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 [5/23/2025 3:22 AM, Michael S. Schmidt and Michael C. Bender, 330K] reports the Trump administration on Thursday said it would halt Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, taking aim at a crucial funding source for the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college in a major escalation of the administration’s efforts to pressure the elite school to fall in line with the president’s agenda. The administration notified Harvard about the decision — which could affect about a quarter of the school’s student body — after a back-and-forth in recent weeks over the legality of a sprawling records request as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation, according to three people with knowledge of the negotiations. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The latest move intensifies the administration’s attempt to upend the culture of higher education by directly subverting the ability of one of the nation’s premier universities to attract the best and brightest students from all over the world. That capability, across all of academia, has long been one of the greatest sources of academic, economic and scientific strength in America. It is also likely to prompt a second legal challenge from Harvard, according to another person familiar with the school’s thinking who insisted on anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The university sued the Trump administration last month over the government’s attempt to impose changes to its curriculum, admissions policies and hiring practices. “I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked,” a letter to the university from Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said. A copy of the letter was obtained by New York Times. The Department of Homeland Security said the action applied to current and future students. “Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students, and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the department said in a news release after Ms. Noem posted the administration’s letter on social media later on Thursday. The Hill [5/22/2025 9:52 PM, Filip Timotija, 18649K] reports that “This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus," Noem said in a statement. "It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multi-billion-dollar endowments. Noem said the Ivy League institution had "plenty of opportunity to do the right thing," but "it refused.” DHS chief said that Harvard lost their SEVP certification because of its "failure to adhere to the law" and that the pause should "serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.” Harvard said that the federal government’s action is "unlawful.” "We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University — and this nation — immeasurably," the school’s spokesperson told The Hill. "We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission," the spokesperson added. International students make up 27.2 percent of the school’s student body, with 6,793 students, according to Harvard’s enrollment data. Tuition at Harvard for the 2025-2026 academic year will be $59,320. When room and board are included, the total cost ends up being nearly $87,000. Foreign students tend to pay more to institutions than Americans, as they are ineligible for federal financial aid. Harvard has need-blind admissions, which are available to all students, regardless of nationality. Therefore, the student’s financial need would not impact their chance of being admitted. Additionally, Harvard says it offers 100 percent need-based aid. "This means that financial aid supports the students who will benefit from it the most. Furthermore, we meet 100 percent of our students’ demonstrated financial need," the school said. The AP [5/22/2025 8:15 PM, Collin Binkley and Michael Casey, 56000K] reports that in a letter to Harvard on Thursday, Noem said the school’s sanction is “the unfortunate result of Harvard’s failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.” It bars Harvard from hosting international students for the upcoming 2025-26 school year. Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces a trove of records on foreign students within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage, of foreign students participating in protests or dangerous activity on campus. The action revoked Harvard’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which gives the school the ability to sponsor international students to get their visas and attend school in the United States.

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Bloomberg [5/22/2025 10:20 PM, David Voreacos and Erik Larson, 19320K] reports Harvard University has so far been reluctant to ask a federal judge to immediately block the Trump administration’s attacks. But the extraordinary order barring Harvard from enrolling international students adds new urgency to the fight. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday said the government is revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll students from overseas, a group that currently makes up about 27% of the student body. International students must transfer or lose their student visas, and incoming first-years or transfers can’t matriculate. The government has already frozen more than $2.6 billion in funding to Harvard, with a court challenge by the school set to be aired in July. Trump has also threatened to revoke the school’s tax-exempt status. But this latest action takes direct aim at current students, and at one of the school’s top sources of revenue: Tuition. “Because it directly affects the ability of students to enroll or remain enrolled at Harvard, I think they’ll seek a temporary restraining order and I think they’ll receive one,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at University of California, Berkeley. Arguing that the government’s ban goes into uncharted territory and asking a judge to block it temporarily could be the most efficient way for Harvard to try to avoid disruptions for the coming academic year. Harvard, the country’s oldest and richest university, has not signaled its legal intentions yet. In a statement, a spokesperson said the school is “fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University — and this nation — immeasurably.” The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Some legal experts said courts are likely to find that the government’s action lacks a reasoned basis and smacks of punishing Harvard for political reasons. “This is so disproportionate to any problem there may be at Harvard that it’s hard to imagine an an impartial judge thinking this is appropriate,” said Pamela Karlan, a law professor at Stanford University. “I’m trying to imagine the judge in this country who looks at this and says, ‘Oh yeah, sure, no problem.”‘

New York Times [5/22/2025 9:36 PM, Jenna Russell and Miles J. Herszenhorn, 138952K] reports that, just before the Trump administration announced on Thursday that it would bar international students from Harvard, staff members from the university’s International Office met with graduating seniors at the Kennedy School of Government, congratulating them on their degrees — and on surviving the chaos of recent months. Then, within minutes of the meeting’s end, news alerts lit up the students’ phones. Chaos was breaking out again: Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, had notified Harvard that its permission to enroll international students was revoked. With that, the degrees and futures of thousands of Harvard students — and an integral piece of the university’s identity and culture — were plunged into deep uncertainty. “There are so many students from all over the world who came to Harvard to make it a better place and to change America and change their home countries for the better,” said Karl Molden, a student from Vienna who had just completed his sophomore year. “Now it’s all at risk of falling apart, which is breaking my heart.” The university has faced rapid-fire aggressions since its president, Alan M. Garber, told the Trump administration in April that Harvard would not give in to demands to change its hiring and admissions practices and its curriculum. After the government froze more than $2 billion in grants, Harvard filed suit in federal court in Boston. Since then, the administration has gutted the university’s research funding, upending budgets and forcing some hard-hit programs to reimagine their scope and mission. The end of international enrollment would transform a university where 6,800 students, more than a quarter of the total, come from other countries, a number that has grown steadily in recent decades. Graduate programs would be hit especially hard. At the Kennedy School, 59 percent of students come from outside the United States. International students make up 40 percent of the enrollment at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and 35 percent at the Harvard Business School. “This will destroy the university as we know it,” said Kirsten Weld, a professor who specializes in Latin American history and the president of the Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “Harvard is situated in the United States physically, but its students and faculty hail from all over the world. That is fundamental to the work and mission of the institution. You cannot take that away and have an institution left at the end of it.”

Reuters [5/23/2025 5:18 AM, Laurie Chen and Larissa Liao, 51390K] reports Chinese students at Harvard were cancelling flights home on Friday and seeking legal advice on staying in the United States after President Donald Trump’s administration blocked the famed university from enrolling foreign students. The order, which said the university coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), among other accusations, will force current foreign students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status and could be widened to other colleges. Harvard called the government’s action "unlawful" and said it was "fully committed" to educating foreign students, of which Chinese nationals form the largest group at the elite Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "I think the Chinese community definitely feels like a more targeted entity compared to other groups," said Zhang, a 24-year-old studying for the PhD in physics. "Some friends gave me advice that I should try not to stay in my current accommodation if things escalate, because they think it’s possible that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent can take you from your apartment," said Zhang, who did not give his first name for security reasons. Zhang says many among Harvard’s Chinese students are worried about their visa status and internship prospects though others believe the school is likely to win any legal battles. The number of Chinese international students in the United States has dropped to about 277,000 in 2024 from a high of around 370,000 in 2019, driven partly by growing tension between the world’s two biggest economies and heightened U.S. government scrutiny of some Chinese students. Chinese nationals made up a fifth of Harvard’s foreign student intake in 2024, the university says. "Our teachers have sent us an email saying the school is actively working hard on a response within the next 72 hours and aims to negotiate with the government," said Teresa, a Chinese postgraduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her post on Friday on the Instagram-like Xiaohongshu platform was titled "Harvard refugee".The U.S. action "will only damage the image and international credibility of the United States", China’s foreign ministry said, while vowing to "firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests" of its students overseas.

New York Times [5/22/2025 9:36 PM, Miriam Jordan, 138952K] reports the Trump administration wants to halt Harvard from enrolling international students. But how can the federal government dictate which students a private university can and cannot enroll? The government has enormous power over who comes into the United States, and who doesn’t. For college and universities, the Department of Homeland Security has a vast system just to manage and track the enrollment of the hundreds of thousands of international students studying across the country at any given time. But a school needs government certification to use this database, known as SEVIS, for the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. And this vulnerability is what the Trump administration is exploiting against Harvard. Homeland Security says that effective immediately, it has revoked a certification that allows Harvard to have access to SEVIS. Oddly enough, the students may still have valid visas. But Harvard is no longer able to log them into this all-important database. The announcement was a significant escalation in the administration’s efforts to pressure Harvard to fall in line with the president’s agenda. How does Harvard use the SEVIS database? For each international student, Harvard inputs data into SEVIS to show that a student is enrolled full time, and thus meeting the terms of the visa that the student was issued. The system is overseen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of Homeland Security, which announced the termination on Thursday. At Harvard, more than a quarter of its total student body, or 6,800 students, come from other countries. How are international students at Harvard affected? The SEVIS termination for Harvard would mean that all foreign students at the school would be in limbo. The students would, en masse, become deportable immediately, unless they transferred to another school, or unless a court intervened to block the termination by Homeland Security. Students who took no action to enroll elsewhere would be violating the terms of their status and subject to removal.

FOX News [5/22/2025 10:22 PM, Staff, 46189K] reports DHS Secretary Kristi Noem discusses the Trump administration’s blocking of Harvard University’s international student enrollment and more on ‘The Story.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Axios [5/22/2025 8:09 PM, Sareen Habeshian, 13163K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned universities on Thursday to "get your act together" after halting Harvard’s program to enroll international students. The Trump administration has targeted educational institutions, pressuring universities to meet its demands or risk losing funding and tax-exempt status. In the latest escalation, Noem on Thursday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to terminate Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, and said those currently enrolled have to transfer or lose their legal status. She accused the university of "fostering violence, antisemitism and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus. Harvard called the move unlawful and said it’s "fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host international students and scholars." "This should be a warning to every other university to get your act together," Noem said on Fox News on Thursday. "Get your act together because we are coming to make sure that these programs ... are facilitating an environment where students can learn, where they’re safe and that they’re not discriminated against based on their race or their religion," she continued. "Anti-semitism will not be stood for and any participation with a country or an entity or a terrorist group that hates America and perpetuates this kind of violence, we will stop it, and we will not allow that to happen."

Breitbart [5/22/2025 11:17 PM, Ian Hanchett, 3077K] reports on Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem reacted to allegations from Consul General of Israel in New York Ofir Akunis that Qatar is responsible for anti-Israel propaganda on campuses by stating that while she isn’t an expert on the issue, “there’s validity to what he has said, but I also think that we’ve got a lot of influences here and we’ve got a lot of people that have facilitated this that have a different agenda.” Host Gillian Turner asked, “Israel’s Consul General here in New York joined our air a short while ago. He really hammered home his case, which is that he says the Qataris are at fault here, they are the ones exporting anti-Israel thought and rot to colleges across the United States. How do you see that? What’s your reaction to that?” Noem responded, “I think it was very interesting to listen to the Israeli ambassador to the U.N. this morning, as well, that was doing several interviews, where he talked about he felt like a lot of the antisemitism that we saw across the country in the last year or two started on these college campuses, and I really do believe that what these colleges have done by facilitating an environment that allows this kind of hatred to grow and to spread and misinformation to continue to be proliferated among these students is wrong and it’s created a situation now where we have racism and violence and assaults happening and this student program was intended for students who wanted to come here and learn in America, appreciated the wonderful opportunity that it provided and it’s morphed into this terrible situation where people are really victims, victims of the system. So, we’re bringing the oversight that the last administration did not bring and we’re going to make sure that this student exchange program provides an environment where students can learn and not be discriminated against.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The AP [5/22/2025 2:56 PM, Janie Har] reports a judge in California blocked the Trump administration Thursday from terminating the legal status of international students nationwide while a court case challenging previous terminations is pending. The order by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White in Oakland bars the government from arresting, incarcerating or moving students elsewhere based on their legal status until the case is resolved. Students could still be arrested for other reasons and their legal status can still be revoked if they are convicted of a violent crime carrying a prison term of more than a year. Most courts hearing these types of cases have granted protections to the person suing, but White said the government’s actions "wreaked havoc" not only on the lives of plaintiffs but other nonimmigrants in the U.S. on student visas. White, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican, issued the nationwide injunction sought by attorneys for about two dozen students who sued after their legal status was abruptly terminated in early April by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. More than 4,700 international students had their permission to study in the U.S. canceled this spring, with little notice or explanation, as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants and foreign nationals. In court hearings, Department of Homeland Security officials said they ran the names of student visa holders through an FBI-run database that contains the names of suspects and people who have been arrested, even if the charges were dropped or they were never charged with a crime. Some students left the U.S. rather than risk being deported to a third country. Government lawyers say the administration is exercising its prerogative to administer the Immigration and Nationality Act. They say students do not need the court’s protections because ICE reinstated legal status and was mailing status reactivation letters to affected students. But White found those actions insufficient. He said that the erroneous revocation remained in the students’ record, impacting their ability to obtain a new visa or change their nonimmigrant status. Some students are still dealing with fallout from the previous terminations and there is no guarantee they won’t have their legal status revoked again on a whim. He also chastised the administration for unveiling new policies or new actions in an apparent attempt to satisfy the courts’ concerns. Axios [5/22/2025 9:06 PM, Andrew Childers, 13163K] reports "Today’s ruling delays justice and seeks to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II," said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement Thursday evening. "It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments; that fact hasn’t changed," she added." "The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense to our student visa system, and we expect a higher court to vindicate us in this. We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side."

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CBS News [5/22/2025 5:38 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51860K] reports the Trump administration on Thursday moved to terminate a longstanding court settlement that has obligated the U.S. government for nearly three decades to provide basic rights and services to migrant children in its custody. Since 1997, the settlement, known as the Flores Agreement, has required federal U.S. immigration officials to hold migrant children in facilities that are safe and sanitary; provide them access to lawyers; and seek their expeditious release from government custody. The legal agreement has also allowed lawyers to inspect detention facilities holding migrant minors, to determine whether conditions are adequate for children and that the government is complying with the provisions of the court settlement. While the settlement initially largely only applied to unaccompanied minors, in 2015, U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee extended the protections to migrant children detained with their parents, generally limiting the detention of such minors to 20 days. In a filing on Thursday, the Justice Department told Gee, who is based in Los Angeles, that the Flores settlement should be "completely" terminated. It argued the agreement has hamstrung the executive branch from effectively setting immigration policy and incentivized illegal border crossings by migrant families and unaccompanied minors. The Justice Department also argued that, through laws and government regulations, the government has codified some of the provisions of the Flores agreement. The Justice Department on Thursday also asked Gee to lift a ruling that blocked the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing a 2019 regulation that would have allowed the government to detain migrant families indefinitely, bypassing her 20-day limit.

NewsMax [5/22/2025 9:00 PM, Adriana Gomez Licon, 4622K] reports the foreign men convicted of crimes who were placed on a deportation flight headed for the chaotic nation of South Sudan were originally from countries as far away as Vietnam. They had lived in various places from California to Iowa, Nebraska to Florida, with one serving a sentence of nearly 30 years. They were accused and convicted of crimes ranging from murder, to rape, robbery and assault. Despite their criminal records, a federal judge says the White House violated a court order on deportations to third countries, adding these eight migrants aboard the plane were not given a meaningful opportunity to object that the deportation could put them in danger. Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston ordered a new set of interviews with the migrants, either back in the U.S. or abroad. Trump administration officials accused "activist judges" of advocating the release of dangerous criminals. "No country on Earth wanted to accept them because their crimes are so uniquely monstrous and barbaric," said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. At least one of the victim’s family members has come out to oppose the way the deportation was conducted and the fact that her family wasn’t notified, while saying she had long hoped the man would leave the United States. These are the migrants who were part of the deportation flight. The only man from South Sudan on the flight was 33-year-old Dian Peter Domach. He was convicted in 2013 of robbery, for which he was sentenced to 8 to 14 years in prison; and of possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, for which he was sentenced to 6 to 10 years. Those sentences were to be served one after the other. The Department of Homeland Security said Domach was also convicted of driving under the influence. While in prison, he was convicted of "assault by a confined person" and sentenced to an additional 18 to 20 months. According to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, Domach was released on "discretionary parole" on May 2 and arrested by immigration authorities six days later. Records said he represented himself on appeal and in the most recent prison assault case. One of the two deportees with life sentences is 48-year-old Thongxay Nilakout from Laos. He was convicted of killing a German woman and wounding her husband in 1994 when he was 17. The couple was visiting a popular tourist lookout east of Los Angeles during a trip to see their daughter. Nilakout was sentenced to life in prison but was released in 2023 after his case was reviewed following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said mandatory life sentences for minors were unconstitutional. Nilakout was ordered removed to Laos by an immigration judge in 2023 and waived appeal, court records show. The couple’s daughter, Birte Pfleger, is now a history professor at California State University, Los Angeles. She called it a "real moral dilemma," explaining she is not happy with the way the deportation was conducted. "No matter which way you slice it, you cannot violate people’s due process. That’s a fundamental constitutional right that has existed for well over 250 years," she said.

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The New York Post [5/22/2025 6:04 PM, Ronny Reyes, 49956K] reports the Trump administration "unquestionably" violated a court order when it put eight migrants with violent criminal convictions onto a flight to South Sudan, a Biden-nominated federal judge ruled Wednesday. US District Judge Brian Murphy, who was nominated to the seat by former President Joe Biden in 2024, slammed the White House for failing to provide the men with adequate due process when ordering them on a flight bound to the African nation, of which only one of them is actually from. Murphy alleges that the eight immigrants were not given a "meaningful opportunity" to object that the deportation could put them in danger in South Sudan, one of the world’s most dangerous and war-torn nations suffering from food shortage, ethnic conflict and violent crime. While the White House touted that it had sent the "monstrous and barbaric" immigrants to South Sudan, President Trump confirmed that the men are currently being held in Djibouti, a small country on the Horn of Africa where the US holds a military base. South Sudan officials, who did not consent to the deportations, also confirmed that no foreign migrants had arrived in the country. Maj. Gen. James Monday Enoka, the nation’s police spokesman, said that any arrival would be investigated, with all foreign-born migrants set to be "re-deported to their correct country." The Trump administration has defended the deportations, with Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for DHS, mocking Murphy’s order to reprocess the migrants as "deranged." Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, added that the countries where the migrants were from — Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan — refused to take the men back. Breitbart [5/22/2025 12:55 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports "These depraved individuals have all had their day in court and been given final deportation orders," McLaughlin said in a statement. "A reminder of who was on this plane: murderers, child rapists, an individual who raped a mentally & physically disabled person. "The message this activist judge is sending to victims and their families is we don’t care," McLaughlin said. "President Trump and Secretary Noem are working every day to get vicious criminals out of our country while activist judges are fighting to bring them back onto American soil."

NPR [5/22/2025 5:49 PM, Jasmine Garsd, 37958K] reports the White House has announced that a flight with eight immigrants which was reportedly heading to South Sudan will instead remain in the East African country of Djibouti for at least two weeks, in order to comply with a federal court order. The migrants are from Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cuba and South Sudan. Earlier this week, they were placed on a deportation flight out of Texas. Lawyers representing the eight migrants were told they were being sent to South Sudan, but the Department of Homeland Security declined to confirm the final destination of the flight. In a hearing in Boston on Wednesday, federal Judge Brian E. Murphy of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts said the Trump administration was in violation of his injunction which prevents people from being deported to countries other than their own without a chance to challenge their deportation order. They must also be given notice in their native language. Judge Murphy ordered that the individuals be given at least 15 days to challenge their deportation. The White House has said the migrants in question are violent criminals. Documents provided by D.H.S showed that the men had been convicted of crimes including murder, sexual assault and robbery. During a briefing earlier today, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the deported immigrants will stay in Djibouti for two weeks. She also accused Murphy of undermining U.S. diplomatic relationships and national security. Murphy did not rule out holding the Trump administration in contempt of court for violating his initial order, but said that would be left for a later time. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been negotiating with several other countries to accept people being deported from the U.S. NBC News [5/22/2025 3:07 PM, Kimmy Yam and Laura Strickler, 44540K] reports that during a briefing, Leavitt placed blame on the U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts, following a hearing Wednesday after eight people from Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, Mexico and South Sudan had been deported to a third country. Lawyers had said the flight was headed for South Sudan, but the Department of Homeland Security says it won’t confirm. Murphy had said in the hearing the Trump administration was in violation of a previous injunction that prevented people from being sent to countries other than their own without opportunities to voice their fears of torture or persecution, or without proper notice ahead of time. Murphy ordered that the individuals be provided legal counsel and an opportunity to raise their fears. He also ordered the deportees to be given at least 15 days to reopen immigration proceedings and challenge their deportation in the event the government still aims to send them to a third country. Without sufficient time to consult an attorney or family members, the judge said, it was impossible for the immigrants to challenge their deportations to a third country.

