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 [11/13/2025 5:42 PM, Karoun Demirjian, 135475K] reports air traffic controllers with perfect attendance through the shutdown are not the only government employees getting bonuses for working unpaid during the longest federal spending freeze in U.S. history. The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, announced on Thursday that an unspecified number of Transportation Security Administration officers would also be awarded checks of $10,000 for going “above and beyond” during the shutdown, acting days after President Trump recommended $10,000 bonuses for air traffic controllers who never missed a shift during the shutdown, while seeming to prod those who were absent to quit. Ms. Noem handed out the first batch of bonus checks during a news conference at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where travelers experienced long security lines last week amid shutdown-related staffing shortages. Ms. Noem did not define the exact criteria that merited the checks but said the eligible employees could include those who took on extra shifts during the shutdown. The Hill [11/13/2025 10:55 PM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports "Americans can be proud of TSA workers across the country who continued to serve with excellence throughout the shutdown — many going to great lengths to protect our country, care for their fellow Americans, and keep our nation moving," Noem posted on the social media platform X. "President Trump and I are giving a $10,000 bonus to exemplary TSA officers across our nation who went above and beyond their performance," she continued. "Thank you to the men and women of @TSA — patriots!" The checks are "great for some," Johnny J. Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees’ TSA Council 100, the union that represents TSA officials, told the Times. He added that "it’s better to give everybody a little something, because they all suffered and they all endured hard times during the last 43 days.” TSA agents, among other government workers across other departments, are expected to receive their next paychecks by Nov. 19, according to an Office of Management and Budget memo obtained by Semafor. Noem faced pushback during the shutdown after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) played videos of the secretary blaming the shutdown on Democratic lawmakers. "It is TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience possible while we keep you safe," Noem said in the video. "However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.” Some airports stopped playing the video. The Port of Portland, Ore., "did not consent to playing the video in its current form, as we believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging," a spokesperson previously told The Hill. Earlier this month, Senate Democrats called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate what they claimed were "partisan messages released to the public" by federal agencies ahead of and during the government shutdown. They primarily focused on Noem’s videos played at airports. "Federal law … prohibits agencies from using any appropriated funding, directly or indirectly, to generate publicity designed to influence Congress in supporting or opposing legislation or appropriations," the group of senators wrote to the GAO. The Federal News Network [11/13/2025 6:27 PM, Justin Doubleday, 986K] reports that, asked whether she was referring to those who did not call out sick or stay home, Noem said, "that’s not necessarily the parameters.” "We’re going to look at every individual that did exceptional service during this period of time when there were so many hardships," Noem said. DHS did not immediately respond to questions about who qualifies for the bonuses. TSA employs approximately 50,000 transportation security officers, meaning a bonus for every officer would cost roughly $500 million. In a press release, DHS said it’s paying for the bonuses using carryover funds from fiscal 2025. Disruptions to air travel began to grow in the final weeks of the shutdown. Security lines began to grow longer as some TSA officers called out. Meanwhile, flight delays and cancellations grew as air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration began calling out of work amid multiple missed paychecks. Noem’s announcement comes after a Truth Social post by President Donald Trump earlier this week, in which he raged at air traffic controllers who took time off during the shutdown. Trump also announced $10,000 bonuses for controllers who "didn’t take any time off for the ‘Democrat Shutdown Hoax.’". Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he agreed with Trump’s idea for a $10,000 bonus for air traffic controllers who had no missed days of work. But Duffy also offered a reprieve for some employees who missed days during the shutdown. "We have some controllers who were put in a very difficult position," Duffy told a Wisconsin TV station on Tuesday. "They’re young. They don’t make a lot of money when they first start out. They can make some good money later in their careers, but when they start out, they’re not making a lot. They may be the sole source of income, and they were confronted with a real problem.

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(B) NBC News Daily [11/14/2025 3:14 PM, Staff] reports the federal government is slowing getting back to normal after the longest shutdown in US history comes to an end. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem marked the reopening by giving out $10,000 bonuses to TSA employees in Houston who continued to work while not getting paid. It is not clear where that money is coming from. Federal workers were ordered back on the job today.

The Wall Street Journal [11/13/2025 8:46 PM, Victoria Albert and Jack Morphet, 646K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel are headed to Charlotte, N.C., a local sheriff’s office said, making it the latest Democratic-led city to receive an influx of federal agents. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office said it was notified by two federal officials on Wednesday that CBP personnel are expected in the Charlotte area as early as Saturday. The officials didn’t disclose details about the operation or request help with any enforcement actions, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Thursday. “MCSO will remain vigilant and continue to address and focus on the needs of our community as it does each and every day,” the office said. “However MCSO will not be involved with any measures regarding enforcement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP.” The Department of Homeland Security didn’t comment on the sheriff’s statement. The agency doesn’t discuss future or potential operations, a spokeswoman said. The size and purpose of CBP’s presence isn’t clear. However, several Democratic-led cities have drawn the ire of President Trump, who has accused local leaders of not doing enough to curb illegal immigration and crime. Federal immigration agents deployed to those cities have clashed repeatedly with protesters, and local leaders have accused the Trump administration of overdramatizing crime concerns and exacerbating tensions on the ground. Federal immigration officials have concentrated most recently in Chicago, where U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino has faced heavy scrutiny from a judge over federal agents’ conduct. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, a Democrat, said she had no details about CBP’s expected arrival, and she urged people not to share unverified information about possible law-enforcement activities. “Doing so creates more fear and uncertainty when we need to be standing together,” she said on social media Thursday. “We will continue to work with local and state partners to do what we can to ensure the safety of our community.” The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said it has no involvement in planning any federal activities and doesn’t participate in ICE operations. Politico [11/13/2505:23 PM, Cheyanne M. Daniels, 2100K] reports that the Mecklenburg County sheriff’s office on Thursday said the sheriff, Garry L. McFadden, was contacted by two unnamed federal officials this week who said U.S. Customs and Border Patrol personnel will be arriving in the Charlotte area either Saturday or early next week. Mecklenburg County encompasses Charlotte. “We value and welcome the renewed collaboration and open communication with our federal partners,” McFadden said in a statement. “It allows us to stay informed and be proactive in keeping Mecklenburg County safe and to maintain the level of trust our community deserves.” The announcement follows several days of confusion from some officials in North Carolina, who on Tuesday said there had been no communication between the Mecklenburg County sheriff’s office and the Customs and Border Patrol. Though the agents’ operations have not been specified, the Mecklenburg County sheriff’s office stated it will not be involved with any Immigration and Customs Enforcement or CBP crackdowns. A Homeland Security spokesperson would not comment on the North Carolina operation. “Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “We do not discuss future or potential operations.” The Los Angeles Times [11/13/2025 4:43 PM, Allen G. Breed and Erik Verduzco, 14862K] reports President Trump has defended sending the military and immigration agents into Democratic-run cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and even the nation’s capital, saying the unprecedented operations are needed to fight crime and carry out his mass deportation agenda. Charlotte is another Democratic stronghold, and the state will have one of the most hotly contested U.S. Senate races in the country next year. Activists, faith leaders and local and state officials in the city had already begun preparing the immigrant community, sharing information about resources and attempting to calm fears. A call organized by the group CharlotteEast had nearly 500 people on it Wednesday. Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol chief who led Customs and Border Protection’s recent Chicago operation and was also central to the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles, had been coy about where agents would target next. The group Indivisible Charlotte and the Carolina Migrant Network will be conducting a training for volunteers Friday. Training will include " how to recognize legitimate ICE agents, versus obviously those who don’t look legitimate," said Tony Siracusa, spokesman for Indivisible Charlotte. "They’re not always wearing vests that say ‘ICE.’ And what your rights are.” The Washington Examiner [11/13/2025 4:58 PM, David Zimmermann, 1394K] reports that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said it will not participate in any immigration enforcement actions, as it lacks authority in this matter. The police department added that it has not been involved in the planning of the operation whatsoever. Gov. Josh Stein (D-NC) said he has not received any confirmation from the federal government concerning the operation. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles made a similar statement, calling the rumors of such an operation unverified and telling the local community to remain calm.

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Washington Post [11/13/2025 8:40 PM, Emma Uber, 24149K] reports a federal agent shot at a car during a chase Thursday while working alongside D.C. police officers, police said. A D.C. police official said the person who fired a weapon is a Homeland Security Investigations agent. Another HSI agent patrolling alongside city police fired into a car during a traffic stop less than a month ago. Both shootings occurred within blocks of each other on Benning Road in Southeast Washington. D.C. police and federal officers were patrolling together Thursday as part of the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force” when they saw a car commit a traffic violation at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Minnesota Avenues SE at about 4:45 p.m., a D.C. police spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. They tried to initiate a traffic stop and the car fled, the spokesperson said. Members of the task force gave chase and a federal agent opened fire during the pursuit, police said. No one was injured. No D.C. police officers were involved in the shooting, the spokesperson said. The statement from D.C. police directed further questions to Homeland Security Investigations. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment Thursday night. Police said they took a suspect into custody but did not identify the person or list any criminal charges Thursday night. Washington Post requested the police report, but it was not immediately available. City police have been patrolling in groups with federal officers as part of a law enforcement surge ordered in August by President Donald Trump and continued by a September order from D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser. Bowser has praised the partnership with Justice Department agencies such as the FBI, but — after videos showing D.C. police working alongside immigration authorities angered some residents — said she wants to remove the Homeland Security agencies from the patrols. A spokesperson for Bowser referred a reporter to the statement from D.C. police. Last month, D.C. police and officers from five federal agencies were patrolling together as part of the task force, according to court records, when they spotted a Dodge SUV with tinted windows and missing a front tag. The officers caught up to the Dodge and believed the driver was trying to flee, according to court records. A Homeland Security Investigations agent shot into the car at Phillip Brown, 33. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that the special agent fired at Brown “in fear for his life” after Brown drove at officers “in a deliberate attempt to run them down.” A D.C. police officer told a judge that none of the law enforcement officers were standing in front of Brown’s car. Brown bumped into a civilian vehicle stopped in front of him, and his criminal attorney, Quo Mieko Judkins, pointed out to the judge that the bullets entered the car from the side, not the front. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that the special agent fired at Brown “in fear for his life” after Brown drove at officers “in a deliberate attempt to run them down.”

NewsMax [11/13/2025 10:39 AM, James Morley III, 4109K] reports reports circulated Wednesday that Greg Bovino, President Donald Trump’s top immigration enforcer in Chicago, might be reassigned as early as this week to Charlotte, North Carolina, or New Orleans. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks told Newsmax on Thursday that while he couldn’t comment on Bovino’s next destination, he said no U.S. city is off-limits for immigration operations. He also praised the two-month enforcement surge in Chicago marked by thousands of arrests. "We’re the United States Border Patrol, and we will go anywhere in the United States and arrest those in this country illegally," Banks said, rejecting the notion that any jurisdiction can function as a sanctuary. He linked the expansion of interior operations to what he called "record lows" in unlawful crossings at the southern border, noting this has freed resources to pursue individuals released "unvetted" during the Biden administration. "There’s no such thing as sanctuary from immigration laws," Banks said on "National Report." "This is not about the type of status. It’s about status. You’re either in this country legally or illegally, and we’ll go anywhere in this country." Banks promised that enforcement will continue to accelerate.

Federal News Network [11/13/2025 6:34 PM, Jory Heckman, 986K] reports the Trump administration is looking to hire thousands of federal law enforcement personnel, as part of expanded immigration enforcement efforts. But the courts handling these cases aren’t seeing the same surge in resources. Several immigration judges recently fired by the Justice Department say the court system is losing staff, and is unable to address a multi-million case backlog. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has intensified operations across the country, and detention facilities are full of individuals waiting for their cases to be heard. The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act passed this summer gave the Department of Homeland Security billions of dollars to hire 10,000 new ICE agents, as well as 5,000 customs officers and 3,000 Border Patrol agents. The legislation bill also authorized DOJ to hire about 100 new immigration judges, bringing their total headcount to about 800 nationwide. But the total number of immigration judges is dwindling under the Trump administration, according to data tracked by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and its affiliate, the National Association of Immigration Judges. According to the unions, the total number of immigration judges this year has dropped from 700 to 600. The Trump administration terminated more than 80 immigration judges since taking office, while others have retired or accepted voluntary separation incentives. Recently terminated immigration judges say their colleagues still on the job don’t have the resources needed to address a backlog of about 3.4 million cases.

NewsMax [11/13/2025 4:48 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K] reports a federal judge in Chicago sharply criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics Thursday, ordering the release of dozens of detainees after finding that Department of Homeland Security officials repeatedly violated a binding consent decree during a major arrest operation this year. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, a Biden appointee, issued the order in a class-action lawsuit alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated a 2021 consent decree limiting when agents can arrest and detain illegal immigrants in the Chicago area. The ruling follows an enforcement push known as Operation Midway Blitz, which resulted in the arrests of roughly 3,000 illegal immigrants between June 11 and early October. Cummings said the government has acknowledged that 46 illegal immigrants were arrested in violation of the decree. Only 13 remain in ICE custody, and the judge ordered all 13 released by noon Friday, "on their own recognizance without bond or conditions of release," consistent with the decree’s requirements. He also temporarily blocked their deportations — including voluntary departures — until at least one business day after release. The Department of Homeland Security sharply denounced the ruling. However, Cummings’ order does not direct the release of all 615 detainees. Instead, it requires DHS to identify by Nov. 14 which of those individuals it considers "high public safety risks." Only those not deemed high-risk can be released by no later than Nov. 21 — and only after posting a $1,500 bond and enrolling in ICE’s Alternatives to Detention monitoring program, which keeps them in custody for legal purposes. Breitbart [11/13/2025 12:28 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2416K] reports Cummings has given the Department of Justice until November 19 to release the targeted migrants, the Chicago Tribune reported. Cummings signaled his decision earlier in the week when he said he was thinking of providing what he called "equitable relief" for thousands of illegals in federal custody after he determined that the agreement had been violated by immigration agents. The decree was signed in 2022 when President Joe Biden’s agencies agreed to accept curbs drafted by the ACLU. Judges allow consent decrees to bind future administrations. Cummings has ruled that migrants can pay a $1,500 bond and accept some sort of monitoring — including electronic ankle monitors — and to then be released pending the outcome of their immigration proceedings. The left-wing judge claimed that many on the list were otherwise engaged in non-criminal activities and said, "It is highly unlikely any of them are criminal gang members, drug traffickers, or assorted ne’er-do-wells who fall under the category of what ICE has called ‘the worst of the worst." The attorneys argue that "Congress has vested the authority to grant parole solely with the Secretary of Homeland Security… Federal courts cannot order the Department of Homeland Security to release any aliens on parole because Congress has stripped them of that authority."

CNN [11/14/2025 3:00 AM, Alisha Ebrahimji, 18595K] reports that, in the latest judicial blow to President Donald Trump’s push to detain and deport undocumented immigrants en masse, a judge ruled Wednesday hundreds of people arrested in an Illinois immigration operation must be released. The detained people must be granted bond by the end of next week, the judge ruled, but big questions remain about how the process will play out – including locating those arrested, some of whom have been moved across the country, plaintiffs say. Here’s what we know – and what we don’t know about what happens next. US District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, who was nominated by former US President Joe Biden in 2023, sided with attorneys from the National Immigrant Justice Center and the ACLU, who filed a lawsuit alleging federal agents violated a 2022 settlement agreement over warrantless arrests in the Chicago area. Last month, Cummings ruled agents violated the previously agreed upon consent decree. Under the decree, if ICE seeks to make a warrantless arrest, it must meet conditions like establishing probable cause that someone is in the country illegally, assessing their community ties and whether they could be a flight risk. The plaintiffs alleged more than 3,000 people were arrested between June and October in "Operation Midway Blitz," the federal government’s immigration crackdown in Chicago and surrounding areas. The settlement remains in effect until February 2, 2026, and says if someone is arrested in a way "that violates the settlement in the Chicago Area of Responsibility—which includes in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, and Missouri— they may be able to seek individual remedies—including immediate release from detention.” Of the 3,000 people arrested between June and October, 615 – one-fifth – are not subject to mandatory detention and don’t have final orders of removal, the ruling says. Those who remain detained out of that group, as long as they don’t pose a high public safety risk, must be granted bond by noon on November 21, according to the ruling. But two challenges will remain: locating people and figuring out who and how their bond will get paid. "What’s challenging is at this point, they’ve moved these people all over the country," Fleming told CNN on Thursday. "Let’s say we were able to post bond for a lot of these people and we were working on it with families, with other organizations … I’m not certain that the government is going to bring them back to Chicago and so they will drop them in the middle of nowhere where they’ve detained them.” The organization believes at least 1,100 of the 3,000 arrested individuals have voluntarily left the country, saying they "gave up" fighting their cases, Fleming said during a news conference Wednesday. In response to the ruling, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the decision is putting the lives of Americans at risk. "At every turn, activist judges, sanctuary politicians, and violent rioters have actively tried to prevent our law enforcement officers from arresting and removing the worst of the worst," McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN Wednesday. "Now an ACTIVIST JUDGE is putting the lives of Americans directly at risk by ordering 615 illegal aliens be released into the community.”

