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

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

The New York Times [5/13/2025 7:16 PM, David W. Chen, 153395K] reports a coalition of 20 states, most led by Democrats, filed two lawsuits against the Trump administration on Tuesday after it threatened to withhold billions in funding unless the states followed its demands on immigration enforcement. The states called the threats, which would cut federal money for transportation, counterterrorism and emergency preparedness, “blatantly illegal” and a “hostage scheme.” They argued that the administration was usurping Congress’s authority over spending and using the power of the purse to force states to adopt its policies. “By hanging a halt in this critical funding over states like a sword of Damocles, defendants impose immense harm on states,” they argued in one of the suits, “forcing them to choose between readiness for disasters and emergencies, on the one hand, and their judgment about how best to investigate and prosecute crimes, on the other.” Rob Bonta, the attorney general of California, who is spearheading the litigation, added in a statement that President Trump was treating vital funding as a “bargaining chip.” The states’ attorneys general filed both lawsuits — one naming the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security and the other the Transportation Department — in Federal District Court in Rhode Island. California, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island are leading both lawsuits. Maryland is also listed as a lead state in the transportation lawsuit. Joining them on both suits are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. All of the states have Democratic attorneys general and governors, except for Nevada and Vermont, which have Republican governors. The Washington Post [5/13/2025 6:03 PM, Maria Sacchetti, 31735K] reports state officials said that imposing immigration enforcement requirements across a range of grant programs is "arbitrary and capricious, exceeds the Trump Administration’s legal authority, and violates the Spending Clause," in the U.S. Constitution, which grants Congress the authority to collect taxes and other duties to provide for the defense and welfare of the United States. "Cities and states who break the law and prevent us from arresting criminal illegal aliens should not receive federal funding," DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in an email Tuesday. "No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that." In one lawsuit, the state attorneys general argued that DHS Secretary Kristi L. Noem issued a new set of "Standard Terms and Conditions" on March 27 and April 18 that states are required to meet to be eligible for federal grant money. Among the conditions: State officials must provide information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and DHS about the citizenship and immigration status of "any individual," participate in "joint operations," and grant immigration officers access to state buildings. The terms also require states to detain immigrants for ICE, typically after they have been arrested for state or local crimes, so that immigration officers can pick them up. The terms infuriated state officials, who called them a "grant funding hostage scheme," according to the lawsuit against DHS. The states said they are unwilling to divert police from investigating crimes to arrest people for immigration-related civil violations. Roll Call [5/13/2025 4:59 PM, Chris Johnson, 503K] reports that the two separate lawsuits filed by states cite policy announcements from the U.S. government asserting that states and localities won’t be eligible for funds if they don’t comply with certain federal initiatives, including federal immigration enforcement. One is a memo from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy from April 24, while the other is a pair of Homeland Security Department memos from March 25 and April 18 that the states contend are “holding critical emergency preparedness and response funding hostage.” “DHS cites no statutory authority for these new requirements. Nor could it,” the lawsuit states. “The grant statutes that Congress has passed do not permit DHS to condition all agency funds on an agreement to cooperate with civil immigration enforcement.” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for public affairs, said via email Tuesday that the lawsuits filed by the states were baseless. “Cities and states who break the law and prevent us from arresting criminal illegal aliens should not receive federal funding,” McLaughlin said. “The President has been clear on that. Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS is working to end violations of federal immigration law and remove criminal illegal aliens from American communities. “Radical sanctuary politicians need to put the safety of the American people first — not criminal illegal aliens. The Trump Administration is committed to restoring the rule of law. No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that,” McLaughlin wrote. Bloomberg [5/13/2025 4:13 PM, Malathi Nayak, 16228K] reports that the legal actions come after the Trump administration in recent months has imposed immigration-enforcement conditions on grants related to homeland security and transportation. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a letter in late April that states’ cooperation with federal law must include ensuring that driver licenses are not issued to undocumented immigrants. “President Trump doesn’t have the authority to unlawfully coerce state and local governments into using their resources for federal immigration enforcement,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. He said during a press conference that a freeze on funding is “imminent.” California stands to lose $15.7 billion in DOT grants that help maintain infrastructure, including highways, aircraft routes and bridges, Bonta’s office said in the statement. The most populous state also relies on $20.6 billion in DHS funding to bolster emergency preparedness and counter-terrorism efforts, according to the statement. Duffy said in a statement he has reminded grant recipients that they must follow federal laws.

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AP [5/13/2025 8:18 PM, Kimberlee Kruesi, 48304K]
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The New York Times [5/13/2025 5:42 PM, Mattathias Schwartz and Alan Feuer, 145325K] reports a federal judge on Tuesday opened a path for the Trump administration to move forward with deporting a Venezuelan man under the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law, but ruled that it must first give him notice in his native language, 21 days to object and an “opportunity to be heard” in court. The ruling, by Judge Stephanie L. Haines of the Western District of Pennsylvania, could provide a legal opening for the administration to restart deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of Venezuelans whom it considers to be members of Tren de Aragua, a gang that the White House has designated as a terrorist organization. It applies only within Judge Haines’s district, a portion of Pennsylvania that includes Pittsburgh and the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, a privately run immigration detention facility near Philipsburg. The decision by Judge Haines, who was nominated by President Trump during his first term, cut against recent rulings by three other federal judges — in Texas, Colorado and New York — all of whom had determined that the administration was using the Alien Enemies Act unlawfully. The American Civil Liberties Union, which has taken the lead in challenging deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, said it would appeal Judge Haines’ decision. The Washington Post [5/13/2025 4:53 PM, Jeremy Roebuck and Marianne LeVine, 31735K] reports that the Trump administration has not announced any Alien Enemies Act deportations since the middle of March, when the rushed removal of more than 130 Venezuelans to a megaprison in El Salvador launched the first court battles. Haines’s ruling opens the door for such deportations to continue in her western Pennsylvania court district, which includes the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the largest immigration detention center in the Northeast. However, she rejected government assertions that it must only provide targeted migrants 24 hours’ notice of their designations as "alien enemies" before it could summarily deport them. In addition to requiring 21 days’ notice, Haines said Tuesday that the notice must be provided in a language the migrant understands. Attorneys with the ACLU — which represented the 30-year-old Venezuelan detainee who was the named plaintiff in the case — said they intend to appeal. The AP [5/13/2025 8:02 PM, Rebecca Boone] reports Haines, a Trump appointee, also said the administration hasn’t been giving enough notice to people facing removal under the AEA. She ordered the administration to provide at least 21 days notice — far longer than the 12 hours that some deportees have been given. The ruling doesn’t address whether the administration can remove people under other immigration laws, nor does it address whether Trump can invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport people who simply migrated to the U.S. and who aren’t members of a foreign terrorist organization, Haines wrote. She also did not weigh in on whether people suspected of being members of other gangs could be removed under the act. But she did say the Act can be used to remove Venezuelan citizens who are at least 14 years old, who are in the U.S. without legal immigration status, and who are members of Tren de Aragua. The Hill [5/13/2025 3:57 PM, Zach Schonfeld and Rebecca Beitsch, 12829K] reports that the 1798 law enables authorities to summarily deport migrants amid an "invasion" or "predatory incursion" by a foreign nation. All three times the law was invoked previously were in times of war, but Trump has looked to use it against alleged Venezuelan gang members. Within hours of invoking the law in mid-March, the administration used it to deport more than 100 migrants to a Salvadoran megaprison. Haines said she wasn’t resolving whether the president can use the law to remove gang members — one of several consequential legal questions the judge took care to avoid. But by focusing on Trump’s power to use the AEA against foreign terrorist organizations, her ruling put her at odds with several other judges who have weighed the matter. Judges in three other jurisdictions have found Trump does not have the power to use the AEA to target gang members, saying the law was not meant to be used outside of an invasion or incursion.

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Breitbart [5/13/2025 6:24 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2923K]
ABC News [5/13/2025 6:10 PM, Laura Romero, James Hill, and Ely Brown, 34586K]
Axios [5/13/2025 5:22 PM, Sareen Habeshian, 13163K]
FOX News [5/13/2025 7:25 PM, Louis Casiano and Bill Mears, 46189K]
Univision [5/13/2025 5:04 PM, Staff, 5325K]
Washington Times [5/13/2025 3:42 PM, Stephen Dinan, 1814K]

CNN [5/13/2025 7:41 PM, Priscilla Alvarez, Natasha Bertrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, and Josh Campbell, 22131K] reports the Trump administration is planning to deploy hundreds more federal personnel to ramp up arrests of undocumented immigrants as soon as this week, according to two sources familiar with the planning, including tapping Border Patrol agents to fan out nationwide. The move, which is also expected to include help from state National Guard units, comes as the Justice Department is also intensifying its crackdown on immigration-related crime in cities across the country – the latest escalations in the administration’s effort to overcome limited resources and personnel to fulfill President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign promise. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers – typically charged with the arrest and detention of undocumented immigrants in the US – have been under tremendous pressures to deliver results but have faced many of the same logistical problems that have dogged previous administrations. White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller has previously described quotas on ICE field offices as a “floor, not a ceiling.” But to execute on that, Trump officials have had to look across the federal government for help. That effort is now expected to include US Border Patrol agents, who have authority to conduct immigration enforcement across the country. The involvement of Border Patrol speaks to the White House’s confidence in the situation at the US southern border, where migrant crossings have plummeted, freeing up resources. In addition to being stationed on US borders, US Border Patrol agents are also stationed in multiple cities across the country. Their primary mission is border security. The deployment of additional agents in the interior of the United States marks a doubling down on interior enforcement, which has typically been ICE’s charge.

New York Times [5/13/2025 2:33 PM, Devlin Barrett, Adam Goldman, and Hamed Aleaziz, 153395K] reports the Trump administration is directing more F.B.I., drug and gun agents toward immigration enforcement as it ramps up a crackdown across more than two dozen U.S. cities in the coming days, according to five people familiar with the directive. Justice Department officials have decided that about 2,000 of their federal agents — from the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the U.S. Marshals Service — will be enlisted to help the Department of Homeland Security find and arrest undocumented immigrants for the remainder of the year, these people said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the effort, which has yet to be announced. The move would signal a sharp escalation in the administration’s effort to enact a crucial element of President Trump’s agenda and would be a noticeable shift in the typical work of the Justice Department, particularly the F.B.I. Diverting Justice Department resources to focus solely on immigration also raises questions about whether such a change would affect other priorities, like investigating financial crimes or corruption. Already, federal agents in the Justice Department have been assisting immigration agents in American cities. The new effort would significantly expand on that work, adding more personnel, the people said. Law enforcement officials have been told that in every city subject to the new decree, F.B.I. agents should account for 45 percent of the Justice Department contingent, they said.

Breitbart [5/13/2025 8:39 AM, John Binder, 2923K] reports House Homeland Security Committee Mark Green (R-TN) is launching an investigation into Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s alleged involvement in a human smuggling ring. Abrego Garcia was deported by President Donald Trump’s administration to El Salvador after he was accused of being an MS-13 gang member. Democrats have since sought his return to the United States. In a letter to Tennessee Highway Patrol officials, Green is requesting unredacted details regarding a 2022 traffic stop involving Abrego Garcia where deputies believed he was carrying out a human smuggling operation. A convicted felon who ran a human smuggling ring has reportedly told Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents that he hired Abrego Garcia to help bring illegal aliens from the southern border into the U.S. interior, undetected by law enforcement. For months, House and Senate Democrats have demanded that Trump return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. from El Salvador, where he is currently incarcerated. Last week, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem told Senators that “there is no scenario where Abrego Garcia will be in the United States again.” “If he were to come back, we would immediately deport him again because he is a terrorist, a human smuggler, and he is a wife-beater,” Noem said. Indeed, Abrego Garcia has long been accused of MS-13 gang membership and has twice been accused by his wife in Maryland of domestic abuse.

ABC News [5/13/2025 10:40 AM, Laura Romero, 34586K] reports attorneys for wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia pushed back on the Trump administration’s invocation of the state secrets privilege in a court filing Monday, saying that the government has produced no evidence "showing that it has made the slightest effort to facilitate" Abrego Garcia’s release from detention in El Salvador. "There is little reason to believe that compliance with a court order to facilitate the release and return of a single mistakenly removed individual so that he can get his day in court implicates state secrets at all," the attorneys argued. "No military or intelligence operations are involved, and it defies reason to imagine that the United States’ relationship with El Salvador would be endangered by any effort to seek the return of a wrongfully deported person who the Government admits never should have been removed to El Salvador in the first place," they said. The filing came a week after the judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, said in a court order that the Trump administration had invoked the rarely used state secrets privilege to shield information about the case. Judge Xinis has scheduled a May 16 hearing on the matter. Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who had been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison -- despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution -- after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13. His wife and attorneys deny that he is an MS-13 member. The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States. Judge Xinis ruled last month that the Trump administration must "facilitate" Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, and the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that ruling, "with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.” Following the government’s inaction, Judge Xinis ordered several government officials to testify under oath through expedited discovery in order to resolve the matter, which prompted the administration to invoke the state secrets privilege.

Washington Examiner [5/13/2025 5:43 PM, Kaelan Deese, 2296K] reports lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia are pointing to recent public comments from President Donald Trump as proof that the administration has the authority to return their client from El Salvador but is choosing not to. In a court filing this week, the legal team cited Trump’s response in an ABC News interview in late April, in which he acknowledged he "could" call Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to secure Abrego Garcia’s return. "If [Bukele] were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that," Trump said, while also defending the decision to deport Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration acknowledged that it deported Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 gang member and illegal immigrant, to El Salvador by mistake. A judge had ruled years earlier that Abrego Garcia could be deported, but not to his home country. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said in the new filings that the president’s public comments undercut the administration’s courtroom claim that national security concerns justify withholding further information in the case. Public comments from Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem opposing Abrego Garcia’s return have also been cited in court as further evidence that secrecy claims are inconsistent with the administration’s own conduct. Xinis has scheduled a hearing for Friday afternoon in Greenbelt, Maryland, to weigh the next steps in the deportation dispute.

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FOX News [5/13/2025 3:24 PM, Staff, 46189K]

NewsNation [5/13/2025 1:04 PM, Jaxie Pidgeon, 6866K] reports that U.S. House Homeland Security chairman Rep. Mark Green (R-Tennessee) is calling on authorities to be more transparent about a 2022 Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) traffic stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March. On May 2, the THP released a redacted video of a traffic stop dated Nov. 30, 2022, involving Abrego Garcia in Cookeville. Because of that, he’s calling on Perry to release the following as soon as possible, but no later than 5 p.m. on May 23: An unredacted copy of all body camera and dash camera footage of the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from any employee or contractor of the Tennessee Highway Patrol; Unredacted copies of all notes taken by any employee or contractor of the Tennessee Highway Patrol referring or relating to the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia; Unredacted copies of all reports referring or relating to the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, including but not limited to, computerized dispatch reports, incident reports, or probable cause reports; A document sufficient to list all names of all Federal Bureau of Investigation employees or contractors and Tennessee Highway Patrol employees or contractors engaged in communications on November 30, 2022, to discuss the arrest, detention, or release of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia; and. A document sufficient to show the result of any query conducted by any employee or contractor of the Tennessee Highway Patrol in the National Crime Information Center database, of any person related to the November 20, 2022, traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, from November 30, 2022 to December 1, 2022. [Editorial note: consult video at source link for video]

FOX News [5/13/2025 8:24 PM, Bill Mears, Shannon Bream, 46189K] reports the case on the Supreme Court’s docket this week ostensibly deals with a challenge to the Trump administration’s efforts to narrow the definition of birthright citizenship. But overriding that important constitutional debate is a more immediate and potentially far-reaching test of judicial power: the ability of individual federal judges to issue universal or nationwide injunctions, preventing temporary enforcement of President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive actions. That will be the focus when the nine justices hear oral arguments Thursday morning about how President Trump’s restrictions on who can be called an American citizen can proceed in the lower federal courts. Trump signed the executive order on his first day back in office that would end automatic citizenship for children of people in the U.S. illegally. Separate coalitions of about two dozen states, along with immigrant rights groups, and private individuals — including several pregnant women in Maryland — have sued. Three separate federal judges subsequently issued orders temporarily blocking enforcement across the country while the issues are fully litigated in court. Appeals courts have declined to disturb those rulings. Now the three consolidated cases come to the high court in an unusual scenario, a rare May oral argument that has been fast-tracked for an expected ruling in coming days or weeks. The executive order remains on hold nationwide until the justices decide. But the cases will likely not be decided on the merits at this stage, only on whether to narrow the scope of those injunctions. That would allow the policy to take effect in limited parts of the country or only to those plaintiffs actually suing over the president’s authority. A high court decision could be sweeping, setting a precedent that would affect the more than 310 — and counting — federal lawsuits against White House actions filed since Jan. 20, according to a Fox News data analysis. Of those, more than 200 judicial orders have halted large parts of the president’s agenda from being enacted, almost 40 of them nationwide injunctions. Dozens of other cases have seen no legal action so far on gateway issues like temporary enforcement. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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Breitbart [5/13/2025 1:30 PM, John Binder, 2923K]

Reuters [5/13/2025 9:27 AM, Andrew Chung, 41523K] reports one of President Donald Trump’s most contentious policies - his attempt to restrict automatic birthright citizenship - arrives at the U.S. Supreme Court this week with an unusual twist: The justices may focus on something else entirely. Federal judges in Washington state, Massachusetts and Maryland issued orders blocking Trump’s January executive order nationwide, finding the directive likely violated language in the U.S. Constitution concerning citizenship for babies born in the United States. But through an emergency filing, Trump’s administration has focused the Supreme Court’s attention not on the legality of the action by the Republican president but rather on the permissibility of the actions by the three judges - whether federal judges should have the power to issue broad orders that block challenged polices on a nationwide, or "universal," basis. The administration asked the court to narrow the injunctions to let the government enforce Trump’s directive - part of his hardline approach to immigration - to the greatest extent possible while the legal fight over the policy plays out.

Bloomberg Law [5/13/2025 9:36 AM, Justin Wise, 1085K] reports the Justice Department said it will prioritize corporate whistleblower tips in areas such as tariff fraud and violations of US immigration law and "simplify" its corporate enforcement and voluntary self-disclosure policy. The department also plans to use fewer corporate monitorships as part of a broader effort to cut down on companies’ compliance obligations. "Excessive enforcement and unfocused corporate investigations stymie innovation, limits prosperity, and reduces efficiency," Matthew R. Galeotti, the acting head of the DOJ’s criminal division, said during a Monday speech at a financial crimes conference. "So that ends today.” In his remarks, Galeotti, a former New York federal prosecutor, said that white-collar enforcement during the second Trump administration would be focused on "key threats to America," such as fraud perpetrated against US citizens and the government. The announcement comes as new DOJ leadership scales back some of its white-collar enforcement as part of an effort to direct more resources to such areas as immigration and drug trafficking. Department leaders have also released memos narrowing enforcement priorities in areas such as foreign bribery, foreign lobbying transparency, and crypto. Galeotti’s announced priorities for the corporate whistleblower program appear to bring the Biden-era initiative in line with the president’s top areas of attention.

Breitbart [5/13/2025 3:17 PM, Sean Moran, 2923K] reports House Republicans on Monday unveiled legislation that would establish a five percent tax on remittances from illegal aliens to those outside the United States. The Ways and Means Section of President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful" bill, which mainly handles taxes, would establish a five percent tax on remittance transfers; however, it would exempt remittance transfers from verified U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals. The provision would also provide a refundable tax credit for any excise taxes paid by taxpayers with valid Social Security numbers.

FOX News [5/13/2025 2:58 PM, Anders Hagstrom, 46189K] reports New York Attorney General Letitia James filed two lawsuits against President Donald Trump’s administration Tuesday. James, a longtime legal opponent of Trump, joined 19 other attorneys general in filing the lawsuits, the first of which claims DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has threatened to cut off "emergency preparedness" funding if states do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. The second lawsuit targets the Department of Transportation on similar grounds, arguing it is unconstitutional to withhold funds to coerce immigration compliance. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin pushed back on the lawsuit in a statement to Fox News Digital.

