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 AP [11/4/2025 8:37 PM, Konstantin Toropin, 4829K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yet another deadly strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, coming the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower. The attack Tuesday killed two people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters up to at least 66 people in at least 16 strikes. President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by saying the United States is in "armed conflict" with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations. The administration has not provided evidence or more details. "We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens," Hegseth posted while on a trip to Asia. Lawmakers from both parties have pressed the Trump administration for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes given that Congress has not authorized military action. United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk last week called for the U.S. to halt the attacks and "prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.” The latest strike comes as the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier has left the Mediterranean Sea on its way to the Caribbean after Hegseth ordered it to the region more than a week ago. It will join an already robust buildup of American planes, ships and thousands of troops in Latin America. A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ship movements, confirmed that the Ford and the destroyer USS Bainbridge crossed through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic on Tuesday. The Ford originally deployed with five destroyers, but it’s not clear if all of them will go to the Caribbean. Two of the other destroyers in the Ford’s strike group, the USS Winston Churchill and the USS Mahan, are in the Mediterranean now, with the Mahan in port at Rota, Spain. The other two destroyers, the USS Forrest Sherman and the USS Mitchener, are in the Red Sea, the official said. With the strikes and military assets in the region expanding, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States, has said the U.S. government is "fabricating" a war against him. CBS News [11/4/2025 9:24 PM, Faris Tanyos, 39474K] reports "Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics," Hegseth said. "Two male narco-terrorists" aboard the vessel were killed,” the defense secretary added, noting that no U.S. personnel were killed in the operation. No further information was provided. Dating back to early September, the Trump administration has reported well over a dozen such strikes in the waters of the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean off South America on what it alleges are drug vessels. Outside of the unclassified videos released by the Defense Department, the U.S. has provided no details on the boats that were struck or about the people aboard. The White House says they are part of an effort to cripple the operations of drug cartels. Some lawmakers have criticized the strikes, saying the White House has not provided enough evidence the boats were smuggling drugs, and with some insisting the president needs congressional approval to carry out the strikes. Mr. Trump on Oct. 23 told reporters, "Well, I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them. You know? They’re going to be like, dead.” Several of the strikes have occurred off the coast of Venezuela, as Mr. Trump has been vocal in his criticism of controversial Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and amid a broader buildup of U.S. military assets in the Caribbean. When asked in an interview with "60 Minutes" last week if Maduro’s "days were numbered," Mr. Trump responded, "I would say yeah. I think so, yeah.” Mr. Trump last month also confirmed that he had authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela. Earlier this year, the Trump administration designated several cartels as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela’s notorious Tren de Aragua. FOX News [11/4/2025 8:06 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports that the Trump administration has created a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force operating near the U.S. Southern Command in an effort "to crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe.” The task force will coordinate air, maritime and special-operations missions across the region — marking the largest U.S. military effort in the Caribbean in decades. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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NewsMax [11/4/2025 3:01 PM, James Morley III, 4109K] reports a judge in Rhode Island ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration cannot deny transportation funding to states that refuse to cooperate with enforcement of federal immigration law, Politico reported. Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell found that the Department of Transportation and Secretary Sean Duffy exceeded their authority by attempting to condition road funding on immigration cooperation. McConnell, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, said the administration failed to "cite any plausible connection between cooperating with ICE enforcement and the congressionally approved purposes of the Department of Transportation," referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The decision marks another legal victory for Democrat-led states challenging the administration’s efforts to use federal transportation funds as leverage in immigration policy disputes.

Breitbart [11/4/2025 4:51 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) is urging President Donald Trump to end the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which offers corporations a tax break if they hire foreign students out of college over American graduates, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. The letter, obtained exclusively by Breitbart News, is addressed to Trump’s senior adviser, Stephen Miller, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem — asking them to take steps to end the OPT program. Banks also notes that American graduates in STEM fields today are struggling in the labor market, as companies hire foreign students through the OPT program and secure a 15 percent tax break because employers do not have to pay FICA taxes for OPT hires. Banks says the OPT program is also a national security risk because of the large influx of Chinese students that it funnels into the U.S. labor market every year. Banks asks Miller and Noem to ensure that regulators end the OPT program, as it was never approved or authorized by Congress. At the very least, Banks says he wants to see the program capped and a wage floor set from $90,000 to $115,000. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow has suggested that companies are using the OPT program to subvert H-1B visa caps.

FOX Business [11/4/2025 9:35 AM, Staff, 10085K] Video: HERE reports White House border czar Tom Homan discusses President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration on ‘Mornings with Maria.’

AP [11/4/2025 1:26 PM, Sophia Tareen, 31753K] Video: HERE reports the Border Patrol commander leading an immigration crackdown in Chicago applauded his agents’ aggressive tactics that have prompted resident backlash and lawsuits. From his use of chemical agents to a helicopter raid on an apartment building, Gregory Bovino defended the approach of U.S. Customs and Border Protection as appropriate and necessary for what he says are threats his agents have faced in the nation’s third-largest city. “I didn’t have any reason to think it would be this bad, but it’s far worse than I ever thought,” Bovino told The Associated Press during a wide-ranging interview between meeting employees at a suburban CBP office and sitting for another deposition in growing litigation over his tactics. More than 3,200 people with alleged immigration violations have been arrested since “ Operation Midway Blitz “ began in September as part of the Trump administration’s push to target cities with “ sanctuary” immigration policies. What started as a handful of arrests in Latino and immigrant-heavy communities has rippled across the city of 2.7 million and its many suburbs, dipping into Indiana. Bovino spoke to AP as fresh teams were replacing agents who’ve spent two months in Chicago, some directly from a Los Angeles crackdown. He likened officers fanning the region to police working beats, but their mission is to counteract an “invasion” of “criminal illegal aliens,” how Trump administration leaders describe people living in the country without legal permission. “We’re what I call now sanctuary busters,” he said. “There are no sanctuaries. There will be no sanctuaries.” Bovino is visible around Chicago, where the sight of Border Patrol agents away from international borders has startled residents. While keeping his job as head of a Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, along the U.S.-Mexico border, Bovino has done Chicago River boat patrols and led armed agents on a march along the Michigan Avenue shopping district. He’s regularly spotted in daily operations, frequently in Little Village, a Mexican neighborhood with a busy business corridor. Immigration agents’ tactics are the subject of legal challenges. A judge has required them to wear body cameras and document arrests and forced Bovino into a courtroom. Suburban Broadview, the site of an immigration processing center, has also opened three criminal investigations against federal agents.

AP [11/5/2025 12:05 AM, Christine Fernando, 31753K] reports a judge will weigh on Wednesday how to respond to allegations that federal immigration agents in the Chicago area have used excessive force, following a surge of recent court filings detailing tense encounters between agents and local residents. The preliminary injunction hearing stems from a lawsuit filed by news outlets and protesters who say agents have used too much force, including tear gas, during demonstrations. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis has already ordered agents to wear badges and banned them from using certain riot-control techniques, such as tear gas, against peaceful protesters and journalists. After repeatedly chastising federal officials for not following her previous orders, she added a requirement for body cameras. The hearing comes after Ellis questioned senior Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino at a public hearing last week, where she took the rare step of ordering him to brief her each evening on the federal immigration crackdown in Chicago. That move was swiftly blocked by an appeals court. On Tuesday, Bovino appeared in court yet again for a deposition — a private interview — with lawyers from both sides. Parts of the videotaped deposition will be played in court Wednesday, according to court filings. Attorneys may also call to the stand a pastor who was hit in the head by a container containing a chemical agent while praying outside a federal immigration facility in the west Chicago suburb of Broadview, local officials detained during protests outside the facility, and a protester who alleges she was hit by a flash-bang grenade that caused temporary hearing loss, court records show. Court filings released late Monday night shed light on a previous deposition by Bovino in which he acknowledged tossing tear gas and being hit by a rock in the predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood of Little Village last month. Bovino also testified that he has “instructed his officers to arrest protesters who make hyperbolic comments in the heat of political demonstrations,” court records show. Meanwhile, a federal judge is expected to rule Wednesday afternoon after a group of detainees filed a class-action lawsuit against federal authorities, alleging “inhuman” conditions at a Chicago-area immigration facility. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman called the alleged conditions “unnecessarily cruel” after hearing people held at the facility detail overflowing toilets, crowded cells, no beds and water that “tasted like sewer.” He called for the hearing to reconvene at 4:15 p.m. local time Wednesday so that he can issue a temporary restraining order to address the conditions.

Chicago Tribune [11/4/2025 9:39 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports that, nearly two months into "Operation Midway Blitz," the controversial use-of-force tactics by immigration agents under the Trump administration will take center stage Wednesday in a Chicago federal courtroom, where a judge is deciding whether to put more long-term restrictions on the use of tear gas and other chemical agents on crowds and provide enhanced protections for protesters and media. Among the evidence expected to be presented to U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis during Wednesday’s preliminary injunction hearing: portions of sworn deposition testimony from Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and other immigration officials; footage from at least a dozen body-worn cameras agents were wearing during clashes with citizens across the city; and claims made by Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that force was appropriate to quell violent "rioters" who were attacking officers. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and could last well into the evening, as a temporary restraining order issued by Ellis as part of the underlying lawsuit expires on Thursday and the judge will have to decide quickly on whether to grant the requested remedies. The case has received national attention, and an overflow courtroom has been set up at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse to accommodate what is expected to be a large contingent of media and spectators. The hearing will be lacking at least one element of spectacle: Bovino will not have to appear as a live witness in court, as the plaintiffs agreed to drop that demand in exchange for an additional 90 minutes of deposition time. But the 30-year Border Patrol veteran will certainly be front-and-center anyways. In arguments before Ellis on Tuesday, plaintiffs’ attorney Steve Art said they intend to play parts of Bovino’s deposition that will show he lied under oath, including making up "a story about getting hit in the head with a rock" in Little Village last month to justify personally lobbing tear gas canisters into the crowd. The lawsuit filed by the Chicago Headline Club and a consortium of other media groups allege immigration officials have systematically violated the constitutional rights of protesters and reporters during the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement action, which began in earnest in mid-September and has shown no signs of slowing. In laying out their case, lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a motion early Tuesday that the evidence in the case shows without injunctive relief, immigration agents "will continue to act as if they can use weapons of war to commit shocking acts of violence against civilians—protesters, press, clergy, bystanders, pregnant women, children—with impunity.” Lawyers for the government, meanwhile, said that while Department of Homeland Security policy emphasizes respect for human life, de-escalation, and use of safe tactics, agents have a right to use necessary force to protect themselves and enforce lawful orders.

FOX News [11/4/2025 8:47 PM, Greg Wehner, 40621K] reports federal prosecutors have charged a 26-year-old Oakland, California, man after he allegedly drove a U-Haul truck toward U.S. Coast Guard personnel guarding a California base last month, prompting officers to open fire in a dramatic incident caught on video. According to court documents unsealed Tuesday, Brendan Munro Thompson, who also goes by Bella Thompson and Bella Castillo, was charged with assaulting federal officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon after allegedly driving a U-Haul truck toward personnel stationed outside Coast Guard Base Alameda Oct. 23. Video of the incident shows the U-Haul reversing toward security personnel positioned near a barricade at around 10 p.m. on the bridge connecting Coast Guard Island to Oakland. Gunfire erupted moments later as officers shouted orders from behind cover. The driver then hit the gas and sped away. The Coast Guard said the truck had been traveling "erratically and attempting to back into the base" and that security officers fired "several rounds of live fire" after the driver ignored "multiple verbal commands" to stop. The military branch also said that "when the vehicle’s actions posed a direct threat to the safety of Coast Guard and security personnel, law enforcement officers discharged several rounds of live fire.” Authorities said the truck had been parked outside the base for most of the day before the confrontation. Photographs from the aftermath show officials inspecting the abandoned box truck after the driver fled. Two men later arrived at hospitals with gunshot wounds, both with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the FBI San Francisco Field Office. One of those men — identified as Thompson — was treated and taken into custody. Court documents allege that Thompson reversed the truck several times before accelerating rapidly toward Coast Guard personnel who feared the vehicle could strike them or contain explosives. When the U-Haul continued to back up toward the line of officers, Coast Guard personnel fired their weapons in self-defense. "As alleged, Thompson drove a U-Haul truck directly into a line of Coast Guard personnel who were protecting the Coast Guard base, as they bravely do day in and day out," U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian said. "Let this be clear: There is zero tolerance for assault on federal officers or property, and those who do so will face federal criminal charges.” FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo said the bureau "stands firmly with our federal law enforcement partners and will always work to protect those who protect our communities.” "Attempting to use a truck to assault federal officers performing their lawful duties is not protest, it is a violent and serious federal crime," Cobo added. The confrontation followed a protest outside the base earlier that day, where demonstrators reportedly tried to block U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents from entering. Dozens of California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear were deployed to disperse the crowd, and two people were detained, according to local reports.

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CBS San Francisco [11/4/2025 9:04 PM, Carlos E. Castañeda, 39474K] Video: HERE
San Francisco Chronicle [11/4/2025 4:19 PM, Megan Cassidy, 4722K]

New York Post [11/4/2025 9:20 PM, Priscilla DeGregory, 42219K] reports the illegal immigrant from India who is accused of causing a fatal pile-up in California pleaded not guilty Tuesday to downgraded charges after his blood work revealed he wasn’t actually under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time. Jashanpreet Singh, 21, is accused of causing a collision involving eight vehicles on the westbound 10 Freeway in San Bernardino County last month in an incident that left three people dead and four others injured. Singh appeared in San Bernardino County Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Tuesday wearing orange jail scrubs, shackled at his wrists and — but without his Sikh turban, which he had requested. He pleaded not guilty a new complaint to charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. Authorities had initially claimed Singh was under the influence of drugs when he crashed his semi-truck during slow-moving traffic. But prosecutors in San Bernardino have since announced no drugs or alcohol were found in his blood, following testing. Singh now faces three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and reckless driving, after the prior charges of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence were dropped, according to an amended criminal complaint. Singh had faced up to 17 years behind bars under the prior more serious charges. He now faces up to 10 years if convicted. The judge denied his renewed request for bail and set his next court date for Thursday when Singh can make a motion for permission to wear his religious head covering in court. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have issued a formal request for local law enforcement to notify ICE before Singh is released, as he’s believed to have entered the US illegally in 2022 via the southern border before he was allowed into the country by the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Harrowing dashcam footage captured the red tractor-trailer plowing into several cars in one lane and smashing them to bits before colliding into the back of a white truck. At least eight cars were involved in the crash. All westbound lanes were shut down for hours while the disaster was investigated. A few days later, the Department of Transportation released a report blaming California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration for allegedly unlawfully upgrading Singh’s license after a law passed weeks prior preventing illegal immigrants from holding commercial driver’s licenses. The law went into effect on Sept. 26, while Singh’s driving rights were upgraded from a restricted Commercial Driver’s License, which allowed him to drive a commercial truck only within the Golden State, to an expanded CDL on Oct. 15, the report claims. The victims were identified as Fontana couple Clarence and Lisa Nelson, ages 76 and 69, and Jaime Flores Garcia, 54, of Upland, according to a report by the Rancho Cucamonga Daily Bulletin. Two GOP lawmakers Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) last week called on the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to look into the programs that approve CDLs following Singh’s crash and another collision by an illegal immigrant also from India, Harjinder Singh.

