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

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

The Hill [10/10/2025 3:03 PM, Surina Venkat, 12595K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Friday that $4.5 billion had been awarded to 10 new construction projects along the southwest border. The bill allocated $165 billion to DHS — the parent agency of CBP — to increase personnel and fund border security projects. Around $46.5 billion was allocated specifically to complete construction of a border wall. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott celebrated the news in a press release, saying the projects would increase the agency’s capabilities and enhance border security. The Trump administration noted the 10 projects would help them construct a "Smart Wall" — or a border security system that "combines steel barriers, waterborne barriers, patrol roads, lights, cameras, and advanced detection technology." In an August press conference, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also alluded to the construction, saying the border wall would be getting a makeover with more "technology, cameras, sensors" added to it. Construction will take place at locations across Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California. According to the release, the contracts will add more than 230 miles of barriers and nearly 400 miles of technology along the border. Noem also issued two waivers for projects in CBP’s San Diego and El Paso, Texas, sectors to "cut through bureaucratic red tape and expedite the construction," according to the administration. Vice President Vance said earlier this year that Trump is hoping to finish building the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of his term in 2029. Reuters [10/10/2025 11:47 AM, Doina Chiacu, 36480K] reports that seven of the 10 contracts, which were awarded in September, went to BCCG Joint Venture, according to the statement from DHS and Customs and Border Protection. "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," CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in the statement. DHS Secretary Kristin Noem issued two waivers for nine miles of Smart Wall in CBP’s San Diego Sector and for approximately 30 miles in New Mexico within the El Paso Sector "to cut through bureaucratic red tape and expedite the construction of the Smart Wall," the statement said. It was not immediately clear why the waivers were necessary. Such waivers are sometimes used to bypass certain environmental or other laws. The Washington Times [10/10/2025 10:07 AM, Stephen Dinan, 852K] reports the Department of Homeland Security on Friday revealed its ambitious Smart Wall plans for the U.S.-Mexico border, with fences stretching 1,422 miles along the boundary, more than double the current length, with sensor technology to protect the remaining area too rugged for a wall. Barriers will begin at the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, run largely uninterrupted until they reach the western edge of the Big Bend area of Texas, then pick up northwest of Laredo and run to the Gulf of America near Brownsville. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the boundary, said it has just issued $4.5 billion in new contracts to get construction started. That money — the first installment from tens of billions of dollars allocated in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill budget law — will pay for 230 miles of new fencing and 400 miles of new roads and technology. And CBP revealed a rebrand from the old name, the wall system to the Smart Wall. “For years, Washington talked about border security but failed to deliver. This president changed that,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said. “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.” To speed construction, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued waivers of environmental laws for sections of the wall to go up in Southern California and New Mexico. The Washington Examiner [10/10/2025 5:16 PM, Emily Hallas, 1394K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s move to approve 10 new construction contracts, totaling roughly $4.5 billion, seeks to carry out the president’s push for enhanced border security. The Smart Wall system includes steel barriers, waterborne barriers, patrol roads, lighting, cameras, and advanced sensor detection technology, all designed to expand the government’s capacity to surveil 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 contracts are part of a project designed to add hundreds of miles of Smart Wall along the southwest border, promising to add 230 miles of barriers and nearly 400 miles of technology. They will spur border security development in locations across Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California, according to the CBP. The projects are the first to be funded through Trump’s "big, beautiful" marquee budget bill, which he signed into law in July. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in August that about half a mile of wall is going up daily along the nearly 2,000-mile border. This week, Noem announced she issued two waivers for projects in CBP’s San Diego and El Paso, Texas, sectors to "cut through bureaucratic red tape and expedite the construction" of the Smart Wall.

FOX Business [10/10/2025 8:05 AM, Staff, 10085K] reports DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin discusses the latest on the U.S. border, a judge temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s Illinois National Guard deployment and Zohran Mamdani’s comments on NYC tourism. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The New York Times [10/10/2025 5:31 PM, Christina Morales and Robert Chiarito, 135475K] reports a federal judge in Chicago on Thursday ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove a fence that agents had erected around a facility in suburban Chicago. Locals said it was “illegally constructed” and endangering residents by limiting access to fire department services. Judge LaShonda A. Hunt of the Northern District of Illinois said she came to her decision, in part, because federal officials said they had no plans to take the fence down while conducting operations under ICE’s Operation Midway Blitz, an immigration enforcement initiative that they conceded “has no end in sight.” It was originally scheduled for only 45 days. The ruling is the third over the past week against the Trump administration in Chicago. On Wednesday, a federal judge imposed new limits on ICE agents, restricting their ability to make arrests without warrants. On Thursday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the deployment of the National Guard, which the Trump administration hoped to send to protect federal property from protesters who were angered over immigration enforcement. In all three rulings, the judges said ICE’s tactics were informing their decisions. She said she reached that conclusion after Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, told the court that there would “be no change in our operational posture” until the protests stopped at the agency’s facility in Broadview, just west of Chicago. The Chicago Tribune [10/10/2025 12:04 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports that in a ruling Thursday night, U.S. District Judge LaShonda Hunt said it was clear from the government’s own arguments that "there is no plan to take the fence down and that ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ currently has no end in sight.” In addition, the judge said, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons wrote in a letter to the village that the agency has an issue with "unlawful assemblies" of protesters and there "will be no change in our operational posture" until the demonstrations stop. "In other words, the (defendants’) current operations are indefinite and the protests — which Acting Director Lyons seemingly considers to fall into the category of ‘unlawful activities’ — will undoubtedly continue," Hunt wrote in her opinion. "Under these circumstances, the court concludes that because the persistent protests are a direct response to the defendants’ ongoing operations, there is no reason to believe that they will end and that the fence will be voluntarily removed any time soon." The fence must be removed by Friday, the judge ordered. Bloomberg Law [10/10/2025 9:42 AM, Bernie Pazanowski and Megan Crepeau, 803K] reports that the facility is on a cul-de-sac and the fence blocks access to other buildings on the street. The Village of Broadview sued, claiming the fence built without notice on or around Sept. 23 was a public nuisance, its construction violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and was an impermissible ultra vires action. In its complaint, the village said federal agencies have "willfully, recklessly, and routinely trampled over the rights of individual citizens and local governments, leaving a trail of damage and confusion in their wake."

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CBS Chicago [10/10/2025 5:15 PM, Elyssa Kaufman, Sabrina Franza, Todd Feurer, and Dylan Olsen, 39474K]

NewsMax [10/10/2025 4:12 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports federal agents have arrested an illegal alien caught driving an 18-wheeler in Oklahoma with a New York commercial driver’s license issued to "No Name Given Anmol," the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. DHS said the case shows how state licensing failures are putting unqualified and illegal truck drivers on the nation’s roads. "Allowing illegal aliens to obtain commercial driver’s licenses to operate 18-wheelers and transport hazardous materials on America’s roads is reckless and incredibly dangerous to public safety," said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs. She credited the 287(g) enforcement partnership between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for Anmol "no longer posing a threat to drivers." On Sept. 23, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol stopped Anmol Anmol for an inspection at a truck scale on Interstate 40. Record checks revealed the driver, who is originally from India, had entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 and was released into the country under the Biden administration. ICE agents arrested him and placed him into removal proceedings. Officials said Anmol was carrying a New York-issued CDL under the name "No Name Given Anmol," a glaring example of how the state has been granting licenses without even recording applicants’ full legal names. DHS said more operations are planned as part of its national effort to stop illegal alien drivers from operating massive rigs that can cause catastrophic damage. The New York Post [10/11/2025 1:07 AM, Nicholas McEntyre, 42219K] reports Anmol allegedly entered the US illegally in 2023 and was subsequently released into the country by the Biden administration, the DHS said. He was placed into removal proceedings after his arrest. The New York Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed to The Post that the license, issued on April 14 and set to expire May 26, 2028, was real. Anmol’s license bore the "Class A" designation, which allowed him to operate large or heavy vehicles in the US, and stated that he was from Richmond Hill. A start in the top right corner indicates the document as a REAL ID that allows holders to board domestic flights and enter federal facilities without a passport. DHS staffers slammed New York officials for issuing illegal immigrants CDLs. "Allowing illegal aliens to obtain commercial driver’s licenses to operate 18-wheelers and transport hazardous materials on America’s roads is reckless and incredibly dangerous to public safety," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Friday. "Thanks to the successful 287g partnership of ICE and Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Anmol Anmol is no longer posing a threat to drivers," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Friday. Troopers had been patrolling the major highway in the Sooner State and apprehended 125 illegal immigrants during a three-day campaign. "New York is not only failing to check if applicants applying to drive 18-wheelers are US citizens but even failing to obtain the full legal names of individuals they are issuing commercial drivers’ licenses to," McLaughlin said. "DHS is working with our state and local partners to get illegal alien truck drivers who often don’t know basic traffic laws off our highways.” Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt blasted his New York counterparts for handing out commercial licenses like Anmol’s. "If New York wants to hand out CDLs to illegal immigrants with "No Name Given," that’s on them," Stitt wrote on X. "The moment they cross into Oklahoma, they answer to our laws.” Stitt praised the OHP for stopping 125 illegal immigrants driving along an enforcement action along I-40 and apprehending 125 illegal immigrants. "This is keeping Oklahomans safe," he said. Amnol’s arrest announcement comes several months after another illegal immigrant from India allegedly killed three migrants when he made an illegal U-turn in an 18-wheeler on a Florida highway. Harjinder Singh, who had been in the country illegally since 2018, was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide for the April 12 crash. The three victims were identified as Haitian nationals Herby Dufresne, 30, Faniola Joseph, 27, and Rodrigue Dor, 53.

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FOX News [10/10/2025 11:55 AM, Staff, 40621K]
Daily Caller [10/10/2025 4:56 PM, Jason Hopkins, 835K]

The Hill [10/10/2025 8:40 PM, Ryan Mancini, 12595K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said the Trump administration will buy more buildings in Chicago for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. During a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Noem said more buildings were purchased "to operate out of.” "We’re purchasing more buildings in Chicago to operate out of," Noem said to President Trump during the meeting. "We’re going to not 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.” "I was there a few days ago and looked at some facilities that we can deploy more law enforcement out of," Noem said. "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 on the streets.” While Noem did not specify which buildings will be bought by the administration, she told ICE officials and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents at the immigration processing facility in Broadview, Ill., on Friday, "We’re going to try to buy that building today," while pointing at a building nearby, the Chicago Tribune reported. The Hill has reached out to DHS for comment. Trump recently directed around 300 members of the Illinois National Guard and 400 federalized Texas National Guard members to be sent to Chicago, Portland, Ore., and possibly other cities across the country "where needed," according to a memorandum filed Sunday in Oregon’s lawsuit. But U.S. District Judge April Perry on Thursday blocked the president from federalizing National Guard members across Illinois. Perry’s temporary restraining order ends on Oct. 23. 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. Trump’s orders have led to a war of words with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), who Trump said "should be in jail.” "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?" Pritzker wrote in post directed at the president on X.

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(B) CBS Mornings [10/10/2025 8:57 AM, Staff]

Chicago Tribune [10/10/2025 6:47 PM, Brian J. Rogal, 4829K] reports U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said this week she wants to beef up immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago region and purchase additional buildings in the area. One of the buildings Noem appears to be interested in is a warehouse at 1900 S. 25th Ave. in west suburban Broadview. The warehouse is one block east of the existing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility at 1930 Beach St. A YouTuber embedded with Noem as she toured the Chicago region in early October posted a video of her walking through the interior of a warehouse the agency is considering purchasing, then climbing up to its rooftop. The building in the video appears to be identical to pictures of 1900 S. 25th Ave. that are in CoStar, a commercial real estate service. The 212,000-square-foot warehouse was constructed in 1966, according to CoStar. New York-based investor TPG Angelo Gordon & Co. — the current owner of the warehouse, according to CoStar — did not respond to questions about the property. An ICE spokesperson also did not return messages seeking comment this week. Sg360°, a direct marketing agency that formerly owned the warehouse at 1900 S. 25th Ave., said it’s been wrongly targeted by a pressure campaign meant to stop a sale to DHS. “In response to recent misinformation circulating on social media and in local news reports, sg360° would like to clarify that we do not own the property located at 1900 S. 25th Avenue in Broadview and have not operated at that location since 2024,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Accordingly, sg360° is not authorized to sell or transfer ownership of the building to any party or government entity.” Sg360° sold 1900 S. 25th Ave. for about $10 million in 2017, according to CoStar. The agency remained a tenant before vacating the property in 2024. Broadview officials confirmed the property is for sale. Village spokesperson David Ormsby said DHS hasn’t contacted the village about possibly buying or leasing the warehouse, but the agency doesn’t typically consult with Broadview.

Daily Wire [10/10/2025 12:00 AM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports Trump administration officials are working tirelessly to stop the pipeline of child trafficking — and track down more than 320,000 missing migrant kids. John Fabbricatore, who returned to the federal government to lead the effort at the Department of Health and Human Services, told The Daily Wire that the Trump administration is determined to right the wrongs of the Biden administration, which often released children who crossed the border alone to sponsors in the United States who were "vetted" with a single phone call. When unaccompanied children cross the border, Border Patrol agents hand them off to HHS, which works to place them with a sponsor in the United States. Under the Biden administration, border agents saw a flood of more than 500,000 unaccompanied migrant children pouring over the border. "We could never tell if they were able to take care of these children. And there wasn’t DNA testing done to verify that these children actually belong to the people that were claiming to be a familial connection," Fabbricatore, who previously served as the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Denver office, said. "There were many ‘aunts and uncles,’ quotation marks that came forward and we found out in multiple cases that that these were wrong, and kids were sent to very bad people." "Kids were sent to drug dealers, kids were sent to people who claimed to be a brother, and it wasn’t a brother, and wound up raping the young girl," he said. Under the Biden administration, several federal whistleblowers exposed the lax vetting system that placed some migrant kids in the hands of traffickers, gang members and sex offenders. Now, the vetting process for sponsors "has been strengthened tenfold," Fabbricatore explained.

Breitbart [10/10/2025 6:58 PM, John Binder, 2416K] Video: HERE reports in an exclusive interview in Washington, DC, with The Alex Marlow Show podcast, President Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan told Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow why he decided to join the president in his quest to secure the southern border and explained in graphic detail the devastation wrought by those who advocate for mass immigration at all costs. Homan, who started in the United States Border Patrol in 1984 and later became the first Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director who worked his way through the ranks of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been trying to secure the nation’s borders for decades. He served for six presidents, dating back to President Ronald Reagan, and had long been a neutral figure in Democrat and Republican administrations. After having appointed Homan as ICE’s executive associate director of Enforcement and Removal Operations in 2013, then-President Obama was so pleased with the former New York police officer’s efficiency in deporting illegal aliens that he awarded him the Presidential Rank Award in 2016. The Left has changed since then, and today, Homan is one of the most attacked political appointees in the second Trump administration — a job he came out of retirement to take. "I don’t care," Homan told Marlow when asked about the attacks and threats against him on a daily basis from the Left. In an emotional moment, Homan said that if his opponents wore his shoes for the last three and a half decades, they would have a very clear understanding of why he fights to secure the nation’s borders — and with tremendous success. "If they held the dead children I’ve held, talked to little girls as young as 9 who were raped multiple times by handlers from the cartel, standing on the back of a tractor-trailer when 19 people are at your feet because they baked to death, including a 5-year-old boy, running operation in Arizona where alien smuggling cartels are ripping bodies from each other with drugs, and when someone couldn’t pay their smuggling fees, they’d torture them and call their relatives and let them listen while they torture them and kill them because they couldn’t pay the fees. These are just a few things," Homan said.

Newsweek [10/10/2025 6:29 PM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said criminal networks in Chicago were offered cash rewards for killing immigration agents, with the offers allegedly originating in Mexico, the Washington Examiner reported. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News there were bounties of $2,000 for killing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and $5,000 for a mid-level officer. Since January, when the Trump administration began enforcing its immigration policies, assaults on immigration agents have risen, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Officials partly attribute the increase to protests against ICE operations and have blamed Democrats and progressive activists. A DHS review of Drug Enforcement Administration material said gangs operating in southwest Chicago neighborhoods, including Pilsen and Little Village, were presented with bounties to carry out assassinations of federal officers, according to the Washington Examiner. The DEA report described organized monitoring of law-enforcement movements—including “spotters” on rooftops and radio communications—and listed payment amounts tied to rank. The bounties ranged from $5,000 for an agent or officer to $50,000 for a high-ranking official, with intermediate amounts for commanding roles, according to the DHS disclosure obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Daily Wire [10/10/2025 6:31 AM, Leif Le Mahieu, 2494K] reports a Biden-appointed judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard to the Chicago area amid widespread immigration enforcement operations. U.S. District Judge April Perry issued a two-week temporary restraining order blocking the activation of the National Guard in Illinois. The Trump administration has said the National Guard is necessary to protect federal property, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. Perry concluded at a hearing on Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security had been citing "unreliable evidence" to justify the deployment. Perry’s ruling said that the Trump administration was "temporarily enjoined from ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois." The judge said that allowing the National Guard to be deployed would "only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started," according to NBC. A follow-up ruling is scheduled for October 22, when Perry says she will determine whether to extend the injunction another two weeks. The Trump administration has appealed the order.