Washington Examiner [5/22/2025 3:33 PM, Naomi Lim, 1934K] reports White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt ripped a federal judge who has prevented a group of immigrants from being deported to a third country, this time South Sudan. Leavitt contended that the eight immigrants, who are in Djibouti, "had final orders of removal from our country" but that Murphy is making "federal officials to remain in Djibouti for over two weeks, threatening our U.S. diplomatic relationships with countries around the world, and putting these agents’ lives in danger by having to be with these illegal murderers, criminals, and rapists" after he ordered this week that the Department of Homeland Security provide them 15 days to reopen their immigration cases. Leavitt, like the Department of Homeland Security in court, asserted that the migrants, from the likes of Burma, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, South Sudan, and Vietnam, are "vicious illegal criminals."

Law&Crime [5/22/2025 11:22 AM, Jerry Lambe] reports the Trump administration continued its assault on the judiciary Wednesday with a personal attack on a federal judge in Massachusetts after he ruled that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had violated his preliminary injunction by deporting multiple migrants to South Sudan — a country from which none of the men are from — without due process or a reasonable opportunity to raise concerns of their fear of the war-torn nation, an action he said could amount to criminal contempt of court. Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, lashed out at U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy, who earlier in the day said that the administration’s summary deportations of the migrants were “unquestionably violative” of his order to ensure the detainees were “reasonably” afforded due process before being removed to a third country. “This ruling is deranged. These depraved individuals have final deportation orders AND have all been convicted of heinous crimes,” McLaughlin wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter. “A reminder of who was on this plane: murderers, child rapists, an individual who raped a mentally & physically disabled person.” McLaughlin’s invective came after Murphy issued a two-page order explaining how to remedy the administration’s violation of his court order. The judge ordered that each of the six men removed to South Sudan — all of whom remained onboard the plane in DHS custody as of yesterday evening — must be afforded reasonable fear interviews, counsel of their choosing, access to attorneys for the class of plaintiffs in the case, phone access, and technology “commensurate with the access they would receive were they in DHS custody within United States borders.” Additionally, Murphy ordered that the detainees be given “no fewer than 72-hours notice” of their reasonable fear interview. If DHS determines that a detainee’s fear “falls short of reasonable fear,” the detainee must be provided at least 15 days “to seek to move to reopen immigration proceedings to challenge the potential third-county removal.” Under the order, DHS can return the migrants to the U.S. or provide such processes overseas, provided they are kept in conditions “commensurate to those the individuals would be housed in were they still in DHS custody within the United States.”

The Hill [5/22/2025 9:16 AM, Alex Gangitano, 18649K] reports President Trump on Thursday morning hailed House passage of the sweeping bill full of his legislative priorities, thanking GOP leadership and the lawmakers who voted for it. The bill, titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed early Thursday in a 215-214 vote after days of marathon meetings, intense negotiations that included Trump going to the Capitol and lawmakers going to the White House, and a series of last-minute changes to the bill that were critical to convincing some GOP holdouts. “‘THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ has PASSED the House of Representatives! This is arguably the most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History of our Country! The Bill includes MASSIVE Tax CUTS, No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, Tax Deductions when you purchase an American Made Vehicle, along with strong Border Security measures, Pay Raises for our ICE and Border Patrol Agents, Funding for the Golden Dome, ‘TRUMP Savings Accounts’ for newborn babies, and much more!” the president said on Truth Social. “Great job by Speaker Mike Johnson, and the House Leadership, and thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill!” The president bashed Democrats in his message and called on the Senate to get the bill sent to his desk quickly.

Washington Examiner [5/22/2025 9:26 AM, Naomi Lim, 1934K] reports President Donald Trump urged the Senate to quickly pass his legislative agenda after the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" cleared a vote in the House on Thursday morning. The tax cut-and-border measure will likely be changed when it is considered by the Senate, but Trump heralded it as "arguably the most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History of our Country" following its narrow passage in the House. "The Bill includes MASSIVE Tax CUTS, No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, Tax Deductions when you purchase an American Made Vehicle, along with strong Border Security measures, Pay Raises for our ICE and Border Patrol Agents, Funding for the Golden Dome, ‘TRUMP Savings Accounts’ for newborn babies, and much more," Trump wrote on social media. Trump congratulated House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and his leadership team after they wrangled fiscal conservatives and more centrist members of the Republican conference to get behind the bill. That act required a marathon of negotiations, with reforms to Medicaid and a higher state and local tax deduction cap serving as the largest sticking points. "Thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill," the president wrote. "Now, it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work, and send this Bill to my desk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! There is no time to waste.” At the same time, Democrats condemned the bill for introducing what they claimed were "the largest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in American history."

Daily Wire [5/22/2025 9:10 AM, Mary Margaret Olohan, 3816K] reports Border Czar Tom Homan is celebrating the passage of President Donald Trump’s "Big, Beautiful" reconciliation bill, arguing in an interview with The Daily Wire that the bill is pivotal to protecting the southern border and empowering border authorities to do their jobs. "We’ve made a lot of progress on the border, but we want to keep it permanent," he told The Daily Wire outside the White House Wednesday, ahead of the bill’s passage. "We need the money, not just for the border, but interior enforcement operations. Money for the border is gonna help continue building the border wall. Every place the border barrier’s been built, illegal immigration went down, illegal drug flow went down, so we gotta put more border wall up." The Republican-led House passed the bill in a 215 to 214 vote early Thursday morning, a significant victory for the president after back-to-back, all-night sessions in the Rules Committee and on the House floor. The Trump administration has emphasized the massive role that the bill would play in securing the border. As he spoke with The Daily Wire on Wednesday, Homan broke down the specifics of how the bill would assist in guarding the United States from illegal entries. There’s also technology in the existing border wall that must be implemented, Homan argued. Particularly in areas where there is not a wall, or authorities are unable to build a wall, the border czar said it is important to have the technology to "let us know when someone’s crossing the border." "We need the technology added to the wall so border patrol agents can communicate to one another in dead areas. It’s gonna let us know when people approach the wall, climb over the wall, dig under the wall. We need that technology. So wall and technology plus technology where there’s not a wall, right?" "Also, technology at the ports of entry," he added. "So trade can continue at a fast pace, but we have best technology, find drugs and other contraband coming through the ports." U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also needs money, Homan pointed out. "ICE is in the hole right now," he explained. "They’ve got about 50,000 people in beds. We’re funded for 34,000. ICE is already in the hole, so if we want to continue this massive deportation operation, we need more money."

NBC News [5/22/2025 1:20 PM, Sahil Kapur an Scott Wang, 44540K] reports that the massive domestic policy bill that House Republicans passed Thursday by one vote would reshape the federal budget to the tune of trillions of dollars, affecting millions of Americans. The legislation for President Donald Trump’s agenda was backed by nearly every Republican in the House and unanimously opposed by Democrats, who were cut out of the negotiations. It now heads to the GOP-led Senate, where it is likely to change before it reaches Trump’s desk. The centerpiece of the bill is an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which would otherwise expire at the end of this year. That means the current lower rates, expanded standard deduction, business tax breaks and various other provisions would continue. The move affects Americans in all income tax brackets, but the largest benefits are projected to go to the highest earners. The legislation also makes an important change to the state and local tax deduction — known as SALT — by boosting the current $10,000 cap to $40,000. The deduction only applies to taxpayers earning less than $500,000 per year. The bill preserves the carried interest tax loophole, despite the White House saying Trump wants to end it. The bill also seeks to fulfill two of Trump’s campaign promises: exempting tips and overtime pay from federal income taxes. The bill contains about $150 billion in new funds to beef up border security and carry out Trump’s mass deportation plans. That includes money to finish building the barrier system at the U.S.-Mexico border and a funding boost for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [5/22/2025 10:25 AM, Andrew Chapados, 1805K] reports the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flatly denied the idea that refugees from South Africa were being welcomed to the United States because of their race. Director Tom Homan spoke to BlazeTV host Glenn Beck on Wednesday, the same day that President Donald Trump welcomed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to the White House. Trump pressed the South African leader about the mistreatment, and sometimes murder, of white Afrikaner farmers in his country. Trump even showed Ramaphosa a horrifying video that featured gravesites and a stadium full of South Africans singing about shooting white people. Beck asked Homan if he had any comment about the "debacle" in the media where left-wing outlets criticized the Trump administration’s decision to bring 59 white South Africans to the U.S. "There’s no color to refugees," Homan plainly stated. "We don’t base refugee status on color. We base it on the law. ... It’s not based on color. I know, I read a lot of media stories, and a lot of the media is basically, you know, ‘because they’re white.’ Refugee status isn’t based on color.” Homan added that refugee status in relation to race is "not the way the law is written" and assured Beck, "That’s not the way we’re doing things.” When it came to illegal immigration, Beck and Homan also discussed the CBP Home app, a program designed to help illegal immigrants self-deport back to their home country. "It’s been good," Homan explained. "I mean, several thousand signed up. We just did our first flight where we hosted that flight and sent them home.”

Blaze [5/22/2025 12:30 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K] reports that Vice President JD Vance spoke at length Monday with Ross Douthat of the New York Times about the successes and setbacks that the Trump administration has faced so far in its counteroffensive against the nation’s longstanding "invasion" by foreign nationals. Vance justified the use of the Alien Enemies Act, raised concerns about the judicial activism getting in the way of immigration enforcement, spoke to the ruinous impact of the "invasion" overseen by the previous administration, and detailed what success looks like on this issue. The vice president underscored that the administration is not impelled to deport illegal aliens by hatred but rather by a commitment to the common good and an understanding that rapid immigration, particularly of the unlawful variety, strikes at national unity and "social solidarity." He noted further that while the country has been confronted with an unsustainable "invasion," the administration has remedies available and the willpower to pursue them. President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on March 15 invoking the Alien Enemies Act and declaring that Tren de Aragua is "a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization" aligned with the Venezuelan Maduro regime that "is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States."

USA Today [5/22/2025 11:56 AM, Zac Anderson, 75552K] reports that Adding to the brewing conflict between President Donald Trump’s administration and the judiciary, Vice President JD Vance criticized recent comments by Chief Justice John Roberts that courts should "check the excesses of Congress or the executive." "I thought that was a profoundly wrong sentiment," Vance said in an interview with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat for his "Interesting Times" podcast. "That’s one-half of his job," the vice president added. "The other half of his job is to check the excesses of his own branch. You cannot have a country where the American people keep on electing immigration enforcement and the courts tell the American people they’re not allowed to have what they voted for. That’s where we are right now." Courts have repeatedly ruled against the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, drawing the administration’s ire. The Supreme Court on May 16 continued to block the Trump administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants, sending the case back to a lower court for further review. On May 21, a federal judge in Boston ruled the administration violated a court order preventing deportation of migrants to countries not their own without adequate time to challenge the move.

CBS News [5/22/2025 6:10 PM, Alex Sundby, Kierra Frazier, 51860K] reports the man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy staff members outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, murder of foreign officials and other counts. The suspect has been identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago. He is also charged with causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime and terrorism, and more charges could come, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. Authorities have said the attack was targeted. A preliminary hearing is set for June 18 and Rodriguez will remain in detention. The victims were identified as two employees at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. told reporters they were a young couple who were set to be engaged. Breitbart [5/22/2025 8:04 PM, Staff, 3077K] reports Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted "Free Palestine" as he was taken away by police after the shooting late Wednesday outside the Capital Jewish Museum, prosecutors said in a court document. "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza," he told the officers. The Chicago man made an initial court appearance Thursday after being charged with two counts of first-degree murder and murder of foreign officials. If convicted, he could receive the death penalty. Authorities were investigating the shooting "as an act of terrorism and as a hate crime," Jeanine Pirro, interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters. "I suspect as we go forward… that there will be more charges added," she said, noting that a preliminary hearing was set for June 18. The shooting triggered international outrage and finger-pointing as Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar blamed European criticism of his country’s stepped-up Gaza offensive, claiming "a direct line connecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder.” "This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and international organizations, especially from Europe," he said. French foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine called the accusation "completely outrageous and completely unjustified.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited "the terrible price of anti-Semitism" and decried "wild incitement against the State of Israel.” Soon after the shooting, President Donald Trump — who spoke with Netanyahu on Thursday — posted on social media that the attack was clearly anti-Semitic. The killings took place outside the Capital Jewish Museum, located a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the White House, following a social event hosted by the American Jewish Committee for young Jewish professionals and the Washington diplomatic community. Israel identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, a US employee of the embassy, and said they were a couple planning to marry. The attack came days after the museum was awarded a grant to boost security, as anti-Semitism surges worldwide in the wake of Israel’s devastating invasion of Gaza, prompted by the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The Blaze [5/22/2025 9:20 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1805K] reports two Israeli embassy staffers were shot at close range as they left an event Wednesday evening at the Capital Jewish Museum building in Washington, D.C. The suspected gunman, a pro-Palestinian Marxist from Chicago, allegedly shouted, "Free, free Palestine!" after his capture. According to FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, FBI police officers assigned to the bureau’s Washington Field Office immediately responded and rendered aid after the attack. Despite their efforts and the efforts of members of the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, the victims both succumbed to their injuries. The Israeli Foreign Ministry deemed the shooting a "brutal terrorist attack" and identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky, a research assistant in the embassy’s political department, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, an aide who organized trips to Israel. "Israeli diplomats and representatives around the world stand on the frontlines of Israel’s diplomatic efforts — defending the country with their very lives," said the ministry. "We will not be deterred by terror. We will continue our mission across the globe, with unwavering commitment to represent Israel with pride.” Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said that the "couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of ‘free Palestine’ is a young couple about to be engaged. The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. They were a beautiful couple.” The ambassador indicated that earlier in the evening, Attorney General Pam Bondi handed him a phone and on the other end was President Donald Trump, "who told me that his administration is going to do everything it could possibly do to fight and end anti-Semitism and the hatred that’s being directed — the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel.” Trump, among the many Western leaders and diplomats who expressed sympathy for the victims’ families and solidarity with Israel, noted early Thursday morning, "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.” The Daily Wire [5/21/2025 11:40 PM, Kassy Akiva, 3816K] reports that two staffers, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgram, 26, were shot at close range, according to an Israeli embassy spokesman. D.C. police chief Pamela Smith said that both victims died on the scene after being shot by 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, who is now in custody. "The suspect chanted free, free Palestine while in custody," Smith said. "The suspect is 30-year-old. Elias Rodriguez of Chicago." The FBI said there is "no ongoing threat to public safety" in a statement. "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!" President Donald Trump posted on Thursday night. "Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!" Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed she was on the scene of the "horrible shooting," where she was joined by D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro after the incident. Speaking at the news conference, Bondi said the suspect Rodriguez will be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." "We’ll be doing everything in our power to keep all citizens safe - especially tonight, our Jewish community," Bondi said. "Our prayers go out." Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem confirmed the shooting in a statement. "We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share," she tweeted. "Please pray for the families of the victims. We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice."

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [5/22/2025 11:06 AM, Sadie Gurman, Meridith McGraw, and Olivia Beavers, 646K]
New York Times [5/22/2025 5:17 PM, Claire Moses, 153395K]
USA Today [5/22/2025 7:54 AM, Thao Nguyen, 4241K]
(B) Wisconsin News Now at 11 am [5/22/2025 12:07 PM, Staff]

Wall Street Journal [5/22/2025 3:47 PM, Jack Gullum and Maureen Linke, 646K] reports A man shouting “Free Palestine” fatally shot two staffers from the Israeli Embassy near a Jewish museum in the nation’s capital, in what law-enforcement officials believe was a targeted attack. Here is a minute-by-minute account of how the events unfolded. Shortly before the shooting Elias Rodriguez, the suspected gunman, is observed pacing back and forth outside the Capital Jewish Museum. 9:08 p.m. Rodriguez approached four people with a handgun and opened fire, leaving a young couple dead, according to police. Multiple calls were received reporting a shooting in the area of Third and F streets NW, where the museum is located. 9:09 p.m. Dispatch audio indicates Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department is “working an active shooter” situation near its headquarters, which is a few blocks from the museum. 9:10 p.m. An EMS dispatcher describes an “active shooter” and sends fire and EMS personnel to the scene. 9:10 to 9:15 p.m. EMS units arrive. They would find one adult male and one adult female outside the museum unconscious and not breathing. Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, and her partner, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, suffered life-threatening wounds and died at the scene. After the shooting, the suspect went back inside the north entrance of the museum, where he was detained by security. 9:16 p.m. Additional medical personnel are sent to Third and F streets, possibly in anticipation of additional victims. Lischinsky is pronounced dead two minutes prior. Later, at 9:35 p.m., Milgrim is pronounced dead.

The Hill [5/22/2025 9:01 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 18649K] reports the FBI is investigating the shooting of two Israeli Embassy aides outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night as an “act of terror,” according to law enforcement. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a statement Thursday morning the incident has the “full attention” of the bureau and pledged to pursue harsh penalties in the case, which he suggested could be an act of antisemitic violence. “Last night’s act of terror has the full attention of your FBI,” Bongino wrote on the social platform X. “Targeted acts of anti-Semitic violence are typically carried out by spineless, gutless cowards,” he continued. “And the penalties will be harsh as we tighten up this investigation and run down any additional leads.” President Trump and other members of his Cabinet have condemned the killings as antisemitic attacks. Bongino said in an overnight statement that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces team and the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. were conducting a joint interview of the apprehended suspect. He also noted the agency was working with the U.S. attorney’s office to review the evidence “to determine additional actions.” “Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence,” Bongino wrote. “Our FBI team is fully engaged and we will get you answers as soon as we can, without compromising additional leads.”

Daily Wire [5/22/2025 9:01 AM, Zach Jewell, 3816K] reports that FBI Director Kash Patel called the Wednesday night killings of Israeli Embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgram, 26, an "act of terror" and vowed to pursue justice with "the full weight of federal law enforcement." Lischinsky and Milgram, who were about to be engaged to be married, were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., which was hosting a Young Diplomats Reception for young Jewish professionals. The suspect detained following the killings was identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, a Chicago resident with far-Left views who reportedly put on a keffiyeh and shouted "free Palestine" after fatally shooting the couple. "Last night’s act of terror has the full attention of the FBI," Patel wrote on X on Thursday. "Targeted anti-Semitic violence is an attack on our core values and will be met with the full weight of federal law enforcement. The individual responsible will be held accountable, and the Bureau will continue pursuing every lead until justice is served." The FBI raided Rodriguez’s Chicago apartment Thursday morning, but authorities have yet to release any information on what was recovered in the raid. Rodriguez worked for the American Osteopathic Information Association and was once associated with a branch of the far-Left Party for Socialism and Liberation, which pushes anti-Israel views.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [5/22/2025 8:04 PM, Staff, 3077K]
NewsMax [5/22/2025 1:49 PM, Charlie McCarthy, 4622K]

FOX News [5/22/2025 10:47 AM, Peter D’Abrosca, 46878K] reports the killing of two Israeli Embassy employees near the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. is being investigated as a possible hate crime, according to the FBI. Steven Jensen, the assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, said in a news conference that the federal law enforcement entity is working alongside the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to "look into ties to potential terrorism or motivation based on a bias-based crime or a hate crime.” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser hosted the news conference alongside law enforcement, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, and others. She echoed Jensen’s comments, saying that "the FBI’s role, of course, as always when there is any possibility of a terrorist act, or acts motivated by hate or other bias, the FBI will be conducting those investigations. "We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism," she said during the news conference. "We will not tolerate antisemitism.” The victims were identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a couple who both worked at the embassy. They were shot around 9:08 p.m. Wednesday. Lischinsky was born in Israel and grew up in Germany. His father is Jewish and his mother is Christian. Milgrim was an American employee of the embassy. Leiter said the two victims were dating and on the verge of engagement, and that Lischinsky had "purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem.”

FOX News [5/22/2025 3:33 PM, Brooke Singman, 46878K] reports two young Israeli Embassy staffers were shot and killed in an antisemitic attack in Washington D.C. Wednesday night. It was the latest incident being investigated by federal authorities as domestic terrorism. The U.S. has seen an increase in antisemitic attacks and violent pro-Palestine protests amid the war between Israel and Hamas. But the incidents of domestic terrorism aren’t limited to antisemitism. Extremists who hold anti-American sentiment have attempted attacks on vehicles, military bases and more. ABC News [5/22/2025 5:59 PM, Selina Wang and Luke Barr, 31733K] reports after two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum, questions were being raised Thursday about whether there was sufficient security at the event Wednesday night. It is unclear whether the museum provided the type of security that experts ABC News spoke with said is routine, especially with diplomats and officials in attendance. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela A. Smith confirmed during a news conference Thursday afternoon there were private security officers working the event but said neither on- or off-duty MPD officers were there. But when asked by ABC News if there had been a "a security failure" given the proximity of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Bondi denied any lapse in security. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the event did not fall into the city’s "special events" category in which local and federal law enforcement would have a "stood-up posture." Bondi said officials believe the suspect acted alone and that the investigation is ongoing. Security has now been increased in the area to make sure the Israeli Embassy and ambassador are safe, as well as at Jewish sites nationwide, the attorney general said, adding that she spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday night.