FOX News [5/14/2025 2:30 AM, Christina Shaw, 46189K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday called out members of Congress for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers during a heated altercation outside a Newark immigration detention center last week. Noem criticized the lawmakers for defending their actions as a supposed "oversight." Appearing on ‘Jesse Watters Prime,’ Noem accused the lawmakers of committing criminal behavior. "This wasn’t oversight. This was committing felonies. This was going out and attacking people who stand up for the rule of law. And it was absolutely horrible," Noem said. "I can’t believe they act like this and then they defend it. And then they’re doing these acts of violence to get people out of detention centers that are rapists, that are murderers, that are people that are [from] foreign terrorist organizations that have been out there victimizing our communities in the United States of America," she went on. U.S. Reps. Rob Menendez Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver – all New Jersey Democrats – stormed ICE’s Delaney Hall detention facility’s gate in Newark on Friday, demanding they be allowed to conduct an "oversight visit." "These members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk," a DHS statement to Fox News said. "Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility." She called for the trio to be censured and formally rebuked by the House of Representatives. "It’s astounding to me that someone would even vote for someone to put them in a place of leadership when they perpetuate something as hypocritical and as criminal as what these individuals did," she said. "I hope that the rest of the members of the House of Representatives will hold them accountable," Noem continued. "They shouldn’t be allowed to be on the committees that they’re on — in fact, one of them (McIver) is supposed to be conducting oversight over ICE and instead she’s assaulting them." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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New York Post [5/13/2025 11:19 PM, Victor Nava, 54903K]

FOX News [5/13/2025 8:46 PM, Staff, 46189K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticizes attempts from Democrats to challenge immigration enforcement on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [5/13/2025 11:19 PM, Victor Nava, 54903K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called for the congressional lawmakers involved in a heated confrontation with law enforcement outside a Newark immigration detention center to be censured. "What happened last Friday was we had members of Congress assaulting law enforcement officers," Noem said TUESDAY of the chaotic scene that unfolded last week outside the Delaney Hall Detention Center, during an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters. "They were cooperating with criminals to create criminal acts," the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief charged, adding, "This wasn’t oversight. This was committing felonies. This was going out and attacking people who stand up for the rule of law. And it was absolutely horrible.” Democratic North Jersey Reps. Robert Menendez Jr., LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman "illegally" stormed the private facility that contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold migrants slated for deportation, according to the Trump administration. The scrum at the gates to the Newark detention center — which Noem claims houses "rapists," "murderers," and members of "foreign terrorist organizations" — resulted in the arrest of Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for allegedly trespassing on the facility. "I just don’t understand what their point is," Noem said of the lawmakers involved. "They have completely lost their minds.” The DHS secretary stopped short of demanding that New Jersey Democrats face criminal charges, noting that it will be "up to the Department of Justice" to determine if more arrests are necessary. Noem, however, called for the Democratic trio to be formally rebuked by the House of Representatives and stripped of their committee assignments. "It’s astounding to me that someone would even vote for someone to put them in a place of leadership when they perpetuate something as hypocritical and as criminal as what these individuals did," the former South Dakota governor said on "Jesse Watters Primetime.” "I hope that the rest of the members of the House of Representatives will hold them accountable," Noem continued. "They shouldn’t be allowed to be on the committees that they’re on — in fact, one of them is supposed to be conducting oversight over ICE and instead she’s assaulting them.” The DHS secretary was referring to McIver, who serves on the House Homeland Security Committee. "They don’t deserve to be in the House," Noem added. "They should be censured by it." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [5/13/2025 3:50 PM, Staff, 46189K] reports DHS Public Affairs Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin joins ‘America Reports’ to respond to protests led by Democratic lawmakers outside a New Jersey ICE facility. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NewsMax [5/13/2025 11:19 AM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4998K] reports Newark Mayor Ras Baraka getting himself arrested at a federal immigration detention center in his New Jersey city last week was "a cheap political stunt" designed to raise the Democrat’s profile as he seeks his party’s nomination for governor, Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs told Newsmax. "This mayor, who is running for higher office, wanted his 15 minutes of fame, and he’s willing to do it on the backs of our law enforcement officers by trespassing, by storming that facility," McLaughlin said on "Wake Up America" Tuesday. "He put our law enforcement officers at risk; he put our staff at risk; and he actually put the detainees themselves at risk. But what I would like to ask the mayor is who does he want out of that facility? Is it the MS-13 gang members? Is it the known terrorists? Is it the child rapists? Is it the murders? Which of these heinous actors does he want out of this detention facility?" Following Baraka’s participation in the Friday protest at Delaney Hall and subsequent arrest, three congressional Democrats who scuffled with law enforcement officials at the ICE detention facility may yet face charges for their conduct, McLaughlin said. "Members of Congress and any public official is not above the law," she said. "You cannot body slam, body ram, shove, strike, or otherwise assault a law enforcement officer. Everything is still on the table. I’ll leave that to the Department of Justice, but it is despicable to watch members of Congress assault law enforcement, and we will do everything we can to protect our brave law enforcement who so bravely operate this facility." Baraka, who was released on Friday after several hours in custody, denied trespassing at the site, saying on Saturday that he was "invited in."

CBS News [5/13/2025 2:57 PM, Nicole Sgaga, 51661K] reports that CBS News got a rare look inside a new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark, New Jersey, where Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested last week. Baraka was charged with trespassing and was taken into custody during his visit to the ICE detention center on Friday. He was later released and said he did not do anything wrong. Baraka said he was not at Delaney Hall to protest but to show support for members of a New Jersey congressional delegation visiting the facility. Acting ICE director Todd Lyons gave CBS News its own guided tour this week of Delaney Hall – a two-story, 1,000-bed facility, now among the largest detention centers in the Northeast. ICE and the GEO Group, the facility’s owner, reached a $1 billion, 15-year deal this year to open the detention center, expanding their holding capacity along the East Coast amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. But while some ICE facilities nationwide are reaching their limits, Delaney Hall has a number of empty beds. With 152 detainees, it is at just 15% capacity since opening its doors on May 1. ICE officials say 75% of those detained have criminal convictions or pending criminal convictions. "Right now, the teams out here in New York and New Jersey are focused on the worst of the worst and getting those individuals off the street that have been let go by a lot of these sanctuary jurisdictions," Lyons told CBS News. "I think as you see more cooperation with ICE, where we do arrest more criminal aliens in the street you’ll see the population here rise." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [5/13/2025 9:56 AM, Staff, 46189K] reports ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy goes inside a New Jersey migrant facility with ICE Director Todd Lyons to assess conditions firsthand, as Democrats continue protesting outside. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [5/13/2025 12:01 PM, Staff, 48304K] reports Newark Mayor Ras Baraka briefly returned Tuesday to the gates of the federal immigration detention center where he was arrested last week on trespassing charges. Baraka, a Democrat running for governor in the June 10 primary, was turned away from Delaney Hall, the facility where he was arrested Friday. He departed and stayed about a half hour away from the building, according to NJ.com. Witnesses said the arrest last week came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility. Baraka, an outspoken opponent of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and vocal opponent of the facility’s opening, faces a court hearing on the trespassing charge on Thursday. He has denied the trespassing charge. It wasn’t immediately clear how Baraka’s appearance at the gates Tuesday differed from Friday when he was arrested. He denied being on the detention facility’s property, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group. Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka trespassed there again. In video of the Friday altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because "you are not a Congress member.” Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: "They’re talking about coming back to arrest you.”

Daily Wire [5/13/2025 9:02 PM, Daniel Chaitin, 4672K] reports on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) warned against repercussions for his fellow Democrat lawmakers who clashed with federal agents at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, last week. During an exchange with Fox News reporter Chad Pergram, Jeffries repeatedly said “they’ll find out” when pressed what might happen if the House Democrats involved in the incident were to be arrested by federal authorities or get sanctioned. Jeffries ultimately asserted that it would be a “red line” as the questions persisted. He also took a swipe at Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, who told CNN that arresting the Democrats in question was “definitely on the table,” pending an investigation. “It’s a red line. It’s very clear,” Jeffries said. “First of all, I think that the so-called Homeland Security spokesperson is a joke. It’s a joke. They know better than to go down that road. And it’s been made loudly and abundantly clear to the Trump administration. We’re not going to be intimidated by their tactics.” While the New Jersey Democrats insisted they were at Delaney Hall to conduct legitimate supervision, McLaughlin said in a post on X, “Members of Congress cannot break the law in the name of ‘oversight.’ All members & staff need to comply with facility rules, procedures, and instructions from ICE personnel on site. INCLUDING 24 hour notice.”

Blaze [5/13/2025 6:54 PM, Carlos Garcia, 1668K] reports he went on to taunt Trump about his recent polling numbers. Democrat House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries of New York issued a warning against President Donald Trump after numerous demands that Democrats be arrested for allegedly trespassing onto ICE detention centers. Jeffries lashed out at the administration while speaking to reporters in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. He cited some falling poll numbers for the president while claiming that Trump was trying to intimidate his political opponents. “It’s a red line,” said Jeffries. “They know better than to go down that road.” Some Democratic members of the U.S. House tried to gain entry into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainment center in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday. The scene turned to chaos when they were refused entry, and some agents were allegedly assaulted. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, also a Democrat, was arrested after allegedly trespassing with activists and Democrats. He argued that the center was refusing entry to fire officials to check for safety and fire ordinance compliance. Jeffries has rejected calls from many that the Democrats deserve to be arrested or censured for their actions. “We’re not going to be intimidated by their tactics to try to force principled opposition from not standing up to their extremism,” he continued. Democrats have also argued that they had authority to access any federal center under their oversight authority. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told CNN that the lawmakers had assaulted the ICE officers, and accused one Democrat of "body-slamming a female ICE officer."

FOX News [5/13/2025 12:39 PM, Cameron Arcand, 46189K] reports large yellow barricades were at the front of Delaney Hall on Tuesday morning following protests at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Monday and last week. An ICE officer told Fox News Digital that the barricades were placed following Monday’s protests, as they went all the way up to the gate itself. In addition to the barricades, signs are up saying "private property, no trespassing, violators will be prosecuted.” The facility is operated by the GEO Group, a private contractor, but law enforcement is also heavily present outside the building. Two people were arrested at the protest on Monday, as a demonstration of clergy members were in attendance and said they would have "volunteered" to be taken into custody. They linked arms outside the main gate of Delaney Hall as they chanted and sang songs. This protest came after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democratic candidate for governor, was arrested for trespassing last week. Baraka’s arrest occurred during a protest at the facility attended by three members of Congress, who said they were in attendance to perform their congressionally-mandated oversight duties related to federal detention facilities. The three lawmakers were outside the facility with a group of protesters when the gates opened to allow an ICE bus in. The lawmakers then rushed through the gates and past security, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The lawmakers, including Rep. LaMonica McIver, said "ICE created chaos" that led to the incident, according to an X post. "Who do they want released from Delaney Hall? The child rapists, murderers, drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members or known terrorists?" Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin asked after Monday’s demonstration. "This was a cheap political stunt by the Democrats and by these protesters," she said. "We’re not having it. They put law enforcement officers at risk. They put our staff in the facility at risk and put the detainees at risk. You saw that they didn’t even let an ambulance through. This is not something that this administration is going to put up with. And that’s part of the reason that this mayor was arrested. You can’t just storm a detention facility and assault law enforcement officers with impunity.”

The Hill [5/13/2025 4:03 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 12829K] reports Rep. Earl "Buddy" Carter (R-Ga.) introduced a Tuesday resolution seeking to remove several Democrats from their committee posts regarding an incident at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. Democratic New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Robert Menendez and LaMonica McIver were named in the bill for visiting the Delaney Hall detention center after the Trump administration said the lawmakers stormed the building. Carter’s resolution would remove Watson Coleman from the House Committee on Appropriations, McIver from the House Committees on Homeland Security and Small Business, and Menendez from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Newsweek [5/13/2025 7:50 PM, Hannah Parry, 52220K] reports that the new bill, if passed, would remove Watson Coleman from the House Committee on Appropriations, McIver from the House Committees on Homeland Security and Small Business, and Menendez from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who also visited the center, was arrested and accused of trespassing. The proposed resolution intensifies the ongoing conflict between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement and the role of elected officials in oversight. By seeking to remove committee assignments from sitting members of Congress, the bill underscores the heightened partisan tensions surrounding immigration policy and the boundaries of lawful protest. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that arresting the three Democratic members of Congress is "on the table" following the incident. She alleged that the lawmakers’ actions put law enforcement and detainees at risk, Politico reported. Breitbart [5/13/2025 6:51 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2923K] reports “Members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond a bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and detainees at risk,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility.” In a statement on Friday, DHS explained that “as a bus of detainees was entering the security gate” at the ICE detention facility, “a group of protestors, including two members of US Congress, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.”

Reported similarly:
Politico [5/13/2025 3:26 PM, Nicholas Wu, 2100K]
Axios [5/13/2025 5:00 PM, Andrew Solender, 13163K]

The Hill [5/13/2025 2:09 PM, Mike Lillis, 12829K] Video: HERE reports House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday hammered the Trump administration for threatening to arrest Democratic members of Congress, saying such a move would constitute a clear case of executive overreach. “It’s a red line,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol. “They know better than to go down that road.” Three House Democrats from New Jersey faced off against law enforcement officials outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility last week in Newark, N.J., where they were attempting to inspect a migrant detention center. They were joined by Newark’s Democratic mayor, Ras Baraka, who was arrested on charges of trespassing — an allegation he denies. After Baraka’s arrest, the three New Jersey Democrats — Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver — were involved in a brief skirmish with ICE officials outside the facility. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has accused the lawmakers of assaulting the officers — “including body-slamming a female ICE officer,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told CNN over the weekend. The Democrats rejected the allegations, saying it was the officers — several of whom wore masks — who became physical with the lawmakers. Still, McLaughlin said there will “likely” be more arrests in the incident, reiterating that targeting the lawmakers is “definitely on the table.” Jeffries issued a statement shortly after the incident on Friday, defending his fellow Democrats and warning the administration against impeding the oversight powers granted to Congress under the Constitution. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] NewsMax [5/13/2025 4:12 PM, Mark Swanson, 4998K] reports Jeffries was responding to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, who told CNN over the weekend that there will "likely be more arrests coming" after Friday’s protests led to the arrests of several people, including Newark Democrat Mayor Ras Baraka. McLaughlin said there is an "ongoing investigation" and that New Jersey Democrat Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez, and LaMonica McIver could face arrest for storming the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility. Jeffries on Tuesday called McLaughlin a "joke," according to The Hill. "We’re not going to be intimidated by their tactics to try to force principled opposition from not standing up to their extremism," Jeffries said, adding, "And so there are clear lines that they just dare not cross." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Politico [5/13/2025 6:08 PM, Gregory Svirnovskiy, 11599K]

FOX News [5/13/2025 7:16 PM, Alec Schemmel and Cameron Arcand, 46189K]reports Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka compared his arrest at a federal immigration center last week to the Bible’s accounts of King David, telling a crowd at a political rally in his city Tuesday afternoon that it was "our David moment." Baraka has repeatedly insisted he did nothing wrong, calling his tactics "absolutely effective" during a Democrat primary debate for the race for governor in New Jersey that took place Monday evening. He followed up the defense of his tactics Tuesday by comparing his arrest to the story of King David in the Bible. "This is our David moment," Baraka told a crowd of several dozen supporters at a rally in his hometown on Tuesday. "Many of us miss our David moment because we [are] trying to run away from confrontation and controversy. But your crowd lives in the middle of controversy. The thing that has been promised to you is surrounded by high walls, and the gates are guarded by giants. If you’re running from conflict and controversy, then you’ll never get what’s promised of you. This is our David moment." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [5/13/2025 9:39 AM, Staff, 46189K] Video: HERE reports Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a stark warning to border czar Tom Homan and Kristi Noem after Democrats got into a physical altercation with ICE agents outside a facility in New Jersey.

NewsMax [5/13/2025 5:22 PM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4998K] reports Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Department of Homeland Security officials will have "a problem" if they arrest House Democrats protesting the Trump administration’s immigration policies. In a video posted to Instagram on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez accused DHS of "public intimidation" and specifically mentioned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan. "If anyone’s breaking the law in this situation, it’s not members of Congress; it’s the Department of Homeland Security," Ocasio-Cortez said. "It’s people like Tom Homan and Secretary Kristi Noem." "You lay a finger on someone, on Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman … or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, we are going to have a problem," she said. "Because the people who are breaking the law are the people not abiding by it." It was unclear exactly what the progressive congresswoman was referring to in her comment. Ocasio-Cortez’s warning comes as Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, told Newsmax that three New Jersey Democrats in Congress — Watson Coleman and Reps. Robert Menendez and LaMonica McIver — could face charges over their altercation with federal immigration authorities during a visit to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center known as Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday. "Members of Congress and any public official is not above the law," McLaughlin said Tuesday on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
The Hill [5/13/2025 2:43 PM, Rachel Scully, 12829K]

CNN [5/13/2025 10:36 AM, Samantha Lindell, 22131K] reports Protests have continued outside Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, days after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for protesting at the site. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The AP [5/13/2025 8:02 PM, Todd Richmond, 48304K] reports a federal grand jury indicted a Wisconsin judge Tuesday on charges she helped a man in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration authorities looking to arrest him as he appeared before her in a local domestic abuse case. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan’s arrest and ensuing indictment has escalated a clash between President Donald Trump’s administration and local authorities over the Republican’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats have accused the Trump administration of trying to make a national example of Dugan to chill judicial opposition to the crackdown. Prosecutors charged Dugan in April via complaint with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. In the federal criminal justice system, prosecutors can initiate charges against a defendant directly by filing a complaint or present evidence to a grand jury and let that body decide whether to issue charges. A grand jury still reviews charges brought by complaint to determine whether enough probable cause exists to continue the case as a check on prosecutors’ power. If the grand jury determines there’s probable cause, it issues a written statement of the charges known as an indictment. That’s what happened in Dugan’s case. Dugan faces up to six years in prison if she’s convicted on both counts. Her team of defense attorneys responded to the indictment with a one-sentence statement saying that she maintains her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court. She was scheduled to enter a plea on Thursday. Breitbart [5/13/2025 8:49 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2923K] reports Milwaukee Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan faces several years in jail after being indicted by a grand jury for helping an illegal alien escape from U.S. Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials. In a two-page indictment, Dugan was accused of "obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing," Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal migrant, in order to prevent his arrest, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Dugan’s defense team revealed that she would "enter a plea" at her hearing on May 15. "The two charges carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison," as well as a $350,000 fine, according to the outlet. The indictment on count one says: The Grand Jury charges that, on or about April 18, 2025, in the State and Eastern District of Wisconsin, Hannah C. Dugan knowingly concealed E.F.R., a person for whose arrest a warrant and process had been issued under the provisions of a law of the United States, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of E.F.R., after notice and knowledge of the fact that a warrant and process had been issued for the apprehension of E.F.R. On count two, the indictment says: The Grand Jury further charges that: On or about April 18, 2025, in the State and Eastern District of Wisconsin, Hannah C. Dugan did corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct, and impede the due and proper administration of the law under which a pending proceeding was being had before a department and agency of the United States, namely the administrative arrest of E.F.R. for purposes of removal proceedings conducted by the United States Department of Homeland Security, by committing affirmative acts to assist E.F.R. to evade arrest. The indictment of Dugan comes after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Dugan when she allegedly helped an illegal migrant escape arrest. FBI Director Kash Patel revealed at the time that Dugan had been arrested "on charges of obstruction.” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has previously revealed that Flores-Ruiz "has a laundry list of violent criminal charges including strangulation and suffocation, battery, and domestic abuse.”

Reported similarly:
Reuters [5/13/2025 7:52 PM, Staff, 41523K]
Axios [5/13/2025 7:19 PM, Sareen Habeshian, 13163K]
CBS News [5/13/2025 7:22 PM, Jacob Rosen, 51661K] Video: HERE
CNN [5/13/2025 8:19 PM, Taylor Romine and Andi Babineau, 22131K]
FOX News [5/13/2025 7:57 PM, Greg Wehner, 46189K]

Reuters [5/13/2025 6:08 AM, Andrew Goudsward, 41523K] reports the arrest of a Wisconsin state court judge for allegedly helping a migrant evade U.S. authorities marks another salvo in a long-brewing debate about the presence of immigration agents in local courthouses. The judge, Hannah Dugan of Milwaukee County’s circuit court, is due in federal court on Thursday to face charges of obstruction and harboring an individual due to face arrest. Dugan’s legal team argues she will be exonerated. Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has broadened the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to carry out courthouse arrests as it ramps up deportations and cracks down on illegal immigration. ICE courthouse operations have drawn fierce resistance from immigration advocates and some state courts, who have argued since Trump’s first term that they risk disrupting court operations and dissuading millions of people from accessing the legal system. The case against Dugan sits at the center of two themes of Trump’s second term: boundary-pushing immigration enforcement and forceful pushback against judges the administration sees as standing in the way of its authority. ICE early in Trump’s second term rescinded a Biden administration policy narrowing the circumstances under which it can make arrests at courthouses as part of a broader effort to open up more sensitive locations to immigration authorities. The new policy prioritizes migrants with criminal records, alleged gang members and those who have returned to the U.S. after previously being removed, but also allows relatives of criminal defendants or witnesses to be targeted. State courthouses are an attractive venue for immigration authorities, given people reliably appear for court dates and are typically screened by security. “The ability of law enforcement to make arrests of criminal illegal aliens in courthouses is common sense,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement.

CNN [5/13/2025 7:41 AM, Karina Tsui, 22131K] reports the Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to resume the deportations of nearly 200 Venezuelan migrants detained in Texas, requesting that the court lift its order from last month that temporarily paused the deportation of migrants subject to the Alien Enemies Act. In a new court filing, Solicitor General John Sauer said that some of the 176 detained migrants allegedly associated with the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, have “proven to be especially dangerous to maintain in prolonged detention.” According to the filing, a field officer from the Department of Homeland Security described a recent incident where 23 of the detained migrants “barricaded themselves in a housing unit for several hours and threatened to take hostages and harm ICE officers.” CNN reached out to the detainees’ attorney for comment. The incident took place at Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas, the filing said, where a drone recently captured an aerial view of detainees sending an “SOS” message. The detainees involved in the alleged barricading incident were relocated to another facility in Texas, according to the filing. “Transferring such prisoners to other facilities, moreover, creates ongoing risks of prison recruitment and expansion of Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang activities within the United States,” Sauer wrote, arguing that the group should “promptly” be removed from the country. The filing comes less than a month after the Supreme Court issued a rare overnight order that temporarily barred the administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations.

NBC News [5/13/2025 6:40 PM, Nicole Acevedo, 44742K] reports a federal investigation into a state program providing monthly cash benefits to elderly and disabled noncitizens legally present in the U.S. is raising alarms among immigrant rights groups in California, who say the probe unfairly attacks the community’s "most vulnerable people" at a time when immigration authorities are working to deliver on President Donald Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations. The Department of Homeland Security said Monday it has launched an investigation into the California Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants to see if ineligible undocumented immigrants received federal benefits from the Social Security Administration over the past four years. But no federal funds go toward the state assistance program and undocumented immigrants are not eligible to participate, Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, or CHIRLA, told NBC News on Tuesday. Salas is one of the immigration advocates who helped make the state cash assistance program a reality almost 30 years ago. She said the state program was established after Clinton-era welfare reforms excluded most noncitizens from receiving Supplemental Security Income, a federal benefit from the Social Security Administration that provides monthly payments to qualifying elderly and disabled people. In response, California created its own version of the program to provide state aid to immigrants legally present in the U.S. who are not eligible for the federal version of the program. These include legal permanent residents or green-card holders, asylees, humanitarian parolees and individuals permanently residing under color of law as well as victims of human trafficking and domestic violence, according to the California Immigrant Policy Center, an immigrant rights organization. "Undocumented people are not eligible for the program," Salas said, adding that the DHS investigation has "no merit because it’s a legal immigrant program." The Los Angeles Times [5/13/2025 11:04 AM, Jenny Jarvie, 13342K] reports the Trump administration announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, a state program that provides monthly cash benefits to a small number of aged, blind, and disabled noncitizens who it claims are ineligible for Social Security benefits due to their immigration status. The investigation began in Los Angeles, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles field office issuing a Title VIII subpoena to California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release. According to the department, the subpoena requests all records from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, the agency that administers the state program, to determine if ineligible immigrants received supplemental security income from the Social Security Administration over the last four years. “Radical left politicians in California prioritize illegal aliens over our own citizens, including by giving illegal aliens access to cash benefits,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “The Trump Administration is working together to identify abuse and exploitation of public benefits and make sure those in this country illegally are not receiving federal benefits or other financial incentives to stay illegally,” Noem added. “If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over. While this subpoena focuses only on Los Angeles County — it is just the beginning.” According to Homeland Security, its Los Angeles investigations field office is subpoenaing records including applicants’ name and date of birth, copies of applications, immigration status, proof of ineligibility for benefits from the Social Security Administration and affidavits that supported the application.

