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

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

The New York Times [10/20/2025 6:36 PM, Anna Griffin and Mattathias Schwartz, 135475K] reports a memo in September from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Guard troops could be stationed anywhere that protests “are occurring or likely to occur,” and could accompany federal agents who are enacting Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda in the field. The memo came a day after a social-media post by Mr. Trump stating that he would send “all necessary troops” “to protect war-ravaged Portland from “domestic terrorists.” Such incendiary descriptions do not reflect the reality in Portland, Judge Immergut had written, and have been at odds with law enforcement agencies’ own assessments of protest activity. But that has not stopped the president and other officials from misrepresenting conditions in Portland and in other Democratic-led cities where he wants to send federal forces. But Judges Nelson and Bade drew a distinction between their ruling and a recent decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals that blocked a similar deployment in Chicago. In Portland, they noted, federal officials have said they were forced to close the ICE facility for three weeks in June because of demonstrations. In Broadview, Ill., a Chicago suburb, the ICE facility has remained open, despite protests. “This ruling has vindicated us,” said Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who visited Portland earlier this month, conservative influencers in tow, to try to underscore the administration’s narrative of a city spinning out of control. Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, called the administration’s relentless push to deploy troops in her state’s largest city “a gross, un-American abuse of power.” With National Guard deployments already underway in Washington, D.C., and, to a limited extent, Memphis, Tenn., the legal fight over a Portland deployment has significant ramifications. The administration’s promise of small deployments for short durations has not so far come to pass. The AP [10/20/2025 5:17 PM, Claire Rush and Gene Johnson] reports that the Justice Department appealed the first order, and in a 2-1 ruling Monday, a panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the administration. The majority said the president was likely to succeed on his claim that he had the authority to federalize the troops based on a determination he was unable to enforce the laws without them. However, Immergut’s second order remains in effect, so no troops may immediately be deployed. The administration has said that because the legal reasoning underpinning both temporary restraining orders was the same, it will now ask Immergut to dissolve her second order and allow Trump to deploy troops to Portland. The Justice Department argued that it is not the role of the courts to second-guess the president’s determination about when to deploy troops. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, said he would ask for a broader panel of the appeals to reconsider the decision. CNN [10/20/2025 4:15 PM, Karina Tsui, 18595K] reports that the three-judge panel weighed in after US District Judge Karin Immergut last week ruled to extend her temporary restraining order barring the deployment of federal troops to Portland. “Regardless of what happens next, Oregon (Department of Justice) will continue to fight to uphold Oregon’s laws and the Constitution,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a social media post Wednesday. The president has cited protests outside Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility to justify the callups of troops in the deep blue city. The ruling comes as President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to send the National Guard to San Francisco as his administration continues an effort to crackdown on a growing list of cities it claims to be ridden with crime. “San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world, and then 15 years ago it went wrong, it went woke,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo Sunday. “We’re going to San Francisco and we’re going to make it great.” Politico [10/20/2025 4:21 PM, Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, 13586K] reports that, though the 9th Circuit panel’s decision lifts a lower court’s order that blocked Trump from federalizing Oregon’s National Guard troops, the immediate practical impact of the ruling was unclear. That’s because the same lower-court judge, Karin Immergut, issued a second order after Trump moved to send California National Guard troops to Oregon, temporarily prohibiting any use of federalized troops in the state. The administration has not yet appealed that second order, although it said it expected Immergut to lift it if the appeals panel ruled in Trump’s favor. In their ruling, 9th Circuit Judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade said the level of violence at the Portland immigration facility and other instances at similar sites elsewhere in the country gave Trump a “colorable” argument that he was unable to enforce federal law. That, along with rebellion or invasion, is one condition that allows a president to federalize National Guard forces. “In Portland, protests have endured for months, and the [Portland police have] been either unwilling or unable to respond to the disturbances,” the appeals judges wrote. Nelson and Bade said Immergut relied too heavily on Trump’s social media commentary — calling Portland “war ravaged” — to conclude that his deployment was “untethered” from reality, noting that the unrest had required a surge of law enforcement from the Federal Protective Service to contain. The 9th Circuit panel majority repeatedly cited a similar decision issued by three colleagues permitting Trump’s deployment of Guard troops to Los Angeles earlier this year. In the ruling, the judges said Trump is owed great deference in determining whether civil unrest reaches a point in which the military may be called in for support. The majority said Immergut used a faulty definition of rebellion in her decision, but the appeals judges did not address whether Trump had a valid claim that such unrest was underway when he sent in the Guard. Breitbart [10/20/2025 8:31 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports "Even if the president may exaggerate the extent of the problem on social media, this does not change that other facts provide a colorable basis to support the statutory requirements," Monday’s order read. "Rather than reviewing the president’s determination with great deference, the district court substituted its own determination of the relevant facts and circumstances.” At a hearing on Oct. 9, the 9th Circuit judges heard 20-minute arguments from Oregon attorneys and from the U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department attorneys argued that the troops are needed to protect Portland’s ICE facility following protester clashes with federal agents. Oregon officials claimed the administration was exaggerating. Portland is one of several cities where the Trump administration has deployed the National Guard. The administration has also deployed troops to Memphis, Tenn., and is working to deploy the National Guard to Chicago to curb crime and protect federal buildings, as ICE agents crack down on illegal immigration. Trump said earlier this month he would be open to invoking the Insurrection Act, "if necessary" to deploy the National Guard.

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The New York Times [10/20/2025 7:29 PM, Mattathias Schwartz, 135475K] reports Federal officials defended their use of tear gas and other crowd-control munitions against protesters in the Chicago area, asserting on Monday that they had limited their use to whenever there was an immediate threat to agents. The officials also told a judge, in a court hearing, that they had complied with her recent order requiring federal agents to give warnings to protesters and others before using tear gas. The hearing, before Judge Sara L. Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, was the first face-to-face courtroom exchange between a federal judge and a Department of Homeland Security official about tactics used in President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration in the Chicago area, which began in early September. Protesters, journalists and members of the clergy have filed a lawsuit accusing federal agents of violating their constitutional rights during the crackdown, using pepper balls, pepper spray and tear gas with little or no warning to disperse crowds. Judge Ellis, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, found the plaintiffs’ case to be credible enough to issue a temporary order on Oct. 9 banning the use of tear gas and other munitions against protesters throughout the Chicago area “who are not posing an immediate threat.” Last week, Judge Ellis said that she was “profoundly concerned” about reports of excessive use of force by the government, and ordered Trump administration officials to come to court to answer her questions. After a hearing that lasted more than four hours on Monday, she issued no ruling on whether federal agents had violated her order. During the hearing, federal officials were questioned about two recent clashes between residents and agents. One of those clashes occurred on Oct. 12 in the Albany Park neighborhood on the city’s Northwest Side, when agents stopped a resident and a crowd formed. Tear gas was used. Another confrontation happened two days later on the South Side, when agents fired tear gas into a crowd that had gathered after a car crash involving federal agents. Kyle C. Harvick, an official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told the court that he was not present at either of the incidents, but said that it was his understanding that agents at the scene had given warnings and had legitimate concerns about their own safety. The use of tear gas was necessary for officers to leave the scene, he said, which “becomes more dangerous the longer we are there.” Protesters who were present have said in court filings that no warnings were given before tear gas filled the air. They have also said in filings that there had been “assaults on journalists by federal agents,” including pepper balls shot through the open window of a marked press van with a CBS News reporter inside. That episode is reportedly under criminal investigation by the Illinois State Police. Judge Ellis said the plaintiffs in the lawsuit would be allowed later to depose Gregory Bovino, who has taken on a highly visible role in immigration enforcement campaigns in Los Angeles and Chicago, along with two other administration officials. She also said the government would have to produce a small number of incident reports that are filed by officers who use tear gas and other munitions. NBC News [10/20/2025 1:20 PM, Daniella Silva and Bennett Haeberle, 34509K] reports that last week, DHS said on social media that its enforcement surge in the area “is making Illinois SAFE again” and that it had arrested numerous criminals and gang members. It has also said its officers are being targeted. Ellis said last week that she had been a “little startled” after having seen images of clashes between agents and the public in the Chicago area. DHS is also asking for modifications and exceptions to the judge’s order on body-worn cameras. On Friday, Ellis ordered the interim head of the Chicago regional ICE field office, Russell Hott, to appear in court for the 10:30 a.m. hearing. He then abruptly returned to Washington the same day. Kyle C. Harvick, a Customs and Border Protection official, testified first on Monday as the judge asked him about the responsibilities of the CBP agents, how her previous order disseminated, and what training officers have received. She also asked him about specific incidents where she had concerns about CBP’s tactics, NBC Chicago reported. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to NBC News on Monday that Hott had been the interim field office director in Chicago but had now returned to Washington, as planned, for his permanent post as field office director of the nation’s capital. Samuel Olson will now be the interim field office director of Chicago, she said. DHS asked Friday to send Harvick to appear instead because, according to the Department of Justice, Border Patrol officers — not ICE agents — are "mostly, if not entirely" responsible for the recent tear gas incidents, according to WTTW, the public television station in Chicago.

CBS Chicago [10/20/2025 2:13 PM, Darius Johnson, Sabrina Franza and Sara Tenenbaum, 39474K] Video: HERE reports a federal judge in Chicago is questioning top officials from U.S. Customs and Immigration and Customs Border Protection over federal agents’ use of force in Operation Midway Blitz. On Friday, the judge reinforced her order for all federal agents in the Chicago area to wear body cameras, telling the Department of Homeland Security, "This was not a suggestion. It wasn’t a hint. It wasn’t a topic of discussion or conversation. It was an order. So, I will enter it today and then I will expect it will be followed.” U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis wants answers on how immigration enforcement is being carried out and why body cameras still aren’t being used. The second-in-command for CBP told U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis that as of Monday, all CBP agents in Chicago for Operation Midway Blitz have been equipped with and trained on body cameras. He said there are currently 232 CBP agents in the area, but a couple dozen will be leaving Tuesday with a remaining 201 CBP agents working on Operation Midway Blitz. He confirmed all of them have cameras. ICE Deputy Field Office Director Shawn Beyers testified that there are approximately 300 ICE agents assigned to cover the six states in Chicago’s region, with about 85 total in the Chicago area. At the center of the hearing are scenes like what we saw in the city’s East Side neighborhood last week: federal agents in riot gear dispersing crowds with chemical agents in residential neighborhoods. Agents were also seen throwing tear gas out of a car window on a busy Logan Square street near an elementary school. In both cases, not just civilians but also Chicago police officers were exposed to the chemical agents without proper protective gear. Judge Ellis previously ordered agents to stop dispersing peaceful crowds and banned the use of tear gas on people who aren’t a threat. Now she’s pressing ICE and Border Patrol over their noncompliance on her body camera order. Axios [10/20/2025 7:01 PM, Monica Eng, 12972K] reports U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis calmly questioned a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer for more than an hour Monday morning to determine how well federal agents are following her Oct. 9 orders. Ellis’ hearing offered one of the first public explorations of federal agents’ tactics as they raided a South Shore apartment building, engaged in a Southeast side car chase and deployed tear gas there and in Albany Park after the judge put restrictions on its use. The orders came in response to an Oct. 6 lawsuit the Chicago Headline Club and other local journalists filed against DHS officials claiming "extreme brutality" against journalists outside the Broadview ICE processing facility. Last week, Ellis expressed concerns that her order was being violated and expanded the order to require DHS agents to wear body cams. She called both parties back into court Monday to testify on compliance progress. During the hearing, the journalism plaintiffs said they’ll file a motion this week to make Ellis’ temporary order permanent until a trial. The arrival of hundreds of CBP agents last month puzzled many, who wonder why a border agency is operating in an interior city like Chicago. This has sparked debate in regions across the country. DHS officials tell Axios that CBP is here because it’s "empowered by longstanding federal law to operate within 100 miles of an international border," which, they assert, includes airports. In this 100-mile zone, agents are technically entitled to engage in warrantless search. NewsMax [10/20/2025 10:13 AM, Charlie McCarthy, 4109K] reports that the temporary order, issued Oct. 9, came after plaintiffs alleged that agents had violated their constitutional rights during protests against the administration’s deportation operations. Videos circulated since the order, however, show agents continuing to use tear gas in Chicago neighborhoods, prompting Ellis to express deep concern that her orders were being ignored. "I don’t live in a cave," she said during a hearing last week. "I’m seriously concerned that my orders aren’t being followed." At Monday’s hearing, Ellis was expected to question CBP Deputy Incident Commander Kyle C. Harvick and ICE Deputy Field Office Director Shawn Byers, who oversee "Operation Midway Blitz," a Trump administration initiative launched in September aimed at arresting illegal migrants in the Chicago area. The Department of Homeland Security pushed back during the weekend, claiming there was "no order requiring body cameras." Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called reports to the contrary "false," labeling any such mandate "an extreme act of judicial activism." Legal experts said Ellis’ order underscores growing tension between the judiciary and federal law enforcement.