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(B) NBC 5 News at 6am [10/10/2025 7:34 AM, Staff]

New York Times [10/10/2025 10:30 PM, Mattathias Schwartz, Christina Morales, and Robert Chiarito, 153395K] reports in a blistering opinion, a federal judge accused the Trump administration of misrepresenting the facts on the ground in Chicago in an attempt to legally justify the deployment of National Guard troops to the nation’s third largest city. The 51-page opinion, issued late Friday by Judge April M. Perry, explained the basis for her decision on Thursday to temporarily bar the administration from deploying the National Guard anywhere in Illinois. She found that the legal threshold for such deployments is “very high” and that the “perceptions” held by Trump administration officials about potential threats to Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices from Chicago protesters “are not reliable.” Citing a “potential lack of candor” from government officials, the opinion notes that grand juries did not indict at least three protesters who officials had claimed were violent, which the government omitted from its filings. That, she wrote, “calls into question their ability to accurately assess the facts.” “Law enforcement officers who go into an event expecting ‘a shitshow’ are much more likely to experience one than those who go into the event prepared to de-escalate it,” wrote Judge Perry, a former prosecutor who was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement by email that Mr. Trump was acting lawfully. “President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities and we expect to be vindicated by a higher court,” she wrote. In the meantime, immigration operations continued to make waves in the city. On Friday morning, a creative services department employee at WGN-TV, one of Chicago’s largest television news outlets, was detained by two Border Patrol agents in the morning rush hour. The employee was released from federal custody and no charges were filed against her, according to a statement from WGN-TV. Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that the employee accused of throwing objects at a Border Patrol vehicle. She added that several people had earlier blocked agents with their vehicles to impede them. As a result, she said, “officers used their service vehicle to strike a suspect’s vehicle and create an opening.”

NewsNation [10/10/2025 3:02 PM, Mills Hayes and Alex Caprariello, 8017K] Video: HERE reports nearly 200 protesters gathered outside an ICE facility near Chicago on Friday, after a federal judge partially blocked National Guard troops from deploying in Illinois. The decision comes amid ongoing protests at a federal immigration processing facility in the suburb of Broadview, Illinois. Demonstrators have been calling for more transparency and accountability from federal agents at the facility. Illinois State Police were on the scene in their riot gear as well as Cook County Sheriff’s Office. At least two people have been briefly detained by the Broadview Police Department, before being released with citations after gathering outside of newly designated protest times between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. “I was sitting on a concrete block by myself. I had no sign, wasn’t saying anything, and the guy said to disperse,” Stuart Smith told NewsNation. “And I just sat there, and I said, all I’m doing is enjoying the sunrise. And then they arrested me.” Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson defended the enforcement of protest hours in an interview with NewsNation Live, stating that it was necessary out of respect for the residents nearby. “I’m in a position that every decision that I have to make, people are not going to like,” Thompson said. “And they don’t live here, and it’s clear that he does not live in the Village of Broadview.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link] The Chicago Tribune [10/10/2025 6:00 AM, Rebecca Johnson and Robert McCoppin, 4829K] reports Friday protests have become a weekly event at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, where federal agents have deployed tear gas and fired baton rounds at demonstrators on multiple occasions. The confrontations prompted local authorities to create a so-called Free Speech Zone, a dedicated area for people to voice their opposition to the mass deportation mission. This week’s protests will take on a decidedly different tone as U.S. Judge April Perry barred the president from deploying federalized National Guard troops from any state to any location in Illinois for Operation Midway Blitz, the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts in the Chicago area. In making her ruling, Perry, who was appointed to the bench by President Joe Biden, said she had no faith in the government’s claims of out-of-control violence and that it was federal agents who started it by aggressively targeting protesters with tear gas and militaristic tactics. Members of the Texas National Guard, who arrived in Illinois earlier this week, were spotted early Thursday at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Broadview but did not interact with protesters.

FOX News [10/10/2025 7:26 PM, Ashley Oliver, 40621K] reports President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in Oregon and Illinois faced dual tests in court this week, as his administration argued the two Democrat-led states are obstructing federal immigration enforcement. Drawing on a well of constitutional provisions and court precedents, government lawyers have sought to justify deploying the National Guard in Portland and Chicago. Some legal experts say the president has the law on his side, while others worry Trump is threatening state sovereignty. Democratic leaders have responded with outrage and indignation to Trump’s attempts to send federal troops to their jurisdictions. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson established "ICE-free zones" across Chicago to prevent federal agents from using any city-owned property in their ongoing operations. Conservative critics have compared this action and similar opposition to the Trump administration from Democratic leaders to attempts to nullify federal law, hearkening back to the 19th century. "Illinois’s own Abraham Lincoln had some ideas about how to deal with this John C. Calhoun-esque ‘nullification,’" attorney and conservative commentator Josh Hammer wrote on X. Joshua Blackman, South Texas College of Law professor, said the federal government does not need permission from states to defend federal facilities. The Trump administration’s position is that it needs to deploy the National Guard to protect federal personnel and Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings. "This is a principle that goes back to the beginning of the Republic," Blackman told Fox News Digital, pointing to the landmark case McCulloch v. Maryland, which found that Maryland could not tax a national bank created by Congress. The high court said in that case that allowing a state to impose such a burden on a federal institution would violate the Constitution’s supremacy clause, which says federal law trumps state law. During one set of oral arguments this week before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, a Trump administration lawyer argued that unrest in Portland, prompted by ICE activity, justified the deployment of about 200 National Guard soldiers. "For months, the ICE facility in Portland and the federal law enforcement officers who work there have faced a steady stream of violence, threats of violence and harassment from violent agitators bent on impeding federal immigration enforcement," said Eric McArthur, arguing for the Justice Department.

Chicago Tribune [10/11/2025 6:00 AM, Caroline Kubzansky, 4917K] reports from a back row of Jordan Temple Church, Katrina Thompson wiped her eyes, got to her feet and raised her hands in prayer as a black-and-white clad choir sang about the excellence of God. When the Rev. Stephen Richardson took the lectern, she whispered to herself in response to his declaration that "God is not going to let us go down like this." "Mayor Thompson, those of you that live in Broadview, Maywood, Proviso Township -" Richardson said. "We’re going to be all right." "When we see the military come in-" Richardson said. "We’re going to be all right," "Thompson repeated. "When we see the National Guard come in -" Richardson continued. "We’re going to be all right," Thompson said again. Throughout the service Sunday, Thompson’s Apple watch lit up with news notifications and updates from Broadview village staff. The 2.2 square-mile, majority-Black village, where Thompson is in her third term as mayor, has become the locus of what she sees as both a spiritual fight and a political battle. It had been about a month since chaos erupted outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center just inside Broadview’s village boundary. Confrontations between federal agents and people protesting "Operation Midway Blitz" have put the tiny suburb, and the first Black woman to lead it, under a national spotlight. They have also forced Thompson into a tough balancing act as agents’ liberal use of chemical crowd controls have disrupted life for many of Broadview’s roughly 8,000 residents. As she’s decried the actions of the federal government and drawn parallels between the anti-ICE protests and the Civil Rights Movement - a cornerstone of her own political upbringing and philosophy - Thompson has also moved to limit demonstration hours outside the facility and called in state police to help corral protesters, saying her first obligation is to Broadview residents who must live with the effects of the confrontations around the clock. "I know that I have to be kind," she said. "I know that I have to make decisions. I just can’t take a position of fear."

AP [10/11/2025 12:05 AM, Staff, 31753K] reports judges have stalled President Donald Trump’s plans to deploy the National Guard in Chicago and in Portland, Oregon, but troops are now patrolling in Memphis, Tennessee, with the blessing of the state’s governor. The troops, dressed in Guard fatigues and protective vests, with guns in their holsters, patrolled at a Bass Pro Shops store and a nearby tourist welcome center beside the Mississippi River on Friday. It was unclear how many troops have been deployed to Memphis. Trump has sent or discussed sending troops to other cities as well, including Baltimore; the District of Columbia; New Orleans; and the California cities of Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The federal government says the troops support immigration agents and protect federal property. The Guard troops in Memphis remain under the command of Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who supports their use to further a federal crackdown on crime. By contrast, Trump has attempted to deploy National Guard troops - including some from Texas and California - in Portland and Chicago after taking control of them himself, over objections from state and local leaders who say such interference violates their sovereignty and federal law. Federal courts in Illinois and Oregon this week blocked Trump’s efforts to send troops out in those cities. Trump announced Sept. 15 that he intended to deploy the Guard to Memphis, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, embraced the plan to bolster law enforcement operations there. Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat who did not request the deployment, said he hopes the task force will target violent offenders rather than scare, harass or intimidate residents. Federal officials say agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Marshals Service have made hundreds of arrests and issued more than 2,800 traffic citations since the task force began operating in Memphis on Sept. 29. Illinois senators denied entry to ICE building Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth said they were denied access Friday to the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, a site of confrontations between protesters and federal agents. "It is appalling that two United States senators are not allowed to visit this facility," Duckworth said. "What are you afraid of?" The senators said they have congressional oversight authority. "Something is going on in there they don’t want us to see," Durbin said. "I don’t know what it is." Illinois judge blocks troop deployment

UPI [10/10/2025 3:51 PM, Lisa Hornung, 2416K] reports multiple people were killed and several others are missing after an explosives plant blast in Bucksnort, Tenn., Thursday. Officials haven’t yet released any names or numbers of the victims. About 80 people work at Accurate Energetic Systems, but it isn’t yet clear how many were there at the time of the explosion. Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said the explosion was a "very devastating blast" that "encompassed one whole building," 10 News reported. The explosion happened at 7:45 a.m. CDT. The plant is on the county line between Hickman and Humphreys counties, southwest of Nashville near I-40. Three people with minor injuries have been treated at TriStar medical in Dickson, Tenn., CNN reported. Two of them have been released, and one is still being treated in an emergency room. Davis said the scene is secured and that people nearby might hear smaller explosions throughout the day. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and others came to help in the investigation. Before Davis’ remarks, officials with the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency said at least 19 people are missing, one person possibly died, and several others were in the hospital.

AP [10/11/2025 12:49 AM, Travis Loller, 31753K] reports officials were investigating a blast that leveled an explosives plant in rural Tennessee, as families of the 18 people missing and feared dead waited anxiously Saturday for answers. The explosion Friday morning at Accurate Energetic Systems, which supplies and researches explosives for the military, scattered debris over at least a half-mile (800-meter) area and was felt by residents more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) away, said Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis. Aerial footage showed the company’s hilltop location smoldering and smoky Friday, with just a mass of twisted metal, burned-out shells of cars and an array of debris left behind. Davis, who described it as one of the worst scenes he’s ever seen, said multiple people were killed. But he declined to say how many, referring to the 18 missing as “souls” because officials were still speaking to family. “What we need right now is we need our communities to come together and understand that we’ve lost a lot of people,” he said. The company’s website says it processes explosives and ammunition at an eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills in the Bucksnort area, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Nashville. It’s not immediately known how many people work at the plant or how many were there when the explosion happened. Davis said investigators are trying to determine what happened and couldn’t say what caused the explosion. The company has been awarded numerous military contracts, largely by the U.S. Army and Navy, to supply different types of munitions and explosives, according to public records. The products range from bulk explosives to landmines and small breaching charges, including C4.

NPR [10/10/2025 5:04 PM, Kat Lonsdorf, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports as President Trump pushes to get National Guard troops patrolling American cities, his administration has, in effect, blurred the lines between traditional law enforcement and immigration enforcement.

Breitbart.com [10/10/2025 11:23 AM, Bob Price, 2416K] reports a video posted on social media shows Chicago residents warmly greeting U.S. Border Patrol agents who are deployed to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers rounding up criminal aliens. The welcome stands in sharp contrast to the actions by organized anti-ICE radicals. A CBP video crew followed Border Patrol’s Commander Op at Large, Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino, as he walked around various businesses in the Windy City. The business managers and customers warmly greeted the chief with handshakes, warm smiles, and fist bumps. The residents appeared to endorse the Border Patrol’s mission in support of President Donald Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz. Federal law enforcement officials have arrested hundreds of violent criminal aliens since the Chicago operation began. Criminal aliens do not appear to be as excited to see the Border Patrol in the city, assisting in the mission to find them and remove them from the country. Chief Bovino himself became the target of a bounty threat allegedly posted by an illegal alien who is allegedly a member of the Latin Kings gang. The bounty posted on social media offered a reward of $2,000 to capture Bovino, or $10,000 to “take him down,” Breitbart’s John Binder reported. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Chicago Tribune [10/10/2025 12:20 PM, Michelle L. Quinn and Meredith Colias-Pete, 4829K] reports East Chicago Police officers won’t involve themselves in ICE activities in the city, but officials are imploring residents to not instigate or accelerate volatile situations. East Chicago Police confirmed that ICE agents were set up in the publicly accessible portion of the department’s parking lot after the mayor’s office saw an online video showing ICE agents conducting an arrest Thursday afternoon, Mayor Anthony Copeland said in a Thursday evening social media post. Early Thursday, ICE agents attempted to establish a staging area at the Hammond Police Department, but Hammond city officials told them to leave. Like Hammond, East Chicago’s administrators weren’t alerted to their presence or plans, he said. "(Thursday) will be remembered as the day that tested my resolve," Copeland said. "We want to be clear: The East Chicago Police Department is not involved in any operations with ICE. We have not coordinated, supported, or participated in any immigration enforcement actions, and no information has been shared with ICE regarding such matters. Our department’s parking facility is open to the public and may occasionally be used by other law enforcement entities. However, their presence does not indicate cooperation or endorsement." While Copeland understands that federal agencies aren’t required to inform municipalities when they’re in the area, the police department’s duty is to its residents. East Chicago Police Chief Jose Rivera agreed.

The AP [10/10/2025 5:45 PM, Sarah Raza] reports after the Trump administration escalated its immigration crackdown in the city, runners like Guidotti, 31, are worried they could become a target during Sunday’s race. Questions have been swirling for weeks over whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents might target the marathon, which draws thousands of runners from around the world each year. Reflecting the unease, event organizers sent an email to participants Wednesday that referred to an immigration "Know Your Rights" page on the city’s website. An ICE spokeswoman, Tanya Roman, said rumors that agents will be at the race are false. When asked whether its officers might target the marathon, Customs and Border Protection, which has also been highly active during the immigration crackdown, was noncommittal, saying that people in the country legally need not worry. Such assurances might not calm the fears of some participants, though. Yahoo! News [10/10/2025 8:46 AM, Rhian Lubin, 49624K] reports more than 50,000 runners from over 100 countries will descend on the Windy City this weekend for the Chicago Marathon, a world-renowned race that contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy each year. Excitement is in the air as the city gears up for Sunday’s race, where athletes have smashed world records in front of millions. But Chicago is also in the spotlight for a different reason: President Donald Trump’s "Operation Midway Blitz," which has seen immigration law enforcement flood the city and led to immigration raids and arrests becoming a daily occurrence. The raids have sparked fear among Chicago communities, particularly in Latino neighborhoods. That sense of foreboding was also spreading among marathon runners this week. Instead of sharing excitement about sightseeing along the route or hitting their finish time, social media was alight with fears by minority runners about being snatched up by agents potentially positioned along the route, plans to run with passports in their pouches and debates over whether to run at all. The concerns came from participants and their families planning to travel from abroad — Chicago welcomes about 10,000 international runners each year — but also those from elsewhere in the U.S. and the Windy City itself. On Sunday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced that Trump has ordered troops from the Texas National Guard to be deployed to the state, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem likened Chicago to a "war zone" when she was there last week. On Thursday, a judge blocked that National Guard effort for two weeks - but ICE can continue its operations.