Washington Post [11/4/2025 1:14 PM, Salvador Rizzo, 24149K] reports the D.C. man who flung a sandwich at a federal agent in a show of resistance to President Donald Trump’s takeover of local law enforcement went on trial this week, as his lawyers blasted the Justice Department for what they described as excessive and ham-fisted policing. Attorneys for Sean C. Dunn — the 37-year-old Air Force veteran colloquially known as “Sandwich Guy” after video of the incident went viral on social media — have called the case against him “a blatant abuse of power” that came with “a choreographed, militarized raid on his small apartment” and the threat of jail time. Julia Gatto, an attorney for Dunn, described the throwing of the sandwich as a “harmless gesture” that did not constitute a forcible assault, which the law requires for a conviction. “Sean Dunn expressed his opinions,” Gatto said in her opening statement Tuesday. “He expressed them loudly, and he expressed them maybe you think vulgarly, but he expressed his opinions. But words without force are never assault.” Federal prosecutors said they have an ironclad case amply supported by legal precedents, as well as video of the sandwich-hurling and Dunn’s statement to a police officer the night of the incident: “I did it. I threw a sandwich.” “No matter who you are, you can’t just go around throwing stuff at people ‘cause you’re mad,” prosecutor John Parron said in his opening statement. “You can’t do it with your neighbor. You can’t do it with federal law enforcement,” he added.

The Hill [11/4/2025 11:19 AM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports the trial has begun for the man charged in connection with a sandwich thrown at a federal officer in Washington, D.C., in August. Sean Charles Dunn, 37, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault in September after a grand jury initially declined to charge him with a felony in the incident, which went viral as a symbol of the local resistance to President Trump’s military takeover of the nation’s capital. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, said he expects the trial to last no more than two days. Jury selection started Monday, with open statements expected Tuesday. Last month, Dunn’s lawyers tried to dismiss the case, which they called "a blatant abuse of power." "The federal government has chosen to bring a criminal case over conduct so minor it would be comical — were it not for the unmistakable retaliatory motive behind it and the resulting risk to Mr. Dunn," Dunn’s lawyers said in an Oct. 15 memo. "Mr. Dunn tossed a sandwich at a fully armed, heavily protected Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer. That act alone would never have drawn a federal charge. What did was the political speech that accompanied it." His lawyers added that prosecuting Dunn has "a discriminatory purpose" to violate his First and Fifth Amendment rights. They also argued the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia’s office is pursuing to prosecute Dunn in contrast to those accused in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, who were all pardoned by Trump. The Wall Street Journal [11/4/2025 3:13 PM, C. Ryan Barber, 646K] reports President Trump has framed his deployment of National Guard troops and federal agents in American cities as the antidote to urban crime, a law-enforcement surge that opponents have cast as a freewheeling dragnet that has made federal cases out of petty offenses. No case has crystallized those tensions quite like that of Washington D.C.’s internet-famous sandwich thrower, whose trial began Tuesday and gave jurors this to chew on: Does throwing fast food at an officer constitute assault? Sean Dunn stands charged with misdemeanor assault for hurling a footlong Subway sandwich into the bulletproof vest of a Customs and Border Protection agent who was patrolling a bustling nightlife corridor on the night of Aug. 10. The confrontation was captured in a widely-shared video—played for the jury in court—that turned Dunn, a Justice Department employee who was fired soon after, into a symbol of resistance. Prosecutors tried and failed to secure a grand jury indictment of Dunn on a felony assault charge, leaving the misdemeanor case the only option to salvage. “I understand you may all have views about the federal law enforcement presence in D.C.…and that’s fine,” Justice Department lawyer John Parron said in opening statements. “But respectfully, that’s not what this case is about. This case is about the fact that you can’t go around throwing stuff at people when you’re mad.” Dunn lawyer Julia Gatto expressed disbelief that prosecutors had pushed forward with a case, calling the sandwich toss a “harmless gesture at the end of him exercising his right to speak out.” Dunn, she said, thinks recent immigration enforcement is “racist” and that “the militarization and the takeover of local law enforcement is fascism.” When he saw a group of officers that night, “Sean Dunn expressed his opinions,” she said. The Washington Post [11/4/2025 1:14 PM, Salvador Rizzo, 24149K] reports the D.C. man who flung a sandwich at a federal agent in a show of resistance to President Donald Trump’s takeover of local law enforcement went on trial this week, as his lawyers blasted the Justice Department for what they described as excessive and ham-fisted policing. Attorneys for Sean C. Dunn — the 37-year-old Air Force veteran colloquially known as “Sandwich Guy” after video of the incident went viral on social media — have called the case against him “a blatant abuse of power” that came with “a choreographed, militarized raid on his small apartment” and the threat of jail time. Julia Gatto, an attorney for Dunn, described the throwing of the sandwich as a “harmless gesture” that did not constitute a forcible assault, which the law requires for a conviction. “Sean Dunn expressed his opinions,” Gatto said in her opening statement Tuesday. “He expressed them loudly, and he expressed them maybe you think vulgarly, but he expressed his opinions. But words without force are never assault.” Federal prosecutors said they have an ironclad case amply supported by legal precedents, as well as video of the sandwich-hurling and Dunn’s statement to a police officer the night of the incident: “I did it. I threw a sandwich.” “No matter who you are, you can’t just go around throwing stuff at people ‘cause you’re mad,” prosecutor John Parron said in his opening statement. “You can’t do it with your neighbor. You can’t do it with federal law enforcement,” he added.

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AP [11/4/2025 6:41 PM, Michael Kunzelman, 31753K]
Reuters [11/4/2025 1:06 PM, Andrew Goudsward, 36480K]
(B) NBC News Daily [11/4/2025 1:27 PM, Staff]
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The Hill [11/4/2025 4:21 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12595K] reports the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent struck by a sandwich in Washington, D.C., this summer testified Tuesday during resident Sean Dunn’s federal misdemeanor trial. CBP agent Gregory Lairmore, who was called as the government’s first witness, told jurors that the sandwich "exploded" on his chest, saying he could feel it strike even through his ballistic vest. Dunn doesn’t dispute that he threw the sandwich at the CBP agent outside a nightclub Aug. 10 as an act of protest to President Trump’s immigration crackdown and law enforcement surge in the nation’s capital. But defense attorney Julia Gatto argued during Tuesday’s opening statements that Dunn’s actions do not amount to a federal crime. A grand jury declined to indict Dunn on a felony assault charge, which carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison. Prosecutors instead charged Dunn with a misdemeanor assault charge, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison, in addition to fines and probation. Bloomberg Law [11/4/2025 3:35 PM, Celine Castronuovo, 91K] reports CBP Agent Gregory Lairmore, who has served with the agency for 23 years, testified in the jury trial in the US District Court for the District of Columbia that the sandwich that Sean Charles Dunn is accused of throwing at Lairmore’s chest on the evening of Aug. 10 "exploded all over my uniform," and left behind mustard stains and an onion hanging on his radio antenna. "I could feel the impact through my bulletproof vest," Lairmore told John Parron, assistant US attorney in Washington, during questioning Tuesday. Sabrina Shroff, Dunn’s lead attorney in the case, focused much of her cross examination on whether the sandwich did, in fact, explode, referencing a video of the sandwich on the ground that a witness took and posted on social media. The sandwich, while broken, remained loosely wrapped in Subway-branded paper and appeared to remain at the site of the incident at the corner of 14th Street and U Street Northwest in Washington. "In fact, that sandwich hasn’t exploded at all," Shroff said while questioning Lairmore. The defense team is aiming to make the case that the viral incident that occurred during President Donald Trump’s law enforcement takeover in the US capital wasn’t conduct that warranted a federal charge. The federal prosecutor’s office is attempting to secure a conviction after multiple failed attempts to bring federal charges against similar protesters in connection with the Trump administration’s law enforcement surge in major US cities. Dunn, 37, has been charged with a misdemeanor under a statute that bars assaulting, resisting, or interfering with federal law enforcement officers. Dunn pleaded not guilty in September to the downgraded charge after a grand jury declined to indict him on a felony assault charge. Dunn was fired from his role as an international affairs specialist with the Office of International Affairs within DOJ’s Criminal Division shortly after the incident, according to an announcement by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

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CNN [11/4/2025 4:33 PM, Holmes Lybrand, 606K]
Daily Caller [11/4/2025 5:38 PM, Harold Hutchison, 835K]
NewsMax [11/4/2025 6:56 PM, Sam Barron, 4109K] r

FOX News [11/4/2025 8:00 AM, Adam Sabes, 40621K] Video: HERE reports a trucking executive claims that the U.S. has allowed "foreign-owned entities" that don’t follow regulations to "export" and "exploit" the industry, which he believes explains the surge in illegal immigrant drivers. The federal government is cracking down on illegal immigrant truck drivers following a wave of fatal crashes across America. In late October, the Department of Homeland Security announced 146 illegal immigrant truck drivers were arrested along northwest Indiana highways as part of "Operation Midway Blitz.". On Oct. 15, Borko Stankovic, an illegal immigrant, was driving on U.S. Highway 20 in Indiana when traffic came to a stop due to a Ram Sprinter turning near Douglas Drive, but the suspect didn’t appear to slow down in his semi-truck, according to FOX 32. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital Stankovic has been in the U.S. since February 2011 when his nonimmigrant visa status expired. The Department of Transportation has begun taking action to combat the number of illegal immigrants operating semi-trucks. In late September, the agency announced an emergency interim final rule that would increase federal oversight of how states issue non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses. Robert Khachatryan, founder and CEO of Freight Right Global Logistics, told Fox News Digital that the federal government needs to continue strengthening its oversight of the industry if it wants to address the number of illegal immigrants driving commercial trucks.

The AP [11/4/2025 8:19 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports a UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded in a massive fireball Tuesday while taking off from the company’s global aviation hub in Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least three people and injuring 11 — numbers that were likely to grow, the state’s governor said. The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. “Right now we believe we have at least three fatalities, though I believe that number is going to get larger. We have at least 11 injuries, some of them very significant,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. Video showed flames on the plane’s left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in a huge fireball. Video also revealed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway. “Anybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,” Beshear said. He said he didn’t know the status of the three crew members aboard the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991. UPS’s largest package handling facility is in Louisville. The hub employs thousands of workers, has 300 daily flights and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour. “We all know somebody who works at UPS,” Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe said. “And they’re all texting their friends, their family, trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered. My heart goes out to those families and those friends.” The airport, meanwhile, was shut down and wasn’t expected to resume operations until Wednesday morning. “We don’t know how long it’s going to take to render that scene safe,” said Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey. FOX Business [11/4/2025 8:21 PM, Alexandra Koch and Emma Bussey, 10085K] reports that at least two employees at nearby business Grade A Auto Parts are unaccounted for, said Beshear, who called the incident "catastrophic." The cause of the crash has not yet been released. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 was headed to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials said. The aircraft was loaded with more than 200,000 pounds of fuel at the time of the incident, leading to a massive fireball explosion, according to Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. The Louisville Metro Police Department and Greenberg confirmed every emergency agency was responding to the crash, which happened near the UPS Worldport.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [11/4/2025 6:54 PM, Staff, 18207K] Video: HERE

FOXBusiness [11/4/2025 4:06 PM, Marc Tamasco, 10085K] reports Palantir CEO Alex Karp argued during an earnings call Monday that the tech giant is the "first company to be completely anti-woke" and voiced support for the Trump administration’s military strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats. Moving into more political territory, Karp touched upon some of the work Palantir has done alongside the United States government, including supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in its operations. Karp also defended the Trump administration’s strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, urging a refocus on average Americans when addressing immigration.

Los Angeles Times [11/4/2025 6:17 PM, Ruben Vives, 14862K] reports that dozens of federal immigration agents were seen staging in a parking lot outside Dodger Stadium Tuesday morning, a day after the team returned home to celebrate their back-to-back championships with thousands of Angelenos. Videos shared with The Times and on TikTok show agents in unmarked vehicles, donning green vests and equipped with white zip ties in parking lot 13, which is just outside stadium property next to the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center that is used by the Los Angeles Fire Department. Eyewitnesses told The Times they estimated there were 100 agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, along with a special tactical unit with CBP. The agents left shortly before 10 a.m. Frank McCourt, former owner and chairman of the Dodgers and the stadium, is part owner of the parking lots surrounding the stadium. A spokesperson for McCourt did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson with the Dodgers also could not immediately be reached for comment. The staging of federal immigration agents comes just a day after thousands of Angelenos gathered at the stadium to celebrate the Dodgers’ ninth World Series championship following their victory parade through downtown L.A. It is also sure to reignite controversy for the team. Five months ago, protests erupted outside the stadium gates after federal immigration agents attempted to enter the main parking lot but were denied entry and forced to relocate to a road that leads to parking lot K. There, agents set up a staging area that was used as a processing site for people who had been arrested in a nearby immigration raid. It was there that a U.S. citizen said he was detained for hours and heard agents bragging about the number of people they were detaining. Video from that day showed demonstrators standing outside Gate E, which leads to parking lot K, as masked agents stood next to unmarked vehicles. The operation sparked public outcry and prompted more than 50 community and religious leaders from around Los Angeles to sign a petition calling on the Dodgers to take a public stance against the raids. At the time, the Dodgers said they had nothing to do with the operation and announced that they would pledge $1 million to assist families of immigrants affected by the raids. The team said it would plan for other initiatives, as well.