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CNN [10/21/2025 3:00 AM, Cindy Von Quednow, Andi Babineau, Whitney Wild, 18595K] reports US District Judge Sara Ellis still has questions. During a hearing Monday, she pressed two federal officials over the response to ongoing and intense protests in Chicago amid Operation Midway Blitz, especially after she expanded her temporary restraining order to include having agents on the ground turn on their body worn cameras when encountering demonstrators. She tried to get a better sense of which agency has responsibility over what, how her restraining order has been disseminated to federal agents working in Chicago, how extensive training on crowd control and protests have been and what happened at certain fraught encounters over the last few weeks. Here are the main takeaways from Monday’s hearing. Judge wants body cameras on all officers at protests, not all have them. Ellis early this month issued a sweeping order restricting agents’ crowd control tactics, use of force and actions against journalists documenting protests in Chicago. During a hearing last week, she said she had concerns about whether her order was being followed. During the hearing, she added mandatory body-worn cameras to her earlier restraining order, saying it appeared agents were not warning demonstrators before deploying tear gas and firing pepper balls at them. The judge originally required all agents to wear cameras but her order does not require them if they are undercover, not in uniform or exempt by Customs and Border Protection, ICE or DHS policy. Every CBP agent on duty in Chicago – more than 200 – has a body camera and knows they are required to use it, CBP Deputy Incident Commander Kyle Harvick said during Monday’s hearing. ICE’s Special Response Teams, however, have not been issued body cameras, ICE Deputy Field Office Director Shawn Byers testified. They went to one or two field offices but stopped being issued, and would need to go through Congress to get approved, Byers said without elaborating. Federal agents are trained on how to respond to protesters. ICE agents have been trained on how to respond to demonstrations and how to arrest protesters as part of their use of force training, Byers said. They have the ability to issue felony and misdemeanor citations during demonstrations. Members of ICE’s Special Response Team have been outside the Broadview detention facility, the center of many anti-immigration enforcement demonstrations monitoring protests, and Byers indicated they too, are extensively trained. ICE agents are also specifically trained on how to handle reporters and direct press questions to public affairs. He added journalists have the right to observe, as long as they do not interfere. "As long as they’re in the media area, we shouldn’t have a problem with press," Byers said.

CBS Chicago [10/20/2025 6:50 PM, Sabrina Franza and Todd Feurer, 39474K] Video: HERE reports a federal judge on Monday said the top Border Patrol agent in the ongoing immigration crackdown in the Chicago area must sit down to answer questions about agents’ use of force during those operations, despite her order to use discretion when using chemical agents on protesters and journalists. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of journalists, protesters, and clergy against the Trump administration, accusing federal agents of using excessive force and deploying chemical agents against peaceful protesters and journalists covering protests. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said she was ordering depositions of Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Daniel Parra, and former ICE Chicago Field Office Director Russell Hott, allowing the plaintiffs attorneys to question them for up to two hours each regarding federal agents’ use of force in the Chicago immigration enforcement operation. Ellis said the questions in those depositions will be limited to agents’ tactics in the field during Operation Midway Blitz, not to the reasoning for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Chicago area. Her ruling came after she spent hours questioning two other top immigration officials – Customs and Border Protection deputy incident commander Kyle Harvick and ICE deputy field office director Shawn Byers. Ellis is trying to determine if federal agents have violated her rulings limiting the use of force against protesters and journalists. She had ordered agents to stop dispersing peaceful crowds and banned the use of tear gas on people who aren’t a threat. Havrick explained why he felt agents were justified in deploying tear gas on Oct. 12 during an immigration enforcement mission in Albany Park, saying neighbors locked arms in protest, adding "first of all that scene was an enforcement action. This wasn’t a planned protest.” "The longer you loiter on a scene, if they’re just protesting our presence there, that’s fine. But if others come … the situation gets more and more dangerous the longer we’re there," he added.

Bloomberg [10/20/2025 7:13 PM, Megan Crepeau, 91K] reports Gregory Bovino, a US Customs and Border Protection chief patrol agent and the face of the Trump administration’s Chicago-area immigration crackdown, can be deposed in a lawsuit related to agents’ recent use of force against protesters and journalists, a federal judge ruled Monday. Northern District of Illinois Judge Sara Ellis granted plaintiffs’ request for the deposition ahead of a preliminary injunction hearing in the case, but warned that attorneys must only ask questions about how they are enforcing the laws and handling protests—not the underlying justification for the immigration enforcement. "What I really don’t want to get into, though, is the ‘why are you here’ broadly," Ellis said. "It is not at all relevant that the administration is seeking to enforce the immigration laws in Chicago versus in Austin, Texas.” Attorneys also will be allowed to depose former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Chicago Field Director Russell Hott, as well as CBP Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Daniel Parra. The judge’s decision came during a lengthy hearing at which lower-level supervisors at ICE and Customs and Border Protection were questioned about their agents’ use of force in the Chicago area, where the "Operation Midway Blitz" crackdown has been ongoing since last month. The underlying suit was filed by plaintiffs including Chicago-area journalism advocacy organizations, journalism union locals and protesters. They alleged federal agents’ tactics violated their rights, including by using pepper balls and tear gas at demonstrations. The plaintiffs allege Bovino himself has inappropriately used force against local protesters, citing video of him stepping over a barrier to grab a demonstrator and bring him to the ground. According to plaintiffs, Bovino told federal agents to keep "going hard" at protesters and said the "free speech" protest zone near an ICE facility in suburban Broadview was going to be a "free arrest zone.” Ellis on Oct. 9 issued a temporary restraining order barring federal agents from using "riot-control" weapons on protesters and journalists unless they pose an immediate threat. She also required agents to give audible warnings before using riot-control devices. The order also requires agents to wear visible identification when on duty. But after reports of tear-gassing and use of force after the order took effect, Ellis called the parties into court again last week and said she was extremely skeptical that the order was being followed. She later modified the order to add a requirement that federal agents activate their body-worn cameras, if they have them, during enforcement operations. ICE Deputy Field Office Director Shawn Byers said that widely circulated accounts of agents pepper-spraying a minister don’t tell the whole story. The minister had been asked to leave government property repeatedly and didn’t comply, Byers said, saying he had viewed surveillance video of the incident.

Chicago Tribune [10/20/2025 3:43 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports a pair of immigration officials in federal court Monday defended their agencies’ use of force with protesters and media during the Trump administration’s ongoing “Operation Midway Blitz,” saying agents have been put in dangerous situations on the streets, pelted with eggs and rocks and forced to use tear gas and other tactics to get out of pop-up protests in neighborhoods. But at the same time, the officials told U.S. District Judge Sarah Ellis that all agents had been fully briefed on the judge’s temporary restraining order restricting the use of tear gas and requiring body-worn cameras for all officers in the field to be turned on during enforcement actions. “We take these (temporary restraining orders) very seriously,” Kyle Harvick, deputy incident commander for Customs and Border Patrol, told U.S. District Judge Sarah Ellis, adding that in addition to being emailed to every agent in the field, the order from Ellis has been discussed at length during daily morning briefings. Harvick told Ellis 40 new agents were coming in to the Chicago area on Monday as part of a rotation of personnel and “the TRO will be in front of them.” Harvick and his counterpart at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deputy field director Shawn Byers, both were called into court to answer questions from Ellis, who said last week that she had “profound concerns” her orders were being violated, particularly during separate incidents in Albany Park on Oct. 12, and on the city’s far East Side two days later. Under questioning by Ellis on Monday, Harvick said he was told by the supervisor who was at the scene that the crowd in Albany Park had been warned that tear gas was going to be deployed before the order was given to do so. He said the crowd was growing by the minute and trying to prevent the agents from leaving. “The situation gets more and more dangerous the longer we are there,” he said. “It’s a dynamic situation, and speaking to my supervisor, the subjects that were blocking our egress had linked their arms together, which h is active resistance. They were given lawful orders to get out of our way so we could depart and continue with our duties.”

New York Times [10/20/2025 3:20 AM, Mattathias Schwartz, 153395K] reports federal officials defended their use of tear gas and other crowd-control munitions against protesters in the Chicago area, asserting on Monday that they had limited their use to whenever there was an immediate threat to agents. The officials also told a judge, in a court hearing, that they had complied with her recent order requiring federal agents to give warnings to protesters and others before using tear gas. The hearing, before Judge Sara L. Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, was the first face-to-face courtroom exchange between a federal judge and a Department of Homeland Security official about tactics used in President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration in the Chicago area, which began in early September. Protesters, journalists and members of the clergy have filed a lawsuit accusing federal agents of violating their constitutional rights during the crackdown, using pepper balls, pepper spray and tear gas with little or no warning to disperse crowds. Judge Ellis, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, found the plaintiffs’ case to be credible enough to issue a temporary order on Oct. 9 banning the use of tear gas and other munitions against protesters throughout the Chicago area “who are not posing an immediate threat.” Last week, Judge Ellis said that she was “profoundly concerned” about reports of excessive use of force by the government, and ordered Trump administration officials to come to court to answer her questions. After a hearing that lasted more than four hours on Monday, she issued no ruling on whether federal agents had violated her order. During the hearing, federal officials were questioned about two recent clashes between residents and agents. One of those clashes occurred on Oct. 12 in the Albany Park neighborhood on the city’s Northwest Side, when agents stopped a resident and a crowd formed. Tear gas was used. Another confrontation happened two days later on the South Side, when agents fired tear gas into a crowd that had gathered after a car crash involving federal agents. Kyle C. Harvick, an official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told the court that he was not present at either of the incidents, but said that it was his understanding that agents at the scene had given warnings and had legitimate concerns about their own safety. The use of tear gas was necessary for officers to leave the scene, he said, which “becomes more dangerous the longer we are there.”