Los Angeles Times [10/10/2025 6:00 AM, Susanne Rust, 14862K] reports the streets were quiet just a block from the ICE processing facility where the National Guard deployed Thursday to protect federal agents and property. Residents walked their dogs. Kids went to and from school. An Amazon delivery driver parked his van on the side of South 24th Street, turned on his hazard lights and dropped off a few packages — seemingly unhurried or concerned about the dozen people chanting and carrying signs outside the facility on South 25th street. Broadview, a suburb of roughly 8,000 people 12 miles west of downtown Chicago, has become a focal point in President Trump’s immigration crackdown in Illinois. It’s where in the last couple of weeks Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot a peacefully protesting Presbyterian pastor in the head with a pepper ball, and where dozens of protesters and journalists have been tear-gassed and hit with pepper balls. Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson, 55, shook her head when asked about the military presence, and said the whole situation seemed unnecessary and overblown. "It’s calm in the city of Chicago. It’s no different than most major cities. Sure, it has issues. They all do. But they don’t call for the National Guard," she said. "The last time I remember a National Guard coming in to a city was with Rodney King. But that was different. People were enraged. There were riots in the streets. People were looting shops and businesses. There is nothing like that happening here." Thompson grew up in Inglewood and graduated from Inglewood High School in 1988. She was in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots and keenly remembers the rage, violence and fear. She’s adamant that what happened then has no comparison to what’s happening in Chicago now.

New York Post [10/10/2025 5:46 PM, Victor Nava, 43962K] reports a college professor with suspected links to Antifa — and who believes Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are Nazis — was arrested in Chicago late last month after he allegedly brought a loaded gun to an anti-ICE protest. Elias Cepeda, who is listed as a faculty member in the English department at Northeastern Illinois University, was collared on Sept. 26 with a loaded gun and multiple rounds of ammunition on him amid President Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz crackdown in the Windy City. The Department of Homeland Security alleges Cepeda brought the loaded firearm with him to a demonstration outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Ill., the site of several violent protests. “Elias Cepeda has suspected ties to the domestic terrorist organization ANTIFA and has a history of glorifying violence against—and the killing of—our brave law enforcement,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. “Violent individuals like Cepeda are putting the public and our law enforcement’s lives in danger. Just two days after the horrific attack on ICE in Dallas, Cepeda brought a loaded gun and multiple magazines to our ICE facility in Chicago,” McLaughlin added. “Thank God law enforcement intervened and arrested Cepeda before he could have potentially shot or killed anyone. Let this serve as a stark warning to any individual who wishes to do our law enforcement harm or any ANTIFA terrorist: President Trump and Secretary Noem will fight every day to protect and defend the men and women who keep our country safe from violent extremists and criminal illegal aliens alike.” Prior to his arrest, Cepeda had made several social media posts calling for violence against ICE, describing federal agents as Nazis and referencing Antifa.

NewsNation [10/10/2025 2:09 PM, Ali Bradley, 8017K] Video: HERE reports NewsNation’s Ali Bradley speaks to two immigration officials, with their faces and voices obscured, about the increased hostility and violence they faced during operations in Chicago. One ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Special Response Team leader called it “disheartening” that even his family fears discussing his job. He described agents being doxxed and targeted online, recalling violent protests at ICE’s Broadview facility near Chicago, where demonstrators hurled rocks and fireworks, forcing officers to use tear gas and crowd control tactics. A veteran Border Patrol agent shared similar concerns, reflecting on 11 years of service marked by family separation, escalating threats from anti-ICE activists and rising violence in Chicago including protesters using vehicles as weapons.

Univision Chicago WGBO [10/10/2025 3:21 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports federal authorities recently arrested Juan Espinoza Martinez, an alleged member of the Latin Kings gang, accused of offering a reward for information and the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino. The arrest took place in Burr Ridge, Illinois, following a coordinated investigation by agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On October 3, 2025, a confidential source alerted authorities to a bounty advertisement posted on Snapchat offering $2,000 for information on Bovino’s location and $10,000 for anyone who successfully attacked him. After the perpetrator was identified, Espinoza Martínez was arrested on October 6 and faces charges of soliciting the murder of a law enforcement officer. Espinoza Martínez is a Mexican citizen who illegally entered the United States on an undetermined date and is now in federal custody while the investigation and prosecution continue. The woman, who asked not to be identified for her safety, spoke with Univision Chicago and asked for help correcting this injustice against her husband.

Reuters [10/10/2025 2:29 PM, Renee Hickman, 36480K] reports that a Chicago woman shot multiple times by U.S. Border and Customs Protection agents was indicted by a grand jury on federal charges of impeding a federal officer with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors allege Marimar Martinez, 30, rammed the vehicle of federal agents with her own before they shot her, which they say was an act of self-defense and she was armed. Martinez’s lawyer, Christopher Parente, said footage from one of the agent’s bodycams contradicted that account, and Martinez will plead not guilty at an arraignment scheduled for next week. Another man, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, was also indicted Thursday in the same case.

Chicago Tribune [10/10/2025 5:42 PM, Meredith Colias-Pete, 4829K] reports Rafael Manzo said he had been planning an anti-ICE protest for 2.5 weeks when a widely circulated video popped up Thursday showing a man appearing to be arrested outside an East Chicago bakery. Since then, online interest in the protest has grown, he said. "We want to show ICE and also just some of the people in the community," he said. "There is a larger support for our undocumented community than hatred for them." Manzo, 18, a Purdue University Northwest political science student, said he founded More Action for Students on campus in January. He estimated 100 to 200 people might show at the 1 p.m. protest Saturday at East Chicago City Hall, 4525 Indianapolis Blvd. After the video posted online, they had 400 reposts and "a million messages" from people who want to help, he said. Deportations are "only going to set our marginalized communities back," he said. A woman who answered the phone at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said Lake County, Indiana, residents can call their hotline at 855-435-7693 to report ICE activity or connect to resources. Manzo said his group was first called the Hispanic student association, but they changed the name to be more inclusive for Black and Asian students, supporting issues like expanded higher education and more voting access. "I know multiple people that have been put in detention centers," he said. "Some were released and some were sent to Mexico, or other countries." "It’s, like, actually horrible. It creates a sense of instability. You don’t know who it will be the next day," Manzo said. "Who I really do worry about is the kids, children out of nowhere have to see their parents go (who) might never be back (and have to) continue living." "A lot of people don’t want to participate (in protests) because they are scared, or it’s not affecting them yet," he said. "If we don’t act today, there might not be an opportunity to have the right to fight tomorrow." In a release, East Chicago Police Chief Jose Rivera said officers’ roles would be limited to making sure no one gets hurt, and traffic control.

Axios [10/10/2025 11:45 AM, Yacob Reyes and Josephine Walker, 12972K] reports Tampa is among a handful of U.S. cities reportedly being considered for a new ICE office. The move comes as the National Guard deploys in cities across the nation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) expands its reach with billions in new funding. : The General Services Administration released a list in September of cities where the government hopes to set up shop. The Trump administration is looking for 10-year leases in nearly two dozen metropolitan areas, including Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and Jacksonville. 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." The GSA and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment. NPR and the Washington Post both reported that the office space request is being made on behalf of ICE. "We’re looking at new facilities to purchase," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday. "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.

FOX News [10/10/2025 1:42 PM, Rachel Wolf, 40621K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responded to a Portland group’s advertisement urging members of the public to point lasers at aircraft amid unrest over the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown. "Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft is a federal crime. This is incredibly dangerous for the aircraft personnel and for the public’s safety," DHS wrote in a post on X. "Antifa domestic terrorists WILL NOT overrun our cities. We will bust their networks and bring every one of them to justice." The flyer is still on the front page of Rose City Counter-Info’s website. The group defines itself as an "anarchist counter-info platform in so-called Portland, Oregon." On Sept. 30, DHS announced the arrest of four Mexican men living in the U.S. illegally after they pointed a laser at a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopter, endangering the pilot, the crew and the public. In the press release, DHS identified the suspects, who were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as Diogenes Albores-Suchiapa, Andres Brian Lopez-Labra, Benito Zamora-Alvarez and Hector Miranda Mendoza. Officials said the four men attempted to temporarily blind the pilot with "laser strikes" and were taken into custody after federal agents traced the beam to a Portland residence. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visited an ICE facility in Portland on Tuesday and prayed over the officers who were facing the unrest. Despite the chaotic scenes in Portland, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek insists that "there is no insurrection" in her state and said that she is confident that "local law enforcement will meet the moment." Kotek, who recently met with Noem, said that she requested DHS and ICE "obey Oregon laws when they engage in federal operations.”

The Hill [10/10/2025 2:08 PM, Ellen Mitchell, 12595K] reports that nearly half the roughly 2,450 National Guard troops deployed to Washington, D.C., amid President Trump’s crackdown on crime are reportedly set to leave the city later this fall. Authorities in Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia — which have sent a combined 1,131 troops to contribute to Trump’s federal law enforcement initiative — have set target dates for their withdrawal in late October and November, The Associated Press reported. A spokesperson for the Joint Task Force-District of Columbia declined to comment to The Hill, directing questions to state governor’s offices. The National Guard has been activated in the nation’s capital since August, when Trump issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency that placed local police under the president’s authority for 30 days under the city’s Home Rule Act, with the guard to provide a presence around Washington. But unlike typical National Guard domestic missions, such as helping in crises of hurricanes, wildfires or tornados, the troops sent to Washington largely patrolled popular tourist destinations such as the National Mall. They also have been assisting with "beautification projects" including raking leaves, trash pickup and laying mulch for the U.S. Park Service. As of Thursday, 2,453 troops were in the city, including 971 from the D.C. National Guard, and 1,482 from eight states.

FOX News [10/10/2025 9:59 PM, Breanne Deppisch , Jake Gibson, 40621K] reports a federal judge in Maryland on Friday vowed to issue an order "as soon as possible" in a case involving the legal status of Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the Trump administration’s plans to deport him from the U.S. to a third country within days — capping an extraordinary marathon hearing in his case that stretched for nearly seven hours — and has dominated headlines and federal court dockets for as many months. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis adjourned the court Friday evening with a promise to order on the matter as quickly as possible. Much of the hearing, however, was punctuated by incredulous objections from Xinis and frequent requests to "sidebar" with lawyers arguing both sides of the case. For Xinis, a judge who has presided over various iterations of Abrego’s civil case since March, the frequent pauses were a bit of an abberration, which she acknowledged. "I’ve always been a proponent of smooth jazz," she quipped. Certain portions of the day went far less smoothly. Xinis upbraided the Trump administration for its failure to produce a witness for the court to testify about what steps it had taken to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s deportation to a third country, describing the official who appeared on the stand as a witness "who knows less than nothing" about the case, and the countries they are considering removing him to. "This appears to be in direct contravention of the court," she noted pointedly, shortly before adjourning for the day. Xinis had ordered the evidentiary hearing Monday, with the stated goal of evaluating a request from Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, that he be released from immigration detention pending further action in his case, and to question a Trump administration official with "first-hand" knowledge of the government’s efforts to facilitate his deportation to the third country of Eswatini, where Trump officials said they intend to send him. Still, the hearing was much more notable for what it failed to produce than what it did. Judge Xinis struggled to clarify seemingly contradictory statements and testimony from Trump officials, including what countries agreed or did not agree to accept Abrego Garcia, and when. Lawyers for the Trump administration acknowledged to Xinis that they had previously identified three African countries — Uganda, Ghana, and Eswatini— as suitable third country locations to deport Abrego Garcia, pending dissolution of her emergency order keeping him in the U.S. But they mistakenly represented the positions of both Ghana and Eswatini. As of this writing, none of the three governments mentioned agreed to accept Abrego Garcia. Many of the crucial details emerged after hours of grueling questioning with John Schultz, the deputy assistant director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, whom the government produced as its witness. Despite his 20 years of experience at DHS, he appeared to know little about the case in question. He failed to answer most of the questions Xinis asked about the government’s plans to deport Abrego Garcia — including basic questions on who within DHS’s ranks had been assigned to handle Abrego Garcia’s case, and the status of various requests for deportation and communications with the countries it had identified.

ABC News [10/10/2025 2:32 PM, Laura Romero, 30493K] Video: HERE reports attorneys for wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia will be in court in Maryland on Friday for an evidentiary hearing in which government witnesses are expected to testify about the steps taken to remove him from the United States. The hearing comes after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis appeared exasperated on Monday with government attorneys who could not answer if there was additional evidence about plans to deport him to Eswatini, beyond letters sent to Abrego Garcia’s lawyers. The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday notified Abrego Garcia that it planned to deport him to Ghana. The agency told his attorneys later that the notice was "premature" and asked them to disregard the document. Ghana’s foreign minister, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, said in a Friday X post that the West African nation is not accepting Abrego Garcia. "This has been directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities," he wrote. "In my interactions with US officials, I made clear that our understanding to accept a limited number of non-criminal West Africans, purely on the grounds of African solidarity and humanitarian principles would not be expanded." The Salvadoran national’s attorneys have argued that if there are no current plans for his imminent removal, Abrego Garcia should be released from detention. A separate hearing in that case is scheduled for Friday, where his criminal attorneys in Tennessee will discuss discovery and Abrego Garcia’s motion to dismiss that case for vindictive and selective prosecution. In a filing on Thursday, Robert McGuire, the acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said he will not produce communications between senior government officials, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, about the prosecution of the case. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
(B) NBC News Daily [10/10/2025 1:30 PM, Staff]

NewsNation [10/10/2025 1:44 PM, Erin McCullough, 8017K] Video: HERE reports attorneys for Kilmar Abrega Garcia were in federal court Friday morning arguing their client’s human smuggling charges should be dismissed for "vindictive" prosecution. Abrego Garcia has been a point of national interest after he was deported to an El Salvadoran prison in March. On Monday, a federal judge ruled there was a "realistic likelihood" of vindictive prosecution of Abrego Garcia in a 16-page ruling. His charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County. Federal authorities claim between around 2016 to 2025, Abrego Garcia was involved in a human smuggling ring. He is accused of trafficking undocumented migrants to the U.S. Friday’s hearing focused on what evidence attorneys for Abrego Garcia could process through records access. During the hearing, the defense said they will be filing a motion to suppress the traffic stop body-worn camera footage in this case. They will also file to prohibit any recordings from a March arrest they called "unlawful.” They argued the March incident had no probable cause or reasonable suspicion; they also brought concerns that Abrego Garcia’s statements may have been coerced and he was not properly Mirandized.

Telemundo Amarillo [10/10/2025 6:35 PM, Staff, 4K] reports the U.S. government is again pushing to deport Kilmar Ábrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly sent to El Salvador, and has not given up on his idea of moving him to Esuatini or Ghana, though both countries have rejected the idea, an immigration official told a judge Friday. Ábrego García has contested attempts to re-deport him to a third country after the U.S. government admitted that a previous order prevents his expulsion to his home country, El Salvador. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently said it plans to send it to Esuatini in southern Africa. The case has come to represent the bitter partisan struggle over President Donald Trump’s immigration policy and his agenda of mass deportations. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, Maryland, will decide whether to keep in custody or be released while his challenge is being settled. The judge ordered government officials to testify about the steps taken to move Ábrego García to another country. An ICE official told the judge at Friday’s hearing that the government was continuing to talk to officials in Esuatini about sending it there, though the country rejected such an approach this week. He said his understanding is that the U.S. government was also still in talks with Ghana. However, Ghanaian Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa posted on social media on Friday that his nation will not accept Ábrego Garcia. Ábrego García could be expelled in 72 hours if the judge allows it and once the government receives approval from a third country, said John Schultz, assistant deputy director who helps oversee expulsions for ICE. “We could quickly operationalize the expulsion,” Schultz said. Ábrego Garcia’s lawyers accused the U.S. government of trying to illegally use the immigration system to punish Ábrego García after the embarrassing situation with his wrong deportation. On the other hand, his lawyers have filed similar allegations with the Tennessee criminal court on human trafficking charges filed against Ábrego Garcia in June, the same day he was returned to the United States from El Salvador. The Tennessee judge concluded that the trial against Ábrego Garcia could be an illegal retaliation following the success of his lawsuit against the Trump administration for his deportation.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [10/10/2025 4:40 PM, Jacob Rosen and Melissa Quinn, 39474K]

Politico [10/10/2025 7:56 PM, Josh Gerstein, 13586K] reports the Trump administration has made haphazard and, so far, ineffectual attempts to find a country willing to accept Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he’s deported again from the U.S., according to testimony and evidence presented in federal court here Friday. A senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official testified that efforts to get the African countries of Uganda and Eswatini to accept the high-profile deportee have foundered in recent days. Another potential destination, Ghana, also seemed to fizzle Friday as that country’s foreign minister said unequivocally on X that Ghana would not agree to receive Abrego. Abrego is originally from El Salvador. He entered the U.S. illegally and lived in Maryland for more than a decade before he was arrested in March and deported to a notorious Salvadoran prison. Courts declared that deportation illegal because it violated a 2019 order from an immigration judge who barred the U.S. from sending him there due to potential persecution by a local gang. The Trump administration returned Abrego to the U.S. in June under court order. Federal prosecutors simultaneously charged him with human smuggling in Tennessee — charges Abrego denies. The administration, in the meantime, has said it wants to deport Abrego again, this time to some other country. But Abrego’s lawyers argued during Friday’s hearing that the administration is dragging its feet in those deportation efforts in order to keep Abrego in immigration jail and pressure him to plead guilty. The meager and unsuccessful deportation efforts could lead to Abrego being released from immigration detention within days, if U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis concludes the government hasn’t shown it’s making a sincere and substantial effort to find a destination for Abrego. Abrego told the administration in August that he would accept deportation to Costa Rica. One of his lawyers, Andrew Rossman, said Friday that the administration’s scattershot attempts to identify African countries instead show that the administration is intent on refusing the Costa Rica offer. “We now know they are 0 for 3. Three strikes and you’re out. They have spun the globe and picked various places … to fail on purpose by selecting places that would be completely unpalatable for Mr. Abrego,” Rossman told Xinis. “What we’ve been getting in this courtroom is a lot of run-around.”