FOX News [11/13/2025 7:17 PM, Jasmine Baehr, Bill Mears, 40621K] reports a federal judge in Chicago has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release more than 600 illegal immigrants held at a suburban detention center, blasting the agency for "repeated, material violations" of a court-approved consent decree that limited who could be detained under U.S. immigration law. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ruled that more than 600 detainees being held at the Broadview ICE center must be released "on bond and into ICE’s Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program" by Nov. 21, citing what he called a "pattern of unlawful arrests and confinement.” The order stems from Margarito Castañon Nava v. DHS, a class-action lawsuit claiming federal agents unlawfully detained hundreds of migrants who were not subject to mandatory detention or final removal orders, a direct violation of a 2021 Biden-era decree inherited by the Trump administration. In the ruling, Cummings accused DHS of holding migrants in "unsafe and unsanitary" conditions, saying detainees had been kept in overcrowded buildings "next to overflowing toilets." The judge further said the department’s recent reversal on detention authority represented a "180-degree change" from previous legal interpretations. The decision could force the largest single-day release of ICE detainees in Illinois in years, freeing hundreds arrested during "Operation Midway Blitz," a Trump enforcement sweep that immigration activists claim traumatized communities across the Chicago area. "Today was a good day as the court ordered the immediate release of 13 people who have been wrongfully arrested and detained by federal immigration officials," said Michelle Garcia, deputy legal director at the ACLU of Illinois. "More than 600 others may soon walk free as the court enforces our agreement with the federal government — a step toward accountability for years of unlawful arrests.” But DHS officials sharply condemned the ruling, accusing the court of undermining national security and law enforcement. "At every turn, activist judges, sanctuary politicians and violent rioters have actively tried to prevent our law enforcement officers from arresting and removing the worst of the worst," Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for Public Affairs at DHS, told Fox News Digital. "Now an activist judge is putting the lives of Americans directly at risk by ordering 615 illegal aliens be released into the community.” Cummings ordered DHS to identify detainees considered "high public safety risks" who may remain in custody and to file a compliance report by Nov. 24.

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FOX News [11/13/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino joins ‘America Reports’ to discuss a federal judge’s order to release hundreds of migrants detained in Illinois during ‘Operation Midway Blitz.’

Chicago Tribune [11/13/2025 8:19 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports a federal judge on Thursday said she will hold a hearing on a permanent injunction to limit the use of force by federal immigration agents ahead of any potential future enforcement mission. "I would want to do a trial on any motion for a permanent injunction before there was another ramp-up of the operation in the spring," U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis told attorneys at a status hearing. "It would make sense that if it does ramp up again, everyone knows what the rules are.” Ellis made the remarks a week after issuing a preliminary injunction restricting how and when immigration agents can deploy tear gas and use other force against protesters, media and clergy during enforcement operations. Her order also made body-worn cameras mandatory and required agents to wear identifiers on their uniforms during public interactions. The judge set a tentative hearing on a permanent injunction for March 2. The Tribune reported on Monday that Operation Midway Blitz, the highly publicized immigration enforcement action under the administration of President Donald Trump, was winding down after two months of controversy, and that the mission’s leader, Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, was leaving Chicago for another assignment. During the hearing Thursday, Department of Justice attorney Andrew Warden said he was unaware of any plans to increase operations in Chicago again. "I don’t know whether that’s the case," Warden said. "There has been a transition of officers, as there always is. Folks come in and out of operations.” Also, on Thursday, the plaintiffs filed new allegations that immigration agents had violated Ellis’ orders, including one incident in Chicago where agents pepper-sprayed a moving vehicle — and then its driver — at the same time the judge was on the bench reading her ruling on Nov. 6. Two days later, agents tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed unarmed civilians who were protesting and trying to document an enforcement action in the city’s Little Village neighborhood, according to the latest filing.

ABC News [11/13/2025 12:17 PM, Aaron Katersky, 30493K] reports congresswoman LaMonica McIver must face at least two of three federal charges accusing her of assaulting and impeding immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center after federal judge on Thursday rejected her attempt to dismiss the case. The New Jersey Democrat was charged with three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials following her May 9 visit to Delaney Hall, a privately owned, 1,000-bed facility in Newark that ICE uses as a detention center. The government alleges McIver intervened as federal agents attempted to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper turned down McIver’s arguments that she is immune from prosecution under the Speech or Debate Clause. "Impeding an arrest, whether lawful or unlawful, goes beyond any reasonable definition of oversight and, accordingly, exceeds the safe harbor of legislative immunity," Semper wrote in an order published Thursday. McIver’s actions as described in count one, which alleged she placed her arms around the mayor in an attempt to thwart his arrest and then slammed her forearm into a federal agent, were "wholly disconnected from the oversight she and the Representatives later conducted when touring the facility, where they engaged in protected fact-finding related to federal immigration policy," the judge continued. "Defendant’s presence at Delaney Hall does not grant constitutional protection for every act performed in connection to that visit.” Semper said he is still considering whether the Speech and Debate Clause might apply to count two -- which alleged she forcibly struck an ICE officer following the arrest -- noting, "the factual record is still being developed.” The judge also rejected McIver’s argument that her case amounted to selective and vindictive prosecution by a Republican administration that called her visit to Delaney Hall a "reckless stunt.” "Defendant has not demonstrated that her prosecution is a result of personal animus harbored by the prosecution," Semper said. "This is Trump weaponizing the DOJ for people who speak out against him, for members and elected leaders who do their jobs to hold this administration accountable," she said at a press event following her arraignment in June. "We will not be intimidated.” The AP [11/13/2025 4:03 PM, Mike Catalini, 31753K] reports McIver’s lawyers had argued that the prosecution was selective and vindictive, and that the New Jersey Democrat hadn’t assaulted anyone during her May 9 trip to Delaney Hall detention center in Newark. They also said McIver was performing legislative duties protected by the Constitution when she showed up to inspect the detention center, and was thus immune from prosecution. U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper wrote that McIver failed to show the prosecution was vindictive and that her actions were “wholly disconnected” from the oversight she was conducting as a member of Congress. The judge didn’t reach a decision yet on another of one of the congresswoman’s motions to toss the charges. McIver’s attorney, Paul Fishman, said in an emailed statement that he believed the court’s decision was wrong. “It is clear this administration is treating Congresswoman McIver’s actions differently than the actions of those who are on their side,” Fishman said. The Washington Examiner [11/13/2025 2:20 PM, Jack Birle, 1394K] reports McIver had argued that the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which grants immunity to members of Congress conducting official actions as part of their legislative duties, protected her from the charges because she was conducting oversight of the immigration facility. Semper largely rejected the claim that her alleged conduct was part of her official duties. "The alleged criminal conduct did not occur during Defendant’s inspection of Delany Hall, instead it occurred during an inexplicable delay of Defendant’s oversight inspection. Although Defendant bears no fault in the delay, her alleged intervention into the Mayor’s questionable arrest had no cognizable connection to any legislative function protected by the Speech or Debate Clause," Semper said. "Defendant’s active participation in the alleged conduct removes her acts from the safe harbor of mere oversight. Lawfully or unlawfully, Defendant actively engaged in conduct unrelated to her oversight responsibilities and congressional duties," he added.

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Washington Examiner [11/13/2025 7:58 PM, Molly Parks, 1394K] reports War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the commencement of Operation Southern Spear on Thursday evening, an operation he said is aimed at protecting the Western Hemisphere from “narcoterrorists.” The announcement comes after months of U.S. Southern Command strikes in the Caribbean on alleged drug-trafficking boats, many of which the Pentagon said were suspected of sailing from the shores of Venezuela. Hegseth made the operation announcement in a post on X, noting that President Donald Trump ordered the action. "Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it," Hegseth said. The Trump administration ordered a 20th strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat Tuesday, killing four people in the Caribbean. Hegseth’s announcement of the operation follows the arrival of the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group in the Caribbean as the Pentagon bolsters its military presence in the region. Venezuela has begun organizing its defense forces, with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announcing this week that the "entire country’s military arsenal" is "on full operational readiness.” The Pentagon referred the Washington Examiner to Hegseth’s X post in response to requests for comment on further information about Operation Southern Spear. The Pentagon also pointed to SOUTHCOM’s Oct. 10 press release on the creation of the Joint Task Force Southern Spear, which Hegseth said will lead Operation Southern Spear. "This is principally a maritime effort, and our team will leverage maritime patrols, aerial surveillance, precision interdictions, and intelligence sharing to counter illicit traffic, uphold the rule of law, and ultimately better protect vulnerable communities here at home," Lt. Gen. Calvert Worth, designated JTF commander, said in the October release. In late January, the Navy announced an "Operation Southern Spear" in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The operation’s deployment was "to help determine combinations of unmanned vehicles and manned forces to provide coordinated maritime domain awareness and conduct counternarcotics operations," according to a January press release. "Southern Spear will operationalize a heterogeneous mix of Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) to support the detection and monitoring of illicit trafficking while learning lessons for other theaters," Commander Foster Edwards, hybrid director of the U.S. 4th Fleet, said in a January statement.

Reported similarly:
Daily Wire [11/13/2025 2:50 PM, Tim Pearce, 2494K]

New York Times [11/13/2025 6:05 PM, Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt, 135475K] reports the U.S. military on Wednesday killed another four people accused by the Trump administration of trafficking narcotics by sea, Pentagon officials said, in a strike that brings the known death toll in the administration’s lethal campaign to 80 since early September. The officials said that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was waiting for video of the strike — the 20th known strike since President Trump authorized military action against drug cartels — before announcing it on social media. There were no survivors, a Defense Department official said on condition of anonymity because the attack had not yet been announced. The 20th strike, first reported by CBS, took place in the Caribbean Sea, a Defense Department official said. The official said that an announcement was expected soon. Most of the strikes have hit boats in the Caribbean, though more recently they have expanded to targets in the Pacific Ocean. The arrival of the Ford and three missile-firing Navy destroyers adds about 5,500 military personnel to a force of 10,000 troops already in the region, roughly half ashore in Puerto Rico and half aboard eight warships. Trump administration officials have provided little evidence for their claims that the people killed on the boats were smuggling narcotics. The officials say the boats have been in international waters.

AP [11/13/2025 6:15 PM, Ben Finley, Regina Garcia Cano and Konstantin Toropin, 30493K] reports the most advanced U.S. aircraft carrier is expected to reach the waters off Venezuela in days, a flex of American military power not seen in Latin America for generations. Experts disagree on the possibility that American warplanes will catapult off the USS Gerald R. Ford to bomb targets inside Venezuela and further pressure authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro to step down. Still, whether it may serve that purpose or only patrols the Caribbean as the U.S. blows up boats it accuses of trafficking drugs, the presence of the 100,000-ton warship alone is sending a message. "This is the anchor of what it means to have U.S. military power once again in Latin America," said Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for the Andes region. "And it has raised a lot of anxieties in Venezuela but also throughout the region. I think everyone is watching this with sort of bated breath to see just how willing the U.S. is to really use military force.” The Ford’s impending arrival is a major moment in the Trump administration’s campaign in South America, which it describes as a counterdrug operation. It escalates the already massive buildup of military firepower in the region, with added pressure from bomber training runs near the Venezuelan coast, CIA operations that have been publicly authorized inside the country and boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that have killed over 75 people. The U.S. has long used aircraft carriers as tools of deterrence to pressure and influence other nations, often without employing any force at all. They carry thousands of sailors and dozens of warplanes that can strike targets deep inside another country. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday formally named the mission Operation Southern Spear, emphasizing the growing significance and permanence of the military’s presence in the region. Once the Ford arrives, the mission will encompass nearly a dozen Navy ships as well 12,000 sailors and Marines. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists that President Donald Trump is focused on stopping drugs from entering the U.S. by combatting "organized criminal narcoterrorists.” "That’s what he’s authorized. That’s what the military’s doing. That’s why our assets are there," he told reporters Wednesday after meeting his counterparts from the Group of Seven democracies in Canada. But Rubio also says the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, as the leader of Venezuela and called the government a "transshipment organization" that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs toward the U.S.

Bloomberg Government [11/13/2025 6:57 PM, Roxana Tiron, 38K] reports the Trump administration should publicly present its legal justification for military strikes against suspected drug traffickers within or outside of Venezuela, the top House Republican with oversight of national security said. While the administration’s outreach to Congress on the strikes has been sporadic and classified, "the briefing we got on what the president has been doing and plans to do with Venezuela and South America was excellent," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) told Bloomberg Government Wednesday.

NewsMax [11/13/2025 10:49 AM, Staff, 4109K] reports the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on 20 entities, primarily based in Mexico, in a sweeping move to disrupt transnational criminal networks. The action targets companies and individuals believed to facilitate cross-border human smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering, and other major illicit operations. According to the Treasury, the sanctions are grounded in an executive order aimed at blocking the property of significant transnational criminal organizations. The designated entities will have their U.S. assets frozen and face prohibitions on doing business with U.S. persons or institutions. In coordination with Mexican authorities and U.S. law enforcement agencies, the Treasury said the move reflects a "whole-of-government" approach to choke off criminal funding streams. The Treasury emphasized that many are tied to sophisticated trafficking corridors through Mexico and beyond, involving multimodal transport and illicit financial flows.

NPR [11/13/2025 6:00 AM, Jasmine Garsd, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports a woman named "E" was at a clothing store in Tampa, Florida with her daughter when she realized it was time to leave. It was her daughter’s 15th birthday, and she wanted to buy her an outfit. She says she felt the salespeople giving them looks. "Real ugly looks," she says. "They could call immigration," she recalls telling her daughter. "You’re an American citizen, but you’re also Hispanic. We need to get out of here.” They left the store, she says, with the feeling that it was also time to leave the state. The question this family is grappling with is: where to? Under the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, many are deciding to hide in place, while others are self-deporting. But there’s also anecdotal evidence that people are relocating, from cities with aggressive immigration enforcement to places with fewer raids, where they feel safer. The Trump administration hasn’t hit its first anniversary yet, but the immigration crackdown is already having widespread effects. The Department of Homeland Security claims 1.6 million immigrants have left the country voluntarily, what the administration calls self-deportation. There’s also evidence of something else: internal migration, as families flee enforcement zones for safer ground. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

FOX News [11/13/2025 1:38 PM, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Michael Dorgan, 40621K] reports an illegal alien truck driver accused of causing a crash in Florida that killed three people appeared in court Thursday as his attorneys pressed for new testing of evidence before trial. Harjinder Singh, 28, of India, faces multiple felony counts for allegedly causing a fiery semi-truck crash that killed three people in Fort Pierce, Florida, in August. Singh, who crossed into the United States illegally in 2018 via the southern border, has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and was extradited to Florida to face charges after traveling to California in the aftermath of the crash. He appeared via video conference from jail for a docket call before Judge Lawrence Mirman in St. Lucie Courthouse in Florida on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Defense attorneys requested that Singh’s blood samples be released for independent analysis and asked for access to inspect the vehicles involved before they are released from law enforcement custody. Prosecutors did not object, and both sides told the court they expect those steps to be completed before the end of the year. The defense also requested a continuance to allow more time to review discovery materials, which the judge granted. The next jury docket call is now scheduled for Jan. 15, 2026, with the case continuing toward trial. Singh’s attorney told the court that his client is indigent but has received some third-party assistance to fund the defense. Mirman explained the process for requesting an indigency declaration "for cost" despite Singh retaining private counsel. The defense asked that Singh be allowed to appear virtually for the next docket call, though Mirman said another judge will preside that day and will determine whether virtual appearances are permitted. Singh confirmed through an interpreter that he understood the proceedings.