AP [10/20/2025 11:37 AM, Christine Fernando, 852K] reports U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to immigration enforcement in the Chicago area have been given body cameras, an official testified Monday as a judge held a hearing to learn more about the Trump administration’s crackdown, which has produced more than 1,000 arrests as well as complaints that agents are increasingly using combative tactics. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis last week ordered uniformed agents to wear cameras, if available, and turn them on when engaged in arrests, frisks and building searches or when being deployed to protests. Each Border Patrol agent who is part of Operation Midway Blitz “now has a body-worn camera,” Kyle Harvick, deputy incident commander with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told the judge. He said 201 Border Patrol agents are in the Chicago area. Other federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are also involved in the operation. The hearing was the latest test in a lawsuit by news organizations and community groups witnessing protests and arrests in the Chicago area. Ellis said earlier this month that agents must wear badges, and she banned them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists. Then last Thursday, she said she was a “little startled” after seeing TV images of street confrontations in which agents used tear gas and other tactics. Harvick defended the use on tear gas on protesters in a Chicago neighborhood on Oct. 12, saying residents who had gathered “would not allow agents to leave the scene.” “The longer we loiter on a scene and subjects come, the situation gets more and more dangerous,” Harvick said. “And that’s a safety concern, not just for my brother Border Patrol agents but the detainee and other people who come out to see what’s going on.” Government attorneys said Shawn Byers, deputy field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would also appear in court. News media and community groups submitted five pages of proposed topics for the hearing. They covered a variety of subjects, from the number of agents in the Chicago area to questions about training, tactics and justification for widespread immigration strikes. It’s not clear what the judge will allow to be asked.

AP [10/20/2025 9:33 PM, Christine Fernando, 4K] reports many federal officers assigned to immigration enforcement in the Chicago area have body cameras but Congress would have to allocate more funds to expand their use, officials testified Monday at a hearing about the tactics agents are using in Trump administration’s crackdown, which has produced more than 1,000 arrests. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis last week ordered uniformed agents to wear cameras, if available, and turn them on when engaged in arrests, frisks and building searches or when being deployed to protests. She held a hearing Monday at which she questioned a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official and a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement official about the operation and complaints that agents are increasingly using combative tactics. Kyle Harvick, deputy incident commander with CBP, said Border Patrol agents who are part of Operation Midway Blitz have cameras. He said 201 are in the Chicago area. But Shawn Byers, deputy field office director for ICE, said more money from Congress would be needed to expand camera use beyond two of that agency’s field offices. He said no cameras have been worn by ICE agents working at a building in Broadview, outside Chicago, where immigrants pass through before being detained elsewhere. It’s been the site of protests that at times have been tumultuous. Byers also explained that while there are surveillance cameras outside the ICE facility, they record over previous footage every 28 days. Ellis expressed surprise when Byers said that meant footage from before Sept. 18 was gone. The Broadview facility became a focus of protesters after Operation Midway Blitz began in early September. “All of that needs to be preserved,” Ellis said. Near the end of the hearing, Ellis said she would allow attorneys to question additional federal officials, including Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol chief who is leading CBP’s Chicago operation and also was central to the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles. The hearing was part of a lawsuit by news organizations and community groups witnessing protests and arrests in the Chicago area. Ellis said earlier this month that agents must wear badges, and she banned them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists.

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Chicago Tribune [10/20/2025 5:01 PM, Rick Pearson, 4829K] reports U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday criticized the media and politicians, including Gov. JB Pritzker, for "trying to demonize" federal immigration agents and the Trump administration’s enforcement operations, and she urged citizens to thank law enforcement officers and "cook a meal for their families." Noem, speaking in Florida, defended the ramped-up actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and other federal agents under the direction of President Donald Trump and said "we have to stop the rhetoric," which she contended gave cover to allow people to "perpetuate violence against those who enforce our laws." During her comments, Noem recited several administration talking points without providing any evidence to back up the claims, including that agents have arrested nearly a half-million individuals living in the country without legal permission and that most of those people had criminal records.

Chicago Tribune [10/20/2025 6:36 PM, Jason Meisner, 4829K] reports attorneys for Illinois on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the Trump administration’s “dramatic” request to be allowed to send National Guard troops to the Chicago area to help with immigration enforcement while the issue is on appeal. In the 46-page response, the state said it would be inappropriate for the high court to get involved at this stage in the proceedings, where a district court’s decision has yet to be decided on appeal. The filing also said lawyers for Trump offered “no meaningful response” to the factual basis for U.S. District Judge April Perry’s Oct. 9 temporary restraining order, including that declarations submitted by a series of immigration officials outlining purported violence against agents and out-of-control protests simply did not hold water. The filing came just hours after a divided appeals court in Oregon overturned a lower court’s decision and ruled that Trump does have the authority to send National Guard troops into Portland to quell what the president has described as a prolonged and violent siege of government buildings there. But in a footnote in that opinion, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals noted the situation in Illinois is different because, unlike in Portland, immigration facilities and other government buildings have remained open despite ongoing protests.

Breitbart [10/20/2025 6:39 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2416K] reports a Chicago-area judge has ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers can be arrested at Cook County courthouses if they violate his orders and arrest a migrant without a warrant. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ordered that ICE officers are barred from arresting migrants at courthouses if they don’t have a warrant. He also ordered that federal law enforcement can be arrested if they violate his orders. The judge’s order aimed to prevent what are called "collateral arrests" of people whom ICE officers discover are illegal on the spot. These are migrants that ICE agents come across by happenstance while looking for someone they have a warrant to apprehend. Cummings stated that courthouses must be places where witnesses and suspects feel safe. "The fair administration of justice requires that courts remain open and accessible, and that litigants and witnesses may appear without fear of civil arrest," he said in his order. Judge Cummings also cited in his ruling arrests that have been made recently outside county courthouses where ICE has taken "collateral" migrants into custody in the Chicago area. "One thing seems clear: ICE rousted American citizens from their apartments during the middle of the night and detained them — in zip ties no less — for far longer than the ‘brief’ period authorized by the operative regulation," the judge wrote. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it intends to "comply with all lawful court orders and is addressing this matter with the court.” However, DHS also defended its practice of taking "collateral" migrants into custody whenever they find them. "We aren’t some medieval kingdom; there are no legal sanctuaries where you can hide and avoid the consequences for breaking the law," DHS said in a statement, according to WBBM-TV. "Nothing in the Constitution prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them."

CBS Chicago [10/20/2025 2:16 PM, Todd Feurer, 39474K] reports a trial date has been set for February for a woman who was shot by an immigration agent earlier this month after she allegedly rammed his SUV in Brighton Park. Marimar Martinez has been charged with using a vehicle to assault, resist, or impede federal agents. She has pleaded not guilty. On Monday, the judge in her case scheduled her trial to begin on Feb. 2. Her attorneys have demanded a speedy trial, saying that body camera footage of the incident contradicts the agents’ version of events. The Department of Homeland Security has said Martinez was driving with a group of cars that "boxed in" Border Patrol agents near 39th and Kedzie on Oct. 4. DHS said the agents were unable to move their vehicles and got out of their car and fired five shots at Martinez, who was still in the car. In their original account of the incident, Homeland Security said one of the drivers in the incident had a semi-automatic weapon, but the charges against Martinez do not accuse her of brandishing a gun. Martinez’s attorney, Christopher Parente, has said she is a U.S. citizen with a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card and a concealed carry license, and her gun was in her purse the entire time. Prosecutors said Martinez drove off after she was shot, but paramedics found her and her car at a repair shop about a mile away, at which point she was taken to a hospital. Martinez’s lawyers said she was shot five times after reportedly warning neighbors about out-of-town law enforcement in the area. Also charged in Martinez’s case was Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, who also allegedly rammed the same Border Patrol vehicle with his car. Ruiz also has pleaded not guilty. Meantime, the judge in Martinez’s case has agreed to hold a hearing next month into why the agent involved was allowed to drive his SUV to Maine after the incident, rather than requiring him to have it preserved as evidence. Parente has said in court filings that he sought to examine all of the vehicles involved in the incident after Martinez’s arrest, but only Martinez’s and Ruiz’s vehicles were in FBI custody, while the Border Patrol agent had driven his vehicle back to Maine.

NewsNation [10/20/2025 11:07 AM, Anna Kutz, 8017K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem emphasized Monday that the Trump administration’s federal immigration enforcement is focused on "the worst of the worst." Standing behind a table lined with confiscated weapons and drugs, Noem pointed to recent arrests in Sarasota, Florida, where the news briefing was held. She mentioned the detainment of a convicted murderer, a man convicted of sexual assault against a child and another who was arrested on drunk driving charges. "These individuals are just a handful of people that have been in this country, creating victims out of American citizens," Noem said. The White House has continually increased immigration enforcement and the deployment of federal forces in cities like Chicago, Portland and potentially San Francisco. Noem said she’d visited both Chicago and Portland, but stopped in Sarasota to tout arrests she believes the media aren’t covering — and to praise officers carrying out enforcement. "This is a reminder of the work that we do, but that we need to continue that work and let these law enforcement officers know that they’re appreciated," Noem said Monday. FOX 13 Tampa Bay [10/20/2025 10:18 AM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE reports [Noem] said since January, the Department of Homeland Security has arrested over 480,000 criminal illegal immigrants and seized illegal guns and drugs. According to Noem, 70 percent of those arrested have criminal charges against them or have been convicted of those criminal charges. "We are focused on the worst of the worst," Noem explained. "Bringing these people to justice. We’re not going to let individuals terrorize our streets anymore and we’re not going to let them make victims out of families that live in this country." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
(B) Florida Live [10/20/2025 2:26 PM, Staff]

Breitbart [10/20/2025 5:10 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has arrested nearly half a million illegal aliens in the last nine months, Secretary Kristi Noem revealed, with the majority having criminal charges or criminal convictions. "Since January, the Department of Homeland Security has arrested over 480,000 criminal illegal aliens — 70 percent of those individuals have criminal charges against them or have been convicted of those criminal charges," Noem said at a press conference in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday. Noem said DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are "focused on the worst of the worst, bringing these individuals to justice." "We are not going to let these individuals terrorize our streets anymore and we’re not going to let them make victims out of families that live in this country," Noem said, before highlighting several cases of recent arrests. The DailySignal [10/20/2025 2:35 PM, Virginia Allen, 549K] reports that, citing a recent Harvard Center for American Political Studies-Harris Poll, Noem said 78% of Americans support the deportation of illegal aliens who have committed crimes in the U.S., and 56% of Americans support the removal of any migrant in the U.S. illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are conducting operations in cities across America, including sanctuary cities, such as Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, where local law enforcement are barred from assisting federal immigration officers. While Washington, D.C., is a Democrat-run city, Noem praised the U.S. capital city for increasing cooperation with immigration officials.

