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.

Axios [10/9/2025 3:17 PM, Josephine Walker, 12972K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says her department plans to buy new buildings for law enforcement officers assisting with immigration operations. As local leaders and federal judges push back on President Trump’s efforts to expand National Guard deployments in Chicago and Portland, his administration is ramping up law enforcement activities in Democrat-run cities with the billions secured through the "one big, beautiful" act. "We’re looking at new facilities to purchase," Noem said at Thursday’s cabinet meeting. "We’re hardening all of our buildings and making sure that we have more security measures, snipers on the roof, people to protect our law enforcement while they’re out there on the streets," she said. "We’re going to not back off. In fact, we’re doubling down," Noem said, adding that she had recently toured several facilities in Chicago that officers could be deployed from. "If we have to do it the hard way in Portland and Chicago, we will." The administration is looking to lock in 10-year leases in nearly two dozen metropolitan areas, including Louisville, St. Louis, Tampa and Grand Rapids. The listing doesn’t specify what the buildings will be used for, but states that they’ll be in "support of administrative operations for law enforcement." FOX News [10/9/2025 2:57 PM, Louis Casiano, 40621K] reports that Noem, along with other Cabinet members, met with President Donald Trump on Thursday to brief him on their respective agencies. "What I’m also doing, sir, with your authority, is we’re purchasing more buildings in Chicago to operate out of," Noem told Trump during the Cabinet meeting. "We’re not going to back off. In fact, we’re doubling down, and we’re going to be in more parts of Chicago in response to the people there.” She also said she met with officials and authorities in Portland, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility has faced violence for over 100 straight nights, according to Camilla Wamsley, director of Portland’s ICE office, who previously spoke to Fox News. Leaders in Chicago and Portland have clashed with Trump over immigration enforcement and his decision to send National Guard troops to protect federal personnel and property amid escalating anti-ICE protests. "This is a man who has something stuck in his head. He can’t get it out of his head," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said of Trump. "He doesn’t read. He doesn’t know anything that’s up to date. It’s just something in the recesses of his brain that’s effectuating his callout of these cities.” The Chicago Tribune [10/9/2025 1:59 PM, Rick Pearson, 4829K] reports "I was there a few days ago and looked at some facilities that we can deploy more law enforcement out of, because what they’re trying to do with these riots and violence is distract us and keep us from going after those murderers and rapists that are out in the streets," [Noem] said, noting her visit to Broadview last Friday. Noem did not elaborate on where the building purchases would take place. But during the Friday visit, a video showed her speaking with ICE and federal Customs and Border Patrol agents at the Broadview facility and pointing at a nearby structure and saying, "We’re going to try to buy that building today." "So, give you more space. Let you spread out and tell everybody and send a message: We’re not just here, we’re here to stay, and we’re expanding and we’re going to make this city safe again," Noem said last week. The Washington Examiner [10/9/2025 5:12 PM, David Zimmermann, 1394K] reports Noem also visited the existing Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland to meet with local law enforcement officials, whom she accused of covering up protest violence committed by antifa.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [10/9/2025 4:31 PM, Myles Miller, 18207K]
NewsNation [10/9/2025 4:18 PM, Jeff Arnold, Laura Ingle, 8017K]
Daily Wire [10/9/2025 10:01 AM, Jennie Taer, 2494K]

Federal News Network [10/9/2025 3:34 PM, Justin Doubleday, 986K] reports dozens of DHS staff have received management directed reassignments in recent weeks, with some moves hundreds of miles from the employee’s current work station. The Department of Homeland Security has been sending out "management directed reassignments" to dozens of employees, forcing staff in some cases to choose whether to move hundreds of miles to a new job or face termination. DHS has sent the reassignments out to employees across the department, including at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to multiple people familiar with the directives. They were granted anonymity to discuss the matter. "DHS routinely aligns personnel to meet mission priorities while ensuring continuity across all core mission areas," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "Any notion that DHS is unprepared to handle threats to our nation because of these realignments is ludicrous, especially given the abject failure at the hands of CISA in the last administration."

NewsMax [10/9/2025 8:02 PM, Nicole Weatherholtz, 4109K] reports U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow warned Thursday on Newsmax’s "The Chris Salcedo Show" that the ongoing government shutdown is jeopardizing national security and emboldening cities that defy federal immigration law. "I think ultimately what we’re seeing right now, this lapse in funding, is putting America at risk," Edlow said. Despite USCIS maintaining its own revenue stream through application fees, he stressed that the broader freeze on federal operations undermines coordination between immigration, border, and law enforcement agencies. "While USCIS still continues to have its resources, we’re going to use those resources to do everything that we can to declare war on fraud, to declare war on public safety threats, and ultimately on national security threats," he continued. "This is what this agency is meant to do, and this is what it does under the leadership that’s been given to us by President [Donald] Trump and [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem.” Edlow sharply criticized Democrat-run sanctuary cities, accusing local leaders of obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal officers tasked with maintaining public safety. "It’s unconscionable what is going on in these cities," he said. "Blue cities need to be working with the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] to keep our communities safe. "We have a duty, a responsibility, they have sworn an oath to uphold the law, all laws. I’m sorry if it’s something that they don’t agree with in immigration laws, but the bottom line is the rule of law must be held sacred and prioritized over everything else.” He charged that Democrat mayors and police chiefs are "doing everything they can to obfuscate what’s going on and to make it look like ICE, USCIS, CBP (Customs and Border Protection), and other law enforcement is not doing the job that they’ve been tasked to do.” Edlow credited federal law enforcement agencies and the National Guard as "the only ones in these cities that are really keeping order.” The USCIS director also pointed to what he called an "immeasurable" influx of illegal immigrants into liberal-run metropolitan areas during the four years of the Biden administration. "I think the number is immeasurable at this point," Edlow said. "Ultimately, what we’ve seen is under four years of lawlessness under the Biden administration, these individuals have been allowed to come in, go anywhere they want, and now that we are seeing crackdowns, they know there’s organized efforts to get them into these cities where they think they’re going to get this sanctuary. "But guess what? They’re not going to get it. "Kristi Noem has been doing an amazing job with her ICE director and all of the men and women that are serving that agency on the ground to clean up these cities and to restore order and the integrity of the immigration system.”

Washington Examiner [10/9/2025 4:50 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1394K] reports federal law enforcement believes bounties placed on the heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeping the streets of Chicago originated in Mexico and that local gangs are actively trying to carry out the assassinations. The Department of Homeland Security shared internal information from the Drug Enforcement Administration with the Washington Examiner on Thursday afternoon, stating how gangs in Chicago’s southwest neighborhoods were offered bounties between $5,000 and $50,000 for each ICE employee assassination. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said earlier this week that “bounties” were being offered for slain ICE officers and agents. DHS’s latest disclosure to the Washington Examiner additionally states that “allegedly, bounties and instructions were directed from Mexico.” The bounties are $5,000 for an agent or officer; $10,000 for an agent or officer in a commanding role, and $50,000 for an agent or officer in a high-ranking position, the DEA report states.

New York Post [10/9/2025 6:21 PM, Chris Nesi, 42219K] reports the Department of Homeland Security has condemned the "dangerous" doxxing of immigration agents and their families as the agency pleads to dial down the pervasive and escalating rhetoric emanating from lefty politicians and media outlets. "The men and women of ICE and CBP are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer," said DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "Like everyone else, they just want to go home to their families at night. The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop.” DHS says not only have threats increased against its agents, but assaults have skyrocketed by 1,000% in recent months as the Trump administration continues its immigration crackdown. The menacing incidents have come in the form of vicious, profanity-laced voicemails and social media postings revealing the home addresses of the federal officers, leading to several arrests. Three women were indicted last month for allegedly stalking an ICE agent from the Los Angeles Civic Center to his home, livestreaming the unhinged pursuit on their Instagram accounts while providing detailed directions to their followers. When they arrived at the agent’s home, they continued streaming while shouting to bystanders that their "neighbor is ICE," "la migra lives here" and "ICE lives on your street and you should know.” They publicly disclosed the agent’s home address and encouraged viewers to "come on down," according to the US Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California.

NPR [10/10/2025 12:01 AM, Allison Sherry, Ben Markus, 28013K] reports Immigration and Customs and Enforcement officials have claimed since June that assaults on their own officers have climbed sharply, with the White House insisting in a September executive order that attacks are up "more than 1,000 percent.” While the number of assaults on ICE agents have increased, there is no public evidence that they have spiked as dramatically as the federal government has claimed. An analysis of court records shows about a 25 percent rise in charges for assault against federal officers through mid-September, compared to the same period a year ago. Undisputably, ICE agents have at times faced increasingly dangerous work conditions and assaults around the nation, including some that could have turned deadly. The agency promises that every person who assaults an ICE agent "will face the full extent of the law," according to an executive order signed by President Trump. But Colorado Public Radio’s search of federal court records for charges of assault on a federal officer over the last five years found no evidence for a rise in assaults on the scale the White House claims. Despite repeated requests for data to back up their eye-popping statistics, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly declined to provide any justification to CPR or NPR for continuing to make its claims. Going back five years, CPR News found that while the number of assaults on federal officers has risen, it has grown at nowhere near the rate claimed by the federal government. ICE is under pressure to find and remove millions of people from the country who are here without legal status. As operations and protests have increased, it’s not surprising that the number of charges for assault against federal agents have climbed at least 25% this year - with increased confrontations between them and protesters in Los Angeles and Chicago. It can take weeks for charges to be filed, so the latest number may not reflect the total number of assaults that have occurred recently. Fifteen people were charged this summer after what authorities called a July 4 plot to lure ICE agents out of an Alvarado, Texas detention center, where they were then fired upon. A civilian police officer was wounded. In other cases, criminal affidavits show that Customs and Border Protection officers have been punched on patrol. Another ICE agent in California said he was dragged by a car. In Omaha, an ICE agent was slammed to the ground during an arrest and had to be hospitalized. Last month, a sniper opened fire on an ICE detention center in Texas, killing two detainees, though federal officials believe immigration agents were his target. But even taking into account those serious incidents, together they still don’t come anywhere close to the administration’s claim of a 1,000 percent increase in assaults over just a few months.

Breitbart [10/9/2025 6:00 AM, Ian Hanchett, 2416K] reports on Wednesday’s broadcast of "CNN NewsNight," Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) stated that "many" ICE agents are "violent" and people "keep talking about a 1000% upswing and all this stuff, I haven’t seen examples of that." And questioned whether agents are being doxed. While discussing immigration enforcement saying that people looking nervous around agents is a factor used to determine suspicion, Goldman said, "Well, you have to add in the fact that many of these ICE agents are masked, they’re in plainclothes, they’re unidentified, and they’re violent. So, yes, people are going to be scared, because you have these unidentified, masked agents who are screaming and violent and causing — using excessive force a lot. " Later in the segment, podcast host Phil Williams stated that "there are apps that are being created that are — the sole purpose is to dox ICE agents. And there are people showing up at their houses and there are families being threatened." Host Abby Phillip responded that this is "terrible." Goldman then cut in to say, "Do you know this for a fact? Because I keep hearing this. I have not seen ICE — they keep talking about a 1000% upswing and all this stuff, I haven’t seen examples of that." Williams then cut in to point out the attacks at Texas ICE facilities, and Goldman stated that those were wrong. Phillip then cut in to say there have been attacks on ICE facilities and then asked about the justification for stops by immigration enforcement.

Daily Caller [10/9/2025 11:30 AM, Mary Rooke, 835K] reports while Democrat Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson claim Chicago residents do not want Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in their city, the people are singing a different tune. Pritzker has publicly opposed ICE operations in Chicago, describing them as an "unconstitutional invasion" and urging federal agents to leave the city. "Get out of Chicago," Pritzker said Sept. 29. "You are not helping us.” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denounced Pritzker’s attacks and demands for agents to leave Chicago, arguing that "the scourge of violent crime [is] a direct result of his own policies.” "Our message to JB Pritzker: Get out of your mansion and see Chicago," said McLaughlin in a statement. "If J.B. Pritzker actually walked the streets of his own city, he would see domestic terrorists and violent rioters attacking police officers and the scourge of violent crime as a direct result of his own policies." Similarly, Johnson has repeatedly stated that ICE agents are not welcome in Chicago, describing them as a "rogue, reckless group of heavily armed, masked individuals roaming throughout our city that are not accountable to the people of Chicago." He argues their presence endangers residents and erodes trust. Johnson signed an executive order creating "ICE-free zones" on city property to prevent federal law enforcement from using city-owned buildings. Still, despite top Democrats in Illinois claiming that Chicago residents do not want ICE agents in their city, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commander Greg Bovino shared a video Wednesday highlighting just how much the locals love having agents patrolling their city.

FOX News [10/9/2025 3:28 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin discusses deploying the National Guard in U.S. cities on ‘America Reports.’

Axios [10/9/2025 6:37 PM, Carrie Shepherd, 12972K] reports President Trump is temporarily barred from sending the National Guard to Illinois to aid his immigration crackdown after a federal judge in part granted the state a temporary restraining order against the deployment. The ruling will halt the president’s plans — for now. The White House can appeal the decision, or Trump could tap other executive authority to mobilize troops to support his immigration crackdown. Judge April Perry in her oral ruling Thursday, granted Illinois and co-plaintiffs in part, an emergency motion to stop the president from deploying troops, the Chicago Tribune reported. Her written ruling is expected Friday. National Guard troops from Illinois and Texas have been posted in southwest suburban Elwood since earlier this week. Even before troops from out of state arrived, Illinois and Chicago sued the Trump administration, arguing in the suit that the deployment was "unlawful and dangerous." About 500 Texas and Illinois National Guard soldiers arrived in the Chicago area this week for an initial period of 60 days "to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property," U.S. Northern Command spokesperson Becky Farmer told Axios in a statement. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claim troops are needed to protect federal law enforcement, especially after they’ve clashed with protesters and residents near an ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview and last weekend on the city’s southwest side. "If J.B. Pritzker actually walked the streets of his own city, he would see domestic terrorists and violent rioters attacking police officers and the scourge of violent crime as a direct result of his own policies," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement this week. The New York Post [10/9/2025 8:27 PM, Victor Nava, 42219K] report Perry’s order prevents "the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois," for at least two weeks. "I have seen no credible evidence that there is danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois," Perry said in a hearing announcing her ruling, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, questioning the Trump administration’s characterization of anti-ICE protests in the Windy City. The judge did not immediately explain the details of her ruling and said she would issue a written order on Friday. "Deportations are up. Arrests are up … The courthouse remains open and always has. Federal laws are being executed. They’re also being broken, as they have been since the beginning of time," Perry continued, adding, "There is no evidence that the president is unable, with the regular forces, to execute the laws of the United States.” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed the lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, arguing the "deployment of federalized troops to Illinois is patently unlawful.” Raoul had asked the court to "halt the illegal, dangerous, and unconstitutional federalization of members of the National Guard of the United States, including both the Illinois and Texas National Guard.” The administration countered in a filing that Trump has the legal authority to deploy the troops and that "the violent actions and threats by large numbers of protestors, directed at those enforcing of federal immigration laws and at federal property, constitute at least a danger of a rebellion against federal authority and significantly impede the ability of federal officials to enforce federal law.” The Justice Department specifically cited the recent daily protests at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] facility in Broadview and the arrests of individuals accused of ramming a federal law enforcement vehicle and allegedly putting a $10,000 bounty on a Border Patrol official in Chicago. Perry, however, found that a National Guard presence in Chicago would "likely to lead to civil unrest.” "I find that allowing the National Guard to deploy at the Broadview processing center or anywhere else in Illinois will only add fuel to the fire," the judge said. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. The Hill [10/9/2025 7:34 PM, Ella Lee, 8017K] reports that about 300 federalized Illinois National Guard members were deployed to the Chicago area on Wednesday evening, alongside some 200 troops from Texas, according to the military unit commanding them. They’ve been activated for 60 days. "These soldiers are employed to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property," the U.S. Army Northern Command said in a statement late Wednesday. Local leaders have strongly opposed President Trump’s use of the Guard, suggesting in their lawsuit that the deployment efforts reflect an unlawful attempt to infringe on the state’s sovereignty. They argued in their motion to block the National Guard’s federalization and deployment of the troops that Trump is using "small-scale" protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in a nearby suburb as a pretext to send in the troops. Trump’s yearslong fixation on Chicago is proof, the officials said. "The inevitability of this action — forecasted in countless posts and public statements — is confirmation of its illegality," lawyers for Illinois and Chicago wrote. Trump last week called Chicago a "big city with an incompetent governor," and has previously criticized the city as the "worst and most dangerous" in the world. The officials date Trump’s "animus" toward Illinois and Chicago back to the day before he was first elected president, on Nov. 7, 2016, when he tweeted about the city that "the crime is unbelievable. You can’t walk to the store and get a loaf of bread. Often, you get shot.” The Justice Department contends that the risks posed to federal immigration enforcement officers have necessitated additional protective measures, writing in their opposition to the officials’ motion that detractors of Trump and Congress’s policy on immigration have resorted to "vicious tactics to thwart and intimidate" them in recent months. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The Washington Examiner [10/9/2025 3:59 PM, Jack Birle, 1394K] reports Chief Judge Virginia Kendall of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said the U.S. Marshals Service is the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction to protect the federal courthouse in Chicago, saying the Federal Protective Service does not have the primary responsibility of security for the courthouse, unlike most federal buildings.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [10/9/2025 8:07 PM, Mark Berman and Kim Bellware, 24149K]
Los Angeles Times [10/9/2025 2:01 PM, Christine Fernando and Sudhin Thanawala, 14862K]
The Hill [10/9/2025 7:34 PM, Ella Lee, 12595K]
NPR [10/9/2025 11:11 AM, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán and Marisa Penaloza, 28013K]
Breitbart [10/9/2025 9:50 AM, Staff, 2416K]
Axios [10/9/2025 5:53 PM, Carrie Shepherd, 12972K]
CBS News [10/9/2025 11:24 PM, Sara Tenenbaum, Sabrina Franza, Carol Thompson, and Megan De Mar, 39474K] Video: HERE
Houston Chronicle [10/9/2025 8:39 PM, Bayliss Wagner, 2983K]