Reported similarly:
UPI [5/13/2025 3:25 AM, Darryl Coote, 1546K]

Los Angeles Times [5/13/2025 3:26 PM, Andrea Castillo, 13342K] reports California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed two lawsuits on Tuesday challenging a Trump administration policy that would deny the state billions of dollars in transportation grants unless it follows the administration’s lead on immigration enforcement. “Let’s be clear about what’s happening here,” Bonta said in a statement. “The President is threatening to yank funds to improve our roads, keep our planes in the air, prepare for emergencies, and protect against terrorist attacks if states do not fall in line with his demands.” “He’s treating these funds, which have nothing to do with immigration enforcement and everything to do with the safety of our communities, as a bargaining chip,” Bonta added. The lawsuits, filed with a coalition of 20 states against the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security in U.S. district court in Rhode Island, argue that imposing the new set of conditions across a broad range of grant programs exceeds the administration’s legal authority. The Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Telemundo52 [5/13/2025 5:05 PM, Clara Ramirez, 101K] reports the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) responded to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) announcement Monday of an investigation into the alleged use of federal funds to assist immigrants. DHS issued a subpoena requesting that Los Angeles County Department of Public Safety (DPSS) produce documents to determine whether the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) is assisting "non-citizens who are ineligible for Social Security benefits because of their immigration status." However, DHS is seeking to "determine whether ineligible illegal aliens received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration between January 2021 and the present," according to the statement sent Monday. It has not yet been specified whether DPSS will submit the documents to DHS or pursue alternative avenues to demonstrate the use of the funds.

Los Angeles Times [5/13/2025 9:14 PM, Patrick J. McDonnell, 13342K] reports key pillars of the Trump administration’s policy toward Mexico involve large-scale deportations and a crackdown on cartels. But reports in the Mexican media suggest that U.S. authorities recently orchestrated the secret, cross-border move of at least 17 relatives of Mexico’s most notorious drug kingpin — Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán — to California. Various social media sites have circulated images purporting to show El Chapo’s kin lugging rolling suitcases as they waited to enter the United States last week at the San Ysidro border crossing connecting Tijuana and San Diego. In a radio interview Tuesday, Omar García Harfuch, Mexico’s security chief, confirmed that the move took place. He characterized the transfer of El Chapo’s relatives as part of a "negotiation" between the U.S. Justice Department and representatives of one of El Chapo’s sons, Ovidio Guzmán López, who faces drug smuggling and other charges in federal court in Chicago. Guzmán López was initially arrested in a 2019 operation that sparked gun battles paralyzing the city of Culiacán, prompting then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to order him freed in a bid to end the violence. He was rearrested in 2023 in a second bloody operation that left at least 29 dead, including 10 Mexican soldiers. Mexico extradited him to the United States in September 2023 to face drug trafficking charges. He plans to change his not guilty plea to guilty, according to court papers, but the terms of his potential plea deal remain publicly unknown. A court hearing is set for July 9 in federal court in Chicago. "As we saw in the news, Ovidio begins a negotiation with the Department of Justice of the United States and it’s evident that, [with] his family going to the United States, it’s because of that negotiation," García Harfuch told Mexico’s Radio Formula. The current whereabouts of the El Chapo relatives could not be determined. It was unclear whether they were under some form of protective custody. There has been speculation in Mexico that, in exchange for a reduced prison term and other concessions, Guzmán López could agree to testify for the government in drug cases. Such "cooperation" agreements, experts say, routinely include protection for the relatives of potential witnesses. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that the reports had blindsided her — she learned of the move from news accounts — and that her government was seeking clarification from Washington. A Justice Department spokeswoman, Nicole Navas, declined to comment. Guzmán Lopez’s New York-based attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, did not return messages. El Chapo, who was convicted in 2019 of running a vast drug network, is serving a life sentence at a "supermax" prison in Colorado. The accounts about El Chapo’s relatives entering San Diego originated with Luis Chaparro, a Mexican journalist who specializes in stories about the convicted drug trafficker.

AP [5/13/2025 6:07 PM, Staff, 48304K] reports Mexico’s security chief confirmed Tuesday that 17 family members of cartel leaders crossed into the U.S. last week as part of a deal between a son of the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Trump administration. Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed a report by independent journalist Luis Chaparro that family members of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, who was extradited to the United States in 2023, had entered the U.S. Guzmán Lopez is one of the brothers left running a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel after notorious capo Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was imprisoned in the U.S. Video showed the family members walking across the border from Tijuana with their suitcases to waiting U.S. agents. Rumors had circulated last week that the younger Guzmán would plead guilty to avoid trial for several drug trafficking charges in the U.S. after being extradited in 2023. García Harfuch confirmed the family members’ crossing in a radio interview and said it was clear to Mexican authorities that they were doing so after negotiations between Guzmán López and the U.S. government. He believed that was the case because the former cartel boss, whose lawyer said in January he had entered negotiations with U.S. authorities, had been pointing fingers at members of other criminal organizations likely as part of a cooperation agreement. "It is evident that his family is going to the U.S. because of a negotiation or an offer that the Department of Justice is giving him," Garcia Harfuch said. He said that none of the family members were being pursued by Mexican authorities and that the government of U.S. President Donald Trump "has to share information" with Mexican prosecutors, something it has not yet done.

Reported similarly:
CNN [5/13/2025 3:05 PM, Verónica Calderón and Michael Rios, 908K]

AP [5/13/2025 3:09 PM, Julie Watson, 48304K] reports U.S. officials unveiled an indictment Tuesday against two alleged Mexican drug cartel leaders on narco-terrorism charges. The indictment comes after the Trump administration in February designated the Sinaloa Cartel and seven other Latin American crime organizations as "foreign terrorist organizations," upping its pressure on cartels operating in the U.S. and on anyone aiding them. President Donald Trump called for the designation in an executive order on Jan. 20, the day he took office in his second term. The "foreign terrorist organization" label is unusual because it deploys a terrorist designation normally reserved for groups like al-Qaida or the Islamic State group that use violence for political ends — not for money-focused crime rings such as the Latin American cartels. "If you act like a terrorist, you shouldn’t be surprised if you are charged as one," said Adam Gordon, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California. Those charged were described as key leaders of the Beltrán Leyva Organization, according to the indictment. The organization is one of a number of warring criminal groups that once formed part of the Sinaloa Cartel and have since split off and warred for territory and power, fueling bloodshed in large swathes of Mexico. Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, were also charged with providing material support of terrorism in connection with the trafficking of massive amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin into the United States, according to court documents. Five other high-ranking members were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering. All remain fugitives, officials said.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [5/13/2025 6:33 PM, Alan Feuer, 153395K]
FOX News [5/13/2025 6:48 PM, Adam Sabes and Nikki DiRico, 46189K]
NewsNation [5/13/2025 6:27 PM, Sierra Campbell, 6866K]
Telemundo20 [5/13/2025 6:38 PM, Staff, 41K]

San Diego Union Tribune [5/13/2025 8:37 PM, Alex Riggins, 1682K] reports federal prosecutors in San Diego unsealed a first-of-its-kind indictment Tuesday, alleging narco-terrorism charges against suspected drug traffickers linked to the Sinaloa cartel. The criminal indictment against members of the Beltrán Leyva organization, which prosecutors described as a violent faction of the Sinaloa cartel responsible for one of the largest fentanyl production networks in the world, is the first use of narco-terrorism charges against a Mexican-based drug-trafficking organization. The Trump administration paved the way for such charges earlier this year when it designated the Sinaloa cartel and five other Mexican criminal groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. "To the leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, you are no longer the hunters, you are the hunted," San Diego-area U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said during a Tuesday morning news conference announcing the indictment. "You will be betrayed by your friends, you will be hounded by your enemies, and you will ultimately find yourself and your fates here, in a courtroom in the Southern District of California.” It’s believed that all the defendants named in the indictment remain at large. Along with counts of narco-terrorism and providing material support to terrorism, the indictment contains charges more typically used against leaders of drug-trafficking organizations, such as drug and money laundering conspiracy charges and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. "The Sinaloa cartel is a complex, dangerous terrorist organization and dismantling them demands a novel, powerful legal response," U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. "Their days of brutalizing the American people without consequence are over — we will seek life in prison for these terrorists.” The lead defendant in the indictment is 62-year-old Pedro Inzunza Noriega, who also goes by the monikers "Sagitario" and "El de la Silla," a reference to the wheelchair he has used since he was partially paralyzed in a shooting by a rival cartel, Gordon said. His son, 33-year-old Pedro Inzunza Coronel, was also named in the indictment. "They are … (the) leaders of one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world," Gordon said, adding that since the early 2000s, Inzunza Noriega has also been one of the top traffickers of cocaine into the U.S.

Reported similarly:

Telemundo [5/13/2025 8:54 PM, Karla Gonzalez, 41K]

CBS News [5/13/2025 6:05 PM, Cara Tabachnick, 51661K] reports a father-son duo and other Sinaloa cartel leaders were charged Tuesday with allegedly trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin into the United States, the Department of Justice said. Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, ran one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks, federal prosecutors said in a news release. The Department of Justice said the duo were leaders of the Beltran Leyva Organization, a powerful and violent faction of the Sinaloa cartel. Five other leaders were also charged with drug trafficking and money laundering. The pair trafficked tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl into the U.S., the federal government alleged, and more than 1.65 tons of fentanyl was seized from their holdings by the Mexican government — the largest seizure of fentanyl in the world.

The Hill [5/13/2025 4:07 PM, Ellen Mitchell, 12829K] reports the Trump administration spent more than $21 million on military flights transporting migrants to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, within just three months, according to new figures provided to Congress by the Pentagon. The data, released by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday, revealed that between Jan. 20 and April 8, U.S. Transportation Command conducted 46 deportation flights on military aircraft to Naval Station Guantánamo Bay. The effort was pricey, with 802.5 flight hours costing an average of $26,277 per hour. Transcom confirmed to The Hill that the information Warren shared is accurate and came from responses that command head Gen. Randall Reed sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee following his posture hearing in March. The number of migrants currently being housed at Guantánamo is up for debate, with some officials placing the number as high as 69 — including 43 considered low risk and 26 high threat — and others placing it at 32 individuals.

FOX News [5/13/2025 5:07 PM, Greg Wehner, 46189K] reports the U.S. State Department has determined and certified Cuba as a "not fully cooperating country" (NFCC) for not helping with counterterrorism efforts after the island nation failed to turn over at least 11 fugitives in 2024 to U.S. custody. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce made the announcement on Tuesday that the certification, which falls under Section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, will result in the prohibition on the sale or license for export of defense services to Cuba. State Department officials said Cuba refused to extradite 10 suspects wanted in Colombia for a police academy bombing that killed 22 people and injured dozens more. Authorities also accused Cuba of harboring multiple American fugitives, including Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur. She was convicted of killing New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973.

Reuters [5/13/2025 1:24 PM, Olivia Le Poidevin, 41523K] reports the United Nations has information that over 100 Venezuelans deported from the United States are being held at a high-security centre in El Salvador, where they face potential human rights violations, the U.N. human rights chief said on Tuesday. The fate and whereabouts of at least another 245 Venezuelans and some 30 Salvadorans sent to El Salvador during U.S. President Donald Trump’s deportation drive remain unclear, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) added “This situation raises serious concerns regarding a wide array of rights that are fundamental to both U.S. and international law," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement. He added that those deported to El Salvador had not yet been able to effectively challenge their detention.

The governments of the United States and El Salvador did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Venezuela’s government criticised Turk and the U.N. for not doing enough and having a "cowardly" attitude in the face of what it considers a violation of its citizens’ human rights.

Reuters [5/13/2025 8:11 PM, Staff, 41523K] reports Venezuelans held in a high-security prison in El Salvador shouted "freedom" and used a hand signal for help in a video published by the far-right One America News Network, a rare glimpse of the detainees since they were sent there by the U.S. in March. Matt Gaetz, a former U.S. lawmaker and ally of President Donald Trump, toured the prison with the conservative news outlet and Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna. As part of the tour on May 9, they visited the wing of the prison holding the deported Venezuelans, who the Trump administration alleges are members of the gang Tren de Aragua, OANN said. Video footage showed dozens of men pressed up against cell bars clad in white prison-issue shorts and shirts or shirtless. The men shouted as the tour passed through but could be heard calling to be liberated and saying "Venezuela.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not comment on the video footage, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The cells in El Salvador’s "Terrorism Confinement Center" (CECOT) included the towering stacks of bunkbeds seen in another part of the prison commonly featured in media tours. One of the cells in the wing housing Venezuelans had a towel with a cross drawn onto it draped across the bars. Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act on March 15 to rapidly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. While Trump’s proclamation was blocked later that day, two planes carrying Venezuelans deported under the little-used wartime statute continued on to El Salvador. Family members, many of whom deny the gang allegations, have been unable to communicate with the men, who have no access to phones, attorneys or legal venues to contest their detention. On Tuesday, they pored over the footage, looking for their loved ones. Reuters spoke with a dozen people who said they recognized their family members. Reuters could not independently verify whether the men the family members recognized were in the prison. The U.S. has not released a list of the names of the deportees.

Breitbart [5/13/2025 11:59 AM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2923K] reports Venezuela’s socialist regime on Monday rejected the U.S. State Department’s "extreme danger" travel advisory to U.S. citizens living or traveling to Venezuela, claiming it was a "cynical" and "racist" campaign against the rogue South American nation. On Monday, the U.S. Department of State reissued a "Level 4: Do not Travel" advisory to U.S. citizens living in or traveling to Venezuela, urging them to avoid travelling and leave the South American country due to the high risk of wrongful detention, torture, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, and other dangers. The United States shut down its embassy in Caracas in early 2019 after socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro cut ties with the United States and, as such, the U.S. government cannot provide consular services or emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Venezuela. "Anyone with U.S. citizenship or any other U.S. residency status in Venezuela should leave the country immediately, including those traveling on Venezuelan or other foreign passports," the State Department said, and stressed, "do not travel to Venezuela for any reason.” The Maduro regime responded to the travel advisory through an official Foreign Ministry statement branding the warning as a "hostile act loaded with cynicism, racism and political propaganda, which seeks to feed the permanent campaign of aggression against our country.” The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry claimed that the United States, while allegedly trying to "discredit Venezuela with unfounded accusations," is instead "kidnapping, imprisoning, and disappearing migrants, even children," and listed the case of Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal, a two-year-old Venezuelan child who the Maduro regime accuses the United States of "kidnapping.” In reality, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) placed the two-year-old under foster care in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after DHS found evidence that her parents — Venezuelan nationals Maiker Espinoza-Escalona and Yorely Escarleth Bernal Inciarte — were both members of the Tren de Aragua foreign terrorist organization and were involved in numerous criminal activities such as kidnappings, extortion, and sex trafficking. Both parents, now deported from the United States, had illegally entered the U.S. and had final orders of removal issued by a judge.

The Hill [5/13/2025 11:00 AM, Kimberly Wehle, 12829K] reports free speech is under direct, frontal attack in the U.S. Among the many constitutional transgressions by the Trump administration, this is the one that could change the face of American society. In the words of civil rights leader Frederick Douglass, “No right was deemed by the fathers of the Government more sacred than the right of speech … That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down. They know its power.” Americans so far don’t seem to likewise appreciate the stakes. Free speech means the freedom to think. Without the freedom to think, we lose what makes us human. The Supreme Court has emphasized that the First Amendment enables “all persons … to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands.” The right to think and speak extends to government employees, too — with rare exceptions, the government is barred from “conditioning hiring decisions on political belief and association.” Nor can it retaliate against people for having engaged in “protected speech,” which prominently includes political messaging. The First Amendment forbids the federal government from using its massive financial, investigative and law enforcement powers “to punish or suppress disfavored expression.” These basic premises of First Amendment law have gone out the window since Jan. 20, 2025. Trump also specifically called out Chris Krebs, his former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, who earned his ire by declaring that the 2020 presidential election was safe. Trump now claims that Krebs “promoted the censorship of election information, including known risks associated with certain voting practices, and falsely and baselessly denied that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen, including by inappropriately and categorically dismissing widespread election malfeasance and serious vulnerabilities with voting machines.” He directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem “to take all appropriate action to review Krebs’ activities as a Government employee.”

Wall Street Journal [5/13/2025 12:08 PM, William A. Galston, 646K] reports Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller last Friday told reporters that the Trump administration is “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus, which ensures that a prisoner has the right to challenge his detention in court. “Well, the Constitution is clear—and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land—that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Mr. Miller said. “A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.” Translation: If the judicial branch impedes the administration’s policy of arbitrary detentions, the executive branch will take the matter out of judges’ hands. Of all the measures the administration has proposed, this is the most dangerous. Habeas corpus is known as the “Great Writ” for good reason. For centuries, English monarchs jailed people without formally charging them, sometimes keeping them incarcerated indefinitely. The Assize of Clarendon, passed in 1166, set the foundation for a legal system that respects individual rights, and Parliament cemented it by enacting the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679. The writ became the core protection of liberty against arbitrary government power. It’s unthinkable that Mr. Trump would be allowed to suspend habeas corpus, but that his administration is even considering it speaks volumes about his drive for unchecked power.

The Hill [5/13/2025 11:30 AM, Nolan Rappaport Staff, 12829K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claims that “If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the U.S. to avoid arrest.” The main benefit of voluntary or self-deportation is that it helps deportable immigrants avoid becoming inadmissible as aliens who have been arrested, put in removal proceedings and deported pursuant to a deportation order. But permitting self-deportation doesn’t just benefit immigrants — it also provides the government with a cost-effective way to remove deportable immigrants without a hearing. It is not surprising, therefore, that the administration is using the CBP Home program to encourage illegal immigrants to self-deport. But there is an additional step the administration should take to maximize the benefit: Self-deportation through CBP Home should be limited to immigrants who are in the immigration court’s backlog, rather than offering it to deportable immigrants generally. The current backlog is so large, at more than 3.6 million cases, that it is severely limiting the administration’s ability to put deportable immigrants through removal proceedings. With some exceptions, such proceedings are needed to get necessary deportation orders. A significant reduction in the backlog would facilitate fulfilling Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations. The administration launched the CBP Home self-deportation program on March 10, 2025, to facilitate implementation of Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.”

FOX News [5/14/2025 5:00 AM, Dan Huff, 46189K] reports the Harvard Business Review found that two-thirds of good strategies fail due to poor execution. The same is true in politics. The Trump administration has bold immigration policies, but they are being smothered under an avalanche of lawsuits. Denouncing activist judges only gets you so far. Ultimately, you just have to be smarter. The administration should use what it can control as leverage over what it cannot. The president is at the apex of his power in deciding which foreigners to admit. This is true from both a legal and practical standpoint. He should issue a proclamation under 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) declaring that no new immigrants will get in until everyone who should be deported is gone. It is a drastic solution. It is also the only thing that will work because liberal activists, rogue bureaucrats and complicit courts, refuse to honor Congress’s sensible policy bargains. The 1182(f) authority is crystal clear. Every president since Ronald Reagan has invoked it at least once. The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to it in 2019, noting that it "exudes deference to the President." Recently, a district court opined the law "would certainly seem to authorize the President to close the border to arriving aliens" if it became apparent that the influx would overwhelm government facilities. Activists will still sue, but the government can demand a prohibitive injunction bond by pointing to the welfare costs and the mandatory language of Rule 65(c). Also, it is well worth litigating because once a blanket pause is upheld, President Trump has a policy nuke. In the meantime, all final decisions about whether to grant immigration benefits should be made by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem herself. Currently, the secretary delegates that authority to immigration officers, but Congress gave the power to her. Simply rescinding those delegations will slow immigration to a trickle while following the law to the letter. Strong medicine, yes. But after decades of activist sabotage, it’s the only cure.

New York Times [5/13/2025 5:30 AM, Kseniia Petrova, 153395K] reports when I moved to America from Russia to join a biology lab at Harvard Medical School in 2023, it felt as if I found my dream job. America was a paradise for science. Everything was flourishing. There was freedom of discourse; conferences, seminars. It was nothing like the environment I had left behind in Russia, where international sanctions meant there weren’t enough supplies to do experiments and I once declined a job offer that was contingent on me no longer protesting the war in Ukraine. After I was arrested for taking part in a protest, I fled the country, knowing that I could not continue to live or work as a scientist there. My background is in bioinformatics, a field that uses computational tools to understand biology. In my lab at Harvard, I worked with a microscope that we called NoRI (short for Normalized Raman Imaging). This microscope, which was created in our lab, is the only one like it in the world. What makes it unique is its ability to measure the chemical makeup of cells to an astonishing and novel degree of precision, offering new insights into disease and aging that could one day pave the way for healthier life spans and treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer. I haven’t been in my lab or worked with my microscope since February, when I was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as I was returning to Boston from a vacation in France. At Logan International Airport, I did not complete a customs declaration for frog embryos (for use in our lab’s research) in my luggage. I’m told this would normally result in a warning or a fine. Instead, my visa was revoked and I was sent to a detention center in Louisiana, where I have spent the past three months with roughly 100 other women. We share one room with dormitory-style beds.