Breitbart [11/13/2025 4:22 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports a Mexican national, recently re-elected as mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, repeatedly committed voter fraud, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As Breitbart News reported last week, 54-year-old Joe Ceballos of Mexico was charged with voting illegally three times in November 2022, November 2023, and August 2024 by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. DHS officials have since published records that they say prove Ceballos committed such voter fraud, including voter registration forms and naturalization paperwork. Ceballos, DHS officials said, was convicted of battery in 1995 after having arrived in the United States five years earlier on a green card. In February of this year, Ceballos applied to become a naturalized American citizen. "This alien committed a felony by voting in American elections. If convicted, he will be placed in removal proceedings," DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "President Trump and Secretary Noem gave states access to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to ensure only Americans vote in American elections," McLaughlin said. "The SAVE program is a critical tool for state and local governments to safeguard the integrity of elections across the country. Our elections belong to American citizens, not foreign citizens." In total, Ceballos faces three counts of voting without being qualified and three counts of election perjury — all of which are non-person felonies. Ceballos faces more than five years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Blaze [11/13/2025 4:10 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1442K] reports Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on Monday, alleging that $1.34 million in taxpayer funds had been allocated "to radical leftist organizations that will use the money to oppose the lawful deportations of illegal aliens." The 17-page complaint claimed that county funds had been used to pay for legal representation for illegal aliens facing deportation proceedings. It stated that the Harris County Commissioners Court in mid-October approved allocating the funds to private nonprofits "for the stated purpose of providing ‘direct legal representation to immigrants in detention or facing the threat of deportation.’" Paxton’s complaint accused Harris County of "misusing public funds to subsidize private deportation defenses that advance no public purpose." Paxton requested temporary and permanent injunctive relief to prevent Harris County from providing taxpayer funds to the nonprofits, noting that the funds could not be recovered once disbursed, even if later determined to be unconstitutional.

Reuters [11/13/2025 9:14 PM, Jasper Ward, 36480K] reports the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a rare condemnation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and advocated for "meaningful immigration reform." "We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools," the bishops said in a special message, the first of its kind in 12 years. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration efforts, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The message echoes similar critiques made by Pope Leo, who has called for "deep reflection" about the way migrants are being treated in the U.S. under Trump. The Trump administration has advanced an aggressive immigration agenda since taking office earlier this year. Trump has rescinded policy that limited immigration arrests near sensitive locations, including churches, hospitals and schools, and deployed federal agents across the U.S. to ramp up such arrests. In their message, the bishops expressed concern about what they described as "a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling" and immigration enforcement. They said they were saddened by the debate and vilification of migrants, and opposed "the indiscriminate mass deportation of people." The bishops also raised concerns about conditions in detention centers, and what they called the arbitrary removal of legal status of some migrants. "We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good," the bishops said.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [11/13/2025 10:15 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12595K]

New York Times [11/13/2025 1:59 PM, Eileen Sullivan, 135475K] reports the federal government slowly clicked back into gear on Thursday after the longest shutdown in history, allowing dozens of national parks to fully reopen, federal courts to resume their normal dockets and agency employees to stream back into offices that had sat vacant for 43 days. The most acute fallout from the fiscal standoff in Congress involved federal workers who went without pay and the poorest Americans, who were hit by the suspension of several critical programs, including food benefits. But the shutdown also left lasting marks on the broader economy. Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, said it cost the government $14 billion a week, or as much as 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced in the economy. And he estimated that 60,000 nonfederal workers lost their jobs because of the economic impact of the shutdown. The full reopening of the government will take time, as disappointed visitors to museums in Washington, D.C., learned on Thursday when they encountered “closed” signs. The Smithsonian network plans to reopen museums, research centers and the National Zoo between Friday and Monday. Families across the country were anxiously waiting for benefits from the government’s largest anti-hunger program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to flow smoothly again. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins said most people would see the grocery assistance by Monday. At least seven states — Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia — said it could be as soon as Thursday and Friday because they had already taken steps to load benefits cards. The Agriculture Department issued guidance on Thursday directing states to take “immediate steps to ensure households receive their full November allotments promptly.” During the shutdown, the agency refused to use a contingency fund to deliver full SNAP benefits, taking its argument to the Supreme Court. Propel, a company that offers a free app to help participants manage SNAP benefits, estimated that, as of Thursday evening, more than 3 million households out of 22 million were still missing their November deposits, though that number is likely to decrease rapidly as states issue deposits. In other sectors of the government, air traffic restrictions put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration in the last week began to ease, alleviating concerns of a travel crisis heading into the busy Thanksgiving holiday season. And federal courts largely returned to normal operations. But after more than 40 days of triaging and delaying less-urgent hearings, federal judges are approaching the holidays with an even larger pileup than usual. Unlike federal judges, who were paid throughout the shutdown, hundreds of clerks, assistants and other courthouse staff had worked without pay. The toll of the shutdown could also be seen at some national parks, as most remained partially open during the shutdown with little to no staff.

Washington Post [11/13/2025 7:24 PM, Hannah Knowles, 24149K] reports MAGA leaders erupted this week over President Donald Trump’s assertion that the United States needs foreign workers because it does not have enough “talented people,” questioning the president’s commitment to the “America First” politics he popularized. A congressional push to release the government’s files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — a years-long cause on the right — moved forward against the wishes of the White House, even as Republicans overwhelmingly dismissed newly released emails Epstein wrote, including some about Trump. And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), a longtime Trump ally, sparred with the president on multiple fronts after suggesting that the White House was too focused on foreign affairs and denouncing recent aid to Argentina. The dissent showed an impassioned base willing to challenge Trump on some issues while largely supporting his leadership. Trump’s critics voiced skepticism that the rifts will hurt the president’s support in any lasting way. But the rare criticism showed the limits of Trump’s authority over the “America First” agenda he championed as a candidate and raised some GOP concerns about enthusiasm ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Some warned that the rifts could depress turnout among less engaged voters that Trump mobilized, with Republicans already nervous that they will not show up when he is not on the ballot. “If you show them that you’re not standing up for them on these populist, nationalist issues, I think there’s a real risk for the 2026 midterms,” said Republican strategist Steve Cortes, who has argued that the U.S. admits too many foreign workers and foreign students. “I don’t know anyone on the right who’s so angry that they’re splitting with Trump, but we’re disappointed,” Cortes said. “And we want to lead him to a better place.” Trump has responded defiantly to criticism and cast himself as the ultimate arbiter of what his “Make America Great Again” movement wants. “Don’t forget MAGA was my idea,” he told Fox News host Laura Ingraham this week after she questioned the number of foreign students he is allowing into the country. “MAGA was nobody else’s idea. I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else.” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement that Trump has delivered on many of his promises, from securing the border to “putting American workers first.” Trump has enacted an aggressive tariff regime he says is necessary to bring jobs back to the U.S., and his administration has sought to rein in the H-1B program, which allows U.S. employers to sponsor foreign workers with specialized skills, announcing a $100,000 fee for the visas and investigating alleged “abuse.” “As the architect of the MAGA movement, President Trump will always put America first,” Jackson said.

FOX News [11/13/2025 5:00 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports the second Trump administration has radically reduced illegal migration. The border-control blitzkrieg brought quick victory. But, from here on, the campaign will be a long slog — finding, arresting and removing deportable aliens inside the U.S. The most dramatic change since President Donald Trump took office has been at the southern border, where almost no aliens caught entering illegally are now released. Under Biden, "catch-and-release" was routine, and tens of thousands of illegal aliens were fed into an overloaded immigration system that takes years to work through. If their asylum claims fail, someone has to deport them. This month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed they had deported more than half a million illegal aliens since Trump took office. They hope to top 600,000 by year’s end. Additionally, researchers at the Center for Immigration Studies estimate that over a million additional illegal aliens have left the U.S. on their own since January 2025. In that same time, DHS says they’ve arrested 485,000 illegal aliens. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says that 70% of them have been charged with or convicted of a crime committed in the U.S. (in addition to being illegally in the country). Given that there were at least 435,000 aliens with criminal convictions in the U.S. a year ago, and another 200,000 more with pending charges, that’s easy to believe. Most of those criminal aliens were on ICE’s non-detained docket, meaning they lived freely in the community. Few were monitored. Some of those ICE arrested since January will have been deported, but most probably remain while their immigration cases drag on. The American left was aghast to see the speed and ease with which Trump proved that it was lack of will, not means, that shut down the illegal migration trail from Yuma to the Darien Gap.

FOX News [11/13/2025 2:45 PM, Rep. Brian Mast, 40621K] reports that let me say this as plainly as I can: when the Democrats shut down our federal government, that wasn’t a strategy. That was their failure. For the last 40 days, the term "government shutdown" became interchangeable for Democrats with words like "leverage" or "to make a point." But for millions of Americans, this shutdown wasn’t political theater. It was a gut punch. It meant missed paychecks, putting unpaid bills on credit cards with mounting interest, delayed travel, national security risks, and uncertainty about whether the people who protect and serve this nation will get paid on time – if at all. When the government funding ran out due to a Democrat temper tantrum, it wasn’t they who immediately felt the pain. It was the air traffic controllers and TSA officers keeping our skies safe. It was the Coast Guard members who patrol our shores, the Border Patrol agents defending our border, and the soldiers and sailors standing watch overseas. They were asked to keep showing up and doing their jobs while Washington argued over talking points. That’s not leadership. That’s a betrayal. And it doesn’t stop with those in uniform. When the government shut down, families across the country felt the ripple effects. National parks closed, hitting small businesses that depend on tourism. Federal loan processing and housing assistance paused, slowing down home sales and construction projects. Airports backed up as morale and staffing dropped, putting aviation safety at risk. Every layer of government that supports our daily lives cracked under the weight of political dysfunction.

Reuters [11/14/2025 12:04 AM, Courtney Rozen, 36480K] reports the U.S. government has hired 50,000 employees since President Donald Trump took office, his top personnel official said, with the new staff largely in national security positions reflecting the administration’s policy focus. The bulk of the new hires, reported first by Reuters, work at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Scott Kupor, the federal government’s human resources director, in an interview on Thursday night. The staff changes are part of Trump’s campaign to recast the government while sharply cutting other federal jobs. "It’s about reshaping the workforce to focus on the priorities that we think are most important," Kupor said. The administration brought on the new employees while freezing hiring and laying off workers in other parts of the government, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services. The administration expects to shed about 300,000 workers this year, Kupor said in August. Trump appointed billionaire Elon Musk in January to launch a project to downsize the 2.4 million-strong federal civilian workforce. Musk, with Trump’s backing, said the federal workforce had become too big and too inefficient. Trump’s administration dismissed employees charged with enforcing civil rights laws, collecting tax revenue and overseeing clean energy projects. As part of the downsizing, about 154,000 employees accepted a buyout offer from the Trump administration. The buyouts impacted a wide range of government activities, including weather forecasting, food safety, health programs and space projects, according to former federal employees and unions who spoke to Reuters earlier this year.

CNN [11/14/2025 4:01 AM, Priscilla Alvarez and Adam Cancryn, 18595K] reports when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a woman at a Chicago day care this month, it sparked local uproar over ICE’s tactics. But it also provided a window into the Trump administration’s latest enforcement initiative — an intense effort to crack down on parents and guardians who paid for children to come across the border. The arrest of Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, who after a vehicle stop fled into the childcare center where she taught, came weeks after her sons, ages 16 and 17, had crossed the US-Mexico border. They were transferred to a shelter in the Chicago area under the care of the Health and Human Services Department, which is responsible for migrant kids who crossed the southern border alone until they can be placed with a so-called sponsor, like a parent or relative, in the United States. But instead of leading to her being reunited with her kids, their arrival led to the government accusing Santillana Galeano of smuggling children. On Thursday, she was released following a judge’s order. "We will continue to pursue her immigration claims to stay in the United States," said Charlie Wysong, one of her attorneys.

(B) NBC News Daily [11/13/2025 2:34 PM, Staff] reports the nation’s youngest appear to be getting caught in dangerous encounters during ICE operations and it is having an impact on their mental health and that of their families. Families and children are reporting severe amounts of stress and depression and anxiety, as well as economic devastation because some families are not able to work. According to the Migration Policy Institute, there are nearly 50,000 people in ICE detention daily in 2025.

CNN [11/13/2025 5:02 PM, Melani Bonilla, 18595K] reports British journalist and commentator Sami Hamdi has called his detention "an attack on the freedoms of ordinary Americans" after he returned to the UK. Hamdi was held by ICE for more than two weeks while on a speaking tour around the country. At the time, US immigration authorities told Hamdi he was detained after overstaying his US visa. Hamdi and his legal team said he was in the US on a valid visa. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [11/13/2025 12:07 PM, Kwiyeon Ha and Pan Pylas, 2983K] reports that British political commentator Sami Hamdi said Thursday on his arrival back in the U.K. that he was considering suing U.S. authorities for his detention in an immigration detention center over what he claims were his views on Gaza and Israel. Two days after revealing that he was leaving the U.S. voluntarily, Hamdi lauded federal judges for exonerating him over what he termed a "botched" detention by "extremists" within the U.S. government. "I want say that this wasn’t just an attack on me, it was an attack on the freedoms of ordinary Americans and citizens worldwide," he told journalists and supporters outside a hotel near London’s Heathrow Airport following his return. Hamdi, who is Muslim, was on a speaking tour in the U.S. when he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Oct. 26. He had just addressed the annual gala for the Sacramento, California, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the day before his arrest. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said at the time of Hamdi’s arrest that the U.S. State Department had revoked his visa and that ICE had put him in immigration proceedings. Homeland Security later accused him of supporting Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamdi said later that his intent wasn’t to praise the attacks, but to suggest that the violence was "a natural consequence of the oppression that is being put on the Palestinians."

The Guardian [11/14/2025 2:00 AM, Alice Speri, 78800K] reports a British political commentator who was detained by immigration authorities in the US over his pro-Palestinian advocacy said shortly after returning to the UK on Thursday that his detention was “less an attack on me and more an attack on Americans and the rights of Americans themselves”. Sami Hamdi arrived in London on Thursday , three weeks after he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at San Francisco international airport while on a speaking tour in the US. He agreed to leave the country after being guaranteed the right to apply for a new US visa, which he says he plans to do. “What they want is to ensure that people like us don’t go to America,” he told the Guardian in an interview shortly after returning home, citing the detention earlier this year of foreign students over their political activity. “And we will defy them and we will exert our constitutional rights and speak truth against hatred.” Hamdi, an outspoken pro-Palestinian advocate and frequent commentator on global political issues, said that he was denied medical care for severe abdominal pain while in detention until his wife alerted the media to his condition. A guard told him “the only way the medical team will come is if you drop down on the floor”, he recalled. But the most challenging aspect for him and his fellow detainees was not knowing how long their ordeals might last. The Trump administration defended Hamdi’s 26 October arrest by painting him as a “terrorist sympathizer”, providing no evidence but sharing an edited montage by the pro-Israel group Memri in which Hamdi appeared to praise the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks. In the clips, Hamdi calls on his audience not to “pity” the Palestinians but to “celebrate their victory”. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said in a statement on Thursday that Hamdi was “an illegal alien and terrorist sympathizer who cheered on Hamas following its October 7 terrorist attack”. “Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” she added. “That’s just common sense.”

Herald Tribune [11/13/2025 4:59 PM, Valentina Palm] reports officers from U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement arrested 230 undocumented immigrants in Florida who they say had been convicted of "heinous" sex crimes against children. The effort, dubbed "Operation Dirtbag," spanned over a 10-day period in October, ICE confirmed on Nov. 13. Some of the 230 people arrested came from Cuba, Venezuela and Ukraine. Their crimes ranged from sexual assault and battery, lewd and lascivious molestation of children, possession of controlled substances, burglary and attempted premeditated murder. ICE deputy director Madison Sheahan said during a news conference at a federal facility in Miramar that "Operation Crime Return," which officials alternately called "Operation Dirtbag," was aimed at arresting "the worst of the worst."