Daily Signal [10/9/2025 6:50 PM, Fred Lucas, 549K] reports two federal courts heard arguments Thursday about President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to quell unrest near U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in Portland, Oregon, and Chicago. "The district court found that the Portland ICE facility protests were small—less than 30 people—largely sedate and generally peaceful," Oregon Assistant Attorney General Stacy Chaffin told the three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The hearing was held remotely by video. Two of the judges, Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade, are Trump appointees. Another judge, Susan Graber, is a Bill Clinton appointee. "Hold on. That’s clearly erroneous, because there’s clearly been protests that were above 30," Nelson interjected. "Unless you’re trying to limit it to certain time periods. We have evidence in the record that there were as many as 200.” Chaffin replied that in recent months, particularly in September when Trump called up the National Guard to go to Portland, protests were light. Chaffin later characterized the anti-ICE demonstrations as "calm and sedated" demonstrations that should be protected free speech. "That is not a reason to bring the military into the streets of Portland or any other city in the United States," Chaffin argued. However, Bade noted the ICE facility in Portland had to close for almost a month, from June 13 to July 7, because of the danger of the protests there. "They couldn’t operate a facility. I don’t know that that ever happened in L.A.," Bade said. "There were attempts to breach a facility here. A facility was actually closed for almost a month, and the record includes more than one, at least two attempts to burn the building down and vandalizing the building so that it’s difficult for the officers to move in and out of the building, and [it] increases danger. And the building is now currently boarded up.” In Oregon, Trump’s National Guard deployment remains temporarily blocked by a court order. Oregon has argued the deployment is part of a nationwide campaign to assimilate the military into civilian law enforcement.

Chicago Tribune [10/9/2025 9:59 AM, Jeremy Gorner, 4829K] reports National Guard troops were "employed" in the Chicago area early Thursday, according to a U.S. official, and Broadview officials said that apparently included a deployment to their village. The Texas National Guard, which arrived in the area earlier this week, has been expected in Broadview and other locations but were not in plain view. Those troops were federalized by the administration following a series of intense confrontations between protesters and federal immigration enforcement officers taking part in "Operation Midway Blitz," the mass deportation mission being carried out in Chicago and the suburbs. A spokesman for U.S. Northern Command, overseeing the National Guard deployments, would not say Thursday morning whether the troops have actually been deployed to the streets in view of the general public, saying instead in a statement that as of Wednesday, "elements of the Texas National Guard, under Title 10 authority and the command and control of U.S. Northern Command, are employed in the greater Chicago area." "These soldiers are employed to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property," the statement read. Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills told the Tribune that he was notified overnight that his officers spotted personnel at the ICE facility in the suburb that has been a magnet for protests who said they were with the National Guard awaiting further instruction.

The Washington Post [10/9/2025 5:21 PM, Scott Nover, 24149K] reports a federal judge Thursday temporarily blocked federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security from using riot control weapons against journalists covering protests and immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago area. As federal agents have clashed with protesters in the Chicago area in recent weeks, journalists have been shot with tear gas and less-lethal munitions including pepper balls. Many of the incidents occurred outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. In her order, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, an Obama appointee, prohibited DHS personnel from “dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, threatening or using physical force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a journalist” unless there is “specific probable cause to believe” that person committed a crime. The 14-day order applies to all Department of Homeland Security agents, including those with ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol, across northern Illinois. DHS pushed back against the judge’s order. Thursday’s order requires federal agents to wear visible identification and prohibits arrests of nonviolent protesters without probable cause. The parties will meet again later this month, when the judge will hear arguments on whether the temporary order should become a longer-lasting preliminary injunction. Politico [10/9/2025 4:16 PM, Gregory Svirnovskiy, 2100K] reports that the temporary restraining order came just days after Chicago journalists and protesters sued senior White House officials, including Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, arguing that the government had prevented “the press, elected officials, religious leaders, and civilians engaged in peaceful protest from exercising their First Amendment rights.” Videos have circulated in recent days of federal agents shooting tear gas and other “riot control weapons” at protesters — and, city officials say, toward officers from the Chicago Police Department — in response to demonstrations throughout the city. The temporary restraining order, issued by district court judge Sara L. Ellis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, also blocks Trump administration authorities from requiring journalists to leave public spaces and using riot control weapons on the press, protesters or clergy “who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others.” Over the objections of state and local officials, Trump deployed Texas National Guard troops to Illinois. He suggested Wednesday on Truth Social that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker should be sent to jail for their failure to protect ICE officials. Also on Monday, Illinois and Chicago sued to stop the administration from deploying National Guard troops to the city. A decision on that lawsuit is expected imminently. The Chicago Tribune [10/9/2025 3:42 PM, Robert McCoppin, 4829K] reports that the ruling does not specifically apply to the National Guard that has been deployed to federal sites, but the judge said she did not want the Guard to do a “work around” of the order. An attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Sean Skedzielewski, objected to the temporary restraining order, and told the judge that the order “will be unworkable and will cause a lot of problems.” The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed the Chicago Headline Club, journalists’ unions, Block Club Chicago and other media outlets and reporters against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal agencies and agents. The order only applies in the northern court district of Illinois, and did not apply to President Donald Trump, who was named in the suit. The suit claimed federal agents used brutality and excessive force against reporters and protesters. While some lawlessness has occurred, the judge said, she cited several examples of alleged unprovoked attacks by federal agents.

FOX News [10/9/2025 10:56 AM, Stephen Sorace, 40621K] reports a federal judge Tuesday ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents violated a federal consent decree when arresting nearly two dozen illegal immigrants at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term earlier this year. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings in Chicago federal court extended the consent decree that limits immigration agents’ authority to make warrantless arrests until February 2026. Cummings also ordered ICE to start making monthly disclosures of how many warrantless arrests agents make each month. The ACLU of Illinois and other Chicago immigration advocates sued the Department of Homeland Security and ICE in March, alleging that the January arrests of at least 22 people violated a 2022 consent decree that bans ICE from arresting people without warrants or probable cause. "Today’s decision makes clear that DHS and ICE — like everyone else — must follow the Constitution and the law," Michelle García, deputy legal director at the ACLU of Illinois and co-counsel in the case, said in a statement. "The federal government’s reckless practice of stopping, harassing and detaining people — and then finding a justification for the action must end." NewsMax [10/9/2025 1:30 PM, James Morley III, 4109K] reports that the 52-page ruling Tuesday extended the consent decree until Feb. 2, 2026, placing new limits on when ICE agents can conduct such arrests. He also ordered the agency to report how many warrantless arrests are made in the Chicago area. In September, the Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Midway Blitz to "target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets." The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this week that, since the operation began nearly a month ago, federal agents "have arrested more than 1,000 illegal aliens — including the worst of the worst pedophiles, child abusers, kidnappers, gang members, and armed robbers." The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) in Chicago alleged the arrests violate a 2022 consent decree, which bars ICE officials from conducting warrantless immigration arrests unless agents have probable cause that a person is in the country unlawfully and poses a flight risk. "DHS complies with all lawful court orders and is addressing this matter with the court," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to the Tribune.

The Hill [10/9/2025 8:33 PM, Max Rego, 12595K] reports the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado and migrant advocates filed a lawsuit against three Trump administration officials on Thursday, alleging that federal immigration officers are violating the law in arresting migrants in the state. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado, lists Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons and ICE’s Denver field office Director Robert Guadian as defendants. Citing the cases of four migrants who have been detained by ICE in Colorado this year, the ACLU suit attests that ICE officers are ignoring Title 8, Section 1357 of the U.S. Code. The statute requires that federal immigration officials have probable cause to believe an individual is in the country illegally and likely to escape before a warrant is obtained in order to arrest them. When reached for comment, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told The Hill that the department "complies with all lawful court orders and is addressing this matter with the court.” According to the latest ICE data, officers from the Denver field office have arrested 15,756 individuals across their jurisdiction in Wyoming and Colorado. According to the complaint, ICE arrested nearly 2,000 individuals in Colorado in the first half of the year. The ACLU and advocates filed the lawsuit on behalf of 43-year-old Refugio Ramirez Ovando, 19-year-old Caroline Dias Goncalves, 36-year-old J.S.T. and 32-year-old G.R.R. All four have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade and were detained by ICE officers earlier this year. Ramirez was detained without a warrant in May and held at an ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colo. for more than three months, before an officer admitted to mistaking him for someone else. Dias Goncalves, a student at the University of Utah, was arrested by ICE officers while driving in June and spent 15 days at the Aurora facility. The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. By signing up, I agree to the Terms of Use, have reviewed the Privacy Policy, and to receive personalized offers and communications via email, on-site notifications, and targeted advertising using my email address from The Hill, Nexstar Media Inc., and its affiliates. J.S.T., going by a pseudonym, was arrested at his apartment complex in February and spent four weeks in the Aurora facility. G.R.R., also going by a pseudonym, was detained by ICE during an April raid at a nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo. He later spent six weeks in Aurora. The lawsuit claims that instead of following immigration law, ICE is "scrambling to fill arbitrary quotes set by the Administration, causing chaos and terror in neighborhoods throughout Colorado." It adds that the roughly 169,000 immigrants without legal status and other Latinos in the state "now live in fear and at daily risk because of federal immigration agents’ indiscriminate practices.” In May, White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller said the administration’s goal is for ICE to arrest 3,000 individuals per day. "ICE’s arrest scheme is tearing families apart and terrorizing communities," the suit added.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [10/9/2025 10:49 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K]

Bloomberg [10/9/2025 2:11 PM, Zoe Tillman, 18207K] reports that a US judge has temporarily imposed stricter limits on when federal agents can use physical force and make arrests during Chicago-area demonstrations against the Trump administration’s ramped up immigration enforcement. US District Judge Sara Ellis entered a 14-day order on Thursday in response to a lawsuit accusing agents of unlawfully using excessive force during recent protests outside a migrant detention facility in the Broadview suburb, and targeting journalists and demonstrators for arrest in violation of First Amendment speech rights.

Ellis’ ruling comes amid escalating tensions in Chicago over President Donald Trump’s push to assert greater federal control over the Democratic-led city. Separately on Thursday, one of Ellis’ colleagues on the Chicago federal bench is hearing arguments on whether to block the president’s plan to deploy National Guard troops. The plaintiffs in the case include a journalist who claimed to have been tackled, handcuffed and held for hours before being released without charges, and a Presbyterian minister who said he was struck in the head with pepper balls and sprayed in the face with tear gas while praying outside the Broadview center. The lawsuit alleges that the federal agents responding to protests at the facility represent a variety of agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons. Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday afternoon. Lawyers for the press organizations, journalists and protesters who brought the case also did not respond right away. The case is Chicago Headline Club v. Noem, 25-cv-12173, US District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

Chicago Tribune [10/9/2025 4:28 PM, Michelle Mullins, 4829K] reports the Will County Board will postpone a vote on a resolution addressing the ongoing immigration debate just days after a board committee voted in favor of it along party lines. The board’s Executive Committee, which is made of board leadership and committee chairs, said Thursday the resolution needed to be reworked and postponed it indefinitely. The board will not take up the immigration resolution at its regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 16, the Executive Committee decided. Legislative Committee Chair Destinee Ortiz, a Romeoville Democrat, introduced the resolution Tuesday to declare Will County’s commitment to ensure communities can live and work without fear. Ortiz said the resolution was in response to aggressive enforcement actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that caused widespread fear and eroded trust in institutions. The resolution states residents, regardless of immigration status, should be able to "live in safe communities, access public resources, and participate in civic life without fear of harassment, profiling, or unjust detention.” Ortiz said she is concerned about immigration activity happening in Will County communities, citing a report from September in Naperville where officers detained individuals working on a roof. She said people are being targeted based on their appearance. The board’s Legislative Committee voted to encourage state and federal governments to adopt policies that would prohibit immigration enforcement in courthouses, schools and other sensitive community locations and ensure no one is detained or deported solely due to racial or ethnic profiling. The committee approved adding language to encourage ICE agents to identify themselves and not wear masks, unless medically necessary, to improve public trust. While the board does not have authority to create policies for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, some board members said they hoped the federal government would consider these suggestions. Speaker Joe VanDuyne, a Wilmington Democrat, said Thursday the resolution needs work. He said he is trying to get both Democrats and Republicans to work together to compromise on county business, which was echoed by both the Republican and Democratic leaders.

AP [10/9/2025 6:17 PM, Nicole Winfield, 2416K] reports that Pope Leo XIV urged labor union leaders from Chicago on Thursday to advocate for immigrants and welcome minorities into their ranks, weighing in as the Trump administration crackdown on immigrants intensifies in the pontiff’s hometown. “While recognizing that appropriate policies are necessary to keep communities safe, I encourage you to continue to advocate for society to respect the human dignity of the most vulnerable,” Leo said. The audience was scheduled before the deployment of National Guard troops to protect federal property in the Chicago area, including a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building that has been the site of occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents. Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, who accompanied the labor leaders, said that Leo was well aware of the situation on the ground. In an interview with The Associated Press, Cupich said that Leo has made clear, including in recent comments, that migrants and the poor must be treated in ways that respect their human dignity. “I really didn’t have to tell him much at all, because he seemed to have a handle on what was going on,” Cupich told the AP afterward. He said that Leo had urged U.S. bishops in particular to “speak with one voice” on the issue. Cupich said he expected the November meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops would make immigration a top agenda item. “This has to be front and center right now. This is the issue of the day. And we can’t dance around it,” Cupich said. Catholic leaders in the U.S. have denounced the Trump administration’s crackdown, which has split up families and incited fears that people could be rounded up and deported any time. The administration has defended the crackdown as safeguarding public safety and national security.

FOX News [10/9/2025 2:17 PM, Ashley Oliver, 40621K] reports that top Justice Department officials urged FBI staff in northeastern Illinois to stay focused on a major federal immigration enforcement operation this week, as persistent civil unrest and feuding politicians threaten to interfere with President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime. During a tour of the Chicago field office and an interview with Fox News Digital, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche discussed "Operation Midway Blitz," the federal effort facing fierce resistance from protesters and local leaders. Speaking inside a command post the size of a large classroom, Blanche told personnel it had become "obvious" that Chicago is "for now, a kind of ground zero in an escalating assault on law enforcement." "I don’t say that to be flippant or to be political," Blanche said. "I say that because what we were seeing is a tremendous effort, an organized effort, by domestic terrorists to actually injure and hurt folks in this room, the men and women on the streets that were just doing their jobs.” Patel and Blanche met with Illinois-based officials from several agencies, including the FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Drug Enforcement Administration. The agencies are supporting DHS, which launched Midway Blitz a month ago as part of the Trump administration’s national crackdown on illegal immigration. Patel has faced criticism for lurching the FBI’s focus toward immigration, which is normally overseen by DHS, as former FBI officials raise concerns that valuable agents are being moved away from their areas of expertise in counterterrorism and national security.