Wall Street Journal [5/13/2025 5:07 PM, Eric S. Edelman and Franklin C. Miller, 646K] reports the Trump administration is hell-bent on shrinking the federal government, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the chopping block. How Washington delivers disaster relief to the states could certainly be improved. But FEMA does more than write checks after hurricanes hit. It plays a vital role in coordinating the continuity of the federal government and its operations in the event of a nationwide emergency. President Trump should consider the consequences for national security before rushing ahead with a plan to close FEMA. At the height of the Cold War, how to ensure that senior U.S. government leadership could function during and after a nuclear attack was a topic of intense debate. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara instigated several programs to support “trans attack” survivability of senior leaders after the Cuban Missile Crisis. As the nation got bogged down in Vietnam, senior leaders’ attention shifted despite warnings from government panels investigating the problem. One panel found responsibility for communications, command and continuity of government “hopelessly fragmented” and raised questions about the U.S. government’s ability to respond to a nuclear attack. Senior Carter administration officials such as national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski and his military aide, Col. William Odom, raised concerns about the lack of adequate procedures, capabilities and facilities to ensure the survivability of the national command authority in the event of a national emergency. Their efforts produced several presidential directives that set out, for the first time, a national policy on telecommunications, calling it “a necessary component of our deterrent posture for defense.” A separate directive, PD 58, sought to ensure that a president or duly authorized successors could carry out the key functions of governance in a catastrophe.

Wall Street Journal [5/13/2025 5:41 PM, Staff, 646K] reports the Syrian regime of rebel commander Ahmed al-Sharaa will get a fresh start, President Trump said Tuesday in Riyadh. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” he told the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, to sustained applause. “Oh what I do for the [Saudi] Crown Prince,” Mr. Trump added. He said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which backed Mr. Sharaa’s war, had also requested the same policy. Israel, left out on this trip, opposed it. The sanctions targeted the Assad regime, but Mr. Trump said they’re no longer necessary with “a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace.” He added, “Good luck, Syria. Show us something very special.” It will have to be special, as there’s no precedent for a former al Qaeda commander such as Mr. Sharaa—who rallied jihadists from Syria and beyond—leading a state to peace, stability and amity with the West. Mr. Sharaa, who is expected to meet Mr. Trump on Wednesday, is still a U.S.-designated terrorist. Mr. Sharaa has said the right things about uniting his country and protecting minorities. He’s also done the U.S. a favor by breaking Iran’s stranglehold on Syria, making it difficult to resupply Hezbollah in Lebanon. There are good reasons to work with him. But not everything is rosy, and the U.S. had made several requests of Mr. Sharaa before major sanctions were to come off. A big one concerns cooperation on counterterrorism, including ISIS as well as the foreign jihadists who fought alongside Mr. Sharaa. Some are now commanders in his new Syrian army. It would be prudent to secure some action from Mr. Sharaa on that matter and others of U.S. interest, such as preventing Turkish power projection in Syria from spiraling into conflict with Israel. How about limits on the Turkish military presence, and reasonable concessions to the security of our Kurdish partners, before the U.S. throws its leverage overboard?

Blaze [5/13/2025 11:30 AM, Mike Howell, 1668K] reports Democrats and their media allies now argue that members of Congress hold a newly invented constitutional right to storm U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. Their claim? Elected office grants them authority to resist arrest, trespass on federal property, and even assault law enforcement — all in the name of "oversight.” This claim fails both legally and morally. The members involved should face prosecution for any crimes they committed, along with disciplinary action in the House of Representatives. For too long, the political class has treated immigration enforcement as a mere policy disagreement — as if wanting laws enforced and wanting them ignored were morally equivalent. In doing so, the left has normalized the historically abnormal: mass illegal immigration and the sabotage of our deportation systems. It’s time to treat these actions for what they are — criminal subversion of U.S. law. Start with what happened last week in Newark, New Jersey. The instigators included New Jersey Democratic Reps. LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Rob Menendez Jr., along with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Baraka was arrested for trespassing and defying multiple warnings to leave the premises. According to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, body camera footage shows "members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, including body-slamming a female ICE officer." DHS plans to release the video soon. The Democrats have mounted two defenses. First, they claim victimhood — insisting they broke no laws. That argument will not survive video evidence. Second, they assert an absolute right to enter ICE facilities without warning under their oversight authority. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, defended the stunt by denouncing ICE as "Trump’s stormtroopers" and promising "more oversight — and more unannounced visits.” The fact is, oversight powers do not belong to individual members of Congress. They belong to the full House, delegated through formal committees led by majority-party chairmen. Minority members cannot issue subpoenas or demand access on their own. Without authorization from Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), the Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee had no legal basis to enter — let alone rush — a secure ICE facility. ICE’s past policy of accommodating visits reflects executive discretion, not any congressional right. No one gets to use "oversight" as a pretext for criminal behavior. Even with proper authorization, no member of Congress holds the right to use force to conduct an inspection. This is a political argument masquerading as a legal one. U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba has indicated she will proceed with prosecution. Her decision should rest solely on the facts — not the convenient legal fiction of "oversight amnesty." As Bennie Thompson himself once said when chairing the January 6 select committee, "No one is above the law.” Congress should not let this incident pass without consequences. While expulsion may prove unlikely due to the two-thirds vote requirement, the House can and should remove these members from their committee assignments. Rep. McIver currently sits on the Homeland Security Committee, where Secretary Kristi Noem is scheduled to testify this week.

Washington Examiner [5/13/2025 5:00 AM, Troy Edgar, 2296K] reports the worst call you could ever receive as a parent is one telling you that your teenage son or daughter has been in a car crash. It’s a life-changing call that would go down as one of the worst days of your life. It could be even worse, though: What if you also found out that the driver who caused the accident was in our country illegally? This tragic circumstance is a reality for the parents of Anya Varfolomeev and Nikolay Osokin. At just 19 years old, these two young people from Orange County, California, had their whole lives ahead of them. Varfolomeev was a bright young woman who was a dedicated ballerina and scout. Osokin was a gifted student at Pepperdine University who excelled in both music and academics. But in November 2021, their lives were senselessly stolen in a fiery crash caused by a criminal illegal immigrant who should have never been in this country in the first place. Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano was driving drunk, high on drugs, and speeding at nearly 100 mph on the 405 freeway when he crashed into a vehicle carrying Varfolomeev and Osokin. Even worse, Ortega-Anguiano was a repeat criminal, with a track record that includes multiple felonies and convictions for driving without a license. Despite being deported, he re-entered our country illegally twice. Now, four years later, Ortega-Anguiano is set to be released from a California state prison after serving just 3.5 years of his 10-year sentence. I’ve spoken to Anya’s father, and he is outraged. So am I. This story hits especially close to home because I served as mayor and city councilman of Los Alamitos for over a decade, and this tragic incident happened in our community.

The Hill [5/13/2025 12:06 PM, Zach Schonfeld, 12829K] reports a federal judge refused to block the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from sharing information about migrants living in the country illegally with immigration authorities. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that last month’s agreement between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not violate federal tax law. “To summarize, the IRS must disclose limited taxpayer identity information (e.g., the taxpayer’s name and address) to assist another agency in criminal investigations and proceedings, if the agency has satisfied the statutory prerequisites in its written request,” Friedrich wrote in her 16-page ruling. The agreement enables the IRS to share the current addresses of migrants who have been ordered removed from the country within the past 90 days, part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to step up deportations using all available legal tools. Four immigration organizations sued over the agreement, claiming it wasn’t in accordance with law and was arbitrary and capricious. The federal tax code generally keeps taxpayers’ records confidential. But it includes some exceptions, including one that enables a federal agency head to request certain information to assist in criminal enforcement proceedings. Friedrich ruled that the immigration groups’ challenge “does not comport with the text of the statute” and would add additional restrictions.

CBS Austin [5/13/2025 4:46 PM, Kristine Frazao, 602K] reports the latest layer in a drastically changed immigration landscape includes a new partnership between the IRS and ICE. A federal judge this week declined to block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing highly sensitive taxpayer data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a victory for President Donald Trump and his immigration agenda. District Judge Dabney Friedrich on Monday agreed with the Justice Department, which has insisted that requests for private data, like names and addresses, will focus on those under criminal investigation for illegally defying deportation orders. Requesting and receiving information for civil enforcement purposes would constitute a cognizable injury, but none of the organizations have established that such an injury is imminent," Friedrich wrote. "The Memorandum only allows sharing information for criminal investigations. On this limited record, the Court cannot assume that DHS intends to use the shared information to facilitate civil rather than criminal proceedings.” Critics who fought the data sharing agreement call it an unprecedented shift in federal tax policy and a breach of privacy. In an interview with Sinclair Tuesday, Michael Kirkpatrick, an attorney with the Public Citizen Litigation Group, said, "The real concern is that it will be used in a wholesale matter large batches of data out of the IRS to ICE where it can no longer be controlled and it can be put to purposes for which it was not intended.” Kirkpatrick said in breaking decades of precedent, of keeping such information private, there has already been a decrease in the number of people using I-10 forms to pay taxes. For years, that information has been held confidential both to encourage people to pay their taxes and to reassure them that this information will be very sensitive, will not be leaked.” "Frankly, people were promised if they paid their taxes, even using an I-10 number instead of Social Security number, that they were protected and that this information would not be shared. People rely on that promise," he said.

(B) 10 This Morning 6AM [5/13/2025 6:11 AM, Staff] reports that a judge ruled that the IRS can share taxpayer data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The White House wants to use the data to track down and report undocumented immigrants. Immigrant rights groups argued in court this violates taxpayer confidentiality laws. The Trump administration officials argue that it would help keep people safe.

AP [5/13/2025 6:28 PM, Megan Janetsky, 48304K] reports lawyers for a 2-year-old U.S. citizen who was deported with her mother to Honduras confirmed on Tuesday that the family was dropping its lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The girl -– one of three U.S.-born children who were deported alongside their Honduran-born mothers -– had been at the heart of one of the mounting legal battles playing out in the United States weighing if the Trump administration broke the law in implementing its new deportation policies. “Given the traumatizing experiences the families have been through, they are taking a step back to have full discussions about all their options, the safety and well-being of their children, and the best ways to proceed so the harms they have suffered can be fully addressed,” said Gracie Willis, one of the family’s lawyers. The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigration Project and several other allied groups, which said the deportations were a “shocking — although increasingly common — abuse of power.” Willis and the group of lawyers had argued that the families did not have a fair opportunity to decide whether they wanted the children to stay in the United States. Willis said the family of the 2-year-old girl and their lawyers jointly decided to dismiss the case to give the family “space and time to consider all the options that are available to them.” The Honduran-born mother — who is pregnant — was arrested in April on an outstanding deportation order along with the girl and her 11-year-old Honduran-born sister during a check-in appointment at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Orleans, lawyers said. The family lived in Baton Rouge. Lawyers for the girl’s father insisted he wanted the girl to remain with him in the U.S., while ICE said the mother had wanted the girl to be deported with her to Honduras. In a court filing, lawyers for the father said ICE indicated that it was holding the girl in a bid to induce the father to turn himself in.

CBS Boston [5/13/2025 11:18 PM, Neal J. Riley and Tammy Mutasa, 51661K] reports Worcester City Hall closed to the public early Tuesday ahead of a planned protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The ICE protest is expected to draw hundreds at the same time as a City Council meeting inside. Worcester City Hall closed to the public at 5 p.m. "out of an abundance of caution" because of "public safety concerns.” Protest organizers said they are rallying against "brutal arrests" by ICE and Worcester police. Last Thursday, Worcester police said an "unruly" crowd tried to stop ICE agents from detaining a woman. Video showed about 25 people surrounding a car on Eureka Street with the woman inside. According to police, federal agents had arrested the woman and were attempting to leave the scene when the crowd tried to stop them. "The crowd was unruly, and several people were putting their hands on federal agents and Worcester officers in an attempt to keep the vehicle and the arrestee from leaving," Worcester police said in a statement. Police said a girl holding a baby, who stood in front of the car, was arrested on four charges, including child endangerment. She is believed to be the daughter of the woman who was detained. Police also arrested 38-year-old Ashley Spring for allegedly pushing officers and throwing an unknown liquid on them. Mayor Joseph Petty said he was not notified about the ICE activity in advance. "The fear of ICE tearing a family apart is the worst nightmare of so many in our city," he said in a statement.

NBC News [5/13/2025 5:49 PM, Sebastián Agudelo Gómez, 44742K] reports federal immigration agents were seen breaking an SUV’s window, throwing a man inside to the ground and handcuffing him on Sunday, Mother’s Day, after the man and his family left church in Chelsea, Massachusetts. It’s one of many apparent ICE operations that have caused controversy across the Greater Boston area in recent weeks. Agents were seen breaking a car window in New Bedford, Massachusetts, last month before taking a man inside into custody. In Sunday’s incident, the family was just leaving church when several federal agency vehicles intercepted them at the border between Everett and Chelsea, according to video of the incident shared with Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra. After several minutes of arguing and refusing to obey their request to roll down their window, agents broke the window to remove the man from the car. After removing the man from the car, agents threw him to the ground and handcuffed him. Inside the vehicle were the rest of his family, including his wife, children and grandmother. With the agents above him, the man could be heard asking why they were arresting him, claiming he wasn’t resisting. "This is an abuse, an abuse of rights," said Mario Meléndez, a local resident, in Spanish. "They’re violating the law, just like breaking into your house, because you’re in your car, which he paid for, and they want to violate your rights because you’re inside and the person doesn’t want to open the door. They have to respect that right.”

CBS Boston [5/13/2025 7:03 PM, Mike Sullivan, 51661K] reports videos of an ICE arrest in Waltham continue to go viral as witnesses recorded ICE agents on popular Moody Street smashing a window and pulling a man from his truck. Jose Gonzalez was on his way to work when he saw it happen. He stayed a block away and just watched. "No reaction. They just broke the window - you know how they don’t care," he said. Gonzalez said roughly five to six people were trying to assist the man by verbally protesting while the arrest was happening. In a video recording, bystanders asked ICE agents what agency they were with but were ignored. By law, federal agents must identify themselves. The video was sent to Gonzalez by a friend. He posted it on social media. "Last I saw, it was like 22,000 people who saw it," said Gonzalez, "They are ruthless, just taking this guy, and they don’t know if he is a legal resident or not." The ICE agents asked the man repeatedly to present identification, saying they would leave if he did. In the video, the man stays in his work truck with the door closed. "He has the windows shut. Not reacting to anything, cause I guess he knows his rights as well," said Gonzalez, "It definitely looks like the guys was going to work. Probably, I assume, he was getting his morning coffee." When the man doesn’t get out of the car, an ICE agent smashes his window, pulls him from the car and begins to tie his hands. Bystanders can be heard giving the man advice and asking ICE agents if they think what they are doing is right.

ABC News [5/13/2025 11:47 AM, Emily Shapiro, 34586K] reports that the 20-year-old who allegedly killed two and wounded several others in a mass shooting on the Florida State University campus last month made his first appearance in court on Tuesday after spending weeks in the hospital. The suspect, FSU student Phoenix Ikner, was shot and wounded by officers minutes after he allegedly opened fire on the Tallahassee campus on April 17, officials said. Ikner was released from the hospital on Monday and taken to a detention facility on two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder, Tallahassee police said. He made his first court appearance remotely on Tuesday as victims watched the proceedings in person and on Zoom. Ikner was held on no bond and is prohibited from contacting any victims, their families or potential witnesses. "After Ikner takes this stance, three gunshots can be heard in succession" and then Ikner fled, the document said. Askins was shot and survived. A motive is not clear. Attorneys for Chabba’s relatives said Ikner’s court appearance is an "incredibly difficult day for Tiru Chabba’s family, particularly his wife and two young children." "Our hope is that, through the thorough and transparent investigation and prosecution of the events surrounding last month’s shooting, today’s court appearance will mark the first steps toward closure for a family that suffered so much," the attorneys said in a statement.

[Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [5/13/2025 12:42 PM, Staff, 48304K] reports that President Donald Trump’s plan of accepting a free Air Force One replacement from Qatar raises concerns for some senators. Cellphone video from the day of the shooting showed 23-year-old graduate student Madison Askins lying on the ground while Ikner stood "with his feet shoulder width apart and his arms outstretched in front of him," according to the probable cause affidavit released Tuesday.

[Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breaking Defense [5/13/2025 12:13 PM, Agnes Helou, 464K] reports that the White House announced today what it called the "largest defense sales agreement in history," a series of deals with Saudi Arabia for "state-of-the-art" warfighting equipment and training worth a total of "nearly $142 billion." The White House statement did not provide details on the agreements, but said they would fall into five broad categories: air force and space, air and missile defense, maritime security, land forces modernization and border security, and information and communication systems upgrades. The agreement package also includes training services to Royal Saudi Armed Forces, "including enhancement of Saudi service academies and military medical services," according to the statement. "Our defense relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, and the package signed today, the largest defense cooperation deal in U.S. history, is a clear demonstration of our commitment to strengthening our partnership," said a White House fact sheet that touted a total $600 billion "investment commitment" by Saudi Arabia into various US industries.

CBS News [5/13/2025 11:59 AM, Mike Sullivan, 51661K] reports that a 12-year-old boy was left behind on a street after an immigration raid in Waltham, Massachusetts. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were seen on camera leaving the boy by himself on a sidewalk after arresting the person he was with on Felton Street on Sunday, May 4. Neighborhood Watch volunteers were able to get the boy home safely. Waltham City Councilor Colleen Bradley-MacArthur witnessed the raid and recorded some of it on video. She said a volunteer notified the boy of his rights and walked him back to his home. "He looks about my son’s age," Bradley-MacArthur said. "It makes me feel sick to my stomach as a mom, as a human being." The volunteers patrol the streets in pink vests. Bradley-MacArthur says ICE agents were documenting their actions. "I made sure in the video that I am not interfering. I am wishing my rights to observe and document what is happening in our community," said Bradley-MacArthur. By Massachusetts law, local law enforcement cannot assist ICE agents either. She reached out to Waltham police after seeing officers at another ICE incident days later. "They’ve assured me that they are not taking part," explained Bradley-MacArthur, adding that there is a misconception with local law enforcement who may be there for crowd control or to reassure the public that they are safe. In a statement Tuesday, Waltham Police said they do "not aid, assist or cooperate in ICE’s immigration enforcement efforts." "The Waltham Police Department is not allowed to interfere with or disrupt federal law enforcement operations. While the Waltham Police Department does comply with judicial warrants and court orders, the members of WPD do not act as agents of ICE," the department said. "The Waltham Police Department only communicates with ICE in cases involving serious criminal offenses, such as violent crimes, consistent with state law." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [5/13/2025 3:13 PM, Greg Norman and Bonny Chu, 46189K] reports federal immigration authorities arrested nearly 200 illegal immigrants last week during a four-day operation targeting businesses across Washington, D.C. The operation, which unfolded between May 6 to May 9, "targeted criminal alien offenders including members of transnational criminal organizations known to operate in and around Washington, D.C.," including "the notorious MS-13, Tren de Aragua and 18th Street gangs," according to ICE. A total of 189 people were arrested and agents "served notices of inspection to 187 local businesses," ICE added. "The District of Columbia is exponentially safer today because of countless hours of investigative work and dedication to duty displayed by ICE Washington, D.C. and our law enforcement partners," said Russell Hott, the director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C., Field Office. "Throughout this enhanced enforcement operation, we targeted the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in the city of Washington, D.C. Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid," he added. "ICE Washington, D.C. remains dedicated to our mission of prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing criminal offenders from our nation’s capital and surrounding communities.” Fox5 DC reported that federal agents visited local restaurants and other establishments verifying I-9 employment forms proving that the staff are legally authorized to work in the U.S. ICE and Homeland Security Investigators worked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Virginia Department of Corrections, the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service in the operation. ICE added that many of the apprehensions were made "after local jurisdictions refused to honor immigration detainers and released the alien offenders back into their communities.” They included "a 47-year-old illegally present Guatemalan alien whose criminal history includes drug possession, illegal reentry, aggravated assault, trespassing, disorderly conduct and sexual assault" and "a 25-year-old illegally present Guatemalan alien whose criminal history includes threat to kidnap, attempted possession of a prohibited weapon, threats to bodily harm and simple assault," according to ICE.

Washington Times [5/13/2025 10:38 AM, Stephen Dinan, 1814K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 189 illegal immigrants in the D.C. area last week and served inspection notices on 187 businesses to determine if they have been employing unauthorized workers. ICE said it went after migrants with criminal records and focused on those associated with gangs active in the area, including MS-13, 18th Street and Tren de Aragua. "Throughout this enhanced enforcement operation, we targeted the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in the city of Washington, D.C.," said Russell Hott, director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations’ Washington field office. He said the city "is exponentially safer today" because of the operation. "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid," he said. ICE said some of the targets for the May 6-9 operation had been in custody of local authorities, but were released under sanctuary-style policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Among those arrested was a 47-year-old Guatemalan man whose criminal record includes drugs, aggravated assault, sexual assault and illegal reentry after a deportation. He also has pending charges for drugs, assault with a dangerous weapon, sex abuse and lewd acts. And he has what ICE described as "numerous gang-affiliated tattoos" on his body. ICE also highlighted the arrest of a 36-year-old Mexican man whose record includes indecent exposure, theft and weapons offenses, plus a 25-year-old Guatemalan man whose charges include threat to kidnap and assault along with a weapons offense. "These arrests make clear that violating our nation’s immigration laws will not be ignored," said Edward R. Martin Jr., the U.S. attorney in Washington. The operation included ERO, which is ICE’s deportation force, as well as Homeland Security Investigations, which is ICE’s detective force. The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the Virginia Department of Corrections and multiple law enforcement agencies in the federal Justice Department also helped.