New York Times [10/10/2025 9:33 PM, Minho Kim, 135475K] reports a federal judge on Friday expressed strong doubt that the Trump administration had legal authority to continue detaining Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man now in immigration custody after Trump officials wrongfully deported him and then brought him back. Judge Paula Xinis of the U.S. District Court in Maryland had called the hearing to give the Trump administration a chance to demonstrate evidence of lawful plans to deport Mr. Abrego Garcia soon, without which she said she was inclined to release him. But instead, she said, the government seems to be switching arguments at will to try to lengthen his detainment, resulting in a “totally inconsistent” case. “You’re not even close,” the judge told administration lawyers at one point during the six-hour session. “We’re getting to ‘three strikes and you’re out.’” If Judge Xinis orders Mr. Abrego Garcia released, it would be his first time walking free since he was briefly released for three days in August, after two judges ruled against Mr. Abrego Garcia’s continued detention for criminal charges the administration is separately pursuing against him. The release would also amount to the latest judicial rebuke of the Trump administration in a long and twisting case that began with what officials admitted was an “administrative error” that led to Mr. Abrego Garcia’s detention in a Salvadoran prison. The administration has vowed that Mr. Abrego Garcia would “never go free on American soil.” Central to the argument on Friday was whether administration officials had found a country where to take Mr. Abrego Garcia, who has been barred from deportation to his native El Salvador because he fears his life would be in danger there. The Trump administration had previously floated Uganda and Eswatini as the primary options. But the government’s key witness, John Schultz, a deputy assistant director overseeing deportation operations at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said no African countries to which the government intended to deport Mr. Abrego Garcia had agreed to take him. For weeks, Mr. Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who is married to a U.S. citizen, has made clear that he would not challenge his deportation if he were sent to Costa Rica, which has promised him legal residency and guaranteed that he would not be sent back to El Salvador. But the Trump administration has refused to deport him to Costa Rica, and in an earlier hearing this week, Judge Xinis pressed the administration to consider the option or clarify why it was unacceptable. She did not get the clarity she was seeking. Mr. Schultz not only could not explain why the administration had refused to consider Costa Rica but also said he had been unaware that Costa Rica had provided such assurances to Mr. Abrego Garcia. “You came here today with a witness who knows nothing about Costa Rica, I mean, less than nothing,” Judge Xinis told a government lawyer, referring to Mr. Schultz. “Help yourself dig out of this hole.” “This is a joke for anyone who’s listening,” she added.

The Hill [10/10/2025 5:42 PM, Zach Schonfeld, 12595K] reports a federal judge expressed frustration with Justice Department lawyers at a marathon hearing Friday as she weighed the Trump administration’s efforts to send to Africa Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man previously deported to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia is back in the United States in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, but he remains protected from deportation to his home country. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis is weighing arguments from Abrego Garcia’s lawyers that the administration is illegally punishing their client by floating various African countries that won’t accept him rather than oblige his demand to be removed to Costa Rica instead. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers argue the judge should release their client. The judge will issue a ruling in writing later. Now, Abrego Garcia is back in the custody of immigration authorities, who are detaining him in Pennsylvania as the administration looks to potentially remove him again.

Washington Post [10/10/2025 8:03 PM, Maria Sacchetti and Jeremy Roebuck, 24149K] reports three African nations have refused the Trump administration’s entreaties to accept the deportation of Kilmar Abrego García, a U.S. official said at a federal court hearing Friday as a judge weighed whether to release Abrego from immigration detention. Eswatini, Uganda and Ghana declined requests from the State Department to accept Abrego, a 30-year-old immigrant from El Salvador whom the Trump administration illegally deported to his native country in March, John Schultz, a high-ranking immigration official, told U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis. Abrego’s lawyers argued at the hearing that since his removal does not appear imminent, he should be released from an immigration detention facility in central Pennsylvania, where he has been held since Aug. 25. “We now know that they are zero for three; three strikes you’re out,” Andrew J. Rossman, one of Abrego’s attorneys, told Xinis in a federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The government has not provided a viable pathway for the removal of Mr. Abrego in the reasonably foreseeable future.” Xinis, who originally ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego’s return to the United States, said during the hearing, which lasted more than six hours, that she would rule as soon as possible on whether to release him. The hearing marked the latest turn in a complex legal saga that has kept the 30-year-old sheet metal worker in and out of U.S. and Salvadoran detention centers for much of this year. He had been living in Beltsville, Maryland, with his wife and three children, all U.S. citizens, before immigration officers deported him to El Salvador in March, despite a standing immigration court ruling forbidding it because he had faced death threats from gangs. He was jailed in that country for months without facing any charges. Despite a court order to facilitate his return, Trump officials waited until they secured an indictment against Abrego on human smuggling charges in Tennessee before bringing him back to the United States in June. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which are based on a 2022 traffic stop that officials had declined to prosecute at the time, and a federal judge in that case ordered him released in August. He was free briefly until Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into civil immigration custody, ostensibly for deportation proceedings. Xinis temporarily barred officers from removing him. Abrego’s lawyers have argued repeatedly that his detention is part of a broader pattern of punishment for asserting his rights and challenging his deportation to El Salvador. In August, his lawyers said the government had tried to coerce him into a deal to plead guilty to two counts of human smuggling in the Tennessee case and, after serving his sentence, being deported to Costa Rica, a Spanish-speaking country regarded as the safest in Central America. When Abrego refused, federal authorities threatened to deport him within days to Uganda, an African nation to which the State Department has discouraged travel because of the ongoing risk of terrorist attacks. Schultz, an ICE deputy assistant director, said at Friday’s court hearing that Matt Ochoa, who works on homeland security issues under the White House’s National Security Council, notified him in August that Abrego would be deported to Uganda.

AP [10/10/2025 6:43 AM, Mark Banchereau, 4722K] reports Burkina Faso says it has refused a proposal from the Trump administration to accept deportees from the United States. The West African country was asked whether it would accept non-citizens expelled by the U.S., in addition to its own nationals, Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré said Thursday on national television. "Naturally, this proposal, which we deemed indecent at the time, is totally contrary to the value of dignity which is part of the very essence of the vision of Capt. Ibrahim Traoré," he said, referring to the country’s military ruler. The remark came only a few hours after the U.S. Embassy in the capital Ouagadougou suspended most visa services for Burkina Faso residents, redirecting applications to its embassy in neighboring Togo. The embassy did not give a reason for the move. Citing a U.S. diplomatic note accusing Burkinabe nationals of not complying with visa usage rules, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré called the move a possible “pressure tactic” and said, “Burkina Faso is a land of dignity, not deportation.”

FOX News [10/10/2025 8:35 PM, Brie Stimson, 40621K] reports Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Friday announced that the Department of War (DOW) is establishing a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force in the Caribbean Sea. Hegseth said the task force’s aim would be to "crush the cartels, stop the poison and keep America safe. The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold.” The task force is launching at the direction of President Donald Trump, he said, in the SOUTHCOM area, which covers the Caribbean and Latin America. The U.S. Southern Command said in a release that the task force was being launched under the II Marine Expeditionary Force on Friday "to synchronize and augment counter-narcotics efforts across the Western Hemisphere.” "Transnational criminal organizations threaten the security, prosperity, and health of our hemisphere," Admiral Alvin Holsey, the commander of SOUTHCOM, said in a statement. "By forming a JTF around II MEF headquarters, we enhance our ability to detect, disrupt, and dismantle illicit trafficking networks faster and at greater depth – together with our U.S. and partner-nation counterparts.” This comes as the administration has begun strikes against boats in the Caribbean it says are linked to drug trafficking networks. The administration has conducted a series of fatal strikes against four small boats believed to be carrying drugs over the last few months. It said 21 people were killed in the strikes. The attacks have alarmed Democratic lawmakers because the administration hasn’t detailed what evidence it had against the targeted boats or their passengers. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [10/10/2025 9:00 AM, Morgan Phillips, 40621K] Video: HERE reports publicly, the White House says the latest strikes in the Caribbean are aimed at cartel infrastructure. Privately, some analysts suspect the campaign is calibrated to do something else: weaken longtime U.S. foe Nicolás Maduro’s grip on power. President Donald Trump is ramping up pressure on the Venezuelan regime, striking four boats in the Caribbean Sea linked to drug trafficking networks tied to Caracas over the past month. Alongside those strikes, the U.S. has repositioned three destroyers, an amphibious assault ship, a nuclear-powered attack submarine and a squadron of F-35s to Puerto Rico — a deployment that has prompted one question in Washington and across the region: is the United States preparing for all-out war on Caracas? So far, defense analysts say that seems unlikely. A ground invasion would require far more troops than are currently in the theater — between 50,000 and 150,000 by some estimates. Somewhere around 10,000 troops have been repositioned in Latin America, a senior defense official told New York Times. "The U.S. just doesn’t have enough forces there," said Mark Cancian, a senior defense adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "What I think they’ve put in place is the capability to launch strikes at either the cartels or the Maduro regime. If I had to bet, it’s probably against the cartels — but I wouldn’t rule out something against the regime.” That limited but flexible posture reflects what some experts call a modern form of coercive diplomacy. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS News [10/10/2025 6:31 AM, Staff, 39474K] 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. Caracas cited "mounting threats" from the U.S., which has conducted multiple military strikes on alleged drug boats off Venezuela. 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." At U.N. headquarters in New York, diplomats told AFP the talks would take place on Friday at 3:00 pm.

Los Angeles Times [10/10/2025 10:48 PM, Edith M. Lederer, 14862K] reports the United States clashed with Venezuela and its allies at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday, with the Trump administration vowing to use its "full might" to eradicate drug cartels and the Maduro government saying it anticipates "an armed attack.” Venezuela asked for the meeting of the United Nations’ most powerful body following deadly U.S. military strikes on four boats in the Caribbean that Washington says were carrying drugs. Venezuela accused President Trump of seeking to topple President Nicolás Maduro and threatening "peace, security and stability regionally and internationally." The Trump administration has said three of the targeted boats set out to sea from Venezuela. The strikes, which the U.S. said killed 21 people, followed a buildup of American maritime forces in the Caribbean unlike any seen in recent times. "The belligerent action and rhetoric of the U.S. government objectively point to the fact that we are facing a situation in which it is rational to anticipate that in the very short term, an armed attack is to be perpetrated against Venezuela," Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Samuel Moncada said. While Venezuela got support from allies Russia and China, the rest of the 15-member Security Council was cautious, calling for a de-escalation and adherence to the U.N. Charter, which requires all 193 member nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all other countries and to settle disputes peacefully. Neither U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz nor his deputy attended the meeting, leaving American diplomat John Kelley to deliver the Trump administration’s justification for the strikes. "President Trump has been very clear that he is going to use the full power of America, and the full might of the United States, to take on and eradicate these drug cartels, no matter where they’re operating from and no matter how long they have been able to act with impunity," Kelley said. He said the cartels "are armed, well-organized and violent," and the United States has reached a point "where we must use force in self-defense and defense of others.” Trump has declared that the U.S. is in "a non-international armed conflict" with the cartels, and his administration has said the military operations against them are consistent with the right to self-defense in the U.N. Charter. Kelley stressed that the United States does not recognize Maduro or his government, repeating Trump’s claim that Maduro is a "narco-terrorist." Maduro and the government have denied the accusation.

Reuters [10/10/2025 7:57 PM, Staff, 36480K] reports U.N. Security Council members on Friday expressed concern about escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela, with Russia accusing Washington of using a shoot-first "cowboy" principle in attacking alleged drug boats. Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told a meeting of the 15-member U.N. council that Venezuela had every reason to believe the United States was ready to move from threats to action against it. Countries including U.S. allies France, Greece and Denmark called for de-escalation and dialogue to resolve tensions, and adherence to international law. The United States has struck several vessels allegedly carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks. The U.S. representative to the U.N. meeting, John Kelly, said Washington "will not waver in our action to protect our nation from narco terrorists.” The strikes - part of what the Trump administration has called a conflict with drug cartels - have alarmed Democratic lawmakers and raised questions as to their legality as Trump expands the scope of presidential power. Nebenzia said Russia condemned the strikes as gross violations of international law and human rights, adding that "boats that people were on were simply fired upon in the high seas without a trial or investigation." He said this was done "according to the cowboy principle of ‘shoot first’.” "And now we’re being asked to retroactively believe that there were criminals on board," he said. Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.N., Samuel Moncada, told the U.N. meeting that based on the U.S. military build-up in the region and Washington’s "belligerent action and rhetoric" his country was "facing a situation in which it is rational to anticipate that in the very short term an armed attack is to be perpetrated against Venezuela.”

Washington Post [10/11/25 6"00 A<, Emily Davies and Karen DeYoung, 32099K] reports through public statements, orders and a little-noticed policy directive, President Donald Trump has made clear that he is eager to use the might of the American military and the resources of the federal government to crack down on what he sees as domestic threats: violent crime, illegal immigration and the antifa movement. Over the past two weeks, Trump has called on the National Guard, the nation’s reserve military force, to staff the front lines of his campaign against crime and undocumented immigration in four Democratic-run cities. And he has increasingly used the language of war to describe domestic issues. He has referred to Democrats’ refusal to pass a GOP spending bill as a “kamikaze attack,” characterized crime in American cities as a “war from within,” and told generals and admirals that U.S. cities would become “training grounds” for the military in a highly partisan address that shattered norms of keeping the armed forces separate from politics. His actions and rhetoric represent a dramatic shift in the use of the military and military language, which has been focused for most of American history on threats from abroad. Historically, presidents have called on the National Guard, which was established to provide states with resources in times of emergency, when natural disasters or outbreaks of disorder and violence threatened to overwhelm local authorities. Trump this month has looked to send the Guard to Chicago and Portland, two cities where local and state authorities have said local law enforcement is fully capable of managing any supposed threat and oppose federal intervention. The last time an American president deployed the Guard over the wishes of the state’s governor was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson federalized the Alabama National Guard to protect civil‑rights marchers from Selma to Montgomery. This time, the threat that Trump wants the military to address is diffuse and indistinct.

CNN [10/11/2025 5:00 AM, Adam Cancryn, Priscilla Alvarez, Zachary Cohen, 18595K] reports that, in the hours after a chaotic confrontation in Chicago last week that culminated with a federal agent shooting a local woman, top White House aide Stephen Miller delivered an urgent order to Department of Defense personnel: Prepare to send in the troops. The facts on the ground at the time remained murky. Federal officials claimed local police were refusing to provide backup as they struggled to maintain control of the scene. The Chicago Police Department said otherwise, insisting officers were immediately sent to help out. But inside a West Wing that had waffled for weeks over the momentous step of dispatching National Guard to the nation’s third-largest city, it offered a clear impetus, two sources familiar with the discussions said. "Domestic terrorism and seditious insurrection," Miller labeled the scene in a social media post, as administration officials hurried to draw up a deployment plan in a matter of hours. The abrupt decision to send the National Guard into Chicago has ratcheted tensions between the White House and Democratic-led Illinois to new heights in the days since. It’s opened a volatile new front in President Donald Trump’s offensive in blue cities, while further testing the limits of his rapidly expanding authority. And at the center of the controversial operation is Miller — the White House deputy chief of staff for policy who has accumulated such sprawling influence over the administration’s activities that he’s often referred to in Trump circles simply as "the prime minister.” The 40-year-old immigration hardliner has spearheaded the federal government’s increasing encroachment into Democratic cities, marshaling federal law enforcement forces behind the scenes to carry out deportation raids and coordinate crackdowns that have put residents on edge and left local elected officials scrambling to respond. Now, as the administration tries to expand its presence in Chicago and Portland over the objections of local leaders, Miller has taken on a far more public and pugilistic role — casting the effort as an existential showdown against American demonstrators and officials he’s branded as domestic terrorists for impeding his mass deportation campaign. "The struggle that is taking place right now is between the lawful exercise of power by the American people through a duly elected government, versus the unlawful exercise of street violence in the form of domestic terrorism," Miller told reporters earlier this week. "We see this playing out over and over and over.”