Univision [10/10/2025 12:31 AM, Staff, 5004K] reports Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, who is leading Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, spoke exclusively with Univision Noticias about growing fears among the immigrant community over immigration raids and tensions with local authorities. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

(B) KVAL News at 6am [10/9/2025 9:57 AM, Staff] reports that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules the Oregon National Guard can be federalized but not deployed for now. The decision only applies to the original ask from Portland and the State of Oregon to pause the Oregon soldiers from being deployed. It does not address the decision by a US District Court judge to halt the deployment of troops from other states. That restraining order has not been appealed. The next hearing scheduled for today will decide whether to pause the order while the Trump administration’s appeal works through the court. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem singled out city and state leaders in Portland at a roundtable discussion yesterday, claiming they were covering up terrorism that is hitting the streets.

Washington Examiner [10/9/2025 5:40 PM, Kaelan Deese, 1394K] reports a federal appeals court judge on Thursday cast doubt on Oregon’s challenge to President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in Portland, saying there was no evidence the deployment was unlawful despite state concerns about presidential overreach. Judge Ryan D. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said he was not "trying to diminish" worries that federalizing the Oregon National Guard could set a dangerous precedent. But he added that the record before the court did not show evidence of abuse. The panel, comprised of two Trump appointees and one appointee of former President Bill Clinton, heard oral arguments in the Trump administration’s appeal of a lower-court order blocking the Guard’s deployment to protect a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that had been shuttered amid months of protests and sporadic violence. Justice Department attorney Eric McArthur told the panel that the president has broad constitutional authority to safeguard federal property when local authorities fail to maintain order. He acknowledged the government did not dispute the factual findings in the district court’s injunction but argued those facts did not justify restraining the president’s national defense powers. Oregon Assistant Attorney General Stacy Chaffin countered that the Portland demonstrations did not amount to a "rebellion" or "insurrection" that would justify military intervention, insisting the federalization order exceeded the scope of presidential authority.

ABC News [10/9/2025 4:23 PM, Megan Forrester, 30493K] reports in recent weeks, President Donald Trump has ramped up his threat to dispatch National Guard troops into American cities -- with Chicago and Portland, Oregon, being the most recent examples. Unlike the deployment of the National Guard either at the order or request of a state’s governor, Trump has sought to federalize the Guard against the will of the governors of Illinois and Oregon. And in both cases, Trump is seeking to deploy National Guard members from other states. Justifications from the administration have varied, from tamping down on crime to protecting federal buildings and Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations to claims that protestors are trying to "overthrow the government." State and local lawmakers have pushed back on the administration’s characterizations of conditions on the ground, suggesting the troop mobilizations are merely pretext for a "power grab" and part of an "authoritarian march." On Wednesday, Trump appeared to echo his previous statements on using the National Guard for crime prevention purposes in cities such as Chicago, a city that he has described as a "war zone." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the president’s decision on Monday to send the National Guard into Portland and Chicago, saying "anarchists" have been "disrespecting law enforcement" and "inciting violence" at the ICE facility in Portland.

NewsMax [10/9/2025 4:38 PM, Anthony Luchs, 4109K] reports the Department of Homeland Security blasted California officials for releasing an illegal alien who went on to kill six people in a drunk driving crash. DHS directly blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary state policies for the tragedy. Beto Cerillo-Bialva, a 49-year-old Mexican national, had been deported seven times, the DHS revealed Thursday. His record included cocaine possession, domestic violence, restraining order violations, driving without a license, and three prior DUIs. After his third DUI in 2024, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed an arrest detainer asking California to notify them before his release. The state ignored the request. On Sept. 7, 2025, Cerillo-Bialva allegedly drove drunk again, crashing into a tree and killing six farmworkers near Stockton. A seventh passenger survived but was seriously injured. "This serial criminal killed six innocent souls. Gov. Newsom has blood on his hands," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. McLaughlin said the crash could have been prevented if state officials had honored ICE’s request. Newsom’s office is pushing back against DHS’s accusations. The Daily Wire [10/9/2025 6:27 AM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports "Sanctuary policies protect the WORST OF THE WORST criminal illegal aliens ICE will do everything in our power to remove this serial drunk driver, abuser, and drug user from our country," [McLaughlin] added. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office hit back at the Trump administration, placing the blame on the feds.

San Francisco Chronicle [10/9/2025 6:38 PM, Alexei Koseff, 4722K] reports as tensions mount between governors over President Donald Trump’s interstate National Guard deployments, the Republican leader of the National Governors Association said Thursday that he agrees with criticism that the move is a violation of states’ rights. In an interview with New York Times, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said he supported Trump’s efforts to uphold "law and order" in cities such as Chicago and Portland, but that it was wrong for the president to send in troops from another state over a governor’s objections. Stitt cited Trump’s deployment of hundreds of Texas National Guard members to Chicago this week, despite legal challenges by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to block their presence, and said the president should have federalized Illinois troops instead. "We believe in the federalist system — that’s states’ rights," Stitt said. He added, "As a federalist believer, one governor against another governor, I don’t think that’s the right way to approach this.” Stitt’s comments follow threats by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Pritzker to leave the National Governors Association, a century-old bipartisan advocacy group, unless it condemned the interstate deployments. "It should not be difficult for state leaders, regardless of partisan affiliation, to agree that politicizing our states’ National Guard and deploying the Guard from one state into another, over the objections of the home-state Governor, harms the interests of states," Newsom wrote in a letter Monday, where he called Trump’s actions an "infringement of state sovereignty.” Newsom has been battling the president in court since June over the federalization of the California National Guard to crack down on protests against immigration enforcement raids in Los Angeles. But as the case has dragged on without resolution and the situation in Los Angeles calmed, Trump recently moved 200 of the California soldiers to Oregon, in an attempt to deploy them to Portland, and another 14 to Chicago to help with training, according to recent court filings.

New York Times [10/9/2025 9:03 PM, Orlando Mayorquín, 135475K] reports officials in Los Angeles County are considering declaring a state of emergency to provide relief for immigrants they say have suffered financially from continued fear over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. The declaration would allow the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to enact an eviction moratorium and other protections for tenants affected by the immigration raids. It would be the latest step local officials have taken to push back against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Southern California. Local and state officials have sought temporary restraining orders in court over the raids and the deployment of troops, passed mask bans for federal law enforcement and set up financial relief funds for immigrants. While images of heavily armed and masked federal agents on city streets have come mainly out of Chicago and other cities in recent weeks, fear has lingered among Southern California residents as immigration enforcement operations continue, though without the dramatic displays of force seen in past months. “Families are now afraid to go to work, to attend school or even to buy groceries,” Lindsey P. Horvath, a county supervisor, said at a board meeting on Tuesday. “As this fear spreads, so does economic hardship, and with it, the very real risk of eviction and homelessness.” The eviction moratorium would enhance existing rent relief for people affected by immigration raids that the board approved last month. On Tuesday, the five-member board voted 4 to 1 to put an emergency declaration up for a vote at its next meeting on Oct. 14. The county’s lawyers cautioned that such a moratorium could pose issues for both landlords and tenants. They said it may require tenants to publicly disclose their immigration status, cause significant income loss for landlords and open tenants up to litigation from landlords to recover debts. Lawyers for the county also said an emergency declaration by the county could prompt litigation from the Trump administration. Kathryn Barger, the sole supervisor who voted against putting a declaration up for a vote, argued that the immigration sweeps did not meet the criteria of an emergency and that an eviction moratorium would be unfair to landlords. “I get the fires — that was a natural disaster,” said Ms. Barger, the board’s only Republican, adding, “I’m sure we’re going to be challenged legally.” Janice Hahn, another supervisor, said the situation facing immigrants in the county, which has nearly 10 million residents, did rise to an emergency, and that declaring one would send an important signal to constituents. “It is an emergency,” Ms. Hahn said. “And their lives are in danger and in peril in a way that I’ve never seen.” Ms. Horvath pointed to recent deployments of federal agents and troops to other cities to argue that federal operations in Los Angeles County would likely persist. “Look at Chicago,” Ms. Horvath said. “Look at Portland. There are no limits.”

Daily Caller [10/9/2025 1:35 PM, Hudson Crozier, 835K] reports that an online anarchist platform encouraged people on Wednesday to shine lasers at federal helicopters in Portland, Oregon, a crime that law enforcement officials say can create extreme danger for pilots. A post on the leftist, Portland-focused website "Rose City Counter-Info" tells viewers to scatter throughout the city’s streets on Saturday for the attack — nicknamed "Laser Tag" — as federal agents respond to demonstrations near the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. The goal is to "ground" the helicopters by making it difficult to safely fly them and flash too many lasers for law enforcement to hunt down those using them, according to the anonymously-written post. "All you need is a laser. Leave home – they can see where the laser is coming from," the post reads. "Go to a park, a field, or some other public place, and once the clock strikes 9 unleash your beam at the cop copter. Mask up. Coordinate with friends to throw a laser party!" "Let’s take back the night together!" the announcement continued. "It won’t take many of us to ground the helicopters!" Rose City Counter-Info did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) previously called out the website in July for "doxxing" ICE officers by publishing their names and home addresses. The agency promised prosecutions for such activity. Federal prosecutors also charged a man with the crime of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft in Portland days before the Rose City Counter-Info post, alleging he aimed it at a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopter in September.

NBC News [10/9/2025 4:03 PM, David Ingram and Jo Yurcaba, 34509K] reports right-wing podcasters, writers and pundits are flocking to Democratic deep-blue cities to document the scene for their massive audiences but also, in some cases such as Portland, to spar with left-wing demonstrators. Their presence has been praised by the Trump administration and criticized by police for escalating tensions. At least a dozen out-of-town conservative journalists and influencers were on the ground in Portland in recent days, according to interviews with some of them and posts on social media. But the ascendant MAGA influencers have the ears of Trump Cabinet members: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met some of them in person Tuesday during a trip to Portland, and on Wednesday, Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel joined the White House roundtable. At one point during the event, Trump directed Sortor and Bondi to confer about a possible investigation related to one of his videos.

New York Times [10/9/2025 1:21 PM, J. David Goodman, 153395K] reports Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, a Republican and the chairman of the National Governors Association, on Thursday criticized the deployment of Texas National Guard troops to Illinois as a violation of his beliefs in federalism and “states’ rights.” His comments, in an interview with The New York Times, marked the first time a Republican governor has questioned the interstate deployment of National Guard troops over a governor’s objections. Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and other Democratic elected officials have been strongly critical of the move and have implored Republican governors to join the opposition. Mr. Stitt on Thursday said, “We believe in the federalist system — that’s states’ rights,” adding, “Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.” Mr. Stitt stressed that he supported President Trump’s efforts to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and ensure “law and order” in cities like Chicago and Portland, Ore. But he worried about the precedent that was being set by the guard deployment and how it could be used by a president from another party. Instead, Mr. Stitt said, Mr. Trump should have moved to federalize the troops in Illinois first.

Reported similarly:
Politico [10/9/2025 4:11 PM, Jacob Wendler, 2100K]

New York Times [10/9/2025 3:03 PM, Stefanos Chen and Winnie Hu, 135475K] reports Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday accused the White House of attempting to “defund the police” by withholding $34 million in antiterrorism and security funding for the New York City subway and regional railroads, stoking a continued feud with the Trump administration. At a news conference at the Lower Manhattan headquarters of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Ms. Hochul admonished the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for withholding money from what she said was the nation’s biggest terrorism target. The governor, a Democrat, also said the Trump administration was targeting New York State for political reasons.

New York Times [10/9/2025 9:41 PM, Benjamin Weiser, 135475K] reports that, ever since President Trump took office, New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, has been suing his administration to block policies that she says threaten access to health care or violate privacy laws and the Constitution. Just nine days ago, her office sued the Department of Homeland Security and its head, Kristi Noem, after it diverted millions in antiterrorism funds from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs New York’s subways, buses and commuter rails. On Oct. 1, a judge temporarily blocked the transfer of money. “My office will never allow this administration to jeopardize New Yorkers’ security,” Ms. James, a Democrat, said. More often, though — almost 40 times since January — Ms. James has been joining other Democratic state attorneys general to form coalitions to sue the Trump administration. In some cases, more than 20 states joined in a single lawsuit. Ms. James’s office says it has led or helped lead 17 of those suits. On Thursday, the Trump Justice Department won an indictment of Ms. James on federal charges related to mortgage paperwork on a home she owns in Virginia. Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics expert at New York University School of Law, said that the charges do not preclude Ms. James from pursuing litigation against Mr. Trump. “Nothing in the ethics rules for lawyers will prevent James from continuing to participate in or lead the group of states that sues the Trump administration,” he said. “Whether or not she does so is up to her and to the other members of the group.” Ms. James’s office has issued a steady stream of news releases announcing the suits and trumpeting her opposition to the president. In one such lawsuit, by a coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia, a judge in July temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s wholesale reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services, which could have led to the firings of thousands of federal health workers. In another, a judge temporarily blocked the Department of Agriculture from demanding that states surrender sensitive personal information about millions of food stamp recipients. Another seeks to block the Trump administration’s efforts to end pediatric transgender care and yet another asks a court to prevent the defunding of Planned Parenthood. In a statement Ms. James issued Thursday after her indictment, she said that while she aggressively fights “these baseless charges,” her office would continue to “fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights.” “And I will continue to do my job,” Ms. James said.

CBS Boston [10/9/2025 5:34 PM, Penny Kmitt, 39474K] reports seven of the 13 protesters accused of fighting with Boston police during a pro-Palestinian rally that turned violent Monday were arraigned Thursday at Boston Municipal Court, with the judge setting high bails for many of them. The protesters were arrested Monday night after the rally, which began at Boston Common, moved into the street and turned violent. Prosecutor Olivia Izzi said protesters blocked the street, stopping traffic and preventing emergency vehicles from getting through. Izzi said they also attacked police officers, injuring four of them. Another protester, Tufts student Roder Atwood, was arraigned Wednesday on charges he struck a police officer in the face, breaking his nose. All seven protesters were charged with inciting a riot and face additional charges, including assault and battery on a police officer and interfering with a police officer. MacIntyre, a student at Emerson College, was also arrested last year during a pro-Palestinian encampment on the school’s campus. Her bail was set at $7,500 by the judge. The judge set high bails for some of the protesters, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000, higher than the prosecution initially asked for. They’ve also been banned from Boston Common and the Public Garden. "If you violate my order, you’ll spend 90 days," the judge told the protesters in court. "To be clear, Emerson College condemns violence in all its forms, including attacks on law enforcement. All Emerson students are expected to uphold College policies and abide by local, state and federal laws within and beyond campus property," the school said in a statement.