Washington Post [5/22/2025 5:02 PM, Tom Jackman, Dana Hedgpeth, Emily Davies, Kate Brady, and Kim Bellware, 32099K] reports a young couple who had just attended a Jewish diplomatic reception stepped out onto a quiet street in downtown Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night and were suddenly shot and killed, sending shock waves through the city that reverberated around the world. On Thursday the alleged gunman, a Chicago man who supported the Palestinian cause, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and murder of foreign officials, a death-penalty-eligible offense. The victims, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, were about to get engaged and had devoted their lives to furthering peace. Both worked in the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Police said the assailant paced outside the reception before he approached a group of four people who emerged from the museum and fatally shot two of them after walking past them. Police said they arrested 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, and federal agents on Thursday raided a Chicago home where he apparently lived. At his first appearance in the District on Thursday afternoon, Rodriguez was charged with two counts of first-degree murder,murder of foreign officials, and two firearms charges. Interim U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said “it’s far too early to say” whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty. An FBI agent’s affidavit filed with the charges said that when D.C. police officers arrived at the museum, “Rodriguez spontaneously stated on scene to MPD, ‘I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed.’” A witness told police that they saw Rodriguez make a throwing motion after the shots, and that officers recovered a gun in the same area, the affidavit states. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a post to X on Thursday that authorities are working to confirm whether “certain writings” are linked to Rodriguez, an apparent reference to the document. Titled “Escalate For Gaza, Bring The War Home,” it accuses Israel of “genocide” and says “a perpetrator” may be a good person at times, “and yet be a monster all the same.” The message concludes, “Free Palestine — Elias Rodriguez.” Bongino said earlier that “early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence.” The suspect allegedly focused on the event but not on specific people before coming to the museum, according to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

FOX News [5/22/2025 8:21 AM, Rachel Wolf and Trey Yingst, 46878K] reports the two Israeli Embassy staffers who were killed outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., were about to become engaged, according to Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter. "The couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of ‘Free Palestine’ is a young couple about to be engaged," Leiter told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday evening. "The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem." Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli, and Sarah Milgrim, an American, both worked at the embassy. According to the Associated Press, Lischinsky was a research assistant and Milgrim organized visits and missions to Israel. D.C. police identified the suspect as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, who was taken into custody after the shooting attack. He was allegedly seen pacing outside the museum before he approached a group of four people, including the two victims, and opened fire. Rodriguez then reportedly went into the museum where he was detained by security. He allegedly shouted "Free, free Palestine!" while in custody. The Israeli Embassy memorialized the couple in a social media post, saying they were "our friends and colleagues." "The entire embassy staff is heartbroken and devastated by their murder. No words can express the depth of our grief and horror at this devastating loss," the embassy wrote. "Our hearts are with their families, and the embassy will be by their side during this terrible time." Israeli and American officials have condemned the attack, with Washington vowing to probe the shooting thoroughly. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said DHS is "actively investigating" the incident and "working to get more information to share." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Wall Street Journal [5/22/2025 7:55 PM, Douglas Belkin and Kris Maher, 646K] reports the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., by a suspect who shouted “Free Palestine!” heightened fears at Jewish institutions Thursday as they strengthened security and vigilance. News of the deaths rippled through synagogues and Jewish community centers already facing a sharp rise in antisemitism fueled by the war in Gaza. Across the country, organizations that have ratcheted up security in recent years deplored another act of violence. “The shooting last night is just another reminder of the hate that exists and for us to be as security-conscious as possible,” said Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, police patrols increased Thursday at more than 60 Jewish organizations, including synagogues and schools. The community has been on a heightened alert because of rising antisemitic incidents. Many threats have centered on the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, where 11 worshipers were killed at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 in the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history. On Sunday, a group spread antisemitic and racist fliers from a vehicle and taunted residents in the heart of the Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, according to the city, which said the FBI is investigating. In recent months, people have vandalized local synagogues and defaced “We Stand With Israel” yard signs. The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s offices were spray-painted last July with a message saying the organization “funds genocide.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [5/22/2025 3:30 PM, Michael D. Shear, 138952K]

NewsMax [5/22/2025 9:19 AM, Staff, 4622K] reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday condemned the killing of two Israel Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., calling it a "heinous antisemitic murder." Netanyahu attributed the attack to "blood libels against Israel," suggesting that incitement and false accusations against the Jewish state had fueled the violence. According to a statement from his office, Netanyahu spoke with Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter and received "an immediate update on the details of the incident," while also expressing his support for the envoy and the embassy staff. The prime minister also spoke with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who "detailed everything currently known about the identity of the murderer and the two embassy staff members who were killed." According to the statement, Bondi told Netanyahu that she was "deeply sorry," and that "President Donald Trump is personally involved in managing the response to the incident." She assured the prime minister that "the United States will ensure the murderer is brought to justice" and conveyed her condolences "to the families of the young couple who were soon to be engaged." Netanyahu thanked both Bondi and Trump "for their clear stance against antisemitism."

FOX News [5/22/2025 9:17 PM, Madeline Coggins, 46878K] reports that, following the brutal shooting of a young couple outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. is calling attention to a "very important" larger issue both in America and on the global stage. Two Israeli Embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were shot while leaving a Jewish event, after which the suspected shooter, identified the shooter as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, yelled, "Free, free Palestine!" and security officers apprehended him. The chant echoed those slogans proclaimed at protests across American college campuses, which Amb. Yechiel Leiter labeled "an eliminationist demand for the elimination of Israel" on "Special Report" Thursday. "The big picture is very important for us to understand," the Israeli ambassador to the United States said. "‘Free, free Palestine’ is actually what he said. ‘Free, free Palestine’ is part of the chant that was heard across universities all across the country, and it included the chant, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ which is basically an eliminationist demand for the elimination of Israel. That’s what’s going on. Hamas tried to do on October 7.” Leiter argued that Rodriguez’s use of the "Free, free Palestine!" chant shows he allegedly believed "he’s going to implement it, the eliminationist policy regarding Israel, by shooting Jews here in Washington.” Rodriguez has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, murder of a foreign official, causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The shooting comes as tensions over Israel’s operations in the Gaza Strip have drastically escalated this week amid growing humanitarian concerns, though it is not the first time since the war broke out following the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that its D.C. embassy has been a target. Pro-Palestinian sentiment has grown in the United States, as a result of the ongoing war in Israel instigated by the Oct. 7 attacks. While the Trump administration has been cracking down on antisemitism, particularly on college campuses, Leiter criticized world leaders for "fueling" anti-Israel sentiment. "If we’re talking about the big picture, the outrage here is that we have international leaders like the president of France, Macron, who’s trying to press for an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, as if the response to October 7 should be to call it Palestine Liberation Day," Leiter told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier. "So he’s fueling these chants of the likes of this Elias Rodriguez.”

New York Times [5/22/2025 2:15 PM, Aaron Boxerman, 153395K] reports Israelis reacted with shock and horror on Thursday to the killing of two Israeli Embassy employees at an event in Washington, D.C., which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an “appalling antisemitic murder.” The shooting took place as the two aides were leaving an event organized by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday. The police said that they had arrested a suspect in connection with the killings who had shouted, “free, free Palestine,” after he was taken into custody. The attack seemed likely to feed into growing worries among Israelis that the world had become far more hostile to them living and traveling abroad since the war in Gaza began more than a year and a half ago. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has identified the victims as Sarah Lynn Milgrim, who was responsible for organizing missions and visits to Israel, and Yaron Lischinsky, a researcher in the political department. Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, said that they were a couple about to be engaged. Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister, called the attack a consequence of “toxic antisemitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world” since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023. He blamed critics of the Israeli government in international organizations and government officials, “especially from Europe,” who have leveled accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza. Israel has strongly denied the accusations. The attack set off a spate of finger-pointing among Israeli politicians, several of whom were quick to accuse their opponents of being indirectly responsible for the anti-Israel climate that they said precipitated the shooting. Some argued that Mr. Netanyahu’s policies were stoking anti-Israel sentiment abroad, while others blamed left-wing critics.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [5/22/2025 10:38 AM, Shira Rubin and Lior Soroka, 32099K]

AP [5/22/2025 9:04 AM, Stefanie Dazio, 48304K] reports global reactions poured in Thursday in the hours after two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum. Authorities say the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested. The violence was condemned by world leaders. Here’s what they said: What did U.S. President Donald Trump say? “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” Trump posted on social media early Thursday. “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.” What did Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say? Netanyahu ‘s office said Thursday that he was “shocked” by the “horrific, antisemitic” shooting. “We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel,” he said in a statement. What did U.S. Vice President JD Vance say? Vance said “my heart breaks” for the victims. “Antisemitic violence has no place in the United States,” he wrote on social platform X. What did Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, say? “It is just a horrific tragedy, an act of terror, and another way in which we have to recognize Jewish people all over the world are being singled out for these kind of horrible attacks,” Huckabee said in an interview on Fox & Friends. What did British Prime Minister Keir Starmer say? Starmer said “antisemitism is an evil we must stamp out wherever it appears. My thoughts are with their colleagues, family and loved ones, and as always, I stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.” What did French President Emmanuel Macron say? Macron says he has reached out to his Israeli counterpart after the killings in what the French leader called “an antisemitic attack.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [5/22/2025 10:23 AM, Haley Ott, 51860K] Video HERE

USA Today [5/22/2025 10:37 AM, Jeanine Santucci, 75552K] reports the suspect in a shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., shouted pro-Palestinian chants after he fatally shot two Israeli embassy workers, authorities said. The suspect was identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, according to Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith. Smith said Rodriguez opened fire outside the museum the evening of May 21, killing a man and a woman who were leaving an event there. The Israeli foreign ministry identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. Yechiel Leiter, Israeli ambassador to the United States, said the two victims killed were a "young couple about to be engaged." Rodriguez then entered the museum and was detained by security at the event. He shouted, "Free, free Palestine" while in custody, Smith said. After he was handcuffed, Rodriguez "implied that he committed the offense," Smith said. He also told authorities where he discarded the weapon, which was later recovered, she said. Rodriguez was being interviewed by the D.C. police and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces team, Deputy FBI Director Don Bongino said overnight. "Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence," Bongino said in a post to social media.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [5/22/2025 7:48 PM, Staff, 646K]

New York Post [5/22/2025 10:23 AM, Chris Nesi, 49956K] reports armed FBI agents clad in tactical gear stormed a Chicago apartment building reportedly connected to suspected terrorist Elias Rodriguez, who allegedly gunned down two Israeli Embassy workers in Washington, DC, Wednesday night. Video posted by NBC Chicago shows at least eight agents wearing camouflage and armed with rifles entering the front gates of the apartment building on a leafy green street in Chicago’s East Albany Park neighborhood. "FBI Chicago is conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity in the Chicago area in relation to yesterday’s tragic shooting in Washington, DC," the FBI Washington field office confirmed in a post on X. Around a dozen law enforcement vehicles were seen parked outside the multi-unit brick building Wednesday morning, with federal agents spotted sitting in unmarked cars, The New York Times reported. FBI bomb technicians were also present at the scene. Investigators are looking into whether Rodriguez is behind a hateful 900-word manifesto bearing his name and dated a day before the slayings that began circulating on social media after his arrest. The manifesto appeared to suggest the killings were an act of political protest inspired by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. FBI Director Kash Patel pledged the bureau would bring its full resources to bear as it investigates the horrific attack. "Last night’s act of terror has the full attention of the FBI. Targeted anti-Semitic violence is an attack on our core values and will be met with the full weight of federal law enforcement," he said on X Thursday. "The individual responsible will be held accountable, and the Bureau will continue pursuing every lead until justice is served."

San Francisco Chronicle [5/22/2025 10:21 AM, Vanessa G. Sánchez and Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, 4120K] reports health nonprofits and medical interpreters warn that federal cuts have eliminated dozens of positions in California for community workers who help non-English speakers sign up for insurance coverage and navigate the health care system. At the same time, people with limited English proficiency have scaled back their requests for language services, which health care advocates attribute in part to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and his executive order declaring English as the national language. Such policy and funding changes could leave some without lifesaving care, particularly children and seniors. "People are going to have a hard time accessing benefits they’re entitled to and need to live independently," said Carol Wong, a senior rights attorney for Justice in Aging, a national advocacy group. In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order aimed at improving access to federal services for people with limited English proficiency. Research shows language assistance results in higher patient satisfaction, as well as fewer medical errors, misdiagnoses, and adverse health outcomes. Language services also save the health care system money by reducing hospital stays and readmissions. Trump’s order repealed Clinton’s directive and left it up to each federal agency to decide whether to maintain or adopt a new language policy. Some have already scaled back: The Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration reportedly reduced language services, and the Justice Department says it is reviewing guidance materials. A link to its language plan is broken. It’s unclear what the Department of Health and Human Services intends to do. HHS did not respond to questions from KFF Health News.

Bloomberg [5/22/2025 1:11 PM, David Voreacos, 19320K] reports the US sued four “sanctuary cities” in New Jersey, claiming they are blocking the work of federal immigration officials, as the Trump administration seeks to remove obstacles to its mass deportation plans. Newark, Jersey City and Paterson – the state’s three biggest cities – and Hoboken were sued Thursday by the Justice Department, which asked a judge to declare their policies unlawful as the US fights illegal immigration. “While states and local governments are free to stand aside as the United States performs this important work, they cannot stand in the way,” according to the complaint, filed in Newark federal court. “Where inaction crosses into obstruction, local governments break federal law. That is what is happening across New Jersey right now.” By adopting policies that “thwart” federal immigration enforcement, the cities violate the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, which says that federal law takes precedence over state law, according to the complaint. It asks the judge to declare that the policies violate that clause and to bar cities from enforcing them. Spokespeople for Newark, Jersey City and Paterson didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the suit. A spokeswoman for Hoboken had no immediate comment. The suit comes as President Donald Trump’s administration squares off with Democratic-led states and advocacy organizations in a legal fight over immigration that has reached the Supreme Court. The US has also sued Chicago and Illinois over their sanctuary policies, as well as Colorado and several cities in that state. In an escalation to criminal cases, Trump’s interim US attorney in New Jersey, Alina Habba, charged Newark Mayor Ras Baraka with trespassing after immigration officials arrested him outside a private detention facility. Habba dropped the case this week without explanation, beyond saying it was “for the sake of moving forward.” But she has charged US Representative LaMonica McIver with assault and interfering with law enforcement officials, as McIver tried to prevent Baraka’s arrest. McIver, who says she has been targeted politically for performing her oversight duties, made her initial appearance in court on Wednesday.

FOX News [5/22/2025 10:35 AM, Lindsay Kornick Fox, 46878K] reports Democratic strategist James Carville claimed on Tuesday that race was the major factor in charging Democratic New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver for allegedly assaulting federal officers outside an ICE facility. While appearing on MSNBC’s "The Beat with Ari Melber," Carville called the charges another line that had been crossed by the Trump administration, but added that there may have been worse motivations. "My personal opinion [is] I think they went after her and I think her race has something to do with it. I’ll just flat out and say that," Carville said. Melber asked him to substantiate the claim. Carville admitted he had no proof but insisted it was "what they’re about.” "Because that’s what they’re about, and they’re trying to show it’s us against them," Carville said. "They talk about the blood of America and the poisoning of blood, and they talk about this kind of stuff. Again, let me be very clear. I don’t have any proof, but if you ask me, do I think that’s what happened? Yes, I think that’s what happened. I think if it was a White congressperson, they would not have arrested her. I’ll just flat out say that.” He went on to claim that the charges were made to "change the conversation" since "the economy is going terribly.” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson commented to Fox News Digital: "No one – regardless of their job title – can be allowed to assault ICE agents and get away with it. President Trump is committed to removing illegal aliens from the country and defending our brave law enforcement officers. To those who plan to break the law to defend criminal illegals and assault law enforcement agents: you will be held accountable.” Acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba said in a statement, "No one is above the law — politicians or otherwise." She added, "It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are. Now we will let the justice system work.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X, "If any person, regardless of political party, influence or status, assaults a law enforcement officer as we witnessed Congresswoman McIver do, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

NewsMax [5/22/2025 7:48 PM, Sam Barron, 4998K] reports Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., plans to go to El Salvador to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to his native country by the Trump administration, The Hill reported. "We want to go to see if we can move this thing forward, trying to get Kilmar back, trying to get the Trump administration to comply with the Supreme Court order," Ivey told The Hill. In March, Abrego Garcia was arrested in Maryland and deported from the United States after what critics say was an administrative error associating him with the MS-13 criminal gang. In April, the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" the return of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who is married to a U.S. citizen. The administration has said it is up to the Salvadoran government to decide if it wants to return him. "The administration still hasn’t complied, and we got to keep the pressure on," Ivey said. Last week, a federal judge told the Trump administration that its explanation for invoking the state secrets privilege in the case is inadequate, describing the government’s reasoning for withholding information as "take my word for it." Trump administration attorneys have argued that releasing details in open court — or even to the judge in private — about its efforts to return Abrego Garcia to the United States would jeopardize national security. Trump administration officials have said Abrego Garcia was deported based on a 2019 accusation from Maryland police that he was an MS-13 gang member. Abrego Garcia has denied the allegation and was never charged with a crime, his attorneys said. Ivey also aims to meet with others who are facing life imprisonment without knowing what they are accused of and being unable to challenge the Trump administration’s claims, the Hill reported.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [5/22/2025 4:00 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 18649K]

New York Times [5/23/2025 3:22 AM, Hamed Aleaziz and Alan Feuer, 330K] reports a mistake had been made. That much was clear. The Trump administration had deported a Maryland man named Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to a prison in El Salvador, even though a judge had issued a ruling expressly prohibiting that from happening. But when the news reached the Department of Homeland Security, it set off a dayslong scramble and clashes among officials in three different agencies over how to deal with what everyone knew had been an error. As it became clear that keeping it quiet was not an option, D.H.S. officials floated a series of ideas to control the story that raised alarms among Justice Department lawyers on the case. In the days before the government’s error became public, D.H.S. officials discussed trying to portray Mr. Abrego Garcia as a “leader” of the violent street gang MS-13, even though they could find no evidence to support the claim. They considered ways to nullify the original order that barred his deportation to El Salvador. They sought to downplay the danger he might face in one of that country’s most notorious prisons. And in the end, a senior Justice Department lawyer, Erez Reuveni, who counseled bringing Mr. Abrego Garcia back to the United States, was fired for what Attorney General Pam Bondi said was a failure to “zealously advocate on behalf of the United States.” Documents obtained by New York Times laying out the debate among leading lawyers at the State, Justice and Homeland Security Departments reveal new details of the administration’s early efforts to develop a strategy for a case that has become a major test of President Trump’s mass deportation effort. Tricia McLaughlin, a D.H.S. spokeswoman, said in a statement that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s deportation was part of “a highly sensitive counterterrorism operation with national security implications.” “We invoked the state secrets privilege over many of the details — of course our officials discussed what should be divulged publicly,” she added. “This just proves they are responsible public servants putting the safety of the American people first. The leakers of these emails, on the other hand, clearly do not care about public safety.”

Wall Street Journal [5/22/2025 11:00 PM, Vera Bergengruen and Santiago Pérez, 646K] reports President Trump’s plan to expel alleged gang members to El Salvador relies on the country’s 36-year-old prison director, whom U.S. officials have sanctioned for secretly negotiating with the same criminal groups. Osiris Luna has been instrumental to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s crusade to end decades of rampant gang violence, overseeing the imprisonment of more than 80,000 people over the past three years. Many are held at a vast new prison alongside more than 250 alleged Salvadoran and Venezuelan gang members recently expelled by the U.S. under a Trump administration deal that pays Bukele’s government to incarcerate them. But earlier in Bukele’s presidency, Luna was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for allegedly arranging secret negotiations with gang leaders aimed at reducing homicides and securing political backing for Bukele. In exchange, incarcerated gang leaders received mobile phones, access to sex workers and other privileges, U.S. prosecutors said in an indictment against MS-13 gang leaders. The Bukele administration and Luna have denied the U.S. allegations. Luna didn’t respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Bukele didn’t respond to a request for comment. “We are grateful for President Bukele’s partnership and for Cecot—one of the most secure facilities in the world,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, referring to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, the mega-prison Luna oversees. “There is no better place for these sick criminals.” The White House has said the U.S. is paying El Salvador $6 million to imprison the alleged gang members. Under the deal, the Trump administration has returned MS-13 gang leaders imprisoned in the U.S. to El Salvador, where constitutional rights and due process have been suspended since 2022. Deporting them to El Salvador would mean they couldn’t testify in U.S. court, shielding witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the secret negotiations Luna allegedly brokered. The Trump administration has returned 23 Salvadorans accused of being gang members. One is César Humberto López, known as “El Greñas,” or “Mophead,” an MS-13 leader who had been expected to testify in federal court about a back-channel alliance with the Bukele administration. Luna helped create that alliance, U.S. prosecutors allege.