FOX News [10/20/2025 8:27 PM, Peter Pinedo, 40621K] reports that, with over 500,000 illegal aliens deported since President Donald Trump took office in January, the administration is on track to significantly exceed the record number of illegals deported out of the United States. Since Trump’s return to the Oval Office on Jan. 20, the administration has deported over 515,000 illegal aliens, according to a high-ranking official at the Department of Homeland Security. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital the administration is "on pace to shatter historic records" by deporting 600,000 illegals by the end of Trump’s first year back in office. She said that in total, more than two million illegal aliens have left the U.S., including 1.6 million who voluntarily self-deported, as well as the over 515,000 deportations. Another 485,000 illegal aliens have been arrested by DHS since Trump took office. McLaughlin said that "this is just the beginning" and that Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "have jumpstarted an agency that was vilified and barred from doing its job for the last four years.” "Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now or face the consequence. Migrants are now even turning back before they reach our borders," said McLaughlin, pointing to what she said has been a 99.99 percent drop in migration through Panama’s Darien Gap, which is a key migration route to the U.S. "In the face of a historic number of injunctions from activist judges, ICE, CBP, and the U.S. Coast Guard have made historic progress to carry out President Trump’s promise of arresting and deporting illegal aliens who have invaded our country.” Just this weekend, DHS said that it continued its sweep of the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal aliens across the country amidst the ongoing government shutdown. Over the weekend, DHS said it arrested illegals convicted of rape of a child, assault, hit-and-run, kidnapping and other crimes. One of those arrested was Erick Xavier Romero, a Dominican national, who the agency said was convicted of rape of a child in Boston. Another illegal, Guatemalan national, German Osvaldo Cortez-Chajon, was arrested this weekend after being convicted of traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act in Dale County, Alabama. A third illegal, Mexican national Graciano Lopez-Flores, was arrested following a conviction of indecent liberties with a child in Orange County, North Carolina. Also in North Carolina, ICE arrested Shahed Hassan, an illegal from Bangladesh, who was convicted of simple assault, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegally carrying a concealed gun, driving while impaired, probation violation, felony larceny and domestic violence protection order violation in Wake County. Just to the north, ICE arrested Van Pham from Laos, who was convicted of five counts of abduction and burglary in Fairfax County, Virginia. In Massachusetts, ICE arrested Patricia Pimental-Cordero, from the Dominican Republic, who was convicted of two counts of hit-and-run in Lawrence, Massachusetts. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
New York Post [10/21/2025 3:42 AM, Peter Pinedo, 42219K]

Roll Call [10/20/2025 10:42 AM, Chris Johnson, 548K] reports the Trump administration’s tough-on-immigration policies are on pace to reduce the backlog of cases in the nation’s immigration courts, reversing a long-running trend that has raised concerns from lawmakers of both parties. The number of pending cases in the asylum and deportation system reached an all-time high of 3.7 million cases at the end of fiscal 2024, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, which compiles data on immigration enforcement. But the number had dropped to 3.4 million, a decrease of about 8 percent, with one month remaining in fiscal 2025, the data shows, the first decline in the backlog since at least 2012. As of March, the average wait time for those in the backlog was 636 days, TRAC reported. The decrease comes as President Trump Donald Trump has instituted restrictive policies on immigration that cut off entryways for migrants, effectively ending asylum applications and bringing the total number of apprehensions of illegal crossers to all-time lows, immigration experts said. Andrew R. Arthur, a former immigration judge and fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for limiting immigration, identified "shutting off that valve at the border" as a main reason for the reduction in the backlog, pointing out 140,000 more immigration cases were completed than were filed in the first nine months of 2025. But Arthur also attributed the decline to an influx of cases being decided against applicants in absentia because they didn’t show up in court. Nearly 219,000 cases in the first nine months of 2025 were decided without the applicant appearing in court, compared to 91,356 cases in 2019, Arthur said. "I mean, if you don’t show up, it’s really easy to complete your case," Arthur said. Asylum applicants who have had their cases decided against them after they didn’t show in court, Arthur said, are subject to a fine and "if they come across you, or they go out and pick you up, you’re basically on your way out of the United States.” Greg Chen, senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which has an estimated 18,000 immigration attorneys affiliated with his network, also acknowledged attorneys have observed an increasing number of cases being decided in absentia. Chen said that’s the result of applicants being afraid that if they come to court a judge will unfairly dismiss their case and leave them vulnerable to immediate deportation, pointing to reports that found officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement were asking judges to dismiss the cases so they could detain those people immediately.

Univision [10/20/2025 6:44 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bought for nearly 200 million dollars a couple of private jets for the travels of security secretary Kristi Noem, other senior DHS and Coast Guard officials, U.S. media reported this weekend. According to The New York Times and The Washington Post, the two Gulfstream jets were purchased from Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation through the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and will be used on Noem’s travels representing President Donald Trump across the country. The acquisition was justified as part of the DHS long-range fleet modernization program, intended for command, control and transportation missions of high-level personnel. The purchase comes as the government has fired thousands of federal employees, shut down international aid programs and made cuts that have even affected lunches in U.S. schools. Earlier this year, the Coast Guard included in its budget a request to buy a new Gulfstream V long-range aircraft, whose cost is estimated at US$50 million, to replace the one used by Noem. A DHS public affairs official told The NYT that the purchase was made by "safety issue" and said the department’s existing aircraft was more than 20 years old and "much more hours of operational use for a corporate aircraft."

The Hill [10/20/2025 3:24 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12595K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended a contract to spend more than $170 million on new jets for the U.S. Coast Guard, including one that will be used for the secretary’s travel. The Department of Homeland Security has faced criticism from congressional Democrats for entering into a contract to build the jets amid the government shutdown. Noem brushed that aside Monday, noting the funding was previously appropriated. The funding for the jets came from a last-minute line item inserted into congressional appropriations in May, sparking scrutiny from Democrats given that Noem already had a plane — one both Noem and the Coast Guard have said is part of an aging fleet. House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) on Sunday requested additional information on the purchase. The jet order greatly surpassed the initial request made by DHS, which asked for $50 million for a new plane.

The Hill [10/20/2025 3:10 PM, Filip Timotija, 12595K] reports Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called for a hearing on the Trump administration’s deadly strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats off the coast of Venezuela. Smith accused the administration of refusing to answer questions regarding President Trump’s directives to strike vessels — which the administration argues are smuggling drugs into the U.S. — in the Caribbean Sea, an ongoing campaign that has killed at least 30 people. "I call on Speaker [Mike] Johnson [R-La.] to immediately bring the House back into session to not only work to end the Republican shutdown, but to also enable the committees to conduct critical oversight," Smith said in a statement Monday. "The House Armed Services Committee must convene a hearing to secure answers to the questions about military operations in the Caribbean and for the [U.S. Southern Command] Commander to testify on these matters.” So far, the U.S. military has conducted seven strikes. The latest strike took place Friday and was disclosed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday. Three people were killed on a boat reportedly affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional, a Colombian armed group. Hegseth said the boat was transporting a "substantial amounts of narcotics. The attack took place in international waters. The decision to hold a hearing would be up to House GOP leadership. The lower chamber has been in recess amid the federal government shutdown, which is nearing its fourth week. "They have failed to demonstrate the legality of these strikes, provide transparency on the process used, or even a list of cartels that have been designated as terrorist organizations," Smith said.

AP [10/20/2025 8:48 PM, Gonzalo Solano, 19051K] reports the survivor of a U.S. strike on a submersible vessel accused by the Trump administration of transporting drugs in the Caribbean was released by authorities in Ecuador after prosecutors said they had no evidence he committed a crime in the South American nation, a government official said Monday. The official, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, told The Associated Press that the Ecuadorian man, identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, was in good health after medical evaluations. A document from the Ecuadorian government obtained by AP said "there is no evidence or indication that could lead prosecutors or judicial authorities to be certain" of any violation of current laws by Tufiño. AP requested comment from the Attorney General’s Office, but did not immediately receive a response. The man was repatriated by the United States over the weekend following a U.S. military attack on a submersible vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean. A Colombian citizen also survived the attack and remains hospitalized after being repatriated to that country. U.S. military personnel rescued both men after destroying the submersible on Thursday. Trump said on social media that U.S. intelligence confirmed the vessel was carrying "mostly fentanyl and other illegal drugs.” There is little evidence to indicate that fentanyl is produced in the Andes, as the vast majority of it flows into the U.S. through Mexico. Trump said that two people on board were killed, and the two survivors were being repatriated to their home countries "for detention and prosecution.”

NPR [10/21/2025 4:52 AM, John Otis and Michel Martin, 34837K] reports a series of deadly U.S. strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean has set off a fierce clash between President Trump and his Colombian counterpart over aid, trade and accountability. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

CNN [10/20/2025 2:25 PM, Billy Stockwell, Sol Amaya, and Michael Rios, 606K] reports that Colombia has recalled its ambassador to the United States "for consultations," the Colombian Embassy in Washington announced Monday, the latest move in a diplomatic spat over the flow of illegal drugs and US attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats and threats to punish the South American nation economically. "The Ambassador of Colombia to the United States, Daniel García-Peña, has been recalled to Bogotá for consultations by President Gustavo Petro Urrego," Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio Mapy said in a statement posted on X. "The Government of Colombia will announce the corresponding decisions in due course," the minister added. This is the second time the Colombian ambassador to Washington has been recalled this year. In July, the Colombian government summoned García-Peña after the United States did the same with its chief of mission in Bogotá, John T. McNamara, following Petro’s allegation that the US supported a plot to remove him from power. The White House denounced the claim as baseless. Monday’s move comes a day after US President Donald Trump accused Petro of being "an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs." Trump also threatened to cease "large scale payments and subsidies" to Colombia, which he sees as largely having failed to combat drug cartels producing illegal narcotics and shipping them to the US. Trump later confirmed Sunday that his administration plans to raise tariffs on Colombia on Monday.

Daily Wire [10/20/2025 6:40 AM, Leif Le Mahieu, 2494K] reports Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Sunday that the U.S. military took out a drug-smuggling boat he said was connected to a Colombian terrorist group. According to Hegseth, the Department of War on Friday conducted a lethal kinetic strike targeting a vessel linked to the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a designated foreign terrorist organization. The ELN, also known as the National Liberation Army, is an insurgent group that clashes with the Colombian government. "The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics," Hegseth said. "There were three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike—which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike." “These cartels are the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere, using violence, murder and terrorism to impose their will, threaten our national security and poison our people. The United States military will treat these organizations like the terrorists they are—they will be hunted, and killed, just like Al Qaeda,” Hegseth added.