The Hill [11/13/2025 6:00 AM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12595K] reports House Democrats are demanding a briefing with leaders from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI after the bureau advised immigration agents to begin identifying themselves amid a series of criminal acts carried out by impersonators. An October bulletin from the FBI first reported last week detailed a string of crimes carried out by those who manipulated victims by claiming to be U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. "According to the memo, criminals have capitalized on ICE’s dangerous deployment of masked agents across the country by masquerading as immigration agents while engaging in violent crimes such as robberies, kidnappings, and sexual assault. This is deeply disturbing. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must brief us immediately on the threats posed by ICE’s failure to identify themselves and how DHS will implement the FBI’s recommendations," Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, wrote in a letter signed by all the Democrats on the panel. The FBI bulletin outlined five known instances in which someone impersonated an ICE agent, though the Democrats posited that "there are surely many others that have gone unreported.”

Telemundo [11/13/2025 7:23 AM, Staff, 2218K] reports the Department of Homeland Security wants specialists in locating people to work for ICE verifying addresses, confirming locations, and delivering documents to them. A congressman believes this plan "guarantees" abuse. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Federalist [11/13/2025 7:30 AM, Selene Rodriguez, 785K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently arrested more than 1,500 illegal aliens, including sexual predators and fugitives, in Texas during a 10-day period, the agency announced on Nov. 5. It’s an extraordinary achievement, and a reminder that even with operations of this scale, the border security and deportation effort is still only scratching the surface. Texas is vast, and for every arrest made, there are countless others who have slipped through the cracks. But that number will soon grow even higher thanks to a new law passed by the Texas Legislature this year requiring nearly all county sheriffs to request entry into the federal 287(g) program. The 287(g) program, authorized under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows state and local law enforcement officers to partner directly with ICE to identify, detain, and remove illegal aliens. This model — expanded successfully in Florida — gives local law enforcement officers the authority and training to enforce immigration law as a true force multiplier. As of November, 58 agencies in Texas operate under the 287(g) Task Force Model agreement — four state agencies, 39 sheriffs’ departments, and 15 municipalities. Texas must continue to increase that number until every jurisdiction is doing its part to protect its citizens, and other states must imitate Texas’ example and expand or begin the adoption of the Task Force Model in their own jurisdictions. The legislation Texas lawmakers passed requiring nearly all county sheriff departments in the state to formally request entry into 287(g) agreements takes effect Jan. 1. This was a bold and necessary step toward full cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. But it cannot stop there. The mandate should extend beyond sheriffs’ departments to include municipal police departments and constables. No one knows their community better than the officers who patrol it every day, and every Texan deserves to live safely and know that their peace officers are aggressively identifying and removing illegal aliens who threaten public safety. Recently, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) highway patrol and criminal investigation divisions made a similar move in pursuit of public safety, formally signing on to a 287(g) agreement with the Department of Homeland Security — a major step forward in restoring the rule of law in our state. For too long, illegal immigration has strained our communities, our law enforcement agencies, and our economy. By joining the 287(g) program, Texas DPS is sending a clear message: Texas will not be a sanctuary for lawbreakers.

FOX News [11/13/2025 6:00 PM, Julia Bonavita, 40621K] reports a notorious criminal on El Salvador’s list of most-wanted gang members has been taken into custody on United States soil, according to federal officials. Antonio Israel Lazo-Quintanilla was arrested in Maryland earlier this month after police caught him allegedly driving without a license, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a news release. While the arrest marks Lazo-Quintanilla’s first known run-in with the law in the United States, authorities learned he is wanted in his home country for numerous crimes, including aggravated homicide, extortion and possession of drugs, according to DHS. "Seventy percent of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the United States," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "This gang member on El Salvador’s most wanted list is a perfect example of ICE targeting the worst of the worst. He may lack a violent rap sheet in the U.S., but this criminal illegal alien is clearly a public safety threat. Lazo-Quintanilla, whose mugshot shows a large "666" tattoo across his forehead, is also "a confirmed member of the 18th Street Gang" in El Salvador, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the Trump administration, according to DHS.

ABC News [11/13/2025 5:11 AM, Will McDuffie, 30493K] reports a Philadelphia-area sheriff was ousted last week after facing criticism from his Democratic opponent and rights groups over a partnership he forged with federal immigration authorities. Fred Harran, the Republican sheriff of Bucks County, signed up in April for the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 287(g) program, which delegates some federal immigration responsibilities to local law enforcement departments. Under the agreement, some Bucks County deputies can "enforce limited immigration authority while performing routine police duties, such as identifying an alien at a DUI checkpoint and sharing information directly with ICE," according to an ICE webpage describing the program. Out of three models, Harran chose the one that grants the most authority to local deputies. Hundreds of local law enforcement agencies across the country, including five other Pennsylvania sheriff’s offices, have chosen to participate in that model, called the Task Force Model. The other models allow local agencies to deal only with suspected undocumented immigrants already in custody or facing criminal charges. Seventeen law enforcement officers in Bucks County received ICE training as part of the agreement, according to Harran. The agreement drew the outrage of now Sheriff-elect Danny Ceisler, a 33-year-old Army veteran and lawyer who worked for a time as a public safety official in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration.

(B) Local 10 News [11/13/2025 10:30 AM, Staff] reports Florida lawmakers touted the results of Operation Criminal Return, a joint operation between the state and ICE, reportedly busting more than 200 undocumented sexual predators. Officials nicknamed it Operation Dirtbag, a ten-day operation that started in Florida late October. Leaders say the success of that operation highlights the success of partnerships between ICE and law enforcement throughout the state.

FOX News [11/13/2025 10:08 AM, Stephen Sorace, 40621K] Video: HERE reports hundreds of criminal illegal aliens, many of whom are child sex predators, have been arrested in a 10-day operation across Florida, state and federal law enforcement officials announced Thursday. Operation Criminal Return launched on Oct. 25 and resulted in the arrests of 230 criminal illegal immigrants, including those who are registered sex offenders and have extensive criminal histories, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Florida Department of Law Enforcement said. "This operation underscores President Trump and Secretary Noem’s determination to target and remove dangerous criminal alien predators from the United States," said ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan. "Sanctuary cities that shield these criminals from accountability undermine the rule of law and jeopardize the safety of their residents.” The operation, also dubbed Operation Dirtbag, targeted child predators, rapists, and violent criminal illegal immigrants with convictions that range from sexual assault of minors, rape, lewd and lascivious conduct, and child exploitation to battery and attempted homicide, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a press release. Of the more than 230 criminal illegal immigrants arrested, 150 were sexual predators, DHS said. Sheahan praised the teamwork between ICE and Florida in removing criminal illegal immigrants. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] CBS Miami [11/13/2025 6:39 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports "The operation targeted child predators, rapists and violent criminal illegal aliens with convictions including sexual assault of minors, rape, lewd and lascivious conduct, child exploitation, battery and attempted homicide," DHS said in a press release. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the 10-day operation was launched on Oct. 25. Some of the immigrants arrested were from Cuba, Venezuela and Ukraine, DHS said. "I call this Operation Dirtbag because these individuals were not just sex offenders, they targeted children. Some of the charges include sexual assault, battery [and] attempted homicide. These 150 illegal aliens will be gone and off our streets," said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. "Our kids will be safer. This partnership with Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida is a model we want to replicate across the country.” DHS said state and local law enforcement assisted with the operation. "Florida has been the most aggressive state in America on combating illegal immigration, and our state and local law enforcement agencies are doing more every day to be the federal government’s greatest tool in the fight to enforce immigration law," Gov. DeSantis said.

Breitbart [11/13/2025 9:00 AM, Bob Price, 2416K] reports White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media that "Operation Dirt Bag" yielded the arrest of more than 150 illegal alien sexual predators in Florida. Earlier, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Noem said, "As a mother and grandmother, I’m horrified that these dirtbags were able to even step foot in America." Secretary Noem appeared on Fox News to announce the results of Operation Criminal Return, a state and federal law enforcement operation that led to the arrest of more than 150 illegal alien sexual predators. "They will be GONE," the secretary posted on X. "Thanks to the leadership of @POTUS Trump, DHS is rapidly removing dangerous illegal alien murderers, rapists, and child sex offenders from our streets," the secretary added. The White House upped the ante when Leavitt posted a New York Post article on X and added, "‘Operation Dirtbag’ sees over 150 illegal migrant sexual predators nabbed in Florida.” "These individuals should have never been in our country to begin with," Noem explained. "The fact that they were sexual deviants and perverts, and now we’ve gotten them off of our streets, it’s remarkable. And we need to do more of it." "This operation was called Operation Criminal Return. I call it Operation Dirtbag, because these individuals were sex offenders, but not just sex offenders, they targeted children," Noem said on Fox News’s Fox & Friends morning show.

Univision [11/13/2025 5:03 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in collaboration with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, announced on Thursday the arrest of dozens of sex offenders who were illegally in the United States. The operation ‘Criminal Return’ resulted, according to authorities, in the arrest of 230 undocumented immigrants, 150 of whom were registered as sex offenders and who also had a long history of crimes such as rape, child sexual abuse, voyeurism and drug possession, among other offenses. These alleged criminals are now in the custody of the Immigration Service and could be deported to their countries of origin, or to other countries with which the US government has agreements.

CBS Miami [11/13/2025 6:12 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports officials said officers were dispatched to the scene after receiving a call from a 17-year-old’s mother, who accused the man of physically and sexually abusing her daughter, and holding her against her will.

Chicago Tribune [11/13/2025 4:55 PM, Michelle L. Quinn, 4829K] reports a Hammond man on Thursday was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of felony reentry to the United States. U.S. District Judge Gretchen Lund also sentenced Juan Salinas-Santos, 29, to one year of supervised release to be served either when he’s released or if he reenters the country after his likely being deported. The supervised release, per new guidelines recently issued by U.S. Department of Justice, should be considered "added measure of deterrence," Lund said. The maximum sentence for which Salinas-Santos was eligible was two years, though Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Sohn asked for six months. He asked for six months as part of general deterrence, he said. Because of the sentence, Salinas-Santos will likely remain in the Hammond City jail until he’s deported, Lund said.

The AP [11/13/2025 1:56 PM, Staff, 1538K] reports that a Chicago day care center employee who was detained by immigration agents at work as children were being dropped off last week has been released, according to her attorney. Diana Santillana Galeano was detained Nov. 5 at the Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center on the north side of Chicago. A video showed officers struggling with her as they walked out the front door. Her attorneys said in a statement Thursday that she was released from a detention center in Indiana on Wednesday night. "We are thrilled that Ms. Santillana was released, and has been able to return home to Chicago where she belongs," attorney Charlie Wysong said in the statement. "We will continue to pursue her immigration claims to stay in the United States. We are grateful to her community for the outpouring of support over these difficult days, and ask that her privacy be respected while she rests and recovers from this ordeal.” Her case reflects the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive enforcement tactics. But her detention at a day care was unusual even under "Operation Midway Blitz," which has resulted in more than 3,000 immigration arrests in the Chicago area since early September. Agents have rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter in a middle-of-the-night apartment building raid, appeared with overwhelming force in recreational areas and launched tear gas amid protests. The Department of Homeland Security said last week that the woman, who is from Colombia, entered the U.S. illegally in June 2023 but obtained authorization to work under the Biden administration. The department denied that the day care was targeted. ABC News [11/13/2025 12:01 PM, Armando Garcia, 30493K] reports that her attorneys say she will be reunited with parents of the Rayito de Sol community on Friday. "I am so grateful to everyone who has advocated on my behalf, and on behalf of the countless others who have experienced similar trauma over recent months in the Chicago area," said Santillana Galeano in a statement. "I love our community and the children I teach, and I can’t wait to see them again." Local officials said Santillana Galeano was arrested at Rayito de Sol’s Spanish-language immersion day care with one claiming she was "abducted in front of her students." The Department of Homeland Security maintained that she fled into the day care after an attempted traffic stop and lied about her identity. They also accused her of entering the country illegally in 2023 and claimed she "reportedly" paid a smuggler to bring her children to the United States recently. A federal judge last week temporarily barred the Trump administration from removing Santillana Galeano from the U.S. and transferring her to any federal jurisdiction outside of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, court documents show. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The Chicago Tribune [11/13/2025 11:05 AM, Gregory Royal Pratt, 4829K] reports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released her after a federal judge ruled that her mandatory detention without bond was illegal. Santillana’s case has generated widespread backlash. In a video circulated online, federal agents are seen pulling the screaming woman, a mother of two from Colombia, through the glass vestibule at the Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center in North Center, in the early morning hours of Nov. 5. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted her in a traffic stop as she and an unidentified male passenger were driving early Wednesday.

Reported similarly:
CBS Chicago [11/13/2025 8:43 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE

CBS Chicago [11/13/2025 1:16 PM, Darius Johnson and Elyssa Kaufman, 39474K] reports a federal judge will tour the Broadview ICE processing facility on Thursday morning. The visit comes as the court reviews claims about conditions inside the building and how people are processed in ICE custody. That four-hour tour will begin at 11 a.m. Attorneys and an expert will join the judge as she walks through holding cells, the processing rooms, and areas where people are searched and identified. They will be allowed to take photos, but those photos must be reviewed by the government before anything can be released. This tour is part of a case challenging the conditions at the facility, which is being described as a short-term processing hub where ICE books and transfers people to other locations. Court filings show six holding cells, bench-style sleeping areas, foil blankets, and limited visibility between rooms. The government insists detainees receive food, water, and basic care while they are there.

Chicago Tribune [11/13/2025 7:17 PM, Madeline Buckley, 4829K] reports as a small group of protesters flanked a street leading to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview, a group of attorneys on Thursday completed a tour of the building, becoming some of the only outsiders in recent months to view the interior amid scrutiny over allegedly inhumane conditions. The rare site visit was ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura McNally — who also attended the tour — in the wake of a class-action lawsuit alleging dirty, unsafe and overcrowded conditions at the west suburban facility. The complaint, filed on behalf of two former detainees, additionally accused officials of blocking access to attorneys while coercing detainees into agreeing to voluntary deportation. In a statement following the visit, the attorneys said they will save "detailed observations" about the visit for upcoming legal filings and presentations. McNally’s ruling allowing the visit was a significant win for the plaintiffs in an atmosphere in which immigration attorneys, members of Congress and faith leaders have all been turned away from the building, called a "black box" in the lawsuit. The attorneys could be seen entering the building a little after 11 a.m. and leaving after 3 p.m. "We are grateful that the court gave us an opportunity to inspect the Broadview facility. We remain committed to ensuring that any detainees at Broadview are treated with dignity, have access to counsel, and are provided due process," said the statement, made jointly by attorneys for MacArthur Justice Center’s Illinois Office, the ACLU Illinois and Eimer Stahl law office. "We encourage anyone detained at Broadview and lawyers facing complications communicating with their clients at the facility to let us know about problems at the facility.” After a daylong hearing during which detainees testified about more than 100 people crammed into a holding cell with no room to lay down, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman found that conditions there do not "pass constitutional muster" and ordered a temporary restraining order that requires the Department of Homeland Security to provide bedding, clean spaces, soap and showers and enough food and water for detainees housed overnight. With those requirements in place, attorneys for the plaintiffs were granted an inspection to verify that the order is being followed and gather evidence.

Chicago Tribune [11/13/2025 7:37 AM, Staff, 4829K] reports since Operation Midway Blitz began, the facility that temporarily houses immigration detainees in west suburban Broadview has become a lightning rod at odds with its otherwise unassuming two-story brick building. While protesters have regularly clashed with police and agents outside, the conditions inside have come under increasing scrutiny, even as few people who are not workers or detainees have laid eyes on the interior. A cadre of attorneys and a judge today will be among the first outsiders to tour the building since the enforcement operation began, as they litigate a class-action lawsuit about the facility’s allegedly inhumane conditions. But in 2009, Chicago Tribune reporter Antonio Olivo and photojournalist Alex Garcia got a rare look inside the building, walking through its halls and speaking to detainees to document their journey from the facility back to their home country.