Washington Post [5/23/2025 3:18 AM, Andrew Jeong, 32099K] reports the Trump administration on Thursday accused Columbia University of violating civil rights law by “acting with deliberate indifference” toward discrimination against Jewish students, including what it said was a failure to investigate vandalism in its classrooms, such as drawings of swastikas. The Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release that it had conducted an investigation over a 19-month period beginning on Oct. 7, 2023, the day Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip launched a surprise cross-border attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 people hostage. “The findings carefully document the hostile environment Jewish students at Columbia University have had to endure for over 19 months, disrupting their education, safety, and well-being,” said Anthony Archeval, the acting director of the Office for Civil Rights. “We encourage Columbia University to work with us to come to an agreement.” The announcement comes as the Trump administration is engaged in negotiations with Columbia over federal funding. The administration cut $400 million in contracts and grants to the school in March, saying the university had failed to sufficiently clamp down on acts of antisemitism on its campus. The university said in an emailed statement that it is “deeply committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of harassment and discrimination on our campus.” The school will work with the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education, it added. “Releasing an investigation’s findings like this is typically a necessary step before any resolution or deal can be reached between the government and university,” a person briefed on the talks between Columbia and the Trump administration said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk freely about sensitive negotiations.

AP [5/22/2025 3:57 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports a Florida court awarded the Mexican government a massive civil judgment Thursday against its former security chief who is now serving a lengthy prison sentence in the United States for taking bribes from drug traffickers. Judge Lisa Walsh ordered Genaro García Luna to pay more than $748 million and his wife Linda Cristina Pereyra to hand over more than $1.7 billion. García Luna was sentenced to more than 38 years in a U.S. prison last October for taking massive bribes to help drug traffickers. Mexico’s former secretary of public security was convicted by a New York jury in 2023 of accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect the violent Sinaloa cartel that he was supposedly combating. He is the highest-level Mexican government official to be convicted in the United States. He served as secretary of public security to then-President Felipe Calderón from 2006 to 2012. After leaving office García Luna moved to Florida. His lawyers said he was a legitimate businessman who did consulting in Florida before he was arrested in 2019. García Luna and associates set up companies that got 30 dubious government contracts while he was Mexico’s top security official in 2006-2012 and for six years afterward. The contracts were for things like surveillance, monitoring and communications equipment used in prisons and in intelligence work. The contracts were presumably inflated. In one case, the contract was simply falsified.

FOX News [5/22/2025 9:14 PM, Staff, 46878K] reports I am a child immigrant. I believe whole-heartedly in the value and importance of legal immigration. Lawful, smart, intentional immigration is a very, very good thing. America was built on immigration, followed by assimilation. But the scourge of illegal immigration has festered for far too long. Under the Biden administration (and other presidencies before it), millions of illegal immigrants flooded the southern border with no recourse. Border security was nonexistent, eroded by left-wing politicians—and RINOs—trading off American sovereignty for perceived political gain. Americans have had enough of lawless governance, and they elected Donald Trump precisely to do something about it. That’s how democracy works. Some judge in Maryland or Maine doesn’t get to decide how the entire country lives and under which laws he happens to support. That’s not how democracy works. A national, holistic conversation about immigration is long overdue, and the Supreme Court is right to address it. However, that’s not all that is at stake before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s first question is addressing the toxic judicial activism of nationwide injunctions that are overturning popular elections and policies, and the importance of limiting such lawfare to where it belongs. Yes, the Supreme Court can take a stand on the abuse of the courts by judicial activists and well-funded litigant groups. And yes, the Supreme Court can easily overturn the recent anti-Trump injunctions without even ruling on the substance of the issue—birthright citizenship—but that would simply kick the can down the road. It would only engender further litigation and confusion and turmoil, especially if the Trump administration (rightly) continues to deport illegal aliens, including those falsely alleging entitlement to citizenship. America needs a decisive moment to re-establish its own sovereignty. The Supreme Court can deliver it, not only by ruling against left-wing judicial activism, but by tackling birthright head-on. A truly honest ruling would strike down the slew of anti-Trump injunctions because the Trump administration is likely to prevail—as a matter of law, "birthright citizenship" was never intended for the children of illegal aliens—and the lower court erred by imposing injunctions beyond its own jurisdictional confines. That would be both the legally correct ruling, and the one essential for preserving American democracy.

The Hill [5/22/2025 8:30 AM, Staff, 18649K] reports on Monday, the first charter flight conducted by Homeland Security as part of “Project Homecoming” took off from Houston, taking 64 migrants from Honduras and Colombia back to their home countries. President Trump signed an executive order launching the project, designed to incentivize self-deportations by undocumented immigrants, earlier this month. People in the country illegally who use a government app to plan their departure will receive financial and travel assistance to return home. Once their return has been confirmed, these migrants will receive a $1,000 stipend. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the plan “the best, safest, and most cost-effective way to leave the U.S. to avoid arrest.” But this program is not as simple as it sounds. The most obvious problem with Project Homecoming is that there is no law from Congress authorizing payments to undocumented immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security cannot unilaterally make such huge financial commitments. The lack of statutory authority will probably doom this program in the courts. While there is one law on the books that permits the use of government funds to deport “any alien who falls into distress” and is “desirous of being so removed,” it says nothing about providing deportees with cash stipends after they are home.

New York Times [5/22/2025 9:37 AM, German Lopez, 153395K] reports the Trump administration keeps sending migrants to countries they are not from. Yesterday, a federal judge held a contentious hearing about migrants reportedly heading to South Sudan and declared that the administration had violated a previous order. The administration has sent people who weren’t natives to El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica. It is also asking other countries, such as Libya and Rwanda, to accept deportees. Today’s newsletter explains how and why the Trump administration is doing this. Is it legal? Yes, with some safeguards. Federal law allows deportations to third countries. Presidents of both parties have used this power when an immigrant’s nation of origin is “recalcitrant,” meaning officials there won’t take him or her back. Venezuela, for instance, accepts deportees only sporadically. So if an administration wants to deport Venezuelans, it often needs to send them somewhere else. The policy comes with two protections: First, migrants can challenge their deportation in court. And second, the destination must not be dangerous for them. Yesterday’s hearing touched on both issues. The judge, Brian Murphy, had ordered the administration not to deport migrants to third countries without giving them at least 15 days’ notice to raise concerns about potential dangers. Murphy said he might hold officials in criminal contempt for violating that order.

Los Angeles Times [5/22/2025 11:00 AM, Staff, 14672K] reports defining citizenship is a dilemma in many countries around the world ("Ending birthright citizenship will mostly affect U.S. citizens," May 20). The U.S. is no exception. In the last few decades, many countries relaxed the idea that obtaining citizenship meant having to renounce the one from the country of birth. I have a number of friends who have dual citizenship and a few who are even citizens of three countries. That’s a good thing. The current U.S. administration seems intent on making it more difficult to be part of our nation, but the trend should be toward the elimination of borders. The fact that a baby is born on one side of a river or a mountain as opposed to the other should matter little. Both babies should have similar opportunities. Hopefully, the xenophobia we hear these days will give way to the concept that regardless of place of birth, we are all part of the human race.

Washington Post [5/22/2025 5:44 PM, Staff, 32099K] reports Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, were slain as they departed an event for young professionals organized by the American Jewish Committee, a group whose mission is to confront antisemitism. Moments before their deaths, they had listened to speakers from organizations that do humanitarian work in the Middle East and North Africa. Terrorists, attempting to promote polarization, often target moderates and conciliators. An apparent manifesto from the shooter, which investigators are working to authenticate, was titled "Escalate for Gaza, Bring the War Home." The Anti-Defamation League recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents across all 50 states and the District in 2024, up 5 percent from the year before and 344 percent over the past five years. Assaults increased last year by 21 percent to 196 incidents, according to the group. It is essential that everyone speak out clearly and unequivocally against political violence. Whether it emanates from the fever swamps on the left or right, whether it’s Islamophobia or antisemitism, whether it targets a presidential candidate or the chief executive of a health insurance company, politically motivated violence in America cannot be tolerated. Such acts need to become counterproductive — and punished to the fullest extent of the law — to keep them from becoming contagious.

New York Times [5/22/2025 5:01 AM, Margaret Renkl, 153395K] reports if you’re ever booked into a Davidson County, Tenn., jail — no matter how minor the misdemeanor, no matter if your case is later dismissed — the jail’s booking system automatically sends your arrest information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under a state law passed in 2024, local law enforcement agencies here are obliged to honor any resulting detention requests for 48 hours beyond normal release time. A system that delivers the same penalty for committing a violent crime and for driving with a broken taillight is inherently unjust. But this system was at least built to detain only people accused of breaking the law. And that is a very different thing from the wide, seemingly race-based net that ICE has been throwing in Nashville this month. “They have been hunting us,” said Luis Sura, the president of Better Options TN, an immigrant-assistance nonprofit in Franklin. The hunt started on May 3, when ICE agents joined forces with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and began to pull over drivers in the largely immigrant corridors of South Nashville. In one neighborhood alone, during a single shift, patrol officers made “about five times more stops than the highway patrol makes in all of Davidson County on an average day,” State Senator Jeff Yarbro, a Democrat, said in a statement. “They were basically pulling someone new over every two minutes. That’s not a ‘public safety operation.’” The historical echoes here are particularly acute to someone like me, a white person born in the Jim Crow South, one who lives in a city the Trail of Tears once ran through.

The Hill [5/22/2025 9:00 AM, Craig A. Deare, 18649K] reports the era of strengthening bilateral national security relations between the U.S. and Mexico that began in the early 1990s ended during the administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018 to 2024). López Obrador dramatically changed the nature of the Mexican government, converting it from a country slowly developing solid democratic institutions back to single-party control. The implications for the U.S.-Mexico relationship are significant. The growth in the number and strength of transnational criminal organizations operating in Mexico (and the U.S.) is deeply concerning. These criminal groups thrived over the course of López Obrador’s term. His policy of “abrazos no balazos” (hugs not bullets), ostensibly intended to reduce violence in Mexico, failed miserably. Of the five most violent cities in the world, four are in Mexico. Insecurity is rampant, and the majority of Mexicans are very worried. These facts are deeply troubling for American national security interests. An increasingly insecure and unstable Mexico, under threat by cartels, represents a significant challenge and leads to three key conclusions. First, it is clear that leaders in both the U.S. and Mexico must recognize that the transnational criminal organizations are criminal insurgents; although they do not seek to overthrow Mexico’s political system, they undermine the legitimacy of the state. Second, the cartels have penetrated the state political structure at all levels — potentially including the former president himself. Finally, the fact that the major cartels are motivated by both entrepreneurial and political objectives changes the level of risk for America. President Trump has indicated his interest in sending the U.S. military into Mexico “help with the cartels.” Vice President JD Vance has spoken about sending in the military “to do battle with the Mexican drug cartels.” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth agrees, saying, “If it takes military action, that’s what it may take eventually.” Although there is a high chance that there would be tactical success against elements of the cartels, that success would be limited and fleeting — despite the capabilities that America’s military brings to bear. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has it right. When asked in 2023 if he would support sending in U.S. troops to Mexico, he replied that “it has to be in coordination with the armed forces and the Mexican police force. Otherwise, it would not be possible to do it.” This is true primarily because of the two nations’ long and complex shared history, for which America bears its fair share of the blame in creating deep Mexican distrust.

FOX News [5/22/2025 1:07 PM, Anders Hagstrom and Bill Melugin, 46878K] reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have launched a nationwide initiative to begin arresting illegal immigrants at their immigration and asylum hearings, Fox News has learned. The effort targets illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. fewer than two years. The DHS strategy is to drop their immigration case, arrest the migrant, then place them into expedited deportation proceedings. The initiative requires the DHS to drop the cases because migrants cannot be put forward for expedited removal if they have a pending case. ICE sources who spoke with Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity say Americans should expect to see "a lot more" of these kinds of arrests. The new policy is likely to lead to a spike in deportations of migrants who have not committed crimes aside from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The Trump administration has so far focused its efforts on deporting illegal immigrants who have been convicted of other serious crimes. News of the policy comes as the Department of Homeland Security is in multiple court battles regarding its deportation efforts. A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the DHS had violated a court order in sending a plane full of eight illegal immigrants to South Sudan this week.

AP [5/22/2025 12:08 PM, Staff, Joshua Goodman and Gisela Salomon, 48304K] reports Juan Serrano, a 28-year-old Colombian migrant with no criminal record, attended a hearing in immigration court in Miami on Wednesday for what he thought would be a quick check-in. The musty, glass-paneled courthouse sees hundreds of such hearings every day. Most last less than five minutes and end with a judge ordering those who appear to return in two years’ time to plead their case against deportation. So it came as a surprise when, rather than set a future court date, government attorneys asked to drop the case. “You’re free to go,” Judge Monica Neumann told Serrano. Except he really wasn’t. Waiting for him as he exited the small courtroom were five federal agents who cuffed him against the wall, escorted him to the garage and whisked him away in a van along with a dozen other migrants detained the same day. They weren’t the only ones. Across the United States in immigration courts from New York to Seattle this week, Homeland Security officials are ramping up enforcement actions in what appears to be a coordinated dragnet testing out new legal levers deployed by President Donald Trump’s administration to carry out mass arrests. While Trump campaigned on a pledge of mass removals of what he calls “illegals,” he’s struggled to carry out his plans amid a series of lawsuits, the refusal of some foreign governments to take back their nationals and a lack of detention facilities to house migrants.

CBS News [5/22/2025 8:03 PM, Ken Molestina, Lexi Salazar, 51860K] reports that, this week, in immigration court in Dallas, as well as in immigration courts across the country, some immigrants who attended their scheduled hearings were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents. Multiple sources have confirmed that several people were arrested on the spot at the federal courthouse after their cases were dismissed in Dallas Wednesday. This has also occurred in cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix. Dallas immigration attorney Haim Vasquez said Trump officials are using a loophole in the system, dismissing a person’s immigration case, thereby removing their temporary protected status and making them immediately eligible for arrest and deportation. This is happening during what’s called a master calendar docket, which is a check-in early on in the immigration case process. Vasquez said this is an effort that the board of immigration appeals recently greenlit under a provision that refers to the arrest and deportation of who they call "arriving aliens.” "I would not say that it’s illegal," Vasquez said. "I would say it’s an abuse of due process. It’s basically removing due process because if the person is allowed to enter the U.S. to fight an immigration case, at least they should be allowed to present their case and make a final determination. It is an erosion of the judicial process and system in this country.” In an emailed statement to CBS News Texas, the Department of Homeland Security wrote: "Secretary Noem is reversing Biden’s catch and release policy that allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets. This Administration is once again implementing the rule of law. Most aliens who illegally entered the United States within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. Biden ignored this legal fact and chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including violent criminals, into the country with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been. If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation.” Immigration attorney Paul Hunker, who formerly served as chief counsel for ICE in Dallas, called this new development an "aggressive" use of DHS’s arrest and removal authority. In a written statement, Hunker said: "The Department of Homeland Security is taking people out of removal proceedings, many of whom have pending relief applications, and expeditiously removing them. It is unprecedented for them to programmatically work with the ICE attorneys and immigration judges to dismiss cases and remove people under expedited proceedings.”

Univision [5/22/2025 9:49 PM, Staff, 4992K] reports that, in recent days, immigrants who voluntarily attended their hearings in immigration courts in Van Nuys and Santa Ana, in Southern California, have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, according to local attorneys. The situation has generated alarm among migrant communities, as the arrests occur immediately after a judge closes or cancels the immigrant’s case. These arrests are taking place outside courtrooms, with agents dressed in civilian clothes, which has generated an atmosphere of distrust and fear. According to attorney Vanessa Manzi, a witness to the events, the agents are not wearing uniforms or visible identification. "They are in normal clothes and waiting at the door," she commented. Once the hearing concludes, if the judge decides to close the case, especially in the case of people with less than two years living in the United States, the agents proceed to arrest. Immigration attorney Alex Galvez explained that these detentions are focused on immigrants who have been in the country for a short time: "If you have been here less than two years, the judge closes your case and when you leave the court, the immigration officer arrests you to begin expedited removal proceedings. Although detained immigrants can appeal or request bond, current law states that those who have been in the U.S. for less than two years are not eligible for immigration bond, although they can appeal their detention in federal courts. Many immigrants seek to avoid physical court appearances for fear of being detained, and in some cases it is possible to request to appear virtually. However, if ICE has already requested closure of the case, the judge is likely to deny the motion for a virtual hearing, forcing an in-person appearance and increasing the risk of arrest. Legal intervention at the time of arrest is limited. According to Galvez, if the arrest is based on a new criminal conviction, a bond can be requested at a later date. But if it is an arrest based solely on undocumented presence after attending court, the chances of avoiding detention are very slim. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [5/22/2025 3:17 PM, Claudia Carrera, 4992K] reports for many migrants, an appointment with immigration authorities is a moment of hope; however, María Guerrero and Josué Luna, a couple of Mexican origin, fear it could turn into a nightmare that will separate them from their children. They emigrated from Mexico City 25 years ago, have started a family in the United States with their three children, one of whom is a minor, and are in the final stages of obtaining legal permanent residency. The fear is not unfounded. In recent months, arrests have been reported during immigration and court appearances in California , even of people with no criminal record. Although the couple will have legal representation on the day of their appointment, experts warn that, under the current immigration policy, risks persist.

New York Times [5/22/2025 6:03 PM, Hamed Aleaziz, 153395K] reports the Trump administration has found a new way to pressure undocumented immigrants to leave the country. It is penalizing some of them with fines of nearly $1,000 a day for every day they stay in the country illegally. So far, the administration has imposed $2 billion in fines on nearly 7,000 people who have failed to leave the country after either being ordered to do so or saying they would voluntarily go, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a homeland security spokeswoman. President Trump has opened a major crackdown on immigration since he took office, using aggressive tactics to pursue arrests and deportations. But there have been roadblocks, including a lack of resources to carry out his big promises. Officials have also encouraged migrants to leave the country voluntarily by offering them free flights and $1,000 stipends. This week, dozens of migrants leaving the country voluntarily were flown to Colombia and Honduras. The fines are part of the effort to get people to “self-deport.” It’s unclear whether the government has collected on any of the fines, but officials said that they could garnish wages, issue liens against property or refer people to private collection agencies to enforce the fines levied against them.

Univision [5/22/2025 9:10 AM, Staff, 4992K] reports the administration of President Donald Trump announced Wednesday the deportation to Africa of eight convicted immigrants, including two Cubans who were in the U.S. illegally. The expulsion to a third country follows the refusal of the Havana regime to accept them back. Noticias 23 learned that one of the deported Cubans had a deportation order since 1999 and the other since 2012. Usually the Cuban government refuses to receive deportees with criminal records in the United States. It is estimated that there are currently more than 45,000 Cubans with final orders of deportation, including those with criminal records. “They are unique barbaric monsters who pose a clear and real threat to the American people,” said Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin at a press conference reporting the deportations. “We found a nation that accepted custody of these vicious criminal illegal aliens.”

FOX News [5/22/2025 5:10 PM, Paul Steinhauser, 46878K] reports New Hampshire on Thursday became the first state in New England to ban so-called sanctuary cities. Speaking with Fox News Digital minutes later, Ayotte noted that the measures she signed "ban sanctuary cities in New Hampshire but also allow cooperation between all of our law enforcement and federal immigration authorities." The two bills were passed in the GOP-dominated state legislature mostly along party lines.

Washington Post [5/22/2025 11:11 AM, Aaron C. Davis and Jonathan Baran, 32099K] reports the crowd outside an ICE facility in New Jersey erupted with outrage as federal agents closed in to arrest the mayor of Newark on a trespassing charge. Protesters, mayoral aides and three members of Congress formed a protective circle around him. Then, agents began to pry the mayor from their grasp. In court documents made public Tuesday, the Justice Department alleged that amid the ensuing scrum on May 9, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-New Jersey) struck one federal agent with a forearm, “slammed” her arm into another and “reached out and tried to restrain” the arresting officer. McIver, 38, was charged with two counts of assaulting, impeding or interfering with a Homeland Security officer. McIver has accused the agents of “roughing up members of Congress,” and two other lawmakers who attended the protest have said agents were the aggressors. She has denied wrongdoing, calling the charges political and saying they “mischaracterize and distort my actions.” Speaking about the events outside the Delaney Hall detention facility, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem last week testified to Congress that a “mob of protesters including three members of Congress stormed the gate and they trespassed into the detention facility.” Her department published a news release claiming the lawmakers used an arriving “bus of detainees” as a decoy to gain entrance, then “holed up in a guard shack.” A department spokeswoman said lawmakers attacked officers, including “body slamming a female ICE officer.” The videos examined by The Post did not support those descriptions of the events, and the government did not include them in its charges against McIver. In response to a request for comment, Noem did not directly address The Post’s findings about her remarks but noted in a statement that McIver had been charged. “No one is above the law,” she said.

Telemundo [5/22/2025 8:13 AM, Marcelo Wheelock, 4K] reports a school bus in Georgia ran into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid while en route to pick up students at a mobile home park, the Gwinnett County school district confirmed Wednesday in a development that neighbors in the area reported Tuesday. The district later clarified that ICE agents had “no contact or interaction” with the students who were riding a school bus. “ICE agents were conducting business in Atlanta’s Countryside Village (mobile home park) when our bus stopped to pick up students, as it usually does every school day,” school system spokesman Bernard Watson told Telemundo Atlanta. The director of Community and Media Relations for Gwinnett Public Schools - a northeast metro Atlanta county - said the officers “had no contact or interaction with our bus or any of the students on it. Coincidentally, they were in the complex when our bus was picking up the students.”