Breitbart [11/4/2025 6:24 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2416K] reports President Trump’s immigration enforcement policies are helping to shrink the large migrant enclaves in Chicago. One indication is that the economy catering to migrants is facing strain in Chicago as President Trump’s immigration enforcement policies continue. Of course, before Trump even came to office for his second term, progressive Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson had already wrecked havoc on the city’s jobs makers by running one of the most anti-business administrations in Chicago history. With skyrocketing taxes and plans for even more, Chicago had seen a large number of businesses close down well before the president’s immigration crackdown. In August, it was reported that the Windy City has lost 17 percent of its business sector over the last year, and the city is now at a ten-year low in the number of businesses operating there. While the post COVID atmosphere has been hard enough on the city’s businesses — especially restaurants — President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies are also putting a strain on those businesses that cater to the migrant community in the neighborhoods that sit in the path of Trump’s "Operation Midway Blitz" law enforcement campaign. Restaurants, in particular, in neighborhoods such as Chicago’s Little Village, Pilsen, and others are finding themselves on the verge of financial collapse as diners avoid going out for fear of getting crosswise with federal law enforcement, the Chicago Tribune reports. "We’ve become unprofitable — we’re running at a loss," said Marcos Carbajal, owner of the restaurant named Carnitas Uruapan. "I’m using my other two (locations) to keep people employed here and running at a loss so that I can try to get to the other side and just keep the doors open and keep people here. If I didn’t have three locations, this would have been over. I would just have to shut down.". "We are dying a slow death," Carbajal added.

New York Times [11/4/2025 2:29 PM, David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager, Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt and Devlin Barrett, 135475K] reports the Trump administration has developed a range of options for military action in Venezuela, including direct attacks on military units that protect President Nicolás Maduro and moves to seize control of the country’s oil fields, according to multiple U.S. officials. President Trump has yet to make a decision about how or even whether to proceed. Officials said he was reluctant to approve operations that may place American troops at risk or could turn into an embarrassing failure. But many of his senior advisers are pressing for one of the most aggressive options: ousting Mr. Maduro from power. Mr. Trump’s aides have asked the Justice Department for additional guidance that could provide a legal basis for any military action beyond the current campaign of striking boats that the administration says are trafficking narcotics, without providing evidence. Such guidance could include a legal rationale for targeting Mr. Maduro without creating the need for congressional authorization for the use of military force, much less a declaration of war. While the guidance is still being drafted, some administration officials expect it will argue that Mr. Maduro and his top security officials are central figures in the Cartel de los Soles, which the administration has designated as a narcoterrorist group. The Justice Department is expected to contend that designation makes Mr. Maduro a legitimate target despite longstanding American legal prohibitions on assassinating national leaders. But the move to justify targeting Mr. Maduro would constitute another effort by the administration to stretch its legal authorities.

CNN [11/4/2025 5:00 AM, Dalia Faheid, 606K] reports the federal judge in Illinois who ordered federal agents to limit aggressive tactics against protesters is known for her stern tone and an extensive career in civil and criminal litigation. Trump administration officials have defended themselves in court as Judge Sara L. Ellis of the Northern District of Illinois has repeatedly pressed federal officials and demanded explanations for their response to intense protests in Chicago amid "Operation Midway Blitz.". Ellis has raised concerns a temporary restraining order she issued last month to block agents from using certain types of force against protesters was being violated. The courtroom felt like a principal’s office as Ellis detailed examples of incidents where she felt her order wasn’t being followed. "I’m not blind, right?" Ellis said. While Ellis’ approach has been viewed by some as assertive oversight of executive powers, Ellis’ former colleagues who spoke with CNN described her as someone who dispenses evenhanded justice. During a hearing last week, Ellis cited videos of interactions between agents and crowds, which she said appeared to show agents firing tear gas without notice and with no apparent threat. "I do not want to get violation reports from the plaintiffs that show that agents are out and about on Halloween, where kids are present and tear gas is being deployed," Ellis said. As Trump intensifies his immigration crackdown during his second term, Ellis’ rulings regarding the Chicago-area protests have received sharp criticism from the administration. "DHS will continue to oppose all efforts to vilify law enforcement and prop up the cause of violent rioters," Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The Associated Press after Ellis indicated in court her temporary restraining order would be expanded to require agents wear body cameras during immigration enforcement. "Were a court to enter such an order in the future, that would be an extreme act of judicial activism." Ellis declined to be interviewed for this story.

Washington Post [11/4/2025 6:00 AM, Anna Liss-Roy, 24149K] reports to hear the Trump administration tell it, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-New Jersey) attacked an immigration officer. To hear McIver tell it, she’s being unfairly prosecuted as part of a broader campaign of political intimidation. The Justice Department alleges McIver struck one federal agent with a forearm, and “slammed” her arm into and “reached out and tried to restrain” another during a clash outside a New Jersey detention facility in the spring. McIver, 39, was charged with three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officers. The Washington Post reviewed available footage of the incident and confirmed McIver made physical contact with at least two agents, but it is difficult to discern the level of force and whether the contact occurred intentionally or as a result of a chaotic moment. McIver denies wrongdoing and says the charges are politically motivated. Exactly what happened during the 68-second encounter between McIver, a first-term member of Congress who at the time was relatively unknown, and federal agents at the facility could soon be addressed at trial — if a federal judge decides the case should move forward. That decision is expected imminently. Last month, McIver’s defense asked the judge to throw out the charges, arguing the charges are politically motivated and that the legal principle of legislative immunity protects lawmakers from being sued or prosecuted for actions they take as part of their official duties. Her attorneys claim the Constitution’s speech or debate clause, which has been traditionally interpreted to support the concept of legislative immunity, protects her actions at the facility because she was acting in an official capacity. The case could redefine what constitutes protected legislative work, placing new limits on how members conduct oversight. How the judge rules could also affect other cases the Trump administration is pursuing against a number of current and former officials. If McIver, who is pleading not guilty, is convicted of assaulting and impeding federal officers, she could be sent to prison for up to 17 years. “It’s very stressful. I’m constantly thinking about it. Some nights it’s lost sleep,” McIver said. “I’m a mom, I’m a wife, I have a family, and I don’t want to be in jail.”

New York Times [11/4/2025 4:46 PM, Reggie Ugwu, 135475K] reports members of Norman Rockwell’s family denounced the Department of Homeland Security’s use of the artist’s work in a series of social media posts that the family said misrepresented his beliefs. The posts, made in recent months to the D.H.S.’s Facebook, Instagram and X accounts, paired some of Rockwell’s well-known paintings of 20th-century Americans with nationalistic slogans such as “Protect our American way of life” and “DEFEND your culture,” to promote the Trump administration’s anti-immigration efforts. In an opinion essay published Sunday in USA Today, Rockwell’s son and other descendants wrote that the paintings had been used without the family’s authorization and that the artist would be “devastated” to see his work “marshalled for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color.” “We — as his eldest son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — believe that now is the time to follow in his footsteps and stand for the values he truly wished to share with us and all Americans: compassion, inclusiveness and justice for all,” they wrote. The essay cited three posts — one from August and two from September — that featured paintings by Rockwell. In one, the caption “Protect our American way of life” runs under Rockwell’s “Salute the Flag,” a 1971 painting that depicts a multigenerational crowd of mostly white people gazing at a billowing American flag. In another post, a 1923 painting of Daniel Boone as he appears in the reverie of a man working at a typewriter (titled “And Daniel Boone Comes to Life on the Underwood Portable”) is captioned “Manifest Heroism.” A third post overlays Rockwell’s 1946 painting depicting several men working on the Statue of Liberty’s torch with the phrase “PROTECT your homeland DEFEND your culture” and the address of a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website. Writing in USA Today, Rockwell’s descendants pointed to a body of political work — including his painting “The Problem We All Live With,” which shows U.S. marshals escorting a young Ruby Bridges as she desegregates her New Orleans elementary school — that belies his association with the mythology of a more racially homogeneous midcentury America. “The scarcity of people of color in Rockwell’s paintings has led those who are not familiar with his entire oeuvre to draw the conclusion that his vision was of a White America, free of immigrants and people of color,” the descendants wrote. “But nothing could have been further from the truth.” A representative from the Department of Homeland Security responded to a request for comment on Tuesday with a link to a news release from August that accused the news media of insufficiently covering the crimes of illegal immigrants. “Instead of telling these horrific and tragic stories,” the release said, “the media chooses to write stories on how artists are not happy with our social media and claims of appealing to ‘white identity.’” As of Tuesday afternoon, the posts using the Rockwell paintings remained on the D.H.S.’s social media accounts.

Daily Wire [11/4/2025 12:58 PM, Simon Hankinson, 2494K] reports news on the economy is all over the place, but a solid thread runs through it: many recent American college graduates can’t find jobs. Not only are employers not hiring, they’re laying off left and right. Amazon and United Parcel Service are each cutting more than 14,000 jobs, and the Wall Street Journal says tens of thousands of white-collar jobs are being cut at other companies. Yet at the same time, the U.S. immigration system permits thousands of foreign college graduates to enter the job market in direct competition with Americans. Companies employing them don’t have to pay the same payroll taxes as they do when hiring American citizens and permanent residents. This gives foreign students an unfair advantage over American graduates. The program allowing foreign graduates to work is called Optional Practical Training (OPT). It was started decades ago by the administrative state through regulation, without any express congressional authorization. Over time, and through collusion between Washington and large employers, OPT was expanded into a pathway for foreign students who completed their studies to remain working for years, or indefinitely, in the U.S. while seeking permanent residence. Given the brutal job market, the underlying premise for OPT no longer applies. Why allow masses of temporary foreign students to remain in the U.S. and enter the work force right out of college when your own graduates can’t get jobs? The argument for eliminating this program has never been stronger. As Lora Ries argues, we need to "allow American students and American workers a fair shake at applying for jobs, being interviewed for jobs, being hired for jobs, and being retained at their jobs.” Unemployment of college graduates aged 23-27 is a few percentage points higher than the national average of 4%. The long-term unemployment rate (more than 6 months out of work) in the country for that age group is 26%, the highest in three years. And of those college graduates who are employed, over half are working in jobs that don’t require a degree. It’s fair to argue that many recent graduates got degrees that are patently useless in a tight market. Anything ending in "studies" comes to mind, or mass-produced degrees from diploma mills whose quality is not respected by employers. But graduates with the vaunted Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math degrees are faring badly, too. Graduate unemployment for computer engineering graduates was 7.5%, and for physics it was 7.8%. The reasons for the sudden drop in demand for educated workers are unclear. One cause is that companies are searching for efficiencies and cutting costs in a competitive market. Another major factor is the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Companies are using AI to streamline their business models from top to bottom, which means they are replacing humans with bots.

The Hill [11/4/2025 9:30 AM, James D. Zirin, 12595K] reports with President Trump making trade deals right and left in Asia, we wonder whether he is fiddling like Nero while Rome burns. Inflation has ticked up to 3 percent, as economists predicted, and it may even spike higher as the full impact of reciprocal tariffs weighs in. Pundits on all shades of the political spectrum are worried. Fareed Zakaria sees a "crisis of faith" in our institutions. David Brooks deplores the "rot" in our democracy, and Peggy Noonan sees the exquisite equilibrium of the Constitution eroding and wonders why Congress is allowing this. Our problems at home are manifold. Some of Trump’s political enemies are awaiting trial on dubious indictments by a captive Justice Department; other dissenters are said to be under investigation and may be indicted in the near future. The Federal Reserve’s independence is seriously compromised as Trump contemplates placing loyalists on the board there to push his political agenda. According to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the United States has killed 57 individuals in attacks in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The dead were aboard alleged narco-trafficking speedboats in international waters. Before any of that happened, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) explained the problem neatly, noting that the Coast Guard can readily "shoot out a motor and disable the vehicle, board it, and… grab all those people. Show everyone all the drugs that they have secured." So far, we haven’t seen any drugs. Trump is in business. His family stands to profit handsomely from advising ventures selling drones and unmanned aircraft carriers to the Pentagon. No wonder Trump snickered in Indonesia when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim praised him saying the world needs leaders who are willing to "break the rules.".

DailySignal [11/4/2025 11:43 AM, Hans von Spakovsky and| Thomas Jipping, 549K] reports we spend a lot of our time reading and analyzing judicial decisions from all over the country. But we don’t decide winners and losers based on whether or not we like the particular result. Instead, we look at whether the judge did what he was supposed to and impartially applied the law to the facts. Lately, though, we’ve seen more and more decisions by what can only be termed rogue judges, who defy the law by rejecting the statutory and constitutional limits on their authority. We’re going to highlight some of the offenders with a dishonorable conduct award. The first one goes to federal Judge Edward Chen, an Obama appointee who presides in the Northern District of California. In the ongoing lawfare campaign against President Donald Trump, Chen twice enjoined Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end temporary protected status for 600,000 Venezuelans. We’re also giving a dishonorable mention to Judges Kim McLane Wardlaw, Salvador Mendoza Jr., and Anthony D. Johnstone (also Democrat appointees) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who affirmed that lawless decision.

USA Today [11/4/2025 5:08 AM, Soumaya T. Hamdi, 67103K] reports my name is Soumaya Hamdi. I am a mother of three children and a travel entrepreneur. On Oct. 26, my husband, British journalist Sami Hamdi, was abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement without warning, while traveling inside the United States on a valid U.S. visa. My three children and I were scheduled to fly to New York for their annual fall break and reunite with their father after an extended period away on his speaking tour. We were all looking forward to finally spending some time together as a family and had the perfect family holiday all planned out. But this was not to be. Just as I finished packing our suitcases, my phone buzzed. It was a WhatsApp message from a former client and friend: "Sami Hamdi has been detained in California. Confirmed by the head of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) L.A.… please keep him in your prayers." "Salam Soumaya, this was just forwarded to me. Is it true?" I felt my stomach drop. I couldn’t breathe. My ears started to roar with the sound of my racing heart. I quickly picked up our 10-month-old baby and rushed over to Sami’s parents’ house to break the news. Sami was travelling in the United States for a speaking tour, like he frequently did, that had taken him across the country. Sami was on a routine speaking tour in the United States when he was arrested – after a far-right social media influencer pressured the Trump administration to revoke his visa. Days later, in an act as unconscionable as it was surreal, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed on social media, of all places, that it had answered the call, as though this were a perfectly ordinary course of action. For days, we were left completely in the dark. When he was finally able to call from the detention center where he is being held against his will, he told me that he was forced into a black van by several men. To date, we have not received any official reason from the U.S. government about why Sami was detained, nor have any charges been made. Even the British government has informed me that they have not seen any evidence explaining why Sami is being detained.