New York Times [10/11/2025 3:00 AM, Ana Ley, 135475K] reports hope was scarce for Joel Camas, 16, last winter. His mother had spent $11,000 on lawyers — nearly all of her money — but mother and son remained on a trajectory toward deportation back to Ecuador, and Joel’s life in New York City seemed to be unraveling. In the Bronx, his high school was a lifeline. Against a drumbeat of immigration arrests, teachers offered comfort and helped him plan for the future he dreamed of as an auto mechanic or Army soldier. In his spare time, he liked hanging out with classmates to play soccer and eat pepperoni pizza. And, crucially, school staff members and friends worked with a pro bono lawyer to try to persuade immigration officials to let Joel, who is undocumented, stay in America. As President Trump’s immigration crackdown has begun to target more underage migrants, New York schools have become a quiet locus of resistance, with teachers, classmates and neighbors banding together in their defense. At least five migrant students have been detained or deported since January in New York City. In interviews, more than a dozen people connected to school-age migrants said they were dismayed by what they described as the federal government’s intimidation of children. They have built an informal network of allies and shelters to cocoon the city’s students, in some cases offering lodging or escorting them to and from school so that their parents avoid interactions with law enforcement. There have been no reported cases of federal agents detaining children at school in New York or elsewhere. Because their efforts risk drawing the attention of administration officials who have sometimes exacted retribution against those who impede their clampdown, many advocates and educators have acted in secret. “That’s what New Yorkers are best at: being able to come together in a crisis,” said Norma Vega, the principal of Ellis Preparatory Academy, whose student Dylan Lopez Contreras was detained by immigration officials earlier this year. She added: “There’s a lot more good than there is bad.” Mr. Lopez Contreras, 20, was the first public school student in the city to be arrested during Mr. Trump’s second term. Ms. Vega said that the city’s outpouring of support for him and other young migrants reminded her of the kindness that strangers extended to her mother after she survived the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In the case of another student — Mamadou Mouctar Diallo, 20, who attended Brooklyn Frontiers High School — teachers rallied on the steps of the city Department of Education’s headquarters after he was detained in August by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a routine court appearance at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. That building, and the immigration courtrooms inside, have become the epicenter of detentions in New York City.

Axios [10/10/2025 5:10 AM, Tal Axelrod, 12972K] reports MAGA media is flexing its ability to shape the debate over antifa and violent crime in American cities, empowered by allies in the White House hungry for evidence of left-wing terrorism. The Trump administration is using clips of violent street clashes — paired with testimony from MAGA-aligned reporters on the ground — to depict Democratic-led cities as engulfed in chaos. President Trump has described Portland, Ore., for example, as "war-ravaged" — contradicting local law enforcement officials who say the National Guard is not needed. Footage of bloody brawls and masked agitators, amplified by MAGA influencers, helps Trump make his case. Videos of peaceful protests and costumed pranksters get waved away as liberal propaganda. Reporters within the right’s sprawling media ecosystem have fanned out to protest flashpoints, documenting violent encounters and clashes with police.

CNN [10/10/2025 7:00 AM, Zachary B. Wolf, 18595K] reports when helicopters descended on a Chicago apartment building last week with federal agents kitted out in military gear, locals saw a terrifying escalation in the federal government’s incursion into Chicago. Department of Homeland Security officials saw a cinematic opportunity for a "Call of Duty"-style recruiting video with images from helmet cameras and dramatic music. Flush with money from Republicans in Congress and on a hiring spree, Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs to recruit a lot of people. It also wants to send a message to immigrants, as it did with a more traditional international ad campaign earlier this year. The message is stay out of the US and leave if you’re here. From the DHS side of the camera lens, there are videos like the one with the hunting or military-style tag line "Bag it. Tag it. Take it down,.” The behind-the-scenes versions are on CCTV, like this post from the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute immigration expert David Bier, a critic of the administration, that shows agents, with a masked photographer in tow, sprinting after unidentified men who had been drinking coffee on the corner.

CNN [10/10/2025 11:06 AM, Brian Stelter, 18595K] reports as the Department of Homeland Security floods social media with "propaganda" videos, and pro-Trump commentators flock to Portland and Chicago in search of a "rebellion," local residents are responding with… chicken suits and clever jokes. Thursday night on ABC, Jimmy Kimmel tossed to a "special report" from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, "reporting from war-torn Chicago." Pritzker, wearing body armor, played a TV reporter in the video clip. "We’ve seen people being forced to eat hot dogs with ketchup on them," the governor quipped. While Kimmel’s show was airing, a real reporter for The Oregonian was recording a video outside the ICE facility that has long been a magnet for protests in Portland. The topic: "Protest frogs are multiplying.” The video showcased how Portlanders are wearing inflatable costumes to mock what one of the frog cosplayers called "insane government overreach." The dress-up "dismantles their narrative a little bit," Jack Dickinson, also known as the "Portland Chicken," told Willamette Week. "It becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit." Pritzker and Dickinson have something in common: They’re using the tools at their disposal — smart phone cameras, social media apps and satire — to turn "war" rhetoric into a punchline. "The Daily Show" did it too, with this clip labeled "REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.”

New York Times [10/10/2025 5:03 AM, Anna Griffin and Aaron West, 153395K] reports in the fight over deploying National Guard troops to Portland, Ore., Democratic leaders in the city and state have pleaded with President Trump and the courts to trust law enforcement records, both local and federal, that describe the demonstrations as small and comparatively calm. But in the bifurcated media world of 2025, one side’s comparative calm is the other’s “hellscape” — as the White House described Portland on Wednesday — and the narrative that the Trump administration has wanted has been supplied by a coterie of right-wing influencers elevated by Mr. Trump himself. On Thursday, the repercussions of those dueling versions of reality became clear as judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit questioned a district court’s finding that the protests in Portland were likely too minor to justify the National Guard deployment. The appeals court judges instead cited federal reports of demonstrators spitting on federal officers and shining flashlights in their eyes, behavior that has been captured, amplified and sometimes even prompted by pro-Trump personalities eager to counter local police. “The Portland Police Chief did an interview today attacking independent journalists for exposing the violent terrorists that he allows to run the city,” Benny Johnson, a popular pro-Trump podcaster, wrote Tuesday on social media after accompanying Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, in Oregon. “He’s humiliated and knows Portland is under siege.”

Univision Chicago WGBO [10/10/2025 3:07 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports a failure by the Department of Homeland Security to comply with a decree signed in 2022 could mean the release of arrested immigrants and, in some cases, even reimbursement of their legal fees, experts said. According to lawyers, in 2022, the Department of Homeland Security signed and agreed to comply with the Castañón-Nava consent decree, in which DHS pledges not to make arrests without warrants, which are different from court orders signed by a judge.

The decree was intended to last three years and expire in May 2025, but because the federal government failed to comply, Illinois immigrant rights and advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit on October 7, and U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. In the ruling, Judge Cummings also determined that DHS must reimburse detainees for expenses incurred, such as legal fees or bail. ICE agents must show defense attorneys Forms I-213 for each detainee. The forms must state probable cause for the arrest and not reasonable suspicion, which are separate arguments.

Wall Street Journal [10/10/2025 7:26 PM, Natalie Andrews, Ken Thomas, and Annie Linskey, 646K] reports the White House said Friday that it began conducting mass layoffs of federal employees in response to the government shutdown, an unprecedented step that follows through on weeks of threats meant to increase pressure on Democrats. “The RIFs have begun,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought posted on X, using an abbreviation for reductions in force. An OMB official characterized the retrenchment as “substantial,” and a White House official said it would affect thousands of federal workers. “It will be a lot and it will be Democrat-oriented,” President Trump said in the Oval Office. “They started this thing.” More than 4,000 employees at agencies across the federal government were issued layoff notices, according to a filing late Friday by the administration in a San Francisco federal court. Layoffs hit the Departments of Health and Human Services, Energy, Homeland Security, Education, Treasury, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development. The move marks a major escalation in Trump’s efforts to force a resolution to the partisan standoff on Capitol Hill and tests the limits of his executive power to trim the federal workforce. Congress has been at a standstill since the shutdown started Oct. 1, and many federal workers and military servicemembers are set to miss their first full paychecks next week. More than 1,100 workers at HHS across several divisions received reduction-in-force notices on Friday. Some of the people who lost their jobs were deemed “at odds with the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda,” said Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the department. Hundreds of thousands of government workers are currently furloughed, while others deemed essential are working without pay. But layoffs hadn’t been part of past shutdowns and Democrats said the White House had no reason to fire employees, while also questioning their legality. As the White House moves to cut jobs, the Trump administration is also exploring possible legal maneuvers and other options for moving funds around to ensure that troops don’t miss a paycheck during the shutdown, according to a senior White House official. A recent Congressional Budget Office memo said that some funds from Trump’s tax and spending package, signed into law in July, potentially could be used to pay active-duty personnel during a shutdown.

Bloomberg [10/10/2025 1:54 PM, Gregory Korte, Lauren Dezenski, Rachel Cohrs Zhang, and Erik Wasson, 91K] reports that the White House says it is making good on threats to fire thousands of federal workers amid a government shutdown now in its 10th day, with job cuts at agencies including the departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Commerce. "The RIFs have begun," White House Budget Director Russell Vought posted on social media Friday, referring to reductions in force, the federal government’s term for layoffs. Thousands of people have been laid off as a result of the shutdown, according to a senior White House official. The scope of the cuts was not immediately clear. Labor unions representing hundreds of thousands of federal workers asked a judge Friday to immediately halt the mass firings. The emergency request to a federal judge in San Francisco seeks to bar the Office of Management and Budget from ordering officials to carry out the firings and block agencies from issuing layoff notices before the judge holds a hearing on Oct. 16. HHS employees were among those affected by the layoffs, according to HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon, while spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said DHS workers were included. Commerce Department workers were also terminated, according to a US official. The firings mark the first large-scale layoffs of federal employees during a funding lapse in modern history, going beyond the furloughs that have characterized past temporary shutdowns. The move ups the stakes in a multi-week standoff with Democrats over federal funding and health-care subsidies. Senate Majority Leader John Thune sought to lay blame for the layoffs at Democrats’ feet.

The Hill [10/10/2025 4:43 PM, Brett Samuels, 12595K] reports the White House on Friday announced it was moving forward with layoffs of federal employees, making good on its threats amid the government shutdown. Multiple agencies have confirmed their staff have received notices about reductions in force (RIFs). Details about the total number of employees affected are still unclear, though the number is expected to be in the thousands. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed employees working for the sprawling agency would be part of layoffs. Specifically, many employees working in the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), were set to be laid off.

NewsMax [10/10/2025 1:58 PM, Staff, 4109K] reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are still arresting some of the nation’s most violent criminal illegal aliens — even while working without pay during the government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Friday. "We are not letting the Democrats’ government shutdown slow us down from arresting the worst of the worst from American communities," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. ICE said its officers continue to put their lives on the line, despite missing paychecks, to take dangerous offenders off America’s streets. "Some of the scumbags arrested yesterday have convictions for aggravated sexual assault of a child, gross sexual imposition, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, assault causing bodily injury, and unlawful and illegal possession of a firearm," McLaughlin said. "These are not people you want in your neighborhood," McLaughlin added. "ICE law enforcement officers, without pay because of the Democrats’ government shutdown, are risking their lives to arrest the worst of the worst." The department highlighted a series of arrests made across the U.S. on Thursday, targeting criminal aliens with convictions for crimes including sexual assault of a child, gross sexual imposition, and firearm offenses. DHS said these arrests show how ICE continues to prioritize removing violent offenders despite the funding freeze. Even with no pay, ICE agents continue to carry out what DHS calls a "mission-critical role" in protecting Americans.

Washington Post [10/11/2025 6:19 AM, Anthony J. Rivera, 32099K] reports the signs — nailed to trees or wrapped around electricity poles — have appeared across some of the District’s heavily immigrant neighborhoods, marking the anger in a majority-Democratic city where federal immigration arrests have escalated. “ICE kidnapped a community member here,” reads one. “Never forget/no nos olvidamos,” says another. Barbara McCann, a city resident for 25 years, created one in August after she came upon a crowd of shouting people and broken glass on the street in her Columbia Heights neighborhood, where federal law enforcement agents had pulled two men from their car. “People were kidnapped here this morning by ICE or ?” she wrote on the sign. “BANG pots HERE tonight 8pm.” McCann said later that she thought of “stumbling stones” in Europe, the brass-topped cobblestones that have been placed in front of the former homes and businesses of those who were killed in the Holocaust. “They are targeting those who are least able to defend themselves, people without homes and people without documentation,” she said. “In the past, when there’s been great injustice, moral clarity takes a long time.” D.C. has a long tradition of protesting, including the massive marches during President Donald Trump’s first administration. The recent neighborhood signs, more personal and isolated, follow an older tradition of simply bearing witness — in this case, to the arrests of immigrants who make up the fabric of some neighborhoods.

FOX News [10/10/2025 5:05 PM, Charles Creitz, 40621K] reports hours after Virginia gubernatorial candidates Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger sparred over illegal immigration concerns in Virginia, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital it had filed detainers to deport two teen "thugs," allegedly unscreened by the Biden administration, accused of firing guns on a busy suburban interstate. Earle-Sears, a legal immigrant from Jamaica, claimed Spanberger will make Virginia a "sanctuary state," while the Democrat rebutted that assertion, saying she would "absolutely" cooperate with the feds during official criminal investigations involving illegal immigrants. Two "criminal illegal alien thugs whipped around" Interstate 295 near the Chickahominy River bridges east of Richmond, Virginia, "with complete neglect for the safety of Virginians" while allegedly firing weapons on the typically busy bypass of the Old Dominion’s capital, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital Friday. McLaughlin said the two males were allegedly released "unvetted" under the Biden administration’s lax immigration policies, and ICE lodged a detainer request after state authorities captured them and sent them to a juvenile prison in Williamsburg, Virginia. The teens eventually exited the highway and crashed on a side street off Mechanicsville Turnpike, according to DHS, which otherwise could have taken them into downtown Richmond, Virginia. The illegal immigrants were arrested and charged with shooting from a vehicle, possession of a firearm under age 18, possession of a firearm by an illegal alien and reckless handling of a firearm, according to a DHS statement.

Univision [10/10/2025 3:11 PM, Patricia Clarembaux, 5004K] reports Carlos Guerra León didn’t understand why Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained him on his way to work. The federal government itself had granted him Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and Deferred Action, protecting him from deportation until 2026. ICE gave him an explanation he hadn’t imagined. Carlos Guerra came to the United States from Guatemala with his mother in 2018. A habeas corpus petition filed in October in the Western District of Louisiana alleges that he suffered abuse and neglect from his father. But ICE arrested him and flew him more than 1,300 miles away from his mother: he’s been locked up for two months at the Jackson Parish Correctional Center, more than four hours by car from New Orleans, Louisiana.

NBC News [10/10/2025 1:35 PM, Kimmy Yam, 34509K] reports that an Indian immigrant who was working as a delivery driver was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after police officers in central Arkansas mistook a bottle of perfume labeled "Opium" as the narcotic drug of the same name. He is fighting to stay in the U.S. and for his case to be dismissed. Now barred from legally working in the U.S. and facing potential removal, Kapil Raghu, a 28-year-old who is married to a U.S. citizen, sent a letter last week to ICE, pleading with the agency to use its prosecutorial discretion to dismiss the case. He’s hoping it will recognize the circumstances around his arrest. Raghu was arrested in May after an officer from the Benton Police Department spotted the rollerball perfume bottle in his car during a routine traffic stop. Raghu had been on an expired visa. He said he had tried to keep his status current by retaining an immigration lawyer to help before the expiration date, but the attorney, who no longer works with him, didn’t file the paperwork in time. He was sent to ICE detention after the arrest revealed his immigration status, his current attorneys said. Raghu was released from ICE custody after nearly a month and all charges have since been dropped, but he was placed in deportation proceedings. ICE did not return NBC News’ request for comment.