Chicago Tribune [11/13/2025 5:15 PM, Madeline Buckley, 4829K] reports multiple immigration agents detained a man on Wednesday outside Cook County’s main criminal courthouse on the Southwest Side in a chaotic struggle that broke a fence and left blood on the pavement, according to video footage provided to the Tribune by the Cook County public defender’s office. It was not clear whether the agents had secured a warrant for the man’s arrest. Absent a court order, immigration arrests of people attending court are prohibited in or around county courthouses by a general order issued last month by Chief Judge Tim Evans. U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment or answer a question about whether the agents obtained a warrant. Civil immigration enforcement historically has not often happened around courthouses to help ensure that defendants and witnesses will appear for legal matters. The county’s court buildings, though, have repeatedly been targeted by agents carrying out mandates under the administration of President Donald Trump to increase arrests and deportations, drawing condemnation from the local legal community. "The state’s long-standing practice of banning civil arrests of people accessing court is necessary to protect the integrity of the Illinois court system, including the criminal courts," the public defender’s office said in a statement. "This system only works if people are willing to show up to court - and in the case of our clients, as they are ordered to do." According to the video, several immigration agents surrounded a man while taking him into custody on top of a broken fence. The arrest happened at the busy Leighton Criminal Court Building at 2650 S. California Ave. as people looked on and yelled at the agents. The public defender’s office, which is representing him, said he has appeared for all his court dates. "Arrests like we saw yesterday are detrimental to both the rule of law and to public safety. We condemn both the federal government’s disregard for Chief Judge Evans’s General Administrative Order and the wholly unnecessary violence the agents inflicted on our client," the office’s statement said.

Daily Signal [11/13/2025 7:30 PM, Virginia Allen, 549K] reports following an immigration enforcement operation, a group of retired Chicago journalists have issued a public letter accusing the Trump administration of inflicting “terror” on the Windy City. “We covered this city for a living and love it, and we want you to know that what’s happening here is not normal,” the former journalists write. “It’s eroding all of our rights and should be a warning to other cities that find themselves enveloped in an [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] storm.” Referring back to their time as reporters in and around Chicago, the former journalists appeal to the “trust” they earned with the public over their careers, now asking readers to “trust us now when we say that what is happening in the Chicago area is wrong.” Nearly 40 retired Chicago journalists signed the letter, including award-winning American television journalist Bill Kurtis, former anchor of “The CBS Morning News” and “CBS Reports,” and Ron Magers, a former newscaster for NBC and later ABC. In September, the Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago with the aim of arresting criminal illegal aliens who moved to Illinois, which is a “sanctuary state,” meaning local and state law enforcement do not formally cooperate with federal immigration officials. Since launching the operation in the Windy City, DHS says it has made hundreds of arrests and claims homicides are down 16%, shootings have fallen by 35%, robberies by 41%, carjackings by 48%, and transit crimes by 20%. Despite the Trump administration’s stated focus on the arrest and removal of criminal illegal aliens, the retired reporters argue immigration officials are not limiting arrests to those with a criminal record.

Houston Chronicle [11/13/2025 7:27 PM, Staff, 2983K] reports federal immigration authorities reported making more than 1,500 arrests in the Houston area during a 10-day operation. However, as with other recent announcements from the federal agency, information about the immigrants detained was scarce. Of the more than 1,500 arrests that ICE officials said were made, a press release identified five individuals by name. Among them is a person wanted for murder in Honduras, another with three prior convictions for drunk driving, and a third arrested for aggravated extortion. Federal officials provided general descriptions of the remaining arrests and did not respond to questions seeking further details. It is also unclear whether ICE counts multiple arrests for individuals charged with multiple offenses. ICE reported that 40 arrests were for serious crimes, 115 for aggravated assault, and one of the individuals is a convicted murderer. Illegal re-entry after deportation topped the list with 255 arrests, followed by 142 for driving under the influence. When contacted for more details about the arrests, agency officials referred the Houston Chronicle to the press release they had previously issued. Critics argue that ICE often boasts about large arrest numbers, but in most cases does not specify who was arrested or why, raising questions about how dangerous the detainees really are. The ICE press release continues a trend in which the agency highlights the criminal records of only some of the immigrants arrested and offers few details about when and how many times they crossed into the United States illegally. In September, ICE officials issued a similar press release reporting 822 arrests during a weeklong operation. They have made several similar announcements since Republican President Donald Trump took office in January. In August, ICE released a statement announcing the arrest of more than 350 alleged gang members in the Houston area who were in Texas illegally. The statement claimed that, collectively, they had entered the United States more than 1,400 times and had been convicted of more than 1,650 crimes. The agency highlighted the criminal records of 14 of the immigrants arrested but declined to provide further details on when they re-entered the country without permission. The agency also promoted a recent operation targeting drivers who are in the country without authorization, not necessarily the dangerous criminals that the Trump administration considers a priority. In a social media post on Sunday, the Houston office reported that it made more than 100 arrests late last month during a traffic enforcement operation. "We made more than 120 arrests in Houston on October 29, clearing our roads of dangerous undocumented immigrants, often unlicensed and uninsured, who should NOT be behind the wheel," the agency posted, along with a video featuring music by rapper Nbhd Nick. The immigration control actions have drawn criticism from some local officials. Houston City Councilmember Abbie Kamin took to social media after the October 29 operation to inform her constituents that she was in contact with immigrant rights groups and community leaders. "Houston residents deserve due process. We cannot stand idly by. Now is the time to bear witness and speak out for innocent families forced to live in hiding," she posted. Also last month, the temporary detention of a U.S. citizen teenager by federal agents prompted Councilman Edward Pollard to issue a statement condemning the arrest. The 16-year-old, Arnoldo Bazán, told reporters that he was assaulted by masked agents when they attempted to detain him and his father during an immigration control operation. The father, Arnulfo Bazán, was in the country without legal status and had a criminal record for drunk driving. He was subsequently deported. "The enforcement of immigration laws should prioritize those who are dangerous and harmful to our community, not families, regardless of their status, who contribute to our city and have enriched the vibrant diversity we are proud of," Pollard said. "And yes, I know it’s a crime to be here illegally... but it seems that we don’t act with the same forcefulness when there are people working in our restaurants, changing the sheets in our hotels, building our houses, farming our land, etc."

Axios [11/13/2025 7:20 AM, Alex Fitzpatrick, 12972K] reports Harris County is home to more than 600,000 unauthorized immigrants, according to new estimates — 4.4% of the nation’s 13.7 million people lacking legal immigration status — though that figure could be lower now, after President Trump’s deportation efforts. The report, from nonpartisan think tank Migration Policy Institute (MPI), offers insight into a group that’s notoriously hard to count — and thus understand. 14.3% of the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population, or nearly 2 million people, live in Texas. Harris County’s unauthorized immigrant population is second only to Los Angeles County, home to 8% of the nation’s total. Most are from Mexico and Central America, per MPI. About 70,000 school-aged children in Fort Bend, Harris and Montgomery counties don’t have legal immigration status. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has maintained a strong presence in the Houston area, making nearly 11,000 arrests between January and July across its field office region, which covers Southeast Texas and areas near Waco, per the Deportation Data Project’s most recent figures.

BorderReport [11/13/2025 5:39 PM, Julian Resendiz, 8017K] reports a U.S. senator is calling for the shutdown of an immigrant detention center in New Mexico where the federal government has failed to get a contract extension with a local county. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, has long criticized conditions and medical care for migrants at the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, New Mexico, which is run by private contractor CoreCivic. On Thursday, Heinrich’s office said the senator asked the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) why the agency continues to hold detainees there. The contract between ICE and Torrance County expired on Oct. 31. "It is my understanding that no new agreement has been entered into. It is also my understanding that ICE internal policies dictate contracts and agreements automatically expire if the contract or agreement is not renewed," Heinrich wrote to ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons. "In the event of a contract expiring, per ICE policy, all noncitizens and ICE equipment must be removed from the facility on or before the expiration of the period of performance.” Bloomberg [11/13/2025 5:28 PM, Rachel Adams, 18207K] reports that in a letter to Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Senator Martin Heinrich called the continued detention of immigrants at the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, New Mexico, “extremely concerning.” He questioned the agency’s authority to keep some 550 people in ICE detention at the facility after the contract expired at the end of October. Heinrich, a Democrat, has previously called to close the detention center, which is one of dozens of facilities nationwide that detain people on behalf of ICE through agreements between the agency and local governments. In June, Heinrich wrote to Lyons saying a recent tour confirmed that conditions at the facility had deteriorated, as had previously been reported by Bloomberg and other news outlets. “I reiterate my calls for ICE to close the facility, but if you will not, I urge you to transfer all ICE detainees out of TCDF immediately until such time that the contract between ICE and Torrance County is extended,” Heinrich said in the Nov. 7 letter. CoreCivic Inc., one of the largest private prison operators in the country, owns and manages the facility. The company confirmed in an email last week that it continues to detain people on behalf of ICE, referring questions about the legal authority for it to do so to the agency. ICE did not provide comment. In response to Heinrich’s June letter, the company said at the time that it’s “committed to providing safe, humane and appropriate care for the people in our facilities,” with the facility receiving an overall “superior” rating in an ICE Office of Detention Oversight audit for fiscal year 2025. It’s unclear whether the contract lapse is related to the longest-ever government shutdown. But given that ICE furloughed less than 7% of its workforce and excepted law enforcement operations, the agency “should be able to maintain even basic communications with their contractual partners,” Heinrich wrote.

FOX News [11/13/2025 10:37 AM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports Oregon Democrats are up in arms over reports that a new ICE detention facility could be built near Portland, after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned she may have to act "the hard way" following a tense meeting with state officials. Noem met in October with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and local police, later describing them as "disingenuous" and hinting at possible federal action during a White House Cabinet meeting. "As soon as you leave the room, then they make the exact opposite response, so we’re looking at new facilities to purchase there in Portland, too, and we’re going to double down," Noem said at the time. "If we have to do it the hard way… we will.” Seen as a potential follow-up to those remarks, a municipal airport in Newport — on Oregon’s coast about 100 miles southwest of Portland — is being eyed for a potential ICE facility, officials there told the local ABC affiliate. Newport officials told the outlet they are working with state and federal lawmakers to confirm details of the reported project and its impacts on public safety. DHS did not respond to a request for comment, and city leaders said they also reached out to the agency.

NewsMax [11/13/2025 3:17 PM, Jim Thomas, 4109K] reports Newport, Oregon, officials and residents are demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security after new signs of federal interest in the city’s airport revived concern that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center could be headed to Oregon’s central coast. State officials say evidence has surfaced suggesting federal interest in developing an ICE facility in Newport, even as the contractor that initiated contact has since withdrawn. Among the indicators are online job postings for detention and medical officers to work in Newport, as well as a letter of intent signaling a plan to lease airport land to support federal operations, beginning in December 2025. Local leaders say they still have not received confirmation from DHS or ICE regarding any formal plans.

Axios [11/13/2025 9:19 AM, Meira Gebel and Alex Fitzpatrick, 12972K] reports the number of unauthorized immigrants in Oregon hit 155,000 by mid-2023, per new estimates, yet growth has likely slowed (and perhaps reversed) since then. The report, from non-partisan think tank Migration Policy Institute, offers insight into a group that’s notoriously hard to count — and thus understand. The overall U.S. unauthorized immigrant population grew by 3 million between 2019 and mid-2023, MPI found, noting the country "has not experienced a pace of change this rapid ... since the early 2000s." In Oregon, construction and agriculture are the industries with the largest share of workers who are undocumented, at 13.7% and 12.7% respectively. A 2021 report from the Oregon Center for Public Policy found that roughly 57,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the state were undocumented. Recent reports suggest an increase in the presence of federal immigration agents in Oregon’s immigrant communities and detentions among the state’s farmworkers, raising concern within the industry.

Roll Call [11/13/2025 9:16 AM, Chris Johnson, 548K] reports civil rights groups filed a lawsuit over conditions at the largest immigration detention center in California, as migrant advocates and Democratic members of Congress have pressed for more oversight of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement expansion. The complaint in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, filed Wednesday, focuses on detainees at the California City Detention Facility, a previously shuttered state prison in the Mojave Desert that the U.S. has repurposed as an ICE detention facility. The ACLU and other groups describe a range of inhospitable conditions at the facility that they call unconstitutional, including a lack of access to medical care, insufficient accommodations for people with disabilities and infringement upon religious exercise of detainees. "Conditions at California City Detention Facility are dire," the complaint states. "The facility is decrepit. Sewage bubbles up from the shower drains, and insects crawl up and down the walls of the cells. People are locked in concrete cells the size of a parking space for hours on end, and officers threaten them with violence and solitary confinement. Food is paltry and people go hungry.” FOX News [11/13/2025 11:11 PM, Landon Mion Fox, 40621K] reports that the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, alleges inadequate medical care for serious issues like cancer, life-threatening heart conditions and diabetes, as well as neglect of people with disabilities and forced isolation. The complaint also claims dirty housing units, inadequate food and water, very cold temperatures, restrictions on family visits and delays in access to lawyers. Detainees are additionally reporting encroachment on their freedom of religion, including confiscation of prayer mats, head coverings even holy texts. "ICE is playing with people’s lives, and they treat people like they’re trash, like they’re nothing," one of the plaintiffs, Sokhean Keo, said in a statement on Thursday. "Some of the people I’m detained with don’t even have soap — they take showers without soap — and they’re losing weight because they don’t have enough to eat.” Severe understaffing and crumbling infrastructure were also reported at the facility, where men were told when it first opened to clean out dirty cells and housing units full of garbage and "toilets with fecal matter still in them" without being given cleaning supplies. The complaint argues that the detention center has worse conditions than a prison for criminals. Detainees are held in their cells for much of the day with nothing to keep them occupied, "resulting in a widespread sense of hopelessness, desperation and, in some cases, self-harm and suicidal ideation.” "No human being, immigrant or not, should be subjected to these horrendous conditions," another plaintiff, Gustavo Guevara, said in a statement. The AP [11/13/2025 7:24 PM, JANIE HAR, 31753K] reports that the complaint was filed in District Court for Northern California. “ICE is playing with people’s lives, and they treat people like they’re trash, like they’re nothing,” said one of the plaintiffs, Sokhean Keo, in a press release issued Thursday. “Some of the people I’m detained with don’t even have soap — they take showers without soap — and they’re losing weight because they don’t have enough to eat.” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, denied the allegations and said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “has higher detention standards” than most prisons. “All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, and toiletries, and have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Certified dieticians evaluate meals,” she said in a statement, adding that it is taxpayer-funded. The complaint alleges woefully inadequate medical care, severe understaffing and crumbling infrastructure. When it first reopened, men were told to clean out dirty cells and housing units full of trash and “toilets with fecal matter still in them,” but they were not given cleaning supplies. It also alleges that the civil detention center is worse than a prison for criminals. Detainees are locked in their cells for much of the day and without programs to keep them occupied, “resulting in a widespread sense of hopelessness, desperation and, in some cases, self-harm and suicidal ideation,” the suit says.

Breitbart [11/13/2025 2:48 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 2416K] reports that a citizen group in Ontario, California, is putting up anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signs around the community as the Trump administration continues its work removing dangerous criminal illegal immigrants off the streets. The group is dedicated to alerting the general public where ICE has taken people into custody, placing signs in locations reading, "ICE stole someone here." One individual named Michael Rios, who reportedly put up over two dozen signs, described ICE’s actions as "abductions." "The (immigration sweeps) typically happen early in the morning around 6 a.m. It’s before they’re going to work, before kids are going to school," Rios said, according to ABC 7. For instance, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday announced the arrests over 150 illegal alien sex offenders in Florida. Per the press release: The operation targeted child predators, rapists, and violent criminal illegal aliens with convictions including sexual assault of minors, rape, lewd and lascivious conduct, child exploitation, battery, and attempted homicide. In total, more than 230 criminal illegal aliens — including 150 sexual predators — were arrested and are off our streets. [Emphasis original.]. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she called the event "Operation Dirtbag because these individuals were not just sex offenders, they TARGETED CHILDREN." "Some of the charges include sexual assault, battery, attempted homicide. These 150 illegal aliens will be gone and off our streets," she said in a statement. "Our kids will be safer. This partnership with Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida is a model we want to replicate across the country."