MeriTalk [11/4/2025 3:20 PM, Weslan Hansen, 22K] reports a group of senators is renewing its call for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to immediately suspend its use of a facial recognition app to identify individuals on American streets. Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass, Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons that the immigration enforcement entity’s use of a mobile app known as “Mobile Fortify” must stop after recent videos posted to social media depicted ICE agents using the application for identity verification. The facial recognition technology (FRT) app allows agents to scan faces and retrieve information on individuals captured by their cameras. The senators previously wrote to Lyons in September after initial reporting revealed ICE’s use of the app. “As we explained in our September letter, this expanded use of FRT creates serious privacy and civil liberties risks,” the senators wrote, adding that they “are reiterating our demand that ICE immediately cease using this app and renew our request for answers to our questions about ICE’s policies and practices surrounding the use of biometric technology.” Those questions included when ICE officers first used the app, whether it was tested for accuracy, whether it is legal, and what steps were taken when deploying the technology.

Washington Examiner [11/4/2025 2:51 PM, Paul Bedard, 1394K] reports that former President Joe Biden’s lackluster attention to the crisis his open border policies created resulted in his administration losing the whereabouts of nearly half the 448,059 unaccompanied children released into America, some ending up in strip clubs. New estimates based on data provided under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that about 215,000 migrant children who arrived alone at the border during the Biden era are unaccounted for. That is enough to match the population of Salt Lake City, Utah, the nation’s 111th largest metropolis. The children were supposed to be placed with known relatives, friends, or approved guardians already in the United States, but many ended up in child trafficking circles, underage sweat shops, and even strip clubs, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general. Faced with the shocking numbers, the inspector general told a recent House oversight committee hearing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Health and Human Services agents were beginning a national search for the children. "ICE and HHS are now going out in tandem to go and identify where these children are located," said Inspector General Joseph Cuffari. He indicated in July that the prior administration did a poor job vetting some of those picked to be guardians of the minors. He said at least 31,000 were placed with people who had no addresses. The Center for Immigration Studies estimated on Tuesday that about 215,000 minors went missing in the first two years of the Biden administration.

NewsMax [11/4/2025 11:36 AM, James Morley III, 4109K] reports that Sen. Marsha Blackburn sent a follow-up letter to Giorgi Gobronidze, CEO of PimEyes, after its technology exposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ information. The facial recognition company failed to address the senator’s concerns that its artificial intelligence technology was being used to identify agents. The Tennessee Republican introduced the Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxing Act in June, legislation that would make it a crime to publicly release the name of a federal law enforcement officer with the intent to obstruct a criminal or immigration investigation. She noted that assaults on ICE officers have surged 830% since President Donald Trump returned to office and that death threats have increased 8,000%, heightening the need for stronger protections. Blackburn criticized PimEyes for what she described as its failure to acknowledge its role in endangering ICE agents. In her follow-up, Blackburn said the company’s reliance on regulatory compliance is inadequate and that its claims of ethical responsibility "place too much emphasis on legal standards and too little on moral duty." She argued that current data protection laws do not fully safeguard individuals from harm and dismissed PimEyes’ assertion that it helps people reclaim their identities, saying the platform "compromises them instead.". Blackburn called on the company to take greater accountability beyond mere compliance.

Washington Examiner [11/4/2025 12:00 PM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1394K] reports that Democrats continue to demonize and vilify Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. You’d never know it listening to Democrats, or their accomplices in the legacy media, but DHS and ICE regularly remove the "worst of the worst" illegal immigrants in the United States, including murderers, thieves, rapists, drug traffickers, child predators, and others who endanger innocent people. Moreover, the regular abuse and left-wing vitriol these officials have endured have resulted in assassination attempts, violent attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats against ICE officers. Nevertheless, DHS and ICE have persisted. They have continued to do their jobs even after they’ve been sabotaged and betrayed by Democrats. And while, at this point, it’s evident that Democrats prefer the violent, criminal illegal immigrants endangering communities over the law enforcement officers protecting innocent people, DHS and ICE officers have continued to protect and serve communities. Consider the criminal records of the illegal immigrants ICE arrested on Monday. While Democrats called for ICE agents to be unmasked, they arrested Candido Hernandez, an illegal immigrant originally from the Dominican Republic. Hernandez was previously convicted of manslaughter in New York City, according to ICE records. Yet, a quick Google search will not reveal any stories about him or his violent crimes. "[Thirty five] days into the Democrats’ government shutdown, ICE law enforcement continues to arrest the worst of the worst. Yesterday, ICE arrested pedophiles, murderers, and arsonists," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Washington Examiner. "Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, nothing will slow ICE down from removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our communities."

FOX News [11/4/2025 10:07 AM, Alec Schemmel, 40621K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in Virginia have nearly tripled under President Donald Trump’s leadership compared to the previous administration, prompting Homeland Security to call out some of the state’s "worst of the worst" dangerous and violent offenders captured just last week in the state. The undocumented immigrant offenders highlighted by DHS came from Central America and the Caribbean, including El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, their crimes ranged from drug smuggling to domestic violence, rape, "carnal abuse," making terroristic threats, extortion and more. "This past week, ICE took down sexual predators, drug traffickers, rapists, abusers and other violent thugs across the Commonwealth," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "These arrests underscore the reality of open border and sanctuary policies that allowed criminals around the world to come to America and roam free across our country. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, the U.S. is closed to lawbreakers. We will continue to use every available tool to make America safe again." Breitbart [11/4/2025 2:25 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports that on October 25, ICE arrested Daniel Soc-Patzan, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, in Richmond, VA. His criminal history includes arrests for aggravated assault of a family member with a weapon and multiple infractions for assault. He illegally entered the U.S. in 2013 and was issued a final order of removal the same year.

CBS News [11/4/2025 10:58 AM, Staff, 39474K] reports authorities have arrested three men accused of working with a violent Mexican drug cartel to traffic large amounts of drugs and guns into metro Atlanta, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Jubenal Farfan Arellano, 52, and Omar Flores Mena, 33, both of Mexico, and Jose Radilla Maldonado, 29, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, were arrested and charged with racketeering and conspiracy to violate Georgia’s Controlled Substances Act. Flores is also charged with possession of cocaine and methamphetamine. The arrests came after law enforcement agencies executed five search warrants on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30 in Woodstock, Sandy Springs, and Atlanta. Investigators seized more than 500 pounds of marijuana packaged for distribution, along with nine firearms. Agents say the investigation uncovered evidence that associates of the Cartel Jalisco New Generation, also known as CJNG, were working with local contacts to traffic marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and firearms across the area. All three suspects were booked into the Cherokee County Jail. Investigators said more charges are likely, and warrants are pending for additional suspects. The arrests capped a lengthy investigation involving multiple agencies, including the GBI Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, the Atlanta Police Department Narcotics Unit, Sandy Springs Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations’ Violent Gang Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The AP [11/4/2025 5:34 PM, Christine Fernando, 31753K] reports a judge heard testimony Tuesday about overflowing toilets, crowded cells, no beds and water that “tasted like sewer” at a Chicago-area building that serves as a key detention spot for people rounded up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. People who were held at the building in Broadview, just outside Chicago, offered rare public accounts about the conditions there as U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman considers ordering changes at a site that has become a flashpoint for protests and confrontations with federal agents. “I don’t want anyone else to live what I lived through,” said Felipe Agustin Zamacona, 47, an Amazon driver and Mexican immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for decades. Zamacona said there were 150 people in a holding cell. Desperate to lie down to sleep, he said he once took the spot of another man who got up to use the toilet. A lawsuit filed last week accuses the government of denying proper access to food, water and medical care, and coercing people to sign documents they don’t understand. Without that knowledge, and without private communication with lawyers, they have unknowingly relinquished their rights and faced deportation, the lawsuit alleges. The building has been managed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for decades. But amid the Chicago-area crackdown, it has been used to process people for detention or deportation. Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who has led the Chicago immigration operation, said criticism was unfounded. “I think they’re doing a great job out there,” he told The Associated Press during an interview this week. CBS Chicago [11/4/2025 6:47 PM, Sabrina Franza, et al., 39474K] Video: HERE reports that at the end of a nearly six-hour hearing Tuesday, Judge Gettleman said he believed a group of plaintiffs, including multiple people who have been detained at the facility, have made a sufficient case to justify some sort of court order, but that he wanted "to be able to fashion that in the most appropriate way I can." Gettleman said he will formally issue the temporary restraining order, and go over what exactly it entails, at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday. Before that, he wants to see photos and videos from inside the facility. The plaintiffs who brought the class-action lawsuit said they feel conditions at the facility on Beach Street in Broadview are overcrowded and dirty and not fit for humans. The facility is designed to hold detainees for up to 12 hours, but since the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Chicago area began, often has held some migrants for days. Gettleman said the Broadview facility has essentially become a prison. While he hasn’t revealed what types of restrictions he plans to include in his order, he could go so far as to order it closed.

Reported similarly:
Univision [11/4/2025 9:45 PM, Staff, 5004K]

New York Times [11/4/2025 8:42 PM, Mitch Smith, 135475K] reports five people who were detained recently by immigration officials in Illinois told a federal judge on Tuesday that they experienced unsanitary conditions and little or no access to lawyers inside a suburban Chicago processing facility that has been the site of frequent protests. The judge, Robert W. Gettleman, did not immediately rule on a request to impose restrictions on how federal officials manage that center in Broadview, Ill., which has seen a sharp uptick in activity as the Trump administration has carried out a crackdown on illegal immigration in the Chicago area. But Judge Gettleman voiced concern about “conditions that are unnecessarily cruel” and suggested that he would announce a decision on Wednesday afternoon. “I do think the plaintiffs have made a case that justifies the entry of some sort of temporary restraining order,” said Judge Gettleman, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton. Jana Brady, a lawyer for the federal government, said giving plaintiffs everything they were seeking in a temporary restraining order “would effectively halt the government’s ability to enforce immigration laws in Illinois” and infringe on the authority of the executive branch. There are no beds and no working showers at the Broadview detention center, which was designed for stays of roughly 12 hours, but where some people have recently been held for several days. Ms. Brady said officials in Broadview had recently ordered wipes so that detainees could clean themselves. “The government has improved the operations at the Broadview facility over the last couple months,” Ms. Brady said, adding that “it’s been a learning curve.” The judge listened for hours on Tuesday as former detainees described squalid and uncomfortable conditions in Broadview, often with limited pushback from the federal government’s lawyers, who said they had just been assigned the case and were working to learn more about the facility’s operations. Several of the former detainees testified that they had no access to soap or toothbrushes, and were forced to sleep on uncomfortable chairs or a concrete floor. The toilets were not private, the detainees said, and one man described having to use the bathroom while other detainees were just an arm’s length away. The detainees and their lawyers also raised concerns about the availability of food, medical care and drinking water at the facility. “It smelled like a dirty washroom, like sweat, like a dirty locker,” said Felipe Agustin Zamacona, a delivery driver who told the judge that he was originally from Mexico but had lived in the United States for more than 30 years until being arrested last week and sent to Broadview. He said that “it seemed like they never mopped or they never swept. There was garbage everywhere.”

(B) CBS Mornings Plus [11/4/2025 10:07 AM, Staff] reports that a federal hearing will begin centered around the conditions inside the Broadview ICE facility. A judge could decide whether to temporarily close the facility over claims of inhumane conditions. Two former detainees who were rounded up during immigration enforcement operations are expected to testify. Advocates say detainees lack clean spaces, legal access, and basic needs while the government insists the facility meets standards. Attorneys argued that shutting the facility down would paralyze ICE operations that are currently being carried out across six states. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino is also expected at the federal building this morning for a third deposition day over his agency’s tactics in Chicago.

USA Today [11/4/2025 11:15 PM, Michael Loria, 67103K] reports a federal judge reviewing conditions at an immigration enforcement in the suburbs called detainees’ accounts of the facility "disturbing," "disgusting" and "unconstitutional.” U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman’s Nov. 4 review of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the suburb of Broadview, Illinois, comes nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown known as Operation Midway Blitz. Gettleman is examining conditions in response to a lawsuit brought by detainees who said they were not allowed to contact attorneys, were coerced into signing deportation papers and were left in squalid conditions. The facility lies at the heart of the blitz operation. Immigration authorities process detainees at the site before moving them out of Illinois. Accounts of conditions inside have spurred frequent protests. "It’s a disturbing record," Gettleman said near the close of around six hours of testimony. "People sleeping shoulder to shoulder, next to overflowing toilets and human waste, that’s unacceptable.” At other points Gettleman called witnesses’ accounts "obviously disgusting" and "obviously unconstitutional.” Homeland Security officials have repeatedly denied that conditions at the site are poor. "All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, water, and have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers. No one is denied access to proper medical care," the agency said in a statement on X. "Any claims there are subprime conditions at the Broadview ICE facility are FALSE.” Jana Brady, an attorney for the defendants, acknowledged the site is operating beyond its normal capacity but said "it’s a learning curve" and authorities are working to improve conditions, citing that officials are providing wipes to detainees so they can clean themselves. Among witnesses who spoke in court were the two detainees named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit: a woman who testified via video after being deported to Honduras; a pair of Latin American immigrants who spent time at the facility; and two attorneys who represented clients inside the facility. The hearing at the Dirksen federal courthouse in downtown Chicago comes as Homeland Security officials say they have arrested over 3,000 people in connection with the blitz operation that launched Sept. 8. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently weighing whether to allow Trump to deploy the National Guard to the city. White House officials say troops are necessary to enforce immigration law and that a potential rebellion is underway in the Prairie State. Local Democratic leaders say the move to deploy troops is a power grab from the Republican administration. Lawyers for the detainees asked Gettleman to issue a temporary restraining order compelling immigration authorities to improve conditions at the site. He adjourned the hearing without issuing a ruling and told lawyers to return on Nov. 5.

Axios [11/4/2025 5:32 PM, Carrie Shepherd and Monica Eng, 12972K] reports a federal judge on Tuesday said he’d need another day to rule on reforming conditions at the federal immigration processing facility in Broadview, a suburb of Chicago. Accountability and transparency questions about the windowless facility have driven high-profile demonstrations by non-violent protesters and failed attempts by members of Congress to enter for months. The hearing comes in response to a class-action lawsuit filed last week on behalf of Pablo Moreno Gonzalez and other former Broadview detainees against officials at the Department of Homeland Security, alleging filthy, crowded conditions and "inhumane treatment." The complaint also claims detainees are being denied communication with lawyers and being coerced into signing self-deportation waivers that they cannot read. For years, the Broadview facility has served as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility designed to hold people for fewer than 12 hours. But in June, DHS officials quietly expanded permissions to 72 hours despite the lack of beds, showers, private bathrooms or medical care. The hearing featured hours of testimony by former detainees who described cold, crowded, dirty rooms filled with more than 100 people, hard chairs, overflowing toilets, lights on 24 hours a day, sick people and foil blankets on the floor. Two detainees testified they were kept there for five days.