Newsmax [10/10/2025 2:44 PM, Staff, 4779K] reports ICE agents will continue to target the "worst of the worst" in Chicago, despite efforts by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Democrats to thwart their operations, ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan told Newsmax on Friday. "We will continue to pick up the murderers, gang members, and rapists that Governor Pritzker refuses to get off of his streets," said Sheahan on Newsmax’s "Newsline," rejecting claims that their efforts constitute an invasion. "Federal law enforcement officers have jurisdiction throughout the entire United States," she said. "We will continue to go out and enforce the law. Gov. Pritzker chooses not to enforce the law. His protesters show up with fireworks and gas masks because they know they’re there to wreak havoc." Peaceful protests, she added, are allowed, but ICE "will not allow it to get violent and to put our law enforcement officers in danger." Sheahan said ICE is working closely with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations to protect federal facilities and personnel. "We’ve seen a huge increase in assaults against our officers," she said. "We’ve seen attacks at our facilities — we’ve seen it at the Prairie Land facility. This is not new for us, but we will continue to make sure our law enforcement officers and our facilities are protected." Sheahan also criticized what she described as "fake news" and Democratic lawmakers who, she said, "continue to take the sides of alien criminals." "Just this week, we saw another gang put hits out on our ICE officers and the leadership at CBP, ICE, and DHS," she said. "They know that when ICE shows up in your community, it’s going to be a bad day for the criminals." She further accused judges of obstructing the enforcement agenda of President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "They should be on board with removing the worst of the worst from these communities," she said. "The National Guard is supposed to come in to protect people and property — to allow them to do their jobs when these protests get violent."

New York Post [10/10/2025 6:42 PM, Shane Galvin, 42219K] reports four anti-ICE protesters were arrested at a chaotic demonstration outside a DHS facility in Chicago on Friday after a federal judge blocked President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to the Windy City. Illinois State police in riot gear clashed with an unruly crowd near the ICE facility in Broadview as protests continue to rage in Chicago in the wake of Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown, WLS reported. Protestors chanted "the whole world is watching" as baton-wielding officers scuffled with the pushy group, video circulating online showed. Photos and video showed at least four people being roughly dragged from the crowd by their clothes and bags and later handcuffed and led away by Illinois State Police officers. Those who were arrested have been charged with resisting and obstruction, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said, according to WLS. Demonstrations have raged across the Second City since Trump initiated "Operation Midway Blitz" — a push to crackdown on illegal immigration across the city which has been resisted by local leaders and protesters. Trump sent several hundred National Guard soldiers to protect DHS agents as they carry out deportations in Chicago — but on Thursday, Biden-appointed District Judge April Perry granted Illinois’ request for a temporary restraining order to block the National Guard deployment.

CBS Chicago [10/10/2025 5:47 PM, Sara Tenenbaum, 39474K] reports charges against a veteran who was arrested protesting outside the ICE facility in Broadview have been downgraded. U.S. Air Force veteran Dana Briggs was among five people arrested outside the facility last month. He was accused of making contact with a federal agent while handing his cell phone to another protester as he was taken into custody. He was initially charged with felony assaulting or resisting federal agents, but the charges were downgraded at a court appearance Friday to a misdemeanor. Charges against four others arrested that day have been dropped.

Reuters [10/10/2025 6:16 PM, Renee Hickman, 19051K] reports a producer for WGN-TV, a Chicago television station, was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on Friday in a residential area of the city, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said. The DHS said in a statement that Debbie Brockman "was placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer.” A video taken by a bystander and shared on social media shows masked border patrol agents holding a woman to the ground who identifies herself as Debbie Brockman, an employee of WGN. She is handcuffed and taken into a silver van with New Jersey plates. Onlookers honk their horns and jeer at the agents. It was not immediately clear whether Brockman had been taken into custody, or whether she had a lawyer. The DHS said "several violent agitators" had been attempting to impede federal officers in their duties. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the DHS, said on X that Brockman had been arrested after throwing objects at law enforcement. Reuters was not able to immediately verify the details of the events leading up to Brockman’s arrest. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, issued a temporary restraining order that provided protections for journalists and protesters in the Chicago area. The order restricts the ability of federal agents to disperse, arrest or use physical force against journalists unless they have probable cause to believe the individual has committed a crime. Agents may still order journalists to move to avoid disrupting law enforcement.

Reported similarly:
CBS Chicago [10/10/2025 6:21 PM, Todd Feurer and Dan Kraemer, 39474K] Video: HERE
Chicago Tribune [10/10/2025 2:27 PM, Robert Channick, 4829K]

Reuters [10/11/2025 6:02 AM, Renee Hickman and Lizbeth Diaz, 45746K] reports when Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was 12 minutes late for his shift at Tom & Jerry’s Gyros, a diner on Chicago’s northwest side, his manager knew something was wrong. The short order cook always let someone know if he was running late, even by just 5 minutes. Earlier that morning, Villegas Gonzalez, 38, had been fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shortly after dropping his children off at a school and daycare in the suburb of Franklin Park. The agents were attempting to arrest him as part of a massive immigration sweep launched by U.S. President Donald Trump. Villegas Gonzalez was the Chicago crackdown’s first casualty. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement after the Sept. 12 incident that Villegas Gonzalez was “a criminal illegal alien” with “a history of reckless driving” who steered his car at agents, causing one to fear for his life and fire his weapon, killing Villegas Gonzalez. DHS told Reuters on Friday that they would conduct their own investigation into the incident after the first agency that responded had finished its review. Both Franklin Park police and the FBI responded to the shooting incident, but it wasn’t clear which agency was investigating. The FBI declined to comment citing a lack of staff to respond to media inquiries due to the government shutdown. Franklin Park police did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

CBS News [10/1/1025 11:12 PM, Victor Jacobo, 45245K] reports federal agents detained several rideshare drivers on Friday at a parking lot at O’Hare International Airport, the latest target in immigration enforcement across Chicago. Witnesses said agents came in two waves at the Transportation Network Provider – or TNP – Alpha lot on Friday; once in the morning and again in the afternoon. The TNP lot is a designated area for rideshare drivers to park and wait for clients at the airport. Video obtained by CBS News Chicago showed agents interrogating and detaining drivers. One Uber driver from Guatemala said he was eating lunch when agents walked up to him and asked him if he was a U.S. citizen. The driver said he was nervous but rebuffed the agents’ request. "You know, I cannot help you, please let me eat my food," the driver said he told the agents. The agents walked away, the man said, but other people were detained and taken away. Another driver, Jack, recounted what happened and described the scene as chaotic. "Just grabbing people, checking IDs. They arrested like, what I seen, a bunch of people. They had vans and stuff like that," he said. CBS News Chicago reached out to the Department of Homeland Security asking about the incident but has not yet heard back. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [10/10/2025 5:41 AM, Laura Sharman and Caroll Alvarado, 18595K] reports a judge in Illinois has temporarily blocked federal agents from using certain types of force and crowd-control measures against protesters, after video of a pastor being repeatedly shot by pepper balls during a demonstration outside at an ICE facility near Chicago drew widespread outcry. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order Thursday in the lawsuit filed Monday by the Chicago Headline Club, a nonprofit that represents journalists, alongside unions and individual protesters over federal law enforcement tactics. The lawsuit alleges federal agents have shot, gassed, and detained individuals who have been protesting outside the ICE Detention Facility in Broadview for the last few weeks, preventing them from "exercising their First Amendment rights." The suit also claims the tactics infringed journalists’ right to cover the protests. The Department of Homeland Security has defended the federal agents’ actions. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the protestors had blocked an ICE vehicle from leaving the facility, ignored warnings and eventually began "throwing rocks, bottles and launching fireworks" at agents.

Reuters [10/10/2025 6:04 AM, Heather Schlitz, 19051K] reports on a chilly morning outside Nash Elementary School in a working-class Chicago neighborhood, teachers greeted students with the usual high-fives and hugs, while handing out sheets with red-bolded words proclaiming in capital letters: "Defend your rights under the threat of occupation.” Four weeks into President Donald Trump’s "Operation Midway Blitz" deportation drive, mass arrests across the city - which have swept up parents on their way to school and entire families - have induced fear in immigrant communities and protectiveness from educators, according to city leaders, the teachers’ union, parents and immigration advocates. Some 500 National Guard troops began deploying near Chicago on Wednesday under orders from Trump. "My Latino students, they’re fearing everything," said Yaritza Santana, a science teacher at Nash Elementary. "They fear that they’re going to just be taken.” The Department of Homeland Security said it has arrested 1,000 people in the Chicago area since September 8, when the deportation push began. "Operations around schools are increasingly more and more common," city alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez said. "It’s caused so much fear and terror in schools." The Department of Homeland Security said in a press release on Tuesday that ICE officers do not target schools but didn’t answer specific questions from Reuters. The increased presence of federal agents has produced a range of responses from educators - from street protests to ‘know your rights’ leaflets and lesson plans - according to a dozen Reuters interviews with teachers, parents, the city’s mayor, the president of the teachers’ union and local lawmakers.

CNN [10/10/2025 2:35 PM, Olivia Henrikson, 18595K] reports that Pastor hit by ICE pepper balls granted restraining order against government. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [10/10/2025 6:00 AM, Alec Schemmel, 40621K] Video: HERE reports the executive search firm that helped Iowa’s largest public school district hire Ian Roberts, an illegal immigrant, has assisted school districts throughout the country in hiring hundreds of superintendents and other educational leaders. One-Fourth Consulting, which operates under its brand JG Consulting, was sued in the Iowa District Court for Polk County last week by the Des Moines Independent Community School District (DMICSD) for its role in hiring Roberts, who was recently arrested on immigration and weapons charges. The district is suing the executive search firm for breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, general negligence and is also seeking monetary damages. When reached for comment about the lawsuit, legal counsel for the executive search firm pointed out that JG Consulting, during its decade-long tenure helping schools find new leaders, has placed more than 65 new superintendents and more than 200 other educational executives in school districts across the United States. "In our more than decade-long history of doing this important work, we’ve worked with schools to complete more than 65 searches for school superintendents as well as more than 200 others in executive roles," JG Consulting’s legal counsel, Josh Romero, told Fox News Digital. "At JG Consulting, we are proud of our extensive record of successfully supporting school districts across the nation in identifying candidates for the position of school superintendent and related executive roles. Educating our young people is a tremendous responsibility and we take very seriously the role we play in that process." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [10/10/2025 2:22 PM, Greg Norman, 40621K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called on "sanctuary politicians" to "tone down their rhetoric" against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers following the emergence of a Halloween display in Houston that depicts the hanging of agents. The display — located in the predominantly Hispanic Second Ward neighborhood of Houston, Texas — features multiple mannequins. Two of the figures — dressed in red hats, black shirts, khaki pants and black masks — are seen hanging from ropes around their necks on wooden gallows topped with a Mexican flag, video showed. "Effigies of ICE agents dressed in black shirts with red hats were hung from homemade gallows with zip ties in their pockets," DHS said. "The display, surrounded by coffins, barbed wire, and featuring a Mexican flag, was a mock execution ground." "Following a weekend of domestic terrorists attacking federal law enforcement officers, the Department of Homeland Security is calling for sanctuary politicians and the media to tone down their rhetoric about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement law enforcement," DHS added. "Our officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them and their families are being doxxed and threatened online." Homeland Security also condemned alleged threats that have been sent to the families of ICE agents. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, "These type of threats against our brave ICE law enforcement officers and their families are disgusting." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [10/10/2025 12:55 PM, Mikella Schuettler, 42219K] reports that a Texas chef who had been hired by former President George W. Bush has been deported — twice — after it emerged that he was in the US illegally for more than three decades. Sergio Garcia’s food truck had long been a favorite in Waco, Texas — and Bush hired him to cater events for the press corps covering him during his two terms. The then-president and first lady Laura Bush even posed for smiling pics with Garcia, signing one "with best wishes." But it emerged the married father of four had actually snuck into the US illegally in 1989, overstaying a tourist visa — then ignored a 2002 order to leave signed by an immigration judge. Garcia confirmed to the Waco Bridge that he was first nabbed by immigration agents on March 25, and deported back to Mexico within 24 hours. "They asked me if I’m Sergio, and I said, ‘Yeah, I’m Sergio,’" he recalled of agents nabbing him at his food truck. "They said, ‘You gotta come with us.’" However, he crept back across the border on foot in April — only to be deported once again. "On April 30, Garcia once again showed that he thinks he’s above the law, by illegally reentering the U.S. near Laredo, Texas," Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told the Waco outlet. "US Border Patrol agents arrested him that same day and he was criminally prosecuted for illegal entry. On June 3, he was convicted of illegal entry and deported to Mexico June 4." The sudden deportation of such a popular — and well-connected — chef has shocked many locally.

AP [10/10/2025 5:41 PM, Claire Rush] reports a U.S. citizen in Portland, Oregon, was detained by plainclothes officers and held at the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building for hours before being released, according to his attorney. Francisco Miranda was outside his place of work early on Oct. 2 when multiple agents wearing masks, who did not identify themselves, approached him and told him he was "on an overstay," his attorney Michael Fuller said. In a video that Miranda took of his detention, he can be heard saying, "What do you mean, overstay? I don’t know what that is." He told the officers that he was born in California. After objecting to being taken into custody and saying he hadn’t done anything wrong, an officer can be heard on the video saying, "We’re gonna put you in cuffs or you’re gonna get the dog." Miranda was then struck from behind, handcuffed and put into an unmarked vehicle that took him to Portland’s ICE building, Fuller said. He was held there for several hours before being driven back to his place of work.

Telemundo [10/10/2025 11:37 PM, Shelby Bremer, 57K] reports agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained the parents of a U.S. Marine, he said, first at Camp Pendleton and then released them with ankle monitors and instructions to report to the agency. When they reported a few days later, ICE detained them again, and on Friday his father was deported, the Marine told NBC 7. Steve Ríos, of Oceanside, said he joined the military for his parents, Esteban Ríos and Luisa Rodríguez. According to him, they came to the United States from Mexico more than 30 years ago and have spent their entire lives washing cars and cleaning houses from dawn to dusk. "It was to make them proud, right? I’ve seen all the hardships they’ve been through," Steve said. "The least I could do, right, was serve this country and try, you know, give them some time. I don’t think it’s enough compared to what they’ve done." On September 28, Steve and his parents were on their way to pick up his younger sister, Ashley Ríos, and her husband, also a Marine at Camp Pendleton. They had done this every weekend for the past few months because she was expecting her first child. However, Steve said that this last time they were stopped at the gate and ICE agents arrived and detained his parents. His family claims they have no criminal records and have pending green card applications filed by Steve and work visas awaiting approval. "It was terrifying," Steve said. "It was terrifying because I’ve had it in the back of my mind my whole life." "My brother sent me a message saying they had been detained. As soon as I heard that, I started crying," said Ashley, who was waiting for them with her husband, looking forward to eating French toast together. "He asked me what was wrong, and I told him they were taking my parents away." His parents were taken to the city center, and Steve said he was able to pick them up a few hours later, with ankle monitors, and take them home. They were told to report to the ICE office downtown on Thursday, Steve said, so he went with them and they waited several hours before learning they would be detained again. "I kept looking at my parents. I didn’t know if it would be the last time I would see them," Steve said. ICE agents took his parents away while his father wore a red T-shirt and a white cap with the inscription "Proud Father of a U.S. Marine," an outfit he had specifically chosen for the search. "He said, ‘Yeah, this is my lucky shirt, so everything will be fine,’" Steve said. Steve said he spoke briefly on the phone with his father on Friday morning, who told him they were being held in the basement of the federal building that houses ICE and the immigration court, but that they had been told they would be transferred to the Otay Mesa Detention Center. When asked why the couple had been detained, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement: "As part of its routine operations, ICE detains foreign nationals who commit crimes and others who have violated our country’s immigration laws." "All aliens who violate U.S. immigration law are subject to arrest, detention, and, if determined to be removable by final order, removal from the United States, regardless of nationality," the statement continued. "It’s hard because all you want is to hear your parents’ voices telling you that everything is going to be okay," Ashley said, adding that she was nervous, especially thinking about her pregnancy. "I’ve always wanted my mom to be in the delivery room and all that, so it’s hard not to think about your parents being there." Steve and Ashley said they were not told why their parents were detained and are unsure what will happen next, but both have faith. "They may send them back. They may not," Steve said. "The only one who knows is up there." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [10/10/2025 1:45 PM, Preston Mizell, 40621K] reports that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) saw more than 20,000 applicants in less than two weeks for "Homeland Defender" roles as the Department of Homeland Security ramps up their hiring campaign. The recruitment campaign at USCIS began Sept. 30, and sources at the agency say a hiring campaign of this scale has never been done before. "I am thrilled with the tremendous response we have received from fiercely dedicated, America-first patriots who want to serve as Homeland Defenders," USCIS Director Joseph Edlow told Fox News Digital. "In mere days, more than 20,000 Americans have stepped forward, ready to serve on the frontlines to protect our nation’s sovereignty and restore integrity to our immigration system after four disastrous years of failed Biden administration immigration policies," Edlow explained to Fox. "These applicants are not just candidates—they are guardians of our values, prepared to defend our homeland. We look forward to bringing on this group soon." The role of a Homeland Defender is to determine whether legal migrants are eligible for green cards, extended visas, or citizenship. Homeland Defenders were previously titled "Immigration Services Officer," though the position was rebranded under the Trump administration. 14,021 applications were submitted to the USCIS Service Center Operations Directorate and 8,627 applications were submitted to the USCIS Field Operations Directorate. The USCIS website touts a potential $50,000 signing bonus, remote work, and no college degree required.