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Axios [5/13/2025 6:45 PM, Anna Spiegel and Cuneyt Dil, 13163K]
CBS Austin [5/13/2025 1:21 PM, Jessica James, 602K]

FOX News [5/13/2025 3:56 PM, Audrey Conklin, 46189K] reports authorities in Lancaster, South Carolina, have charged six illegal immigrants between the ages of 13 and 21 in connection with the "random" May 2 murder of a mother who was driving to meet friends in Rock Hill. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office deputies located Larisha Sharrell Thompson, 40, deceased with a gunshot wound behind the wheel of her vehicle on Riverside Road in Lancaster, which is located about an hour south of Charlotte, North Carolina. On May 12, authorities announced the arrests of three adults, including Asael Aminadas Torres-Chirinos, 21; Jarby Ardon Ramos-Odari, 18; Jeyson Sobied Pineda-Salgado, 17; and three juveniles, ages 13, 14 and 15, in connection with Thompson’s death and a separate burglary that occurred on April 30. The Department of Homeland Security has placed detainers on all six individuals charged, Faile said during a press conference, adding that the community is a "much safer place today because these six individuals are off the streets." All six suspects are subject to removal from the United States under federal immigration law based on their immigration status, the sheriff’s office said.

Breitbart [5/13/2025 2:55 PM, John Binder, 2923K] reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested almost 200 criminal illegal aliens across Nashville, Tennessee, thanks in part to the agency’s 287(g) agreements with local law enforcement. Among the 196 illegal aliens arrested by ICE agents during the Nashville operation were 95 convicted criminals and those with pending charges against them, including an MS-13 gang member wanted in his native El Salvador for murder. In addition, 31 of the arrested illegal aliens had previously been deported from the United States. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, in a news release, slammed Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell (D) for supporting sanctuary city policies that shield even the most violent criminal illegal aliens from federal immigration enforcement. "You would think all public officials would unite around DHS bringing violent criminal illegal aliens to justice and removing them from American communities," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: However, pro-open borders politicians — like Mayor O’Connell — would rather protect illegal aliens than American citizens. This operation resulted in getting gang members, sex offenders, and other violent criminals off Nashville’s streets. President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to stand with victims and the brave ICE agents who are on the frontlines making America safe again.

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CBS Nashville [5/13/2025 11:26 PM, Patsy Montesinos] reports the Department of Homeland Security says 196 people in Davidson County were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a coordinated effort with the Tennessee Highway Patrol that involved nearly 600 traffic stops in areas with high Latino populations. Of those 196 arrested, DHS reports 95 had prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, and 31 were previously removed individuals who reentered the U.S. illegally. DHS released details on only five of the individuals arrested with serious criminal histories. Among them was Jassim Jafaf Al-Raash, a 60-year-old from Iraq with convictions for rape, larceny, and false imprisonment. Al-Raash has a final removal order dated September 1, 2021. Another detainee, Franklin Oswaldo Velasquez, a 33-year-old from El Salvador, is allegedly affiliated with the MS-13 gang and is the subject of an active Red Notice in El Salvador for aggravated murder, according to DHS. The operation has raised concerns for those pursuing legal immigration status. "They already have put themselves out there in front of the USCIS or an immigration court, and they have the right to that court date in the future," said Douglas Russo, an attorney with Rose Immigration Law Firm. Russo said it’s difficult to advise those seeking legal status because of fear they will be targeted by ICE. The DHS report also criticized Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, with Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stating: "You would think all public officials would unite around DHS bringing violent criminal illegal aliens to justice and removing them from American communities. However, pro-open borders politicians—like Mayor O’Connell—would rather protect illegal aliens than American citizens." McLaughlin added: "This operation resulted in getting gang members, sex offenders, and other violent criminals off Nashville’s streets. President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to stand with victims and the brave ICE agents who are on the frontlines making America safe again." O’Connell responded to the criticism, defending the city’s approach to public safety.

FOX News [5/13/2025 4:45 PM, Staff, 46189K] Video: HERE reports in response to an ICE and Tennessee Highway Patrol operation, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell claims ICE agents "do not share our values of safety."

Daily Wire [5/13/2025 7:08 AM, Spencer Lindquist and Mary Margaret Olohan, 4672K] reports the federal deportation raids in Tennessee that have garnered outrage from local Democrats resulted in the capture of rapists, drug dealers, and gang members, according to a Department of Homeland Security dossier obtained by The Daily Wire. Nashville’s Democrat mayor Freddie O’Connell has said he was very "frustrated" to see immigration enforcement in the city, stating, "We did not request this approach to safety, we do not support it." In response, he signed an executive order mandating that communications from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) be directed to his office immediately. His outrage comes with little public information known about the scale about the raid, but The Daily Wire has learned that nearly 200 illegal aliens were captured during the weeklong raids, including rapists, drug dealers, and gang members. The raids, which ICE carried out in conjunction with local and federal law enforcement partners, began on May 3 and resulted in the arrest of 196 illegal aliens. Of those arrested, 95 had prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, while another 31 had reentered the country after being previously removed from the United States, a felony offense, the federal law enforcement agency told The Daily Wire. "This operation resulted in getting gang members, sex offenders, and other violent criminals off Nashville’s streets," Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, told The Daily Wire. "President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to stand with victims and the brave ICE agents who are on the frontlines making America safe again.” O’Connell, Nashville’s mayor, not only spoke out against the raids, but also put local resources towards helping the illegal immigrant community. He announced the creation of the "belonging fund" to offer monetary support for illegal aliens. The fund will allocate money to non-profit organizations that provide childcare, transportation, and food to illegal aliens, though the money will not be used to provide them with legal assistance. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons told The Daily Wire that O’Connell should be thankful for the federal agency’s operations in Nashville. "Instead of vilifying the brave men and women who ensure his constituents stay safe from criminal alien murderers, drug dealers and rapists, the mayor should be saying thank you to ICE and its partners for taking these public safety threats out of his neighborhoods.”

FOX News [5/13/2025 8:16 PM, Alexandra Koch, 46189K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday fired back at Democrat Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s public accusation that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents "do not share [the state’s] values of safety" after a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) operation in coordination with ICE resulted in nearly 200 illegal immigrant arrests. ICE and THP announced 196 arrests of illegal immigrants during the Nashville effort, 95 of whom had prior criminal convictions and pending criminal charges. More than 30 were previously removed individuals who reentered the U.S. illegally, a felony offense under federal law. Despite the operation’s success in protecting Americans from illegal immigrants, DHS officials wrote in a news release that O’Connell "stands by pro-illegal policies, claiming that these operations were done by ‘people who do not share our values of safety.’". DHS noted "attacks and demonization of ICE" have resulted in officers facing a 413% increase in assaults. "You would think all public officials would unite around DHS bringing violent criminal illegal aliens to justice and removing them from American communities," DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a news release. "However, pro-open borders politicians – like Mayor O’Connell – would rather protect illegal aliens than American citizens.” "This operation resulted in getting gang members, sex offenders, and other violent criminals off Nashville’s streets," McLaughlin added. "President [Donald] Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem will continue to stand with victims and the brave ICE agents who are on the front lines, making America safe again.” Though O’Connell launched the "Belonging Fund" to provide taxpayer dollars for illegal immigrants in Nashville, DHS officials stood firm, saying, "BOTTOM LINE: DHS is [a] law enforcement agency, and it will continue to enforce the law and work with all state and local partners so that Americans do not continue to be victimized by criminal aliens.” Below are detainees who ICE officials said were nabbed during the Nashville operation. Jassim Jafaf Al-Raash, a 60-year-old illegal immigrant from Iraq, was previously convicted of rape, for which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to DHS officials. He was also convicted of larceny and false imprisonment, for which he was sentenced to nearly a year in prison, and charged with failure to register as a sex offender. Al-Raash had a final order of removal dated Sept. 1, 2021, according to DHS. Franklin Oswaldo Velasquez, a 33-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador, is allegedly affiliated with the MS-13 gang, according to DHS. He has an active Red Notice in El Salvador for aggravated murder, which is a worldwide wanted alert.

Axios [5/13/2025 4:07 PM, Nate Rau, 13163K] reports Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office continues to wait for answers from the federal government about people impacted by a sweeping immigration enforcement operation this month. O’Connell says the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency should be transparent about the names of those detained and the charges against them. Metro legal director Wally Dietz sent a letter to ICE and submitted a formal public record request for the information. Dietz says he has not heard back. Citing federal officials, the Daily Wire reported that the operation in Nashville resulted in 196 arrests, including 95 people who had prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. ICE released the names and criminal histories of five people, but didn’t give full details on those detained.

NBC News [5/13/2025 11:39 AM, Minyvonne Burke, 44742K] reports a traffic stop in Dalton, Georgia, which police admitted was a mistake, led to a 19-year-old Mexico-born college student’s arrest and possible deportation. The Dalton Police Department on Monday said it was dropping the traffic-related charges against Ximena Arias-Cristobal that led to her initial arrest last week. But she remains at an ICE detention facility in southwest Georgia. "After suffering for more than a week in police and ICE custody, it turns out this was all the result of a police mistake. The tragedy of our system is that there is no immediate remedy for Ximena, as ICE does not care about fairness or justice," her attorney, Dustin Baxter, said in a statement to NBC News. "We will fight for her release at her upcoming bond hearing, and then try to restore some sense of normalcy to her life," he said. Chris Crossen, assistant chief of police, said at a news conference that he "regrets the circumstances that led us to where we are here today." But added that the department has "no part in the other proceedings." Online records show that Arias-Cristobal is being held at the Stewart Detention Center, an ICE detention facility in Georgia. Her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, is being held at the same facility. He was detained about two weeks ago following a traffic stop. The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X that Arias-Tovar "admitted that he is in the country illegally." "The family will be able to return to Mexico together," the department said. "Mr. Tovar had ample opportunity to seek a legal pathway to citizenship. He chose not to. We are not ignoring the rule of law."

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FOX News [5/13/2025 9:23 AM, Staff, 46189K] Video: HERE reports Fox News correspondent Brooke Taylor reports on an operation arresting over 400 illegal immigrants in Houston and ICE expediting the migrants out of the country.

Houston Chronicle [5/13/2025 4:08 PM, James Osborne, 1769K] reports the family of an 11-year-old girl deported to Mexico while en route to Houston for follow-up brain cancer treatment is petitioning the Trump administration for a humanitarian exemption to return to the United States. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat who visited the girl and her family in northern Mexico last week, said the girl was still suffering from symptoms including problems walking, and her parents were struggling to get the medical treatment she required in Mexico. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the girl, who is a U.S. citizen, "could certainly return to the U.S. if the parents so chose for her to receive treatment in the U.S." The family, whose name has not been released by their attorneys as a safety precaution, was detained in February by federal immigration officials while travelling from their home in the Rio Grande Valley to meet with doctors in Houston. Immigration officials told the girl’s parents, who were living in the United States illegally, that they were being deported and would have to take their five children if they wanted to stay together. They also confiscated medication the girl used to ward off seizers caused by her brain tumor, said Castro, who noted the girl was wearing a STAAR test T-shirt, handed out to Texas children during standardized testing.

Breitbart [5/13/2025 3:09 PM, John Binder, 2923K] reports an illegal alien is linked to a violent gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in Harris County, Texas, in 2022, the United States Marshals Service has revealed. David Argueta-Marquez, a 29-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador, has been arrested by U.S. Marshals in Kimper, Kentucky, on charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault of a child. According to U.S. Marshals, Argueta-Marquez is one of four men accused of kidnapping the 16-year-old girl, then taking turns raping her at gunpoint in Harris County on Nov. 22, 2022. Argueta-Marquez is also being investigated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for alleged 18th Street gang membership in El Salvador. He remains in police custody and will be extradited to Texas to face the kidnapping and child rape charges against him.

New York Post [5/13/2025 3:44 PM, Jennie Taer, 54903K] reports dozens of desperate alleged Tren de Aragua gangbangers begged to be sent home, flashing a banner reading "Help, we want to be deported. We are not terrorists. SOS" to a drone flying over a prison yard in Texas this week. The jumpsuit-clad migrants were seen standing in a formation spelling out "SOS" while holding a sign in the colors of the Venezuelan flag at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bluebonnet detention center in Anson, Texas. The Trump administration said all the men involved are suspected Tren de Aragua members.

CBS Austin [5/13/2025 4:15 PM, Staff, 602K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) went on car chase in Houston, Texas on Monday to arrest Hector Castillo-Garcia – an illegal immigrant from Mexico who has faced numerous convictions and was reportedly deported three times from the United States. In a post on the social media platform, X, ICE said that they first attempted a vehicle stop of Castillo-Garcia. The attempt led to a vehicle chase of Castillo-Garcia who eventually fled from his vehicle and then on foot. Castillo-Garcia was quickly apprehended and taken into custody without further incident. The social media post which includes video of the chase, shows Castillo-Garcia face down in the grass with an officer putting handcuffs on him at the end. ICE agents said that Castillo-Garcia has a lengthy criminal past with convictions dating back to more than 20 years ago, starting with arson in December 2000 and most recently, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in March 2023. Castillo-Garcia was removed from the United States three times, in March 2007, May 2021 and again in January 2020. "This case shows exactly why DHS has prioritized border security and why we’ve ramped up enforcement efforts," ICE Houston said in its post.

AP [5/13/2025 2:28 PM, Staff, 48304K] reports Sigo Seguros, an auto insurance provider dedicated to serving diverse communities, proudly announces the launch of its “Drive Without Fear” initiative, aiming to empower undocumented individuals with essential knowledge about their rights on the road, ensuring they feel safer and more prepared when driving. The initiative comes at a time of increased uncertainty for immigrant communities, as evolving policies and heightened enforcement efforts have created a growing need for accessible, reliable legal and safety information. As part of the initiative, Sigo Seguros has developed educational materials designed to equip undocumented drivers with clear, actionable guidance. The information is being disseminated through local organizations such as Prosper West, SAGE, and Avenida Guadelupe, providing detailed instructions on what to do in various driving situations. The educational resources emphasize the importance of always carrying essential documents, such as a driver’s license when applicable, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance, to ensure compliance with state regulations. In the event of being pulled over, drivers are advised to stay calm, keep their hands visible, and provide only the required documents while exercising their right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination. If detained, individuals are encouraged to contact a trusted immigration lawyer immediately, remain silent, and refrain from signing any documents without legal representation. The campaign also promotes proactive preparedness, urging drivers to familiarize themselves with their rights in advance, save a trusted attorney’s contact information, and ensure their family members know what steps to take if they are detained. Unlike many traditional insurance companies, Sigo does not require a U.S. driver’s license to obtain coverage. Any form of valid identification—such as a passport, consular ID, or even a library card—can be used to secure auto insurance. In addition, they require no credit score, which ensures that more individuals, regardless of their immigration status, have access to the coverage they need to drive legally and with peace of mind.

The AP [5/13/2025 1:00 PM, Jacques Billeaud, 48304K] reports a budget airline that serves mostly small U.S. cities began federal deportation flights Monday out of Arizona, a move that’s inspired an online boycott petition and sharp criticism from the union representing the carrier’s flight attendants. Avelo Airlines announced in April it had signed an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to make charter deportation flights from Mesa Gateway Airport outside Phoenix. It said it will use three Boeing 737-800 planes for the flights. The Houston-based airline is among a host of companies seeking to cash in on President Donald Trump’s campaign for mass deportations. Congressional deliberations began last month on a tax bill with a goal of funding, in part, the removal of 1 million immigrants annually and housing 100,000 people in U.S. detention centers. The GOP plan calls for hiring 10,000 more U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and investigators. Avelo was launched in 2021 as COVID-19 still raged and billions of taxpayer dollars were propping up big airlines. It saves money mainly by flying older Boeing 737 jets that can be bought at relatively low prices. And it operates out of less-crowded and less-costly secondary airports, flying routes that are ignored by the big airlines. It said it had its first profitable quarter in late 2023. Andrew Levy, Avelo’s founder and chief executive, said in announcing the agreement last month that the airline’s work for ICE would help the company expand and protect jobs. “We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” said Levy, an airline industry veteran with previous stints as a senior executive at United and Allegiant airlines. Financial and other details of the Avelo agreement — including destinations of the deportation flights — haven’t publicly surfaced. The AP asked Avelo and ICE for a copy of the agreement, but neither provided the document. The airline said it wasn’t authorized to release the contract. Several consumer brands have shunned being associated with deportations, a highly volatile issue that could drive away customers. During Trump’s first term, authorities housed migrant children in hotels, prompting some hotel chains to say that they wouldn’t participate. In New Haven, Connecticut, where Avelo flies out of Tweed New Haven Airport, Democratic Mayor Justin Elicker urged Avelo’s CEO to reconsider. “For a company that champions themselves as ‘New Haven’s hometown airline,’ this business decision is antithetical to New Haven’s values,” Elicker said in a statement. Protests were held outside airports in Arizona and Connecticut on Monday. In Mesa, over 30 protesters gathered on a road leading up to the airport, holding signs that denounced Trump’s deportation efforts. In Connecticut, about 150 people assembled outside Tweed New Haven Airport, calling on travelers to boycott Avelo. The Hill [5/13/2025 9:32 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12829K] reports “Having a portion of our company dedicated to charter flying, without exposure to fluctuating fuel prices or risk from macroeconomic factors, provides us with the stability to grow our core business, which is scheduled passenger travel,” Avelo founder and CEO Andrew Levy said in a statement to the Arizona News. He added that the partnership with Homeland Security would help Avelo retain approximately 1,100 crew members and expand passenger service. But several groups have criticized the deportation flights. The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, has slammed reporting on privatized deportation efforts. “This is nothing more than a tired tactic to abolish ICE by proxy. Avelo Airlines is a sub-carrier on a government contract to assist with deportation flights. Attacks and demonization of ICE and our partners is wrong. ICE officers are now facing a 413% increase in assaults,” the agency wrote in a Tuesday post on the social platform X. “Illegal aliens that ICE is deporting broke our nation’s laws. DHS is a law enforcement agency, and it will continue to carry out immigration enforcement for the safety of Americans who have been victimized by rapists, murderers, drug traffickers, and gang members,” it added.

Telemundo52 [5/13/2025 4:05 PM, Clara Ramirez, 101K] reports a Santa Monica College (SMC) student was detained by ICE in West Los Angeles last week and deported shortly afterward, school officials said. The incident occurred on May 5 "in West Los Angeles near his residence," SMC reported, adding that the student was "deported." The statement added that they have "confirmed that he is physically safe and plans to seek legal assistance." The SMC said several messages have been posted on social media related to the arrest of the student, who was not identified and his nationality was not revealed. However, school officials specified that he was not on campus at the time of the arrest.

New York Times [5/14/2025 5:01 AM, Miriam Jordan, 153395K] reports on the mist-wreathed slopes of Mauna Loa, where the earth is rich with volcanic memory and the Pacific glimmers in the distance, a coveted coffee — Kona — is coaxed from the soil. Nurtured by the Island of Hawaii’s unique mingling of abundant sunshine, afternoon rain and lava-infused soil, Kona coffee retails for more than $30 for an eight-ounce bag. With a devoted following around the world, the distinct coffee has been a point of pride for the Big Island, and for the thousands of immigrants from Latin America who for decades have handpicked the beans in the Kona fields. Now the fate of many of those immigrant workers is uncertain, as is the future of the island’s coffee industry. The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has reached this, a remote, rugged island, a 45-minute flight from Honolulu. Federal agents have flown in several times since February, most recently last week, often remaining for days as they search for undocumented immigrants among the 200,000 or so people who live on the island. Compared with widely publicized operations in big cities like Denver and Los Angeles, the actions on the island have been relatively small, with just a few dozen people known to have been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But ICE enforcement actions have sent waves of fear across the rural island, and underscored how the immigration dragnet has expanded, sweeping in men and women with no criminal records, as well as children. “Regardless of the number of people detained, the consequence of this is massive,” said Jeanne Kapela, a Democrat who represents the area in the State Legislature. “The futures of coffee farmers and these workers are tied together, whether we like it or not,” said Ms. Kapela, whose family grows coffee. The industry is vital to her constituents, she said. “If it dies, I don’t know how we come back.” Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said in an email that agents had conducted “a number of targeted enforcement actions” to arrest criminals on the Big Island. In addition, she said, “non-targeted illegal aliens were encountered and detained.” She did not respond to a question about how many immigrants were taken into custody.

NPR [5/13/2025 4:43 PM, Quil Lawrence, Tom Bowman, 29983K] reports as many as 9,000 Afghan refugees are at risk of deportation, as the Trump administration has ended the temporary protected status (TPS) that allowed them to stay in the U.S. legally. The White House says their country is no longer dangerous for them, a contention that confounds Afghanistan watchers. Ghafoori says the move also affects thousands of Afghans in limbo, including 13 members of his own family that had been set to fly to the U.S. from Pakistan when the Trump administration canceled flights for Afghans earlier this year. Ending TPS for Afghans is part of the administration’s stated goal of realigning the United States refugee admissions program. "This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent," said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement on Monday. "We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation. Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country," she said. As for Noem’s assertion that the country is now safe, it left advocates wondering where the DHS is getting its information.