Univision Chicago WGBO [11/4/2025 3:52 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports in a federal court in Chicago on Tuesday, November 4, a judge heard testimony about the conditions at the ICE processing center in Broadview, used to hold people detained during Operation Midway Blitz. Three people who were detained at Broadview gave their testimony about their experience at this center to District Judge Robert Gettleman. A lawsuit filed last week accuses the government of denying adequate access to food, water, and medical care, as well as pressuring detainees to sign deportation documents without understanding them, depriving them of their rights and private communication with lawyers. Justice Department lawyer Jana Brady acknowledged that there are no beds in the building because it was not designed for long-term detentions, but assured that operations have improved in recent months and that conditions “are not serious enough.” If the judge determines that the conditions are indeed inhumane, he could order the center to be closed or impose strict limits on its operation.

Chicago Tribune [11/4/2025 5:07 PM, Joshua Irvine, 4829K] reports armed, masked federal immigration agents detained one man and chased another through a residential neighborhood in unincorporated Northbrook on Monday, according to witnesses. The incidents, which were captured in photos and videos taken by neighborhood residents and viewed by the Tribune, took place on quiet streets early in the morning, feet from school-aged children waiting for the bus. "There were kids a couple houses down waiting for the bus stop," said Tea Shehedeh of the neighborhood, called Glenbrook Countryside. She witnessed the events. People in the area posted in Glenbrook Countryside’s neighborhood Facebook group about Monday’s events. The masked men drove unmarked vehicles and do not appear to have spoken to residents or identified themselves as law enforcement, but the local police agency—the Cook County Sheriff’s office — later received word from the son of the detained man that the incident had been a Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement maneuver. Glenbrook Countryside is a small neighborhood in Northfield Township, nestled between the Northbrook Court shopping center and the Somme Woods, south of Lake Cook Road. Shehedeh was driving her kids to school around 7:55 a.m. Monday when she watched a trio of dark-colored vehicles overtake and "box in" a black Acura sedan headed south on Cottonwood Road, near its intersection with Beechnut Road. She says the pursuing cars drove well over the posted 20-mile-per-hour speed limit on Cottonwood, and one car drove "erratically" as it overtook and cut off the Acura. Shehedeh said she saw armed masked men exit the unmarked cars and approach the driver’s side window of the Acura. She was "waved on" by one of the masked agents and did not witness the driver of the Acura, who she said appeared to be of Mexican descent, exit the vehicle. "I was kind of frantic because I had a friend on Friday be assaulted by an ICE agent in Skokie," she said. "Seeing them face-to-face, I was like, ‘oh my God.’". Cook County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Matthew Walberg said the son of the detained man told sheriff’s deputies later that morning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had called him to say they had taken his father into custody. ICE does not communicate with the sheriff’s office about their enforcement operations, Walberg said. Illinois law enforcement agencies are barred from collaborating with federal agents for civil immigration enforcement under the TRUST Act. As of midday Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had not responded to the Tribune’s request to confirm whether DHS, Border Patrol or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were active in unincorporated Northbrook on Monday.

Houston Chronicle [11/4/2025 9:55 AM, John Wayne Ferguson, 2983K] reports a detention officer accused of abusing a detainee at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Montgomery County pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of using excessive force. Charles Siringi, 66, was arrested in May and charged with a felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law. Siringi was the chief investigator at the Montgomery Processing Center, the private Conroe facility operated by the GEO Group that holds hundreds of migrants while they await court hearings or deportation. In March, Siringi walked into a room while another GEO employee was talking with the victim. Siringi told the other employee to "get him" and immediately pushed the detainee into a wall, according to charging documents. During the attack, Siringi allegedly dragged the man across a room, choked him to the point where he was gasping for air, and slammed his head into a window. The man suffered scratches on the back of his neck, according to charging documents. Siringi was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, and other employees told investigators that they believed his use of force was unnecessary.

Axios [11/4/2025 7:20 AM, Tasha Tsiaperas, 12972K] reports Dallas is not participating in a Department of Homeland Security program that would pay the salaries of police officers helping with mass deportations, but the mayor wants the police chief to explain why it isn’t. The program is funneling local law enforcement into President Trump’s federal deportation plan to remove "millions" of immigrants. A state law that goes into effect in January requires Texas counties that operate a jail to have an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Dallas residents will have an opportunity Thursday to comment on the city’s possible involvement in the federal program, known as 287(g). The Public Safety and Government Efficiency committees are hosting a joint meeting at 9am. Chief Daniel Comeaux will answer questions from City Council members.

CBS News [11/4/2025 6:57 PM, Kelsy Mittauer, 39474K] Video: HERE reports it started with a press release in late October: the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the arrest of 35 illegal immigrants. The write-up touted Paxton’s work with the Trump Administration but released few details, other than that the arrests took place "across the state in multiple metropolitan areas." According to the release, the detainees "were then processed for removal by ICE in accordance with federal immigration law.". CBS News Texas submitted an open records request for the names, ages and locations of the people arrested, along with the criminal charges filed. Basic details like those are typically considered public information in Texas when the people arrested are adults. The attorney general’s office gave notice Tuesday that it is fighting that request in an attempt to keep the information secret. In an email, the AG’s office said Immigration and Customs Enforcement "has a law enforcement interest in the release of the requested information. Therefore, in accordance with the 287(g) Agreement between our two agencies, the OAG will notify ICE of these requests for information and its right to submit arguments against the disclosure of the requested information.".

Blaze [11/4/2025 3:00 PM, Matt Forney, 1442K] reports the United Services Automobile Association is one of the most venerable names in banking and insurance, a company that prides itself on its service to members of the military and their families. In recent years, however, USAA has run into serious financial trouble due to a combination of mismanagement, fashionable diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, and the firm’s increasing reliance on incompetent and untrustworthy H-1B workers, most of whom are from India. A significant number of current and former USAA employees have come forward to discuss what they describe as a toxic workplace culture, which has led to an alarming number of employee suicides, and the company’s outsourcing of critical functions to H-1Bs and Indian consultancies, putting at risk the financial data of its customers, which include high-ranking members of the U.S. armed forces. Insiders granted anonymity to avoid retaliation say USAA’s decline began in the 2000s under then-CEO Robert G. Davis, who outsourced IT and other core functions to H-1B contracting firms such as Tata Consultancy Services. Those firms imposed contracts requiring USAA to maintain minimum staffing levels, creating chronic overstaffing. Idle contractors were reportedly assigned "busywork" to meet quotas, with conference rooms converted into laptop farms where workers sat "packed like sardines.". One insider described the result as "incredibly incompetent" operations. Projects that U.S.-based employees could complete on time were instead handed to H-1B contractors who often lacked the necessary skills and required retraining. At the same time, USAA repeatedly laid off American staff and replaced them with foreign workers, driving labor costs higher and eroding institutional knowledge. Davis retired abruptly in 2007, but his successors continued his policies, expanding USAA’s offshore footprint with new IT centers in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Chennai, India. Insiders say H-1B contractors at USAA often lack basic programming skills, compounding inefficiency. In one case, a credit card processing problem baffled contractors for six months until the company brought back a retired American employee, who solved the problem in a matter of days. The constant visa turnover worsens the issue. Skilled H-1Bs leave after six years, draining institutional knowledge. Turnover is even higher at USAA’s Guadalajara facility, where Indian employees reportedly fear cartel violence. Bureaucratic bloat magnifies these problems. Each team has dual directors, and many systems rely on outdated software. That dysfunction has drawn scrutiny from federal regulators, who fined USAA for failed audits and violations of anti-money-laundering laws. Those failures forced the company to sell off divisions, including real estate, and pushed USAA into persistent losses through much of the decade.

Univision [11/4/2025 8:13 AM, Jorge Cancino, 5004K] reports in ‘Let’s Talk About Immigration’ , Televisa Univision’s senior immigration editor, Jorge Cancino, along with attorney Armando Olmedo, vice president and immigration advisor for Televisa Univision, and guest attorney Jonathan Shaw, explain what the new rule announced by the immigration service is about, which put an end to the automatic extensions of employment authorizations (EADs) granted due to the historic backlog of I-765 forms at the federal agency. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Washington Times [11/4/2025 2:15 PM, Matt Delaney, 852K] reports Mexican cartels offered $10,000 to gunmen who take aim at Border Patrol agents along the southern border, according to an internal federal alert. The Department of Homeland Security warned that the cartels are placing the five-figure bounties as part of a “coordinated attack” in which armed agitators shoot at federal agents. “Additional reporting suggests that assailants may wear Mexican military uniforms to avoid raising suspicion while carrying long arms or machine guns,” said the alert, first obtained by NewsNation. “While this threat specifically pertains to the Rio Grande Valley Sector, it reflects heightened cartel frustrations that could extend across the southwest border.” Border Patrol stations in Brownsville and Kingsville are the primary targets, NewsNation reported. The Rio Grande Valley Sector has nine stations across 34,000 square miles in Texas. The alert said the threat came from northern Sonora, Mexico, with the powerful Sinaloa Cartel maintaining an active presence in the border state. “Agents should remain aware of the potential threat and maintain heightened vigilance of their surroundings while conducting operations,” the alert said. The DHS put out a similar warning last month, saying Mexican cartels created a tiered bounty system meant to entice assailants and informants. The criminal outfits offered $2,000 to people who provided photos or other information about ICE agents and Border Patrol personnel. Federal officials said the cartels were also willing to pay $5,000 to $10,000 for kidnappings and assaults directed at agents. If a cartel affiliate managed to kill a high-ranking U.S. official, the syndicates offered $50,000, DHS said.

Chicago Tribune [11/4/2025 4:45 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports that prosecutors say a Border Patrol mechanic in Maine attempted to "wipe off" some scuff marks but did no actual repairs on an immigration agent’s SUV after the agent shot a woman in Brighton Park last month. A court filing by the U.S. attorney’s office late Monday provided a more detailed timeline of what happened to the agent’s Chevrolet Tahoe after the Oct. 4 shooting that left Marimar Martinez wounded. Martinez’s attorney, meanwhile, filed a response Tuesday blasting the government’s "Karate Kid wax on, wax off narrative" about the vehicle as self-serving and arguing that a hearing should be held on the matter. Martinez was charged with assault for allegedly intentionally ramming her car into the agent’s vehicle, leading him to open fire. Martinez’s attorneys have alleged that before they could inspect the agent’s vehicle, he was improperly allowed by a supervisor to drive it more than a thousand miles back to his home base in Maine. U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis ordered the Tahoe brought back to Chicago on a flatbed truck and asked prosecutors for information on whether it had been repaired after the shooting. An FBI special agent then drove the Tahoe to the agency’s Chicago headquarters for processing, where the evidence technician inspected it, took additional photographs "and collected paint samples from the damaged areas," the filing stated. The contents of the vehicle’s onboard computer were also downloaded and preserved.

CBS Chicago [11/4/2025 4:11 PM, Todd Feurer, 39474K] reports a hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday into claims that federal authorities destroyed evidence by allowing a Border Patrol agent to drive his SUV back to Maine after he shot a woman accused of ramming his vehicle last month in Chicago. In a filing on Monday, federal prosecutors said a mechanic in Maine tried to remove some scuff marks from the agent’s Chevrolet Tahoe after he brought it back to his station in Maine, but made no actual repairs or alterations to the vehicle, which has since been brought back to Chicago. The filing contains the government’s most detailed account of what happened to the agent’s vehicle after he shot Marimar Martinez near 39th and Kedzie in the Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4, after she allegedly rammed his SUV. Martinez’s attorney is seeking a hearing to determine whether federal authorities improperly destroyed evidence in the criminal case against her by allowing the agent to take his Chevrolet Tahoe to Maine days after the shooting, rather than keeping it at an FBI evidence garage for more thorough forensic testing. Marimar Martinez has been charged with using a vehicle to assault, resist, or impede federal agents. She has pleaded not guilty. Her attorneys have argued that, before they could inspect the agents vehicle for themselves, a supervisor allowed him to drive it back to his assigned CBP station in Maine. According to prosecutors, immediately after the shooting in Brighton Park, the agent’s SUV remained at the scene where FBI agents and evidence teams took photos of the vehicle, before it was taken to the FBI’s Chicago office for processing. Once there, evidence teams took more photos of the SUV, and collected paint samples from the damaged areas, and downloaded contents of the vehicle’s onboard computer, before the Border Patrol agent was allowed to remove it from the FBI facility. Days later, the CBP agent drove the Tahoe to the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in downtown Chicago for an interview with prosecutors and the FBI, after which his temporary assignment in Chicago came to an end, and he drove the vehicle back to Maine. The agent told prosecutors he "did not take any steps to wash, repair, or alter the exterior" of the vehicle after retrieving it from the FBI office in Chicago, and his supervisor in Maine later authorized having it repaired "understanding that the vehicle had been fully processed by the FBI and that, therefore, there was no further need to preserve the vehicle’s condition as evidence," according to court filings.

CBS Chicago [11/4/2025 1:46 PM, Todd Feure, 39474K] Video: HERE reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents last month seized more than $8.5 million worth of counterfeit watches and bracelets from China on their way to be sold in the Chicago area. Officers assigned to an express consignment facility near O’Hare International Airport found 26 watches and two bracelets in a package headed from China to a home in Chicago on Oct 23. The watches and bracelets bore counterfeit names and logos of designer brands, including Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet, Diesel, G-Shock, and Rolex. If genuine, they would have been worth more than $8.5 million combined, CBP officials said. Officials said the watches and bracelets likely were headed for sale in underground outlets or on third party e-commerce websites, and buyers likely would have believed they were purchasing genuine designer products.