CBS Austin [5/22/2025 7:36 AM, Mary-Beth Mangrum, 558K] reports a 19-year-old college student from Dalton--who was wrongfully pulled over in a traffic stop--will soon be released from ICE custody. Ximena Arias-Cristobal’s immigration bond hearing was held Wednesday. The judge granted Ximena a $1,500 bond. Her attorney, Dustin Baxter, tells us... "The family will pay the bond ASAP and Ximena will be home with her family tomorrow afternoon at the latest." The hearing was originally set for Tuesday, but had to be rescheduled due to an outage at Stewart Detention Center. Her attorney, Dustin Baxter, tells us, while they don’t have another hearing scheduled, "It would be remarkable if it is before mid 2026." Meantime, both of Arias-Cristobal’s parents tell us they’re overjoyed that their daughter will soon be home. During our sit down interview with José and Ndahitha, Ximena called her mother, and we got to speak with her just a couple of hours after that bond hearing. Ximena says her time in ICE detention has been difficult, but she is thankful to God and her community for getting her through.

New York Times [5/22/2025 5:53 PM, Jonah E. Bromwich and Sarah Fowler, 153395K] reports Mahmoud Khalil testified Thursday that he had never imagined that the United States would persecute him for his speech and that his deportation could lead to “assassination, kidnapping, torture” — and danger for his wife and the infant son he had met just hours earlier. “This is truly unlawful, what is happening to me,” he said, adding, “I believe that justice will prevail.” It was a whirlwind day for Mr. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and one of the leading figures in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school. In the early morning, he saw his month-old child, Deen, for the first time. And for hours, he sat through testimony from witnesses called by his lawyers who said that he would be in mortal danger were he to be deported. In his own testimony, Mr. Khalil said that the United States government had “mislabeled me a terrorist, a terrorist sympathizer, which couldn’t be further from the truth.” Regardless, he said, wherever he might go in the world, he would have a target on his back.

Reported similarly:
AP [5/22/2025 4:24 PM, Jake Offenhartz, 48304K]
CNN [5/22/2025 12:00 PM, Gloria Pazmino, 875K]

NewsMax [5/22/2025 9:36 PM, Staff, 4622K] reports detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was allowed to hold his one-month-old son for the first time Thursday after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to keep the father and infant separated by a plexiglass barrier. The visit came ahead of a scheduled immigration hearing for Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia University graduate who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since March 8. Khalil was the first person arrested under President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters and is one of the few who has remained in custody as his case winds its way through both immigration and federal court. Federal authorities have not accused Khalil of a crime, but they have sought to deport him on the basis that his prominent role in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza may have undermined U.S. foreign policy interests. His request to attend his son’s April 21 birth was denied last month by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The question of whether Khalil would be permitted to hold his newborn child or forced to meet him through a barrier had sparked days of legal fighting, triggering claims by Khalil’s attorneys that he is being subject to political retaliation by the government. On Wednesday night, a federal judge in New Jersey, Michael Farbiarz, intervened, allowing the meeting to go forward Thursday morning, according to Khalil’s attorneys. The judge’s order came after federal officials said this week they would oppose his attorney’s effort to secure what’s known as a "contact visit" between Khalil, his wife, Noor Abdalla, and their son Deen. Instead, they said Khalil could be allowed a "non-contact" visit, meaning he would be separated from his wife and son by a plastic divider and not allowed to touch them. "Granting Khalil this relief of family visitation would effectively grant him a privilege that no other detainee receives," Justice Department officials wrote in a court filing on Wednesday. "Allowing Dr. Abdalla and a newborn to attend a legal meeting would turn a legal visitation into a family one.” Brian Acuna, acting director of the ICE field office in New Orleans, said in an accompanying affidavit that it would be "unsafe to allow Mr. Khalil’s wife and newborn child into a secured part of the facility.” In their own legal filings, Khalil’s attorneys described the government’s refusal to grant the visit as "further evidence of the retaliatory motive behind Mr. Khalil’s arrest and faraway detention," adding that his wife and son were "the farthest thing from a security risk.” They noted that Abdalla had traveled nearly 1,500 miles to the remote detention center in hopes of introducing their son to his father. "This is not just heartless," Abdalla said of the government’s position. "It is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse. And I cannot ignore the echoes of this pain in the stories of Palestinian families, torn apart by Israeli military prisons and bombs, denied dignity, denied life." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [5/22/2025 6:00 PM, Gloria Pazmino and Dalia Faheid, 875K] reports an immigration judge in Louisiana on Thursday denied a request to terminate Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation proceedings after his attorneys argued that he was arrested illegally and without a warrant over two months ago. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and lawful permanent resident who played a central role in negotiations on behalf of pro-Palestinian student protesters last year, has been in immigration custody since March. He has been detained indefinitely as an immigration judge previously upheld the Trump administration’s decision to deport Khalil and a federal district judge has blocked his immediate removal from the country. During the Thursday hearing, Judge Jamee Comans denied a government motion that would have prevented Khalil from raising an asylum claim, according to Khalil’s attorneys. Comans also denied motions by Khalil’s attorneys to postpone the hearing to a later date and to subpoena witnesses. After witnesses provided testimony and Khalil took the stand in his own defense, the lengthy hearing ended Thursday evening without a ruling from the judge. Comans asked lawyers to submit written closing arguments by June 2. The judge then intends to rule on whether Khalil can be deported from the US and if he’s entitled to any form of relief that would enable him to remain in the country, said Ramzi Kassem, an attorney for Khalil. Khalil does not “expect any due process from these immigration proceedings,” his attorneys told CNN Thursday night. “The immigration judge is not an independent judge. She’s an employee of the Department of Justice. She serves at the pleasure of the President. She’s subject to political pressure by the government,” Kassem said. In response to CNN’s request for comment on the hearing, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: “Mahmoud Kahlil should use the CBP Home app to self-deport.”

NBC News [5/22/2025 8:49 PM, Chloe Atkins, 44540K] reports Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil should be protected from deportation, which could put his life at risk, his attorneys argued Thursday. Ahead of a critical court hearing before an immigration judge in Louisiana that focused on whether he was entitled to relief from deportation, including through asylum, Khalil met and held his newborn son for the first time. The Trump administration had sought to have the two separated by a plexiglass barrier. "His life is at stake," said Khalil’s attorney, Marc Van Der Hout. Khalil testified before the judge for more than two hours Thursday, describing his life from his childhood and his journey to Columbia University to his campus activism, in which he was a prominent pro-Palestinian voice during last year’s demonstrations. "I spent a good time of my life fleeing from harm and advocating for the marginalized. That’s what put me in danger," he said. "That is what I was protesting. That is what I will continue to protest. This is what everyone should protest.” He also said his own safety and his family’s would be in jeopardy if they were removed from the United States. "I’ve been targeted for my political beliefs," he said. "The president labeled me as a terrorist sympathizer.” Asked what he was afraid of if he were to be deported, Khalil said kidnapping, assassination, torture or targeting of his family. He said he is most concerned about his family, because if he were deported, he would not want them to go with him for fear of their safety. "I’ve only spent one hour in one month of my son’s life, and that was this morning," he said. Ahead of the hearing, Khalil was allowed to meet and hold his 1-month-old son, Deen, for the first time and meet with his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, for the first time since he was detained from his New York City apartment lobby. Initially, Trump administration officials declined Khalil’s request for a "contact visit," citing security concerns and a "no-contact" visitation policy at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center. After negotiations, officials agreed to a contact visit, Khalil’s legal team said. Khalil’s wife and newborn were also in the courtroom later Thursday. The baby occasionally fussed, and Khalil turned around and smiled at his wife and son. "Khalil had a contact visit with his wife and child this morning before his court hearing. But we’re offering him even more: use the CBP Home app to self-deport," Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Thursday night. "The United States is offering illegal aliens $1,000 apiece and a free flight to self-deport now, which Kahlil can take advantage of by scheduling his departure through CBP Home.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [5/23/2025 3:22 AM, Jonah E. Bromwich and Sarah Fowler, 330K]

NewsMax.com [5/22/2025 4:59 PM, Theodore Bunker, 4622K] reports the Department of Homeland Security said this week that the Columbia University student activist being held in detention should "self-deport" when asked why he was initially denied a request to hold his newborn baby during a family visit. Mahmoud Kahlil, a Palestinian who grew up in a refugee camp in Syria and who holds a green card to legally reside in the United States, was arrested after leading pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia and has been imprisoned in a Louisiana Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center for the last two months. While in detention, Khalil made a request to see his wife and son, who was born on April 21, which was initially denied by DHS and the private prison company that operates the detention center. A judge overruled this denial, granting Khalil permission to have a "single, joint meeting" that follows "conditions (including as to length of time and confidentiality) that are appropriate for a substantial attorney-client meeting." When asked about the visit and the department’s reasoning for denying it, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek: "Mahmoud Kahlil should use the CBP Home app to self-deport. The United States is offering illegal aliens $1,000 apiece and a free flight to self-deport now, which Kahlil can take advantage of by scheduling his departure through CBP Home. Parents, who are here illegally, can take control of their departure with the CBP Home App."

AP [5/22/2025 8:55 PM, Olivia Diaz and Ben Finley, 56000K] reports one of the lowest moments of Badar Khan Suri’s two months in federal custody was being crammed onto an airplane with hundreds of other shackled prisoners. The Trump administration was trying to deport the Georgetown University scholar over statements he made against Israel’s war in Gaza. The guards wouldn’t say where they were headed, but the Indian national was convinced it was out of the United States. Then Khan Suri had to use the plane’s bathroom. He said the guards refused to unshackle his wrists. “They said, ‘No, you have to use it like this or do it in your trousers,’” Khan Suri recalled of the trip, taking him to a Louisiana detention center. “They were behaving as if we were animals.” Khan Suri, 41, was released on bond last week as his lawsuit against the U.S.’s deportation case continues. In an interview with The Associated Press, he spoke Thursday of a cramped cell, crowded with other detainees, where he waited anxiously, fearful about what would happen next. He also addressed the Trump administration’s accusations that he spread “Hamas propaganda.” Khan Suri said he only spoke in support of Palestinians, who are going through an “unprecedented, livestreamed genocide.” “I don’t support Hamas,” he said. “I support Palestine. I support Palestinians. And it is so deceiving for some people who just publish canards ... They will just replace Palestine with Hamas.” Yet, because of his comments, he said U.S. authorities treated him as if he had committed a high-level crime. Fellow inmates said his red uniform was reserved for the most dangerous offenders. “I said, ‘No, I’m just a university teacher. I did nothing,” Khan Suri recalled. Still, there were rays of hope. He said more than a hundred people from the Georgetown community wrote letters on his behalf to the federal judge overseeing his case, including some who are Jewish.

New York Times [5/22/2025 4:32 PM, Mark Walker, 138952K] reports a 24-year-old Venezuelan man suspected of using forged documents to claim to be a teenager and enroll as a student at an Ohio high school was arrested on Monday, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Anthony Emmanuel Labrador-Sierra was charged with forgery and later detained by the police in Perrysburg, Ohio, which said that he had been living in the United States illegally since March 24, 2020. Mr. Labrador-Sierra enrolled in January 2024 at Perrysburg High School in the city, which is about 10 miles southwest of Toledo, presenting himself as a 16-year-old student “experiencing homelessness or without a legal guardian,” according to a statement from the school district. He was being held at the local jail in Wood County, Ohio, the police said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the Homeland Security Department, has lodged a detainer, a notice that it seeks to pick up Mr. Labrador-Sierra from custody, according to a statement from Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the department.

Chicago Tribune [5/22/2025 3:31 PM, Laura Rodríguez Presa, 3987K] reports federal agents appeared to have arrested multiple people inside Chicago’s immigration court on Wednesday, lawyers told the Tribune, in what seems to be the latest escalation in President Donald Trump’s bid to enact mass deportations. Throughout Wednesday, groups of men were spotted detaining individuals inside the downtown courthouse, with many of those agents wearing badges or verbally identifying themselves as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, according to four attorneys. An ICE spokesperson did not provide immediate comment Wednesday, but a Tribune reporter also witnessed three individuals be taken into custody by men dressed in plainclothes and holding clipboards early Wednesday afternoon. Their lawyer, Essam Abdallah, told the Tribune his clients are immigrants who have been in the country for under two years but did not know where they were being taken. "I’m not sure what’s going on," a surprised Abdallah said as he left the courthouse to find a way to help his clients. News outlets across the U.S. have similarly reported on federal agents detaining individuals during immigration hearings and check-ins in Dallas, Phoenix and Seattle this month. In Chicago, several attorneys who were at the immigration courthouse Wednesday said they noticed men sitting by the waiting area and inside the courtrooms, with one lawyer saying he followed the detainees to the fourth floor where immigration arrests are processed. Another attorney, Alex McGriff, said he was at the courthouse for most of Wednesday and heard the men identify themselves as ICE agents to the people they approached. McGriff monitored the court hearings as part of the National Immigrant Justice Center to learn more of ICE’s latest move. The practice of ICE entering the courthouses to detain individuals who are there for deportation or other immigration proceedings is a shift that signals a more aggressive tactic by the Trump administration. It comes as his campaign promise to drastically ramp up deportations has seen a chaotic rollout but has so far fallen short of his goals numbers-wise, with recent reports indicating that removals have lagged behind those that happened during the Biden administration. While ICE is allowed inside courthouses, advocates worry the presence of agents will have a chilling effect on immigrants due for routine check-ins or hearings. Immigration lawyers said the Trump administration appeared to be coordinating efforts to dismiss cases of individuals in the U.S. for less than two years so that federal agents can immediately detain them, potentially for an expedited removal order. Rey Wences, senior director of deportation defense at Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, called the arrests "deeply troubling.” "We know that ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are using this strategy to snatch and disappear people in different cities nationwide," Wences said. "This is a deeply troubling development that instills fear in communities, creates barriers for people going through the immigration process, and only serves to pad Trump’s deportation numbers at the expense of everyday families. Trump and DHS are trying to use a shortcut to deny due process to our family members and neighbors.”

Breitbart.com [5/22/2025 4:21 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan can be seen on surveillance footage from inside a Wisconsin courthouse, purportedly showing her helping an illegal alien, wanted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), evade arrest. In April, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Dugan for allegedly helping 30-year-old illegal alien Eduardo Flores Ruiz of Mexico evade arrest by ICE agents by purposefully misdirecting agents from Ruiz. Ruiz has a violent criminal record, including charges for strangulation and suffocation, battery, and domestic abuse, and twice illegally crossed the United States-Mexico border, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has revealed. Earlier this month, Dugan was indicted by a grand jury and subsequently pleaded not guilty to the obstruction of justice charges against her. Local station WISN 12 News has now obtained surveillance footage from inside the courthouse on the day Dugan allegedly helped Ruiz evade ICE arrest. The footage purports to show Dugan misdirecting ICE agents while knowing the illegal alien was in another area of the building.

(B) CBS Mornings [5/22/2025 8:56 AM, Staff] reports that a federal judge has ordered the immediate release of a University of Minnesota student held by ICE for nearly two months. That judge says the Trump administration officials have until 4 pm today to release Dogukan Gunaydin. ICE agents arrested him outside his St. Paul home back in March. The Department of Homeland Security said the grad student from Turkey presented a danger to the public because of a previous DWI arrest.

Houston Chronicle [5/22/2025 5:26 PM, John Wayne Ferguson, 1982K] reports the Justice Department on Thursday appealed a federal judge’s order in Houston to provide proof-of-life and other information about a Venezuelan refugee believed to be deported to El Salvador. The appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals effectively pauses the orders issued earlier this week by U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison. An attorney for the deported man, Widmer Josneyder Agelviz Sanguino, said he hoped the appeals court would fast-track the case and consider the department’s arguments. Until that work is done, the appeal puts a pause on Ellison’s deadline, attorney Javier Rivera said. Agelviz Sanguino, 24, was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last fall after arriving in Houston as a refugee. His family and attorneys stopped hearing from him on March 15 as his asylum case was awaiting a decision. Days later, his name appeared on a flight manifest published by CBS News identifying the 238 Venezuelan men who had been deported to a mega prison in El Salvador. Neither his family nor his legal team has had contact with him since. His family sued in an attempt to verify his whereabouts and reestablish contact. The basis of the Justice Department’s appeal isn’t yet known, Rivera said. What’s not included in that secret filing is information about Agelviz Sanguino’s status and health, Rivera said.

FOX News [5/22/2025 6:51 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46878K] reports the Trump Department of Homeland Security is calling out a Biden-appointed "activist" judge in Massachusetts who paused the deportation of an illegal alien who DHS says sexually assaulted a disabled woman with the mental capacity of a 3-year-old.The DHS shared a filing from the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry that says Burmese illegal Nyo Myint was convicted of attempted first-degree sexual assault of an individual incapable of consent. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that Myint, who was living in Lincoln, Nebraska, sexually assaulted a 26-year-old woman "with the mental capacity of a 3-year-old.” "This ‘Lincoln man’ is an illegal alien and one of the monsters that the activist Massachusetts district judge is trying to bring back to the United States after he was deported yesterday," McLaughlin said. DHS has said Myint had a final order of removal issued against him Aug. 17, 2023. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy of Massachusetts issued the ruling Tuesday night, ordering President Donald Trump’s administration to maintain custody of eight illegal immigrants deported to South Sudan in case he rules the removals unlawful and they must be transferred back to the U.S. Murphy’s ruling said the government must "maintain custody and control of class members currently being removed to South Sudan or to any other third country, to ensure the practical feasibility of return if the Court finds that such removals were unlawful.” After the ruling, McLaughlin called the decision "deranged," saying "these depraved individuals have all had their day in court and been given final deportation orders.” "A reminder of who was on this plane: murderers, child rapists, an individual who raped a mentally and physically disabled person," McLaughlin added. "The message this activist judge is sending to victims and their families is we don’t care. President Trump and Secretary Noem are working every day to get vicious criminals out of our country while activist judges are fighting to bring them back onto American soil.” According to DHS, the other illegals on the plane were Enrique Arias-Hierro, a Cuban national convicted of homicide and other crimes; Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quinones, another Cuban convicted of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon; Thongxay Nilakout, a citizen of Laos, convicted of first-degree murder and robbery; Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, a Mexican national convicted of second-degree murder; Dian Peter Domach, a citizen of South Sudan convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm; Kyaw Mya, a citizen of Burma convicted of lascivious acts with a child victim less than 12 years of age; and Tuan Thanh Phan, a Vietnamese national convicted of first-degree murder.

Breitbart [5/22/2025 8:30 PM, Neil Munro, 3077K] reports the government should reduce the huge migration program that annually transports at least 400,000 foreign graduates into Americans’ white-collar jobs, the incoming head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency (USCIS) told senators Wednesday. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) set the stage for the dramatic policy shift by asking USCIS nominee Joe Edlow for policy fixes to the migration program: The [Joe] Biden administration … One of the many things they turned on their heads involves the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. They turned it into the single largest guest worker program, bypassing the traditional limitations, the internal rules that would otherwise apply by operation of law on other visas like H-1B in the United States. What changes would you plan — if confirmed — … to fix that issue? "Thank you, Senator," Edlow replied, before answering: I think the way in which OPT has been handled over the past four years — with the help of certain decisions coming out of the D.C. Circuit Court — have been a real problem in terms of misapplication of the law. What I want to see would be essentially a regulatory and sub-regulatory program that would allow us to remove the ability for employment authorizations for F-1 [foreign] students beyond the time that they are in school. The May 21 statement is promising, said Jessica Vaughan, policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies. "I guess it all depends on how they write the regulation. I get a little nervous because that [language] leaves a loophole for [migrants to] stay enrolled in so that they can work right.” But any effort to roll back the program will be met with an avalanche of lawsuits, lobbyists, and media outrage. Much of the pushback will come from universities that earn perhaps $30 billion in tuition fees from foreign students seeking the OPT work permits. The FWD.us lobby group will help quarterback any changes that would harm the interests of its consumer-economy investors. By subscribing, you agree to our terms of use & privacy policy. You will receive email marketing messages from Breitbart News Network to the email you provide. You may unsubscribe at any time. "Any rollback of OPT will severely harm international students and our ability to attract talented students from around the world, our nation’s global competitiveness, economic growth, national research capacity and future innovation," claimed Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

Breitbart.com [5/22/2025 3:08 PM, John Binder, 3077K] reports President Donald Trump’s United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reforming the agency’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to more efficiently keep foreign nationals, including illegal aliens, off state voter rolls. On Thursday, USCIS officials announced reforms to the nation’s SAVE program so that state election officials can enter Social Security Numbers (SSNs) to verify a voter registrant’s American citizenship and thus eligibility to vote. "For years, states have pleaded for tools to help identify and stop aliens from hijacking our elections," USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in a statement, "Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, USCIS is moving quickly to eliminate voter fraud. We expect further improvements soon and remain committed to restoring trust in American elections." Specifically, the reforms partner USCIS and the Social Security Administration together so that cases to verify American citizenship can be created using SSNs rather than an alien number, typically only held by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The reforms will also allow state and local election officials to submit several American citizenship verification cases at once, rather than one at a time.