FOX News [10/9/2025 7:53 PM, Adam Sabes, 40621K] reports pro-Palestinian agitators accused of being behind a riot Tuesday are now being charged with "promotion of anarchy" after the melee left several officers injured. The Boston Herald reported that the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office on Thursday upgraded charges for all 13 suspects, who are now accused of violating a state law that makes "promotion of anarchy" illegal and is a felony charge, according to court documents. On Tuesday night, between 200 and 300 people participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in downtown Boston that quickly descended into a riot. Thirteen people were arrested after police allege they became violent toward law enforcement officers. A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office told the Herald the upgraded charges come after a Boston Police Department review of posters promoting the so-called protest, which feature a quote from a Hamas spokesperson and a burning police cruiser. "Peace be upon your souls that will one day soar in the skies of your liberated Al Quid’s and Al Aqsa, purified from the defilement of your killers," the poster read, according to police. Because of that, police determined there was probable cause that the group "intended to conduct their rally and march in such a way that it induced fear, caused destruction and disruption, caused injury and promoted anarchy.” Four police officers were injured during the riot. "Further investigation revealed violent imagery and rhetoric used in promotional media for the Oct. 7 incident," the DA’s spokesperson said. "This organizing material promoted violence against police and presented an immediate threat to public safety which, combined with the actions of the individuals arrested, provided clear justification for the enhanced charges.” Boston police said the group "surrounded police cruisers, kicked vehicle doors and resisted dispersal efforts," adding that "several officers were assaulted during this period, including one struck in the face. "As violence escalated," police said, more officers were sent to the area while the agitators "continued to resist dispersal.” Officers reported that the rioters were forcibly removing and damaging their equipment. "During the disturbance, officers reported equipment being forcibly removed or damaged, including body-worn cameras, radios, bicycles and other duty gear," the agency said. Police made arrests for unlawful assembly, violent resistance and obstruction of emergency response efforts, along with a slew of other charges including assault. Osama El Khatib, 26, Roder Atwood, 21, Atalanta Carrig-Braun, 20, Haley MacIntyre, 24, Madeline Weikel, 27, Jacob Pettigrew, 22, Amun Prophet, 25, Laith Hintzman, 19, Benjamin Choucroun, 20, Owen Woodcock, 26, Prahlad Iyengar, 25, Styx Hatch, 19, and Gabrielle Smith, 28, were arrested on Tuesday night. Bail was set on Wednesday and Thursday for those arrested, ranging from $500 to $10,000. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [10/9/2025 8:38 PM, Katie Shepherd and Meagan Flynn, 24149K] reports the nation’s capital stands to lose more than $40 million in homeland security funding, starving programs aimed at responding to terrorist attacks and other emergencies, after the Trump administration moved to slash federal grant funding by 90 percent for the D.C. region. The dramatic funding cuts, which are being challenged in court, are expected to wallop the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency and other emergency response agencies in surrounding Virginia and Maryland counties. The agencies rely heavily on federal homeland security grant money to keep law enforcement and first responders prepared for bomb threats, environmental hazards or mass casualty events, such as the plane-helicopter crash in the Potomac River in January that killed all 67 people on board both crafts. Clint Osborn, director of the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, said the grant funding “provides critical support to prepare for, prevent, and respond to terrorism and other threats in Washington, D.C. and the National Capital Region” and that the city is asking the Trump administration to reverse course. “These funds are vital to the overall emergency preparedness and response capabilities where our threat level remains high, and where events designated as National Special Security Events occur frequently,” Osborn said in a statement. “The District will be requesting to the Trump Administration a full restoration of these potential devastating cuts.” Federal officials have not explained the reason for slashing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant money, which is allocated to the D.C. emergency management agency and then shared with partners across the National Capital Region. However, in an emailed statement, a DHS official said that the cuts aim to spend federal dollars more efficiently. “FEMA is focused on aligning its grant programs with the Trump Administration’s priorities to streamline federal resources and reduce the burden on the American taxpayer,” the statement said. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) joined 11 other states with Democratic governors in filing a federal lawsuit Sept. 29 seeking to block the grant cuts, claiming that they appeared to target Democratic jurisdictions that had “sanctuary city” laws on the books limiting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while other red states saw large boosts in funding. A federal judge in Rhode Island granted a temporary restraining order on Sept., 30, pausing the cuts and leaving the future of the security funding in limbo as the case moves forward. “The point is that these are dollars that Congress has appropriated and allocated for particular causes and needs of residents across the country, including D.C. residents,” Schwalb told Washington Post after a community forum Tuesday. “And they’re not connected to immigration. They’re not connected to other conditions. And to cut those dollars or to put conditions on those dollars violates a variety of constitutional and legal principles, so that’s what we’re standing up for in these lawsuits.” New York, which joined the lawsuit, was among the jurisdictions facing massive homeland security grant funding cuts, projected to lose $187 million in counterterrorism funds covering the New York City metropolitan area. However, after appeals from the New York governor and congress members representing the state, the Trump administration reversed course and restored the funding.

AP [10/9/2025 7:30 PM, Gary Fields, 2416K] reports more than half the states contributing National Guard troops to President Donald Trump’s federal law enforcement initiative in Washington have set target dates for their withdrawal later this fall, state officials told The Associated Press. The dates, in late October and November, could be extended and it is not immediately clear when the other three states will remove their troops. But the planned withdrawals signal that the surge of troops into the nation’s capital may headed toward a draw down or changing in scope. The plans by the contributing states come as Trump takes his push to send the military to other American cities, including Chicago and Portland, Oregon, which have each pushed back with legal action to try to stop any deployment. The National Guard was activated in D.C. in August after Trump issued an executive order proclaiming an emergency over what the Republican president said were crime concerns. The order placed the local police department under the president’s authority for 30 days and then lapsed when Congress did not renew it. But roughly 2,300 Guard members from eight states, as well as D.C., and hundreds of federal law enforcement officers remained in the city. According to official figures, more than 4,000 people have been arrested as part of the campaign since August. Authorities in Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia all told The Associated Press they had a planned end date for their deployments. The other states with troops in D.C. — Alabama, Louisiana and South Dakota — did not respond to requests seeking information. South Carolina, which initially sent 200 troops and now has about 40, said it plans to withdraw by the end of October, according to Maj. Karla Evans, South Carolina Guard spokesperson. Ohio, Georgia, Mississippi and West Virginia said they planned to remove their troops by Nov. 30. The five states together make up more than 80% of the 1,300 out of state troops deployed to D.C. The D.C. National Guard deployment is made up of around 1,000 forces and have had their orders extended at least through December. Asked about the planned withdrawals, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said Trump’s law enforcement campaign in the capital had led to a reduction in crime. "These are undeniable positive results that everyone can celebrate.”

AP [10/10/2025 1:29 AM, Christine Fernando and Sudhin Thanawala, 30493K] reports National Guard troops were expected Friday to begin patrolling in Memphis, a day after a federal judge in Illinois blocked the deployment of troops in the Chicago area for at least two weeks. The on-again, off-again deployments are the result of a political and legal battle over President Donald Trump’s push to send the National Guard to several U.S. cities. His administration claims crime is rampant in those cities, despite statistics not always backing that up. If a president invokes the Insurrection Act, they can dispatch active duty military in states that fail to put down an insurrection or defy federal law, but the judge in Chicago said Thursday she found no substantial evidence that a “danger of rebellion” is brewing in Illinois during Trump’s immigration crackdown. The ruling offered a victory for Democratic officials who lead the state and city. “The court confirmed what we all know: There is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. In Tennessee, where Republican Gov. Bill Lee supports the deployment, the troops are expected to serve as “additional eyes and ears” across Memphis, supporting local, state and federal agencies, according to a city website. The order in Illinois is set to expire Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m. U.S. District Judge April Perry set an Oct. 22 hearing to determine if it should be extended for another 14 days. In her ruling, she said the administration violated the 10th Amendment, which grants certain powers to states, and the 14th Amendment, which assures due process and equal protection. It wasn’t clear what the 500 Guard members from Texas and Illinois would do next. They were mostly stationed at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago. A small number on Thursday were outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, which for weeks has been home to occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents. Officials at U.S. Northern Command directed questions to the Department of Defense, which cited its policy of not commenting on ongoing litigation. The troops are under the U.S. Northern Command and had been activated for 60 days. U.S. Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton had said Thursday that the Guard’s mission would be to protect federal properties and government law enforcers in the field, not “solving all of crime in Chicago.” The city and state have called the deployments unnecessary and illegal. Also Thursday, a federal appeals court heard arguments over whether Trump had the authority to take control of 200 Oregon National Guard troops. The president had planned to deploy them in Portland, where there have been mostly small nightly protests outside an ICE building. A judge on Sunday granted a temporary restraining order blocking the move. Trump had mobilized California troops for Portland just hours after the judge first blocked him from using Oregon’s Guard. Two dozen other states with a Democratic attorney general or governor signed a court filing in support of the legal challenge by California and Oregon. Twenty others, led by Iowa, backed the Trump administration. Chicago’s federal court issued other decisions this week related to immigration enforcement. In one, a judge said immigration agents have repeatedly violated a 2022 consent decree outlining how ICE can make so-called warrantless arrests. That decree requires ICE to show documentation for each arrest it makes for people besides those being targeted.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [10/9/2025 3:31 PM, Emily Cochrane, 135475K]

Washington Post [10/10/2025 5:01 AM, Perry Stein, 32099K] reports in recent days, a Trump-appointed judge in Oregon declared the president’s decision to send the National Guard to Portland was “simply untethered to the facts.” In Tennessee, an Obama-appointed judge ruled that Kilmar Abrego García had presented enough evidence to pursue a rare claim of “vindictive prosecution.” On Thursday, Judge April M. Perry in Chicago, appointed by President Joe Biden, said she had seen a “lack of credibility” from the Department of Homeland Security. Affidavits from the agency’s officials, “point to the arrest of people who did not actually commit a crime. That undercuts the persuasive value of your argument,” she told attorneys for the administration. As those admonishments have rained down from federal judges, White House officials have responded with increasingly fervid rhetoric. In response to the Portland ruling, which blocked President Donald Trump from deploying the National Guard in the city, the president’s top domestic policy aide, Stephen Miller, went on social media to accuse Judge Karin J. Immergut of engaging in a “legal insurrection.” The intensity of the recent exchanges speak to the growing exasperation felt by many judges. And the provocative language has evoked concerns that the White House might decide to defy courts that block his decisions. Attorney General Pam Bondi told the Senate earlier this week that the Justice Department has not defied court orders. Miller’s heated rhetoric, however, suggests the White House may see the situation differently.

NewsMax [10/9/2025 1:49 PM, Jim Mishler, 4109K] reports that federal prosecutors will not turn over internal communications between the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, or the White House in the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, arguing the materials are privileged and not required under court rules. The filing comes in response to an order from a federal judge allowing limited discovery into his claim of vindictive prosecution in which his defense argues the charges were brought in retaliation for his lawsuit over wrongful deportation earlier this year. In a seven-page status report filed Wednesday, Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire said the government has already provided investigative reports from Homeland Security Investigations and an affidavit outlining his decision to pursue charges. McGuire maintained that he alone made the call to prosecute and that no outside official — including anyone from the White House — directed or pressured him to do so. Prosecutors said they would submit several additional items, including the resignation letter of former Criminal Division Chief Ben Schrader, who reportedly quit over concerns the case was politically motivated, and a supplemental affidavit confirming McGuire had no contact with senior federal or foreign officials about the prosecution. The Justice Department emphasized that any emails or texts among senior officials about Abrego Garcia’s case would fall under executive, deliberative-process, or attorney work-product privileges, and insisted the scope of the court’s demand for documents should remain narrow.

ABC News [10/9/2025 7:36 PM, Laura Romero, 30493K] reports the Department of Homeland Security said it now plans to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Ghana, according to a notice from the agency to his attorneys. DHS previously said it was planning to deport Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported to El Salvador and then brought back to the U.S., to Eswatini and Uganda. Attorneys for Abrego Garcia will be in court on Friday for an evidentiary hearing in which government witnesses are expected to testify about the steps taken to remove him to Eswatini or elsewhere. Last week, an immigration judge denied a motion by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys to reopen his immigration case.

AP [10/10/2025 12:04 AM, Travis Loller, 31753K] reports federal judges in two states on Friday will consider challenges to the government’s treatment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation to El Salvador galvanized opposition to President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration policy and mass deportation agenda. In Maryland, Abrego Garcia has challenged efforts to re-deport him to a third country after the government admitted that a previous order prevents his deportation to his home country of El Salvador. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said recently that it plans to deport him to the southern African country of Eswatini. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has ordered government officials to testify Friday about what steps they have taken to remove Abrego Garcia to Eswatini or any other country. His attorneys have charged that the Republican administration is trying to illegally use the immigration system to punish Abrego Garcia after the embarrassment of his mistaken deportation. Meanwhile, attorneys in criminal court in Tennessee have made similar claims about human smuggling charges brought against Abrego Garcia in June, on the same day he was returned to the U.S. from El Salvador. The Tennessee judge has concluded that Abrego Garcia’s prosecution may be an illegal retaliation after he successfully sued the Trump administration over his deportation. The smuggling charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. He was not charged at the time, and agents did not begin investigating the stop until earlier this year after Abrego Garcia’s wife sued over his deportation. The Friday hearing will determine what types of documents Abrego Garcia’s attorneys can pursue in discovery to try to prove their retaliation case. Trump administration officials have waged a relentless public relations campaign against Abrego Garcia, repeatedly referring to him as a member of the MS-13 gang, among other things, despite the fact that he has not been convicted of any crimes.

NewsMax [10/9/2025 9:37 PM, Michael Katz, 4109K] reports the Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned eight people and 12 Mexico-based companies affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction, which has been accused of being responsible for a large share of deadly drugs trafficked into the U.S. The network has been accused of supplying fentanyl precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel, which President Donald Trump in a January executive order declared a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist group. "Our investigation and the resulting Treasury [Department] sanctions demonstrate our unwavering commitment to dismantling the Sinaloa Cartel, a violent criminal enterprise responsible for trafficking fentanyl, precursor chemicals and other deadly drugs into the United States," Michael McCarthy, special agent in charge of the Newark, New Jersey, office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, said Thursday in a news release. "By targeting the cartel’s financial networks, HSI and our law enforcement partners strike at the very core of their operations, disrupting their capacity to harm communities and underscoring that those who threaten our national security will be held fully accountable," McCarthy said. Among the companies sanctioned by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control was Sumilab, a Mexican chemical and laboratory equipment company accused of supplying precursor chemicals to Sinaloa Cartel members and associates. The department said Sumilab, run by the Favela Lopez family, was first sanctioned in May 2023 under its counternarcotics authorities. In addition to Sumilab, the Department of the Treasury said the Favela Lopez family operates a network of chemical, laboratory, and agriculture-related companies, including seven others sanctioned by OFAC: Agrolaren, Viand, Favelab, Favela Pro, Fagalab, Qui Lab, and Storelab. "Over 500,000 Americans have died of fentanyl poisoning," John Hurley, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Monday in a news release. "President Trump has made clear that stopping the deadly flow of drugs into our country is a top national security priority. Under Secretary [Scott] Bessent’s leadership, the Treasury Department is committed to dismantling the complex financial networks that support these terrorist organizations.” OFAC also sanctioned Martha Emilia Conde Uraga, known as "Martita," a longtime cartel-affiliated chemical broker operating in and around Culiacán, Mexico. She and her family allegedly run several businesses under sanction, including the chemical and industrial cleaning companies Viosma and Prolimph, the health company Salud, and the real estate firm Roco.

CNN [10/9/2025 12:48 PM, Alejandra Jaramillo, 606K] reports that the White House on Thursday dismissed Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s allegation that the most recent US strike in the Caribbean may have targeted a Colombian vessel, saying the claim is "baseless and reprehensible." "The United States looks forward to President Petro publicly retracting his baseless and reprehensible statement so that we can return to a productive dialogue on building a strong, prosperous future for the people of United States and Colombia," a White House official said in a statement to CNN. "Despite policy differences with the current government, Colombia remains an essential strategic partner. We are committed to close cooperation on a range of shared priorities, including regional security and stability, and we remain engaged in efforts that improve the lives of Americans and Colombians alike," the official added. The South American leader made the assertion in a post on X on Wednesday. "Indications show that the last boat bombed was Colombian with Colombian citizens inside it," Petro wrote without providing details or evidence of his claim. "The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean." Responding to the White House Wednesday, Petro said the US should provide details about the people killed in the recent attack. "The White House should give us information on the people who have died from US missiles, to know if my information is unfounded," Petro said on X.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [10/9/2025 3:23 PM, Filip Timotija, 12595K]

Breitbart [10/9/2025 4:34 PM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2416K] reports far-left President of Colombia Gustavo Petro on Wednesday claimed that the drug-laden vessel struck by the U.S. military in Caribbean international waters last week was "Colombian with Colombian citizens on board," prompting the White House to refute his claims. The White House urged Petro to publicly retract his "baseless and reprehensible" statement — eliciting another rant from the far-left president. Petro has not retracted his statements at press time. On Wednesday, Petro claimed in a social media post that there were "indications" that the latest struck drug-vessel was "Colombian with Colombian citizens inside." Petro published the message as a quote to a post published by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) announcing that he, alongside Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), would be forcing a vote to block President Trump’s use of U.S. armed forces to conduct drug-fighting operations in Caribbean waters. The legislation was voted down on Wednesday evening, with 48 yays against 51 nays.

AP [10/9/2025 5:39 PM, Astrid Suárez, 2983K] reports that Colombian President Gustavo Petro proposed Thursday that Qatar could serve as "mediator" so that the United States would end its military deployment in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, where it has attacked small boats it says were carrying drugs. Petro’s comments while on a trip to Brussels came a day after he said, without offering evidence, that Colombians may have been aboard the last boat the U.S. military destroyed in the Caribbean. The Trump administration has reported sinking four small boats allegedly carrying drugs. Petro noted that Qatar is a proven mediator in tense situations, so would probably be successful in getting the United States to "cease the aggression with missiles" in the Caribbean Sea. Qatar’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposal. The U.S. disputed Petro’s comments about Colombians being aboard the boat and wants him to publicly retract them, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Regarding the suggestion of involving Qatar, the official said that despite policy differences, the U.S. considers Colombia an essential strategic partner and the U.S. remains committed to close cooperation with Colombia on shared priorities. Last Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the strike on a small boat he accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela. He said the strike killed four men but offered no details on who they were or what group they belonged to.