Washington Post [10/11/2025 6:00 AM, Lauren Kaori Gurley, 32099K] reports the Trump administration said that its immigration crackdown is hurting farmers and risking higher food prices for Americans by cutting off agriculture’s labor supply. The Labor Department warned in an obscure document filed with the Federal Register last week that “the near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens” is threatening “the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.” “Unless the Department acts immediately to provide a source of stable and lawful labor, this threat will grow,” with increased funding for immigration enforcement from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Labor Department said in the Federal Register, which is the place where all proposed rules are recorded for the public to view and comment. Also, contradicting comments made by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that the U.S. farm workforce will become “100 percent American” as an effect of mass deportations, the Labor Department noted that Americans are not willing to step into farm work and lack the skills to fill agricultural jobs that undocumented immigrants are abandoning. “The Department concludes that qualified and eligible U.S. workers will not make themselves available in sufficient numbers,” the agency said.

Telemundo 48 El Paso [10/10/2025 3:11 PM, Claudia Moreno, 10K] reports police officers arrested a man identified as Jose Ramon Ibarra, a resident of Austin, Texas, for migrant smuggling following a chase along US-83 in Webb County. Before the chase began, the driver allowed several immigrants to exit the vehicle he was driving. The driver continued to evade traffic, but eventually crashed into a utility pole and attempted to flee on foot. Officers quickly pursued and arrested him. He is charged with human smuggling, evading arrest, and marijuana possession. Border Patrol assisted in the arrest of a migrant in the area where the incident occurred. This incident is part of Operation Lone Star 2.0, which targets criminal activity along the Texas-Mexico border.

San Diego Union Tribune [10/10/2025 1:11 PM, Staff, 1538K] reports that a former San Diego County-based U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of on-duty sex crimes was acquitted this week of sexual battery and false imprisonment charges related to two women. Juan Angel Prishker, who spent nearly two decades with U.S. Customs and Border Protection before resigning, was found not guilty of the charges by a San Diego Superior Court jury on Thursday. Prosecutors alleged he groped a detained migrant woman, then one year later prevented another woman from leaving his presence after showing her pictures of his genitals. Prishker previously faced misdemeanor charges of distributing obscene matter for allegedly showing the pictures of his genitals to the woman, as well as a separate incident of showing the pictures to a group of internet personalities filming a video near the border. A judge dismissed those charges earlier this year, ruling that the pictures in question did not rise to the legal definition of obscene matter because they did not depict sexual activity. Prishker’s defense attorney, Kerry Armstrong, said in a statement after the trial that his client "maintained his innocence from day one, and both of us greatly respect the jury’s verdict." "This case should have never been filed by the District Attorney’s Office," he added, "but thank goodness the jury did the right thing."

Reuters [10/10/2025 1:41 PM, David Shepardson, 36480K] reports that a group representing major U.S. airlines on Friday urged air travelers to be patient as air traffic control staffing issues delayed travel for a fifth straight day. "It is safe to fly, but ATC staffing shortages strain the system and cause flights to be spaced out, slowing down everything," said Airlines for America, the trade group representing American Airlines (AAL.O), United Airlines (UAL.O), Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), and other major carriers, warning of delays or cancellations. "The bottom line is that anyone heading to the airport right now is encouraged to pack their patience." The Federal Aviation Administration said staffing issues were resulting in delays at airports including Phoenix, Newark and New York LaGuardia and more are expected later in the day. More than 2,500 flights have been delayed by 1 p.m. ET (1700 GMT) Friday, after 22,000 had been delayed since Monday. Air travel is expected to rise in the United States during the three-day Columbus Day holiday weekend. Some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must still turn up for work during the government shutdown, but they are not being paid. Controllers are set to receive a partial paycheck on October 14 for work performed before the shutdown.

Forbes [10/10/2025 11:33 AM, Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, 5340K] reports Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers were warned in an email Thursday that not showing up to work during the shutdown “will not be tolerated”—while TSA officers told Forbes the memo’s partisan tone made them feel like they are being “used as props.” One TSA officer told Forbes that McNeill’s memo was “already having a chilling effect with the workforce,” as many workers fear retaliation “as implied in her letter.” The politicized language was a particular sore point, with an officer telling Forbes he didn’t appreciate the “one-sided attack where we are being used as props” and another saying he had never before seen the agency blame one political party for a shutdown. “For those that are in charge of the security and safety of our airports, that language is uncalled for,” Chad Kendall, an associate professor and FAA chief instructor in the Department of Aviation and Aerospace Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, told Forbes. “We’re talking about real people who in this government shutdown are still going to get an electricity bill. I would suspect that you will see some TSA workers start seeking other employment opportunities during this time, because they need to pay the bills and they need to keep food on table for their families, and that will further drive up the delays to the traveling public trying to get to flights.”

CNN [10/10/2025 3:02 PM, Pete Muntean, Aaron Cooper, 18595K] reports the Federal Aviation Administration reported a growing number of their facilities are short-staffed on Friday, including some which have caused delays for travelers. Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport will not have the normal number of staff in its control tower from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET, but it is already experiencing departure delays due to staffing shortages in the facility that operates the surrounding airspace. Two separate parts of the Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center, that manages flights over a large portion of the Southwest, is understaffed until 3 p.m. ET. The Central Florida TRACON, where controllers guide planes approaching or departing Orlando International Airport, will be short-staffed from 7 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET. Two different FAA operations that deal with traffic at Newark Liberty International Airport reported staffing problems earlier Friday. The control tower and the facility that handles flights approaching or departing the airport did not have their normal amount of workers, which led to delays. The reasons for the short staffing are not clear, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday a "small fraction" of controllers were "lashing out" because of the government shutdown and not going to work. Twelve FAA facilities saw staffing shortages Thursday, including airport towers, approach controls which handle arriving and departing flights as well as centers that handle flights en route. This busy holiday weekend travelers are being warned they could see delays and cancellations from the government shutdown at the airports. Thursday was the 12th busiest day so far in 2025, according to the Transportation Security Administration and the rest of the weekend is expected to be busy as well.

The Hill [10/10/2025 10:12 AM, Surina Venkat, 12595K] reports a new video featuring Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem will reportedly play at airports across the U.S. as the Trump administration seeks to cast blame for the lapse in government funding on Democrats. The short video, first reported by Fox News, shows Noem warning viewers about possible changes to airport operations due to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers not receiving pay since the shutdown entered its second week. "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," the DHS chief said in the video. "However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay." "We will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact you," she continued. "Our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government.” In a statement to The Hill, a DHS spokesperson confirmed the "public service video" would be rolling out in airports soon and shared Noem’s message verbatim.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [10/10/2025 6:01 AM, Staff, 1394K]

CNN [10/10/2025 2:07 PM, Zachary B. Wolf, 18595K] reports that a captive audience of US travelers will be getting a new message from a top US government officials: It’s all Democrats’ fault. The audience is people in line for Transportation Security Administration screening at US airports. The official is Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. And the fault being alleged is for the government shutdown, which is stretching into its second week. "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," Noem says in the video. "However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay." The Trump administration, as CNN and others have reported, is well-versed in using the gears of government for propaganda. Deportation raids are turned into action movie-style social media videos. President Donald Trump’s face adorns government buildings on massive banners. It could also grace a commemorative coin despite a law that prohibits displaying the image of living presidents on coins. But Noem’s complaint to air travelers feels like something different. Officials aren’t technically supposed to engage in direct politics while on the clock, so Noem’s recording dances up to the line of violating the spirit of that law, the Hatch Act, passed with bipartisan support in 1939 after workers hired by government agencies during the Great Depression were accused of doing campaign work on behalf of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Administration.

Federal News Network [10/10/2025 6:00 PM, Jason Miller, 986K] reports with the news of federal employees facing a new round of layoffs, here are a few long-time federal employees heading out the door by choice. Federal News Network has learned that Yemi Oshinnaiye, the chief information officer for the Transportation Security Administration, is leaving his role after more than three years. Additionally, Mike Derrios, the senior procurement executive at the State Department since 2020, is retiring on Oct. 17. Emails to TSA and State seeking comment were not returned. Sources say Oshinnaiye is heading to industry where he will be the chief technology officer at Capgemini, a technology services company. His last day at TSA is today. Kristin Ruiz is TSA’s deputy CIO, but it’s unclear if she will take over as CIO on an interim basis. This will be a return to the private sector for Oshinnaiye, who previously worked for federal contractors Electronic Data System and Dev Technology, as well as for several real estate-focused businesses. He joined federal service in 2012 as an IT specialist for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Oshinnaiye became the TSA CIO in 2022, where one of his top priorities was improving customer experience across all agency missions. He also has been a big proponent of making artificial intelligence work for TSA. The agency invested in a chatbot called "TSA Answer Engine." It is also using its "innovation lab" to advance new AI use cases. TSA established the lab headquarters last January.

San Francisco Chronicle [10/10/2025 3:52 PM, Aidin Vaziri, 4722K] reports as Bay Area travelers prepare for the holiday rush, San Francisco International Airport is introducing a quicker way to breeze through security. SFO is now one of just 15 airports nationwide offering the new TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, which uses facial recognition to verify a traveler’s identity in seconds — no need to pull out a license or boarding pass. Travelers enrolled in PreCheck who opt in to Touchless ID go through a line reserved for them at the TSA security checkpoint. The system matches a live image of the passenger against photos already on file with the federal government, such as a passport photo. Fifteen airports nationwide, including major hubs like Los Angeles International, Denver International and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, now offer the upgraded screening. San Francisco International is the only Bay Area airport participating so far. "TSA PreCheck Touchless ID enhances the security screening process with facial comparison technology for faster, more efficient identity verification," the agency said in a statement. "Images are not used for law enforcement or surveillance and are deleted within 24 hours of your scheduled flight departure.”

San Diego Union Tribune [10/10/2025 8:00 AM, David Garrick, 1538K] reports beefed up security on local trolleys and buses has helped reduce crime by nearly a quarter year over year and likely helped annual ridership surpass 80 million for the first time since the pandemic began, Metropolitan Transit System officials said Thursday. A related crackdown on fare evasion launched in February is credited with helping boost revenue from bus and trolley fares by roughly $500,000 per month — money that is badly needed, with MTS facing annual deficits of roughly $100 million. The efforts are part of a wider MTS campaign to make buses and trolleys more appealing to casual users as the region becomes more densely populated and roads more congested. "Taking a comprehensive look at passenger safety over the past several years has been our top priority, and these results show the impact of our ongoing efforts to make MTS a secure and welcoming transit system for all riders," said county Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, a member of the MTS board. MTS recorded 81,181,071 boardings during the fiscal year that ended June 30. That’s up 7.1% from the 75,663,343 trips taken during the previous fiscal year. "It’s a testament to the investments we’ve made in reliability, safety and service quality," said MTS board chair Stephen Whitburn, a San Diego City Council member. The new crime analysis shows that 969 incidents were reported from January through August of this year, down 24% from the 1,274 incidents reported during the same eight-month period in 2024. The drop was much sharper on buses, where reported crimes were down 53%, than on trolleys, where the drop was just under 15%. For its security efforts, MTS was awarded a gold standard award this summer from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. MTS was one of only two transit agencies nationwide to receive this distinction for 2024. MTS officials also discussed Thursday the possibility of eliminating criminal penalties for when fare evasion cases escalate. Under that proposal, which is slated to return for more discussion next spring, fines would escalate but no criminal action would be taken.

CNN [10/10/2025 6:00 AM, Gabe Cohen, 18595K] reports top brass at the Department of Homeland Security approached the Federal Emergency Management Agency this spring with a proposal: What if the agency blocked millions of dollars in security grants awarded to Muslim organizations around the country? The suggestion of a blanket ban left the FEMA leaders bewildered and deeply concerned, and they immediately pointed out such a proposal could be considered discriminatory and even illegal, according to three sources with knowledge of the episode who asked not to be named out of fear of reprisal. While the DHS officials didn’t give a reason for disqualifying Muslim groups when they floated the idea, the Trump administration at the time was in the throes of dramatically downsizing the federal government. Ultimately, the idea was dropped. But six months later, dozens of those Muslim organizations have been stripped of their eligibility for security funds that help protect against hate crimes and extremist attacks after DHS and the Department of Government Efficiency alleged that the groups have ties to terrorism. Five FEMA insiders — including those with knowledge of the proposal to block the funds — describe those allegations as questionable, given the standard vetting the groups undergo and the unusual circumstances that led to their loss of funding. Some suggested that the allegations of terror ties, which they said came with little evidence, may be a pretext to justify the cuts.

Washington Examiner [10/10/2025 12:27 PM, Barnini Chakraborty, 1394K] reports calls are mounting for investigations into failures in reignition management and other aspects of the firefighting response to the deadly 2025 Palisades Fire in California. The scrutiny comes after the arrest of a man accused of setting a smaller blaze six days earlier that authorities say sparked the larger inferno. Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested this week, accused of intentionally sparking one of the most destructive fires in California history. The 29-year-old Uber driver, the son of missionaries, has been accused of "maliciously" setting the fire that killed a dozen people. He was arrested Tuesday near his home in Florida on a charge of destruction of property by means of fire, Bill Essayli, acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said. Authorities claim the Palisades Fire was a "holdover" fire, or a continuation of the Lachman Fire, which Rinderknecht is alleged to have started on New Year’s Day. Even though Rinderknecht was charged with the crime, fire experts are pointing to mismanagement by firefighting crews and questionable tactics used when putting out the Lachman Fire. Criticism has also been building from some residents over why fire officials didn’t make sure the entire blaze was out before leaving the scene. Questions about their reasons for not pre-deploying trucks to the Palisades area ahead of a strong wind forecast have also started to swirl. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper put all the blame on Rinderknecht.

FOX News [10/10/2025 6:00 AM, Morgan Phillips, 40621K] Video: HERE reports the U.S. Coast Guard is turning to Finland to bolster America’s icebreaking fleet — a move driven by growing concern that the United States is falling behind global rivals in the race for Arctic influence and security. For years, military and intelligence officials have warned that the U.S. has only a handful of aging icebreakers — compared with Russia’s fleet of more than 40, including nuclear-powered models. As melting sea ice opens new shipping lanes and access to critical minerals, the Pentagon and Coast Guard say a stronger Arctic presence is no longer optional. On Thursday, President Donald Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed a $6.1 billion deal for Finland to sell up to four new icebreakers to the U.S. Defense officials say the Arctic is now the front line of homeland defense — where U.S. early-warning systems, missile detection networks and undersea cables intersect with expanding Russian and Chinese military activity. "We need these ships very badly because we have a lot of territory, more than anybody. And so, I’m very honored to have this deal. And thank you very much. It’s going to be great," Trump said at the White House. The purchase from Finnish shipbuilders, who are world leaders in polar vessel design, is part of a broader plan to close the "icebreaker gap" that has left the U.S. dependent on outdated ships for Arctic patrols and Antarctic resupply. Finland, a new NATO member, has joined the U.S. and Canada in the ICE Pact — an agreement aimed at fast-tracking icebreaker construction, sharing technology, and strengthening allied operations in polar waters.
[Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Roll Call [10/10/2025 12:00 PM, Allison Mollenkamp, 548K] reports that on and off Capitol Hill, those watching cybersecurity worry the lapse of two key federal programs will discourage information sharing between companies and the federal government, leaving an opening for a cyberattack. And if an attack occurred, the nation’s cybersecurity agency’s shutdown staffing level might not be sufficient to face it head-on. As government funding expired, so too did the 2015-era law known as the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA 2015, and the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. On top of those expirations, the Homeland Security Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is operating with a fraction of its workforce since appropriations lapsed last week. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced a bill earlier this week that would reauthorize the CISA law for 10 years with a provision to make its protections retroactive to Oct. 1, when the law lapsed. "Without these protections in place. We are [in an] incredibly vulnerable position. I believe that our national and economic security are at risk for as long as these safeguards are not available," Peters told reporters. Republicans’ House-passed continuing resolution contains an extension of the law through the length of the CR, which would give lawmakers just weeks to act again on information-sharing protections. The Democratic-led CR contains a similar provision to extend the program through the end of October.

