on illegal immigration. While the effort has so far focused on undocumented immigrants — particularly those who have committed crimes while in the U.S. — immigrant communities fear visa programs may be targeted at some point, as well. Yolanda Varona, who founded Dreamers’ Moms, returned to the U.S. herself three years ago, after requesting parole under the Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative as a spouse of a former U.S. military member. She called Montalvo’s return “extraordinary” given the times. “Many people told us that once deported, there was no way back,” she said. “But a mother’s love has shown that patience, perseverance, strength and love never give up.” Montalvo, who came to the U.S. with her family when she was 10 years old, said she was always willing to wait and do whatever it took to return legally. Montalvo lived in La Quinta in Riverside County. She said that in 2010, she was detained by immigration agents who told her that they had received a report that she was living in the country without documentation. In Tijuana, she opened a spa to earn a living. Montalvo said she learned about the mothers’ group online. She was then connected with an immigration attorney who, after reviewing her case, determined that she qualified for a U visa because she had been a victim of a crime. Congress created the U nonimmigrant visa with the passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in 2000. There is a cap of 10,000 U visas per fiscal year, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. “Our immigrant communities are very likely to be victims of certain violent crimes in the United States, and because of the nature of their immigration status, many are afraid to cooperate with law enforcement,” said immigration attorney Filex Sánchez with Union Law Group in San Diego.

CBS News [3/1/2025 10:13 AM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51661K] reports the number of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border illegally in President Trump’s first full month in office plunged to a level not seen in at least 25 years, according to preliminary government data obtained by CBS News. Last month, Border Patrol recorded about 8,450 apprehensions of migrants who crossed into the country unlawfully between official entry points along the U.S.-Mexico border, the statistics show. February’s total, which could be adjusted when the government officially publishes the statistics, would be the lowest monthly apprehensions tally recorded by Border Patrol since at least fiscal year 2000, the last period with public monthly data. The final tallies usually don’t deviate much from the preliminary figures. Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 3:47 PM, Mike Heuer, 52868K] reports illegal border crossings into the United States reached the lowest level in at least 25 years in February as the Department of Defense reinforces border security operations. Customs and Border Protection officials recorded 8,450 apprehensions of people illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in February, CBS News reported. No data was provided on apprehensions at the U.S.-Canada border. President Donald Trump, who returned to office on Jan. 20, called the number of illegal crossings at the nation’s southern border last month is the lowest in history. He put the number at 8,326. "The invasion of our country is over," Trump said in a Truth Social post Saturday. "The border is closed to all illegal immigrants. Anyone who tries to illegally enter the U.S.A. will face significant criminal penalties and immediate deportation. All of those apprehended were ejected from the United States or "when necessary, prosecuted for crimes against the United States of America," Trump said. Average daily border crossings were 5,333 in 2021, 6,423 in 2022, 5,590 in 2023 and 2,872 in 2024 when Joe Biden was president. Border Patrol recorded more than 8,000 apprehensions in a single day in September 2023. The number of apprehensions in February is the lowest number during the current century, CBS News reported. Trump made closing the northern and southern U.S. borders and greatly reducing illegal border crossings a central part of his presidential campaign. Once elected, he mobilized federal agencies to enhance border enforcement and arrest and detain undocumented migrants in the United States. The mobilization includes the U.S. military, which has stationed troops at the U.S.-Mexico border and uses military aircraft to deport undocumented migrants. Trump earlier declared illegal border crossings a national security priority, which enables the military to become an active partner in border enforcement. The Department of Defense on Saturday announced the deployment of an armored Stryker brigade combat team and a general-support aviation battalion to reinforce and expand current border security operations. The forces are 2,400 soldiers from Fort Carson in Colorado and around 500 service members from Fort Stewart in Georgia, CNN reported.

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 11:57 AM, Ali Bradley, 52868K] reports that, over a month into President Donald Trump’s new administration, the new crackdown at the border has led to an impressive turnaround, as numbers have dramatically decreased. In an hour-long special report, NewsNation goes in-depth on the state of the situation at the border – what’s working, what’s not and why law enforcement on the frontlines say they aren’t letting their guard down. Hosted by Brian Entin and Ali Bradley, the special report will bring live action-filled reports and ride-alongs, giving exclusive access to the changing landscape of the fight on two fronts: at the U.S.-Mexico border and within American cities and towns. An inside look at the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, a specialized operations group headquartered at Fort Bliss trains for high-risk tactical missions, practicing close-quarters combat, breaching doors, and honing their skills on the shooting range. As numbers go down, it’s bringing a heightened alert to what some call America’s third border – off the Florida coast. The Coast Guard is regularly taking to the skies, spotting sophisticated operations underway, smugglers and drugs – as well as migrants on speed boats and fishing boats trying to make their way to land. NewsNation spent six hours in a plane alongside them and got an inside look at the operation.