Washington Post [5/22/2025 4:13 PM, Maria Sacchetti, 32099K] reports the Trump administration has hailed El Salvador as one of the safest lands in the hemisphere, bestowing a nation that was once the murder capital of the world with a “gold star” rating that indicates it is just as secure for Americans as Canada. But as President Donald Trump cancels protections for hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants — including those from nations such as Venezuela that the State Department considers far more dangerous — officials have remained mum on whether Salvadorans should see their special humanitarian status revoked, too. The silence from U.S. and Salvadoran officials on a central foreign-policy issue comes as analysts worry that Trump is increasingly using humanitarian protections to reward his allies and punish his enemies.

Washington Examiner [5/22/2025 5:45 AM, Staff, 1934K] reports a website allowing foreigners to purchase a "gold card" granting them permanent residency in the United States is expected to debut next week. The card will cost $5 million for anyone interested, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick announced Wednesday at the Axios Building the Future event. If approved, the new gold card program would replace the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. At the event, Lutnick said the website would debut in a week or so. Initially, the website will only allow interested parties to register, Lutnick said at Wednesday’s event. "All that will come over a matter of the next weeks, not month, weeks," he added. The proceeds from the new gold card program are expected to help trim the country’s federal debt, which is currently at over $36 trillion, according to CNN. "These are going to be great people who are going to come and bring businesses and opportunity to America, and they’re going to pay $5 million," Lutnick said. "If there are 200,000 people who pay, that’s a trillion dollars. That pays for everything.”

Daily Caller [5/22/2025 9:27 AM, Jason Hopkins, 1010K] reports the Trump administration is unrolling a new initiative Thursday that will help prevent noncitizens from voting in U.S. elections, a high-priority policy for the White House. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program and partnering with the Social Security Administration in order to ensure "a single, reliable source for verifying immigration status and U.S. citizenship," according to a memo exclusively shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. Under the update, state and local officials will be able to input Social Security numbers for verification of U.S. citizenship and thereby prevent foreign nationals from voting in American elections. (RELATED: ‘One Step Ahead’: House Republicans Want To Make America’s Borders Even Harder To Illegally Cross). "For years, states have pleaded for tools to help identify and stop aliens from hijacking our elections," USCIS Spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in a statement provided to the DCNF. "Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, USCIS is moving quickly to eliminate voter fraud," Tragesser continued. "We expect further improvements soon and remain committed to restoring trust in American elections.” SAVE, an online service administered by USCIS, allows various government agencies to verify the immigration status or U.S. naturalization of applicants seeking benefits or licenses. The new partnership allows government agencies to create cases in SAVE using an applicant’s Social Security number rather than a Department of Homeland Security identifying number, which is not collected by a majority of state and local agencies, according to a separate news release. Additionally, agencies for the first time will be able to submit more than one case at a time, streamlining the process.

Univision [5/22/2025 4:30 PM, Patricia Clarembaux, 4992K] reports Temporary Protected Status (TPS) remains unclear for 350,000 Venezuelans following Monday’s Supreme Court ruling and the recent update released by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Amid this limbo, dozens of immigrants have been temporarily suspended from their jobs at large and small companies, and anxiety is spreading. This Wednesday afternoon, USCIS updated the TPS page for Venezuelans with the Supreme Court’s decision, but did not specify whether the work permits for thousands of people remain valid. It simply stated that the benefit remains "pending the resolution of the government’s appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals."

Washington Post [5/22/2025 12:23 PM, Lauren Kaori Gurley and Anumita Kaur, 32099K] reports a Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to cancel temporary protections for up to 350,000 Venezuelans could destabilize industries and regions around the United States, with broader spillover effects in certain areas. Monday’s order from the high court marked a reversal of a Biden administration decision that allowed Venezuelan migrants to live and work in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons. The Department of Homeland Security moved to cancel the protections in February, saying they were not in the national interest and arguing that migrants presented a public security risk and a drain on resources. The Supreme Court agreed with the Trump administration, although ongoing litigation is playing out in the lower courts. Economists say the administration’s efforts to expel hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans from the country could spur labor shortages, job losses, business closures and higher housing costs in some parts of the U.S., citing academic research on the effects of mass deportation.

Washington Post [5/23/2025 12:00 AM, Ishaan Tharoor, 32099K] reports it was meant to be an awkward meeting. On Wednesday at the White House, President Donald Trump cornered his South African counterpart, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and pressed the latter on the baseless myth of “White genocide” in Africa’s most industrialized nation. The set piece may not have turned into the sort of debacle seen in the Oval Office when Trump and Vice President JD Vance feuded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but that was largely thanks to Ramaphosa’s diplomatic restraint and composure. Trump confronted Ramaphosa with a propaganda video detailing the supposed atrocities and targeted violence facing South Africa’s White farmers. The Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch colonists who arrived in the 17th century, once formed the backbone of South Africa’s racist apartheid state. But Trump equated the fictive perils facing Afrikaner farmers, now — South African police data suggests they are no more vulnerable than anybody else to violent crime in the country — with the real savagery and systemic injustice of the apartheid regime. To buttress his claims, Trump brandished a stack of news story printouts which, upon further examination by reporters, contained various falsehoods and mistakes, including at least one blog post that featured an image of a scene from the Democratic Republic of Congo — not South Africa. “Trump amplified false claims that White Afrikaners have been victims of a genocide, even showing video of crosses and earthen mounds that he said represented more than 1,000 grave sites of murdered farmers,” my colleagues detailed. “The mounds were in fact part of a protest against the violence, not actual graves.” What Ramaphosa had hoped would be an opportunity to reset relations with South Africa’s second-largest trade partner turned into a testy exchange over hysteria and misinformation. Trump aired grievances felt by a minority of Afrikaners and which have long been amplified online by the West’s far right. His animus runs deep. “In his first term, he directed his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to ‘closely study’ land and farm seizures and the ‘killing of farmers’ in South Africa, following a Fox News broadcast in which Tucker Carlson falsely stated that South Africa had begun seizing land from White farmers without compensation,” explained my colleague Gaya Gupta. “The South African government swiftly rejected Trump’s claims, pledging to ‘speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation.’”

Breitbart [5/22/2025 1:56 PM, Staff, 3077K] reports that entertainment giant Disney has placed at least 45 Venezuelan employees on unpaid leave, the company told AFP Thursday, following the US Supreme Court’s decision to allow the revocation of a special legal status that shielded them from deportation. Shortly after returning to office, President Donald Trump revoked temporary protected status (TPS) for Venezuelan nationals, which shields foreign citizens from deportation who cannot safely return home — affecting about 350,000 people. The US Supreme Court has allowed that revocation to stand pending an appeal in a lower court. "As we sort out the complexities of this situation, we have placed affected employees on leave with benefits to ensure they are not in violation of the law," a spokesperson for Disney said in a statement, however noting the leave is "unpaid.” "We are committed to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of all our employees who may be navigating changing immigration policies and how they could impact them or their families," the statement added. The entertainment giant informed workers placed on leave that their employment will be terminated if they do not find an alternate work permit within 30 days, according to the Miami Herald. It was not immediately clear where all of the employees worked, but the newspaper said it had spoken to several who work at Disney World in Orlando.

Reported similarly:
Univision [5/22/2025 8:18 AM, Staff, 4992K]

Bloomberg [5/22/2025 10:27 AM, Christopher Palmeri, 19320K] reports six unions representing Walt Disney Co. theme-park workers in Florida called on companies to work with employees who are losing their legal status in the US after the Trump administration revoked protected status for hundreds of thousands Venezuelan immigrants, forcing Disney to suspend dozens of employees. “These workers — our colleagues, friends, and neighbors — have contributed immensely to the success of the Walt Disney Company and to the vibrant culture of Central Florida,” the Service Trades Council Union, a labor coalition, said in a joint statement Thursday. “The cancellation of TPS was not just a policy decision; it was a cruel and calculated attack on immigrant communities.” The unions, which represent some 45,000 Disney theme park employees in Florida, urged employers to do more, including offering legal support, protecting jobs and advocating for their employees at the federal level. The move comes just days after the Supreme Court allowed the Department of Homeland Security to terminate TPS protections for a group of Venezuelans. The decision opens the door to deportation for more than 350,000 people and could set the stage for similar actions affecting more than 1 million TPS workers across the US. Disney, the world’s largest theme park operator, sent emails to employees with TPS this week telling them they would be suspended without pay for 30 days. Workers who cannot provide valid work authorization at the end of the leave will be fired, according to an internal email viewed by Bloomberg. About 45 Disney employees were impacted by the decision. The company said it would work with them to navigate the immigration process and continue to provide benefits. “As we sort out the complexities of this situation, we have placed affected employees on leave with benefits to ensure they are not in violation of the law,” Disney said in an email on Wednesday.

Univision [5/22/2025 5:20 PM, Gisela Salomón, 4992K] reports as a business owner in the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, Wilmer Escaray feels stressed and in shock. He’s unsure what steps to take after the Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump to strip legal protections from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants. At least 70% of Escaray’s 150 employees and many of its clients are Venezuelan immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Last Monday, the Supreme Court overturned a federal judge ‘s decision that had halted the government’s plans to withdraw legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, who could be exposed to deportation. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) welcomed the decision but has not provided details about when TPS will end and what employers and beneficiaries should do. “The Trump administration is not resting on its laurels. We will act expeditiously,” said Tricia McLaughlin, deputy secretary of Homeland Security, in a written response to questions about the TPS expiration date following the court ruling and whether the work permits were still valid. Many TPS beneficiaries have applied for asylum or other immigration relief. It is unclear whether those with pending applications will be able to remain in the United States.

The Hill [5/22/2025 8:37 PM, Ellen Mitchell, 18649K] reports the Pentagon is sending 1,115 additional active-duty troops to deploy to the U.S.-Mexico border, bringing the number of service members there close to 10,000. The troops will mainly help with sustainment engineering, logistics, medical and construction, U.S. Northern Command said in a statement Thursday. The additional service members mark another increase in the military’s role in supporting President Trump’s aggressive immigration control agenda. There are already just shy of 8,000 active-duty troops at the border, with the added 1,115 bringing the total to nearly 10,000, a figure approved by Defense Secretary. Trump, since the start of his administration, has vastly increased the number of troops at the border – by about 7,500 – after he heavily campaigned on minimizing illegal immigration and removing immigrants in the United States without legal status, promising "mass deportations.” Last month, Trump authorized the military to take control of federal land stretching across three states at the southern border and designate it as "National Defense Areas" to assist in implementing his immigration crackdown. The move gave the military a more direct role in interacting with immigrants at the border, as it was given the authority to detain and search immigrants lacking certain documentation in New Mexico. In the past decade, troops have traditionally supported law enforcement agencies with immigration issues at the border via logistics, surveillance, security and setting up temporary barriers or fencing, and they were not meant to come into contact with individuals crossing into the United States. But under Trump’s second term, the U.S. military has continued to surge troops, armored vehicles, surveillance planes, warships and helicopters to assist in the southern border mission, even as the number of people attempting to enter the country has dropped dramatically.

FOX News [5/22/2025 10:04 AM, Brooke Singman, 46878K] reports Democrat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy are reaching across the aisle to roll out a measure that would quickly deliver new and effective technologies to strengthen law enforcement’s ability to combat human and drug trafficking at the border, Fox News Digital has learned. Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Cassidy, R-La., are working together to introduce the "Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act," which would make innovation teams at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) permanent. Innovation teams were first created at the agency in 2018. The bill would authorize the CBP commissioner to maintain one or more innovation teams to research and adapt commercial technologies to assist in border security operations and urgent mission needs. It also would require the Department of Homeland Security to submit a plan to Congress that assesses the performance parameters and security impacts of potential technologies, as well as the deactivation of former CBP technology. "Technology continues to improve our everyday lives, and it’s just common sense that we look for ways innovative technologies can help keep our border communities secure," Cortez Maso told Fox News Digital. "I am committed to helping CBP continue developing the tools they need to improve border security operations.” "President Trump secured the southern border in his first 30 days," Cassidy told Fox News Digital. "Let’s secure the border forever by using new technology.” He added, "Let’s stop fentanyl from flowing into our country.” The senators told Fox News Digital that investments in border security technology will "strengthen CBP’s detection and response time to cases of trafficking and illicit border crossings in remote areas.”

AP [5/22/2025 6:01 PM, Valerie Gonzalez, 4120K] reports that the Trump administration is seeking to end an immigration policy cornerstone that since the 1990s has offered protections to child migrants in federal custody, a move that will be challenged by advocates, according to a court filing Thursday. The protections in place, known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, largely limit to 72 hours the amount of time that child migrants traveling alone or with family and detained by the U.S. Border Patrol. They also ensure the children are kept in safe and sanitary conditions. Government attorneys called the Flores agreement an “intrusive regime” that has “ossified” federal immigration policy. In a motion filed Thursday afternoon, they contend that the agreement is no longer necessary after Congress passed legislation and government agencies enforced policies that also implement standards and regulations called for in the agreement. They also blamed the agreement for increasing the number of migrant children entering the country over the past three decades. “The FSA itself has changed the immigration landscape by removing some of the disincentives for families to enter the U.S. unlawfully. Unlawful family migration barely existed in 1997,” they wrote.

ABC News [5/22/2025 12:19 PM, Youri Benadjaoud, 31733K] reports federal authorities seized nearly $34 million worth of illegal e-cigarettes in their latest effort to crack down on unauthorized vaping products entering the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection discovered nearly two million illegal e-cigarette units during inspections in Chicago this February, officials announced Thursday. Almost all the products came from China and included brands like Snoopy Smoke and Raz. In a new move to combat illegal imports, the FDA also sent warning letters to 24 companies that bring tobacco products into the country. "We can and will do more to stop illegal e-cigarettes from coming into the United States," FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in the press release. "These seizures keep unauthorized products away from our nation’s youth.” More than 20 million e-cigarettes are sold each month in the U.S., according to CDC Foundation data. However, only 34 tobacco and menthol-flavored e-cigarette products are allowed to be sold in the U.S. Officials said many companies tried to sneak illegal products past customs by using fake labels and incorrect values on shipping documents. "We keep finding more shipments of vaping products that are packaged and mislabeled to avoid getting caught," according to Bret Koplow, who leads the FDA’s tobacco regulation center. "But we’re getting better at stopping these products before they reach U.S. stores.” The FDA said the seized products would be destroyed. This operation was part of an ongoing effort that had already stopped more than $77 million worth of illegal e-cigarettes in the past year through similar raids in Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago.

Breitbart [5/22/2025 9:11 AM, Randy Clark, 3077K] reports U.S. federal prosecutors successfully convicted 60 illegal aliens in Texas after they pleaded guilty to the newly applied charges. The convictions and sentences were handed down after a setback in the effort to prosecute illegal aliens for trespassing into a newly created National Defense Area in New Mexico earlier this month. According to the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, the sixty criminal cases date from May 19. As reported by Breitbart Texas, in mid-May, U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth in Las Cruces, New Mexico, dismissed 100 federal criminal cases involving trespassing charges against nearly 100 illegal aliens arrested for crossing into the newly designated National Defense Area in New Mexico. Wormuth ruled on behalf of the illegal aliens, citing probable cause issues as the reason for the dismissals. According to a press release issued on Tuesday, the Trump administration appears to have fared much better in neighboring Texas after the latest round of criminal cases brought forth by the United States Attorney’s office. "Beginning in early May, additional criminal charges were filed against individuals who illegally entered or were found illegally in the United States and who had illegally entered the National Defense Area," the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement Tuesday. "As of May 19, 60 defendants had pleaded guilty and were convicted of these charges.” According to the release, beginning in early May, in addition to applicable criminal charges under the Immigration and Nationality Act for entering the United States illegally, additional criminal charges were filed against the aliens for entering the Texas portion of the National Defense Area (NDA). The designated area stretches along the U.S.-Mexico border from New Mexico through El Paso County to Fort Hancock, Texas. President Trump directed the designation of the border zone, saying the move was necessary to "maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States." Trump’s order brought the strip of land under Department of Defense control, making incursions a federal offense under Title 50 of the United States Code, a section of federal law governing war and national defense. According to the United States Attorney’s office, the latest criminal cases involving entry into the Texas National Defense area are part of President Trump’s "Operation Take Back America," a nationwide initiative that employing the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

Houston Chronicle [5/22/2025 12:36 PM, Jeremy Wallace, 1982K] reports that Texas stands to get up to $12 billion in federal reimbursement for money the Texas Legislature has spent trying to secure the border under the big spending package the U.S. House approved early Thursday morning. It’s a stunning turnaround given that just a week ago money Texas Republicans had included in the package had been stripped from the legislation and looked like a longshot. But late Thursday night, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, was able to add back a provision that reimburses states that spent money on border security during the four years of the Biden administration. Under the more than 1,000-page bill that later passed the full House, states would have to submit evidence of their spending to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to get the grants. The bill doesn’t name Texas directly, but it has spent more on border security than the other states along the U.S.-Mexico border — all of which have Democratic governors but Texas. "As Texans know, our state bore the brunt of that abject failure, both societally and financially," U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, said. "Four years of chaos and suffering later, Congress is doing the right thing: paying Texas back." The entire spending package now heads to the U.S. Senate for more political wrangling, but both U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz have said they will fight to get Texas the money they say the state deserves for trying to slow the tide of historic border crossings during the Biden administration.

AP [5/22/2025 4:15 PM, Kristin Scharkey] reports people began loading up their cars and jumping on planes across the U.S. on Thursday as the long Memorial Day weekend kicked off. Even as politics and the nation’s aging air traffic infrastructure rattle the U.S. travel industry, Americans were expected to get away in record numbers. Auto club organization AAA predicted that over 45 million people — 1.4 million more than last year — would venture at least 50 miles from their homes between Thursday and Monday, with the vast majority going by car. The holiday’s previous domestic travel record was set 20 years ago. The Transportation Security Administration said it expected to screen about 18 million passengers and crew at airports across the U.S. from Thursday through Wednesday. Flights were expected to peak on Thursday with almost 54,000 scheduled, although airports should also be busy Friday, according to the FAA.

NBC News [5/22/2025 4:51 PM, Maya Eaglin and Alejandro Basalo, 44540K] reports summer’s unofficial kickoff is here and Americans are wasting no time getting out of town. From crowded airports to congested highways, Memorial Day travel is heating up, thanks in part to a dip in gas prices. A record 45.1 million people are expected to travel between Thursday May 22 and Monday May 26, breaking the 2005 holiday weekend record of 44 million travelers, according to AAA. Of those travelers, more than 38 million are expected to hit the road, marking the highest number of Memorial Day drivers AAA has ever recorded. Airports are also bracing for the holiday rush. More than 3.5 million people are expected to fly this weekend, a 2% increase from last year, according to AAA. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it’s preparing for one of its busiest weekends of the year with travel expected to peak on Thursday and nearly 54,000 flights scheduled nationwide. As of May 7, 2025, a REAL ID or a passport is required for domestic flights.

The Hill [5/22/2025 11:55 AM, Saul Elbein, 18649K] reports federal forecasters predicted an unusually heavy hurricane season at a briefing in New Orleans on Thursday. “Everything’s in place for an above-average season,” Ken Graham, director of the United States National Weather Service (NWS), told reporters in Louisiana. The NWS predicts three to five major hurricanes this season. Six to 10 total hurricanes will be formed out of the 13 to 19 named storms that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts. At the high end, those numbers mark a significant uptick of in hurricane activity over an average year, which would see three major hurricanes, seven total hurricanes, and 14 named storms. While Thursday’s briefing was somber, NWS officials also pointed to the new tools they were deploying — new storm models built on data from new satellites, underwater gliders, and radar systems on hurricane hunting planes. But the briefing, premised on the forecasting accomplishments of a previous administration, was marked by tense questions from reporters about the effect of Trump administration cuts to emergency services and forecasting. In particular, they focused on widespread departures or firings of employees of the NWS, which has lost more than 10 percent of its staff since January. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is expected to lose nearly a third following cuts ordered by the Trump administration, which has considered shuttering the agency. Although the National Hurricane Center reports it is fully staffed, 550 employees at regional field offices left or were laid off this year. That’s a problem because so much of disaster response is local. Reporting in ProPublica Wednesday found that while federal warnings about Helene’s track and danger were “eerily accurate,” many Appalachian communities didn’t put out warnings.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [5/22/2025 1:10 PM, Judson Jones, 153395K]
NPR [5/22/2025 2:21 PM, Rebecca Hersher, 37958K]
Reuters [5/22/2025 4:31 PM, Erwin Seba, 51390K]
USA Today [5/22/2025 4:10 PM, Doyle Rice, 75552K]

Washington Examiner [5/22/2025 5:11 PM, Annabella Rosciglione, 1934K] reports hurricane season begins next month, and a combination of powerful storms with widespread cuts to weather agencies at the federal level is set to play out. Hurricane season runs from June through the end of November. These powerful storms have been increasing in intensity in recent years, and scientists have suggested it is due to warming oceans from the impact of climate change. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted 13 to 19 named storms this year, six to 10 of which will become hurricanes. It noted that three to five of these could grow to Category 3 or stronger storms. NOAA has 70% confidence in this outlook, according to the agency. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has cut hundreds of jobs at NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who heads the department, which FEMA falls under, have both suggested their intention to eliminate the agency. Around 10% of FEMA’s workforce has left since January. Projections indicate more than 30% will be gone by the end of the year. A recent internal FEMA review found the agency "is not ready" for the June 1 start to hurricane season, due to the uncertainty around the agency’s future, lack of coordination with states and other federal agencies, and low morale among officials. Experts and government officials have warned that these cuts could cost human lives.