CBS Los Angeles [11/5/2025 1:09 AM, Matthew Rodriguez, 39474K] reports federal agents detained a man outside of a Los Angeles Home Depot and separated him from his daughter on Tuesday morning. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Dennis Quinonez, who is a U.S. citizen, threw rocks at law enforcement and wielded a hammer during a nearby immigration operation. Federal agents arrested him for alleged assault. They also found a pistol inside his car, which was reported stolen from New York. CBS LA reached out to DHS to clarify whether the gun or the car, which had California license plates, was stolen. A video of the arrest shows Customs and Border Protection agents driving away in the man’s car, with his 2-year-old daughter strapped into a car seat. Maria Avalos, the man’s mother, said federal agents did not release her granddaughter until she produced the child’s birth certificate to prove their relationship. Federal agents detained the toddler for four hours until Avalos could find her granddaughter’s birth certificate, which was still packed in a box since the family had just moved. "I was happy to see her there," Avalos said. "I was really happy ... She’s back with her mom. She’s doing good.” Quinonez is being held pending charges, according to his family. DHS officials added that he also had a warrant for property damage. Court records showed that he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor vandalism charge.

Reuters [11/4/2025 7:19 AM, Brendan O’Boyle and Cassandra Garrison, 36480K] reports the U.S. is not yet ready to reopen its border to Mexican cattle amid an outbreak of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, but she is pleased with Mexico’s efforts to contain the pest. Rollins, in Mexico City for meetings with officials including President Claudia Sheinbaum, told Reuters in an exclusive interview on Monday that President Donald Trump was "very focused" on reopening the border, which has been largely closed to Mexican livestock since May. "We’re still not at the point where I am comfortable opening the ports, but I think every day that goes by we get a little bit closer," Rollins said. "I want to have every confidence that we have overturned every stone, that we understand every nuance, that we are deploying every tool in the toolkit," she added. Rollins, who declined to give a time frame for reopening the border, said she would speak to top U.S. officials about the issue on Wednesday and would have more conversations about screwworm with Trump.

CBS News [11/4/2025 7:25 PM, Megan Cerullo, 39474K] reports the U.S. Department of Transportation may need to close "certain parts of the airspace" if the longest government shutdown on record continues into next week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday. "You will see mass flight delays, you’ll see mass cancellations," Duffy said at a press conference in Washington, D.C. "And you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it, because we don’t have the air traffic controllers.” He added, "We will restrict the airspace when we feel it’s not safe.” Throughout the 35-day federal shutdown, set to become the longest in U.S. history, Duffy has maintained that commercial air travel remains safe. The tradeoff is that passengers are experiencing more flight delays as officials slow flight traffic based on staffing levels to ensure that the national airspace remains well-monitored, Duffy has said at earlier press conferences. More than 10,000 flights within, into or out of the U.S. experienced delays last weekend, while an additional 4,700 trips were delayed on Monday, according to tracking service FlightAware. Duffy said on social media on Wednesday that 46% of the previous day’s flight delays were due to staffing issues in air traffic control towers. Ordinarily, personnel issues account for roughly 5% of such delays, according to aviation data. The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights following the 9/11 terror attacks for national security reasons, while hurricanes and other weather emergencies can also lead to flight restrictions. But closing parts of the nation’s airspace because of staffing issues would be unprecedented, according to aviation industry experts. "In this particular instance, Duffy is talking about staffing. He knows the strain and stress this is taking on air traffic controllers," Sheldon Jacobson, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert on aviation security, told CBS News. Closing even a portion of the nation’s vast airspace would be a major step and likely impact travel nationwide, he added. The system operates on a so-called hub-and-spoke model in which passengers using regional airports can connect with major airports to travel around the U.S. If the airspace around New York were to close, for example, it could affect passengers in multiple cities, according to Jacobson. "For us to take such draconian steps to shut it down in sectors of the country would be unprecedented," he said. "If you shut down the New York area, you shut down a lot of the country because of the interconnectivity of the hub-and-spoke system.” The Washington Examiner [11/4/2025 3:18 PM, David Zimmermann, 1394K] reports that roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers are working without pay, affecting tens of thousands of flights. More than 3.2 million passengers have experienced flight delays or cancellations since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. Over 6,200 flights were delayed, and another 500 were canceled on Friday, considered the single worst day for air travel since the shutdown started. Duffy attributed 65% of the weekend’s nationwide delays to air traffic controller absences.

Reuters [11/4/2025 11:33 AM, Doyinsola Oladipo and David Shepardson, 36480K] reports airport security screeners working without pay during the U.S. government shutdown are in a stronger financial position than they were during the last prolonged closure in 2019, thanks to improvements in pay and benefits. Airport delays have begun to worsen as they did during Donald Trump’s first presidential term, but higher pay and better working conditions could keep Transportation Security Administration workers in their jobs longer during the current shutdown. Even though TSA workers have not been paid for a month, there is less of a threat that lengthy travel delays will pressure lawmakers to end the shutdown this time around. In 2021, former President Joe Biden’s administration expanded workplace rights, pay, and other benefits for TSA workers to mirror those of other federal employees. In 2023, their pay was boosted as much as 31%. Pay for the average TSA screener shot up to $61,840 in 2024 from $42,310 in 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. During that shutdown, some screeners opted for comparable wages in the fast-food, construction and other industries. "A lot of people just said the hell with it and quit and went and got other jobs. People are more invested in the job now because of the pay," said Neal Gosman, treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 899 in Minnesota. On Day 31 of the 2019 shutdown, 10% of TSA workers called in sick - triple the normal absence rate. While there is no similar data this time around, security wait times are rising, causing issues at various airports.

Houston Chronicle [11/4/2025 3:51 PM, Caroline Wilburn, 2983K] reports airports could see "chaos" next week due to mass flight delays and cancellations if the federal government shutdown continues, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday. Duffy also warned that the Federal Aviation Administration may have to shutter parts of the nation’s airspace next week because of safety concerns related to a lack of air traffic controllers, who are not being paid during the government shutdown. It’s unclear what parts of the airspace could be closed and for how long. George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby airports have been impacted by ground stops and significant security screening delays in recent weeks, as a lapse in funding has reduced staffing for TSA and air traffic control. Houston Airport System officials over the weekend encouraged travelers to arrive at the airport several hours before their flight, as wait times exceeded three hours for security screening at Bush Airport. Wait times were down Tuesday with fewer flights scheduled, but officials warned the relief might not last.

CBS Philadelphia [11/4/2025 7:41 PM, Tom Ignudo, 39474K] Video: HERE reports two TSA security checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport will be temporarily closed starting Wednesday amid the government shutdown. A spokesperson for PHL said Tuesday that Terminal A-West and Terminal F security checkpoints will be temporarily closed beginning Wednesday, but that all of the other checkpoints will remain open. "The temporary closures are also taking place in conjunction with PHL’s airline partners," a spokesperson for the airport said. "Airport staff will be on hand to direct passengers to open checkpoints.” PHL didn’t say how long the TSA security checkpoints would be closed, but it comes as the government shutdown is set to become the longest ever. The government has been shut down for 35 days, and the Senate failed to advance a bill that would end the stalemate for a 14th time Tuesday. Earlier Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said airport delays are going to get worse as the government shutdown continues. He added that some airspace in the United States might be forced to close if it stretches into next week. Air traffic controllers across the country, including at PHL, have gone several weeks without a paycheck amid the shutdown. An air traffic controller told CBS News Philadelphia last week that about 130 air traffic controllers at PHL are now working six days a week without pay.

AP [11/4/2025 3:18 PM, Staff, 19051K] reports all flights into and out of Ronald Reagan National Airport, one of the nation’s busiest airports, were halted for a time Tuesday due to a reported bomb threat, federal authorities announced. The threat was directed towards a United Airlines flight traveling from Houston, Texas to the Washington, D.C. area airport, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X. All other flights were put on hold while the aircraft was moved to an isolated area of the airport. The 89 passengers and six crew members disembarked from the Boeing 737 plane and were bussed to the terminal, United Airlines and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said. The FBI Washington Field Office’s National Capital Response Squad responded to the reported threat and said no hazardous materials were found. Law enforcement is now investigating the threat itself, authorities said. All airport operations resumed at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET, according to Duffy, who thanked law enforcement for responding swiftly. Before flights resumed, the average delay time for departing flights outside of the airport was 51 minutes on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The maximum delay time was over two hours.

Reported similarly:
Axios [11/4/2025 1:15 PM, Josephine Walker, 12972K]

FOX News [11/4/2025 1:41 PM, Greg Norman, 40621K] reports Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy says an "all clear" has been given at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. on Tuesday following an unfounded bomb threat against a United Airlines plane. "Earlier today, a United flight from Houston to Washington D.C. received a bomb threat. The flight landed safely at DCA, passengers were evacuated, and law enforcement conducted a full search of the aircraft," Duffy wrote on X. "The FAA has received the all clear and operations have resumed. I want to thank our brave men and women in law enforcement for their quick response," he added. A ground stop was temporarily issued at the airport as passengers from the United Airlines flight were bussed to a terminal. The FBI Washington Field Office said its "National Capital Response Squad responded to reports of a bomb threat at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport today. No hazards were found. The FBI continues to work with our law enforcement partners on this investigation.". When asked for comment, United Airlines referred Fox News to the FBI. "The FAA is aware of a reported security issue on an aircraft at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)," the Federal Aviation Administration wrote on X. "Passengers have been removed, and the aircraft is away from the terminal while authorities investigate.".

Houston Chronicle [11/4/2025 7:07 AM, Caroline Wilburn, Jarrod Wardwell, and Octavia Johnson, 2983K] reports the security lines that were spilling out the door at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Sunday and Monday were nonexistent Tuesday morning at Terminal E. Houston travelers early Tuesday arrived to significantly shorter lines at security screening checkpoints compared to previous days, which saw wait times of up to three hours. Bush Airport has experienced TSA delays as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, which is requiring security agents to work without pay. Some travelers missed their flights over the weekend and on Monday due to TSA lines that wrapped around the airport with hours-long wait times. Passengers were encouraged to arrive several hours before their scheduled flight time on Tuesday, as airport officials said TSA wait times could exceed 75 minutes at Bush Airport and 30 minutes at William P. Hobby Airport.

Federal News Network [11/4/2025 6:12 PM, Justin Doubleday, 986K] reports the lead sponsor of a bipartisan bill to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency is optimistic that the bill will advance in Congress with White House support, despite President Donald Trump’s stated desire to abolish FEMA. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) spoke about the prospects for his Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act, known as the “FEMA Act,” during a Punchbowl News event today. The bill passed out of committee in September. “We’ve got people on both sides bought into this process,” Graves said. “And so I think that puts a lot of pressure on the Senate as well. And once it crosses the floor of the House, it’s going to be very bipartisan as well, but I don’t think we’ll have problems with the Senate.” The FEMA Act would overhaul FEMA’s disaster assistance processes, with the goal of delivering aid faster to both states and individual survivors. The bill also seeks to streamline FEMA’s mitigation framework and programs. “This will be the most comprehensive FEMA reform since Hurricane Katrina,” Graves said. “FEMA is broken. The President knows it’s broken, so we’re instituting some real reforms in there to make changes.” Graves said the reform measures align with Trump’s wish to move more disaster management responsibilities to states. The bill would also move FEMA out from under the Department of Homeland Security and make FEMA a cabinet-level agency. Graves pitched that shift as injecting “accountability” back into FEMA. That change is a key reason why some FEMA employees also support the bill. FEMA staff have objected to staffing cuts and other changes instituted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. They argue the changes have made FEMA less ready to respond to national disasters. House Democrats have been highly critical of changes at FEMA under the Trump administration. In a Nov. 3 letter to David Richardson, the senior official performing the duties of the FEMA Administrator, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) asked for more information about changes at FEMA under the Trump administration.

Bloomberg [11/4/2025 12:22 PM, Kellie Lunney, 38K] reports that bipartisan legislation that would overhaul the disaster relief and recovery process and restore the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Cabinet-level status likely will move next year, its Republican sponsor said Tuesday. The government shutdown and the few remaining legislative weeks left in 2025 have affected the House floor schedule, including consideration of the FEMA reform measure. "This will be the most comprehensive FEMA reform since Hurricane Katrina," House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said during a Punchbowl News event in Washington. "FEMA is broken.". [Editorial note: consult source link for extended commentary]

Reuters [11/4/2025 4:33 PM, Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis, 36480K] reports the United States is providing $24 million in emergency assistance for Jamaica, Haiti, the Bahamas and Cuba after the countries were hit by Hurricane Melissa last week, the State Department said on Tuesday. The department deployed teams to help with the emergency response and assess humanitarian needs after the Category 5 hurricane sowed widespread devastation, cut off communities and killed at least 50 people across the Caribbean. The Trump administration has now authorized $12 million of assistance for Jamaica, $8.5 million for Haiti and $500,000 for the Bahamas, the State Department said in a statement. "Our teams on the ground have been assessing damage, and we’re going to announce additional assistance packages over the coming days as they figure out where best to target it," a senior State Department official said, adding that they expected to announce additional aid for Jamaica and Haiti. Another $3 million was authorized for Cuba and is being distributed with the help of the Catholic Church, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a declaration of humanitarian need for the country and said Washington would seek to deliver aid directly to the country’s people. President Donald Trump has taken a hard line toward the communist-run island. His administration said it would enforce a ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba while supporting an economic embargo of the country. The State Department is working with the church to ensure it is able to get access to U.S.-funded supplies to distribute to the people of Cuba, the official said. The Cuban government has not requested assistance from Washington, the official added.

FOX 5 Las Vegas [11/4/2025 11:08 PM, Justine Verastigue, 40621K] reports Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said he filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for interfering with grants that support the state’s emergency management, disaster-relief and homeland security operations. According to a media release, the suit was filed against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He’s joined by 10 other attorneys general and the governor of Kentucky. “Making arbitrary changes to the terms of these grants that have helped keep Nevada safe for years is a slap in the face to everyone who lives in or visits Nevada,” Ford said. “I will not allow the Trump administration to toy with the safety of the Silver State in order to score political points. The restrictions they are attempting to place on this funding are illegal, and I am confident the courts will agree.” The coalition claims the Trump administration included “illegal and virtually impossible-to-meet” grant terms in the Emergency Management Performance Grant and the Homeland Security Grant Program. The release says the changes are different from the past and are only obstacles to obtain and use those funds that were previously provided to Nevada for years. Ford’s office says Nevada was awarded $4,218,945 for the 2025 Emergency Management Performance Grant, as well as $15,317,511 for the 2025 Homeland Security Grant Program. He says the federal government placed restrictions on the awards such as immigration-related restrictions. Joining Attorney General Ford on this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin, as well as the Governor of Kentucky. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

AP [11/4/2025 4:30 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports Haiti’s government said Tuesday that the death toll from Hurricane Melissa rose to 43, with 13 others still missing. Crews were still trying to reach people in the country’s southwest region, where landslides and floodwaters devastated more than 30 communities. At least 25 deaths occurred in the southwestern coastal town of Petit-Goâve, one of the hardest hit communities. The Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, flooded nearly 12,000 homes and destroyed nearly 200 others after its outer bands battered Haiti last week. Numerous roads remain inaccessible. The government warned there’s a drinking water shortage in several communities, and that it will soon distribute seeds and tools to farmers facing major agricultural losses. More than 1,700 people remain in shelters. Meanwhile, in nearby Jamaica, crews were trying to reach more than two dozen communities that remained cut off since Melissa made landfall on Oct. 28.