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 8:00 PM, Jorge Ventura, 52868K] reports patrolling the United States’ southern border remains a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week job. That is especially true in areas along the border that are used by smugglers and immigrants who enter the United States illegally to hide from U.S. border agents and other immigration officials. NewsNation was given the opportunity to ride along with troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety along the Rio Grande Valley. The area has seen an uptick in migrants entering the United States illegally and smugglers who are looking to cash in and move people and illegal drugs across the border into the United States. Texas DPS says that smuggling networks are adapting faster, and they are making millions in the process. Even as the number of migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally declines, Texas DPS officials are seeing a small surge in smuggling activity in the Rio Grande Valley. However, as officials try to manage that surge, one agency cannot do it alone. Texas DPS partners with U.S. Border Patrol agents and members of the Texas National Guard to try and track migrants that immigration officials characterize as “gotaways”.

Los Angeles Times [3/2/2025 6:00 AM, Mark Z. Barabak, 17996K] reports John Ladd sleeps better knowing Donald Trump is in the White House. Not just in some figurative sense. When Ladd lies his head down at his ranch house a mile and a quarter from the U.S.-Mexico border, he no longer worries about hundreds of trespassers a day trampling his pastures, tearing up fencing or setting his cattle loose. He doesn’t fret as much as he once did about stumbling across a dead body — 18 have turned up over the years — or finding a migrant sitting in his living room, which happened once back in 2002. “The amazing thing is as soon as Donald Trump got elected, the border issue of illegal entries coming into the U.S. has dramatically stopped,” the 69-year-old Ladd said, overstating things somewhat. “And we’re delighted with that.” Back in the White House for just over a month, Trump has rapidly and ruthlessly delivered on his promise to turn America upside down, firing government workers en masse, eliminating whole agencies and slashing certain programs to the marrow. The promised benefit — a leaner, less costly and more efficient federal government — is purely theoretical at this stage. But one place where Trump’s return to power has been tangibly felt, and greatly welcomed, is here in the far southeastern corner of Arizona, where the U.S. and Mexico sit uneasily side-by-side. After growing to record levels under President Biden, illegal border crossings began falling during the final months of his term, a trend that has accelerated since Trump moved back into the Oval Office.

San Diego Union Tribune [3/1/2025 9:09 PM, Natallie Rocha, 1682K] reports Cal Fire arrested a man Friday on suspicion of arson related to the recent Lilac and Pala wildfires, officials said. The 48-year-old man was arrested by Cal Fire Law Enforcement Investigators who were examining the cause of two fires that ignited on Jan. 21., officials said. The Pala fire began around 12:15 a.m. west of I-15 and north of Highway 76. About half an hour later, the Lilac fire was reported north of West Lilac Road and just west of Interstate 15. Together, the Lilac and Pala fires burned about 100 acres, Cal Fire said. Most of that acreage was scorched by the Lilac fire, which burned about 85 acres in a rural area with some homes on large plots of land. Cal Fire said their investigation efforts and witness reports led to the arrest nearly a month after the fires. The man is accused of two counts of felony arson and was booked into the Vista Detention Facility, officials said. Cal Fire said the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, North County Fire Protection District, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office assisted in the investigation.

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Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 8:42 PM, Anna Ashcraft, 52868K]

Bloomberg [3/1/2025 10:30 AM, Randy Thanthong-Knight] reports Canada is trading its usual restraint for American-style boldness in an effort to prove to US President Donald Trump that it’s serious about strengthening the border as it tries to avert tariffs. Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 1 to put 25% tariffs against most Canadian products, saying the US’s northern neighbor was allowing too much fentanyl to go over the border. Those levies are scheduled to go into effect March 4 after the president said this week that drugs are still entering "at very high and unacceptable levels." Canadian officials say that’s simply not true — and they point to US government data showing that American border agents have found very little fentanyl coming from the north. But taking no chances, they’re also trying to put their enforcement efforts on public display. Over the past week alone, news releases regarding the drug appeared at least five times from different Canadian government departments.