NBC News [5/14/2025 5:00 AM, Dan De Luce, 44742K] reports the Trump administration says Afghan refugees can safely return to Afghanistan despite warnings from rights groups and lawmakers that Afghans who worked for the U.S. military face the threat of persecution, imprisonment and even execution by the Taliban regime. The Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday it had stripped legal protections for thousands of Afghans in the U.S., saying that the security and economic situation in Afghanistan no longer justified granting them temporary protected status, or TPS. “We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer” prevents Afghans from returning to their home country, she said. DHS officials had previously signaled plans to cancel temporary protected status for Afghans but did not formally rescind it until Monday. Lawmakers and rights groups said the Trump administration’s decision would put thousands of Afghans’ lives at risk and betray partners who had risked their lives to work for the U.S. military during America’s 20-year war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [5/13/2025 5:08 PM, Hamed Aleaziz and Michael Crowley, 145325K] reports on the same day that dozens of white South Africans arrived in the United States as refugees, at the invitation of President Trump himself, his administration said thousands of Afghans could be deported starting this summer. The Trump administration’s focus on white Afrikaners, a white ethnic minority that ruled during apartheid, is particularly striking as it effectively bans most other refugees and targets legal and illegal immigrants alike for deportation. Those include Afghans who were granted “temporary protected status” after the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, many of whom had risked their lives to help American forces. Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said the protections for Afghan immigrants were always meant to be temporary. “Secretary Noem made the decision to terminate T.P.S. for individuals from Afghanistan because the country’s improved security situation and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country,” Ms. McLaughlin said. The Trump administration’s reasoning for denying Afghans temporary protected status is that Afghan migrants would not face a “serious threat to their personal safety due to an ongoing armed conflict,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

AP [5/14/2025 12:04 AM, Mark Sherman, 5046K] reports that, Barbara, a Cuban emigre 30 weeks into a high-risk pregnancy, is dealing with the additional stress of not knowing for sure that her baby girl will be an American citizen. "It scares me a lot that my baby will be born without citizenship because she would not be a citizen of this country. Claiming Cuban citizenship is not an option because we are fleeing from that country," she said. "I really don’t know what kind of future my baby would face. I am terrified that my baby will be born without citizenship. It would be like she would be stateless. It’s terrible.” The 35-year-old woman lives in Kentucky, which is not among the 22 states that sued to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order that would deny citizenship to children who are born on U.S. soil to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily. Lower courts have so far blocked the executive order from taking effect anywhere in the United States. In arguments Thursday, the Supreme Court weighs the Trump administration’s request to narrow those court orders so that they cover only the parties that sued in federal court. Affected children born in Kentucky would not be citizens, if the court sides with the administration. The woman agreed to an interview with The Associated Press on condition that her last name not be used and her face not be shown on camera. Barbara has joined the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, one of the groups that sued over birthright citizenship. Members of the group likely would be protected under court orders. She was a lawyer in Cuba before fleeing religious persecution in 2022 with her husband, a daughter, now 4, and her parents, Barbara said. They are seeking political asylum in the United States. "I would not want my daughter to grow up in a society that excludes her. As a citizen, she will have a lot of rights. I don’t know exactly how many places she would not be able to access if she were not a citizen," Barbara said. A possible outcome of the court case is babies born to immigrant mothers at the same time in the same American hospital would have different status. One might be a U.S. citizen; the other might not.

Federalist [5/13/2025 7:32 AM, Brianna Lyman, 1033K] reports Russia collusion hoaxer Marc Elias filed a lawsuit Friday challenging a new Wyoming law that makes it harder for noncitizens to register to vote. Gov. Mark Gordon, R-Wyo., allowed House Bill 156 to become law on March 21 without his signature. The legislation requires prospective registrants to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote. Proof includes a U.S. passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers, among other options. The legislation, which passed the state House 51 to eight and the state Senate by 26 to four, is slated to go into effect on July 1, 2025. But Elias, alongside the Equality State Policy Center and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit to overturn the will of the state, alleging the legislation violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. “When HB 156 becomes effective, it will impose new, burdensome, and entirely unnecessary requirements that will make it harder for eligible citizens to vote,” the suit claims. “The result will be the exclusion and disenfranchisement of citizens.” The suit claims, in part, that “Women — as well as Hispanic, young, and low-income voters — are less likely to have acceptable documentation and, in many cases, face greater hurdles to obtaining it.” Women, the suit contends, “are more likely than men to be turned away when they go to register as a result of HB 156,” because of name changes resulting from marriage. But this claim has been peddled — and disproven — before.

ABC 4 Salt Lake City [5/13/2025 8:27 PM, Jonathan May] reports the Trump administration is ending temporary protected status for Afghan refugees, meaning they may be forced to go back home. Utah took in hundreds after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021. The Catholic Community Services here in Salt Lake City works to assist the refugees. “We’ve been helping between, I would say 200 to 400 Afghans every year,” Immigration Program Manager and attorney for Catholic Community Services, Alyssa Williams, says. Now, the Trump administration says conditions have improved in Afghanistan. To the point where the refugees no longer need protected status. “That’s not something that the Afghans that we have here believe is true,” Williams says. The announcement on May 12th from the Department of Homeland Security included the following quote from Secretary Kristi Noem. “This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. ”We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation. Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country. Additionally, the termination furthers the national interest as DHS records indicate that there are recipients who have been under investigation for fraud and threatening our public safety and national security. Reviewing TPS designations is a key part of restoring integrity in our immigration system.” Williams said that it’s not a surprise, and she sees the situation very differently from Noem. “I think that they are shocked that anybody would call this a security situation in Afghanistan, something that’s improving, and we’re usually seeing that it’s deteriorating,” Williams explained. Williams believes that not many refugees in Utah will be sent back due to their application statuses.

San Diego Union Tribune [5/13/2025 3:46 PM, Alexandra Mendoza, 1682K] reports California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila says she still doesn’t know why the U.S. government revoked her nonimmigrant visa, she is convinced the matter will be resolved. “It doesn’t mean I’ve done anything wrong,” she declared at a press conference in Tijuana on Monday. “It’s an administrative decision, not an accusation. There’s no crime or misdemeanor. The reason for this action hasn’t been communicated, and whatever it is, I’m calm and have a clear conscience that everything will be clarified.” These comments come two days after she and her husband announced on social media that their visas had been revoked. The governor’s husband, former federal congressman Carlos Torres, was the first to post on Saturday that he had been notified of the revocation by U.S. consular officials.

New York Times [5/13/2025 10:43 AM, The New York Times, 153395K] reports President Trump signed an executive order in February establishing refugee status for Afrikaners, the white ethnic minority in South Africa that created and led the brutal system of apartheid. As part of the executive order, the Trump administration created an expedited path for Afrikaners to resettle in the United States, even as the administration has barred most refugees from countries afflicted by war and famine. While waiting at the airport in Johannesburg, the passengers said the U.S. Embassy had instructed them not to speak with the news media. The first group of Afrikaners arrived in the United States on May 12. The Afrikaners who arrived in the United States on Monday are the descendants of the European colonizers who came to South Africa approximately four centuries ago. They later created the brutal system of apartheid in 1948. Decades after the end of apartheid, some Afrikaners now say they are being denied jobs and have been targeted by violence because of their race. Forty-nine Afrikaners — including parents and children — boarded a flight in Johannesburg to the United States on Sunday night, according to a spokesman for South Africa’s airport authority. The U.S. State Department said in March that it had received 8,000 inquiries from people seeking information about the refugee program. It is unclear if the U.S. government will admit more families.

(B) NBC News Daily [5/13/2025 2:34 PM, Staff] reports that the Trump administration is facing criticism for how they handled two different groups of refugees. A group of white South Africans were welcomed by State Department officials to the US on Monday. They were given a refugee status that is an exception from a January order which suspended refugee admissions for most countries. The administration argues the group was facing discrimination because of their race. The South African government strongly denies the Trump administration’s claims. At the same time, Department of Homeland Security announced it will end deportation protections for refugees from Afghanistan.

The Washington Post [5/13/2025 5:46 PM, Victoria Bisset and Jonathan Edwards, 31735K] reports the Episcopal Church is ending its refugee resettlement agreement with the federal government rather than comply with a directive to help resettle White South Africans arriving in the United States as refugees, citing its “steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.” The church’s decision Monday, the same day that dozens of Afrikaners granted refugee status landed at Dulles International Airport, drew criticism from the White House and Vice President JD Vance. The church’s presiding bishop, Sean Rowe, said in a letter that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, which the church’s resettlement ministry participated in for decades, “has essentially shut down” since January, with no refugees arriving and hundreds of staff laid off. Then, several weeks ago, the Trump administration told the church that it would be expected to resettle the White Afrikaners under the terms of its federal grant. Rowe said the church wouldn’t do so given the “highly unusual manner” in which the federal government selected the White South Africans, who received “preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years.” Instead, he said, the church would end its refugee resettlement grant agreements with the government by the end of the fiscal year in September. “I am saddened and ashamed that many of the refugees who are being denied entrance to the United States are brave people who worked alongside our military in Iraq and Afghanistan and now face danger at home because of their service to our country,” Rowe wrote. “I also grieve that victims of religious persecution, including Christians, have not been granted refuge in recent months.” FOX News [5/13/2025 4:08 PM, Louis Casiano, 46189K] reports that the announcement came shortly before 59 South Africans arrived in the United States. "In light of our church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step," Rowe said of the government’s request that the church help resettle the South African citizens. "Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government.” He cited their "preferential treatment" over others more deserving by jumping ahead of the line. "It has been painful to watch one group of refugees, selected in a highly unusual manner, receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years," said Rowe. The move came after President Donald Trump fast-tracked refugee status for the White South Africans, citing discrimination by their government, while also shutting down most refugee resettlement programs. The Trump administration has harshly criticized the government of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa over a land expropriation bill, which, under some circumstances, allows for expropriation of land without compensation. Trump has said the bill discriminates against White South Africans. The White House told Fox News Digital that the church’s stance raises questions about its "supposed" commitment to humanitarian aid.

Reported similarly:
NPR [5/13/2025 4:04 PM, Michel Martin, 29983K] Video: HERE

Breitbart [5/13/2025 5:15 PM, John Hayward, 2923K] reports South African President Cyril Ramaphosa insisted on Monday that the white South African refugees who are "being enticed to go to the United States" are not "being persecuted or treated badly." Fifty-nine members of the white ethnic minority known as Afrikaners arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday afternoon, including families with young children. They traveled on a resettlement flight chartered by the U.S. State Department and were met upon arrival by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar.

ABC News [5/13/2025 5:46 PM, Shannon K. Kingston, 31638K] Video: HERE reports the Trump administration’s move to prioritize the resettlement of white South African refugees in the United States even as it has turned away refugees from countries including Afghanistan and Haiti has sparked allegations of hypocrisy and a double standard, as well as questions about who is footing the bill for the new arrivals. On Monday, the State Department said it had welcomed 59 Afrikaners whose applications to come to the U.S. were fast-tracked under President Donald Trump’s executive order issued in February titled, "Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa." The order called on the administration to "prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement" for Afrikaners, a South African minority group descended primarily from Dutch settlers, "who are victims of unjust racial discrimination." State Department Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, the second-highest-ranking U.S. diplomat, was on hand to greet the new arrivals’ charter flight, and department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce signaled in a statement that additional Afrikaners will soon follow in their footsteps. However, the State Department has dodged questions about how that travel is being funded. On the same day the 59 Afrikaners landed in the Washington, D.C., area, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would terminate temporary protected status, or TPS, for Afghans already in the U.S. -- revoking deportation protections issued by the Biden administration in 2021 after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. "We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. "Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country." The Trump administration has also moved to rescind TPS designations for Haiti, Venezuela and Cameroon. Additionally, refugee admissions from other countries have dropped drastically, and financial support for resettlement agencies has also undergone drastic cuts. Meanwhile, there are doubts about the severity of the security situation that prompted the president to expedite the resettlement of Afrikaners.

Bloomberg Government [5/13/2025 12:12 PM, Ellen M. Gilmer, 75K] reports Rodney Scott, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead US Customs and Border Protection, moved closer to confirmation Tuesday, with a Senate panel voting to advance his nomination. Senate Finance Committee votes 14-13 on party lines to approve Scott’s nomination as CBP commissioner. Scott will play a key role in Trump’s border enforcement agenda and tariffs enforcement if confirmed by the full Senate. Democrats last month questioned Scott’s past actions as Border Patrol chief.

Federal News Network [5/13/2025 7:03 PM, Anastasia Obis, 1089K] reports the Pentagon is shifting money away from permanent change of station costs, service members pay and benefits and infrastructure repairs to fund the southern border mission. These funding shifts are outlined in the Defense Department’s baseline for reprogramming document, which sets the new account-level totals the department will use for the remainder of fiscal 2025. The plan, submitted to Congress on May 8, largely aligns with guidance from Republican appropriators. The document outlines a pay raise for junior enlisted service members, expanded funding for the Defense Innovation Unit, increased resources for the chief digital and artificial intelligence officer office and additional investments in unmanned and attritable systems. It also lays out how the Defense Department will pay for its rapidly expanding role in operational support along the southern border.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [5/13/2025 6:33 PM, Staff, 11K] reports the sun has yet to rise in El Paso when Claudio Herrera and other U.S. Border Patrol agents begin their daily rounds, although the intensity of their workdays has slowed considerably for months. The militarization of the border with Mexico, ordered by President Donald Trump, has quickly led to a historic drop in immigrant arrivals, amid growing complaints from activists warning of restrictions on asylum rights and deportations without legal guarantees. According to official data released Monday, 8,400 people were arrested for illegally crossing the southern border last April, a nearly 95% reduction compared to the same month last year, when there were 128,900 arrests. That collapse is palpable in the militarized zone the Pentagon established along a large stretch of the border spanning the state of New Mexico and the city of El Paso in far western Texas, where thousands of soldiers are now searching the area in military vehicles alongside Border Patrol.

CBS News [5/13/2025 6:32 AM, Staff, 51661K] Video HERE reports Sarcophagus lids, a Greco-Roman portrait and fragments of what is believed to be a temple of Queen Hatshepsut were among 25 rare artifacts returned to Egypt from the United States, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said Monday. The pieces — spanning centuries of Egyptian civilization — were handed over following a three-year recovery effort by Egypt’s consulate in New York, the New York District Attorney’s Office and U.S. security agencies, the ministry said in a news release. The collection includes wooden and gilded sarcophagus lids dating back more than 5,500 years, parts of a temple believed to belong to Queen Hatshepsut and a Greco-Roman mummy portrait from Fayyoum — a southern city renowned for its distinctive Greco-Roman art. The trove also features intricately crafted jewelry from around 2,400 years ago, a granite foot fragment dating back to the Ramessid dynasty, during the peak of Egypt’s power, as well as small ivory and stone figurines. A rare gold coin dating back over two millennia to the reign of Ptolemy I — one of Alexander the Great’s generals and founder of ancient Egypt’s last royal dynasty — is also part of the collection.

The AP [5/13/2025 4:11 PM, Sophia Tareen, 48304K] reports a popular Turkish American online streamer who is critical of President Donald Trump was recently detained and questioned at O’Hare International Airport after his flight from Paris landed in Chicago. Hasan Piker, who has 2.8 million followers on Twitch, recounted his experience online Monday saying he was questioned for hours a day earlier despite being born in the U.S. and enrolled in Global Entry, a federal program allowing low-risk passengers to travel through customs and passport control quickly. Piker believes he was targeted because of his views and said Customs and Border Protection officers asked his opinion of Trump and Hamas, among other topics. The liberal political commentator is frequently critical of Israel and the war in Gaza. “The goal here is to put fear into people’s hearts, to have a chilling effect on speech,” Piker recounted in a detailed nearly 40-minute long account on his YouTube channel. “The government is now officially willing and able to intimidate you for your speech. That is a direct violation of the First Amendment.” Federal officials dismissed Piker’s account of the detention on Tuesday, calling the questioning “routine and lawful” and something that can apply to any traveler. “This is nothing but lying for likes. Claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless,” Tricia McLaughlin, U.S. Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary, said in a statement. “Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released.” The Hill [5/13/2025 10:15 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12829K] reports “Everything I’ve done is fully protected under the First Amendment, OK, and none of these questions are actually valid questions to ask, but I was entertaining it because I didn’t want it,” Piker, who streams under the name HasanAbi, said during a Monday video. “One, I didn’t want to present it as being difficult, because I didn’t want to extend the attention. And two, I actually wanted to see how far I could take it,” Piker, who noted he is a U.S. citizen who’s registered for the Global Entry program that expedites clearance for preapproved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the U.S., added. Piker said the questioning when he was detained Sunday ranged from his thoughts on foreign terrorist organizations to his opinion of the Trump administration. “I saw no reason to hold back on certain things. So, I said I don’t like Trump. What are you going to do? It’s protected by the First Amendment. I don’t like Trump,” he told viewers on the stream. Piker said he believes he was targeted by CBP due to his public views on the president. “This is nothing but lying for likes. Claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless. Our officers are following the law, not agendas”, Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary, said in a statement to The Hill. “Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection — a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released.”

Reported similarly:
CBS News [5/13/2025 10:36 PM, Sara Machi, 51661K]

Univision [5/13/2025 5:17 PM, Staff, 5325K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 422 undocumented immigrants, 296 of whom were identified as criminals, and deported 528 during a seven-day operation, from May 4 to 10, focused on strengthening public safety in the Houston area. The operation also prioritized the expulsion of foreigners who have exhausted their due process rights and have received an expulsion order from the country. Numerous law enforcement agencies assisted ICE during the operation, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Diplomatic Security Service, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

AP [5/13/2025 5:44 PM, Jim Vertuno, 48304K] reports a Texas prosecutor filed a federal lawsuit seeking to force three U.S. Border Patrol agents who responded to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting to testify in the prosecution of the former school police chief, who is facing criminal charges over the slow law enforcement action at the massacre. The lawsuit from Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell filed on May 9 claims the testimony from the three officers, two of whom were part of the tactical team that eventually broke into a classroom and killed the gunman, is vital to the case against former school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who faces multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment. According to the lawsuit, the agents gave written statements early in the state investigation into the shooting and the response from nearly 400 local, state and federal officers who waited more than an hour to breach the classroom where the gunman was located. Nineteen fourth-grade students and two teachers were killed, and 18 more people were injured, in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. But U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have since then denied multiple requests to make the agents available for testimony about the law enforcement response, their tactical training, equipment and other topics. The information sought "is extraordinarily significant" because the agents are "uniquely qualified to clarify how Arredondo’s actions, omissions, and orders as incident commander influenced their actions," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit seeks federal court help because a state court cannot compel the agents to testify on matters that relate to their official duties. The testimony could also be valuable to Arredondo if the agents’ accounts present mitigating information for his actions that day, the lawsuit said. And it noted that Mitchell has offered to seek a court order granting the agents immunity for their cooperation and testimony. Arredondo and former Uvalde schools officer Adrian Gonzales are the only two responding law enforcement officers that day to be charged and are scheduled for trial in October. Both men have pleaded not guilty. According to the lawsuit, because Gonzales was indicted over his conduct prior to the arrival of the Border Patrol, the request to compel testimony from the agents is not part of his case. Multiple investigations into the response have laid bare cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers.

FOX News [5/13/2025 4:30 PM, Julia Bonavita, 46189K] reports a newly-minted law allowing Arizona law enforcement officers to shoot down drug-carrying drones along the U.S.-Mexico border has taken effect after sailing through the state’s legislature with bipartisan support. HB 2733 was signed into law on April 18 and grants officers the ability to target drones suspected of carrying out illegal activity within 15 miles of the state’s international border. Prior to the bill being passed, officers were unable to intercept drones suspected of participating in illegal activities, including transporting drugs such as fentanyl, across the southern border. The law also protects officers from being held civilly liable for any damage caused by intercepting the drone. However, the law is in direct conflict with the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulations surrounding drones. Federal law prohibits interfering with a drone while it is in the air, with violators risking criminal and civil penalties.

Reuters [5/13/2025 2:37 PM, Staff, 24727K] reports Mexico will tighten the flow of cattle from the south of the country to limit the potential spread of the screwworm, the nation’s agriculture minister said on Tuesday. The screwworm, which can kill cattle or other hosts within weeks, has recently been detected in the south of Mexico and has caused the U.S. to suspend imports of cattle, horses and bison from its neighbor. Mexican Agriculture Minister Julio Berdegue, speaking at a regular press conference alongside President Claudia Sheinbaum, ruled out closing Mexico’s southern border to cattle from Central America, but acknowledged it will take a long time to eradicate the pest. "We are going to be restricting cattle movement from the south of the country much more tightly," Berdegue said, adding that "closing the border is a complex issue that needs to be carefully analyzed, because it also impacts the national meat supply.” The clampdown from Mexico is in response to the U.S. suspension of cattle imports, though Berdegue said on Tuesday that Mexico was complying "100%" with the U.S.’ demands. The two countries have put out conflicting information on how long the suspension will last, with Mexico claiming it agreed on a 15-day suspension with U.S. authorities, and the U.S. calling for it to be in place on a "month-by-month" basis. The suspension threatens to increase U.S. beef prices by further tightening already-limited supply, while hurting ranchers in Mexico. Sheinbaum said on Monday she hoped the measure had a limited economic impact, given that she only expected it to last 15 days.

New York Times [5/13/2025 7:13 PM, Nazaneen GhaffarSimon J. Levien and Adeel Hassan, 145325K] reports heavy rain in Maryland prompted the evacuation of at least one elementary school and dozens of water rescues on Tuesday, as a slow-moving storm system threatened to bring the risk of flash floods to the Mid-Atlantic, the authorities said. The Georges Creek region, which surrounds a tributary stream of the North Branch Potomac River in western Maryland, was most affected, approaching record water levels for the area. Several major roads in Allegany County were impassable by midafternoon, the sheriff’s office there reported. Parked cars began to float on the street in Westernport, Md., a town along the creek, as floodwaters inundated the ground floors of homes and businesses in the downtown area. The National Weather Service had issued flash flood warnings for parts of western Maryland and West Virginia on Tuesday afternoon. The Weather Prediction Center has issued a Level 2 out of 4 risk for excessive rainfall, potentially leading to flash flooding across eastern North Carolina, eastern Virginia, Maryland, eastern West Virginia and extending into central and southern Pennsylvania through Wednesday. In Allegany County, in northwestern Maryland, the heavy rain forced officials to dismiss classes early, to cancel all after-school activities and suspend busing for the afternoon. Rising floodwaters on Tuesday afternoon forced emergency crews to evacuate students and staff members at Westernport Elementary School, according to school officials.