FOX News [10/20/2025 8:27 AM, Staff, 40621K] reports President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his criticism of Colombia, calling its far-left president, Gustavo Petro, a "lunatic" and the "worst president they’ve ever had" as he reiterated his vow to cut off all funding to the Latin American country over its cocaine production. Trump’s incendiary comments came while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. The president said he was stopping all payments to Colombia because the country was producing drugs rather than fighting them. "They make drugs, they refine drugs, they make cocaine, they have cocaine factories," Trump said. "They have no fight against drugs, and I’m stopping all payments to Colombia because they don’t have anything to do with their fight against drugs.” The president’s rhetoric marked a sharper, more personal attack on Petro, whom he had earlier accused of being an "illegal drug leader" and "encouraging the massive production of narcotics" across the country. Trump said that he would announce new tariffs on Monday, confirming an X post from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who wrote: "President Trump … informed me that he is going to be hitting Colombia, not only their drug dealers and traders, but also where it hurts, in the wallet. He will be announcing major Tariffs against the Country of Colombia, today or tomorrow." Colombia’s Foreign Ministry accused Trump of threatening the country’s sovereignty, calling his remarks an "illegal intervention." Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez added that the armed forces have "also lost men and women fighting drug trafficking."

Breitbart [10/20/2025 12:14 PM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2416K] reports far-left President of Colombia Gustavo Petro accused President Donald Trump of being "rude and ignorant" to Colombia after Trump called him an "illegal drug dealer" on Sunday. The Colombian government claimed that Trump’s remarks are a "direct threat" to Colombian national sovereignty. In a Truth Social post on Sunday, President Trump accused Petro of being an "illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs" in Colombia and denounced that Petro’s administration has done nothing to stop drug trafficking despite the United States’ large scale payments and subsidies. As a result, President Trump announced that he would suspend all U.S. payments and subsidies to Colombia. "The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc," President Trump wrote. "Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" In remarks to reporters, President Trump reiterated that he would stop all funding to Colombia over its cocaine production, describing the "out-of-control" country as a "drug manufacturing machine." Trump described Petro as the "worst president they’ve ever had" and a "lunatic." Petro first responded to Trump in a social media post accusing the U.S. President of being "rude and ignorant with Colombia" and told him to read One Hundred Years of Solitude, a novel by leftist late Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, assuring Trump that he "would learn something from solitude." "I don’t do business like you. I am a socialist. I believe in helping others, in the common good, and in the common assets of humanity, the greatest of which is life itself, which is being endangered by your oil," Petro’s message read. "If I am not a businessman, much less a drug trafficker, there is no greed in my heart.”

AP [10/20/2025 10:38 PM, Megan Janetsky, 4109K] reports the small Central American nation of Belize has signed a “safe third country” agreement with the United States, the two sides said on Monday, as the Trump administration seeks to ramp up deportations and dissuade migration north. What the agreement entails wasn’t immediately clear, but it comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has increasingly pressured countries in Latin American and Africa to help him carry out his immigration agenda. The deal appears to be similar to one with Paraguay announced by the U.S. State Department in August that included a “safe third country” agreement in which asylum seekers currently in the U.S. could pursue protections in the South American nation. In Trump’s first term, the U.S. signed several such agreements that would instead have asylum seekers request protections in other nations, like Guatemala, before proceeding north. The policy was a criticized as a roundabout way to make it harder for migrants to seek asylum in the U.S. and was later rolled back by the Biden administration. Earlier this year, Panama and Costa Rica also accepted U.S. flights of hundreds deportees from Asian countries – without calling the deals “safe third country” agreements – and thrusting the migrants into a sort of international limbo. The U.S. has also signed agreements such deportation agreements with war-torn South Sudan, Eswatini and Rwanda. The Belize government said in a statement on Monday that it “retains an absolute veto over transfers, with restrictions on nationalities, a cap on transferees, and comprehensive security screenings.” The government of the largely rural nation wedged between Mexico and Guatemala reiterated its “commitment to international law and humanitarian principles while ensuring strong national safeguards.” No one deemed to be a public safety threat would be allowed to enter the country, it said. On Monday, the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs thanked Belize in a post on X, calling the agreement “an important milestone in ending illegal immigration, shutting down abuse of our nation’s asylum system, and reinforcing our shared commitment to tackling challenges in our hemisphere together.” The decision prompted fierce criticism from politicians in Belize, who railed against the agreement, calling it a “decision of profound national consequence” announced with little government transparency. The agreement must be ratified by Belize’s senate to take effect. “This agreement, by its very nature, could reshape Belize’s immigration and asylum systems, impose new financial burdens on taxpayers, and raise serious questions about national sovereignty and security,” Tracy Taegar Panton, an opposition leader in Belize’s parliament, wrote on social media. She noted fierce criticisms of human rights violations resulting from similar policies carried out by both the U.S. and Europe. “Belize is a compassionate and law-abiding nation. We believe in humanitarian principles. But compassion must never be confused with compliance at any cost. Belize cannot and must not be used as a dumping ground for individuals other countries refuse to accept,” she wrote.

Axios [10/21/2025 4:55 AM, Dave Lawler and Marc Caputo, 13599K] reports the U.S. military has killed at least 32 people in seven strikes off the coast of Venezuela without telling Congress or the American people who was killed, or on what evidence. The U.S. is eight weeks into a military campaign in the Caribbean Sea with the twin aims of stopping drugs and, potentially, toppling Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. "Officially, our position is we’re there to stop narco-terrorists. We’re going to blow up their boats. And we’re going to be patient about it. No one is in any rush," a senior administration official said. A strike last week on what Trump described as a drug-laden submarine left two survivors, apparently the first attack to do so. The Justice Department and White House said authority over the men, classified as "detainees," rested with the Defense Department. Some in the administration considered sending the men to CECOT, a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, a source said, but it was deemed too problematic. Instead, it elected them to return to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia and avoid a messy process concerning their legal status. Beyond a member-level briefing earlier this month at which details were scant, the administration hasn’t been any more transparent with Congress than with the public, a congressional aide told Axios. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has led an unsuccessful push to force the administration to seek congressional authorization for the strikes, said the U.S. should "know someone’s name at least" before killing them. "You have to accuse them of something. You have to present evidence. So all of these people have been blown up without us knowing their name, without any evidence of a crime," Paul told NBC’s "Meet the Press." Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the lack of transparency around who was being targeted and why was unprecedented in his experience. "All they’ve said is, these people are part of a drug-running gang and we killed them," Smith told The New Republic. Both Smith and Paul said they hadn’t seen any evidence that the boats that were blown up were even heading for the United States. The administration has no plans to offer up any additional information. "We’ve complied with our constitutional duties to inform Congress. We will continue to do so," the official said.

The Hill [10/20/2025 9:12 AM, Tara Suter, 12595K] reports that President Trump late Sunday defended Argentina as his administration is looking to secure $40 billion in financial assistance for the country. "Argentina’s fighting for its life, young lady, you don’t know anything about it," Trump told a reporter on Air Force One in response to a question. "They’re fighting for their life. Nothing’s benefiting Argentina." "They’re fighting for their life. You understand what that means? They have no money, they have no anything. They’re fighting so hard to survive. If I can help them survive in a free world — I happen to like the president of Argentina, I think he’s trying to do the best he can. But don’t make it sound like they’re doing great." Trump’s administration is seeking to secure a total of $40 billion in financial assistance for Argentina to assist the country’s libertarian leader in stabilizing its turbulent financial markets. Earlier this month, the U.S. locked down a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina’s central bank to hold up Argentine President Javier Milei’s struggling economy. Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the U.S. wanted to give an extra $20 billion to Argentina, by way of a mix of financing from sovereign funds and private banks. "We are working on a $20 billion facility that would complement our swap line, with private banks and sovereign funds that, I believe, would be more focused on the debt market," Bessent told reporters. "Many banks are interested in it and many sovereign funds have expressed interest," the Treasury secretary continued.

NewsMax [10/20/2025 1:11 PM, Jim Mishler, 4779K] reports Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told Newsmax that the Trump administration will "track down" the funding behind protests like the past weekend’s "No Kings" demonstrations. McLaughlin told "National Report" on Monday that the events have drawn the curiosity of the administration in terms of where the support funding originated. "It absolutely is on our radar," she said. "President [Donald] Trump has directed really a whole-of-government approach on this, whether it be the FBI, the Treasury Department, Homeland Security investigations." She said multiple agencies are involved to pinpoint who is providing the financial support for the events. "We’re seeing that these protests are becoming increasingly organized," she said. "Similar people and similar equipment are being used at these protests." She said the president is definitely interested. "President Trump is all over this, and we’re absolutely [running] down the funding stream. Who is paying for these?"

Daily Caller [10/20/2025 12:33 PM, Nicole Silverio, 835K] reports a protester at a "No Kings" protest in Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to be "shot and wiped out.” In a video taken by GrayStak Media’s Christopher Sweat, the activist called on supporters to "grab a gun" and kill ICE agents who he claimed were part of a "fascist system." The man made these disturbing remarks while standing in front a Progressive Labor Party sign. "You gotta grab a gun, we gotta turn around the guns on this fascist system," the man shouted. "These ICE agents gotta get shot and wiped out. The same machinery that’s on full display right there has to get wiped out!" Assaults against ICE agents have surged 1000% since Trump reentered office and began his crackdown on illegal immigration, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In September, three women were indicted by a federal grand jury for live-streaming their trip to an ICE agent’s home and then posting the video on Instagram, while the spouse of another ICE officer received a call saying, "I don’t know how you let your husband work for ICE, and you sleep at night. F*** you, f*** your family," according to a DHS press release. Organizers of the "No Kings" protests said that 7 million Americans turned out for the 2,700 protests throughout major U.S. cities in order to reject so-called "authoritarianism" and "affirm" that the country does not belong to a king, according to the "No Kings" website. The organization declared that the U.S. "will not be ruled by fear, force, or one man’s power grab."

Reported similarly:
FOX News [10/20/2025 4:57 PM, Andrew Mark Miller, 40621K] Video: HERE
Washington Examiner [10/21/2025 2:31 AM, Christopher Tremoglie, 1394K]

FOX News [10/20/2025 2:34 PM, Julia Bonavita, 40621K] reports that an upstate New York man was arrested in the Big Apple after allegedly claiming he was traveling to attack federal agents on the same day thousands of people took to the streets to participate in the nationwide "No Kings" protests. David Cox, 54, was taken into custody in Brooklyn on Saturday after he claimed to have firebombs in his vehicle and planned to "fight ICE agents" at the Manhattan protest, The New York Post reported. Cox allegedly made the threats while speaking to a bystander at an upstate gas station on Friday night, the NYPD said. After Cox left, the bystander called local authorities to report the pair’s conversation. The next day, as 100,000 demonstrators flooded the city’s streets for a "No Kings" rally, authorities were alerted that Cox’s vehicle had crossed into Brooklyn, and he was taken into custody without incident, according to the NYPD. Police did not locate any firebombs or weapons inside Cox’s vehicle, The Post reported. Cox is charged with making a terroristic threat, false report of terrorism and making a threat of mass harm, police said. The charges come after tens of thousands of protesters spoke out against President Donald Trump’s administration in the nationwide demonstrations, with attendees often clad in satirical costumes and carrying signs. Despite the large crowds descending on the Big Apple, no protest-related arrests were made, according to the NYPD.