CNN [5/22/2025 11:21 AM, Andrew Freedman, Ella Nilsen and Gabe Cohen, 875K] reports staring down another above-average hurricane season, America’s weather forecasting and disaster response agencies are more hollowed out than ever before – and that could leave tens of millions of Americans more vulnerable to these massive storms. Both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are entering the season in turmoil, having lost thousands of experts and staff since President Donald Trump took office in January, intent on culling the federal workforce. Many of those lost have been specialists in weather forecasting, storm response and resilience, among other skills involved in hurricane preparation, prediction and recovery. The cuts come as human-caused climate change is super-charging storms – causing Atlantic hurricanes to produce heavier rainfall and intensify more rapidly than in previous decades. Destructive Hurricanes Milton and Helene underwent rapid intensification last season before making landfall, for example. Another above-average hurricane season is in store this year, NOAA announced Thursday morning: 13 to 19 named storms, 6 to 10 of which will become hurricanes, and 3 to 5 of these may grow to major hurricane intensity of Category 3 or stronger. NOAA said they have 70% confidence in this particular outlook. An average Atlantic hurricane season would be 14 named storms, of which seven become hurricanes and 3 become major hurricanes. At FEMA, which leads the nation’s disaster response and recovery, current and former officials say repeated calls from Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to "eliminate" the agency have led to internal confusion on what its mission is, and how quickly it should respond to disaster requests from states. FEMA took two months to approve disaster aid for deadly mid-March tornados that ripped through red states, leading to an outcry from some Republican lawmakers. "When it’s taking months for a disaster declaration to be granted, the people on the ground could potentially think, well, FEMA is just not going to be here because they’re gone, because the president and the (DHS) secretary got rid of them," said Deanne Criswell, the former FEMA chief under Biden. "There’s always been confusion about what FEMA’s role is the response phase of a disaster," Criswell added. "I think given this conversation, it just creates even greater misunderstanding of, ‘Do they even exist?’". The Trump administration’s steps to reduce the size of the federal government, which included firings, early retirement incentives and other programs, resulted in more than 560 National Weather Service employees leaving the agency since January. The fear of burnout is high among the remaining forecasters at the agency’s 122 local offices. "I am worried about staffing at the local offices for hurricane events," one NOAA employee told CNN, noting the thin staffing at some Gulf coastal offices. They requested anonymity for fear of retribution. "Maybe the first event will be fine, but fatigue will be quite real by peak season. People will do whatever they can to get the job done, but they can’t work around the clock, seven days a week.” The acting FEMA administrator was recently fired after he told lawmakers he does not support dismantling the agency, breaking with Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem and other high-ranking DHS officials.

Washington Examiner [5/22/2025 4:01 PM, Christian Datoc, 1934K] reports White House officials maintain the recent purge of senior Federal Emergency Management Agency officials won’t impact the nation’s hurricane preparedness. FEMA announced Wednesday that 16 agency executives, including the agency’s acting second-in-command MaryAnn Tierney, would be leaving their posts, roughly one week before the official start of hurricane season on June 1. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt deferred a question about the FEMA purge to the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the disaster agency, but claimed that the Trump administration was taking an active role in preparing for all natural disasters.

CNN [5/22/2025 4:18 PM, Gabe Cohen, 21433K] reports the Department of Homeland Security is inserting more than a half-dozen of its officials into key front office roles at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to effectively run the agency, according to multiple sources and an internal memo obtained by CNN. The major shakeup comes less than two weeks before the official start of hurricane season. The homeland security officials will replace several longtime FEMA leaders, marking an inflection point in the Trump administration’s takeover of the disaster relief agency. In a memo issued Wednesday, FEMA leadership formally announced the sweeping reorganization amid confusion, turmoil and a shrinking workforce at the agency under the administration, which has vowed to "eliminate" FEMA altogether. The new officials will serve in critical advisory positions under new acting FEMA administrator David Richardson, a DHS official himself. They appear to have limited experience managing natural disasters, according to bios included in Wednesday’s announcement. Like Richardson, most of them have been serving in the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office at DHS, and some will split their time with their other roles at Homeland Security. Only two of Richardson’s seven advisors currently hold positions at FEMA, and neither have served in such a senior role, multiple sources tell CNN. No one in the reorganized front office held their new positions before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Front office roles often turnover with a new president, but sources say it’s unusual to see such a dramatic shakeup, especially right before hurricane season, removing seasoned FEMA leadership and replacing them with far less experienced personnel. "The key takeaway is that the front office operation for the nation’s disaster management agency has zero people with actual disaster response and recovery experience 10 days out from hurricane season," a FEMA official told CNN. "That’s scary.” There are growing concerns inside FEMA that the agency is unprepared to handle catastrophic disasters in the months ahead. An internal assessment obtained by CNN last week acknowledged that the agency "is not ready" for hurricane season. With Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the helm, DHS has exerted extraordinary control over FEMA since Trump took office. She fired Trump’s first acting FEMA administrator, Cameron Hamilton, this month after he broke from other administration officials when he told lawmakers he does not believe eliminating FEMA is in the best interest of the American people. President Trump has created a FEMA review council, which met for the first time Tuesday and is expected to submit recommendations to further reform the agency. During the meeting, Noem reiterated the goal of dismantling and even renaming FEMA. "I don’t want you to go into this thinking that we’re going to make a little tweak here, a little delegation of authority over here, that we’re going to maybe cut a few dollars somewhere. No, FEMA should no longer exist as it is. (President Trump) wants this to be a new agency," Noem told the council. "Our goal is that states should manage their emergencies, and we come in and support them, and we’re there in a time of financial crisis.”

NewsMax [5/22/2025 2:16 PM, James Morley III, 4622K] reports that Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., warned the House Rules Committee on Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "is going to fail this summer" due to the actions of the Trump administration. Moskowitz began his remarks by saying that while he agreed with President Donald Trump on retooling the agency, he firmly disagreed with the administration’s tactics. "Let me say this again, the president was right that FEMA needs reform – but the Secretary of Homeland Security is dead wrong that FEMA should be deleted," Moskowitz said. Earlier in the month, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reiterated her stance that FEMA should be eliminated in favor of giving more authority to states. Last week, acting director of FEMA David Richardson said he plans to "return primacy to the state" which would entail putting far more financial burden on those inflicted by disasters. Richardson said the agency plans to cut its financial outlay to half of what a state needs to respond to a disaster in future reforms. "FEMA 2 will look different than FEMA 1. There will be much more emphasis on the states to do response and recovery, to some degree preparedness as well," Richardson told a staff town hall. "In fact, I would tell you that the secretary of Homeland Security has turned FEMA into the Newark Airport, OK? It is going to fail this summer," Moskowitz continued in reference to the multiple technical and personnel shortages suffered this month at the New Jersey airport.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [5/22/2025 10:31 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 18649K]

New York Post [5/22/2025 12:55 PM, Ben Cost, 49956K] reports that we hope the grid’s equipped with a sun-screen. Scientists claim we’re not prepared for the solar storms threatening Earth, which could cause cataclysmic blackouts, grid breakdowns and even an "internet apocalypse," according to a frightening "emergency drill" conducted by a coalition of government agencies. The warning came after Earth was struck by a series of X-class solar flares — the highest magnitude of these intense radiation bursts — that erupted from the extremely active sunspot AR4087, CTV news reported. To assess our ability to handle a massive sunburst, the federal government released the results of an emergency exercise conducted by the Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation (SWORM), a task force that includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other agencies. In light of the backfired drill, SWORM recommends investing in solar storm-detecting tech and upping collaboration between US agencies, international allies, and private companies. "Ongoing preparedness efforts for a space weather event are crucial because an extreme event has the potential to severely impact our nation’s critical infrastructure and threaten our national security,’ the report stated," they wrote. "Just as we prepare for earthquakes, hurricanes, and cyberattacks, our nation must take action before a major space weather event occurs."

Yahoo News [5/22/2025 5:41 PM, Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert, 59943K] reports a week into his appointment, FEMA’s new acting chief, David Richardson, held his first town hall for the agency’s employees. In the May 15 meeting, he outlined a planned overhaul of the nation’s disaster response operations, dubbed "FEMA 2.0," and tried to reassure staff that the agency is "to a great degree ready" for the 2025 "disaster season," and made clear he plans to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda. His speech and answers to employee questions also included several folksy talking points: He used fruits to describe how the agency’s responsibilities would be structured, made reference to his girlfriend’s big red hair, and said he hadn’t realized how big Texas is. If his presentation, which was livestreamed and played on televisions at the embattled agency’s headquarters, was meant to improve morale and boost confidence among the rank and file, it may have fallen short. Two veteran staffers told Business Insider that they saw at least a dozen employees openly mocking Richardson — laughing while he was talking, jeering at the screen, and later circulating memes about him. Like other federal employees, FEMA workers have been rattled by the Trump administration’s staff cutbacks. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have called for the agency’s eventual elimination. These big changes come during a critical period for FEMA. Tornadoes in Kentucky and Missouri left 28 people dead last week. Hurricane season on the Atlantic coast, a six-month sprint of emergencies for the agency, begins in June. Several FEMA employees who are tasked with helping states prepare for and respond to emergencies ranging from earthquakes to wildfires and beyond told Business Insider they’re worried about whether they’ll have the resources and support to provide life-saving aid to states when crisis strikes. The agency is pushing back on criticism. "Under Secretary Noem and Acting Administrator Richardson, FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens," a spokesperson for FEMA told Business Insider. "The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades."

NPR [5/23/2025 12:01 AM, Frank Langfitt, 37958K] reports the Trump administration is restoring in-person training at the National Fire Academy in tiny Emmitsburg, Md., after abruptly pausing it in March. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the academy, initially paused on-site classes, saying the government would no longer pay for travel for programs it did not deem "mission critical.” On Thursday, however, FEMA reversed course and said a comprehensive review found that "certain courses provide effective training.” "FEMA’s principles for emergency management assert that disasters are best managed when they’re federally supported, state managed and locally executed," the agency said in a statement. The academy is often described as the national war college for firefighting. Each year, it brings in thousands of fire chiefs for training that ranges from leadership and management to how to conduct fire, arson and explosion investigations. The decision also marks a reprieve for Emmitsburg, a Western Maryland town of about 3,000 people that voted overwhelmingly for Trump last year. The academy is part of Emmitsburg’s identity — and the visiting firefighters help drive the local economy. The administration also restored in-person training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala., and at the National Disaster and Emergency Management University, also in Emmitsburg. Thursday’s policy reversal followed heavy criticism by Mayrland’s congressional delegation and some Trump-supporting firefighters who argued that pausing training for first-responders was nonsensical and dangerous. John Beck, chief of the Waynesboro Volunteer Fire Department in Pennsylvania, said the administration’s explanation for halting and then restarting classes was vague at best. "We’re getting back on track with the training that should have never been taken offline," said Beck, who had applied to study at the academy later this summer. "But this is good news because this is exactly what the public deserves.” U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney, both Maryland democrats, welcomed the restoration of training. "The Trump Administration’s decision to abruptly cancel these classes made no sense — and what’s more, it risked significant harm to our communities and those who protect them," Van Hollen said in a statement. "I’m glad to see the Administration has heeded our calls to lift this senseless ban.”

Politico [5/22/2025 10:00 AM, Zack Colman, 16523K] reports Brandon Rogers fielded calls from as far away as Australia as his community strained to recover from the worst natural disaster ever to hit his slice of western North Carolina. Texts poured in by the hundreds. The influx kept the Haywood County commissioner and his staff busy as they coordinated an unimaginable humanitarian recovery. The messages were distractions. Worse, actually: They were the budding flowers of misinformation, seeds that were planted just days after Hurricane Helene killed scores of people, destroyed entire towns and set western North Carolina on an uncertain, unwieldy path to rebuilding. The hollers of western North Carolina are rather insular, with strong community ties owed in some equal measures to its mountainous geography, poor infrastructure and deep well of history. The storm hitting a place like that produced a greatest hits list of conspiracies: The Federal Emergency Management Agency wanted to push people off their land to access lithium deposits; then-President Joe Biden directed the storm to the Republican-heavy area; FEMA assistance was a loan that needed to be repaid at usurious rates. Rogers received a death threat over the county’s recovery efforts. An email chain letter claiming 28 babies froze to death in FEMA tents appeared in his inbox. Angry citizens from outside the county poured into a commission meeting demanding answers for tragedies that never occurred. “It was just people watching this stuff that believed it,” said Rogers, who is a Republican. “I’d be upset, too, if it’s true. But it wasn’t true.” The misinformation deterred countless people from seeking federal assistance, according to Rogers and other local officials, legal aid groups and community nonprofits interviewed by POLITICO over the nearly eight months since Helene ravaged a slice of Appalachia that had never before given a Category 4 hurricane any thought. At one point this winter, just 15 percent of eligible North Carolina households had applied for FEMA assistance. While the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor data shows those numbers have improved, major gaps remain: Of the 6,930 people who are eligible for housing assistance because insurance or charities did not cover costs, more than 3,700 people — 53 percent — are not pursuing available federal aid. Disaster experts cautioned against comparing recoveries because they are all unique, but noted that people who refuse federal help often undermine a region’s rebound. That is playing out in North Carolina, where thousands of people have foregone assistance that could pay for basic needs, rebuild nearly 1,000 destroyed and 74,000 damaged homes, and put communities mourning the 107 lives lost across the state back together. There was one prominent person seizing on the misinformation for his own purposes: Donald Trump. As a candidate, Trump leveled the baseless accusation that the Biden administration was diverting FEMA assistance from North Carolina to house illegal immigrants. He claimed $1 billion of FEMA spending was “stolen” for migrants. He said all FEMA had to offer people in North Carolina was $750, which was not true.

USA Today [5/22/2025 3:31 PM, Jorge L. Ortiz, 75552K] reports St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer will seek a new top emergency official after warning sirens failed to be activated ahead of what she called "the most horrific and deadly storm our city has seen in my lifetime," including a tornado that killed five people and injured dozens. Spencer placed Sarah Russell, commissioner of the City Emergency Management Agency, on administrative leave and said the department would be led by Fire Captain John Walk "until a permanent commissioner has been found,’’ according to a statement from the mayor’s office. Russell and her staff were away from the office May 16 as the expected storm bore down on St. Louis, and they could not press the button to activate the alarm warning residents of the impending tornado danger, the statement said. Spencer has since changed the protocol so the fire department will be in charge of activating the sirens, her office said. The National Weather Service said at least half a dozen tornadoes struck Missouri and neighboring Illinois. According to officials, at least 5,000 properties were damaged in St. Louis. The twisters were part of a major system of severe weather that tore through the Upper Midwest and some of the eastern states on May 16, killing more than 30 and leaving many damaged homes and downed power lines. Spencer estimated the damage in St. Louis at around $1 billion. She and other Missouri officials have complained that federal response to the disaster hasn’t mobilized quickly enough, saying the Federal Emergency Management Agency had no presence on the ground as of May 19.

Houston Chronicle [5/22/2025 5:04 PM, Catherine Dominguez, 1982K] reports FEMA funding and aid may be uncertain ahead of hurricane season, but Houston-area emergency management officials say they are prepared for the disasters and will seek assistance from the state for recovery efforts if necessary. In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order establishing the FEMA Review Council to determine whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency is equipped to address disasters across the United States. Since then, Trump has made cuts to the agency. Weather watchers already see signs of "near-average" storm activity for the Gulf of Mexico. Gov. Greg Abbott, who, along with Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, was appointed by Trump to serve on the FEMA Review Council, said in an April news release that he would work to ensure the state gets the federal support it needs. Abbott said the council will ensure FEMA becomes more responsive, efficient and supportive of state-led disaster efforts nationwide.

CBS Los Angeles [5/22/2025 8:03 PM, Austin Turner, 51860K] reports as lawmakers in Washington D.C. battle over potential cuts to federal programs, one Senator from California is calling for millions of dollars to be reinstated into the budget for earthquake retrofitting. On Wednesday, Sen. Adam Schiff wrote an open letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Senior Official Performing the Duties of Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator, David Richardson, urging them to restore $33 million in canceled funding that would have gone to earthquake retrofitting in California. "In California, earthquakes are not a question of if, but when," he wrote in part. "This funding is essential to the state’s ability to adequately prepare for when the next major earthquake hits.” The cuts are part of a larger plan to restructure FEMA; President Donald Trump has suggested outright scrapping of the agency, or making it a support agency, as he believes the states should be in charge of funding at times of emergency. While speaking to KCAL News’ Amy Johnson on Thursday, Schiff said the cuts put Californians directly at risk. "For example, if your building has a carport in it, that is often not particularly safe during an earthquake," Schiff said. "That means that hundreds and hundreds of these homes won’t be retrofit.” Schiff also pointed to cuts to flood prevention by the Trump administration. Schiff, alongside fellow Senator from California Alex Padilla, claims that those cuts to the Army Corps of Engineers singled out blue states, and is "blatantly political.”

HSToday [5/22/2025 5:30 AM, Matt Seldon, 38K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced that President Donald J. Trump has nominated Admiral Kevin E. Lunday to serve as the 28th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. Lunday, who has been serving as Acting Commandant since January 21, 2025, will continue in that capacity until confirmed by the U.S. Senate. “Now is the time for fundamental change,” said Lunday. “Secretary Noem has said that we must reinvigorate the Coast Guard or risk strategic failure. I am honored to lead our Coast Guard men and women in this historic effort to renew the service for the future.” Admiral Kevin E. Lunday, who assumed the duties of Acting Commandant earlier this year, leads the 56,000 men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard as part of the Department of Homeland Security team protecting America and one of the six military services and part of the joint force defending it. As a maritime nation, the U.S. relies on a strong Coast Guard to assure our national security. We control the U.S. maritime borders and approaches and protect U.S. sovereignty. We assure the operation, security, and defense of U.S. maritime critical infrastructure-vital to America’s economic prosperity and strategic mobility. We save lives through prevention and rescuing those in distress at sea. We conduct maritime law enforcement, military operations, and safeguard navigation on the high seas and navigable waters of the U.S., including operations in the Arctic, IndoPacific, and Atlantic Oceans. We protect the marine environment and our living marine resources. We remain Semper Paratus – Always Ready in service to the American people.

(B) NBC News Daily [5/22/2025 3:27 PM, Staff] reports that newly commissioned Coast Guard officers celebrated yesterday, tossing their hats in the air at the US Coast Guard Academy’s 144th commencement. The ceremony took place in New London, Connecticut, where 260 graduates looked on as planes and helicopters flew overhead in honor of their service.

HSToday [5/22/2025 12:05 PM, Staff, 38K] reports Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced Force Design 2028 (FD2028) Wednesday during the Coast Guard Academy commencement ceremony, according to a press release. This initiative provides a blueprint to transform the Coast Guard into a stronger, more ready and capable fighting force. Speaking at the ceremony, Noem expressed respect for the Service and committed to advocating for funding support. Noem’s FD2028 executive report outlines a vision for the Coast Guard’s future. “Now, more than ever, the American people need a strong and capable Coast Guard,” said Noem. “The Coast Guard must not simply evolve. It must revolutionize how it functions and operates to ensure decisive advantage over adversaries. This requires a fundamental change. Force Design 2028 is the bold blueprint needed to drive urgent action and win.” Noem also announced President Donald J. Trump’s nomination of Adm. Kevin E. Lunday to serve as the 28th commandant of the Coast Guard. Lunday will continue serving as acting commandant until confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

USA Today [5/22/2025 4:37 PM, Saman Shafiq, 75552K] reports at least three people remain missing after a boat sank in Washington state, and as recovery efforts enter a second day, so far, one person has been rescued by passing boaters. The boat, with four on board, sank hundreds of feet offshore in Possession Sound, north of Seattle, in the afternoon of May 21, with authorities notified of the incident around 1:10 p.m., Everett Police Department said in a news release. Passing boaters were able to rescue a man in his 50s from the sinking vessel, who reported that three others were on board with him, including a man in his 60s, a man in his 20s and a woman in her 40s. "The group was reportedly out shrimping when the boat began taking on water," police said. "However, the circumstances behind the incident remain under investigation." It is not yet known if the passengers on the boat were related, and Everett Police Department spokesperson Natalie Given said the group’s relationship is yet to be confirmed. Rescue swimmers, dive teams, marine units, drones and additional equipment from various agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, assisted in search efforts, which were suspended at night but resumed in the morning of May 22. Authorities said on May 22 that the boaters had not been located yet.