AP [5/13/2025 9:08 PM, Lea Skene, 48304K] reports flooding in rural western Maryland forced the evacuation of an elementary school Tuesday afternoon as water began to breach the second floor, according to local officials. Homes and businesses in downtown Westernport were also inundated with floodwaters after hours of heavy rain. Officials reassured the public that students and staff were safe as concerned parents and other community members posted on social media wondering how long the emergency situation would last at Westernport Elementary School. Allegany County spokesperson Kati Kenney said responders used rescue boats to safely evacuate the school. About 150 students and 50 adults were evacuated during 15 boat trips. Kenney said additional evacuations were underway in nearby areas, with reports of people trapped in cars and houses, but no injuries had been reported as of late Tuesday afternoon. She said emergency crews from surrounding counties were helping with the response in the small community near the West Virginia line. Another elementary school was also evacuated, and students at a middle school were sheltering in place, the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services said Tuesday evening. Officials said three emergency shelters had been opened across the county. Aaron Stallings, 23, rushed to Westernport Elementary to pick up his little sister earlier Tuesday afternoon, but he soon realized his car wouldn’t make it. Stallings said he hopped a fence and made his way on foot through the shin-deep water. "I knew my car was not going to get through, so I had to find an alternate route," he said. Stallings said children were being kept on the second and third floors when he made his way inside. Minutes after he located his sister with the help of the principal, the water level on the first floor had already risen again to his knees and was rushing under the school doors. Once he waded back outside with his sister, Stallings turned around to capture video of the scene, where parked cars and a dumpster were floating through the school’s parking lot.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [5/13/2025 10:13 PM, Nicole Asbury, Ian Livingston and Hau Chu, 31735K]

AP [5/13/2025 1:19 PM, Staff, 48304K] reports a technological glitch caused an emergency alert to be mistakenly sent to millions of Los Angeles County residents in January rather than only those in the proximity of a wildfire, according to a congressional report. The mistaken alert on Jan. 9 came as residents were on edge two days after fierce winds and deadly wildfires ripped across Los Angeles County hillsides and burned through communities. The alert message was only supposed to go to residents in the San Fernando Valley facing an evacuation warning due to the Kenneth Fire. The report issued Monday by Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach found that Los Angeles County officials properly coded the alert to reach the wireless devices of a more limited group of people. But the alert was sent to residents across the county of 10 million people, and without specific geographic information, prompting concern and confusion after two days of devastating wildfires. That’s because the coding for the precise location didn’t get saved into the IPAWS federal channel for local emergency alerts, which software provider Genasys believed might be due to a network disruption, the report said. "The initial false alert is believed to be caused by technology issues with third-party technology vendor Genasys," the report said. The report did not address how emergency alerts were handled in the Eaton and Palisades fires. In the Eaton Fire in Altadena, evacuation orders went out long after houses were reported burning. LA County officials have launched their own independent review, led by a third party, of evacuation policies and the emergency alert system. An initial report released last month said nearly three dozen people who responded to the fires had been interviewed and more interviews were planned. The next report on the review is expected by July 27.

SFGate [5/13/2025 4:36 PM, Andrew Chamings, 12335K] reports a Bay Area wildfire that formed part of the historic conflagration that burned a quarter million acres of California in 2020 was started by a murderer trying to dispose the body of a woman he killed. Victor Serriteno, 33, of Vacaville was found guilty of multiple counts of murder and arson in Solano County Superior Court on Friday and faces 73 years to life in state prison, the county district attorney’s office announced. Priscilla Castro, a 32-year-old mother from Vallejo, was last seen alive at about 6 p.m. on Aug. 16, 2020. That evening, she drove to Vacaville for a prearranged date with Serriteno, whom she had met on a dating app. Her family grew worried when they were unable to reach her on her cellphone and, after noticing no activity on social media for two days, reported her missing. On Aug. 18, officers found Castro’s abandoned 2007 Mercedes-Benz C230 on the 100 block of Bush Street in Vacaville. The family searched the streets of Vacaville, handing out flyers and posting her image on social media, to no avail. Using cellphone records, investigators pinned Castro’s last location to a rural area of Solano County near Lake Berryessa. At the time, a giant wildfire was burning through the North Bay and would eventually torch more than 350,000 acres of California. On Sept. 2, two weeks after she drove to Vacaville to meet Serriteno, Castro’s burned remains were found in Stebbins-Cold Canyon near Putah Creek. "Although the remains were so badly burned and unrecognizable, there was an angel pendant located in the debris that belonged to Priscilla Castro," authorities said. Investigators ruled the death a homicide, though no cause of death was publicly shared. Through interviews, cellphone records and surveillance footage, Vacaville detectives zeroed in on Serriteno, whose number was the last contact made on Castro’s phone.

AP [5/13/2025 1:24 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 48304K] reports only a few Capitol riot defendants remained jailed after President Donald Trump issued mass pardons to supporters who joined a mob’s attack on Jan. 6, 2021. A trial for one of them — a military veteran charged with federal firearms offenses and a hoax bomb threat — began Tuesday with testimony about his 2023 arrest near former President Barack Obama’s Washington home. Taylor Taranto was arrested in Obama’s neighborhood on the same day in June 2023 that Trump posted on social media what he claimed was the former president’s address. Investigators said they found two guns, roughly 500 rounds of ammunition and a machete in Taranto’s van. Taranto was live streaming video on YouTube in which he said he was looking for "entrance points" to underground tunnels and wanted to get a "good angle on a shot," according to prosecutors. He reposted Trump’s message about Obama’s home address and wrote, "We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta’s and Obama’s." He was referring to John Podesta, who chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Democratic presidential campaign. Taranto wasn’t the only Jan. 6 defendant whose criminal case didn’t end when Trump provided clemency to all of the more than 1,500 people charged in the riot. In some cases, Trump’s Justice Department concluded that the pardons covered separate offenses, such as charges for guns seized from homes during Capitol riot investigations. In Taranto’s case, however, prosecutors said the firearms offenses he faces are "wholly unrelated to the pardon." Taranto, a Navy veteran from Pasco, Washington, is charged with carrying firearms without a license, with illegally possessing large-capacity magazines and ammunition and with making a hoax bomb threat. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated by Trump, is hearing testimony and will decide the case without a jury. The government’s first trial witness was an FBI agent who led the frantic search for Taranto after Capitol police investigators watched his livestreamed video and heard what they believed to be a bomb threat. A prosecutor, Samuel White, told the judge that the video captured Taranto outlining his "ominous, threatening plan." Taranto said on the video that he was in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on a "one-way" to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Taranto’s lawyers said he didn’t have any bomb-making material and wasn’t near the Gaithersburg institute. Defense attorney Pleasant Brodnax said the video shows Taranto was merely joking in an "avant-garde" manner. "He believes he is a journalist and, to some extent, a comedian," Broadnax said. Taranto has been jailed since his arrest. The judge concluded that he poses a danger to the public.

Washington Examiner [5/13/2025 12:11 PM, Annabella Rosciglione, 2296K] reports officials and residents in Loudoun County, Virginia, are questioning how much President Donald Trump’s visits to his golf club in the area are costing them. During the county supervisors’ meeting earlier this month, Supervisor Juli Briskman asked whether the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is reimbursed for services provided to the president when he visits Trump National Golf Course in Lowes Island. "The short answer is no, we are not being reimbursed for that," Lt. Col. Christopher Sawyer said. "We have asked, in writing, and we will continue to ask, because the resources are significant.” Vice Chairman Michael Turner asked if there was a "legal obligation that local law enforcement" needs to provide security to the president’s golf games. Sawyer responded, "We have provided presidential support to every sitting president, based on what the United States Secret Service has requested. That does not mean they get everything, because there hits a point where we say, no, we can’t provide certain levels because it becomes too much.” Briskman, who lives near the golf course, said she requested a detailed report about how much the county has spent on Trump’s recent visits. "With everything going on with quote-unquote ‘waste, fraud, and abuse,’ I decided that we should figure out how much this is costing the county," Briskman told a local outlet. She also questioned the nature of the events that prompt the visits.

NBC News [5/13/2025 9:12 PM, Dan De Luce, Tom Winter, Laura Strickler, Courtney Kube, and Gordon Lubold, 44742K] reports converting a Qatari-owned 747 jet into a new Air Force One for President Donald Trump would involve installing multiple top-secret systems, cost over $1 billion and take years to complete, three aviation experts told NBC News. They said that accepting the 13-year-old jet would likely cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over time, noting that refurbishing the commercial plane would exceed its current value of $400 million. The project might also not be completed by the end of Trump’s term in 2029, at which time the plane is expected to be handed over to Trump’s presidential library foundation. Richard Aboulafia, an analyst and consultant on commercial and military aviation, said he thought turning the Qatari jetliner into Air Force One would cost billions and take years. “You’re taking a 747, disassembling it, reassembling it, and then jacking it up to a very high level,” said Aboulafia, a managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, a consulting firm. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

New York Post [5/13/2025 7:00 PM, Victor Nava, 54903K] reports President Trump defended accepting a $400 million aircraft from Qatar to temporarily replace Air Force One, arguing that the aircraft is more “impressive” than the current presidential plane. “The plane that you are on right now is almost 40 years old,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity, in an interview Monday as the president traveled to Saudi Arabia aboard Air Force One. “And when you land and you see Saudi Arabia and you see [the United Arab Emirates] and you can see Qatar and you see all these – and they have these brand new Boeing 747s, mostly, and you see ours next to it – this is like a totally different plane,” the president continued. “It’s much smaller. It’s much less impressive, as impressive as it is,” Trump said of Air Force One, a modified Boeing 747-200B aircraft that was introduced into service in 1990. “And you know, we’re the United States of America – I believe that we should have the most impressive plane.”

Reported similarly:
FOX News [5/14/2025 1:07 AM, Elizabeth Pritchett, 46189K]

FOX News [5/13/2025 9:52 AM, Peter D’Abrosca, 46189K] reports one branch of the U.S. military is boasting booming recruitment numbers and huge operational success in the infancy of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo. According to the DHS memo obtained by Fox News Digital, the U.S. Coast Guard’s recruitment numbers are thriving, allowing the military branch to maximize the use of assets that were underused or completely abandoned under the Biden administration. DHS says the Biden administration failed to meet Coast Guard recruiting goals for three years straight. During that period, 10 cutters were taken out of service and almost 30 Coast Guard stations were temporarily abandoned. "Under the Biden administration, the U.S. Coast Guard had its hands tied behind its back," the memo says. "Recruitment goals were not met, and our Coast Guardsmen were hamstrung and overwhelmed while cartels smuggled humans and illicit drugs through our maritime borders.” However, recruitment is now surging, allowing the Coast Guard to execute its mission at its full potential. In FY 2025, the Coast Guard has recruited more than 4,700 new members, which is 1,200 more than it had at this time last year. It is on pace to exceed its recruitment goal for this year. Now, the Coast Guard has "deployed a surge of cutters, aircraft, boats, and specialized forces to key areas surrounding the U.S. maritime border," adding that the assets are "now being used to their full effect.” "President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem issued orders to the U.S. Coast Guard to surge assets to key areas, and the results speak for themselves," the memo says. "Billions’ worth of illicit drugs have been seized, human smuggling has ground to a halt, and recruitment is skyrocketing.” The memo says the Coast Guard has already seized 11% more cocaine in FY 2025 than it did in FY 2024, and that since Trump’s inauguration, the military branch has interdicted 148,000 pounds of cocaine and marijuana, worth more than $1.5 billion in street value.

Washington Times [5/13/2025 2:52 PM, Mike Glenn, 1814K] reports the Department of Homeland Security has signed off on a full production plan for a new polar security cutter for the U.S. Coast Guard. The move comes as the Trump administration seeks to address a shortage of U.S. vessels capable of operating in the Arctic region. Pascagoula, Mississippi-based Bollinger Shipyards secured a $951 million contract to build the new polar security cutter. The class of vessels is expected to replace the current heavy icebreakers in the Coast Guard. "The Coast Guard is the sole federal agency responsible for icebreaking. Accordingly, the service must replace, modernize, and grow its fleet of icebreakers to assure U.S. access and sovereignty in the polar regions," the Coast Guard said in a statement.

New York Post [5/13/2025 12:42 PM, Alex Mitchell, 54903K] reports rescue workers are frantically trying to locate a Long Island swimmer who vanished off the North Shore Monday night at sunset. The unidentified individual was last seen in “distress” at 7:49 p.m. at the Kings Park bluff near the Nissequogue River mouth by Smithtown Bay and the Long Island Sound. “We don’t know if he was swimming or in a kayak or something else. He was first noticed struggling in the water,” Suffolk County police said. Dive teams, police dogs, and marine units were all searching the area last night in tandem with local volunteer fire departments and the US Coast Guard, officials said. “It’s an unfortunate situation — by the time we arrived on at the location, the swimmer was no longer visible,” Kings Park Fire Chief Philip Carroll told The Post. “The bystander said that he struggled for a while and then went under the water.” No kayak or watercraft was discovered at the scene, he said. The swimmer is believed to have been a man. “That’s a difficult area,” Carroll said. “From a swimmer’s perspective, the current is tricky there. It moves in and out quickly, and pulls quickly.” Police and other officials had resumed the search Tuesday.

DVIDS [5/13/2025 3:05 PM, Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig, 777K] reports U.S. Soldiers with the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade crewed a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to assist the U.S. Coast Guard by transporting three buoys May 7 in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay. During the winter, buoys are often displaced and washed up on beaches that are inaccessible to Coast Guard boats. The Chinook is capable of moving loads weighing several tons, easily carrying the approximately 1,500-pound buoys to be refitted or to their permanent locations. “This winter a lot of ice came down Delaware Bay here and that caused the mooring to break which led to the buoy washing up on the beach,” said Coast Guard Senior Chief John Kopp. “It makes it so much easier having the capability from the Army to help us out. The buoy weighs about 1500 pounds so moving it by hand is not very practical.” The Coast Guard contacted the Pa. Guard for assistance, having worked together before on similar missions. “It was great, I look forward to working with them again,” said Maj. Carlton Kinzer, 628th Aviation Support Battalion commander, who piloted the flight. This ongoing partnership between the Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard illustrates how their different strengths and capabilities can come together to solve problems and keep Americans safe.

DVIDS [5/13/2025 8:46 PM, Chief Warrant Officer Sara Muir, 777K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard, alongside U.S. Navy and local partners, is intensifying the search on May 14, 2025, for the 47-foot vessel Lucky Harvest, carrying two mariners, missing since departing Alamagan Island, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, on May 12 en route to Saipan. The search is currently focused west of Saipan, following a possible flare sighting reported by a U.S. Navy MH-60 Knighthawk helicopter crew from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 on May 13. The USCGC Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) crew was redirected to the area, following notification the vessel was overdue May 13 from Saipan boating safety officials, searched throughout the night, and is actively searching. Overnight, HSC-25 crews completed multiple search patterns, and additional searches are ongoing. Further support is on scene, with a sister vessel to the Lucky Harvest and a Saipan-based Department of Public Safety boat crew also searching west of Saipan. Responders deployed a self-locating datum marker buoy to assist with tracking ocean currents, and an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and SafetyNet alerts remain active to notify nearby mariners of the situation. “We’re working around the clock with our partners to locate the Lucky Harvest and verify the safety of the crew,” said Cmdr. Patton Epperson, U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam search and rescue mission coordinator. “The flare sighting is being factored into our search planning, and we appreciate any reports from the public that may assist us in finding the vessel and confirming the crew’s status. We’re grateful for the support from our Navy and local partners in this effort.”

CBS News [5/13/2025 11:22 PM, Brian New, Lexi Salazar, Scott Fralicks, Mike Lozano, 51661K] reports that, the first call came in the early hours of the morning in the fall of 2021, informing the Allen Independent School District Director of Technology, Nelson Orta, that there was an issue. A ransomware attack had paralyzed Allen schools. "We got people back online that same day, within hours," Orta said. "But behind the scenes, there’s a lot happening." For the next three months, Orta said the district underwent a massive repair and investigation operation. It was a process that turned out to be costly. School records obtained by the I-Team show that while Allen ISD never sent a penny in ransom to hackers, between security contractors, IT repairs and legal fees, the response to this one cyberattack cost the district more than $385,000. "The reality is that these things cost money," Orta said. "Defending against threats, modernizing and upgrading, having staff that knows how to do those things and can implement and monitor on a daily basis, costs money." Allen ISD isn’t alone. Schools have become prime targets for computer hackers. Between July 2023 and December 2024, 82% of K-12 schools experienced a cyberattack, according to a report from the Center for Internet Security. That same report showed 86% of schools said a lack of funding was their top concern in defending against cyberattacks. To address the issue in Texas, two years ago, state lawmakers set up the K-12 Cybersecurity Initiative, setting aside $55 million to help schools protect their computer systems. But despite the need, the I-Team found that nearly two years into the program, only a fraction of the money has been used. Of the more than 900 school districts in Texas, only 300 had applied as of January 2025, according to records from the Texas Education Agency. By the time this two-year program ends in September, $28 million will be left on the table. The TEA said many school districts were hesitant to apply, fearing that if the funding ends, they would have to pull money from other parts of the budget or quickly change cybersecurity plans. Other districts didn’t apply because they didn’t initially qualify. When the program was first unveiled, only districts with fewer than 15,000 students were eligible. The threshold has since been raised to districts with fewer than 50,000 students. While hundreds of districts didn’t apply, many that did said the program has helped them enhance security in ways they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Megan Corns, the Chief Technology Officer at Red Oak ISD, said she "absolutely" believes the program has helped prevent a cyber incident. The district received nearly $30,000 from the state. She said the money paid for a cyber detection response system. "Which really just provides us a security guard to watch over all the devices and tell us if there’s anything malicious on a device," Corns said. "That’s something that I couldn’t staff. I’m not going to be able to have a staff member that’s going to be able to watch all of the devices at the same time." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [5/13/2025 4:04 PM, Peter D’Abrosca and Samantha Daigle, 46189K] reports the man suspected of killing two and injuring six others after opening fire on the Florida State University campus April 17 was denied bond during a court appearance Tuesday. Phoenix Ikner, 20, appeared in a Leon County, Florida, court, where he was found to be indigent by Circuit Court Judge Monique Richardson. He was appointed a public defender, Randall Harper. Fox News Digital reached out to Harper. Ikner has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder with a gun. Along with requesting Ikner be held without bond, the state also asked the court to order him not to have contact with the victims’ families or any potential witnesses to the alleged crime. Richardson granted both of the state’s requests after Harper waived an argument against those requests for the time being. On Monday, Ikner’s mugshot was released for the first time since the shooting. He spent several weeks in the hospital recovering from multiple surgeries to treat a jaw injury after being shot in the face by responding officers the day of the mass shooting. After he was booked, Ikner was transferred to the Wakulla County Detention Facility, which Tallahassee Chief of Police Lawrence Revell said was standard policy, given that Ikner’s stepmother is a sheriff’s deputy with the Leon County Sheriff’s Department.

AP [5/13/2025 2:52 PM, Kate Payne, 48304K] reports a judge on Tuesday ordered the Florida State University student accused of killing two people and wounding six others in a mass shooting on campus last month to remain jailed without bond. During 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner’s first court appearance since the April 17 attack, Leon County Judge Monique Richardson ordered Ikner to have no contact with the victims and their families and approved the appointment of two public defenders for him, Megan Long and Randall Harper. The attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ikner, who was shot and wounded by officers, ending the attack, sat quietly during the hearing, which he appeared at via video from a lockup in a neighboring county. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder. Ikner is the stepson of a local sheriff’s deputy, and investigators say he used his stepmother’s former service weapon to carry out the shooting, which terrified the campus and the state’s capital city. Ikner was formally charged Monday after being released from a hospital. He was booked into the Leon County Detention Facility and then transferred to a jail in nearby Wakulla County, which is standard procedure when an inmate is related to a Leon County deputy, authorities said.

CBS News [5/13/2025 7:25 AM, Julia Falcon, 51661K] Video HERE reports the plea hearing for the alleged teen gunman in a 2024 shooting at Dallas ISD’s Wilmer-Hutchins High School has been rescheduled for a third time. Ja’Kerian Rhodes-Ewing, who was 17 years old at the time of the shooting on April 12, 2024, was initially set to appear in a Dallas County courtroom on April 22 for a plea hearing. About two hours after the hearing was supposed to take place, it was rescheduled for May 6. It was then scheduled for May 13 and on May 13 it was rescheduled for June 10. Rhodes-Ewing allegedly shot another student in the leg with a Pink Lady 38 revolver inside a Wilmer-Hutchins High School classroom after a dispute. A witness quoted in the affidavit told Rhodes-Ewing to leave the classroom and the building "to prevent further harm to the victim and others." No other injuries were reported from the shooting. Rhodes-Ewing fled from the campus and was later found on Langdon Rd., near Wilmer-Hutchins Athletic Stadium. Police found the revolver hidden in a semi-wooded area nearby. The now 18-year-old remains in the Dallas County Jail with one charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlicensed carrying a weapon in prohibited places. His bond is set at $200,000. According to paperwork from Dallas County, Rhodes-Ewing could enter a guilty plea. Dallas ISD said it had strengthened security measures since the shooting. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Times [5/13/2025 11:15 AM, Mike Glenn, 1814K] reports the United States was in a deep hole a decade ago when it came to defending against hypersonic missiles and other high-tech weaponry, and analysts said Tuesday that the hole has significantly deepened. A former Pentagon director of research and engineering for modernization chaired a panel for the Air Force in 2015 that examined the threat to U.S. security from high-tech weapons such as hypersonic missiles. The panel concluded that the U.S. was in trouble. "One of the members of the panel wanted to title the study: ‘We’re Screwed.’ That was 10 years ago," said Mark Lewis, now CEO of Purdue University’s Applied Research Institute. "We sounded the alarm that we were in a race. We’re still in a race, and we’re falling further behind.” Mr. Lewis participated in a panel discussion about the technology required for President Trump’s missile defense initiative at the Golden Dome for America event hosted by The Washington Times’ Threat Status. Mr. Lewis said the U.S. must accelerate its offensive and defensive capabilities to combat the missile threat from its adversaries. "Every time we war-gamed various scenarios when I was at the Pentagon, when we were facing an adversary that had these advanced missile capabilities and we didn’t have an effective system or our own offensive system, we lost — every single time," he said. "We need these capabilities if we’re going to compete with our potential peer adversaries.” Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said relying on ground-based interceptors won’t be sufficient to counter a barrage of enemy ballistic missiles. "A space-based constellation of small satellites that covers the Earth will have the ability to intercept those missiles much earlier," said Mr. Bogdan, now executive vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton. "Each of those small satellites can do a number of things. Every satellite in the constellation can talk to and know what every other satellite knows.” Ed Zoiss, president of space and airborne systems for L3Harris Technologies, said the U.S. Missile Defense Agency noted in 2020 that the missile defense system needs a new fire control architecture. "If you can’t see it, you can’t shoot it down," he said. "What’s challenging with these new threats is that they become unseeable by our ground- and sea-based radar systems because they have the ability to maneuver around.” The only way for the U.S. to adequately monitor an adversary’s ballistic missiles will be to "move that fire control calculus up into space," Mr. Zoiss said.