USA Today [3/1/2025 12:56 PM, Joey Garrison, 75858K] reports President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday that looks to unleash forest management efforts following this year’s devastating Los Angeles wildfires. The order takes steps for quicker federal permitting approvals of forestry projects under the Endangered Species Act so that clearing brush, timber removals and other projects aren’t delayed by environmental and other regulatory reviews, according to a White House summary of the order reviewed by USA TODAY. Trump has long blamed California’s environmental polices for forest mismanagement contributing to the state’s wildfires including January’s destructive wildfires in Los Angeles that killed at least 29 people. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has defended his state’s forest and land management efforts, pointing to $2.5 billion in state investments on this front. The full draft of the order, which is likely to face push back from environmental groups, was not immediately available. The order also seeks to increase domestic production of timber by streamlining the regulatory process for timber thinning ‒ whereby full rows of trees are removed ‒ and timber salvaging. The latter refers to removing damaged trees after wildfires or other natural disasters to recover value on the market from the timber. In addition to expanding forest management, the White House said the goal is to lower costs of housing construction and lumber by increasing the domestic supply of timber to reduce U.S. reliance of timber imports from Canada, Brazil and Germany.

Trump also signed an order directing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to explore potential tariffs on tariff and lumber imports. It comes after Trump has already imposed tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports and promised new duties on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and other products.

CNN [3/2/2025 4:43 AM, Karina Tsui, 908K] reports authorities in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina issued evacuation orders Saturday as firefighters hurried to contain wildfires driven by dry, windy conditions across the region. In western North Carolina near the towns of Tryon and Saluda, a brush fire caused by a power line that fell along US Highway 176 Saturday afternoon spread quickly up a nearby mountain and threatened several structures, Saluda Fire and Rescue said in a social media post late Saturday. As of 11:30 p.m. Saturday, the fire had grown to 400 acres, at 0% containment, Saluda officials said. Polk County officials said multiple fire departments have been deployed to respond to the active fire. Some residents near the highway were ordered to evacuate Saturday afternoon by Tryon authorities. “Residents can expect a heavy fire department presence in the Bear Creek, Hanging Rock, Rhododendron Dr., Oceanview Dr., and Meadow Lark Dr. areas as crews work to protect homes and reduce fire fuels,” Saluda Fire and Rescue said. Tryon and Saluda are just north of the North Carolina-South Carolina border, around 25 miles southeast of Asheville, North Carolina. Meanwhile in South Carolina, officials from the South Carolina Forestry Commission issued a statewide burning ban Saturday while reporting dozens of wildfires across the state – many of which have since been contained. Multiple fire crews were sent to contain a large woods fire near Myrtle Beach Saturday night, fire officials said, while several homes in the nearby Carolina Forest area were ordered to evacuate. Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 9:22 PM, Adam Benson, 52868K] reports the skies above Horry County will be busy Sunday as multiple planes and Blackhawk helicopters are set to drop water on a 100-acre wildfire burning in Carolina Forest, a state lawmaker said. In a series of Facebook posts Saturday night, State Rep. Tim McGinnis, R-Myrtle Beach, said he spoke with Scott Phillips, South Carolina’s top forestry official, to get an update on conditions and containment plans. McGinnis’ House District 56 covers Carolina Forest. “He says lower wind and higher humidity over the evening hours will help with efforts to control the fire. He also says two planes and two Blackhawk helicopters will be dropping water on the fire in the morning,” McGinnis wrote. State officials said more than 100 wildfires ignited around South Carolina on Saturday — including an 800-acre blaze in Georgetown County that led to brief evacuations.

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FOX News [3/2/2025 5:20 AM, Landon Mion, 46189K]

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 4:19 PM, Tim Renaud, 52868K] reports Georgetown County has lifted the evacuation order for the Prince George community as crews contain the nearby brushfire. No structures were damaged. County officials say firefighters will remain on scene overnight. “A fire at North Santee is also contained. Staff on scene estimate about 800 acres impacted, but an official number will be determined by the Forestry Service at a later time,” officials said. A burn ban remains in effect. UPDATE: Georgetown County Emergency Management said the evacuation has been revised to include properties east of the traffic circle on Vanderbilt Blvd. “All other Prince George Oceanside residents should closely monitor conditions,” officials said. Emergency management said the clubhouse at Prince George Riverside is available for residents who need a place to go. The Waccamaw Regional Recreation Center is also available for any evacuees. Beachside residents in the Prince George community of Georgetown County are being evacuated due to wildfire conditions. The gated community is located in the Pawleys Island area. “Residents of that area, prepare to leave your property,” the county said. Georgetown County officials said additional information would be forthcoming. Midway Fire Rescue is working a large brush fire off nearby Beach Bridge Road. Fire officials said drivers should anticipate smoky conditions while traveling through the area. The county is under a burn ban until further notice due to increased fire risk.