San Diego Union Tribune [5/23/2025 2:24 AM, Luke Harold, 1611K] reports Border Patrol issued a search warrant May 16 for multiple cell phones belonging to smugglers and migrants aboard the panga boat that capsized in Del Mar earlier this month, leaving three confirmed dead. The deceased included two Mexican nationals, whose details have not been released, and a 14-year-old Indian national, whose 10-year-old sister is missing and presumed dead, according to the warrant. The Coast Guard conducted a search with Customs and Border Protection, but did not find her. Four others were found and hospitalized, including the parents of the two children. Eight more were found later after Border Patrol located three vehicles allegedly involved in the smuggling attempt after the migrants reached land. Three of the migrants told Border Patrol that they agreed to pay $13,000 each to be smuggled into the U.S. Their boat capsized because of a wave near Torrey Pines State Beach at about 7 a.m. on May 5. Initial reports from bystanders who contacted the San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center said that it looked like about 16 people were attempting to illegally enter the U.S., according to the search warrant. The boat had come to a stop near the shore as one of the captains communicated with nearby drivers who were ready to depart Del Mar with the migrants, according to the warrant. One of the migrants told agents "as the boat waited it was struck by a powerful wave that caused it to turn over with people on board.” Two defendants who allegedly captained the boat, Jesus Ivan Rodriguez Leyva and Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna, face life in prison or death on charges of bringing in aliens resulting in death, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. They were arrested and taken to the San Clemente Border Patrol Station. Three other defendants who allegedly transported the migrants by car after they reached land face up to 10 years in prison for transportation of illegal aliens. One of them said he is typically paid $100 to $300 per migrant, depending on their final destination.

GPS World [5/22/2025 10:25 AM, Jesse Khalil] reports The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate has released a new tool designed to help protect critical infrastructure that relies on GNSS: The GNSS Test Vector Suite and Distribution Methodology. The GNSS Test Vector Suite and Distribution Methodology, now available on GitHub, is designed to help infrastructure operators assess and improve the resilience of their positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) systems. These systems are essential for sectors such as energy, transportation and telecommunications, and are vulnerable to disruptions from natural events, technical failures or cyber threats. The tool suite provides standardized test scenarios and simulated data, allowing users to evaluate how their equipment responds to challenges such as signal interference or spoofing. By generating and converting simulated data into signals that mimic real-world GNSS systems, the tool enables independent testing of devices and systems for conformity to resilience standards.

Washington Times [5/22/2025 6:01 AM, Ryan Lovelace, 2106K] reports the U.S. and allied governments said Wednesday that Russia’s military intelligence targeted technology and logistics companies, particularly those involved in the delivery of aid to Ukraine. The FBI, the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were among the co-authoring agencies warning about hacks by Russia’s GRU "unit 26165," also known as Fancy Bear. "The GRU unit 26165 cyber campaign against Western logistics providers and technology companies has targeted dozens of entities, including government organizations and private/commercial entities across virtually all transportation modes: air, sea, and rail," the agencies said in a joint cybersecurity advisory from the U.S. and officials of 10 other nations. The Russian hackers also sought access to IP cameras for visibility into sensitive locations. "In addition to targeting logistics entities, unit 26165 actors likely used access to private cameras at key locations, such as near border crossings, military installations, and rail stations, to track the movement of materials into Ukraine," the advisory said. "The actors also used legitimate municipal services, such as traffic cams.” The overwhelming majority, 81%, of targeted IP cameras appeared to be in Ukraine, according to a sample of targeted cameras. The next most targeted locations included Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. The full list of the hackers’ suspected targets is broad, including airports and other transportation hubs, air traffic management, the defense industry, the IT services industry and more. The advisory identified the U.S. as among the countries targeted by the hackers.

CBS New York [5/22/2025 11:40 PM, Ali Bauman and Natalie Duddridge, 51860K] reports the Jewish community in New York City is on edge as a result of Wednesday night’s fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C. While it has found no credible threats, the NYPD says it is taking no chances following the attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum and is raising security at religious sites in New York. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, whose department covers the largest Jewish population outside Israel, said Thursday the precautions will last through the weekend. New Yorkers at Jewish religious sites and cultural centers will see an increased police presence, including heavy weapons teams and counterterrorism officers, Tisch said. They were deployed for deterrence and reassurance for people to feel safe, she added. Officers in the NYPD’s Joint Operations Center are using tens of thousands of cameras to monitor live feeds across the five boroughs. They’re looking for anything out of the ordinary, like a protest or people lingering. The NYPD also has large teams of investigators assigned to monitor social media for any potential threats. Tisch, the first Jewish commissioner of the NYPD, said the deadly attack in Washington, D.C. was particularly painful. "Generally, as a person of faith, I have a hard time understanding how someone could have so much hate in their heart to attack someone based on their religion, the color of their skin, who they love. So I really join the majority of New Yorkers being horrified by what’s happened here," Tisch said. When asked if there was any connection between the suspect in the Washington, D.C. attack and activist groups in New York, Tisch said she did not want to get ahead of the FBI, which is leading the investigation. However, she said the NYPD is working closely with the feds.

CBS Austin [5/22/2025 1:37 PM, Christopher Hoffman and Natali Castillo, 558K] reports the teenager accused of plotting a school shooting appeared in juvenile court on Thursday. The 13-year-old, whose initials are T.H., is facing a terrorism charge. A judge ruled that the teen will stay in juvenile detention for at least ten more days. His next hearing is now scheduled for June 5. Earlier this month, police say the teen went to Rhodes Middle School wearing tactical gear and was allegedly plotting an attack against the school, which led to his arrest. The investigation into the student began in January of 2025, when it was discovered that the child had made disturbing drawings alluding to acts of violence, including his school’s name. Detectives then learned of the child’s fascination with mass shooters and their manifestos. In April of 2025, the child was found to have been researching the brutal attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and was subsequently suspended. The child then attended an alternative school until May 7, 2025, returning to his home campus the following day. Upon the child’s return, new security measures were enacted by the campus due to concerns surrounding the child’s fascination with mass-targeted violence. His mother, Ashley Pardo, was also arrested for aiding in the commission of terrorism. Police say she purchased items later confiscated as part of the investigation. "Her behavior is not only dangerous, it’s abhorrent, especially as a parent," said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus during a recent press conference. "She appeared to be dismissive and unconcerned with her son’s behavior."

Los Angeles Times [5/22/2025 8:16 PM, Rebecca Plevin, 14672K] reports that, less than a week after a targeted bomb explosion nearly destroyed his fertility clinic, Dr. Maher Abdallah stood below the blazing desert sun in front of a liquor store, its windows blown out by the powerful blast. Behind him was what remained of American Reproductive Centers. The clinic — the Coachella Valley’s only full-service fertility center and IVF lab, according to its website — had been relegated to a crime scene. All four buildings will need to be demolished and replaced, a process that could take up to two years, he said. Still, he dismissed the destruction as "material loss.” In what Abdallah described as a series of miracles, nobody was in the clinic last Saturday morning and its in vitro fertilization lab remained intact despite the mighty force of the explosion. The attack knocked out the electricity that powered the facility’s incubators and damaged the backup generator, but emergency responders rushed in to address the outage and ensure that the thousands of frozen eggs, sperm and embryos stored in cryogenic tanks went unharmed. He later learned that of the 14 embryos that were dividing in incubators at the time of the attack — all belonging to one same-sex couple — eight had become "perfect blastocysts," or balls of cells that form early in pregnancy. "My return on the investment is babies," said Abdallah, whose clinic claims to have helped more than 2,000 couples grow their families, many of them in the region’s LGBTQ+ community. "Life is preserved, and that’s really all I care about.” The bomb that detonated at the fertility clinic in this resort city last Saturday injured four people and killed the suspected bomber, 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus, who lived about an hour away in Twentynine Palms. The FBI has labeled the incident as domestic terrorism. FBI case investigators, as well as law enforcement sources, characterize Bartkus as having "antinatalist" ideations, a conclusion drawn from social media posts and other online materials authorities have linked to him. In those public posts, he argued that procreation without the consent of the unborn is unethical and unjustifiable in a world struggling with environmental harm, violence and overpopulation. In addition, the posts indicate he was mourning the recent death of a friend.

ABC News [5/22/2025 6:36 PM, Meredith Deliso, 31733K] reports a former Los Angeles deputy mayor has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge for making a fake threat to bomb Los Angeles City Hall last year, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. Brian K. Williams, 61, was charged with threats regarding fire and explosives, a felony, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said. A plea agreement was filed in the case on Thursday. Williams is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks, prosecutors said. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. The charge stems from an incident that occurred during a virtual meeting on Oct. 3, 2024, while Williams was serving as deputy mayor of public safety, according to the plea agreement. While at Los Angeles City Hall, Williams called his city-issued cellphone from his personal cellphone using the Google Voice application, then left the virtual meeting to call the chief of staff of the Los Angeles Police Department to report a bomb threat, according to the plea agreement.
Williams "falsely stated that he had just received a call on his city-issued cell phone from an unknown male caller who had made a bomb threat against Los Angeles City Hall," the plea agreement stated. "In fact, defendant had received no such call. Instead, defendant himself knowingly and willfully made that threat, which defendant admits was a threat to unlawfully damage or destroy a building by means of fire or an explosive.” The plea agreement noted that "at no time" did Williams intend to carry out the threat. Williams further admitted to sending a text message to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and officials in her office about 10 minutes later and falsely reported that he had received a bomb threat that morning, according to the plea agreement. "The male caller stated that ‘he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda,’" Williams texted, according to the plea agreement. LAPD officers responded to City Hall to investigate the threat but did not locate anything suspicious, according to the plea agreement.

Breitbart [5/22/2025 8:42 AM, Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby, 3077K] reports the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the targeting of two key leaders of the terrorist organization known as the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas. The move freezes all properties and assets of those two individuals and prohibits any U.S. company or individual from doing business with them. The CDN-Los Zetas carries out terrorist activity to intimidate U.S. citizens as well as Mexican communities, Treasury officials revealed in a prepared statement announcing the move. As Breitbart Texas reported, Los Zetas have complete control over Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and operate in multiple Mexican States. In addition to drug trafficking and human smuggling, the cartel is behind acts of extortion, kidnapping, and murder. Los Zetas CDN cartel members are linked to the mass disappearance of thousands of innocent victims throughout Mexico — many of whom have been incinerated or buried in clandestine gravesites, Breitbart Texas reported. One of the individuals targeted by the U.S. government action is Miguel Angel De Anda Ledezma, a man who authorities claim is not only a high-ranking leader of the CDN, but also a top weapons trafficker. Treasury officials allege that De Anda coordinated groups of straw gun purchasers in Texas and would then have the firearms smuggled into Mexico. The other man named in the government action is Ricardo “Mando R” Gonzalez Sauceda, who was listed as the organization’s second in command until his arrest earlier this year. As Breitbart Texas reported, Mexican authorities arrested Mando R earlier this year, immediately after U.S. President Donald J. Trump threatened Mexico with tariffs over the relationship between cartels and that country’s government.

CNN [5/22/2025 12:05 PM, Katie Bo Lillis and Holmes Lybrand, 21433K] reports CIA security officers shot and injured a woman who approached the front gates of the agency in a car around 4 a.m. ET on Thursday morning, according to a law enforcement source and another person familiar with the matter. That person is now in custody. It was not clear what led the agency security officers to open fire. The shooting was "non-fatal," according to a statement from the Fairfax County Police Department confirming the incident. No other details on the woman’s condition were immediately available. Fairfax Police are currently "providing traffic support while the CIA conducts its investigation," according to the statement. At this time, there is no indication that the shooting is connected to the killing of two Israeli embassy employees killed on Wednesday night in Washington DC. "There was a security incident that law enforcement responded to outside CIA Headquarters," a CIA spokesperson said. "The main gate is currently closed until further notice. Additional details will be made available as appropriate.”

NewsMax [5/22/2025 9:28 AM, Staff, 4622K] reports Hamas terrorists "realize very well the destruction they have brought upon themselves," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Wednesday, speaking at his first press conference since the start of "Operation Gideon’s Chariots" against the terror organization in Gaza. "Gideon’s Chariots is there in order to complete this war," he said, noting "huge blows" against Hamas in recent days, including the "probable" death of de facto Hamas leader in Gaza, Mohammed Sinwar. Southern Israeli cities like Sderot are now shaking "not because of Hamas missiles but the magnitude of IDF fire," the premier charged, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. Noting the deaths of two Israeli soldiers in Gaza this week, the prime minister said that "this war is making us pay heavy prices. However, it does have justified and clear goals," including returning the hostages, fully defeating Hamas and neutralizing the Strip as a security threat. He also said Jerusalem would carry out President Donald Trump’s plan, which calls for the relocation of most of Gaza’s residents to third countries and rebuilding the Strip as a "Riviera of the Middle East." "These goals are intertwined, and we are committed to achieving them completely and fully," Netanyahu vowed in his remarks. "Gaza will be under Israeli security control, and Hamas will be defeated.” The premier said that he was prepared to agree to a temporary truce to release all remaining 58 hostages from Hamas captivity after 593 days. Jerusalem is also "willing to end the war, but there should be clear conditions to ensure Israel’s security," according to Netanyahu. Netanyahu defended his government’s decision to allow some aid to enter Gaza without receiving hostages in return, saying the move followed warnings by some of the Jewish state’s biggest allies.

Reuters [5/22/2025 8:42 AM, Staff, 51390K] reports the United States will bear legal responsibility in the event of an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday, following a CNN report that Israel might be preparing strikes on Iran. Iran and the U.S., Israel’s closest ally, will hold a fifth round of nuclear talks on Friday in Rome amid deep disagreement over uranium enrichment in Iran, which Washington says could lead to developing nuclear bombs. Iran denies such intent. Citing intelligence sources, CNN said on Tuesday it was not clear whether Israel had made a final decision on military action and that U.S. officials disagreed about whether the Israelis would ultimately decide to attack. “Iran strongly warns against any adventurism by the Zionist regime of Israel and will decisively respond to any threat or unlawful act by this regime,” Araqchi said in a letter addressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Araqchi said Iran would view Washington as a “participant” in any such attack, and Tehran would have to adopt “special measures” to protect its nuclear sites and material if threats continued, and the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency would be subsequently informed of such steps. Although Araqchi did not specify what measures were being considered, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader said in April that Tehran could suspend cooperation with the IAEA or transfer enriched material to safe and undisclosed locations.

Reuters [5/22/2025 11:19 AM, David Shepardson, 51390K] reports the Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday 4-0 to finalize rules barring Chinese labs deemed risks to U.S. national security from testing electronic devices such as smartphones, cameras and computers for use in the United States. All electronics used in the United States must go through the FCC’s equipment authorization process before they can be imported. The FCC says about 75% of all electronics are tested in labs located inside China. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment. The FCC said it had found that many currently recognized labs potentially have deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party, including some connected to Chinese state-owned-enterprises or the Chinese military. These labs have tested thousands of devices bound for the U.S. market over the last several years, the agency added. "These labs provide a gateway into the U.S. telecommunications infrastructure," FCC Chair Brendan Carr said on Thursday. "It is not hard to imagine that an unreliable lab —one beholden to a foreign adversary — could sign off on insecure gear entering the U.S. market."

AP [5/22/2025 1:58 PM, Staff, 56000K] reports that Philippine officials on Thursday condemned the Chinese Coast Guard, which it said used a water cannon to target one of two Philippine fishing boats conducting marine research in the disputed South China Sea. The Bureau of Fisheries in Manila said the incident, which took place on Wednesday near one of three sandbars called Sandy Cay, caused damage to one of the fishing vessels and endangered its crew members. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [5/22/2025 3:29 PM, Jim Gomez, 4622K] reports Philippine officials on Thursday condemned the Chinese coast guard for using what they say was a powerful water cannon to target one of two Philippine fishing boats conducting marine research in the disputed South China Sea. The Bureau of Fisheries in Manila said the incident took place on Wednesday near one of three sandbars called Sandy Cay and caused damage to one of the fishing vessels and endangered its crew members. The Chinese coast guard’s “aggressive interference” happened as the two Philippine vessels were conducting “routine marine scientific research” in the barren white sandbars that lie between the Philippine-occupied Thitu island and a Chinese-built island base called Subi Reef, according to the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries in Manila. Officials said a Filipino scientific team were in Sandy Cay to collect sand samples from the sandbars. A larger Chinese coast guard ship “water cannoned and sideswiped” one of the vessels twice, “resulting in some damage to the latter’s port bow and smokestack and putting at risk lives of its civilian personnel onboard,” the Philippine officials said. They said the incident “occurred within the territorial sea of the Philippines” off Thitu island, which Filipinos call Pagasa, Tagalog for hope. China’s coast guard blamed the Philippines for the collision, saying the vessels entered the waters illegally without China’s permission and landed personnel on Sandy Cay, it said, using the Chinese name Tiexian Reef for the sandbars. It said the vessels ignored warnings from the Chinese side and came dangerously close to the Chinese ship, which it said was conducting normal law enforcement operations. The Chinese coast guard landed on the reef to check on the activity, a statement said. It did not mention the use of a water cannon. “The Philippines’ actions seriously violated China’s territorial sovereignty ... and undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the Chinese statement said. China has claimed that it has sovereignty rights over virtually the entire South China Sea and has vowed to defend its territories at all cost.

Reuters [5/22/2025 5:58 AM, Staff, 51390K] reports China’s coast guard said it took control measures against two Philippine vessels on Wednesday which it said "illegally intruded" into waters near Subi Reef and Sandy Cay in the disputed South China Sea. One of the Philippine vessels also "dangerously" approached and collided with a Chinese coast guard ship, China Coast Guard (CCG) spokesperson Liu Dejun said in a statement, adding that responsibility "lies entirely" with the Philippine side.

Wall Street Journal [5/22/2025 1:00 PM, Joyu Wang, 646K] reports Taiwan will commission its first-ever army drone units this year and introduce sea drones to its naval forces, part of its efforts to modernize its arsenal with cutting-edge technology to prepare for a potential Chinese invasion, Defense Minister Wellington Koo said in an interview. The steps fit into a shift from a focus on traditional forces to building up its capabilities intended to make China think twice before attacking. Taiwan’s marines have already transformed some tank and artillery battalions into drone squads, according to Koo. “It would be best if China wakes up every day feeling like ‘today’s just not the day to invade,’” he said. Taiwan is racing to overhaul its military in preparation for what it sees as a potential invasion by China as soon as 2027. China has intensified its military exercises around the island, including by staging simulated blockades that Koo and other Taiwanese officials say could turn without notice into an actual attack—an event that would trigger a global crisis. Taiwan’s leadership this week marked the first year in office of President Lai Ching-te, who delivered an anniversary speech on Tuesday that was most notable for its softer tone toward Beijing. “Taiwan is a peace-loving country,” he said. “We are willing to replace containment with engagement and confrontation with dialogue.”

Wall Street Journal [5/22/2025 3:40 PM, Nancy A. Youssef, Alexander Ward, and Timothy W. Martin, 646K] reports the Trump administration is weighing a withdrawal of thousands of American troops from South Korea, according to defense officials familiar with the discussions, a move that could stir new anxiety among allies worried about the White House commitment to Asia. An option being developed by the Pentagon is to pull out roughly 4,500 troops and move them to other locations in the Indo-Pacific region, including to Guam, the officials and a person familiar with the matter said. The idea is being prepared for consideration by President Trump as part of an informal policy review on dealing with North Korea, two of the officials said. The proposal has yet to reach Trump’s desk and is one of several ideas under discussion by senior officials conducting the review, the two officials said. Asked about the discussion of a troop drawdown, a Pentagon spokesman said there were no policy announcements to make. National Security Council spokesman Pete Nguyen didn’t address the troop-withdrawal issue but said Trump was committed to the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea. South Korea’s defense ministry declined to comment. Since his first term, Trump has considered changing the U.S. footprint in South Korea, where there are about 28,500 troops. Last month top commanders overseeing U.S. forces in Asia warned against reducing their numbers, saying a drawdown would jeopardize their ability to prevail against North Korea, and in other possible conflicts against China and Russia that could arise in Northeast Asia.

Reuters [5/22/2025 2:55 PM, Staff, 51390K] reports that the United Steelworkers union urged U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday to block Nippon Steel’s (5401.T) bid for U.S. Steel (X.N), despite a pledge by the Japanese steel giant to invest $14 billion in the iconic American company, as first reported by Reuters. In a statement published a day after a powerful national security panel submitted a fresh recommendation on the deal to Trump, the union accused Nippon Steel of dumping steel on American markets for decades and argued its merger bid poses a threat to U.S. national security. "Now, as it continues to make flashy promises about proposed investments, it remains clear Nippon is simply seeking to undercut our domestic industry from the inside," the union said. Nippon Steel declined to comment. U.S. Steel, whose shares pared gains by 1% following the news, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Its shares were up 1.4% for the day.

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