FOX News [10/10/2025 9:31 AM, Kurt Knutsson, 40621K] reports that over the past few years, data breaches targeting schools, healthcare providers, and childcare services have been making headlines, exposing sensitive personal information and leaving families vulnerable. Now, a new breach has come to light that targets a nursery chain. Kido, which operates in the U.S., U.K., China and India, has reportedly had sensitive data stolen from thousands of children. Names, photos, addresses, birthdates, parental details and even safeguarding notes and medical records were allegedly accessed by a hacker group called Radiant. According to reports, the hacker group Radiant claims to have stolen data related to around 8,000 children. To prove possession, they posted samples, including pictures and profiles of ten children, on a darknet website. They then issued a ransom demand, threatening to release more sensitive information unless Kido paid. In addition to targeting the nursery chain directly, Radiant reportedly called some of the children’s parents, pressuring them to push Kido into paying the ransom. When questioned about their actions, the group defended their tactics as a form of "penetration testing" for which they supposedly deserved compensation. This defense is misleading, as such testing requires explicit permission from the organization being targeted or participation in an official bug bounty program. Without that consent, these actions are illegal and deeply unethical.

CyberScoop [10/10/2025 3:30 PM, Tim Starks] reports a fast-spreading Android spyware is mushrooming across Russia, camouflaging itself as popular apps like TikTok or YouTube, researchers at Zimperium have revealed in a blog post. The company told CyberScoop they expect the campaign is likely to expand beyond Russian borders, too. In three months, Zimperium zLabs researchers observed more than 600 samples, the company wrote in a blog post Thursday. Once implanted, the spyware can steal text messages, call logs, device information and more, and wrest control of a phone to do things like take pictures or place phone calls. “It’s mainly targeting Russia, but they can always adapt to other payloads, and since every inflected phone then becomes an attack vector, it’s likely to become a global campaign,” said Nico Chiaraviglio, chief scientist at Zimperium. “However, it’s not easy to know the attackers’ intentions.” The spyware, dubbed ClayRat, has some notable tools it uses to infect victims. “ClayRat poses a serious threat not only because of its extensive surveillance capabilities, but also because of its abuse of Android’s default SMS handler role,” the blog post reads. “This technique allows it to bypass standard runtime permission prompts and gain access to sensitive data without raising alarms.” It’s also been evolving quickly, Zimperium said, “adding new layers of obfuscation and packing to evade detection.”

New York Times [10/10/2025 12:04 PM, David A. Fahrenthold and Andrew Duehren, 153395K] reports when the Justice Department urged federal prosecutors last month to investigate the billionaire George Soros, it cited a report by a conservative watchdog group that accused the liberal megadonor of financing groups “tied to terrorism or extremist violence.” But the report by Washington-based Capital Research Center does not show evidence that Mr. Soros’s network knowingly paid for its grantees to break the law, which legal experts said would be necessary to build a criminal case. In fact, the report does not offer proof that groups that received money from the Soros-backed Open Society Foundations used those donations to commit acts of violence or terrorism. Instead, it focuses largely on what the Soros network’s grantees said, not what they did. The report, which was published Sept. 17, largely catalogs statements in which Soros grantees offered support for Palestinians in the wake of violent attacks against Israel, suggested tactics for civil disobedience and urged people to turn out for a protest aimed at blocking an Israeli ship from arriving at a port in Oakland, Calif. “I see the report as a political document, saying ‘Here’s why the Soros foundation is disreputable. It gives money to bad people,’” said Stephen Gillers, an emeritus professor of law at New York University. “From a legal point of view, that’s not enough by a long shot.”

AP [10/10/2025 10:55 AM, David Crary, Peter Smith and Tiffany Stanley, 4722K] reports every week hundreds of millions of people around the world gather to worship in peace. But for some, there comes a day when deadly violence invades their sacred spaces and shatters that sense of sanctuary and safety. It happened recently at a synagogue in England and two churches in the U.S. Before that, there were high-profile attacks at mosques in New Zealand, a synagogue in Pennsylvania and a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. This violence can intensify anxiety and outright fear among clergy and worshippers worldwide. Security measures have been bolstered, congregants have been placed on alert, and yet the key question lingers: Can believers feel safe — and at peace — continuing to worship together? The Oct. 2 attack on a synagogue in Manchester, England, left two congregants dead and, according to police, was carried out by a man who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Two days later, a mosque in an English coastal town was targeted with a suspected arson attack. Following those two attacks, "there is real fear," said a Church of England bishop, the Right Rev. Toby Howarth. "People must feel safe in going to places of worship." While some Christian pastors in the U.S. encourage congregants to bring firearms to church as an extra security measure, numerous denominations and individual houses of worship forbid this. After the Grand Blanc attack, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affirmed that it prohibits carrying firearms and other lethal weapons inside its meetinghouses and temples, except for current law enforcement officers.

Washington Examiner [10/10/2025 6:48 PM, Emily Hallas, 1394K] reports Alabama authorities announced on Friday that a suspect had been arrested in connection with the deadly shooting in the state’s capital city that left two people dead last week. The juvenile male, still unnamed, is charged with one count of capital murder, nine counts of first-degree assault, and three counts of second-degree assault, according to the Montgomery Police Department. MPD posted a video of the suspect being patted down by an officer before being placed into a police car. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall praised police for their "swift, decisive response" in a statement responding to the arrest. "My office will continue to assist in the investigation and to ensure that those responsible are held fully accountable under Alabama law. This arrest sends a clear message that violence in our communities will not be tolerated," Marshall told WSFA. "The people of Montgomery deserve to feel safe, and we will continue to work towards long-term solutions to improve the safety of our capital city.” The arrest comes after rival gunmen were involved in an altercation in which they were "basically shooting at each other in the middle of a crowd" on Oct. 3. Investigators believe that one person was targeted in a large crowd of people during the incident, which took place in a crowded downtown nightlife district in Montgomery. Others in the crowd, who were also armed, began returning fire, according to MPD Chief Jim Graboys.

Houston Chronicle [10/10/2025 11:22 AM, John Wayne Ferguson, 2983K] reports an Iraqi refugee was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in federal prison, months after he pleaded guilty to helping the Islamic State’s online army by stealing credit cards, making marketing materials and training the terrorist organization’s recruits on hacking techniques. Abdulrahman Alqaysi, 28, was sentenced to 144 months in prison and another 36 months of supervision after he is released. Alqaysi, who lived in Richmond at the time of his arrest, started performing tasks in 2015, when he was still a teenager, according to prosecutors. Over the course of three years, he performed a number of tasks for the Kalashnikov Group, one of the groups that was part of the Islamic State’s cyber army. At the time of his involvement, the Islamic State was the world’s largest Islamic terrorist organization and controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq. The group was also known for its sophisticated online methods of recruiting and radicalizing new members.

FOX News [10/10/2025 7:30 PM, Ashley J. DiMella, 42219K] reports the US State Department issued a revised travel advisory pertaining to the Republic of the Maldives Oct. 7. "Exercise increased caution in [the Maldives] due to terrorism," the Level 2 travel warning notes. The advisory indicates that "terrorist groups may attack with little or no warning.” Tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls and local government facilities are listed as possible targets. Officials warn that attacks may also occur on remote islands, lengthening the response time of authorities in the event of an emergency. Travelers who have trips planned are encouraged to monitor local and breaking news. While in the Maldives, visitors should stay aware of their surroundings and avoid demonstrations and crowds, officials said. Purchasing travel insurance is also strongly recommended. In 2024, over 2 million people visited the Maldives, according to the government’s database. The island is in South Asia near the eastern Arabian Sea within the northern Indian Ocean. The Maldives is made up of 1,192 islands — only 200 are inhabited — that stretch along a length of over 500 miles, according to the location’s tourist site.

Bloomberg [10/10/2025 7:11 AM, Andrea Palasciano, 18207K] reports the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s annual nuclear deterrence drills will begin on Monday, Secretary General Mark Rutte said — a routine event with added significance as the US mulls scaling down its military presence in Europe. The exercises, called Steadfast Noon, will take place in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and Denmark just weeks after a wave of drone incursions and cyberattacks rattled several northern European countries. The two-week program, which includes 14 members of the military alliance, is occurring as Europe fears the US may reduce or withdraw its military assets on the continent. That has prompted several European NATO allies to discuss changing the continent’s nuclear architecture for the first time in decades. The US has “signaled thus far no change to their current posture in Europe,” Colonel Daniel Bunch, chief of nuclear operations at NATO’s military branch, told reporters. “For the time being the US is committed, it hasn’t changed its policies and will be participating in this exercise.” No actual nuclear weapons will be involved in the drills and the focus will be on air-to-air strikes, with the US contributing several F-35 planes.

Reported similarly:
AP [10/10/2025 6:14 AM, Lorne Cook, 31753K]

CBS News [10/10/2025 11:42 AM, Kathryn Watson, 39474K] reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday announced a finalized agreement that will allow the Qatari Emiri Air Force to build a facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. The agreement, which Hegseth announced alongside Qatari Minister of Defense Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the Pentagon, will allow Qatari pilots to receive training alongside U.S. soldiers. There are no foreign military bases in the U.S., but some foreign militaries do maintain a presence for training. The Singaporean Air Force also has a presence at the Mountain Home base. Hegseth said he is "proud that today we’re signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force Facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho." "The location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15’s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability, it’s just another example of our partnership," Hegseth said. "And I hope you know, your excellency, that you can count on us." The move is another demonstration of the Trump administration’s increasingly close relationship with Qatar. President Trump signed an executive order last month "assuring the security of the state of Qatar," following Israel’s decision to carry out a military strike in Qatar’s capital city of Doha, where the vast majority of Qataris live. "The United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure of the State of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States," the executive order reads.

Wall Street Journal [10/10/2025 2:54 PM, Lara Seligman, 646K] reports Denmark plans to spend $8.5 billion on new ships and aircraft, as President Trump continues to show interest in buying Greenland and claiming Denmark is leaving the island vulnerable. The purchase is aimed at showing the White House that Denmark is taking security in Greenland seriously after Trump and his top aides accused Copenhagen of leaving the self-ruling Danish territory vulnerable to what they say are incursions by China and Russia, according to Danish officials. Trump made clear this summer that he is still interested in purchasing the mineral-rich Greenland. “Security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic is a common interest for the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States,” said Denmark’s ambassador to the U.S. Jesper Møller Sørensen in an interview. “Today’s announcement underscores our commitment to further strengthen defence and security in the region with capabilities that expand the assertion of sovereignty and surveillance.” Denmark will spend $4 billion to protect the Arctic, including buying or leasing two new Arctic ships, a number of maritime patrol aircraft and drones, according to Danish officials. The investment will also include a new headquarters for Denmark’s Arctic Command, building a North Atlantic subsea cable between Greenland and Denmark, and establishing an early warning radar in East Greenland. An additional $4.5 billion will go toward buying 16 new F-35 jet fighters from the U.S., bringing Denmark’s total fleet to 43. Other European countries are planning to purchase dozens of F-35s: The Netherlands plans to buy 52 while the U.K. will eventually have a fleet of 138.

Wall Street Journal [10/10/2025 10:00 PM, Michael R. Gordon and Summer Said, 646K] reports the deployment of American troops to Israel this weekend marks the start of an extraordinarily complex effort to secure a fragile peace in Gaza and establish a framework to govern the enclave. Nearly 200 troops under Adm. Brad Cooper of U.S. Central Command are due to arrive in Israel by Sunday to establish a coordination center that will monitor the cease-fire and organize the flow of humanitarian aid, logistics and security assistance to Gaza. U.S. officials reaffirmed Friday that there are no plans for those troops—mainly planners, transportation and engineering specialists, and security experts—to set foot in Gaza. Even so, officials are already discussing the creation of a thousands-strong “International Stabilization Force,” whose mission would be to secure the enclave. Its composition has yet to be determined, but it could draw on troops from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Indonesia and possibly several Central Asian nations. The U.S. role is notable for an administration that has long shunned nation-building missions abroad and has emphasized defending the Western Hemisphere. But current and former officials say an American political and military role is essential to cement the cease-fire and turn the first phase of the White House’s Gaza plan into a lasting peace. The effort to recruit and support the stabilization force will run alongside plans to form a governing body for Gaza that would provide essential services after the conflict that began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Reuters [10/10/2025 2:44 PM, David Shepardson, 36480K] reports that the chair of the Federal Communications Commission said on Friday that major U.S. online retail websites have removed millions of listings for prohibited Chinese electronics as part of a crackdown by the agency. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in an interview that the items removed are either on a U.S. list of barred equipment or were not authorized by the agency, including items like security cameras and phones from companies like Huawei and ZTE (000063.SZ). He said companies are putting new processes in place to prevent future prohibited items as a result of FCC oversight. "We’re going to keep our efforts up," Carr said. U.S. agencies in recent years have taken a series of actions against Chinese tech companies, including telecom, semiconductors, vehicles and others raising national security concerns. This is the latest push to prevent unapproved Chinese electronics from getting to the U.S. market. Earlier this week, the FCC said it plans to vote this month to tighten restrictions on telecommunications equipment made by Chinese companies deemed national security risks, the latest in a series of U.S. actions targeting Beijing. The U.S. telecom regulator previously named companies including Huawei Technologies, ZTE (000063.SZ), Hangzhou Hikvision (002415.SZ), China Mobile (600941.SS), and China Telecom (601728.SS) to the so-called "Covered List," which bars the FCC from authorizing the import or sale of new equipment from those companies. The agency will vote on October 28 to prohibit authorization of devices containing component parts that are on the Covered List and authorize the agency to prohibit the sale of previously authorized Covered List equipment in specific cases.

AP [10/10/2025 5:47 PM, Josh Boak and Didi Tang, 105034K] reports that President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s placing an additional 100% tax on Chinese imports starting on Nov. 1 or sooner, potentially escalating tariff rates close to levels that in April fanned fears of a global recession. The president said on his social media site that he is imposing these new tariffs because of export controls placed on rare earth elements by China. The new tariffs built on an earlier post Friday on Truth Social in which Trump said that “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea. Trump said that “starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying.” The announcement came after financial markets closed on Friday and risked throwing the global economy into turmoil. Not only could the global trade war instigated by Trump be rekindled, but import taxes being heaped on top of the 30% already being levied on Chinese goods could, by the administration’s past statements, cause trade to break down between the U.S. and China in ways that could cause growth worldwide to slump.

Chicago Tribune [10/10/2025 4:57 PM, Josh Boak, 4829K] reports President Donald Trump said Friday that "there seems to be no reason" to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea and threatened additional tariffs after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested that he was looking at a "massive increase" of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. It’s possible that this could amount to either posturing by the United States for eventual negotiations or a retaliatory step that could foster new fears about the stability of the global economy. "One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration.” The United States and China have been jostling for advantage in trade talks, after the import taxes announced earlier this year triggered a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Both nations agreed to ratchet down tariffs after negotiations in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, yet tensions remain as China has continued to restrict America’s access to the difficult-to-mine rare earths needed for a wide array of U.S. technologies. Trump did not formally cancel the meeting with Xi, so much as indicating that it might not happen as part of a trip at the end of the month in Asia. The trip was scheduled to include a stop in Malaysia, which is hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit; a stop in Japan; and a visit to South Korea, where he was slated to meet with Xi ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. "I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so," Trump posted. Trump’s threat shattered a monthslong calm on Wall Street, and the S&P 500 tumbled 2.7% on worries about the rising tensions between the world’s largest economies. It was the market’s worst day since April. On Thursday, the Chinese government restricted access to the rare earths ahead of the scheduled Trump-Xi meeting. Beijing would require foreign companies to get special approval for shipping the metallic elements abroad. It also announced permitting requirements on exports of technologies used in the mining, smelting and recycling of rare earths, adding that any export requests for products used in military goods would be rejected. Trump said that China is "becoming very hostile" and that it’s holding the world "captive" by restricting access to the metals and magnets used in electronics, computer chips, lasers, jet engines and other technologies. "I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so," Trump posted. "This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World.”

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