Daily Caller [11/4/2025 1:02 PM, Nicole Silverio, 835K] reports that a woman in Virginia distributed leaflets that listed White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller’s address and labeled him as a Nazi," court documents show. A court affidavit revealed that the Virginia State Police seized the phone of Barbara Wien, a retired university professor who allegedly posted fliers in Miller’s neighborhood that included the address and damning accusations against him, according to The New York Times. In addition to the address, the flier accused Miller of being "wanted for crimes against humanity" and included the slogan, "No Nazis in NOVA," an acronym for Northern Virginia. Miller’s wife, Katie, informed the police about the leaflet and said that she witnessed Wien make a gesture at her by "pointing her index and middle fingers to her own eyes and then pointing directly," according to the Times. Secret Service camera footage appeared to confirm this, which Katie interpreted as "a threatening act intended to intimidate or harass her." "Mrs. Miller interpreted this gesture to mean, ‘I’m watching you,’ and perceived it as a threatening act intended to intimidate or harass her," the affidavit said. "Based on the timing, context and manner of the gesture, the action is being treated as a potential act of intimidation in furtherance of the conduct under investigation." Wien has not currently been charged with any crimes, though the state police is investigating whether she violated a Virginia law that makes it a misdemeanor to provide information "with the intent to coerce, intimidate or harass another person," according to the Times.

New York Post [11/4/2025 12:39 PM, Patrick Reilly, 42219K] reports that a deranged Instagram user with a history of making violent threats has been busted for repeatedly posting a video saying he planned to "execute" President Trump, according to the feds. Trent Schneider, 57, was busted Monday in a SWAT raid at his suburban Chicago home over the posts, which included bizarre rants claiming the president is an actor with multiple body doubles, according to a criminal complaint. "I’m going to get some guns. I know where I can get a lot of f—king guns and I am going to take care of business myself," he said in one video he posted at least 18 times in less than a week. "I’m tired of all you f—king frauds. People need to f—king die and people are going to die. F–k all of you, especially you Trump. You should be executed," he allegedly said. Schneider had previously been interviewed by the Secret Service in 2022 for unspecified threats against government officials. That same year, he was also busted for allegedly threatening to "shoot up" a T-Mobile store, but was found unfit to stand trial, the feds noted. His latest threats seem to have been sparked in part by the fact that his home was up for foreclosure, with it due to be sold at auction Tuesday, the feds noted.

Reported similarly:
NewsNation [11/4/2025 9:53 AM, Alonzo Small and Julian Crews, 8017K] r

FOX News [11/4/2025 7:58 AM, Stephen Sorace, 40621K] Video: HERE reports a good Samaritan helped rescue two boaters after their vessel erupted in flames off the coast of Florida on Monday. Judson Grosvenor told 7News Miami how he spotted the billowing smoke off the coast of Hallandale Beach and was the first vessel on the scene. "It was totally in flames when we got there," Grosvenor said of the 35-foot vessel. Grosvenor said he called the U.S. Coast Guard as he raced over to the burning boat. When he arrived to find the boat fully engulfed in flames, he said he spotted one person in the water and quickly worked to pull them aboard his own vessel. "We picked him up," Grosvenor said. "He said there was another guy in a life jacket floating off to the north of the boat.". First responders then arrived, according to Grosvenor, who said he jumped off his boat and swam into the water to find the second boater and lead the Coast Guard to him. Units from Hollywood Fire Rescue, Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue also responded to the fire. Officials said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the fire. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Bloomberg [11/4/2025 7:00 AM, Emily Forgash, 18207K] reports hackers are infiltrating the logistics industry in efforts to steal cargo shipments, a growing trend that could end up costing companies and consumers billions of dollars, according to new cybersecurity research. Sunnyvale, California-based Proofpoint said it has “high confidence” that the hackers are working with organized-crime groups to pull off the cargo thefts. The attackers are particularly targeting trucking carriers and freight brokers, seeking to infect their computer networks with tools that provide remote access, with the ultimate goal of hijacking shipments, according to the research. Proofpoint senior threat intelligence analyst Selena Larson and threat researcher Ole Villadsen first noticed a criminal group carrying out cyberattacks on cargo companies in 2024, and they have since found evidence of at least three distinct groups using such methods. In the past two months, the researchers have observed nearly two dozen campaigns. Such crimes can create massive disruptions to supply chains and cost companies billions, with the perpetrators stealing everything from energy drinks to electronics. The stolen cargo is likely sold online or shipped overseas, according to the report. “It has this sort of ripple effect across the entire ecosystem, from the ships that deliver them to the ports, that get picked up by the truckers, that get sent to businesses, and then ultimately onto consumers,” Larson said, highlighting that these types of cyberattacks have impacts far beyond just the companies that are compromised. “It is a full-scale supply chain threat.”

CyberScoop [11/4/2025 3:03 PM, Matt Kapko, 122K] reports Apple disclosed an exceptionally high number of vulnerabilities in core services and components used across its most popular devices, as the tech giant addressed 105 vulnerabilities in MacOS 26.1 and 56 vulnerabilities with the release of iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1. The company’s latest security update includes some flaws that affect software spanning iPhones, Macs and iPads. Apple did not report active exploitation of any vulnerabilities it patched Monday. Apple’s vulnerability disclosure strategy remains a challenge and point of contention for outside threat researchers who are trying to gauge which vulnerabilities to prioritize for further review. The company doesn’t follow the Common Vulnerability Scoring System and provides minimal details about the potential impact and description of each vulnerability. “As always, I get frustrated when reading Apple updates as they don’t provide any severity rating,” Dustin Childs, head of threat awareness at Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative, told CyberScoop. “I understand not wanting to use CVSS, but if they would at least call out the critical and high-severity bugs, it would be greatly appreciated.”

FOX News [11/4/2025 7:55 PM, Brooke Singman, 40621K] reports Iranian hackers taunted former National Security Advisor John Bolton about files allegedly obtained from his email account that they said were classified, wishing "good luck" to "Mr. Mustache" as they threatened to leak the materials, an unsealed search warrant affidavit reviewed by Fox News Digital revealed. Bolton pleaded not guilty in October to eight counts of transmission of national defense information and ten counts of retention of national defense information. He had been indicted on 18 counts related to the improper handling of classified materials. It was July 2021 when Bolton’s assistant contacted the FBI via email to alert the agency that Iran had obtained access to Bolton’s email account, according to the affidavit. Bolton’s team had notified the FBI that it would be deleting Bolton’s emails so the hackers could not obtain any additional sensitive information. Weeks later, Bolton’s assistant contacted the FBI again to say he had received threatening emails that were believed to be related to the hack of Bolton’s AOL account. "The e-mail, the subject of which was ‘Re:New PW,’ as forwarded to the FBI, stated: ‘I do not think you would be interested in the FBI being aware of the leaked content of John’s email (some of which have been attached), especially after the recent acquittal. This could be the biggest scandal since Hillary’s emails were leaked, but this time on the GOP side! Contact me before it’s too late,’" according to the warrant. In August 2021, Bolton’s assistant flagged another email from the same account that threatened to leak portions of Bolton’s manuscript found in his email. "OK John…as you want (apparently), we’ll disseminate the expurgated sections of your book by reference to your leaked email," the email said. "Good luck Mr. Mustache!". The affidavit in support of the search warrant from a raid on Bolton’s home in September was unsealed and obtained by Fox News Digital. The affidavit supporting the search warrant revealed additional details about the case against Bolton. According to the unsealed warrant, staff from the White House National Security Council visited Bolton’s home Sept. 10, 2019, to retrieve classified information and any government property after his termination as national security advisor. The government had created a sensitive compartmented information facility, also known as a SCIF, in Bolton’s home Sept. 17, 2018. That SCIF was decertified Oct. 16, 2019, according to the warrant. "Based on my education, training and experience, I know that the installation of a SCIF within the TARGET RESIDENCE indicated that Bolton anticipated storing classified materials within the TARGET RESIDENCE during his tenure as APNSA," the affidavit states. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CyberScoop [11/4/2025 4:01 PM, Tim Starks, 122K] reports the Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned eight people and two companies it accused of laundering money obtained from cybercrime and IT worker schemes to fund North Korean government objectives. According to the department, over the last three years North Korea-linked cybercriminals have stolen over $3 billion, mostly in cryptocurrency. In addition, it said, North Korean IT workers are netting hundreds of millions from schemes by faking their identities. It’s all in service of goals that endanger the security of the world, Treasury said. The bank, IT company and financial institution personnel that the Office of Foreign Assets Control placed on the sanctions list Tuesday add to an ever-growing list this calendar year of parties the United States associates with North Korean cyber activity. “North Korean state-sponsored hackers steal and launder money to fund the regime’s nuclear weapons program,” said John Hurley, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “By generating revenue for Pyongyang’s weapons development, these actors directly threaten U.S. and global security.”

Washington Examiner [11/4/2025 2:30 PM, Molly Parks, 1394K] reports that FBI Boston’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Harvard University Police Department arrested two men from Massachusetts in connection with Saturday’s explosion at the university’s medical school. U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah Foley announced that 18-year-old Logan David Patterson and 20-year-old Dominick Frank Cardoza were arrested for their alleged involvement in the "intentional" blast at the Ivy League university. "Thanks to a number of principled individuals who did the right thing and called authorities when they recognized Patterson and Cardoza, investigators were able to quickly piece together surveillance videos, comb through evidence, and positively identify them as alleged perpetrators of the charged crime," Foley said. She noted that authorities designated the incident as "isolated" and determined that there was no ongoing threat to the community. The special agent in charge of the FBI Boston field office, Ted Docks, said no one was injured in the explosion, though the act "could have resulted in casualties" if the building had been occupied at the time. "Setting off an explosive device inside a locker at an institution geared toward higher education is not some harmless college prank. It’s selfish, it’s short-sighted, and it’s a federal crime. What’s equally disturbing: these two men allegedly boasted about what they did to their friends. We believe these two knew what they were doing was wrong, and they did it anyway," Docks said. Docks called the explosion "deliberate and extremely dangerous."

Reported similarly:
USA Today [11/4/2025 12:16 PM, Jeanine Santucci, 67103K]

CBS News [11/4/2025 4:49 PM, Renee Anderson, Jesse Zanger, Tim McNicholas, 39474K] reports polling locations in New York City and New Jersey received threats early Tuesday morning on Election Day. Bomb threats targeted several New Jersey locations, while the NYPD and federal authorities investigated what police sources described as an "elaborate swatting attempt" targeting three other polling sites in Manhattan. Polling locations in Washington Heights, the West Village and Midtown received messages through the NYC Board of Elections email system which contained threats of a "terroristic nature," police sources said. There haven’t been any disruptions to voting in New York City as a result, sources said. Lt. Gov. Tahesa Way, who serves as the state’s chief election official, said law enforcement investigated and determined "there are no credible threats at this time." "We are doing everything in our power to protect voters and poll workers and coordinate closely with state, local and federal partners to ensure a smooth and safe election. We encourage every eligible voter to exercise their right to vote before 8:00 p.m. today," Way said in a statement. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was aware of the threats targeting polling locations. "We are on it," Bondi wrote on social media. "This [Department] of Justice is committed to free, fair and safe elections."

FOX News [11/4/2025 12:57 PM, Michael Ruiz, 40621K] reports a thwarted Halloween terror attack in suburban Detroit was partially inspired by the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, according to court documents. That attack began as an active shooting and evolved into a barricade situation with hostages. It left 49 dead and 53 wounded, in what authorities at the time called the worst terror attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. According to the FBI, two 20-year-old men from Dearborn, Michigan, and a juvenile accomplice were allegedly plotting to similarly shoot up one or more clubs in Ferndale, a nearby community known for its LGBT nightlife. Mohmed Ali, Majed Mahmoud and a juvenile identified under the alias "Athari" scouted Ferndale in September as part of a plot to shoot up Americans they dubbed "pumpkin," according to court documents. The scouting trips were particularly suspicious to investigators because none of the suspects are over 21 years old, ruling out legitimate visits to bars or clubs. There were about 300 people in the Pulse nightclub when Omar Mateen barged in and opened fire around 2 a.m. on June 12, 2016. Many of them, but not all, were part of the local LGBT community, according to authorities.

Daily Caller [11/4/2025 3:53 PM, Wallace White, 835K] reports President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico is sticking with her less combative approach to dealing with cartels despite the brazen assassination of a Mexican mayor and rumors of U.S. intervention. Sheinbaum said that taking an aggressive stance against the drug cartels won’t work, telling reporters on Monday that "returning to the war against el narco is not an option," according to the Los Angeles Times. Her remarks came in the wake of Saturday’s shocking public execution of the mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo, who took a hardline stance on cartels and was a frequent critic of Sheinbaum. Mexico has engaged in a prolonged conflict with the various drug cartels that control the nation, but Sheinbaum’s less confrontational strategy has drawn criticism from her opponents and perhaps opened the door for U.S. intervention. "He was seen as impulsive and untamed, like a horse you ride and it throws you off," Eduardo Guerrero, a security consultant based in Mexico City, told the Wall Street Journal regarding Manzo. "He had the courage to speak his mind. But if you take on that role, you have to reinforce your security and not stroll around the plaza. The risk was enormous." The war against the cartels in Mexico has killed thousands while further emboldening the criminal syndicates that often outgun the Mexican government. Sheinbaum’s presidency has been marked by a departure from traditional warfare to a more intelligence-based approach. Sheinbaum has said a military-focused approach to the cartels has only exacerbated violence in the past, not reduced it, according to the WSJ. President Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly begun to draw up plans to strike cartel strongholds, labs and prominent leaders in order to curtail their influence and prominent role in the U.S. drug trade. Sheinbaum said Tuesday that she has also repeatedly rejected offers from Trump to send U.S. troops to clean out the cartels.