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 8:23 PM, Staff, 52868K] reports two large brush fires spread in southeast Wisconsin on Friday, Feb. 28. Palmyra Fire Rescue said crews were dispatched around 5:30 p.m. and found approximately 20 acres of field on fire near 4th and West. Due to winds estimated at 20-35 mph, the fire rapidly spread and was upgraded to a second alarm. Mutual aid arrived and started to deploy ATVs and brush trucks as the fire eventually escalated to a fifth alarm. The fire was contained at around 7 p.m. and struck out around 7:45 p.m. Hotspot suppression efforts continued until around 9 p.m. Ultimately, Palmyra Fire Rescue said approximately 95 acres were burned.

Yahoo! News [3/2/2025 3:59 AM, Staff, 52868K] reports four men were arrested after guns and drugs were seized in West Georgia on Friday. The Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office working with the Georgia State Patrol SWAT And Aviation Unit, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Gang Task Force, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office executed multiple search warrants across Muscogee County on Friday. The Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office arrested Johnny Frank Rose (aka Daddiyo), Tevin Gary, Jaray Lott, and Steadmon Riggins. Authorities seized six pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $26,840 and three guns.

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 8:00 PM, Brian Entin, 52868K] reports as the Trump administration clamps down on migrant crossings, the U.S. Coast Guard has been working around the clock to secure America’s so-called “third border”: the ocean off the coast of Florida. Coast Guard officers keep a close guard by flying over the coast south toward Cuba and over the Bahamas, which is a hotbed for migrant activity. “We are looking for a number of different things. Vessels moving in a certain direction. If they are moving southbound, that may not be an indicator. If they are moving northbound, it might give us an indication we should probably take a look,” Coast Guard Lt. Bryce Monaco tells NewsNation. “There are also a lot of people, 20 to 30, maybe even hundreds of people. These are all indicators of what we are looking at.” When officers spot migrants, they dispatch Coast Guard cutters to intervene. The Coast Guard interdicted several migrants attempting to use the Florida coast as an inroad into the country. This includes 31 migrants packed onto a small fishing boat and two dozen Chinese migrants hiding in an engine compartment, according to the agency. While many migrants hail from nearby Cuba and Haiti, there is also a large number that come from as far as China, Coast Guard officers told NewsNation.

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 7:00 PM, Adam Schwager, 52868K] reports on Thursday, the Texas Senate unanimously voted to ban lottery courier services, as allegations of money laundering and fraud prompted investigations from the Texas Rangers and the Attorney General’s office. Senators and investigators are primarily concerned with two drawings. The first was a $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot, where a foreign entity named Rook TX spent around $25 million to play nearly every number combination. The second was a $83.5 million Lotto Texas jackpot from Feb. 16 where the winning ticket was sold at Winners Corner. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited the store the following day and found it was owned and operated by the courier service Jackpocket, with 47 lottery terminals in the store. Nearly all were hidden in the back to process Jackpocket orders, prompting Patrick to say “If it’s all on the up and up, what are they afraid of showing the public?” During a Senate State Affairs Committee hearing on Monday, Lottery.com Chief Operating Officer Greg Potts acknowledged his company played a part in the Rook TX scheme, but said they did so with the full blessing of the Texas Lottery Commission. “We were surprised when we contacted the… Texas Lottery Commission,” Potts said. “We were very surprised that the answer was yes. We fully expected that they would laugh at us and say, ‘Well, no, of course, you can’t do this,’ so we only did after we were told that we were able to move forward under the lottery license that we had.” Senator Paul Bettencourt, R – Houston, pressed Potts on who exactly at the Lottery Commission approved the operation. “I believe the ask was made to the executive director,” Potts said.

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 7:53 PM, David Charns, 52868K] reports a man has pleaded guilty to extorting and threatening Instagram users and influencers, according to court documents. Idriss Qibaa, 28, pleaded guilty on Feb. 21 to charges including extortion, money laundering and stalking, records said. The FBI arrested Qibaa last summer and said he extorted and threatened customers and Instagram influencers as part of an online business to block and unlock social media accounts. Qibaa ran the website Unlocked4life.com and uses the names “Dani” and “Unlocked,” documents said. Qibaa “outlined an extortion scheme” during a podcast in 2024 where he also said he made more than $600,000 a month through his website, Unlocked4life.com, and its subscribers, the FBI said after his arrest. During the “No Jumper” podcast, Qibaa described “locking victims” and then “charging the victims to unlock the account,” documents said. Unlocked4life.com, which state records said was based in Henderson, advertised it could ban or unban social media accounts on Instagram, Snapchat, Telegram and TikTok, investigators said. Qibaa also offered a service to purchase digital tracking and personal information.