AP [10/9/2025 8:28 PM, Staff, 19051K] reports Venezuela’s government on Thursday requested an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council focused on the U.S. military actions in recent weeks in the waters off the South American country. Venezuela made the request in a letter addressed to Russia’s ambassador to the U.N. and council president, Vassily Nebenzia, that accused the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump of seeking to topple Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and threatening “peace, security and stability regionally and internationally.” Maduro’s government also expressed its expectation of an “armed attack” against Venezuela in “a very short time.” The request came a day after members of Congress voted down legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to use deadly military force against drug traffickers. So far, the U.S. military has carried four deadly strikes in the Caribbean since it increased its maritime forces for what for what Trump has declared an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. Maduro’s government, however, maintains that the White House is using drug trafficking only as an excuse for the operation. “The ulterior motive remains the same as that which has characterized the United States of America’s actions toward Venezuela for more than 26 years: to advance its ‘regime change’ policies in order to seize control of the vast natural resources found in Venezuelan territory,” Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.N., wrote in the letter. Venezuela’s request does not mention the nationalities of the 21 people killed in the four strikes on boats that the U.S. has claimed to have been carrying drugs. But in mentioning the four strikes, Venezuela’s government offered the clearest acknowledgment yet of the first attack, which it initially doubted by arguing that a video Trump released showing the attack had been created with artificial intelligence. The Trump administration has said three of the targeted boats set out to sea from Venezuela. Russia has long been an ally of Venezuela.

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [10/9/2025 10:27 PM, Staff, 4109K]

Wall Street Journal [10/9/2025 8:00 AM, Juan Forero and Vera Bergengruen, 646K] reports a big U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and strikes on alleged drug boats are putting heavy pressure on Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro to find a way to appease President Trump. It isn’t working. Maduro has sent Trump a letter promising to produce data showing his country doesn’t traffic drugs. He has accepted thousands of Venezuelan migrants from the U.S., after rejecting the idea under former President Joe Biden. And he has asked Pope Leo XIV to “help Venezuela preserve peace and stability,” noting his country faces history’s greatest power. This week, the regime claimed it was protecting the closed U.S. Embassy in Caracas from assault, without saying who could be responsible. So far, the Trump administration has rejected the entreaties, continuing with attacks on alleged drug boats and openly displaying a naval buildup that hasn’t been seen in the Caribbean in decades. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and officials in the White House have characterized Maduro as an illegitimate president with no future in America’s backyard. Some top U.S. officials have been advocating for an operation to remove Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela with an iron hand since 2013, administration officials and people familiar with the deliberations said. And Trump himself has told reporters he is willing to resume the strikes on boats, at least four of which have been reported since the start of September. Rubio has called the Venezuelan regime a cartel flooding the U.S. with cocaine—an assertion the U.S. has made while doubling a bounty on Maduro’s head to $50 million. Trump has “made clear he’s not going to allow cartels, that cartel or any other cartel, to operate with impunity in our hemisphere,” the secretary of state told Fox News last month. In response to the rhetoric from Washington and the deployment of American warships, Maduro and his top lieutenants have assured their followers that Venezuela’s military is in a state of readiness. On Wednesday, Maduro said on social media that militia members and the armed forces were activated to protect two strategically important states, La Guaira and Carabobo.

FOX News [10/9/2025 10:09 AM, Alex Nitzberg, 40621K] reports that in a 51-48 vote, most Senate Republicans successfully slapped down a motion to discharge a measure aimed at putting the kibosh on President Donald Trump’s practice of unilaterally ordering strikes against vessels he alleges were ferrying drugs. Two Senate Republicans, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted with Democrats in support of the motion to discharge the joint resolution from the Committee on Foreign Relations, but the motion failed to pass. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only member of his party to join Republicans in voting against the discharge motion. "Fully support confronting the scourge of cartel drug trafficking to our nation," Fetterman said in a post on X last month. The text of the proposal reads, in part, "Congress hereby directs the President to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces for hostilities against any organization designated on or after February 20, 2025, as a foreign terrorist organization or specially designated global terrorist, any states in which those entities operate, or any non-state organization engaged in the promotion, trafficking, and distribution of illegal drugs and other related activities, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force.” Last month Trump announced several strikes against vessels, each of which he said resulted in the killing of "narcoterrorists."

FOX News [10/9/2025 9:16 AM, Alexander Hall, 40621K] reports after country singer Zach Bryan teased a new song condemning ICE raids, the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] responded by using one of his past hits in a recruitment video. Bryan previewed a new song, "Bad News," in an Instagram post that quickly went viral. The song includes lyrics lamenting "the fading of the red, white and blue," and that "ICE is gonna come bust down your door." John Rich, a fellow country music star famous for the smash-hit "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" was one of many who derided the song, joking that "Nashville is full of guys like this." Others on social media argued this was Bryan’s "Bud Light moment," comparing it to when numerous conservative consumers fled from the brand after it associated with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. But the official DHS account on X shared an especially barbed retort, writing, "We’re having an All Night Revival" and using Bryan’s song "Revival" to make a recruitment video showing armored law enforcement mobilizing and cracking down on masked rioters, taking people away in handcuffs. The recruitment video drew massive reaction from supporters of ICE and condemnation from left-wing accounts on the X platform.

The Hill [10/9/2025 10:29 AM, Tara Suter, 12595K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) saw the biggest jump in public approval among a group of federal agencies in the past year, a new Gallup poll found. In the new Gallup poll, 42 percent of respondents said the job being done by the DHS was either “excellent” or “good.” Last year, 32 percent of respondents said the same about the department. Twenty-three percent in the Gallup poll said the job being done by the DHS was “only fair,” while 33 percent called the DHS’s job “poor.” The jump in approval rating for the DHS is notable amid the backdrop of the Trump administration’s heavy crackdown on immigration within the past year. On Tuesday, the department touted a 55-year low in Border Patrol apprehensions. “For too long, agents and officers were handcuffed by failed policies. Today they are empowered to do their jobs – and the result is the lowest apprehensions in more than five decades, and the most secure border in modern history,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a Tuesday press release. The Gallup poll found a big drop in approval for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The percentage polled between 2024 and 2025 who perceived FEMA as doing an “excellent” or “good job” fell from 46 percent to 26 percent.

Politico [10/9/2025 8:22 PM, Daniel Lippman, 2100K] reports in late July, Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando with a lower-ranking female colleague and others from their department. When the group reached the front desk, the woman learned she didn’t have a hotel room. Ingrassia then informed her that she would be staying with him, according to five administration officials familiar with the episode. Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him, three of those officials said. The woman, a fellow Trump appointee, initially protested the room arrangement. But, not wanting to cause more of a scene around other colleagues, she relented, according to the officials. So the two, who knew each other previously as friends, went to the room and slept in separate beds. Ingrassia’s attorney said no last-minute changes were made to the hotel reservations. What’s not disputed is that the two ended up sharing a room on the business trip, and that it resulted in an official investigation. The fallout from the incident has been the talk of the upper echelons of DHS ever since. It adds to a swirl of controversy surrounding Ingrassia, a 30-year-old conservative lawyer and activist who is President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which deals with federal employee whistleblower complaints and discrimination claims. Ingrassia would be two decades younger and less experienced than recent leaders of the agency. Ingrassia’s female colleague filed a human resources complaint against him before retracting it days later, fearing retaliation, according to three of the officials. However, five administration officials told POLITICO she complained to them that Ingrassia was making her feel uncomfortable and that it was hurting her ability to do her job.

Bloomberg [10/9/2025 6:00 AM, Staff, 18207K] reports with America’s global leadership in scientific innovation facing unprecedented competition, getting high-skilled immigration right should be a top priority in Washington. The first task for the White House is to get out of its own way. The administration sparked fear and confusion last month by announcing that it would impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas — temporary work permits designed for college-educated foreigners. There’s an element of bluster to the new policy: It only applies to new applicants outside the country, allows for certain exemptions and, in any case, expires in a year. Nevertheless, it threatens to discourage companies from investing in the US, lest they’re blindsided by other haphazard and costly changes that impact their workforce. Health care, education and religious organizations are challenging the fees in court. The White House says it’s aiming to stamp out “large-scale abuse” of the H-1B program. The problem is real. For the past two decades, the government has issued these highly coveted visas using a lottery system. Taking advantage of weak oversight of wage rules, IT and consulting companies have flooded the pool with lower-paid applicants — submitting multiple petitions for a single worker, at times for jobs that don’t exist. Fortune 500 companies then hire these firms to provide low-cost staff for back-office work, some of whom later transfer that business overseas. At the same time, these companies are crowding out more deserving applicants. Because visas are capped at 85,000 annually, with some exemptions, thousands of talented workers get turned away every year simply for lack of better luck. Employers say the shortage of skilled labor is slowing advancements in critical fields including artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology. The answer, however, isn’t to make the H-1B program — to borrow a phrase from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — so “uneconomical” that it’s abandoned altogether. The White House would be wiser to scrap the new fee entirely, as the Chamber of Commerce and others have argued.

Telemundo Amarillo [10/9/2025 6:37 PM, Darnell Crenshaw, 4K] reports an attorney and family members of Santos Eliberto Beanegas Reyes in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, are demanding to know how the immigrant died 18 hours after being in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. An attorney now handling the case told local station WKYT that he expects full transparency from the jail where the immigrant was held, in addition to the autopsy and toxicology reports conducted after the 42-year-old man died in September. On September 17, ICE agents arrested Reyes, a day laborer, outside a store on Long Island, New York. ICE officials say he passed a check and was ready for detention, but he was found dead in his cell 18 hours later. An ICE statement reported that the preliminary cause of death was liver failure complicated by alcoholism. Oscar Michelen, Reyes’s lawyer, questioned the medical examination process. “So this raises another question. If that’s the case, then why did they overlook his severe liver failure, which caused his death overnight?” Michelen said.

The Hill [10/9/2025 11:17 AM, Ashleigh Fields, 12595K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin on Wednesday defended an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who shot a pastor with a pepper ball from a rooftop, after a video of the incident went viral this week. Videos of the Sept. 19 incident, which circulated widely Wednesday on social media, showed the Rev. David Black of the First Presbyterian Church being struck in the head by an officer outside an ICE processing facility in a Chicago suburb. It stoked anger toward federal officers who have been deployed to the city by President Trump. "What this clipped video doesn’t show is that these agitators were blocking an ICE vehicle from leaving the federal facility—impeding operations," McLaughlin wrote in a lengthy statement on social platform X. "Over and over again, law enforcement ordered these agitators to move off of federal property so the vehicle could move. Law enforcement verbally warned these agitators that they would use force if they did not move and stop impeding operations. They did not comply," she added. McLaughlin accused demonstrators of throwing rocks, bottles and launching fireworks at the law enforcement agents on the roof. However, in the recorded clip, Black could be seen gazing at officers with open hands prior to being shot by a pepper ball.

Daily Caller [10/9/2025 11:17 AM, Mark Tanos, 835K] reports that a Virginia judge sentenced a contractor to 30 years in prison Tuesday for raping an 11-year-old girl whose family hired him to renovate their bathroom, according to a local report. Ricardo Mejia, a citizen of El Salvador who was in the United States illegally, allegedly raped the child three times after gaining access to the Virginia Beach home where he was working. The Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office confirmed Wednesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued a detainer for Mejia, WTKR reported. The crimes came to light Oct. 9 when the victim’s parents heard noises from their daughter’s bedroom around 2:30 a.m, according to the outlet. They found the door locked and used a butter knife to force it open. Inside, they saw a naked man climbing out the window, WTKR reported, citing court records. Ricardo Mejia, a citizen of El Salvador, will serve his 30-year sentence for the rape of an 11-year-old girl here in the Virginia Department of Corrections, after which he will be transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A Virginia Beach jury convicted Mejia on three counts of rape of a child under 13 and one count of breaking and entering. "I know I am not the only one experiencing hard times," Mejia said during sentencing, according to the outlet. "I’m sorry for the pain she is going through in this process." The Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office (VBSO) ran a routine query on Mejia because he was born outside the United States, which triggered the ICE detainer. After serving his 30-year sentence in Virginia, authorities will transfer Mejia to ICE custody.

Blaze [10/9/2025 3:55 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1442K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer against an illegal alien who killed a college student in a hit-and-run accident and received a light prison sentence, Blaze News has exclusively learned. On April 2, Rosali I. Fernandez-Cruz, a 24-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador, was driving his pickup truck when he struck and killed Nathaniel Baker, a 21-year-old University of South Carolina student, who was riding his motorcycle in Richland County, South Carolina. Fernandez-Cruz, who illegally entered the U.S. through the Mexico border in December 2016, fled the scene of the crash without attempting to administer aid. Three of the four charges against Fernandez-Cruz were ultimately dropped, including failure to render aid, failure to yield right of way, and driving without a license. He pleaded guilty to hit-and-run resulting in death and was sentenced to just one year in prison. He was also given credit for 131 days of time served. Fernandez-Cruz’s scheduled release is set for March 2026. A Department of Homeland Security press release revealed that ICE has lodged a detainer against Fernandez-Cruz to ensure that he is deported following the completion of his prison sentence. An immigration judge issued a final order of removal in 2018.

Chicago Tribune [10/9/2025 7:16 PM, Molly Morrow, 4829K] reports as a federal immigration crackdown ramps up in the Chicago area, a few dozen people gathered on Thursday afternoon in downtown Aurora to protest immigration enforcement activity in the area. Chants in Spanish and English rang out in front of the City Hall building, as cars driving along Downer Place honked their horns. Some protestors held signs, with messages like "ICE is kidnapping your neighbors" and "Be loud for those who have to stay silent." Earlier on Thursday, state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, in a Facebook post, said that there had been several federal immigration officer sightings in the Aurora area that day. On Thursday morning, there were federal officers present on Aurora’s East Side, around New York Street and Madison Street, according to a spokesperson from the Aurora Police Department.

NewsMax [10/9/2025 7:34 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K] reports black Chicagoans are cheering the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and National Guard troops, reports Breitbart. An X user by the name of Danielle Carter who says she’s the wife of a retired Chicago police officer on Wednesday called for local Democrats to be "held accountable" for their "unconstitutional sanctuary city policies" that are "aiding and abetting illegal alien criminals, and allowing lawlessness in our communities.” "If that were my husband out there risking his life under these conditions, and something happened to him, and I later found out there were stand-down orders, I would not hesitate to prosecute every one of these officials to the fullest extent of the law. That’s exactly why we’re demanding a full investigation. Because we know that if the @CivilRights, @FBIDirectorKash, and @IRS_CI come in, they’ll uncover massive fraud, corruption, and abuse that’s been hidden from the public for far too long," she said. Another woman on X said Americans "love what Trump is doing.” "If Troops are sent to my city to make it safe, I welcome it," she said in a post. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that ICE is set to expand its footprint in Chicago. "We’re going to not back off," she said at a cabinet meeting led by Trump. "We’re doubling down, and we’re going to be in more parts of Chicago." "What they’re trying to do with these riots and violence is distract us and keep us from going after those murderers and rapists that are out in the streets," Noem said.

NewsNation [10/9/2025 12:38 PM, Brónagh Tumulty, 8017K] reports that the daughter of a man detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and then defamed online is speaking out, saying he’s been painted as a sexual predator with a violent past when he has no criminal history. "We are being targeted right now, and it’s sad," said Tania Ramos, talking about her dad, Columbino, whom she hasn’t seen in weeks. "I am hoping that he boards his removal flight very soon because I just don’t want him in there, detained any more, or suffering." Ramos said her father has been in America undocumented for many years, making a living for his loved ones by collecting scrap metal for resale. Last month, he got a call to pick up some scrap metal on the 5700 block of North Harlem in Norwood Park. When he arrived, ICE agents were waiting for him. Believing him to be someone else, agents took him anyway. "He was basically set up. There were no alleys, no sights of metal or anything like that," Ramos said. Brought to the Broadview facility for processing, Ramos said her father voluntarily signed removal papers to go back to Guatemala as a result of numerous health issues. Ramos noted that her father had been bounced around the country, instead, from facility to facility, across five states.