FOX News [10/20/2025 5:53 PM, Anders Hagstrom, 40621K] reports agitators at a "No Kings" demonstration in Chicago were filmed bashing a piñata resembling President Donald Trump Saturday. The protesters were gathered outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois. A man carrying the Trump piñata was repeatedly offering a stick to other protesters so they could hit it. The protesters were initially standoffish before a child took him up on the offer and began stabbing and hitting the Trump figurine, causing onlookers to cheer. The protest came just days after Secret Service agents discovered a hunting stand with a direct line of sight to Trump’s landing area at the Palm Beach International Airport in Florida last week.

Daily Caller [10/20/2025 10:52 AM, Hudson Crozier, 835K] reports a major "anti-fascist" group that posts anonymous content taking credit for illegal acts is pulling the plug on its website amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on leftist criminal networks. It’s Going Down (IGD), an Antifa-aligned anarchist site, cannot continue its work under the "dire" circumstances Trump has created for the far-left, according to a Saturday announcement on the site. IGD brazenly promoted violence for years before Trump returned to office and ordered law enforcement agencies to prioritize fighting "domestic terrorism" from movements such as Antifa. "As events in the United States have continued to escalate and conditions have grown more dire, it’s clear that IGD does not have the capacity to meet the moment as a hub for grassroots reporting and journalism," the statement said. "In the face of this reality, we feel its important to be clear about our inability to continue, in the hopes that more people can push themselves to build and grow media projects and platforms." Trump designated the violent Antifa movement a domestic terrorist organization in a Sept. 22 executive order and directed his officials to consider racketeering charges and other legal authorities against groups fomenting "organized political violence" days later in a wide-ranging national security memo. The Trump administration also filed its first terrorism charges on Wednesday in the case of a near-deadly shooting ambush in July at a Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Alvarado, Texas, by an alleged "Antifa cell." "We should all have a sober and clear-eyed view of what is happening," IGD said Saturday. "The current administration is attempting to consolidate extreme authoritarian power. People are being silenced and working-class people are being attacked. A police state is being constructed. Conditions are worsening."

Daily Wire [10/20/2025 7:12 AM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports authorities nabbed an armed illegal immigrant after he allegedly placed a $10,000 bounty calling for the deaths of federal immigration agents in Dallas, Texas. Agents continue to face mounting threats all across the nation. Mexican illegal immigrant Eduardo Aguilar called for "10 dudes in Dallas with determination who aren’t afraid to [two skull emojis]," and offered "10K for each ICE agent" in an Oct. 9 TikTok post, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The latest threat comes just weeks after a sniper opened fire on an ICE facility in Dallas, killing two detainees despite intending to target federal agents. Bounties have also been placed on federal officers during "Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago, with some amounting to $50,000. The Mexican cartels have been linked to some of the bounty threats and have reportedly placed armed spotters on rooftops in the Windy City. "Thanks to the quick work of law enforcement, this illegal alien who was offering $10,000 cash bounties for the murder of ICE law enforcement is in custody and facing federal charges. We are thankful this illegal alien who had a firearm in his possession was arrested before he could kill one of our law enforcement officers," Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Friday. "Our agents are facing ambushes, terrorist attacks, and death threats, all because they dare to enforce the laws passed by Congress. We will not back down from these threats, and every criminal, terrorist, and illegal alien will face American justice," McLaughlin said.

Daily Caller [10/20/2025 8:05 AM, Jason Hopkins, 835K] reports American truckers are cheering the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal migrant drivers as not only a means to make highways safer, but also as a step to raking in more cash in markets long known for profiting off cheap foreign labor. President Donald Trump’s Department of Transportation (DOT) has rattled the trucking industry with nationwide orders, such as tougher English proficiency standards and drastic restrictions on foreign commercial drivers. The changes followed a string of horrific accidents caused by illegal migrants who managed to score commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) from various states. "I’ve definitely noticed some rates going up," Ilya Denisenko, the owner and operator of ICV Express, said to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Just days earlier, Denisenko was easily able to negotiate a load — originally posted for $1,000 — up to $1,900. "Without me even speaking to someone, they approved $1,900," he explained. "That’s almost double of what they had originally posted for, and I would say the normal rate for that lane was about maybe $1,500 to $1,600, and I automatically got $1,900." There are roughly 3.5 million truck drivers who carry a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in the United States, according to the American Trucking Associations. Industry experts estimate that around 200,000 of them carry non-domiciled CDLs — these are commercial licenses issued by state governments to individuals who are not residents of that state, typically applying to foreign nationals. "I don’t think that’s that many compared to the total number of drivers, but I think it’ll more affect certain markets," Denisenko said. "They’re either in the New York or Chicago area, and it seems like all of their drivers are visa holder drivers with non-domiciled CDLs." In the meantime, the administration has touted major busts of illegal migrant CDL holders across the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE) agents, working alongside the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, arrested nearly 100 illegal migrants operating commercial motor vehicles during a three-day operation along a single highway. Altogether, ICE agents took 120 illegal migrants into custody for immigration violations. Among the individuals nabbed in the Oklahoma operation was an Indian national with "no name given" listed on his CDL. The license was granted by government officials in New York, a state with hardline sanctuary policies that has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration. "New York is not only failing to check if applicants applying to drive 18-wheelers are U.S. citizens but even failing to obtain the full legal names of individuals they are issuing commercial drivers’ licenses to," Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously said about the bust. "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.”

New York Post [10/20/2025 4:06 PM, Priscilla DeGregory, 42219K] reports an accused Hamas-linked terrorist who allegedly participated in horrors inflicted on Jewish people on Sabbath during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel has been granted Muslim religious accommodations while he’s jailed in Louisiana. Mahmoud Amin Ya’Qub Al-Muhtadi, 33, asked a judge Friday to order US Marshals to accommodate his religious practices while he’s locked up on charges of taking part in atrocities on kibbutz Kfar Aza and then denying his involvement on a visa application before migrating to the US. During a Friday hearing, Al-Muhtadi’s lawyers asked Magistrate Judge David Ayo to order federal authorities to provide him with a halal diet, allow him to fast and carry out daily prayers. Al-Muhtadi is due back in the Lafayette federal court on Wednesday to discuss the terms of his detention. Al-Muhtadi, who lived in Gaza at the time, was arrested last week for allegedly taking part in the slaughter of 60 people at Kfar Aza — and giddily telling a fellow comrade in a call beforehand that the Oct. 7 offensive would spark "a third world war," a criminal complaint alleged. Less than a year after the invasion, Al-Muhtadi applied for a US visa falsely claiming he never murdered anyone, he never engaged in terrorism and wasn’t apart of such an organization, the feds allege. Al-Muhtadi is charged with one count of fraud and misuse of a visa and one count of providing or attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He faces up to life in prison if convicted on the terrorism charge alone.

Breitbart [10/20/2025 1:58 PM, Amy Furr, 2416K] reports that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) warned Sunday of the impact of terrorists coming across the United States border after a man who was allegedly connected to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel was arrested in Louisiana. The suspected terrorist was identified as Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi, who is a Gazan native, Fox News reported Sunday. Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested him a few weeks ago in Lafayette. He is accused of being an operative of a paramilitary group that took part in the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people. The Fox report noted that the horrific event set off the Israel-Gaza war. When speaking of the suspect, Johnson said, "I had no idea. It’s alarming to all of us, but I’m certainly glad that we have an administration who is prioritizing rounding up these dangerous people. It’s a great relief to a lot of folks down there." Breitbart News cited a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Lafayette that said the suspect arrived in the United States in September 2024 via Dallas Fort Worth International Airport: The document alleges he lied on his visa application to enter the country, saying he had no history of paramilitary service or expertise with firearms, which could have resulted in red flags. The complaint alleges that Al-Muhtadi was a member of the "NRB," the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which coordinated with Hamas to carry out the attacks on Israel.

New York Times [10/20/2025 7:15 PM, Jesus Jiménez, 135475K] reports the ranking Democratic members of two congressional oversight committees announced on Monday that they had started an investigation into reports of misconduct by federal agents during immigration arrests across the country, focusing on the detainment of American citizens. The investigation, a joint effort between the House Oversight Committee and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, will inquire how long American citizens have been held and whether they were allowed to call a lawyer. Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat who represents a portion of Los Angeles County and is the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said on Monday that the inquiry would review every report of “brutal misconduct” committed by immigration officials in Los Angeles. The start of the investigation comes as immigration raids continue across the United States, with a focus on Democratic-led cities with sanctuary policies, such as Los Angeles and Chicago. The raids have drawn criticism and prompted demonstrations from protesters who have said that some of the arrests have been overly aggressive. Mr. Garcia and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, who serves as the ranking member on the Senate subcommittee, can begin an inquiry on their own but cannot subpoena anyone without the support of a majority of Republicans. They sent a letter on Monday to Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, asking for several pieces of information, including how many American citizens were detained by agencies under her control this year. Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, who led a news conference on Monday to support the investigation, said she was alarmed by reports that citizens had been detained by federal immigration officials. She was likewise concerned about reports that immigrants with legal status had also been detained. “What is happening to undocumented immigrants is also happening to U.S. citizens, which means that this can happen to anyone, to all of us, at any period of time,” Ms. Bass, a Democrat, said. Civil rights groups and Americans who have been detained have filed lawsuits against the federal government that accuse immigration agents of targeting people during raids based on the color of their skin. “Why? Because they look like me,” Mr. Garcia said. “Because they are of Latino origin or because they are suspected to not be a U.S. citizen or because they’re suspected of crimes that they have not committed.” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that claims that the department “engages in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless and categorically false.” “The Supreme Court recently vindicated us on this question whether Mayor Bass or Rep. Garcia like it or not,” she added.

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [10/20/2025 2:25 PM, Noah Goldberg and Rachel Uranga, 14862K]

CBS Los Angeles [10/20/2025 8:55 PM, Staff, 39474K] Video: HERE reports Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called for a congressional investigation into the alleged "unlawful" and unconstitutional" detainment of U.S. citizens and immigrants during raids. At a news conference Monday morning, Bass said that since June, the city of LA has been used as the "laboratory" for "egregious and unconstitutional behavior from our federal government." She claims that both U.S. citizens and other immigrants have been denied their rights and subjected to fear without proper legal representation. "In addition to undocumented individuals being detained, we also know that legal residents, people who are attending court hearings, were detained and we now know that there is evidence of over 170 U.S. citizens who have been detained," Bass said. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson criticized Bass for her lack of support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. "Dangerous criminal illegal aliens who are being arrested and deported by the Trump Administration must love Karen Bass – instead of supporting ICE’s heroic efforts to get these monsters off our streets, Bass would rather demonize and attack American law enforcement officers," Jackson wrote. Bass called the alleged actions by the Trump administration "not just an assault on the people of Los Angeles – this is an assault on every person, in every city in this country.” "The Trump Administration is fulfilling the President’s promise to deport criminal illegal aliens and any individuals who attempt to illegally interfere with operations or assault law enforcement officers will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," Jackson wrote. Garcia announced that House Oversight Committee Democrats would be creating an investigative unit in LA to look into "every single brutal misconduct that ICE is committing." Garcia added that the unit would not only be created in the House, but Democrats in the Senate also agreed to do the same.