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 8:30 PM, Linsey Lewis, 52868K] report the U.S. Marshals arrested a man who was on the run since 2021 after he allegedly bought 40 firearms in Las Vegas for a Crips street gang to use in its feud with another gang in California, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Marshals Service Nevada Violent Offender Task Force arrested Davieon Rowe, 25, on charges of conspiracy to make a false statement in the acquisition of a firearm, aiding and abetting, and sale or transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person. In 2021 Rowe bought 40 firearms for a Crips street gang that was in a feud with another street gang in San Bernardino, California, the U.S. Marshals said. According to a criminal indictment, Rowe ordered the 40 firearms through an online firearm retailer from January 2021 through March 2021 to pick up at two gun stores in the Las Vegas area. The transactions described totaled nearly $28,000.

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 7:25 PM, Staff, 52868K] reports a two-year investigation into a Romanian crime ring that targeted electronic welfare funds for California residents led to the arrest of 11, but two more members remain at large, authorities said. The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office worked with the FBI and their counterparts in Romania to round up members of the Dorneanu Organized Crime Group accused of skimming electronic benefits transfers or EBT cards across California, including Ventura County, according to the DA’s office. In mid-Feburary, Romanian authorities executed 24 search warrants in Mureș and Brașov counties, which led to the arrests and the seizure of EBT card cloning devices, six vehicles, cash, documents, electronic components and tools like mobile phones and laptops. “Our office remains committed to protecting Ventura County residents from fraud and financial exploitation,” said DA Erik Nasarenko. Ventura County also has warrants for the arrest of Romanian defendants Marius Vlaic and Paul Kimpian also known as Roman Janecek. They are facing more than a dozen felony counts, including conspiracy and grand theft related to several instances of theft using cloned EBT cards for CalWORKs, the state’s welfare program, according to the DA’s office.

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 11:18 PM, Staff, 52868K] report the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office arrested a suspect who has been involved in an online scam that defrauded a resident of almost $20,000. On Sept. 20, 2024, the sheriff’s office received a report from a resident who lives in Sierra County regarding a false vehicle purchase that was made through Facebook Marketplace, according to authorities. Officials said that the victim had paid $19,800 for a vehicle that was never delivered and after crews investigated it was determined that the suspect had used a fake name, email, phone number, and website to create the false ad. After the payment was received, the suspect deleted all communication which prevented the victim from making further contact, said SCSO. After an extensive investigation, on Dec. 26, 2024, investigators with the SCSO identified the suspect and obtained a warrant to arrest the suspect who was originally from New York, SCSO said. The warrant was issued for theft by false pretenses and three counts of money laundering. On Jan. 8, SCSO was notified by the New York Police Department that he had been taken into custody, and with the assistance of U.S. Marshals Service, he was extradited to Sierra County and booked into the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in Nevada County on Feb. 27, according to the statement by SCSO.

FOX News [3/2/2025 4:30 AM, Alexandra Koch, 46189K] reports a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) crew on Friday interdicted 21 illegal immigrants aboard a 25-foot boat about 20 miles west of the Point Loma coast in San Diego, California. The 21 illegal immigrants were taken into custody and later transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel, according to a USCG news release. The military branch shared a photo of the catch, showing two orange USCG boats alongside a small white boat. In addition to the leading USCG Cutter Haddock, USCG Sector San Diego, USCG Cutter Forrest Rednour, and a CBP Air and Marine Operations patrol aircraft participated in the operation, according to a statement. Following direction from President Donald Trump, the Coast Guard has expanded its border patrol efforts to combat illegal immigration.