Axios [10/9/2025 7:19 AM, Carrie Shepherd, 12972K] reports it’s not just politicians. Some local businesses and individuals are showing their resistance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol officers in Chicago. From grocery shopping to sharing alerts about ICE’s presence, some Chicagoans have stepped in to help immigrants who are too fearful to leave their house for work, school and grocery shopping. Organizations such as Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and The Resurrection Project (TRP) are utilizing their organizing expertise to funnel responses in a coordinated way, TRP’s Andrew Herrera tells Axios.

NewsNation [10/9/2025 8:53 AM, Julian Crews, 8017K] reports a pair of U.S. citizens say they were unlawfully maced and arrested Tuesday afternoon in south suburban Forest Park after attempting to help a struggling man on the Des Plaines River. Witnesses say United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were trying to persuade the unidentified man in the river to surrender, but not before the agents clashed with a group of concerned Concordia Cemetery workers. "We thought he was in harm’s way because he was in the river and we’re trying to see what’s going on," said cemetery worker Daniel Greer. "Once they breached the gate, they pepper-sprayed us immediately, with their guns drawn, and then proceeded to tackle us onto the ground," added cemetery worker David Eichler. In a cell phone video obtained by NewsNation affiliate WGN-TV, federal agents appear to order Concordia Cemetery workers to open the cemetery gate onto private property to pursue a man in the Des Plaines River. WGN-TV reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment, but has not yet received a response as of the time of publication. It is currently unknown whether the cemetery workers involved will face charges in connection with the incident on Tuesday. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Axios [10/9/2025 7:20 AM, Justin Kaufmann, 12972K] reports President Trump’s baseless threats to jail Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have thrust law enforcement to the forefront of the battle over immigration enforcement in Chicago. Trump’s attack comes after a Chicago police dispatch call seemingly instructed officers to stand down after ICE agents called for backup as protesters surrounded them after they shot a woman in Brighton Park Saturday. CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling threw cold water on it earlier this week, saying the order was never given. Chicago police were confirmed to be on the scene. That didn’t stop the Chicago police union’s board from issuing a vote of "no confidence" against Chicago chief of patrol Jon Hein. "You can’t be pro-police when you need something, and then anti when it’s politically advantageous," Snelling said on Monday, blasting the police union for the vote.

Breitbart [10/9/2025 8:51 AM, Bob Price, 2416K] reports Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez, a Democrat, says rhetoric from the Illinois governor and the Chicago mayor are pushing the city and country to a dangerous place. He added that the anti-ICE radicals are showing why the deployment of National Guard Soldiers is necessary. "The politics of this city and of hyper progressive liberalism is bringing us closer to the brink with an escalation that I don’t think any of us truly wants to see," Alderman Lopez said in a New York Post interview. "The governor, the mayor, with a wink and a nod, told everyone to protest peacefully. And we’ve seen the exact opposite unfold.". He said the mayor and governor are playing "a game of chicken with other people’s lives." Lopez told the Post that actions like the Chicago Police Department ordering officers not to answer federal agents’ calls for assistance, a claim the city denies, caused the decision by President Donald Trump to deploy National Guard soldiers to the Windy City, calling it a "fore-drawn conclusion.". "If we’re not going to allow law enforcement to protect [ICE] and keep the peace with our residents, then the president of the United States most definitely is going to take that action," the south-side alderman told the Post. "We cannot have our our citizenry thinking that they can take up arms against the federal government and suffer no consequences.". He emphasized that the city needs a common-sense approach to taking its worst criminals into custody. He added that the city should coordinate with the federal government to "surgically" remove them. "We are making the case as to why we need the National Guard now more than ever, with people choosing to try to attack federal law enforcement agents here in the city of Chicago," Lopez stated.

Chicago Tribune [10/9/2025 4:59 PM, Michelle L. Quinn, 4829K] reports immigration authorities stepped up their action in Northwest Indiana Thursday with a more visible presence in Lake County. In Hammond, city officials told ICE agents attempting to stage an operation in that city’s police department parking lot were asked to leave while in East Chicago, multiple videos circulated on social media of presumed immigration authorities taking people into custody in a bakery and a parking lot. The city of Hammond asked ICE agents to leave the parking lot, Mayor Tom McDermott announced Thursday morning. Officials have confirmed that the blitz includes Lake County, Indiana.

AP [10/9/2025 1:10 PM, Ryan J. Foley and Hannah Fingerhut, 19051K] reports that three months into his tenure leading Des Moines public schools, Ian Roberts asked the district’s board for emergency approval of $116,000 in contracts. The agreements to provide training on "culturally responsive coaching," the superintendent said, had to be approved within days. But the district’s procurement manager discovered one contract was earmarked for a company that marketed Roberts as a consultant and speaker, sold his books and helped raise his profile, an Associated Press investigation found. Finance officials warned Roberts that contracting with Kansas City-based Lively Paradox would be a conflict of interest, and Roberts canceled the special board meeting he’d requested in September 2023. Since his arrest last month by immigration agents, the public has grappled with how Roberts became a longtime superintendent despite allegedly lacking authorization to work in the U.S., having a history of criminal charges and touting falsified credentials. The AP found that as Roberts’ profile in education rose, his connection with Lively Paradox and its founder Nicole Price became rewarding during a period when many organizations championed diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Blurring the line between his public and private jobs, the investigation found tens of thousands of dollars in contracts were awarded to Price from school districts where Roberts held leadership posts. Roberts, who remains in federal custody, has defended his outside work as helping transform education. His attorney declined comment.

NewsNation [10/9/2025 12:45 PM, Amy Larson, 8017K] reports that detectives found a suspected human sex trafficking operation inside a San Jose hotel and arrested three suspects, according to the San Jose Police Department. Investigators searched Caravelle Inn on North First Street on October 1. "Detectives determined that an elaborate sex trafficking operation was occurring at the location, involving hotel staff and multiple survivors who were being housed there on a long-term basis." Three people allegedly responsible for the illicit operation were arrested on suspicion of pimping, pandering, and conspiracy. The trio was identified by SJPD as: Cong Tien Nguyen, 62, Qi Hong, 45, and Rizaldy Mariano, 50. While serving a search warrant, detectives found $30,000 in cash. The police department’s Human Trafficking Task Force found six victims who were provided with resources. Two adults were cited and released for solicitation. SJPD said its investigation was triggered by several tips from the public reporting Caravelle Inn. The hotel is located near San Jose Mineta International Airport. City officials are working to ensure that all illicit activities and blight associated with the area around the hotel are permanently addressed, SJPD spokesperson Stacie Shih said. The Caravelle Inn investigation is part of SJPD’s broader strategy for cracking down on human trafficking in advance of Super Bowl LX, which will be hosted at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Houston Chronicle [10/9/2025 12:37 PM, Julian Aguilar and Matt deGrood, 2983K] reports that a Mexican woman whose family asked Houston police for help during a mental-health episode has been deported after authorities took her to the county jail instead of a hospital. Reyna González Ortega was deported earlier this month after she was ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge. She was initially held at the Harris County jail in early July after she was charged with assault. She was later transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody because she lacked legal status. Her husband, Luis Medrano, confirmed the family followed González Ortega to the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. "I had to come with her because she’s still sick," Medrano told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday. He added, however, that his wife has access to medication, which the family said she didn’t have in detention. They are still searching for a doctor in Mexico, he added. Medrano was also living in the United States without authorization; he said they are in contact with an attorney to see if they can eventually return, though he’s not sure what options are available. During a news conference last month, Medrano said the family called Houston police seeking help taking González Ortega to a medical facility for treatment. González Ortega suffers from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety. A spokesperson for the ICE field office in Houston said González Ortega had a "violent criminal history," citing her arrest. "The Trump administration places the safety of U.S. citizens first and is not going to allow a dangerous criminal alien with a documented history of violence and no legal basis to remain in the country to remain in the country and endanger public safety," the spokesperson said.

Univision Austin [10/9/2025 1:03 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports that the Killeen Independent School District reported that it cooperated with ICE agents in the arrest of an employee on a district campus. Although it did not reveal the identity of the person arrested, the district reported that the employee’s offenses involved falsifying employment documents. The district emphasized that the arrest is not related to security incidents involving students or other administrative staff. The arrest warrant was executed last Friday, October 3. A Lifetime of Bags, One Final Sale — Up to 80% Off After 50 years of handcrafting bags, Junie is retiring. Her final collection is now 80% off — timeless designs, lovingly made, and available only while they last. “Killeen ISD Police and district Human Resources worked together to handle the situation appropriately, with care for the individual involved, assisting the employee in contacting his family and gathering his personal belongings before being taken away for arrest,” the Killeen ISD statement reads. Killeen ISD specified that because this is a personnel-related incident, no further details of the arrest will be released and asked that ICE authorities be contacted for more information.

Bloomberg Law [10/9/2025 6:38 PM, Alexis Waiss, 803K] reports the Department of Homeland Security faces a proposed class action from four Colorado residents alleging they were unlawfully arrested by ICE without probable cause or proper documentation. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have already arrested almost 2,000 people in Colorado alone in the first half of the year to meet the department’s quota of 3,000 immigration-related arrests per day, according to a complaint filed Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Colorado.

CBS Colorado [10/9/2025 8:09 PM, Austen Erblat, 39474K] reports the ACLU of Colorado and several law firms are suing the Trump Administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a new federal lawsuit filed on Thursday. They allege ICE is arresting people across Colorado without warrants and without determining if the people they’re arresting are citizens or not. The groups, which also include the Meyer Law Office and Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray, LLC, filed the suit on behalf of Refugio Ramirez Ovando, Caroline Dias Goncalves, two other plaintiffs who are only identified by their initials, and "all those similarly situated.” "People are terrified that masked agents will snatch their loved ones or neighbors from the street because an ICE agent believes they look different or speak with an accent. This is unacceptable," Tim Macdonald, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, said in a statement. "The courts must see ICE’s actions for what they are: an unlawful abuse of power that must be stopped.” The ICE Denver field office responded Thursday that it does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation. After publication of this story, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an email to CBS News Colorado through a department spokesperson, "DHS complies with all lawful court orders and is addressing this matter with the court.” The suit names Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, ICE acting director Todd Lyons, and ICE Denver Field Office director Robert Guadian as defendants. It alleges "militarized" ICE agents, "often with masks, body armor, and long guns," are "indiscriminately stopping and arresting people with brown skin in their mission to meet the Administration’s ramped-up enforcement demands.” The organizations that filed the suit are asking a judge to make this a class-action lawsuit, determine whether these arrests violated federal law, and, if deemed illegal, order ICE to stop future warrantless arrests.

FOX Business [10/9/2025 7:52 PM, Staff, 10085K] reports Citizenship and immigration services director Joseph Edlow discusses ‘immigration fraud’ uncovered in Minnesota and the government’s plan for H1B1 visas going forward on ‘The Bottom Line.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Just the News [10/9/2025 7:35 PM, Staff] reports “We were able to find mass patterns of not only marriage fraud, naturalization fraud, we found fraud within the OPT process. We found it within H1Bs.” USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow details Operation Twin Shield on Just the News, No Noise. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Roll Call [10/9/2025 1:55 PM, Chris Johnson, 548K] reports that foreign countries are seeking to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s new fee hike on applications for H-1B visas, a move some experts say could have a detrimental impact on the United States. Canada, Germany and China are among the countries that have publicly signaled intent to attract to their country’s tech industries the foreign talent that could otherwise go to the United States. Trump’s Sept. 19 proclamation says the new $100,000 fee on companies for every new H-1B visa application is necessary to reverse "systemic abuse of the program" that "has undermined both our economic and national security." It focuses on the "large-scale replacement of American workers" in information technology and software, along with science, technology, engineering and math fields. Four days later, the German Ambassador to India and Bhutan posted a video welcoming immigrants and comparing his country’s system to a reliable German car. "We do not change our rules fundamentally overnight," Philipp Ackermann said. Then on Sept. 27, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated his country is looking to introduce measures to attract talented immigrants, saying "what is clear is the opportunity to attract people who previously would have got so-called H-1B visas."

NewsMax [10/9/2025 8:41 PM, Jim Thomas, 4109K] reports the Trump administration has awarded $4.5 billion in new contracts to expand the Smart Wall system along the southwest border, marking the first projects funded under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced in a press release to Newsmax on Thursday that 10 contracts were awarded between Sept. 15 and Sept. 30, 2025. The projects will add 230 miles of barriers and nearly 400 miles of advanced technology, delivering on Trump’s pledge to secure the border. "For years, Washington talked about border security but failed to deliver. This President changed that," CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a statement. "The Smart Wall means more miles of barriers, more technology, and more capability for our agents on the ground. This is how you take control of the border.” The Smart Wall combines steel and waterborne barriers with patrol roads, lighting, cameras, and detection systems designed to give Border Patrol agents real-time tools to stop illegal crossings. Officials said the technology will also reinforce existing wall sections where contracts were canceled under the Biden administration. The 10 projects represent the first to be financed by Trump’s signature border funding package, alongside leftover wall appropriations from fiscal year 2021 that were frozen during Biden’s tenure. To fast-track the work, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued waivers clearing regulatory hurdles for nearly 40 miles of construction in California and New Mexico. El Paso 3 Project: $850 million to build 42 miles of new primary Smart Wall, 6 miles of secondary wall, and 46 miles of system upgrades in Texas. Tucson 1 Project: $606 million for 23 miles of new secondary wall and 66 miles of system features in Arizona. El Centro 1 Project: $574 million for eight miles of new wall and 63 miles of technology in California. Del Rio 1 Project: $565 million for 22 miles of Smart Wall and 40 miles of waterborne barriers in Texas. Other projects cover areas in San Diego, Yuma, El Paso, and the Rio Grande Valley, with additional contracts exceeding $550 million awarded for support services. CBP said construction under the One Big Beautiful Bill will continue with more contracts expected in the coming months. The latest push underscores Trump’s border-first approach, contrasting with prior policies that halted wall construction. Supporters argue the Smart Wall strengthens national security and relieves pressure on frontline agents, while critics have long questioned the cost and effectiveness of physical barriers. With the new funding stream secured, federal officials say they intend to accelerate work across multiple border sectors, reinforcing Trump’s first-term pledge that "the wall will be built.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo [10/9/2025 2:03 PM, Staff, 2218K] reports the U.S. federal government shutdown is causing disruptions to crossings between Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas. Due to the reduction in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at checkpoints, lines of vehicles have grown longer and delays of up to six hours have occurred, EFE found. These wait times can affect the economy on both sides of the border, as they cause delays for people crossing for work or school, transporting merchandise, or traveling as tourists. There have also been significant delays at airports due to a lack of federal agents. Other drivers agreed that lines have become longer and said they fear the situation will worsen as the U.S. federal government shutdown enters its second week with no political solution or budget agreement in sight in Washington anytime soon.

NewsMax [10/9/2025 12:07 PM, Solange Reyner, 4109K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security has seen a significant improvement in its job rating since last year, rebounding to 42% from 32% in 2024, according to a Gallup News poll released Thursday. DHS was the main prominent federal agency with marked improvements — 42% of respondents said the job being done by the agency was either "excellent" or "good," while just 23% said it was "only fair.” Thirty-three percent called the DHS’s job "poor.” The poll follows a report from DHS and Customs and Border Protection touting preliminary enforcement numbers for September that show the lowest number of border apprehensions since 1970. "For too long, agents and officers were handcuffed by failed policies. Today they are empowered to do their jobs — and the result is the lowest apprehensions in more than five decades and the most secure border in modern history," CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a Tuesday press release. DHS said U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions at the southwest border for fiscal year 2025, which closed at the end of September, totaled 237,565. "We have had the most secure border in American history, and our end of year numbers prove it," Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a DHS release. "We have shattered multiple records this year, and once again we have broken a new record with the lowest number of southwest border apprehensions in 55 years.” "Under President [Donald] Trump, we have empowered and supported our law enforcement to do their job, and they have delivered."

Univision [10/9/2025 3:38 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports in an operation conducted on the morning of October 9, officers with the Splendora Police Department’s Criminal Interdiction Unit stopped a vehicle with New Mexico license plates traveling northbound on Interstate 69. The intervention stemmed from information shared by federal authorities as part of an investigation into possible human trafficking activity in the region. Upon inspecting the vehicle, officers confirmed that the driver was illegally transporting several undocumented immigrants, crossing through several state jurisdictions. Among them was a person who had been deported in August and who, according to authorities, managed to illegally re-enter the country just four days before his arrest, after evading Border Patrol. The occupants, whose number was not specified, were handed over to federal custody, while the person responsible for the vehicle faces federal charges related to human trafficking. The Splendora Police reiterated their commitment to working closely with federal agencies to curb trafficking and smuggling operations that endanger public safety and violate immigration laws.