SFGate [11/13/2025 7:00 AM, Timothy Karoff, 13945K] reports a few days before Halloween, while other businesses in San Francisco were putting out bowls of candy for patrons, Jonathan Ojinaga presented a different offering. Instead of M&M’s and Kit Kats, he filled the ceramic skull by the entrance of his restaurant, Azúcar Lounge, with a few dozen metal whistles. Each day, patrons take a few whistles from the bowls. "It’s a slow trickle," Ojinaga said. "We get a couple every day." Those whistles serve a practical purpose. Azúcar Lounge is one of several "whistle stops," local establishments handing out whistles to patrons to help them alert their neighbors to activity from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. By following the same whistle code, locals can communicate from afar: Three short whistles signal that ICE is nearby, and one long whistle means that somebody is being detained. Frameline, the nonprofit behind San Francisco’s annual LGBTQ+ film festival, has stocked whistle stops in the city, with more than 200 whistles in recent weeks. Those stops include Azúcar Lounge in SoMa, Queer Arts Featured in the Castro, and the Roxie Theater and Mother bar in the Mission. In an email to SFGATE, Gabriella Siaton, the Roxie’s theater manager, said the theater ran out of its first batch of whistles within a day of receiving them. "Prior to this, I had not heard about the whistle code," Siaton wrote. "I knew there were different sharings on social media regarding ICE agents being spotted in the Mission, but I appreciate how the whistle allows for a more instant and in-the-moment response."

Newsweek [11/13/2025 4:44 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the Trump administration has made progress in speeding up green card and visa processing, while noting that more people are becoming naturalized U.S. citizens than in previous years. “Under the Trump administration, we’ve sped up our process and added integrity to the visa programs, to green cards, to all of that, but also more people are becoming naturalized under this administration than ever before. More people are becoming citizens,” Noem said on Fox News on November 12. The secretary’s remarks come as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) faces a record 11.3 million pending applications, the largest immigration backlog in its history. Recent agency data from January through March shows that processing times for several key immigration forms have continued to rise, leaving applicants waiting months or even years longer than expected. Employment-based filings covering H-1B visa petitions, work authorization requests and skilled worker green card applications accounted for much of USCIS’s workload, with 1.73 million forms submitted in the second quarter alone.

Axios [11/13/2025 1:27 PM, Josephine Walker and Avery Lotz, 12972K] reports visa applicants can be rejected for health conditions like obesity, cancer or diabetes under guidelines issued earlier this month by the Trump administration and reviewed by multiple outlets. The broadened restrictions give the Trump administration more justifications to deny entry to immigrants at the same time that the president is narrowing other pathways to residency. "It’s no secret the Trump Administration is putting the interests of the American people first," State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told Axios in an emailed statement. "This includes enforcing policies that ensure our immigration system is not a burden on the American taxpayer." White House spokesperson Anna Kelly echoed that sentiment in a statement provided to Axios, saying that "[f]or 100 years, State Department policy has included an authority to deny visa applicants who would pose a financial burden to taxpayers." The guidance could give officers more reason to turn away applicants deemed likely to rely on public services to support themselves once in America, according to Fox News and KFF Health News, which both previously reported on new State Department guidelines Nov. 6. It specifically mandates that health conditions be considered in reviewing immigrants’ applications. "Certain medical conditions — including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions — can require hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of care," it reads, per KFF.

Daily Caller [11/13/2025 11:56 AM, Jason Hopkins, 835K] reports that the Trump administration is considering chronic health factors like obesity as reasons to deny visas to immigrants. Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed U.S. embassies and consulates across the globe to consider obesity and other health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, as reasons to deny visas to foreign nationals, according to a November cable first obtained by The Washington Post. The directive is the latest move by the Trump administration to block immigration from foreigners who would likely be dependent on government welfare. "It’s no secret the Trump Administration is putting the interests of the American people first," State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. "This includes enforcing policies that ensure our immigration system is not a burden on the American taxpayer," Pigott continued. Rubio’s directive pertains to immigrant visas, not non-immigrant visas for individuals who are capable of supporting their own medical treatments and will only be residing in the U.S. temporarily. "You must consider an applicant’s health," the State Department stated in the directive, which was dated on Nov. 6. "Certain medical conditions — including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions — can require hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of care."

DailySignal [11/13/2025 2:11 PM, Virginia Grace McKinnon, 549K] reports that China and other foreign adversaries are abusing American birthright citizenship to have American children through surrogacy. But one Republican Senator has a plan to criminalize the growing surrogacy industry for foreigners. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., recently introduced a bill called the Stopping Adversarial Foreign Exploitation of Kids in Domestic Surrogacy (SAFE KIDS) Act that would prevent adversarial nations, specifically China, from using and taking advantage of American women to obtain U.S. citizenship for their child. "[Surrogacy] should never be the avenue to allow abuse, neglect, or deceit of innocent women and babies," Sen. Rick Scott said in a press release. "And it’s terrifying that this might be at the hands of foreign adversaries with the sole intent of having a child that is a U.S. citizen." While commercial surrogacy (called rent-a-womb by its critics is banned in Australia, France, and China, the U.S. has limited federal restrictions and laws vary widely by state. According to The Heritage Foundation the industry is disproportionately fueled by Chinese nationals. In 2024, China was responsible for 41.7% of foreign surrogacy in the United States, with second place France at 9.2%. "American law has effectively turned the U.S. into a sanctuary for outsourced pregnancy, providing wealthy foreigners with a clear path not only to a child, but to U.S. citizenship," Emma Waters, a policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.

Reuters [11/13/2025 11:10 AM, Staff, 36480K] reports there is no evidence to support online posts that say U.S. President Donald Trump has revoked the visas of 80,000 Nigerians. "Trump revokes 80,000 Visas all belonging to Nigerians," one November 7 post on Facebook read. "Make them come back come join us here after all they always say Nigeria is better." A similar post on X received more than 500,000 views. A senior State Department official said in November the U.S. had revoked 80,000 non-immigrant visas since Trump came to power in January 2025, Reuters reported. But there was no suggestion that all of them belonged to Nigerians. The State Department did not respond to a request for a breakdown of nationalities. A month earlier, it said it had revoked the visas of several foreigners - including people from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay and South Africa - over their social media posts following the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk. It was not clear if they were among the 80,000 announced in November. Nigeria’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

AP [11/13/2025 4:38 PM, Russ Bynum, 31753K] reports two months after 300 South Korean nationals were detained and left the U.S. following in an immigration raid at Hyundai’s electric vehicle manufacturing site in Georgia, some of those workers have returned to America to resume those jobs, their employer said Thursday. The September raid shut down work on a battery plant under construction at the sprawling site near Savannah where Hyundai Motor Group began producing electric vehicles last year. Most of the 475 workers detained were South Korean nationals. U.S. immigration officials said they entered the U.S. with visas that had expired or with visa waivers that prohibited them from working. The battery plant’s operator, HL-GA Battery Co., said in a statement Thursday that construction has resumed with a mix of new and returning workers. The company thanked the U.S. and South Korean governments, as well as Georgia officials, "for their collaboration in supporting a smooth and timely return.” "We remain on track to start production in the first half of next year and continue to actively hire local positions to operate the facility," the battery company’s statement said. An HL-GA Battery spokesperson, Mary Beth Kennedy, confirmed to The Associated Press that some of the returning workers were among the South Korean nationals detained in September. Kennedy said she did not know how many. More than 300 South Korean workers were detained in an immigration raid Sept. 4 at the sprawling site where the Hyundai Motor Group produces electric vehicles near Savannah. The workers spent a week at a Georgia detention center before the South Korean government negotiated their release and flew them home. The roundup by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which released video showing some of the detained workers shackled in chains, sparked outrage and feelings of betrayal in South Korea, a key U.S. ally that has pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in American investments. The Georgia raid targeted one of the state’s largest and most high-profile manufacturing sites, where Hyundai produces electric vehicles at a $7.6 billion plant. The 475 people detained all worked at the battery plant, which will produce batteries to power Hyundai EVs. It is operated by HL-GA Battery, a joint venture by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution. The South Korean nationals detained in Georgia were largely engineers and other highly skilled workers who came to the U.S. temporarily to install equipment and perform other specialized work to get the battery plant up and running. It is unclear how many of the formerly detained workers are coming back. Jongwon Lee, an attorney in metro Atlanta, said he has firsthand knowledge of two Korean nationals who plan to return after the U.S. State Department confirmed that their B-1 business visitor visas were still valid. South Korea’s government demanded improvements to the U.S. visa system for skilled Korean workers. Last month, the South Korean Foreign Ministry announced that U.S. officials had agreed to allow South Korean workers on short-term visas or a visa waiver program to help build industrial sites in America. U.S. President Donald Trump initially defended the immigration raid in Georgia, saying in September that the detained workers "were here illegally, " When asked about those workers again during an October visit to Seoul, Trump said: "I was opposed to getting them out.”

Reported similarly:
New York Times [11/13/2025 9:34 AM, John Yoon, 153395K]

Breitbart [11/13/2025 4:11 PM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2416K] reports the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida indicted Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, a Cuban pilot linked to the Castro regime’s killing of four Americans in 1996, on immigration fraud charges, U.S. Attorneys Gregory W. Kehoe and Jason A. Reding Quiñones announced on Wednesday. González-Pardo, 64, is a Cuban national who reportedly entered America on April 2024 as one of the "beneficiaries" of the Biden administration’s "humanitarian parole," a fraud-riddled program that allowed up to 30,000 Cuban, Haitian, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan nationals to enter the United States and "legally" reside and work for a period of "up to two years." Attorneys Kehoe and Reding Quiñones detailed that González-Pardo was charged with fraud and misuse of a visa, permits, and other documents, as well as making false statements to a federal agency. González-Pardo faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of all charges.

Daily Caller [11/13/2025 3:49 PM, Jason Hopkins, 835K] reports an illegal migrant allegedly used a child’s identity for several years and caused him to lose access to his Medicaid coverage. Antonio De Jesus Moreno Escobar, who was living in Texas, was arrested by law enforcement officials after he was discovered to be using falsified documents to work different jobs and rake in health care benefits, Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday. The apprehension is the latest in Paxton’s ongoing work to root out illegal migrant fraud in the state. Escobar allegedly scored bogus documents for $120, which included a stolen Social Security number, a fraudulent green card and a Texas ID card, according to Paxton. The illegal migrant then used a 13-year-old boy’s identity to obtain employment at seven different businesses across the Houston metro area over three years. Law enforcement became aware of the fraudulent scheme after the boy’s mother was notified that his Medicaid coverage was being terminated over income fraudulently reported in his name. Escobar is now being held under an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.

FOX News [11/13/2025 5:45 PM, Morgan Phillips Fox, 40621K] reports former Trump U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley warned Thursday that President Donald Trump’s plan to allow 600,000 Chinese students to study in the United States would be a "massive mistake.” "That would be a huge gift to China and a threat to the United States," Haley wrote on X. Haley’s criticism surprised many conservatives who said they did not expect her to take a harder line than Trump on China and immigration. "I did not have Nikki Haley being to Trump’s right on immigration issues on my 2025 bingo card," wrote X user S.A. McCarthy, an editor at The American Spectator magazine. "I rarely agree with Nikki Haley. I think she is far too much of a throwback to failed George W. Bush era thinking," wrote conservative analyst Greg Lawson. "BUT, on this specific issue, she is right.” "America has a shortage of workers in tech and we are training foreign nationals?" one user asked. "Holy s---! I haven’t agreed with anything Nikki Haley has said in I don’t remember when," wrote another. "It is insane for the Trump administration to allow 600K foreigners into American colleges — not because they are Chinese, but because the cost of college is already too high. Reduce demand = reduce costs.” Trump first floated the 600,000 figure in August, alarming critics who have long warned about Chinese espionage at U.S. universities. More than 277,000 Chinese students studied in the U.S. during the 2023–2024 academic year, according to federal data. The White House later clarified that the 600,000 figure referred to two years’ worth of visas, meaning the proposal represented a continuation of current policy rather than a doubling of admissions.

CBS News [11/13/2025 6:40 PM, Olivia Gazis, 39474K] reports unauthorized drone flights over U.S. military installations, border facilities and mass public events are climbing to unprecedented levels, prompting warnings from top lawmakers that the country faces an escalating aerial security risk while it remains hamstrung by a patchwork of airspace protection capabilities. Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, said in an interview with CBS News this week that the threat to military sites and large civilian gatherings "is severe and growing." He cited evidence of persistent drone incursions and gaps in law enforcement authorities, many of which lapsed for weeks during the record-long government shutdown. There were more than 350 unauthorized drone flights over about 100 military installations in 2024, according to the Defense Department, and government data shows there were more than 27,000 drones detected within 500 meters of the U.S. southern border in the last half of that year. And while the number of stadium incursions waned slightly last year, the overall trend is continuing to move upward, according to NFL data, with drone incursions almost doubling, from 1,300 to 2,300, between 2021 and 2024. Some of the incursions may be the fault of hobbyists or unwitting individuals, Cotton said, but inexpensive drone technologies have also proliferated across criminal organizations and non-state actors, raising the risks of mass-casualty attacks. "It could be…unwittingly probing to see what the responses are – and responses have not been particularly strong, given these legal limitations," he said of some drone overflights of sensitive U.S. military installations. Citing classification concerns, Cotton, who also sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, declined to comment on how many overflights may have a connection to a foreign government, or which foreign governments may be involved. U.S. security officials have previously issued public warnings that drone incursions near military bases, energy facilities and other critical infrastructure pose surveillance risks. Many of them may be traced to foreign-made or unidentified systems capable of collecting imagery or signals intelligence. The threat underscores legal holes in detection and authority as drone activity increasingly probes sensitive American airspace – potentially, some officials have warned, in preparation for kinetic attacks. The coordinated drone strikes by Ukraine deep inside Russian territory on June 1 - known as Operation Spider’s Web — showed in dramatic fashion how relatively inexpensive unmanned systems can reach far-flung military targets. The operation reportedly deployed 117 drones to strike more than 40 Russian aircraft and caused approximately $7 billion in damage.

NewsMax [11/13/2025 7:24 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K] reports the Senate deal to end the government shutdown includes $200 million in funding to disrupt the pipeline of illicit Chinese vapes. According to Chad Wolf, former acting Homeland Security secretary and Protecting America Initiative senior adviser, that "sends a clear message to the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] that the U.S. is serious about protecting our borders and our kids.” "Illicit Chinese-made vapes are both a national security and public health concern," Wolf said in a statement in a press release announcing the Ensuring the Necessary Destruction of (END) Illicit Chinese Tobacco Act. "Every illicit shipment we intercept keeps these dangerous CCP products out of American hands," he said. He praised President Donald Trump and his Cabinet for the work they are "doing to keep Americans safe.” The bill was introduced by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, with Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., as a cosponsor. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, is leading companion legislation in the House. It passed as part of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2026, which was included in the Senate’s legislative package to fund and reopen the federal government. In a post on X, Rep. Brad Knott, R-N.C., said, "One critically important part of the legislation that opened the government yesterday is boosting enforcement directives, and resources, aimed at harmful and illegal vaping products that flood the United States from other countries, primarily China. "These illegal and counterfeit products disproportionately harm America’s youth and undermine American business. They must be stopped.” The Chinese city of Shenzhen is the biggest source of vapes — both legal and illegal — coming into the United States.

CNN [11/13/2025 1:46 PM, Zoe Todd, 18595K] reports that after a violent Border Patrol arrest shocks a quiet Illinois neighborhood, CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz meets with the suburban families fighting to keep immigration officers away. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [11/13/2025 6:00 AM, Shimon Prokupecz, Jason Kravarik, Leonel Mendez, and Rachel Clarke, 18595K] reports they’ve been showing up all over Evanston, a leafy suburb north of Chicago: suburban moms fresh from the school run and out to protect their community from what they see as unwelcome visitors. The strangers are federal officers, sent by the Department of Homeland Security in "Operation Midway Blitz" which was aimed at targeting "the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Chicago," according to Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. But that doesn’t ring true for many in the city that’s home to Northwestern University and where 70% of its 80,000 or so residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and where in August this year, a police newsletter said there had not been a single reported burglary that week. Cellphone videos posted to social media show what happens when unmarked SUVs roll into Evanston neighborhoods. If residents see federal agents inside, they honk their horns to alert others. Many locals have started wearing whistles to add to the warnings — three short blasts for a sighting, longer whistles if the officers try to detain anyone. Crowds gather — people come out of their houses, dog walkers pause on their routes, cyclists and drivers make detours — to protest what the agents are doing and remove any element of surprise. Demonstrators told CNN they just wanted to help people who might be in the US without documents but had committed no crime. Many of the mostly women we spoke to did not want to give their names or draw extra attention.