Reuters [11/4/2025 4:30 PM, Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, 36480K] reports Republican and Democratic lawmakers slammed the Pentagon on Tuesday for not briefing them on national security issues and said at times top defense officials appeared to be undermining U.S. President Donald Trump’s own policies, in a rare bipartisan show of frustration with the administration. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has worked to control the flow of information about the world’s most powerful military and told Pentagon staff they must obtain permission before interacting with members of Congress. During the more than two-hour-long hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, lawmakers said senior Pentagon officials were unresponsive to questions and concerns from Congress.

NBC News [11/5/2025 5:00 AM, Lawrence Hurley, 43603K] reports President Donald Trump’s signature economic policy comes under Supreme Court scrutiny Wednesday as the justices weigh whether he has the authority to impose sweeping tariffs on imports under a law designed for use during a national emergency. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority that has regularly backed Trump on various contentious cases since he took office in January, but many legal observers think the tariffs dispute is a close call. The consequences are huge for Trump and the economy at large, with Americans increasingly anxious amid signs that the tariffs are contributing to, rather than alleviating, higher costs. A new NBC News poll found that 63% of registered voters believe Trump is failing to live up to expectations on the economy, after he ran on lowering prices, in part, through tariffs. Other recent polls show a majority of Americans oppose the tariffs, which disproportionately burden small businesses. The legal question is whether a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, which allows the president to regulate imports when there is an emergency, extends to the power to impose global tariffs of unspecified duration and breadth. The cases concern two sets of tariffs. One is country-by-country or “reciprocal” tariffs, which range from 34% for China to a 10% baseline for the rest of the world. The other is a 25% tariff Trump imposed on some goods from Canada, China and Mexico for what the administration said was their failure to curb the flow of fentanyl. Other tariffs implemented using different legal authorities, such as 50% steel and aluminum tariffs on all other worldwide trading partners, are not at issue in the case before the court. As of the end of August, IEEPA tariffs had raised about $89 billion, according to the latest data available from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. If the Supreme Court overturns those tariffs, the government would then face demands from businesses that it pay back that revenue. USA Today [11/4/2025 6:01 PM, Maureen Groppe, 67103K] reports Trump’s tariffs are being challenged by multiple small businesses and by a dozen states with Democratic attorneys general. The businesses include an Illinois-based company that sells educational toys and a wine-importing company based in New York City. Learning Resources, which makes a majority of its toys in China, says the tariffs could cost the company $100 million this year, compared with the $2.3 million in import fees it paid last year. The states suing are: Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Vermont. Their attorneys general say the tariffs have "wreaked havoc on capital markets and the economy," and raised the cost of goods the states purchase. Reuters [11/5/2025 1:02 AM, Andrew Chung, John Kruzel, 36480K] reports that the challenge involves three lawsuits brought by businesses affected by the tariffs and 12 U.S. states, most of them Democratic-led. Trump has heaped pressure on the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to preserve tariffs that he has leveraged as a key economic and foreign policy tool. The tariffs - taxes on imported goods - could add up to trillions of dollars for the United States over the next decade. If the justices strike them down, "we would be defenseless, leading perhaps even to the ruination of our Nation," Trump wrote in a social media post on Sunday. Highlighting the importance of the case to the administration, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plans to attend Wednesday’s arguments in person. Trump earlier had spoken of attending but decided against it. If the Supreme Court rules against Trump, these tariffs are expected to remain as the administration switches to other legal authorities, Bessent told Reuters. While the Supreme Court typically takes months to issue rulings after hearing arguments, the Trump administration has asked it to act swiftly in this case. The justices will consider Trump’s actions invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose the tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner. The law allows a president to regulate commerce in a national emergency but does not specifically mention the word tariffs. Trump is the first president to use IEEPA in this manner, one of the many ways he has aggressively pushed the boundaries of executive authority since he returned to office in areas as varied as his crackdown on immigration, the firing of federal agency officials and domestic military deployments. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the authority to issue taxes and tariffs. Trump’s Justice Department has argued that IEEPA allows tariffs by authorizing the president to "regulate" imports to address emergencies. The IEEPA-based tariffs have generated $89 billion in estimated collections between February 4 and September 23, when the most recent data was released by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. Trump has imposed some additional tariffs invoking other laws. Those are not at issue in this case.

NewsMax [11/4/2025 6:24 PM, Mark Swanson, 4109K] reports President Donald Trump called the tariff cases set to go before the Supreme Court on Wednesday "a matter of life or death for our country.". Trump made the comments in a post on Truth Social ahead of oral arguments in two cases that challenge whether the president exceeded his authority under federal law with many of his tariffs. "Tomorrow’s United States Supreme Court case is, literally, LIFE OR DEATH for our Country. With a Victory, we have tremendous, but fair, Financial and National Security. Without it, we are virtually defenseless against other Countries who have, for years, taken advantage of us," Trump said in the post. In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, the Supreme Court must rule whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) authorizes a president to impose sweeping tariffs on imports simply by declaring a national emergency. In V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. United States, the issue is whether the IEEPA permits the president to impose tariffs of broad scope, indefinite duration and large scale, especially when Congress has not specifically authorized such tariff policy. A ruling against Trump could shake the foundation of his trade policy, which has driven major concessions from countries such as China, Japan, and the European Union while helping offset U.S. deficits through increased customs receipts. "Our Stock Market is consistently hitting Record Highs, and our Country has never been more respected than it is right now. A big part of this is the Economic Security created by Tariffs, and the Deals that we have negotiated because of them," Trump concluded his post.

CNN [11/4/2025 10:00 AM, Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler, 18595K] reports more than two weeks after President Donald Trump said he would halt "all payments" to Colombia, there has not been any interruption to the assistance, even after the administration sanctioned the country’s President Gustavo Petro accusing him of playing a "role in the global illicit drug trade.". There is no comprehensive ongoing interagency review of all the US assistance programs to Colombia being carried out, US officials said. They pointed to a strong country-to-country relationship, built on decades of investment and singled out Petro as the biggest impediment to shoring up the joint efforts to tackle illicit drug production and trafficking inside the country. Days after Trump’s social media post deeming Petro a drug trafficker and calling for a cutting of all payments and subsidies to the country, there was an interagency meeting planned with all of the Cabinet heads to discuss US support to Columbia, US officials said. But that meeting was canceled for unknown reasons and has not been rescheduled. The axing of the inter-agency meeting meant that Trump’s national security adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio – who has been instrumental to the administration’s overall policy approach to the region – was again left as the most influential voice in the president’s ear in shaping the policy. Rubio’s staff began working with the Treasury Department to quickly put sanctions on Petro into place, sources said. Rubio, following Trump’s initial Truth Social post, publicly cited the "excellent" US-Colombia relationship, founded on strong partnership.

NewsMax [11/4/2025 4:17 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports Russia’s openness to sending hypersonic missiles to Venezuela has sharply raised the temperature in the Caribbean, where U.S. forces are already on high alert. The Telegraph reported that Moscow is exploring a deal to position advanced missile systems capable of striking U.S. territory from South America. Analysts told the Telegraph the move would mark Russia’s boldest military foray in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War, potentially transforming the region into a new front in the standoff between Moscow and Washington. Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has welcomed deeper defense ties with Russia as a counterbalance to U.S. pressure. President Donald Trump has simultaneously ordered a major expansion of U.S. naval and air power across the Caribbean, saying the buildup is aimed at "crushing the deadly drug trade poisoning our communities.". He has framed the surge as a national security mission to protect America’s southern flank from narcotics traffickers. According to Newsweek, U.S. officials have linked Maduro’s government to narco-trafficking networks and argued that the deployments are part of a broader war on transnational crime. The White House insists the moves are not about regime change but about "defending Americans from cartel operations.". Washington Post reported that at least eight U.S. warships have been sent south on anti-cartel missions, while The Guardian said the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is now operating in the region.

NewsMax [11/4/2025 8:21 AM, Staff, 4109K] reports the Nigerian government on Tuesday said it does not tolerate religious persecution, responding to President Donald Trump’s threats of military intervention over the killing of Christians by Islamists in the country. In the first comment by a senior Nigerian government official following Trump’s weekend threats, Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said the country’s constitution did not allow religious persecution. "It’s impossible for there to be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level," Tuggar said at a press conference in Berlin. Trump said on social media that he had asked the Pentagon to map out a possible plan of attack because Islamists are "killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers". But Tuggar said Nigeria has a "constitutional commitment to religious freedom and rule of law".

Breitbart [11/4/2025 6:44 PM, John Hayward, 2416K] reports Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning expressed support for the government of Nigeria on Tuesday and claimed President Donald Trump was only interested in the slaughter of Christians as an "excuse" to interfere in Nigerian politics. President Trump on Saturday criticized Nigeria for allowing Islamic terrorists to murder Christians and said the United States might cut off aid to Nigeria or even launch a military action to take out the terrorists. "I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. On Monday, the State Department officially designated Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) for engaging in "severe violations of religious freedom." Other countries with the CPC designation include China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. President Trump designated Nigeria as a CPC in December 2020, but the designation was lifted by President Joe Biden in 2021. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu denied President Trump’s accusations and insisted his government has done everything possible to "safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians." The Chinese Foreign Ministry signaled its support for Tinubu on Monday. "As Nigeria’s comprehensive strategic partner, China firmly supports the Nigerian government in leading its people on the development path suited to its national conditions," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao. "China firmly opposes any country using religion and human rights as an excuse to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, and threatening other countries with sanctions and force," she said.

AP [11/4/2025 4:24 PM, Sam Mednick, Matthew Lee and Farnoush Amiri, 31753K] reports the United States has circulated draft text for a U.N. Security Council resolution that would provide a mandate for an international stabilization force in Gaza for at least two years, marking the next step in President Donald Trump’s plan to halt two years of war between Israel and Hamas. The draft, confirmed to The Associated Press by two U.S. officials, is an early template for what would likely be extensive negotiations between members of the 15-member council and other international partners. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, said the draft is being discussed and changed based on those discussions. Arab and other countries that have expressed interest in participating in the stabilization force have indicated that U.N. backing of the plan is necessary to persuade them to contribute troops. "What we believe is that whatever entity that is created in Gaza should have the legitimacy of a mandate from the Security Council," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters in Doha. The draft was circulated Tuesday afternoon and has been prepared as a starting point to find consensus that would give the stabilization force and participating countries an international mandate. China and Russia — two of the permanent members of the council — will likely become the biggest opposition for the U.S. as it tries to push through a resolution without either country vetoing it. The draft calls for the force to ensure "the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip" and "the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups." A big question in Trump’s 20-step plan for a ceasefire and reconstruction in the territory is the way to disarm Hamas, which has not fully accepted that step.

Bloomberg [11/4/2025 6:15 PM, Josh Wingrove, 18207K] reports US President Donald Trump announced a cut to fentanyl-related tariffs on imports from China and the continued freeze of some of his reciprocal levies on Chinese goods, formalizing key elements of the sweeping trade deal struck with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The moves, made in a pair of executive orders issued Tuesday, go into effect on Nov. 10. The fentanyl tariff rate will be halved from 20% to 10%, while Trump has also extended for a year a truce that saw him reduce his reciprocal tariff rate from 34% to 10%. The extension follows Trump’s October summit with Xi in South Korea, where the two leaders sought to stabilize trade between the world’s two largest economies following escalating levies and export curbs. The reduced rates mark a significant concession to China. They are part of a broader pact between Trump and Xi that will ease trade restrictions following months of spiraling tariff announcements and export curbs between the world’s two largest economies. Trump cited China’s pledge to remove export controls on rare earth elements and other critical minerals and address retaliation against US semiconductor manufacturers in explaining his decision to further extend the tariff pause. China also committed “to purchase United States agricultural exports integral to the economy and general welfare of the United States, including soybeans, sorghum, and logs,” Trump said, adding that Beijing would suspend tariffs on a “vast swath” of US agricultural products. On fentanyl, Trump cited progress with China’s efforts to do more to crack down on trafficking of the deadly drug and the precursor chemicals used to make it. “The PRC has committed to take significant measures to end the flow of fentanyl to the United States, including stopping the shipment of certain designated chemicals to North America and strictly controlling exports of certain other chemicals to all destinations in the world,” Trump said in the order. Trump said the State Department and Department of Homeland Security would continue to monitor China’s implementation of the agreement. “Should the PRC fail to implement its commitments as described in section 1 of this order, I may modify this order as necessary,” Trump said.

Bloomberg [11/5/2025 2:28 AM, Josh Xiao and Hallie Gu, 18207K] reports China will remove retaliatory tariffs that it imposed on a range of US agricultural products, after Washington halved its fentanyl-related levies on Chinese goods. The country’s Ministry of Finance confirmed in a notice on Wednesday that it will end all tariffs imposed March 4 on soybeans and other US agricultural products including corn, wheat, sorghum and chicken. The move was previously flagged in a White House fact sheet. The cancellation — to take effect Nov. 10 — comes hours after US President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders. They formalized slashing fentanyl-related levies on Chinese exports to 10% and bringing down the reciprocal US tariff rate from 34% to 10%.The moves are part of a broader trade pact between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping that’s set to last one year and has, at least temporarily, stabilized what had been a turbulent relationship. Before their summit in South Korea last week, the two leaders had been locked in a cycle of actions and retaliations on trade. The detente has boosted optimism about a revival in agricultural trade between the two nations, helping to push up global grain prices. Chicago soybean futures rose as much as 1% in Asian hours on Wednesday. Chinese buyers had shunned American soybeans as tensions between the two sides soured, taking more from South America instead. The Asian nation bought its first US cargoes this season just days before the summit in South Korea, and then made further purchases after the meeting. China bought more than $12 billion of American soybeans last year. However, US soybeans are still likely to face a 13% Chinese import duty even after the tariff reduction, according to traders. Read More: China Export Control Unit Begins Biggest Hiring Spree Since 2022 Beijing is also removing an additional 15% retaliatory levy on US wheat, according to the finance ministry notice. A major Chinese buyer is currently seeking a shipment of the grain from the US, which would be purchase by the Asian nation in more than a year. “The halting of certain tariffs between China and the US aligns with the fundamental interests of both countries and their people,” the ministry said in the notice. It “meets the expectations of the international community and will help push bilateral economic and trade relations to a higher level.” The Chinese ministry confirmed in a separate notice on Wednesday that the 24% tariff on all US products will be suspended for a year, mirroring Trump’s executive order. The Chinese suspension will kick in at 1:01 p.m. in Beijing on Monday.

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