NewsNation [10/9/2025 8:47 AM, Erica Pauda, 8017K] reports days after Gov. Greg Abbott announced he authorized troops of the Texas National Guard to deploy to Chicago, NewsNation affiliate KXAN received questions from viewers on whether sending National Guard members out of the state will affect operations at the Texas-Mexico border. On Sunday, Oct. 5, Abbott posted on the social media platform X saying he "fully authorized" the deployment of "400 members of the Texas National Guard to ensure safety for federal officials." By Tuesday, Oct. 7, troops had already touched down in Chicago. This all comes after President Donald Trump deployed federal troops to Washington D.C. and Los Angeles and other U.S. cities in a bid to reduce violent crime. Abbott’s response on X came after Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker posted on the social media platform, saying "no officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.". "You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it," Abbott said in part in his response. On Tuesday, Abbott insisted the border will remain secure. "Texas is using just a small part of our National Guard," Abbott told Fox News Channel’s America Reports. "We still have thousands of National Guard troops on the border." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [10/9/2025 12:57 PM, Preston Mizell, 40621K] Video: HERE reports that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem blasted Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown in a new video that will be played at every public airport in America on Thursday afternoon. Noem, who oversees the Transportation Security Administration, said "most of our TSA employees are working without pay" in a clip that will be viewed by TSA employees and travelers across the country. "It is TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience possible while we keep you safe," Noem said in the clip. "However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay." "We will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact you," Noem added. "Our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government." Should the shutdown continue beyond the two-week mark, TSA employees will miss out on a paycheck. While backpay is ensured after a government shutdown through the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, that does not mean employees will have to wait extended periods of time to receive earned payment. However, Fox News Digital reviewed a plan from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget that threatens the 2019 bill and would revoke backpay for federal employees currently furloughed as a result of the shutdown. TSA employees in the field or working at airports are currently not receiving pay. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Reuters [10/9/2025 6:11 PM, David Shepardson, 36480K]

CNN [10/9/2025 8:20 PM, Pete Muntean, Aaron Cooper, 18595K] reports that, in an extraordinary effort to inject politics into millions of Americans’ travel experiences, the Trump administration plans to roll out a video at airports across the United States that will blame Democrats for lapses in Transportation Security Administration workers’ pay because of the government shutdown. People waiting in airport security lines will now be met with a new video of the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem addressing the shutdown. “It is TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience as possible while we keep you safe,” she says. “However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.” The video was first obtained by Fox News. The Department of Homeland Security responded to CNN’s questions about the video in a statement that noted the “public service video is rolling out across the country,” then repeated the language in the video almost verbatim. “We will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact your travel, and our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government,” the video concludes. TSA checkpoints often include videos featuring government officials welcoming travelers and explanations of procedures, but they usually do not contain political messages.

Reuters [10/9/2025 3:42 PM, David Shepardson, 36480K] reports U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Thursday that the government could dismiss air traffic controllers who repeatedly fail to show up for work during the government shutdown, saying a spike in absences is causing significant air disruptions. "If we have a continual small subset of controllers that don’t show up to work, and they’re the problem children ... if we have some on our staff that aren’t dedicated like we need, we’re going to let them go," Duffy said on Fox Business. "I can’t have people not showing up for work." The Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday it was seeing some staffing issues for a fourth straight day as flights at Newark and routes in the New York area were being impacted. There have been 19,000 flight delays since Monday - including 3,300 on Thursday - with thousands tied to the FAA slowing flights because of air traffic controller absences. Duffy praised the 90% to 95% of controllers who are showing up daily despite not getting paid. "It’s a small fraction of people who don’t come to work that can create this massive disruption, and that’s what you’re seeing rippling through our skies today," Duffy added.

Bloomberg [10/9/2025 9:53 AM, Margi Murphy, Lauren Rosenthal, and Zahra Hirji, 18207K] reports Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel who signed an open letter criticizing President Donald Trump’s cuts to disaster funding have been interrogated in recent weeks in an effort to determine the names of colleagues who endorsed the letter anonymously or distributed it, according to people familiar with the investigation and documents reviewed by Bloomberg News. The interviews with FEMA workers have been carried out by the agency’s division that investigates employee misconduct, and those interviewed have been told they risk being fired for failure to cooperate. The employees have been instructed not to bring counsel, according to people familiar with the process. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, declined to comment “on ongoing investigations.” A FEMA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on personnel issues. Nearly 200 current and former staffers co-signed the Aug. 25 whistleblower letter, which included a petition to Congress seeking workforce protections against “politically motivated firings.” Of the 192 signatories, 154 chose to remain anonymous. Employees who publicly signed their names were immediately placed on leave. FEMA told employees at the time that it didn’t place signatories on leave as a retaliatory measure. Weeks later, officials from FEMA’s Office of Professional Responsibility began lining up interviews with some of the known letter signers, a move CNN first reported. The interviews began in late September.

AP [10/9/2025 11:58 PM, Staff, 31753K] reports Tropical Storm Jerry churned Thursday in the Atlantic on its approach to the Leeward Islands as Tropical Storm Priscilla and Tropical Storm Raymond moved along Mexico’s Pacific coast, threatening heavy rain and flooding in their paths, forecasters said. Tropical Storm Raymond was announced midday Thursday by the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, making it the third system now off the western coast of Mexico. Post-tropical cyclone Octave was also off Mexico’s Pacific coast, but weakening. Raymond was about 85 miles (155 kilometers) south-southeast of Zihuatanejo, Mexico. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was traveling west-northwest at 15 mph (24 kph), forecasters said. Priscilla could bring flash flooding through the weekend across the U.S. Southwest, the hurricane center said. Also Thursday, Subtropical Storm Karen formed far from land in the north Atlantic Ocean. The center said Karen was about 545 miles (880 kilometers) north-northwest of the Azores and packing maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

Houston Chronicle [10/9/2025 10:12 AM, Roberto Villalpando, 2983K] reports that Tropical Storm Jerry, which on Thursday was approaching the Leeward Islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea, was expected to become a hurricane on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Meanwhile, a tropical disturbance that appeared to have a chance at further development in the Gulf of Mexico’s Bay of Campeche has diminished and was no longer being monitored by hurricane center forecasters Thursday. So far, during this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, Texas has not faced the threat of a direct landfall by a tropical system and, as we continue deeper into the fall season, the chances of tropical trouble on the Texas coast are quickly running out. The rotating center of Tropical Storm Jerry, as of 8 a.m. Thursday, was about 355 miles east-southeast of the Leeward Islands, and moving west-northwest at 20 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Jerry’s maximum sustained winds were as strong as 65 mph. Islands under a tropical storm watch included: Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat. "For the southwestern United States, 2 to 4 inches of rain, with local storm total maxima to 6 inches, are expected across portions of central and northern Arizona, southern Utah, and southwest Colorado through Saturday afternoon," the hurricane center said Thursday. "Numerous occurrences of flash flooding are anticipated in central Arizona, with scattered instances of flash flooding expected across the remainder of Arizona, southern Utah, southwest Colorado, and far northwest New Mexico."

San Diego Union Tribune [10/9/2025 12:55 PM, Holly K. Hacker, Brett Kelman, Daniel Chang, and Hannah Norman Lydia Zuraw, 1538K] reports that when a big storm hits, Peninsula Hospital could be underwater. At this decades-old psychiatric hospital on the edge of the Tennessee River, an intense storm could submerge the building in 11 feet of water, cutting off all roads around the facility, according to a sophisticated computer simulation of flood risk. Aurora, a young woman who was committed to Peninsula as a teenager, said the hospital sits so close to the river that it felt like a moat keeping her and dozens of other patients inside. KFF Health News agreed not to publish her full name because she shared private medical history. "My first feeling is doom," Aurora said as she watched the simulation of the river rising around the hospital. "These are probably some of the most vulnerable people.” Covenant Health, which runs Peninsula Hospital, said in a statement it has a "proactive and thorough approach to emergency planning" but declined to provide details or answer questions. Peninsula is one of about 170 American hospitals, totaling nearly 30,000 patient beds from coast to coast, that face the greatest risk of significant or dangerous flooding, according to a months-long KFF Health News investigation based on data provided by Fathom, a company considered a leader in flood simulation. At many of these hospitals, flooding from heavy storms has the potential to jeopardize patient care, block access to emergency rooms, and force evacuations. Sometimes there is no other hospital nearby. Much of this risk to hospitals is not captured by flood maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which have served as the nation’s de facto tool for flood estimation for half a century, despite being incomplete and sometimes decades out of date.

New York Times [10/9/2025 3:30 PM, Rukmini Callimachi, 135475K] reports that in Clearwater, Fla., Bridget Neumann, an insurance broker, has spent the past week trying to replace a policy that no longer exists — at least right now. With the federal government shuttered, the National Flood Insurance Program has paused issuing new policies that many home buyers need to secure their mortgages. That means that the $4,000 annual flood coverage her client was expecting to pay for a modest, two-bedroom ranch is off the table. The only two quotes she found at private carriers are for $9,000 and $12,000. Hundreds of miles away on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, a real estate agent plans to coach his clients on a workaround, asking the seller’s insurance broker to sign over the home’s existing flood insurance coverage to a prospective buyer. And on North Carolina’s barrier islands, another agent is floating a rent-to-own arrangement — anything to keep a deal alive until a buyer can actually get flood insurance. A week into a federal shutdown, one quiet corner of the housing market has seized up: The sales of homes in flood-prone areas. With the National Flood Insurance Program lapsed since Oct. 1, the government can no longer issue most new policies or renewals, leaving buyers who need coverage for their mortgage uncovered, and throwing deals that had already been negotiated into uncertainty. The National Association of Realtors estimates that the pause could delay or derail close to 1,400 transactions per day until Congress restores the program. Lenders require homeowners to have flood insurance if the home lies inside what the Federal Emergency Management Agency has designated as a 100-year floodplain, a geographic area that has a 1 percent chance of flooding every year.

Chicago Tribune [10/9/2025 1:20 PM, Gloria Casas, 4829K] reports that thanks to a three-year, $3 million grant, the Elgin Fire Department will be able to add nine firefighters to its ranks to man a sixth ambulance to help handle a large increase in emergency calls. The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency supports local fire departments that need to build or rebuild their staffing levels, Elgin Fire Chief Robb Cagann told the Elgin City Council at its Wednesday night meeting. It will offset the city’s total $4.9 million cost to employ more paramedics, who also will be trained as firefighters. Elgin’s share will be $1.8 million over the three years. After the grant expires, the city will take on the costs, Cagann said. Councilwoman Diana Alfaro noted that the funding for the additional personnel was included in the city’s budget, meaning the city now has "the opportunity to use the funds for something else. Thank you to the fire department and staff for finding this grant opportunity." The fire department removed a sixth ambulance from full-time service in 2012 due to budget constraints. At the time, the department determined the loss would not impact emergency medical service. But last year a study on emergency call volume and requests for mutual aid from neighboring fire departments found there had been a 40% increase since 2012. Cagann said calls have gone up steadily over the years, with an estimated 77% of the more than 16,000 calls requiring emergency services. The study spotlighted how much Elgin was relying on mutual aid from other departments, particularly the South Elgin Fire Protection District, he said. A sixth ambulance and additional manpower should reduce that need, Cagann said.

AP [10/9/2025 5:03 PM, Mike Schneider and Christopher Weber, 31753K] reports that a federal judge in Florida ordered the man charged in California’s deadly Palisades Fire to remain jailed Thursday after a prosecutor said he had traits of an arsonist and his family had worried about his declining mental state. In ordering Jonathan Rinderknecht to be kept in detention, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathan Hill said he had concerns about the suspect’s mental health and his ability to get to California for future court hearings. Federal officials have said Rinderknecht, who lived in Southern California at the time, started a small fire on New Year’s Day that smoldered underground before reigniting nearly a week later on Jan. 7 and roaring through coastal Pacific Palisades and Malibu. The fire, which left 12 dead in hillside neighborhoods, was one of two huge blazes that broke out that day. They killed more than 30 people in all and destroyed over 17,000 homes and buildings in Los Angeles County. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Lyons said during Thursday’s hearing in federal court in Orlando that Rinderknecht was a flight risk because he had family in France and spoke French. Shackled and wearing a red jail uniform, Rinderknecht listened attentively as an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recounted the family’s concerns about the man’s mental health. ATF special agent Thomas Harrison testified that Rinderknecht moved into the home of his sister and brother-in-law in Brevard County, Florida, five months ago. But they have since moved out and started eviction proceeding against him out of fear for their safety. Rinderknecht threatened to burn their house down during an argument, prompting a call to the police, Harrison said. His father again called police after Rinderknecht said he had a gun he would use in self-defense, Harrison said. No arrest was made or charges filed in either police call.

The Washington Times [10/9/2025 4:26 PM, Kerry Picket and Mike Glenn, 852K] reports President Trump met with Finnish President Alexander Stubb Thursday at the White House to sign off on an agreement for the U.S. Coast Guard to purchase up to four icebreaker ships from Finnish shipyards. The ships are crucial for the U.S. strategic posture toward Russia in the Arctic Ocean. The Coast Guard is responsible for the U.S. military’s icebreaker operations and is in dire need of additional vessels to compete with adversaries like Russia and China in the High North. Its newest ice breaker, U.S.C.G.C. Storis, is a former supply and towing vessel for the oil industry. The acquisition expands the current Coast Guard fleet of Arctic icebreakers to three. The Storis recently returned to its home port in Seattle after completing a 112-day inaugural patrol in the Arctic. Mr. Trump has long wanted 40 new icebreakers to boost U.S. national security in the Arctic and push back on the growing threat of China and Russia in the region. Three of the ships are expected to be made by Davie in Galveston, Texas, and four will be built by Bollinger Shipyards in Houma, Louisiana, a White House official said. FOX Business [10/9/2025 10:34 AM, Michael Dorgan, 10085K] reports icebreakers are specialized ships designed to navigate through ice-covered waters and the U.S. Coast Guard currently operates only two active Arctic security cutters. Stubb announced Thursday that the two countries will sign a memorandum of understanding on icebreaker cooperation later today. "I will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on icebreaker cooperation together with President Trump," Stubb wrote in a post on X, adding that the agreement would "lay the foundation for commercial agreements between the U.S. Coast Guard and Finnish companies." "It is great that Finnish expertise is trusted. The cooperation benefits Finland and the United States. The agreement would not have been possible without President Trump." CNN [10/9/2025 4:21 PM, Haley Britzky, Jennifer Hansler, 18595K] reports that the agreement, formally unveiled Thursday to coincide with a White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, is part of a larger deal to use "Finnish expertise" to construct up to seven additional icebreakers in US shipyards, a White House official told CNN. The up to 11 total medium icebreakers are expected to cost around $6.1 billion, the official added, with the goal of the first being delivered by 2028. The Coast Guard, which operates American icebreakers, commissioned its third icebreaker into service in August this year — the first acquired by the service in more than 25 years. The Washington Examiner [10/9/2025 1:52 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 1394K] reports that the construction of the seven icebreaking ships, key to Arctic operations with their ability to cut through formidable ice sheets, is expected to create thousands of jobs. The deal is expected to strengthen the U.S. presence in the Arctic region as Russia and China’s influence grows there. Stubb said on social media that he would sign the deal during his visit and that the agreement would benefit Finnish companies by facilitating the construction of four ships. "The memorandum lays the foundation for commercial agreements between the U.S. Coast Guard and Finnish companies," he wrote. "The U.S. administration has held negotiations directly with companies. It is great that Finnish expertise is trusted. The cooperation benefits Finland and the United States. The agreement would not have been possible without President Trump," he added. The 11 Arctic security cutters, which will be used by the U.S. Coast Guard, are expected to cost $6.1 billion. The Coast Guard only has two active Arctic security cutters. Three ships will be built in Galveston, Texas, and the other four in Houma, Louisiana, Fox News reported. Davie Shipbuilding, a Quebec-based company, will build the ships in Texas, and Bollinger Shipyards will build the ships in Louisiana. The first ship is expected in 2028, the outlet reported.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [10/10/2025 4:03 AM, Kirsi Heikel, 18207K]
Washington Times [10/9/2025 10:26 AM, Mike Glenn, 852K]

FOX News [10/9/2025 10:34 AM, Michael Dorgan, 10085K] reports that President Donald Trump will host Finnish President Alexander Stubb at the White House on Thursday to sign a new icebreaker ship pact under which the Nordic nation will build four of the vessels, with seven more to be constructed in Texas and Louisiana. The Trump ⁠⁠administration said the deal will strengthen U.S. national security in the Arctic and counter China and Russia’s growing presence in the region. Icebreakers are specialized ships designed to navigate through ice-covered waters and the U.S. Coast Guard currently operates only two active Arctic security cutters. Stubb announced Thursday that the two countries will sign a memorandum of understanding on icebreaker cooperation later today. "I will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on icebreaker cooperation together with President Trump," Stubb wrote in a post on X, adding that the agreement would "lay the foundation for commercial agreements between the U.S. Coast Guard and Finnish companies." "It is great that Finnish expertise is trusted. The cooperation benefits Finland and the United States. The agreement would not have been possible without President Trump." The 11 Arctic security cutters — new medium icebreakers to be used by the U.S. Coast Guard — are expected to cost about $6.1 billion, a White House official told Reuters. The plan is expected to generate billions in new shipbuilding investment and create thousands of skilled trades jobs for Americans.