Telemundo52 [10/20/2025 5:30 PM, Staff, 76K] reports Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Congressman Robert Garcia held a press conference Monday morning to call for an investigation into what they called "violations" by federal agents during raids in Los Angeles in recent months. Bass once again criticized the federal government for its aggressive and widespread immigration tactics. Democratic leaders representing the Los Angeles metropolitan area have denounced the enforcement of federal immigration laws since operations began in June. Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, also spoke about immigration detentions in Southern California. Councilmembers Eunisses Hernández, Ysabel Jurado, and Hugo Soto-Martínez joined Bass and García at the press conference, along with a group of city workers and immigrant rights advocates.

FOX News [10/20/2025 5:04 PM, Deirdre Heavey, 40621K] reports the White House is urging California Democrats to welcome the National Guard to "clean up" San Francisco, but Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., said the deployment will "ruin one of America’s greatest cities." President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that the National Guard is headed to San Francisco next. In a statement shared exclusively with Fox News Digital on Monday, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said San Francisco Democrats should "welcome the President in to clean up their city."

Washington Examiner [10/20/2025 7:00 AM, Barnini Chakraborty, 1394K] reports San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s proposal to send federal troops to the city, saying crime is down under his watch and that local officials have the situation under control. Lurie, speaking at the San Francisco Police Department’s academy in Diamond Heights this week, praised a reduction in reported crimes and a growing number of police recruits in 2025. "I’m not trying to change those people’s minds," Lurie said about San Francisco’s critics. "They’re entitled to their own opinions, but they’re not entitled to their own facts.” Crime is down in the Northern California city 30% compared to 2024 while the number of homicides is on track to be the lowest in 70 years. The number of police officers patrolling the streets has increased for the first time since the pandemic, though the force is still 500 shy of its staffing goal. "We are moving in the right direction and will continue to prioritize safety and hiring while San Francisco law enforcement works every single day to keep our city safe," the mayor’s office said in a statement. The crime statistics seem to contradict the storm Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff created when he told New York Times that he backed Trump and thought National Guard troops should be deployed to San Francisco, where Salesforce is located, to help prevent crime. Benioff himself spends most of his time in Hawaii. The tech titan has since walked back those comments, but the damage, some say, has been done. Trump’s comments have enraged outspoken city leaders like District Attorney Brooke Jenkins who posted on social media: "I can’t be silent any longer." She tagged Trump and Homeland Security head Kristi Noem on X and said they "have turned so-called public safety and immigration enforcement into a form of government-sponsored violence against U.S. citizens, families, and ethnic groups.

NewsNation [10/20/2025 2:04 PM, Jordan Perkins, 8017K] reports Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has called the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts in the city “egregious attacks.” Bass and Rep. Robert Garcia, along with immigrant rights leaders, said in a statement that they are calling for “accountability for the unlawful detention of U.S. citizens and immigrants by federal agents.” “Mayor Bass has stood united with L.A.’s immigrant communities under attack by the federal administration,” a statement read. In a news conference on Monday, Bass drew attention to the undocumented immigrants within the city being detained by ICE and said they are Angelenos who contribute to the well-being of Los Angeles. She also said there have been instances of 170 U.S. citizens being detained. “This shows that it can happen to any of us at any time,” Bass said. She added people must continue to draw attention to ICE operations and document any instance of injustice being committed by federal agents.

The Hill [10/20/2025 11:14 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12595K] reports Democrats in Congress called on President Trump to withdraw his nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) after a new report exposed text messages in which the nominee purportedly denounced the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and admitted to having a "Nazi streak in me from time to time.” Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.) and Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.) — the top Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, respectively — wrote a letter to the president on Monday urging him to dismiss Paul Ingrassia from federal service and to withdraw his nomination. Ingrassia’s Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday. The pair of high-ranking Democrats pointed to the "racist messages" reported by Politico on Monday, which included allegations about past ties between Ingrassia, a former podcast host, and white nationalist Nick Fuentes. They also pointed to past reporting indicating Ingrassia was the subject of a sexual harassment investigation at the Department of Homeland Security, where he serves as the White House liaison. The woman who filed the initial sexual harassment complaint later withdrew it, Politico reported. "Mr. Ingrassia’s misconduct renders his continued employment as a White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dangerous for women, and his proposed promotion to serve as Special Counsel demeans the office and is insulting to the American people," Thompson and Garcia wrote in the letter, addressed to the president. The Democrats noted several examples of text messages exposed in the Politico report that they described as problematic. "I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it," Ingrassia allegedly wrote in one message. In another, he allegedly wrote, "Never trust a chinaman or Indian.” "We need competent white men in positions of leadership … The founding fathers were wrong that all men are created equal … We need to reject that part of our heritage," Ingrassia wrote in a series of messages, according to Politico. "Ultimately, Mr. Ingrassia is biased and incapable of fairly and even-handedly enforcing the law," the Democrats wrote in the letter. In a separate statement, Thompson added: "It’s shameful that someone under investigation for harassment—and now exposed for sending racist messages—would be rewarded with a promotion. President Trump must immediately withdraw his nomination and remove him from government service.”

Chicago Tribune [10/20/2025 7:33 PM, Jake Sheridan, 4829K] reports that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration filed another lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump’s administration, this time in a bid to protect threatened emergency preparedness funding. The city’s federal suit, filed Monday, alleges the Department of Homeland Security has tied long-standing funding that pays for cybersecurity tools, hazmat suits, first-responder salaries and more to "unlawful conditions" outlawing the city’s "diversity, equity and inclusion" efforts. Those conditions would require the city to certify that it does not operate "programs that advance or promote DEI, DEIA, or discriminatory equity ideology," according to grant guidelines implemented by DHS in April. The amount at stake is relatively small, as Chicago could lose up to $10 million next year, according to Johnson spokesperson Cassio Mendoza. But the city has pledged to draw a line against Trump attempts to target such equity standards, and leading the fight helps Johnson burnish his credentials as a bulwark against the federal government’s moves to cut funding to Democratic-led institutions. Seven other cities and one county also joined the lawsuit, including New York, Boston, Denver and Baltimore. For Chicago, the lead plaintiff, the court action marks another clash between Trump and Johnson as the president’s efforts to ramp up deportations in the city continue. The 70-page complaint accuses Trump of trying "to use this critical federal funding as a cudgel threatening to hamstring local governments’ emergency-management function unless they acquiesce to unrelated [Trump] domestic policy goals."

Bloomberg [10/20/2025 6:00 AM, Staff, 18207K] reports as the White House threatens to send the National Guard into more US cities, its rationale seems to vary by place — and by day. In some instances, it’s to fight crime. In others, it’s to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Either way, it’s a bad idea: To the extent those problems are legitimate, they’re better handled by local police departments, in partnership with state and federal law enforcement agencies. To justify the deployments, the administration has portrayed targeted cities as anarchic hellscapes that can only be pacified by military intervention. Such claims are wildly overstated. When the president referred to Portland, Oregon, as “war-ravaged,” it came as news to residents, who have made endless jokes about riots over discontinued granola bars and flannel shortages. Courts seem equally skeptical. A federal judge in Portland temporarily blocked the deployment of troops to the city, calling the government’s argument “untethered to the facts.” The administration has run into a similar roadblock in Chicago. Unfortunately, while the protests in Portland have been small and contained, their presence outside the city’s ICE facility has led to instances of clashes, tear gas deployments and arrests. Whether the White House or the conservative influencers who have descended upon the city are seeking to provoke confrontations can be debated. What’s unassailably clear is that the more images of such unrest that Americans see, the more public support there will be for troop deployments — and the greater the administration’s chances of withstanding legal challenges. An appeals court looking at the Portland case seemed reluctant to question the president’s moves given sporadic cases of violence. Protesters would be wise to heed local Democratic leaders, who have been urging them to avoid unnecessary confrontations. In Oregon, Governor Tina Kotek, Portland’s mayor and other officials have been singing the same sensible refrain: “Don’t take the bait.”

New York Times [10/20/2025 12:35 PM, Farah Stockman, Rebecca F. Elliott and Adam Kuehl, 135475K] reports Hyundai Motor Group has spent the last three years building a sprawling 2,900-acre campus 30 minutes from Savannah, Ga., to make electric vehicles and showcase the marvels of modern manufacturing. Invited guests — and soon the public — can take tours of the factory. Visitors ride golf carts through cavernous halls, watching robots fetch parts for human workers. Mechanical arms weld panels onto the vehicle bodies. Hyundai hoped the facility, in Ellabell, would become a shining example of car assembly, an image that also aligns with President Trump’s desire to re-industrialize the nation. Even its name, Metaplant America, nods at the company’s ambition to make a public statement, not just another assembly line. But then, last month, more than 300 South Korean workers, who the United States said were working on the wrong kind of visas, were shackled and detained at one of the facilities under construction there, a battery plant jointly owned by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, both Korean companies. The raid led many in South Korea to call on Hyundai to pause its expansion in the United States. It is plowing ahead. Hyundai Motor Group, which includes Kia and dozens of other affiliates and suppliers, plans to spend $26 billion in the United States through 2028, including an additional $2.7 billion in Ellabell. The carmaker has little alternative. As Chinese brands become increasingly popular elsewhere, the United States market is not only Hyundai’s biggest, but one of its best growth opportunities, regardless of who sits in the White House. Between very high tariffs and other restrictions, Chinese cars have in effect been shut out of the United States. “My top three priorities are U-S-A,” José Muñoz, chief executive of Hyundai Motor Company, the car-making subsidiary, said at the company’s annual investor gathering after the raid in New York, pausing for effect after each letter. “If we do well here, it’s very good for Korea. It’s very good for the company.” Yet risks abound. Electric vehicles have not been as popular in the United States as many expected. This month, the federal government stopped offering a $7,500 tax credit that was meant to encourage people to buy E.V.s. And, as the raid made plain, spending billions here is no guarantee of political favor. If anything, it demonstrated how foreign investment in the United States has become at once more urgent and more fraught in an age of “America First.” Georgia’s political establishment strongly backs the plant, which is often described as the largest economic development project in state history. Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, views it as a part of his legacy. But even before the raid, there were signs in Ellabell that tensions were building. Some residents abhorred the factory and the influx of foreigners it brought. Others have raised safety concerns, as three workers have died there since construction began. Yet some embraced the opportunities that have come with Hyundai’s investment.