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San Diego Union Tribune [3/1/2025 8:45 PM, Jayne Yutig, 1682K]
Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 8:47 PM, Anna Ashcraft, 52868K]

Yahoo! News [3/1/2025 6:35 PM, Carolyn Komatsoulis, 52868K] reports Boise Police arrested two people after an armed robbery on Thursday afternoon. A man “brandished a handgun during the robbery,” police previously said. Police then said the man fled the scene on a motorcycle with someone else, according to previous Statesman reporting. “Shortly before the robbery took place, Boise Police responded to a false 911 call reporting an active shooter at a business on the 10400 block of W. Fairview Ave,” Boise Police said in a news release. Law enforcement identified the caller, who they said allegedly knew the bank robbers and “was an accomplice.” She was arrested on suspicion of robbery (conspiracy) and resisting or obstructing officers, according to the news release. Her charges do not yet appear on Idaho’s online court portal. Police also arrested a man on suspicion of robbery, the news release said. His charges do not yet appear on Idaho’s online court portal.

CBS News [3/1/2025 8:55 PM, ShaCamree Gowdy, Doug Myers, 51661K]
a fight between two individuals at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on Saturday led to several poles being toppled, creating a loud noise and triggering panic at the National Cheerleaders Association All-Star National Championship. The disturbance, which occurred around 1 p.m., led to what Dallas police described as a "stampede" as people rushed outside from an event expected to attract 30,000 athletes, 3,700 coaches, and 58,000 attendees. The Dallas Police Department confirmed there was no active shooter and no shooting had occurred. However, several people sustained non-life-threatening injuries amid the chaos, police said. According to Dallas Fire-Rescue, 10 people were taken to the hospital. "All of the injuries were sustained during the evacuation, and none were life-threatening," said Jason Evans, a Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman. "They ranged in severity from bumps and bruises to extremity fractures." The incident prompted an evacuation of the convention center as a precaution. Activities for the day were suspended, and a family reunification center was established at 400 North Lamar St. Brian Bianco, senior director of strategic communications for Varsity Brands, confirmed that NCA security officials are collaborating with law enforcement to investigate the incident. CBS News Texas will provide additional details as they become available. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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Dallas Morning News [3/1/2025 4:48 PM, Matt Kyle, Chase Rogers, Maria Salette Ontiveros and Kelli Smith, 2778K]

USA Today [3/2/2025 5:09 AM, Maureen Groppe, 75858K] reports a federal law that protects the firearm industry didn’t stop the parents of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting from going after the gun maker. But in the first test of the law before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the justices are expected to cast a more skeptical eye on Mexico’s attempt to hold American gun companies responsible for the violence caused by drug cartels armed with U.S.-made weapons. This time, gun violence prevention groups worry the Supreme Court could side with gun makers in a way that would go far beyond this dispute between Mexico and American gun companies. ‘‘People in the United States’’ are ‘‘suffering, being shot, being killed,” said David Pucino, legal director at Giffords Law Center., a gun violence prevention group. He worries the Supreme Court will take away a tool for going after clear law breaking by gun companies. These suits seek compensation for injuries and are also aimed at promoting safer firearm designs, keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals and placing part of the blame for gun violence on the industry. The Washington Post [3/2/2025 5:00 AM, Mary Beth Sheridan and Ann E. Marimow, 31735K] reports U.S. gun companies are asking the Supreme Court this week to stop an unusual lawsuit from Mexico, a case that coincides with a critical moment for relations between the two countries. The lawsuit seeks to hold major firearms manufacturers accountable for gun violence in Mexico, testing long-standing protections from liability for the nation’s firearms industry as President Donald Trump separately promises to take on Mexican drug cartels and illegal immigration. Trump is adding U.S. troops to the southern border and threatening to impose tariffs on Mexico as soon as Tuesday, the same day the lawsuit against the gunmakers will be argued at the high court. For years, Mexico’s drug cartels have obtained most of their guns from the United States, according to U.S. and Mexican officials, in what anti-violence activists refer to as an “Iron River” of weapons. As fentanyl and other narcotics flow north, they say, the guns flow south. “Just as [American officials] are worried on the movement of drugs from Mexican territory to the United States, we are worried and working on the entry of weapons from the United States to Mexico,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said during a recent news conference. “A lot of the drug abuse is in the United States, while the violence, the loss of lives, is in Mexico.” Mexico alleges that U.S. firearms manufacturers know their guns are trafficked into Mexico and make deliberate design, marketing and distribution choices to retain and grow the profitable but illegal market.