CyberScoop [10/9/2025 12:10 PM, Matt Kapko] reports Clop, the notorious ransomware group, began targeting Oracle E-Business Suite customers three months ago and started exploiting a zero-day affecting the enterprise platform to steal massive amounts of data from victims as early as Aug. 9, Google Threat Intelligence Group and Mandiant said in a report Thursday. “We’re still assessing the scope of this incident, but we believe it affected dozens of organizations. Some historic Clop data extortion campaigns have had hundreds of victims,” John Hultquist, chief analyst at GTIG, said in a statement. “Unfortunately large scale zero-day campaigns like this are becoming a regular feature of cybercrime.” The new timeline provided by Google’s incident response firm and security researchers confirms malicious activity against Oracle E-Business Suite customers began almost three months before Clop sent extortion emails to executives of alleged victim organizations demanding payment on Sept. 29. Oracle disclosed the critical zero-day vulnerability — CVE-2025-61882 — Saturday, two days after it said its customers had received extortion emails following exploitation of vulnerabilities it previously identified and addressed in a July security update.

CyberScoop [10/9/2025 12:10 PM, Tim Starks] reports a top Senate Democrat introduced legislation Thursday to extend and rename an expired information-sharing law, and make it retroactive to cover the lapse that began Oct. 1. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced the Protecting America from Cyber Threats (PACT) Act, to replace the expired Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA 2015) that has provided liability protections for organizations that share cyber threat data with each other and the federal government. Industry groups and cyber professionals have called those protections vital, sometimes describing the 2015 law as the most successful cyber legislation ever passed. The 2015 law shares an acronym with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which some Republicans — including the chairman of Peters’ panel, Rand Paul of Kentucky — have accused of engaging in social media censorship. As CISA 2015 has lapsed and Peters has tried to renew it, “some people think that’s a reauthorization of the agency,” Peters told reporters Thursday in explaining the new bill name. “There are some of my Republican colleagues who have concerns about CISA as the agency, and I remind them, this is not about the agency,” he said. “It’s about … cybersecurity protections and the ability to have liability protections and to be able to share information. I’ve often heard the chair conflate the two, and I have to continually remind him.” A House bill also would establish a different name.

CyberScoop [10/9/2025 4:05 PM, Matt Kapko] reports a brute-force attack exposed firewall configuration files of every SonicWall customer who used the company’s cloud backup service, the besieged vendor said Wednesday. An investigation aided by Mandiant confirmed the totality of compromise that occurred when unidentified attackers hit a customer-facing system of SonicWall controls. The company previously said less than 5% of its firewall install base stored backup firewall configuration files in the cloud-based service. SonicWall did not answer questions about the extent to which the investigation revealed a more widespread impact for its customers, or if its assessment of that 5% figure remained accurate. The company initially revised its disclosure to clarify the scope of exposure was less than 5% of firewalls as of Sept. 17, but has since removed that detail from the blog post. “The investigation confirmed that an unauthorized party accessed firewall configuration backup files for all customers who have used SonicWall’s cloud backup service,” the company said in a statement. The convoluted phrasing reignited criticism from threat researchers who have been tracking developments since SonicWall first reported the attack.

Reuters [10/9/2025 4:43 PM, Nandita Bose, Jana Winter, Jeff Mason, Tim Reid, and Ted Hesson, 45746K] reports President Donald Trump’s threatened crackdown on the finances and activities of liberal non-profits and groups opposed to his agenda is a multi-agency effort with top White House aide Stephen Miller playing a central role, according to officials. The Trump administration plans to deploy America’s counter-terrorism apparatus - including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department - as well as the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department against certain left-wing groups it accuses of funding and organizing political violence, the officials said. The effort marks an escalation in the administration’s efforts to target domestic opponents, raising alarm among civil rights groups and Democratic leaders about the use of executive power. Reuters spoke to three White House officials, four Department of Homeland Security officials and one Justice Department official to produce the first comprehensive account of how decisions are being made, forces deployed, and operations coordinated in the crackdown. All of the administration officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations more freely. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the agency was "fully and faithfully" implementing Trump’s directive.

Washington Examiner [10/9/2025 7:22 AM, Jamie McIntyre, 1394K] reports at a White House-sponsored roundtable that featured conservative journalists who have been in violent confrontations with anti-ICE protesters, President Donald Trump claimed that an “epidemic of violence” and “terror” is being fueled and funded by antifa, a left-wing movement with no formal leadership or structure. “It should be clear to all Americans that we have a very serious left-wing terror threat in our country, radicals associated with the domestic terror group antifa … and other far left extremists have been carrying out a campaign of violence against ICE agents and other officials charged with enforcing federal law,” Trump said, vowing to use all law enforcement resources to hunt them down and bring them to justice. “These are agitators, anarchists, and they’re paid,” Trump said. “You should see what we have on these people. These are bad people. These are people that want to destroy our country. We’re not going to let it happen.” "When you see the signs and they’re all made out of a beautiful, beautiful paper, beautiful, nice, stiff, very expensive paper with beautiful wood handles all the same, all the same color, they come from very expensive printing machines, these are not people that write out their signs in a basement that believe in something. These are paid anarchists," Trump said. "So we’re going to be looking very strongly at the people that are funding these operations.". "We’re going to be very threatening to them, far more threatening to them than they ever were with us. And that includes the people that fund them, probably some of the people I know, some of the people I dine with. But if they do, they’re in deep trouble." "Antifa is just as sophisticated as MS-13, as TdA, as ISIS, as Hezbollah, as Hamas, as all of them," said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, comparing the left-wing movement to some of the world’s most brutal terrorists and criminal gangs. "They are just as dangerous. They have an agenda to destroy us just like the other terrorists we’ve dealt with for many, many years, and today is the day that we have a president that won’t tolerate it and will stand up and fight for the American people."

Washington Examiner [10/9/2025 2:21 PM, David Zimmermann, 1394K] reports that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Thursday that his office is expanding its investigation into Discord after the suspected assassin of Charlie Kirk used the chat platform on the day of the shooting. Paxton previously launched an investigation into Discord and other platforms that allegedly violated children’s privacy and safety under a state law, called the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act. The newly expanded investigation will now focus on Discord’s proliferation of extremist content, sexual exploitation of minors, the rising trend in extremist shootings, and minors’ addiction to the platform. "Discord has chosen to allow extremist content, sexual exploitation, and addiction to flourish on its platform," Paxton said in a statement. "It has a legal obligation to prevent minors from being exposed to these evils, but instead its actions have contributed to the growing wave of nihilistic violence all across our nation." Tyler Robinson, suspected of killing Kirk at Utah Valley University last month, reportedly confessed to the crime in a group chat with friends on Discord. Utah officials say he discussed the rifle left at the crime scene and the engraved bullets left from the shooting in the online conversations. Shortly after the shooting and the suspect’s subsequent arrest, Discord said its internal investigation found no evidence that the suspect used its platform to promote violence or plan the attack. The FBI is currently investigating the private Discord chat that Robinson used, and by extension, everyone in it. During his congressional hearing last month, FBI Director Kash Patel disclosed there were "a lot more than" 20 people connected to the chat.

Reuters [10/9/2025 4:22 PM, Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt, 36480K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday the NATO alliance should weigh throwing Spain out of its membership ranks over a dispute about the Western European nation’s lagging military spending. Members of the U.S.-backed security alliance agreed in June to sharply increase their military spending to 5% of gross domestic product, delivering on a major priority for Trump, who wants Europeans to spend more on their own defense. But Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said at the time that he would not commit to the 5% target, calling it "incompatible with our welfare state and our world vision.” At an Oval Office meeting with the leader of NATO’s second-newest member, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Trump said European leaders need to prevail upon Spain to boost its commitments to the alliance. "You people are gonna have to start speaking to Spain," Trump said. "You have to call them and find why are they a laggard.” He added: "They have no excuse not to do this, but that’s alright. Maybe you should throw ‘em out of NATO frankly.” Spain joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1982. The 32-member collective-defense alliance has been in focus since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and launched the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.

NewsMax [10/9/2025 1:48 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports that Congress must conduct a full investigation into the Biden administration’s spying campaign on Republican senators, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Newsmax on Thursday. Partisan actors inside government are still working to conceal critical information from lawmakers and the American public, Johnson warned on "National Report." Johnson reacted to the announcement earlier this week the FBI under the Biden administration conducted "toll record analysis" — a form of communications metadata — on several GOP lawmakers, including Johnson, surrounding Jan. 6, 2021 and the debate over certifying the presidential election results. Johnson said he believes Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department are committed to uncovering the truth — but they are up against bureaucrats determined to keep it hidden. "I have faith they’re absolutely dedicated to do so, but they don’t know what they don’t know," Johnson said. "They don’t know what documents actually exist." Johnson said entrenched partisans within federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies remain intent on protecting themselves. "I do know there are still partisans burrowed into those agencies that are going to do everything they can to hide it from them," he said. "This is going to be a very difficult task.” He pointed to Bondi’s testimony this week as evidence that Congress has to get involved. "During that hearing, when she was asked specific questions about this, she would always say, ‘Well, I can’t talk about it,’" Johnson noted. "That’s exactly the point I’m making."

Washington Examiner [10/9/2025 11:44 AM, Ross O’Keefe, 1394K] reports a diplomat has been fired after the State Department said he had a romantic relationship with a Chinese woman allegedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party. The State Department had an existing ban from the Biden administration on relationships with Chinese citizens, but the diplomat’s firing is believed to have been the first time the policy has been enforced. Specifically, the policy bans all U.S. government personnel in China, their family members, and contractors with security clearances from any romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens. The diplomat was dismissed after President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reviewed his case and decided that he "admitted conceal[ed] a romantic relationship with a Chinese national with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party," a State Department spokesman told the Associated Press. "Under Secretary Rubio’s leadership, we will maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any employee who is caught undermining our country’s national security," he said.

Reported similarly:
DailySignal [10/9/2025 12:02 PM, Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, 549K]

Wall Street Journal [10/9/2025 6:42 PM, Summer Said, Jared Malsin, and Anat Peled, 646K] reports Israel’s government approved an agreement brokered by the Trump administration to free the remaining hostages held by Hamas and establish a cease-fire in Gaza, sealing a diplomatic breakthrough after months of failed talks. The hostage deal, which President Trump announced from the White House on Wednesday, promises to close a wound opened by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel and give momentum to the effort to end a two-year war that has left tens of thousands of Gazans dead and the enclave in ruins. The deal will bring the first significant pause in fighting since March, and the administration hopes it will be the first step toward a longer-term settlement that will involve talks over the disarmament of Hamas and the formation of an interim government to oversee Gaza. U.S. troops began to arrive in Israel Thursday, the first of about 200 being sent to support the cease-fire in Gaza as part of an international team, according to U.S. officials. The cease-fire went into effect with the vote by the Israeli government. U.S. Central Command will be leading an international stabilization force and set up a civil military coordination center that could include Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, a senior U.S. official said. The troops will help monitor the implementation of the cease-fire and eventual transition to a civilian government, according to a U.S. official. They will also help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff stopped by the cabinet meeting before ministers prepared to cast their votes.

USA Today [10/9/2025 6:18 PM, Kathryn Palmer, 67103K] reports Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace deal aimed at ending their two-year conflict and the release over the next several days of the remaining group of Israeli hostages taken during the October 2023 terrorist attack. The accord between the two parties, which President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 8, calls for the release of Israeli hostages within 72 hours of an agreement - in exchange for the release of Palestinians jailed in Israel. While the announcement did not come with an official release date, a senior White House official told USA TODAY that hostages are likely to begin to be released on Oct. 13, although they could be returned sooner. In a Cabinet meeting with his top advisors Oct. 9, Trump said hostages could be released on "Monday or Tuesday," Oct. 13 or 14. During his address to at the United Nations General Assembly in September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu read out the names of the 20 hostages his government said are still alive. They include multiple attendees of a music festival, two pairs of brothers, dual Israeli citizens, and two Israeli soldiers. Angrest, a soldier with the Israel Defense Forces, was taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. His mother, Anat Angrest, is among the dozens of family members of the remaining hostages who have been outspoken in advocating for their release. She joined families of other hostages in late September in a protest outside of Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, calling for a ceasefire. "Our loved ones in Gaza are being bombarded by the IDF under the orders of the prime minister," she said. Bohbot was taken from a music festival in Reim, in southern Israel, where several others were also initially taken in the Oct. 7 attack where hundreds of other festival-goers were killed. Braslavski was working as a security guard at the Nova musical festival when he was taken. The festival, held about 3 miles from the border with Gaza, coincided with the weeklong Jewish festival of Sukkot. Cohen, a soldier with the IDF, was adbucted from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. He has a twin sister and enjoys gaming, music, and traveling, according to the American Jewish Committee.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [10/9/2025 1:22 PM, Liam Stack and Isabel Kershner, 135475K]

Bloomberg [10/9/2025 1:09 PM, Staff, 18207K] reports that the Trump administration is considering whether to take a major step toward restricting the US operations of TP-Link Systems Inc., a China-linked router-maker whose Wi-Fi equipment is popular in the American market, according to people familiar with the matter. The US government is weighing whether to issue an “initial determination” that TP-Link poses a national security threat following an investigation into its China ties that began last year, the people said. The assessment has been ready for some time but in recent weeks there’s been a flurry of activity to move it forward, according to the people. Such a finding would put TP-Link one step closer to potentially having its US operations restricted or banned. The intensifying focus on TP-Link comes ahead of a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping at the end of the month. This week, China unveiled new restrictions on its export of rare earths, shoring up leverage ahead of the talks. Meanwhile, US advocates of a hard line on China fear Trump is softening his approach toward Beijing as he pursues a trade deal. A TP-Link spokeswoman said in a statement that the company “will continue to work closely with Commerce to resolve any concerns, including mitigating any risks that the Commerce Department may cite. We are confident that Commerce’s review will conclude with the security of TP-Link’s operations and products recognized.” White House spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment.

AP [10/9/2025 4:23 PM, Chan Ho-Him and Josh Funk, 1538K] reports that China outlined new curbs on exports of rare earths and related technologies on Thursday, extending controls over use of the elements critical for many high-tech and military products ahead of a meeting in about three weeks between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The regulations announced by the Ministry of Commerce require foreign companies to get special approval to export items that contain even small traces of rare earths elements sourced from China. These critical minerals are needed in a broad range of products, from jet engines, radar systems and electric vehicles to consumer electronics including laptops and phones. Beijing also will impose permitting requirements on exports of technologies related to rare earths mining, smelting, recycling and magnet-making, it said. China accounts for nearly 70% of the world’s rare earths mining. It also controls roughly 90% of global rare earths processing. Access to such materials is a key point of contention in trade talks between Washington and Beijing. As Trump has raised tariffs on imports of many products from China, Beijing has doubled down on controls on the strategically vital minerals, raising concerns over potential shortages for manufacturers in the U.S. and elsewhere. It was not immediately clear how China plans to enforce the new policies overseas. Neha Mukherjee, a rare earths analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, called the new export controls "a strategic move by China that mirror some of Washington’s new chip export rules.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [10/9/2025 1:16 PM, Maydeen Merino, 1394K]
Daily Caller [10/9/2025 12:46 PM, Melissa O’Rorke, 835K]

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