Breitbart [5/14/2025 1:47 AM, Staff, 2923K] reports NATO foreign ministers meeting in Antalya from Wednesday will look to forge a compromise deal on ramping up defence spending as allies scramble to satisfy US President Donald Trump’s demand to agree to five percent of GDP at a summit next month. The two-day gathering in the sun-baked Turkish seaside resort comes as diplomatic intrigue swirls over a possible meeting across the country in Istanbul between Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. But it will be the internal wrangling over NATO’s spending target that dominates the meat of the debate Thursday among foreign ministers with just over six weeks before leaders come face-to-face with Trump in The Hague. Trump has piled on pressure ahead of the summit by insisting he wants NATO to agree to devote five percent of GDP to defence — a level no member, including the United States, currently reaches. The volatile former reality TV star has rattled European allies worried about the menace from Russia by threatening not to protect countries that, in his eyes, don’t spend enough. In a bid to prevent him blowing up the alliance, NATO boss Mark Rutte has floated a proposal for allies to commit to 3.5 percent of direct military spending by 2032, as well as another 1.5 percent of broader security-related expenditure. That would hand Trump the headline figure he’s demanding while giving enough wiggle room to European allies who are struggling just to reach NATO’s current spending threshold of two percent. "Trump will be able claim victory and say that he got NATO to spend five percent," one senior NATO diplomat, talking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. "In reality it will be more complicated than that — but that will be the essential political message from the summit.” Diplomats say that Rutte’s plan, which hasn’t been made public, envisions ratcheting up direct defence spending by 0.2 percent each year over the next seven years until countries hit the 3.5 target. The other 1.5 percent of more loosely defined spending could include a wide-range of areas including infrastructure, cyber defence, border controls and even support for Ukraine. Diplomats admit it’s a budgetary sleight-of-hand aimed at softening the blow for countries, such as Canada, Spain and Italy, who are still only just limping towards two percent. They say some countries are pushing for more time to reach the new target and to stretch the broader spending parameters as wide as possible. But European heavyweights France and Germany seem on board — especially as Berlin has opened the doors for a major splurge on defence. And the main thing for now appears the United States is already throwing its weight behind the plan — making officials optimistic of reaching a deal.

AP [5/13/2025 8:07 PM, Lolita C. Baldor, 34586K] reports the Senate on Tuesday easily confirmed Troy Meink as the secretary of the Air Force, putting a former KC-135 tanker aircraft navigator and space expert in charge of the service. The vote was 74-25. Meink has almost four decades of experience in the military and in government, including managing some of the nation’s most sensitive satellite intelligence capabilities and the military’s space portfolio. He previously served as a deputy of the National Reconnaissance Office. While he is the last of the military’s three service secretaries to get confirmed, Meink is the one with the most extensive national security and military experience. “Your leadership is exactly what we need to refocus the Department of Defense on its core mission—lethality, readiness, and putting the warfighter first,” said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll served a short stint in the Army, but worked largely as a lawyer and investment banker. Navy Secretary John Phelan had been a private investment executive and businessman, and is the first leader of the sea service since 2006 not to have been a veteran. Meink assumes control of both the Air Force and U.S. Space Force, which was established by President Donald Trump during his first term and just hit its fifth year in existence. And his confirmation comes as the Trump administration is working to reshape the nation’s space capabilities, including the development of the “Golden Dome” missile defense system. The futuristic system was ordered by Trump during his first week in office. If successful, it would for the first time enable the U.S. to place weapons in space that are meant to destroy ground-based missiles within seconds of launch. Many countries, including Russia, China, North Korea and the U.S., are developing new ways to disable of defend the tens of thousands of satellites that ring the Earth as a way to cripple a potential adversary without fighting a traditional land-based war. Meink is from Lemmon, South Dakota, and joined the Air Force as an ROTC cadet at South Dakota State University in 1988. In his previous position at the National Reconnaissance Office, Meink oversaw a more than $15 billion budget to acquire new satellite capabilities.

FOX News [5/13/2025 12:51 PM, Greg Norman, 46189K] reports senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday a "hold on all DOJ political nominees," as he is demanding answers from the Trump administration over a jumbo jet gift from Qatar’s royal family, which the Democrat is calling a "grave national security threat.” "News of the Qatari government gifting Donald Trump a $400 million private jet to use as Air Force One is so corrupt that even Putin would give a double take. This is not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "So, in light of the deeply troubling news of a possible Qatari-funded Air Force One, and the reports that the Attorney General personally signed off on this clearly unethical deal, I am announcing a hold on all DOJ political nominees, until we get more answers," he added. A White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital in response that "Senator Schumer and his anti-law-and-order party are prioritizing politics over critical DOJ appointments, obstructing President Trump’s Make Safe Again agenda," and that "Cryin’ Chuck must end the antics, stop Senate stonewalling, and prioritize the safety and civil rights of Americans.” Trump has defended the U.S. preparing to accept a jumbo jet gift from Qatar’s royal family to serve as a temporary Air Force One as Boeing failed to roll out a new Air Force One fleet in a timely manner. "We’re very disappointed that it’s taking Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One," Trump said Monday morning. "You know, we have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old. And if you take a look at that, compared to the new plane of the equivalent, you know, stature at the time, it’s not even the same ballgame.” Reports spread Sunday morning that the Trump administration was expected to accept a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family. ABC News reported that Trump would use the jet until the end of his term, when it would be given to his presidential library. In his speech Tuesday, Schumer said he is calling on the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit to disclose all actions by those working as Qatari foreign agents in the U.S. "that could benefit President Trump or the Trump Organization.”

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The AP [5/13/2025 12:14 PM, Zeke Miller, Bassem Mroue and Aamer Madhani, 48304K] reports President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will ease sanctions on Syria and move to normalize relations with its new government to give the country “a chance at peace.” Trump made the announcement shortly before he was set to meet Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the onetime insurgent who last year led the overthrow of longtime leader Bashar Assad. Trump said the effort at rapprochement came at the urging of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “There is a new government that will hopefully succeed,” Trump said of Syria, adding, “I say, good luck, Syria. Show us something special.” The developments were a major boost for the Syrian president, who had been imprisoned in Iraq for his role in the insurgency following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the Arab country. Al-Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, that stormed Damascus, ending the 54-year rule of the Assad family. The U.S. has been weighing how to handle al-Sharaa since he took power in December. Gulf leaders have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and want Trump to follow, believing it is a bulwark against Iran’s return to influence in Syria, where it had helped prop up Assad’s government during a decadelong civil war. Then-President Joe Biden left the decision to Trump, whose administration has yet to formally recognize the new Syrian government. Sanctions imposed on Damascus under Assad also remain in place. Before Trump spoke, the White House said he had “agreed to say hello” to the Syrian president while in Saudi Arabia. The comments marked a striking change in tone from Trump and put him at odds with longtime U.S. ally Israel, which has been deeply skeptical of al-Sharaa’s extremist past and cautioned against swift recognition of the new government. Reuters [5/13/2025 6:39 PM, Yousef Saba, Gram Slattery, Pesha Magid, and Nafisa Eltahir, 41523K] reports that the end of sanctions on Syria would be a huge boost for a country that has been shattered by more than a decade of civil war. Rebels led by current President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled President Bashar al-Assad last December. Speaking at an investment forum in Riyadh at the start of a deals-focused trip that also brought a flurry of diplomacy, Trump said he was acting on a request to scrap the sanctions by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "Oh what I do for the crown prince," Trump said, drawing laughs from the audience. He said the sanctions had served an important function but that it was now time for the country to move forward. The move represents a major U.S. policy shift. The U.S. declared Syria a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979, added sanctions in 2004 and imposed further sanctions after the civil war broke out in 2011. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said on X that the planned move marked a "new start" in Syria’s path to reconstruction. Trump has agreed to briefly greet Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a White House official said.

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NPR [5/13/2025 1:20 PM, Aya Batrawy and Franco Ordoñez, 29983K]
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AP [5/14/2025 4:10 AM, Zeke Miller, Jon Gambrell and Aamer Madhani, 34586K] reports President Donald Trump met Wednesday with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, going face-to-face with the onetime insurgent leader who spent years imprisoned by U.S. forces after being captured in Iraq. Trump agreed to “say hello” to al-Sharaa before the U.S. leader wraps up his stay in Saudi Arabia and heads to Qatar, where Trump is to be honored with a state visit. His Mideast tour also will take him to the United Arab Emirates. Al-Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, stormed Damascus and ended the 54-year rule of the Assad family. Trump said he decided to meet with al-Sharaa after being encouraged to do so by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The president also pledged to lift yearslong sanctions on Syria. Prince Mohammed joined Trump and al-Sharaa for the meeting, which lasted for about 33 minutes. Erdogan also took part in the talks via video conference, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency. “There is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,” Trump said in a wide-ranging foreign policy address Tuesday in which he announced he was lifting the sanctions that have been in place in Syria since 2011. “That’s what we want to see in Syria.” Formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa joined the ranks of al-Qaida insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion and still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in Iraq. The U.S. once offered $10 million for information about his whereabouts because of his links to al-Qaida. Al-Sharaa came back to his home country of Syria after the conflict began in 2011 and led al-Qaida’s branch that used to be known as the Nusra Front. He later changed the name of his group to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and cut links with al-Qaida. The sanctions go back to the rule of Bashar Assad, who was ousted in December, and were intended to inflict major pain on his economy.

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NPR [5/14/2025 5:06 AM, Franco Ordoñez and Aya Batrawy, 29983K]

AP [5/13/2025 3:51 PM, Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller, and Jon Gambrell, 48304K] reports President Donald Trump on Tuesday held out Saudi Arabia as a model for a reimagined Middle East, using the first major foreign trip of his term to emphasize the promise of economic prosperity over instability in a region reeling from multiple wars. Offering partnership to longtime foes, Trump said he would move to lift sanctions on Syria and normalize relations with the new government led by a former insurgent, and he touted the U.S. role in bringing about a fragile ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthis. But Trump also indicated his patience was not endless, as he urged Iran to make a new nuclear deal with the U.S. or risk severe economic and military consequences. With his carrot and stick approach, Trump gave the clearest indication yet of his vision for remaking the region, where goals of fostering human rights and democracy promotion have been replaced by an emphasis on economic prosperity and regional stability. Trump also made a pitch to Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords started in his first term and recognize Israel. And he envisioned a hopeful future for the people of Gaza — emphasizing they must first cast off the influence of Hamas. “As I have shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be profound,” Trump said as he laid out his outlook for the region in a speech at an investment forum.

CBS News [5/13/2025 2:05 PM, Kaia Hubbard, Kathryn Watson and Olivia Rinaldi, 51661K] reports President Trump delivered remarks Tuesday at a U.S.-Saudi investment summit as the White House announced a $600 billion investment from Saudi Arabia, including what it touted as the "largest defense sales agreement in history." In Saudi Arabia, the president held up the country as an example for the Middle East, saying it’s achieved a "modern miracle the Arabian way," bashing efforts of "western intervention" and blasting former President Joe Biden. Mr. Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, announced multiple economic and defense agreements, an indication of Mr. Trump’s intent to deepen U.S.-Saudi ties, despite long-held concerns from State Department reports and human rights groups about its restriction of civil liberties, political rights and women’s rights. The Saudis are hosting a state dinner in the city of Dir’iyah in honor of Mr. Trump. Speaking at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, the president said it’s a "tremendous honor" to be invited back to Saudi Arabia, where his first foreign trip took place in 2017, and called bin Salman a "friend." U.S. intelligence agencies believed bin Salman ordered the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018, but the U.S. determined that he has immunity due to his role as Saudi prime minister. "The U.S.-Saudi relationship has been a bedrock of security and prosperity," Mr. Trump said on Tuesday. "Today, we reaffirmed this important bond, and we take the next steps to make our relationship closer, stronger and more powerful than ever before." Mr. Trump also has personal business ties to Saudi Arabia. Last year, the Trump Organization announced plans for the development of a Trump Tower in Jeddah, a major Saudi city along the Red Sea. Eric Trump, the president’s son and the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, told Reuters that the Trump Organization also has plans for a Trump-branded property in Riyadh. Mr. Trump said Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, "is becoming not just a seat of government, but a major business, cultural and high-tech capital of the entire world." "It’s crucial for the wider world to know this great transformation has not come from western intervention or flying people in beautiful planes giving you lectures on how to live and how to govern your own affairs, no," he said. "The gleaming marbles of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation builders, neocons or liberal nonprofits like those who spent trillions and trillions of dollars failing to develop Kabul, Baghdad, so many other cities," he said. "Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought by the people of the region themselves. ... In the end, the so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built, and the interventionalists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves." "In recent years, far too many American presidents have been afflicted with the notion that it’s our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins," the president added. Specifically, the president and crown prince signed agreements for judicial cooperation between the Ministry of Justice in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Department of Justice, coordination between the Pentagon and Saudi Ministry of Defense for modernization and development of the capabilities of the Saudi armed forces; and an international partnership program between the Saudi Ministry of Interior and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

CBS Austin [5/13/2025 3:00 PM, Austin Denean, 602K] reports President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to kick off a four-day trip to the Middle East centered around securing economic agreements and investments in the U.S. as the region is also dealing with the war in Gaza and the administration is trying to work out a nuclear deal with Iran. Trump arrived in Riyadh Tuesday morning with a Saudi F-15 escort as Air Force One touched down at the airport in a lavish greeting ceremony with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto leader. His time in Saudi Arabia is expected to be filled with numerous business deals that will then stretch to visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Trump and bin Salman signed an economic partnership strategy along with several commercial agreements the White House said was worth more than $600 billion in areas including artificial intelligence, energy and mining over four years, though not all of the deals were binding. They also announced what the White House touted as the biggest defense sales agreement in history worth $142 billion. Trump spoke Tuesday afternoon at a U.S.-Saudi business forum that includes several high-profile American executives like Elon Musk, Sam Altman from OpenAI and Jensen Huang of Nvidia. The president is reportedly hoping to secure trillions in investments from the countries into the U.S., though economists and analysts have questioned the practicality of that goal. He is expected to announce deals with the three countries he is visiting on a variety of areas like artificial intelligence, energy cooperation and more arms sales to Saudi Arabia. "You achieved a modern miracle, the Arabian way," Trump said. "The Gulf nations have shown this entire region a path towards safe and orderly societies with improving quality of life, flourishing economic growth, expanding personal freedoms and increasing responsibilities on the world stage.” Trump is also arriving at a time of heightened tensions after two years of war in Gaza that has also included escalations in fighting with Hezbollah, the collapse of Syria’s dictatorship and a weakened Iran that is in talks about its nuclear program with American officials. During a speech on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, Trump warned Tehran of another maximum pressure campaign if it doesn’t take a "new and a batter path" in the nuclear talks.

The Hill [5/13/2025 4:30 PM, Filip Timotija, 12829K] reports the Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that it has sanctioned a network of more than 20 companies it says have supplied Iranian oil to China. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned nearly two dozen firms on Tuesday that it says have assisted in dispatching billions of dollars’ worth of oil to Beijing for Iran’s armed forces general staff and Sepehr Energy, its primary commercial affiliate. “Today’s action underscores our continued focus on intensifying pressure on every aspect of Iran’s oil trade, which the regime uses to fund its dangerous and destabilizing activities,” Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “The United States will continue targeting this primary source of revenue, so long as the regime continues its support for terrorism and proliferation of deadly weapons,” Bessent added. The department imposed sanctions on Huangdao Inspection and Certification Co., stating they have been providing oil cargo inspection services to ships already sanctioned for carrying Iranian oil.

AP [5/13/2025 12:17 PM, Qassim Abdul-Zahra, 48304K] reports more than 19,000 prisoners have been released in Iraq so far this year under a broad new amnesty law that eases prison crowding and frees some people convicted of terrorism-related crimes, judicial authorities said Tuesday. The amnesty covers some people convicted of the terror-related offense of membership in the Islamic State group, which had been seen by Sunni Muslims as disproportionately targeting their community. However, anyone convicted of a killing in connection with terrorism-related charges is not eligible for the amnesty. Other crimes covered under the amnesty include corruption, theft and drug use. The number of releases were announced following a meeting Tuesday in Baghdad among top judicial officials led by the head of the Supreme Judicial Council Faeq Zeidan to discuss the implementation of the new law, passed earlier this year. A statement released after the meeting said that 19,381 inmates were released from prisons during the first four months of the year. It added that the overall number of beneficiaries of the law, including those sentenced in absentia, those released on bail and those with outstanding arrest warrants, reached 93,597. Iraq’s prisons face a crisis of overcrowding, with the justice minister saying earlier this month that the country’s 31 prisons hold about 65,000 inmates despite being built to hold only about half that number. Thousands more detainees remain in the custody of security agencies but have not yet been transferred to the Justice Ministry due to a lack of prison capacity. Among provisions of the new law adopted in January is that some people convicted of terrorism charges can ask for a retrial if they assert that their confessions were taken under duress while in detention.

Bloomberg [5/13/2025 7:47 AM, Shruti Srivastava, 16228K] reports India’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to travel to the US on May 17-20 to hold talks with Trump administration officials as New Delhi threatens to impose retaliatory tariffs on some American goods, a person familiar with the matter said. Goyal is expected to meet US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for talks on a bilateral trade deal, the person said, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The negotiations will include New Delhi’s proposals to impose retaliatory tariffs on some US goods in response to Washington’s higher levies on steel and aluminum, the person said. A team led by India’s chief trade negotiator, Rajesh Agrawal, will also travel to the US on May 19-22 to discuss issues around market access, rules of origin and non-tariff measures, the person said. India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking further information.

FOX Business [5/13/2025 6:04 AM, Landon Mion, 10702K] reports China has removed its ban on airlines accepting Boeing planes after Beijing and Washington agreed to temporarily reduce the steep tariffs on one another, according to a report. Officials in China have begun notifying domestic carriers and government agencies this week that they may resume deliveries of aircraft produced in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Last month, at least three jets at Boeing’s delivery center in China were returned to the U.S. Boeing said customers in China would not accept delivery of new planes in response to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Because of this, the planemaker said it was seeking to resell potentially dozens of aircraft. On Monday, China and the U.S. agreed to cut reciprocal tariffs by 115% for 90 days while officials continue to negotiate a trade deal. The two countries with the world’s biggest economies had been involved in a trade war in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, Beijing said Chinese airlines and Boeing had been severely impacted by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. China had already granted exemptions from the soaring tariffs to some aerospace equipment parts, including engines and landing gear, before Monday’s agreement. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [5/13/2025 5:15 PM, Farah Master, Casey Hall, and Lisa Baertlein, 41523K] reports he U.S. will cut the "de minimis" tariff for low-value shipments from China to as low as 30%, according to a White House executive order and industry experts, further de-escalating a potentially damaging trade war between the world’s two largest economies. The order published late on Monday offers some relief to big Chinese e-commerce players Shein and Temu and follows a weekend deal between Beijing and Washington to unwind for 90 days most of the tit-for-tat tariffs imposed on each other’s goods since early April. While their joint statement, following talks in Geneva did not mention the de minimis duties, the order signed, by President Donald Trump said levies for those direct-to-consumer postal shipments will be reduced to 54% from 120% for items valued at up to $800, starting on Wednesday. An alternative flat fee of $100 per postal package remains in effect, but a planned June 1 increase to $200 was cancelled. There are different rules for packages handled by commercial delivery firms such as United Parcel Service (UPS.N), FedEx (FDX.N), and DHL (DHLn.DE), which shipped millions of Shein and Temu packages before Trump ended duty-free status for Chinese shipments valued under $800.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [5/13/2025 11:25 AM, Filip Timotija, 12829K]

Daily Wire [5/13/2025 12:59 PM, Hank Berrien, 4672K] reports the Trump administration’s Department of Justice has announced that a federal grand jury indicted a Chinese company and three Chinese nationals for allegedly illegally importing equipment capable of producing millions of potentially lethal fake pills. The indictment, unsealed on Monday, targeted CapsulCN International Co. Ltd. (CapsulCN) and Xiochuan "Ricky" Pan, 40, Tingyan "Monica" Yang, 37, and Xi "Inna" Chen, 30, all of whom were charged with smuggling, Controlled Substances Act, and money laundering offenses in connection with CapsulCN’s unlawful import and distribution of tableting machines (also known as "pill presses"), encapsulating machines, and counterfeit die molds. "Over a quarter of a million Americans have died from a fentanyl overdose since 2018," USA Facts notes. "During 2023, approximately 72,000, or nearly seven in 10, drug overdose deaths in the United States were estimated to involve illegally manufactured fentanyls (IMFs)," the CDC has reported. "Four internet domains used by CapsulCN to market and sell illicit pill-making equipment to U.S. customers were seized today in connection with this investigation," the DOJ revealed. "This indictment and today’s domain seizures send an unmistakable message to criminals in the People’s Republic of China and across the world - the Department will use every weapon in its arsenal to combat those who facilitate the manufacture and distribution of deadly drugs in the United States," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated. "This U.S. Attorney’s Office is focused on bringing the full force of justice to anyone who conspires to poison our communities with fentanyl," said Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas. "Whether through the importation of pill presses and related materials, as alleged in this indictment, or through trafficking precursor chemicals and the drug itself, it is evident that bad actors are determined to harm Americans with fentanyl. Our federal prosecutors, through collaborative efforts with our law enforcement partners, are determined to stop them."

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