New York Times [3/1/2025 6:25 PM, Ana Swanson, 145325K] reports President Trump on Saturday initiated an investigation into whether imports of lumber threaten America’s national security, a step that is likely to further inflame relations with Canada, the largest exporter of wood to the United States. The president directed his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, to carry out the investigation. The results of the inquiry could allow the president to apply tariffs to lumber imports. A White House official declined to say how long the inquiry would take. An executive memorandum signed by Mr. Trump ordered the investigation and was accompanied by another document that White House officials said would expand the volume of lumber offered for sale each year, increasing supply and helping to ensure that timber prices do not rise. The trade inquiry is likely to further anger Canada. Some of its citizens have called for boycotts of American products over Mr. Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on all Canadian imports beginning on Tuesday. The president, who also plans to hit Mexico with similar tariffs, says the levies are punishment for failure to stem the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States. Many Canadians have contested Mr. Trump’s assertion that fentanyl is flowing from its country into the United States. Canada and the United States have sparred over protections in the lumber industry for decades. The countries have protected their own industries with tariffs and other trade measures, and argued about the legitimacy of those measures in disputes both under the North American Free Trade Agreement and at the World Trade Organization. Canada provided $28 billion of lumber to the United States in 2021 — the most recent year statistics were available from the U.S. International Trade Commission — or nearly half of all U.S. lumber imports. Canada is distantly followed by China, Brazil and Mexico as import sources. The United States also exported nearly $10 billion of lumber to Canada in 2021, as well as $6.5 billion to Mexico. White House officials said that lumber was an industry in which the United States should be almost entirely self-sufficient based on its resources, but that American lumber mills had been undermined by cheap imports from bad actors, some of whom were putative allies.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [3/1/2025 6:15 PM, Skylar Woodhouse, 16228K]

Miami Herald [3/1/2025 8:52 PM, Antonio Maria Delgado, 3973K] reports the United States issued a stern warning to the Nicolás Maduro regime on Saturday following reports that a Venezuelan patrol boat entered into Guyanaese waters, threatening ExxonMobil’s offshore operations. “Venezuelan naval vessels threatening ExxonMobil’s floating production, storage and offloading unit is unacceptable and a clear violation of Guyana’s internationally recognized maritime territory,” the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said in its X account. “Further provocation will result in consequences for the Maduro regime. The United States reaffirms its support for Guyana’s territorial integrity.” Earlier on Saturday, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali denounced the presence of the Venezuelan military vessel near the oil block run by ExxonMobil in the Essequibo, a Florida-sized region claimed by both countries. Speaking in a televised address, Ali said that his Government had notified all of its international allies, including the United States. “This incursion is a matter of grave concern,” the president said. “Guyana’s maritime boundaries are recognized under international law. This is a serious development concerning our nation’s maritime territory. We will not tolerate threats to territorial integrity.” In a statement released on Facebook, Ali added that during the incursion, the “Venezuelan vessel approached several assets in our exclusive waters.” Tensions between the two South American nations over the disputed mineral-rich region goes back for more than a century but intensified following a referendum held in December 2023, in which Maduro asked Venezuelans to grant him special powers to invade the neighboring country to take over the Essequibo by force if necessary. Despite clear evidence that the regime had tampered with the election’s results, Maduro claimed that he got the approval from 98% of voters. All throughout the following year, Maduro sought to keep the issue alive in Venezuela through repeated TV spots asserting that the regime would not yield Venezuela’s claim over the Essequibo region, which has been under Guyanese control since 1899. Maduro also issued laws declaring the region as the country’s newest state and boosted Venezuela’s military presence near the border. The Essequibo contains six of the 10 regions that make up Guyana and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 inhabitants. Saturday’s events follows an incident occurring on Feb. 17, when the Guyana Defence Force reported that six of its soldiers were injured in an ambush on a supply transport carried out by alleged members of a Venezuelan criminal gang.

National Public Radio [3/2/2025 4:18 AM, Daniel Estrin and Hadeel Al-Shalchi, 35747K] reports Israel says that it is stopping the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip, citing what it described as Hamas’ refusal to accept a U.S. proposal to extend the first phase of the six-week-old ceasefire, and threatened "further consequences." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said President Trump’s Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had proposed an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas through Ramadan and Passover which could see the release of the remaining 59 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. Ramadan began Friday night and ends March 29. Passover ends on April 19. The new proposal Israel has announced would have Hamas release half of the living and dead hostages at the start of the seven-week ceasefire period, and would secure the release of the remaining hostages by the end, if the two sides reach an agreement on a permanent end of the war. "Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages," according to a statement from the prime minister’s office. "If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences." The statement did not elaborate on what consequences could follow, but said Israel had a U.S. commitment to allow it to resume the war if ceasefire negotiations were deemed ineffective.