AP [11/13/2025 10:21 PM, Staff, 30493K] reports a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to working with Mexican traffickers to bring drugs into the U.S., officials said Thursday. Diego Bonillo, 30, pleaded guilty in July to multiple charges, including conspiracy to import controlled substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. As part of his plea deal, he admitted to using his position to allow drug-filled cars into the U.S. from Mexico without inspection. He allowed at least 75 kilograms of fentanyl, 11.7 kilograms of methamphetamine, and more than 1 kilogram of heroin into the country, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego said in a news release Thursday. Prosecutors said in sentencing documents that Bonillo was using a secret phone to alert the drug trafficking group which lanes he would be overseeing at the Tecate and Otay Mesa border crossings so he could ensure their entry without inspection. Agents determined that Bonillo was part of the scheme no later than October 2023 and continued until April 2024, allowing at least 15 vehicles to enter uninspected, prosecutors said. Bonillo used his payments to travel internationally, purchase luxury gifts, attempt to purchase property in Mexico, and spend time at the Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club in Tijuana, Mexico, prosecutors said. He was sentenced Nov. 7 to 15 years in federal prison.

AP [11/13/2025 11:17 AM, Rio Yamat, 31753K] reports flight reductions at 40 major U.S. airports will remain at 6% instead of rising to 10% by the end of the week because more air traffic controllers are coming to work, officials said Wednesday. The announcement was made as Congress took steps to end the longest government shutdown in history. Not long after, President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill to end the closure. The flight cuts were implemented last week as more air traffic controllers were calling out of work, citing stress and the need to take on second jobs — leaving more control towers and facilities short-staffed. Air traffic controllers missed two paychecks during the impasse. The Department of Transportation said the flight reduction decision was made on recommendations from the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety team, after a "rapid decline" in controller callouts. The 6% limit will stay in place while officials assess whether the air traffic system can safely return to normal operations, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, although he did not provide a timeline Wednesday. "If the FAA safety team determines the trend lines are moving in the right direction, we’ll put forward a path to resume normal operations," Duffy said in a statement. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Wednesday that safety remains their top priority and that all decisions will be guided by data.

Washington Examiner [11/13/2025 2:13 PM, Jenny Goldsberry, 1394K] reports that despite the government reopening on Wednesday, flights are still being affected by the 43-day government shutdown. Flight tracker FlightAware reported that 1,289 flights were canceled on Thursday, and another 14,106 flights were delayed. While the numbers are expected to increase later in the day, there was a slight decrease in cancellations. Air traffic controllers missed two paychecks during the shutdown. However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Thursday that paychecks are "coming their way." During the shutdown, some controllers continued working, while others took time off to earn money in other ways. President Donald Trump offered a $10,000 bonus for air traffic controllers who continued working. The reopening of the government and resumption of federal employees’ paychecks come as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches in two weeks. Thanksgiving is among the busiest travel days, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Last year, the Friday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving saw more than 2.7 million passengers. Additionally, the Sunday after Thanksgiving set a record with more than 3 million travelers. Many air traffic controllers retired during the shutdown. Duffy explained that the "understaffing" has left current air traffic controllers at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, for example, with only four days off per month.

Chicago Tribune [11/13/2025 9:44 PM, Josh Funk, 4829K] reports airlines are optimistic they can resume normal operations just a few days after the government lifts its order to cut some flights at 40 busy airports, but it’s not clear how soon that will happen even though the federal shutdown is over. The Federal Aviation Administration did announce Wednesday night that airlines won’t have to cut more than 6% of flights at those airports because air traffic controller staffing has improved significantly in the last few days. Originally the order that took effect last Fridaycalled for those flight cuts to increase to 8% Thursday and top out at 10% on Friday. A number of air traffic controllers missed work while they were going without pay during the shutdown, and the spike in understaffing at airport towers and regional control centers prompted the flight cut order due to concerns about safety. The existing shortage of several thousand controllers is so bad that even a small number of absences in some locations caused problems. Officials at FAA and the Transportation Department didn’t offer any updates Thursday morning about when they will decide to lift the order. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said the decision will be based on the safety data that experts at the FAA are watching closely. The airlines say they will be ready and expect that normal operations will resume within three or four days after the order is lifted. Some experts have suggested that problems might linger longer than that and could affect Thanksgiving travel, so it is difficult to predict whether the airlines will be able to recover from this as quickly as they do after a major snowstorm disrupts their operations and leaves planes and crews out of position. Airlines focused cuts on smaller regional routes to minimize the impact on main hubs. By late Thursday afternoon, only a little over 1,000 flights had been cancelled across the country. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said nearly 95% of all flights nationwide Thursday were on time. "We are eager to resume normal operations over the next few days once the FAA gives clearance. We look forward to welcoming 31 million passengers—a new record—to our flights during the upcoming Thanksgiving travel period, beginning next Friday," the Airlines for America trade group said Thursday.

CBS News [11/13/2025 12:05 PM, Dan Raby, 39474K] reports that Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said travelers shouldn’t have any concerns about flight cancellations and issues as the federal government begins to reopen. "I think we’ll be back a lot faster than people think," Bastian told Gayle King on "CBS Mornings." "The last couple of days actually were pretty good. As soon as the Senate deal on Monday got approved, staffing levels almost overnight approved dramatically." He said the only cancellations the airline has had recently were the government-mandated flight cuts, which will remain at 6% instead of rising to 10% by the end of the week as previously planned. The Atlanta-based airline had about 2,000 cancellations after the Federal Aviation Administration mandated reducing flights due to staffing concerns. While Bastian admitted that the company did lose money during the shutdown, it would quickly get business back to normal. "I expect by the weekend we’ll be pretty much full steam ahead," Bastian said. On Wednesday night, President Trump signed a government funding bill, ending the record 43-day shutdown. After the bill passed, Delta released a statement, saying they appreciated the work of the U.S. Congress to reopen the government. "We are extremely grateful to all the federal workers including air traffic controllers and officers with the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection who worked without a paycheck for more than 40 days to keep our skies safe and secure – and to Delta people who went above and beyond to take care of our customers and government workers during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history," the statement read.

Houston Chronicle [11/13/2025 9:14 PM, Caroline Wilburn, 2983K] reports that, now that the longest government shutdown in U.S. history has ended, airlines are offering guidance on when flight traffic will return to normal. The Federal Aviation Administration last week beg`an reducing air traffic across the country, including at both of Houston’s commercial airports, as the government shutdown exacerbated a shortage of air traffic controllers, who worked without pay during the lapse in funding. TSA wait times also increased during the shutdown, as security agents also worked without pay. More than 265 flights departing from or arriving at Houston’s airports had been canceled as of Monday. Andrew Watterson, Southwest Airlines’ chief operating officer, said in a statement Wednesday that the airline is optimistic that operations will return to normal in a few days and will continue to adjust its schedule to comply with the FAA’s orders. Delta Air Lines said in a statement late Wednesday that it expects operations to return to normal in the coming days. Delta CEO Ed Bastian told "CBS Mornings" on Thursday that the airline is prepared for the busy holiday travel season. "The system should return to normal by the weekend…and normal for us is an incredibly safe, incredibly reliable, great experience," Bastian said. "Thanksgiving is going to be a great holiday period of travel.” On Thursday, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said he has "never been prouder" to be a part of the airline, and thanked employees for their "extraordinary performance" during the shutdown. "Last week’s FAA directive to cut flights during the government shutdown, which we supported, came without much notice and our team sprang into action – by the end of the day Thursday we had already cut hundreds of flights scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday," Kirby said in a statement. "And many of you worked through the weekend as we planned additional cuts for this week.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Houston on Thursday to announce that more than 20 TSA officers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport will receive a $10,000 bonus for their work during the shutdown. "They helped individuals," Noem said at a news conference at IAH. "They served extra shifts. They helped with transportation of people getting back and forth to work, other challenges that families may have. They were all examples of what we need.”

USA Today [11/13/2025 7:37 PM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 67103K] reports federal authorities are investigating after airline officials said a police officer left a loaded handgun magazine on a Frontier Airlines flight over the weekend. A passenger found the clip Nov. 9 near her seat after boarding Flight 4771 from Atlanta to Cincinnati, according to a statement released by Frontier’s Corporate Communications Manager Rob Harris. "Customers were asked to deplane while a security sweep of the aircraft was conducted, along with additional passenger screening prior to the flight’s departure," according to the statement. Officers with the Atlanta Police Department responded to the call later that day. Loaded magazine found on plane marked with initials ‘H K’. Atlanta police said the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport responded to Gate C-6 in Concourse C. The passenger on the Airbus A320 found a loaded magazine containing "ten hollow point rounds" near seat 7A, police said. The clip had the initials "K H," according to police. ‘No active threats were confirmed’. Officers reportedly coordinated with agencies including the Transportation Security Administration and the Department Homeland Security. "The aircraft was deplaned and thoroughly searched by officers," the police department said, and "no additional items of concern were found. No active threats were confirmed at that time.” The TSA re-screened all passengers, the flight departed at 7:56 p.m., and the FBI was notified. ‘The ammunition belonged to a law enforcement officer.’. Frontier wrote in its release that the ammunition belonged to a law enforcement officer who was "on an earlier flight on the same aircraft.” Frontier did not name the officer’s employer. When reached by USA TODAY on Thursday, Nov. 13, the FBI deferred questions to Atlanta police. USA TODAY has reached out to Atlanta police, the Atlanta airport, the TSA and the Federal Aviation Administration.

NewsMax [11/13/2025 4:43 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered an expanded counterdrug offensive in the Western Hemisphere on Thursday as the Pentagon advanced Operation Southern Spear. This long-duration mission deploys new robotic and autonomous systems to target cartel activity threatening U.S. security. Hegseth announced the renewed push on X, framing it as a direct response to narcotics networks fueling U.S. overdoses. Operation Southern Spear, which commenced earlier this year, is now entering an expanded phase focusing on integrating robotic and autonomous systems into maritime counterdrug operations. The 4th Fleet will integrate these systems with U.S. Coast Guard cutters and operations centers at 4th Fleet and Joint Interagency Task Force South.

Bloomberg [11/13/2025 12:19 PM, Ufonobong Umanah, 91K] reports that a shipbuilder utilized by the US Navy and Coast Guard secured a federal court’s preliminary approval of a deal to pay $515,000 to end a lawsuit by a class of employees and benefits recipients affected by a data breach. Fincantieri Marine Group LLC suffered from a 2023 cyberattack. The suit raised questions over whether the shipbuilder failed to live up to a responsibility to protect the data of the approximately 16,769 class members. Under the deal, Fincantieri also agreed to adopt certain information security improvements, according to the motion for preliminary approval filed in the US District Court for the... [Editorial note: consult extended commentary at source link]

FOX News [11/13/2025 9:05 PM, Alexandra Koch, 40621K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday it detected a Russian military spy vessel operating near U.S. territorial waters Oct. 29, and personnel are continuing to monitor the ship. Officials said the Vishnya-class intelligence ship was about 15 nautical miles south of Oahu, prompting a response by the Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules from Air Station Barbers Point and the Coast Guard Cutter William Hart. The Coast Guard responded to the Russian Federation Navy Auxiliary General Intelligence ship, Kareliya, by conducting a safe and professional overflight and transiting near the vessel, according to a news release. Acting in accordance with international law, the Coast Guard said personnel are monitoring the vessel’s activities near U.S. territorial waters to provide maritime security for U.S. vessels operating in the area. Coast guardsmen will also monitor the vessel to support U.S. homeland defense efforts. "The U.S. Coast Guard routinely monitors maritime activity around the Hawaiian Islands and throughout the Pacific to ensure the safety and security of U.S. waters," Capt. Matthew Chong, chief of response for the Coast Guard Oceania District, wrote in a statement. "Working in concert with partners and allies, our crews monitor and respond to foreign military vessel activity near our territorial waters to protect our maritime borders and defend our sovereign interests.” The Vishnya-class is a group of intelligence collection ships built for the Soviet Navy in the 1980s, according to the U.S. Army website. There are seven ships still in service with the Russian Navy. They are large, purpose-built vessels designed for signals intelligence gathering via an extensive array of sensors, according to the site. Data can be transmitted to shore via satellite link antennas. While the ships are designed for intelligence gathering, they are armed with two AK-630 close-in weapon systems and SA-N-8 surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers, for last resort self-defense, according to the Army. Coast Guard Oceania District works in conjunction with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and interagency partners to constantly monitor the activity of foreign military vessels operating near U.S. territorial waters to ensure homeland security and defense. Under customary international law, foreign military vessels are permitted to transit and operate outside other nations’ territorial seas, which extend up to 12 nautical miles from shore. The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Reuters [11/13/2025 7:58 PM, Christian Martinez, 36480K]
NewsMax [11/13/2025 7:12 PM, Staff, 4109K]

Axios [11/13/2025 1:31 PM, Sam Sabin, 12972K] reports suspected Chinese operators used Anthropic’s AI coding tool to target about 30 global organizations — and had success in several cases, the company said Thursday. This is the first documented case of a foreign government using AI to fully automate a cyber operation, Anthropic warned. Anthropic said the campaign relied on Claude’s agentic capabilities, or the model’s ability to take autonomous action across multiple steps with minimal human direction. The dam is breaking on state hackers using AI to speed up and scale digital attacks. Earlier this month, Google said Russian military hackers used an AI model to help generate malware for targeting Ukrainian entities. But that required human operators to prompt the model step by step. In this new case, Claude Code carried out 80-90% of the operation on its own, Anthropic said. In a blog post Thursday, Anthropic said it spotted suspected Chinese state-sponsored hackers jailbreaking Claude Code to help breach dozens of tech companies, financial institutions, chemical manufacturers, and government agencies. The company first detected the activity in mid-September and investigated over the following 10 days. It banned the malicious accounts, alerted targeted organizations, and shared findings with authorities during that time period. The attackers tricked Claude into thinking it was performing defensive cybersecurity tasks for a legitimate company. They also broke down malicious requests into smaller, less suspicious tasks to avoid triggering its guardrails. The Daily Wire [11/13/2025 12:10 PM, Nathan Gay, 2494K] reports that in what the company calls "the first documented case of a large-scale cyberattack executed without substantial human intervention," the Chinese hackers bypassed Claude’s safeguards by claiming to be part of a credible cybersecurity firm conducting defensive testing. This social engineering of Claude provided enough cover for the hackers to evade detection by the company for months, allowing the hackers to freely manipulate the coding tool into autonomously performing complex infiltration techniques "more efficiently than any human operator.” "This campaign demonstrates that the barriers to performing sophisticated cyberattacks have dropped substantially—and we can predict that they’ll continue to do so," Anthropic warned in its report. "Threat actors can now use agentic AI systems to do the work of entire teams of experienced hackers with the right set up.” The attack required minimal human intervention, relying on Claude’s "agent" — a form of AI that can operate autonomously for long periods without human intervention — to substantially ease the workload for the hackers. "Analysis of operational tempo, request volumes, and activity patterns confirms the AI executed approximately 80 to 90 % of all tactical work independently, with humans serving in strategic supervisory roles," the report states, adding that each hacking campaign only required 4-6 critical decision points from the human operator. "The AI made thousands of requests per second — an attack speed that would have been, for human hackers, simply impossible to match," the company said in its blog post. Once safeguards had been bypassed, Claude autonomously probed for vulnerabilities in the selected targets, wrote custom exploit code to harvest usernames and passwords, and exfiltrated the data with minimal human intervention.