FOX News [3/1/2025 5:50 PM, Brie Stimson, 46189K] reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was warmly greeted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer outside 10 Downing St. in London on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy’s tense exchange with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. Zelemskyy and Starmer, who met with Trump in Washington on Thursday, embraced, shook hands, waved and gave a thumbs up to reporters before heading inside the prime minister’s residence for their meeting. The scheduled London visit comes after Zelenskyy’s blowup with Trump and Vice President JD Vance during Friday’s televised meeting in the Oval Office. Zelenskyy was peppered with questions from shouting reporters about Trump outside the prime minister’s residence, but remained tight-lipped. Starmer told Zelenskyy when he greeted him: "Well, let me just say that you’re very, very welcome here in Downing Street. And as you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you with Ukraine for as long as it may take." He added, "And I hope you’ve heard some of that cheering in the street. That is the people of the United Kingdom coming out to demonstrate how much they support you, how much they support Ukraine, and our absolute determination to stand with unwavering determination and to achieve what we both want to achieve, which is a lasting peace, a lasting peace for Ukraine based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine, so important for Ukraine, so important for Europe, and so for the United Kingdom. So I’m much looking forward to discussions here this afternoon. Thank you very much for taking the time to chat." Zelenskyy answered: "With pleasure. Thank you very much." He added that the British people have given Ukraine "big support from the very beginning of this war." Zelenskyy said that he is also "very happy" to be meeting with King Charles III at his residence in Sandringham on Sunday. Tensions increased during the Oval Office meeting on Friday over a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine after Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted and had breached other agreements. Trump and Vance then accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful for the support the U.S. has provided over the years and said the Ukrainian leader was in a "bad position" at the negotiating table. "You’re playing cards," Trump said. "You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Wall Street Journal [3/1/2025 9:00 PM, Laurence Normand Ian Lovette, 646K] reports a combative White House meeting has presented Ukraine with the prospect of fighting Russia without the support of its primary military backer through the first three years of the war. Now, the question is whether Europe has the firepower—and the political will—to help Ukraine hold off the Russians. Without Washington at its side, Ukraine would have to lean more heavily on its European allies and its own domestic defense production. It could likely maintain its current fighting strength for at least a few months, officials and analysts say. After that, it could face shortages of ammunition and lose access to some of its most sophisticated weapons. A parade of European leaders have expressed solidarity with Ukraine after the meeting in the Oval Office descended into an unusual on-camera clash between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The European officials offered Zelensky and Ukraine their backing and said they would ensure Ukraine doesn’t stand alone. “We stand with Ukraine for as long as it may take,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Zelensky as he met him in Downing Street ahead of a meeting with European leaders taking place in London on Sunday. Starmer said he wanted to achieve a “lasting peace” in Ukraine and has also been in contact with Trump as he attempts to broker a compromise between the U.S and Europe. The U.K. said Saturday it was making a loan of £2.26 billion, or roughly $2.8 billion, to Ukraine to fund its military. The coming weeks will show whether Europe can back up its rhetoric by stepping up support for Ukraine if Washington walks away.

Washington Post [3/1/2025 6:25 PM, Ellen Nakashima and Joseph Menn, 31735K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to halt offensive cyber and information operations against Russia as President Donald Trump seeks to end President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine on terms that are widely seen as favoring Moscow, according to one current and one former U.S. official familiar with the order. The pause is meant to last only as long as negotiations continue, said the current and former official, who like several others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. While it is not unusual to stop operations in the midst of high-level talks or similar engagements, the move comes as Trump has engaged in a startling reversal of 80 years of U.S. foreign policy, showing an apparent willingness to abandon European allies and make common cause with Putin in his designs on Ukraine. And, experts warn, it represents a concession to one of America’s most active cyber adversaries. “Russia continues to be among the top cyberthreats to the United States,” said James A. Lewis, a former diplomat in the Clinton administration and former U.N. cyber negotiator. “Turning off cyber operations to avoid blowing up the talks may be a prudent tactical step. But if we take our foot off the gas pedal and they take advantage of it, we could put national security at risk.” The Pentagon declined to comment on the matter. “There is no greater priority to Secretary Hegseth than the safety of the warfighter in all operations, to include the cyber domain,” a defense official said. The pause on offensive cyber operations was first reported by The Record. The cyber and information operations being halted are not so aggressive as to be considered an act of war, the officials said. They could include exposing or disabling malware found in Russian networks before it can be used against the United States, blocking Russian hackers from servers that they may be preparing to use for their own offensive operations or disrupting a site promoting anti-U. S. propaganda.

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