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Federal News Network [11/13/2025 6:02 PM, Justin Doubleday, 986K] reports Congress has temporarily extended a landmark cyber information sharing law, but industry representatives and cyber experts are urging lawmakers to act quickly to enact a more long-term solution. The continuing resolution signed into law Wednesday night extends the provisions of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 through the end of January. The law had expired Oct. 1. CISA 2015 provides privacy and liability protections to encourage companies to share data about cyber vulnerabilities and threats. Cybersecurity leaders say those protections provide a critical underpinning to facilitate collaboration across government and industry. Despite the temporary reprieve, the path forward for a long-term CISA 2015 extension in Congress remains unclear, with divergent reauthorization bills in the House and the Senate. The White House has called for a "clean" 10-year reauthorization of CISA 2015. But Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has opposed efforts to move forward such a bill in the Senate. The long-term extension of the information sharing law, meanwhile, remains a chief concern for the technology industry. Mike Flynn, senior vice president of government affairs for the Information Technology Industry Council, called the short-term extension "a step in the right direction.” "Without a long-term CISA 2015 fix, cybersecurity stakeholders will continue to face uncertainty and questions that will undermine the network of information-sharing organizations and programs that have been built over the last decade," Flynn said in a statement. In September, the House Homeland Security Committee passed the Widespread Information Management for the Welfare of Infrastructure and Government Act. The bill was led by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.). Garbarino’s bill would extend the CISA 2015 protections for another 10 years, while updating definitions to account for advances in artificial intelligence. It would also require the Department of Homeland Security to improve its outreach on emerging cyber threats. In a statement released after the House passed the CR, Garbarino called for reauthorizing multiple expired DHS authorities, including CISA 2015. "With the federal government reopening, I look forward to continuing this Committee’s important work alongside our colleagues in both the House and Senate to find long-term solutions for reauthorizing these vital DHS authorities, bolster our nation’s cyber defenses, maintain President Trump’s secure borders, and ensure the safety of America’s skies and the traveling public," Garbarino said. It’s unclear, however, if and when Garbarino’s bill will be called for a vote on the House floor.

CyberScoop [11/13/2025 4:20 PM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports federal cyber authorities shared new details Thursday about the Akira ransomware group’s techniques, the tools it uses and vulnerabilities it exploits for initial access alongside the release of a joint cybersecurity advisory. Members of the financially motivated group, which initially appeared in March 2023, are associated with other threat groups, including Storm-1567, Howling Scorpius, Punk Spider, Gold Sahara, and may have connections with the disbanded Conti ransomware group, officials said. Akira uses a double-extortion model, encrypting systems after stealing data to amplify pressure on victims. Akira ransomware has claimed more than $244 million in ransomware proceeds as of late September, the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security agency said in the joint advisory. The group primarily targets small- and medium-sized businesses with many victims impacted in the manufacturing, education, IT, health care, financial and agriculture sectors. “For the FBI, it is within the top five variants that we investigate,” Brett Leatherman, assistant director at the FBI Cyber Division, said during a media briefing Thursday. “It’s consequential. This group is very consequential that they fall likely within our top five.” Ransomware is the FBI’s top cybercriminal threat, which is “enormous in terms of the amount of losses, the number of active variants and its disruptive effect,” he said. “The FBI is investigating over 130 ransomware variants targeting U.S. businesses in just about any critical infrastructure sector you can think of.” The advisory, which was also supported by Europol and cyber authorities in France, Germany and the Netherlands, included six new vulnerabilities Akira is known to exploit, including defects affecting Cisco firewalls and virtual private networks, Windows, VMware ESXi, Veeam Backup and Replication and SonicWall firewalls. “We know that they are actively looking at the vulnerabilities disclosed in [the joint advisory] in order to monetize their activity,” Leatherman said. Researchers previously warned that Akira hit about 40 victims by exploiting CVE-2024-40766, a year-old vulnerability, between mid-July and early August. That burst was followed by another wave of ransomware attacks linked to active exploits of the defect. The joint advisory, which updates previous guidance around hunting for and defending against Akira, was not in response to any specific attack, said Nick Andersen, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA.

NBC News [11/13/2025 3:51 PM, Kevin Collier, 34509K] reports hackers on Monday hijacked a mass text messaging service, pushing hundreds of thousands of scam texts to people who subscribe to alerts from New York state, a Catholic charity and a political organizing group. Mobile Commons, the company that was hacked, works with local and state governments and progressive organizations to send out public service announcements and fundraising texts. In an email sent to messaging platforms Thursday and viewed by NBC News, the U.S. Short Code Registry, an industry nonprofit that maintains those codes in the U.S., said that the industry is under increased attack from hackers. While breaking into Mobile Commons could have allowed the hackers to send messages designed to cause mass panic, they instead sent variations of a routine scam.

The New York Post [11/13/2025 12:27 PM, Josh Christenson, 42219K] reports that the Trump administration is moving to designate four violent left-wing groups based in Europe as either foreign terrorist organizations or specifically designated global terrorists as part of a broad crackdown on extremism. US State Department officials announced the intended designation on Thursday, saying the Antifa groups — Antifa Ost, the International Revolutionary Front, Armed Proletarian Justice, and Revolutionary Class Self Defense — "use force against those they identify as opponents of their Marxist and anarchist projects." The groups from Germany, Italy and Greece have carried out dozens of attacks in Europe over recent years — including assaults, bombings of government buildings and shootings. "The anarchists, Marxists, and violent extremists of Antifa have waged a terror campaign in the United States and across the Western world for decades, carrying out bombings, beatings, shootings, and riots in service of their extreme agenda," said State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott in a statement. "The State Department is committed to identifying and dismantling these terror networks that conspire to ruthlessly suppress the will of the people and violently undermine the very foundations of the United States and Western Civilization." FOX News [11/13/2025 10:50 AM, Morgan Phillips Fox, 40621K] reports that the decision marks the first time the U.S. government has applied foreign terrorist designations to Antifa-linked groups, expanding President Donald Trump’s previous domestic terrorism directive to an international scale. The four Antifa-aligned cells active in Europe — in Germany, Italy and Greece — are accused of organizing or carrying out bombings, shootings and other politically motivated attacks. The designation requires U.S. financial institutions to freeze assets of FTOs and SDGTs and ban entry of the group’s members into the U.S. It allows the U.S. to criminally prosecute those under U.S. jurisdiction who offer material support to FTOs or conspire to offer such support. The Washington Times [11/13/2025 3:51 PM, Kerry Picket, 852K] reports the department described the antifa organizations as anarchist militant groups that “have waged terror campaigns in the United States and Europe, conspiring to undermine the foundations of Western Civilization through their brutal attacks.” The terrorist designations deny violent organizations access to the U.S. financial system and impose severe penalties on those who support them. The Trump administration says it will continue to identify and disrupt antifa’s terror networks across the world. In Germany, there’s Antifa Ost, which the State Department labeled an FTO while describing it as “infamous for wielding hammers in premeditated attacks against unsuspecting victims.” That group was named a terrorist organization by Hungary following its attack on nine victims in Budapest. The second FTO called out by the department is the International Revolutionary Front, “an Italy-based coalition of violent anarchists.” The department said the group claimed responsibility “for the shooting of an engineering executive in Genoa and sent a series of bombs to politicians, embassies and civilian targets, injuring several people.” The State Department also named Armed Proletarian Justice an FTO, calling it a “violent Greek anarchist group that pledges to wage armed conflict against police officers and state infrastructure.”

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Washington Examiner [11/13/2025 10:42 AM, David Zimmermann, 1394K] reports FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino slammed Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) on Thursday for implying that the bureau is targeting investigators in the Washington, D.C., pipe bomb case. Massie posted a letter on Wednesday from an FBI whistleblower’s attorney, who raised concerns about the bureau allegedly moving to retaliate against his client for making a protected disclosure to Congress related to the case, prompting a response from Bongino. "I received this troubling letter today from the attorney representing the most recent FBI whistleblower regarding the J6 pipe bomb investigation," Massie wrote on X. "Just a reminder to [FBI Director Kash Patel], in case this letter is warranted, federal law prevents retaliation against whistleblowers." The correspondence references a Thursday meeting at 10 a.m. in the FBI’s Washington Field Office, where bureau management is reportedly attempting to identify the whistleblower. Bongino revealed he offered the congressman an in-person brief on the case over the phone. The two spoke on Wednesday morning. Bongino called him later in the day, but he did not receive a call back.

ABC News [11/13/2025 6:05 PM, Meredith Deliso, 30493K] reports a staff member in the athletic department at a California community college was shot on campus Thursday, school officials said. The alleged shooter fled the scene and remains at large, police said. The shooting occurred shortly before noon Thursday at Laney College in Oakland, which is part of the Peralta Community College District. Responding officers located one person on campus suffering from gunshot wounds, police said. Sources told ABC San Francisco station KGO that it was Laney College’s athletic director and football coach, John Beam, who was shot and wounded. The victim is currently being treated at the hospital, according to Oakland Assistant Police Chief James Beere, who did not release the individual’s name. Authorities are working to locate the shooting suspect, described as a man wearing dark clothing, Beere said. Investigators are conducting interviews and looking through surveillance video. The incident is not an active shooter situation, Beere said. A lockdown issued on campus amid the law enforcement response has since been lifted once police confirmed there was no longer any active threat, school officials said.

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FOX News [11/13/2025 4:38 PM, Alexandra Koch, 40621K]
NewsNation [11/13/2025 5:52 PM, Steph Whiteside, 8017K]
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Reuters [11/13/2025 11:15 AM, Kylie Madry, 36480K] reports the U.S. Treasury on Thursday sanctioned members of Mexico’s Hysa family, alleging they used their sprawling network of casinos and restaurants as fronts to launder funds for the powerful Sinaloa Cartel. In what the Treasury described as a coordinated move with the government of Mexico, the Treasury sanctioned six members of the Hysa family and one other person, along with their businesses in Mexico, Canada and Poland. The Treasury also moved to cut off the family’s alleged casino fronts in Mexico from the U.S. financial system. The Hysa family, originally from Albania, has publicly denied ties to organized crime in the past. "The United States and Mexico are working together to combat money laundering in Mexico’s gambling sector," said Treasury Under Secretary John K. Hurley. "Our message to those supporting the cartels is clear: You will be held accountable.” U.S. authorities allege that Luftar Hysa, based between Mexico and Canada, along with his relatives worked with an unnamed person in the United States to move bulk cash from Mexico into the U.S. The Treasury’s announcement comes one day after Mexican authorities said they had suspended operations at 13 casinos for allegedly running schemes to launder millions of dollars abroad. It wasn’t immediately clear if the two operations were related.

Reuters [11/13/2025 6:39 PM, Andrea Shalal, Kanishka Singh, 36480K] reports the United States said on Thursday it will remove tariffs on some foods and other imports from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador under framework agreements that will give U.S. firms greater access to those markets. The agreements are expected to help lower prices for coffee, bananas and other foodstuffs, a senior Trump administration official told reporters, adding the administration expected U.S. retailers to pass on the positive effects to American consumers. The framework deals with most of the four countries should be finalized within the next two weeks, the official said, with additional agreements seen as possible before the end of the year. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said the U.S. planned some "substantial" announcements in coming days that would lead to lower prices on coffee, bananas and other fruits, as part of a push by the Trump administration to drive down the cost of living for Americans. U.S. President Donald Trump has focused intensely on the issue of affordability after a string of defeats for Republican candidates in last week’s elections, while insisting that any higher costs were triggered by policies enacted by former President Joe Biden, and not his own sweeping tariffs.

CNN [11/13/2025 6:23 PM, Staff, 606K] reports President Donald Trump was briefed this week on options for military operations inside Venezuela as he continues to mull a path forward in the country, four sources told CNN. Trump has yet to decide on how to proceed, and he continues to weigh the risks and benefits of launching a scaled-up campaign. The president has previously voiced reservations about taking military action meant to oust Nicolas Maduro, concerned about whether it would prove effective. While Wednesday’s briefing included an updated set of options for the president to consider, it did not indicate that he’s closer to making a decision, one of the people said. Another source familiar with the briefing said the options were similar to those that have been discussed within the Pentagon, and some publicly reported, in recent weeks. The target options – which United States Southern Command has stood up planning cells to develop – are part of an operation dubbed "SOUTHERN SPEAR," according to a senior US official aware of the planning. They were presented by top officials on Trump’s national security team, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine. Hegseth announced the operation on X Thursday night, though he did not reveal details. "Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it," Hegseth wrote.

CBS News [11/13/2025 12:24 PM, Jennifer Jacobs and James LaPorta, 39474K] reports senior military officials on Wednesday presented President Trump with updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, including strikes on land, according to multiple sources familiar with the meetings at the White House. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and other senior officials briefed the president on military options for the coming days, the sources said. No final decision has been made, however, two of the sources told CBS News. White House spokespeople did not immediately comment. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment. The U.S. intelligence community assisted in providing information for potential operations, the sources said. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did not attend White House discussions because she was returning from an overseas trip. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Canada at a G7 summit of foreign ministers.

Reuters [11/13/2025 3:08 PM, Staff, 36480K] reports Israel has received the body of what is believed to be a deceased hostage from Palestinian militants in Gaza via the Red Cross, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the Israeli military said on Thursday.

The body, the army said, is already back inside Israel and is on its way to forensic experts for identification. If confirmed as a hostage, this would leave the remains of three hostages still held in Gaza. "The effort to return our hostages is ongoing and will not cease until the last hostage is returned," Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. Earlier, the armed wings of militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they would hand over the body of a hostage at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), though Israel had said it had not received any official notification of a planned transfer. Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Hamas and also seized hostages during the October 7, 2023, attack that precipitated the Gaza war, said the body was recovered in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Under an October ceasefire deal, Hamas released all 20 surviving hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees held by Israel.

Washington Post [11/13/2025 5:00 AM, Loveday Morris, Lior Soroka, and Heba Farouk Mahfouz, 24149K] reports a dispute over the fate of as many as 200 Hamas fighters trapped inside tunnels in an Israeli-controlled area of Gaza is complicating the Trump administration’s efforts for peace, with the United States pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give the militants safe passage. The disagreement over the fighters, who became stranded behind Israeli lines in Rafah after a ceasefire was announced last month, has underscored the broader potential pitfalls of the deal — including the thorny issue of disarming Hamas and growing Israeli frustration over what some officials see as U.S. interference in the country’s national security. “The bottom line is that this problem could threaten the agreement, but American pressure is continuous,” said a former Egyptian official with knowledge of the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations. Egypt has served as a key mediator in the talks and shares a roughly eight-mile border with the Gaza Strip that includes Rafah. The former official said Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, who is in Israel this week, has pressed for a solution. The U.S. has emphasized that Israel refrain from killing the militants, he said, adding that it would “detonate the ceasefire agreement and thus doom the Trump plan.” Trump’s proposal, which he unveiled in September, laid out a 20-point plan for peace after two years of war, including the destruction of military and weapons infrastructure in Gaza, which is slated for the plan’s second phase. As part of that process, weapons would be placed “permanently beyond use,” the plan says, and the United States hopes the militants who are trapped will give up their weapons and offer an example of how the broader demobilization of Hamas could work. Hamas has “always indicated” that it will disarm, Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said in remarks at a Miami business conference last week. “I hope that they keep their word, because if they do, they’ll understand that the development plan that we have for Gaza is really terrific,” he said, describing the case of the stranded fighters as a “model” for how to proceed.

New York Post [11/13/2025 11:18 AM, Ryan King, 42219K] reports lawmakers are warning of risks from Chinese Communist Party-linked networking and smart home products that are quietly being sold at Army, Air Force, and Navy exchanges - online military stores. Fearing Chinese infiltration, 23 lawmakers from both chambers of Congress are pushing the Trump administration to investigate and consider banning products sold by TP-Link Technologies Co. and its affiliates throughout the entire US. "Open-source information indicates that TP-Link represents a serious and present danger to U.S. ICTS [Information and communications technology] security," the group of 23 lawmakers led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wrote in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday. "Right now, nothing stops CCP-tied companies from spying on Americans through internet-connected cameras in our homes," they later added. "The Chinese Communist Party can capture and exploit these videos to track, blackmail, or extort U.S. citizens - including top government and military officials." Of particular concern to the bipartisan group is the TP-Link cameras being sold in the US. While they appear to be out of stock on the websites for the Army, Air Force and Navy exchanges, lawmakers fear they are gaining popularity in the US. Exchanges are limited to active-duty personnel, military families, students at military schools, Department of War employees and veterans. "China will use any way to infiltrate us, and we must ensure they cannot access our homeland or military bases," Ernst told The Post.

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