Chicago Tribune [10/20/2025 6:00 AM, Storer H. Rowley, 4829K] reports amid the lawless and militarized assaults on Chicago-area immigrants, reporters, protesters, elected officials, mothers, children, old men and clergy, there were notable victories in recent days for journalists and free speech. U.S. District Court Judge Sara L. Ellis issued a temporary restraining order Oct. 9 forbidding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents from using tear gas, pepper spray and weapons against journalists and peaceful protesters who pose no threat to them. Responding to a lawsuit filed by Chicago-area media and individual protesters, Ellis also enjoined federal agents from "dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, threatening or using physical force against" journalists, unless they are committing crimes. It may seem self-absorbed to focus on the plight of journalists as President Donald Trump unleashes chaos and disorder on Chicago and other American cities, but First Amendment rights are also in the crosshairs. Polls show Americans are increasingly concerned these rights are being restricted and pessimistic that free speech will be protected. Reporters face threats from critics, accusations of "fake news" and vitriol from a president who repeatedly has called them "the enemy of the people" whenever he dislikes the message. It is worth reminding the public that media are armed only with pens and press passes, recorders and cameras, and all too often risk their personal safety to bring home the news. The ruling by Ellis may be temporary, lasting until further review, but it’s a major win for the press and the public’s right to know exactly what actions and mayhem are being committed by masked, armed and camo-clad federal forces who descended on the Chicago area recently with impunity. At a hearing Thursday, Ellis said she was "profoundly concerned" ICE already may have violated her court order setting restrictions on the use of tear gas and crowd control weapons. Ellis said she would order agents to wear body cameras and demanded that Chicago ICE Field Office Director Russell Hott appear before her Monday to explain these alleged temporary restraining order violations. The order confirms Chicago media were well justified in filing suit Oct. 6 against the president and his top officials, led by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The Trump administration is waging an apparent war on undocumented immigrants and brutalizing innocent Americans and journalists with dangerous riot-control methods.

Daily Caller [10/20/2025 9:55 AM, Alina Voss, 835K] reports China’s latest move should serve as a wake-up call. As President Trump and Xi Jinping prepare for their first face-to-face meeting in nearly a year, China has just announced it will exercise greater control over rare earth supply chains, putting additional controls on some of the most important raw materials for manufacturing. The United States has spent two decades acting as if the digital economy could float above the physical world, believing falsely that we could ignore our industrialized adversaries. Now, China’s chokehold on the resources we need most is exposing the hard-tech reality behind the digital dream. This moment should serve as a wakeup call for those who assumed America could be kept afloat by Silicon Valley – without ever asking where we were getting the silicon from. The downstream effects impact virtually every facet of American life, as well as the national security of the American future. Leading up to a major summit between North American and Asian-Pacific countries, China’s Ministry of Commerce has announced it will begin requiring licenses for those wishing to export "…any products containing over 0.1% of domestically-sourced rare earths, or manufactured using China’s extraction, refining, magnet-making or recycling technology." Permits will be automatically denied to those the Ministry deems threats, including those tied to foreign militaries, like that of the U.S., or placed on watch lists by the Chinese government.

Politico [10/20/2025 10:00 AM, Alice Miranda Ollstein and Ruth Reader, 2100K] reports the Trump administration is expanding its ranks of health care providers who work in immigration detention centers around the country as deaths in custody mount and federal oversight is weakened by layoffs. The push by the Department of Homeland Security to hire more than 40 doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, pharmacists and health administrators follows the revelation that nearly as many immigrants have died in custody so far this year than over the course of the Biden administration, according to government records. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reported 20 detainee deaths in custody since President Donald Trump took office — the most in a single year in decades — compared to 24 deaths in the Biden administration. The 2025 figure was provided by the office of Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the ranking member on the House subcommittee overseeing DHS. The overall death rate is lower given that the number of detained immigrants is at a record high. The detention centers — which currently hold more than 60,000 people — are overcrowded and the use of hastily constructed facilities like tent cities makes it easier, public health officials said, for communicable diseases to spread and more difficult to manage chronic illnesses. At the same time, oversight of the centers has eroded, as layoffs hit the Homeland Security offices investigating allegations of abuse and neglect, and lawmakers attempting to visit facilities in their districts are turned away. Frequent transfers of migrants between states have also disrupted medical treatments and allowed prescriptions and other records to be lost in transit. Migrants have died in recent months of infections, Covid-19, injuries, uncontrolled diabetes and suicide — according to government reports. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to several questions about staffing plans, deaths in detention and accusations of medical neglect. In a recent New York court filing responding to a lawsuit by the ACLU, the agency argued that it “provide[s] adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical care to individuals in custody” and that “all medication, whether brought by the detainee or later, is received by [the ICE Health Service Corps] and administered according to proper medical procedures.”

NPR [10/20/2025 6:20 PM, Staff, 28013K] Audio: HERE reports the Trump administration’s push to expand immigration enforcement — as part of its deportation efforts — has created job opportunities in small towns and cities. We head to one of them — Folkston, Georgia, a community of about 2,800 residents. That number will soon swell as immigrant detainees fill up a growing ICE detention center at the edge of town. The center is in a old prison run by the private prison corporation, the GEO Group, and is set to become the nation’s largest detention facility. We hear about the hopes and fears of the town’s residents.

Axios [10/20/2025 6:20 AM, Josephine Walker and Karri Peifer, 12972K] reports Richmond is among a handful of U.S. cities reportedly being considered for a new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. The effort comes as ICE expands its reach with billions in new funding and while the National Guard deploys in cities across the country alongside increased immigration arrests. The General Services Administration released a list in September of nearly two dozen cities where the government hopes to set up shop. Richmond is among them, along with Raleigh, Charleston and St. Louis. The Trump administration is looking for 10-year leases for office space. 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 listing also asks that 75%-80% of the office space be "private offices," with the remaining spots used for cubicles. The GSA declined to comment on what the space would be used for or if Richmond had been selected, citing its policy of not commenting on "active procurements," per a GSA spokesperson. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment.

Washington Examiner [10/20/2025 5:00 AM, Kaelan Deese, 1394K] reports the Trump administration is struggling to find a foreign country willing to accept Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national with a checkered legal history, as a federal judge in Maryland weighs ordering his release from immigration detention. The saga of Abrego Garcia, 29, has become a test of the administration’s "third-country" deportation strategy, which has otherwise logged major successes in returning migrants to partner nations that agree to cooperate with U.S. enforcement. But those efforts have faltered in Abrego Garcia’s case amid diplomatic resistance and lingering legal restrictions from a 2019 immigration ruling that bars his removal to El Salvador. During a daylong court hearing on Oct. 10, a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official testified that U.S. overtures to several African nations have fallen flat. Uganda and Eswatini both rejected requests to receive Abrego Garcia, and Ghana’s foreign minister confirmed on X that his country would not accept him. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers claim those failures show the administration is "dragging its feet" to keep their client locked up while officials insist they are pursuing every available option to carry out a lawful removal.

CBS Baltimore [10/20/2025 6:55 PM, Mike Hellgren, 39474K] Video: HERE reports Melissa Tran, a mother of four from Hagerstown, Maryland, reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore for the first time since a judge ordered her release following months in custody. Tran came to the United States legally as a refugee from Vietnam in 1993, but a conviction involving theft from her employer in 2001 left her vulnerable for deportation. She had been checking in regularly with immigration officials for more than 20 years without issue until they held her last May. An anxious Melissa Tran spoke to WJZ Investigates when she arrived for her check-in with ICE just after 8 a.m. Monday. "I feel nervous, very nervous, because I don’t know what’s going to happen to me," she said. Tran already had a difficult conversation with her family and told them she may not make it home. "My children asked me if I would be detained, and I said, ‘I don’t know. I hope not,’" Tran told WJZ. She then went inside to join her lawyer with her future uncertain. Tran came to the United States legally at age 11 as a refugee from Vietnam. But decades ago, she said she stole money from an employer, under pressure from an abusive ex-boyfriend. Tran paid back the debt and served her time. However, the conviction for that single, non-violent crime led to an order of removal. Still, for more than 20 years, the government allowed her to stay and build her family in Hagerstown where she owns a business. In May, Tran was detained and transported around the country until a federal judge ordered her release. After several hours, Tran emerged from Baltimore’s federal building with her lawyer with good news. She would be allowed to return home. "I’m glad I get to go home with my family today, but I don’t know what’s going to happen the next time," Tran said. She said she continues to live in fear. There was one catch: ICE demanded she wear an ankle monitor. Her lawyer, Bernard Semler, planned to fight that. "She should be released under the same conditions prior to when she was detained, so it’s our position with the ankle monitor is not the same conditions and would violate the order," Semler said.

NewsMax [10/20/2025 4:46 PM, Staff, 4779K] reports a twice-deported illegal alien who killed a 61-year-old North Carolina man in a drunk-driving hit-and-run is now back in federal custody, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Monday. Werner Orosco-Clemente, 30, who also used the name Wilmer Fuentes Mejia, is a Guatemalan national with a record of DUIs and assault, according to the DHS. Authorities say Mejia was driving drunk on Sept. 13 when he struck and killed Richard Ferguson Jr. in Durham, North Carolina, before fleeing the scene. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer with the Durham County Detention Center where Mejia is being held after the fatal crash. The agency blasted local officials for releasing Mejia after prior DUI arrests. "If [Mejia] had never got out on bond, my brother would be alive today," Reginald Ferguson said. "Wilmer Fuentes Mejia is a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala who has a history of driving while intoxicated and was previously deported by ICE in 2020," said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. "A local DA allowed him to walk free after multiple DUIs only to then cause this fatal hit-and-run that killed an innocent 61-year-old man in North Carolina." McLaughlin vowed Ferguson’s family "will get justice."

Daily Caller [10/20/2025 3:03 PM, Jason Hopkins, 835K] reports an illegal migrant charged with fatally running over a North Carolina man carried a history of drunk driving arrests, but was repeatedly released by local authorities. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer for Wilmer Fuentes Mejia, a criminal illegal migrant who allegedly drove off after striking and killing a 61-year-old man in Durham in September, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Trump administration says Mejia should’ve been locked up long before the tragic accident. "Wilmer Fuentes Mejia is a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala who has a history of driving while intoxicated and was previously deported by ICE in 2020," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to the DCNF. "A local DA allowed him to walk free after multiple DUIs only to then cause this fatal hit-and-run that killed an innocent 61-year-old man in North Carolina," McLaughlin continued. Mejia — who DHS revealed also goes by the name Werner Orosco-Clemente — allegedly killed Richard Ferguson, Jr. with his vehicle in Durham, North Carolina, on September 13. The illegal migrant, who had already been removed from the U.S., was previously arrested in 2020 for allegedly driving under the influence in Wake County, but was released by the county’s district Democrat attorney without bond. After Mejia was released without bond for his 2020 DUI arrest, he failed to show up to his court hearing and an order was issued for his arrest, according to court records reviewed by WRAL. However, he was not arrested until the fatal car accident in September involving Ferguson. The illegal migrant’s criminal history includes two previous apprehensions for DUI and assault, according to DHS. The criminal history draws into question why Mejia was released without bond in 2020.

Daily Wire [10/20/2025 1:10 PM, Jennie Taer, 2494K] reports the Trump administration’s crime crackdown in Memphis led to the arrests of serious illegal immigrant criminals, The Daily Wire has learned. Illegal immigrant gang members, pedophiles, rapists, domestic abusers, and drug traffickers have all been taken off the streets by federal immigration authorities deployed by President Donald Trump to Memphis in recent weeks."Memphis has suffered from historic levels of violent crime including a murder rate that is four times higher than Mexico City. No American should be afraid to walk down the streets in their own neighborhoods," Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Daily Wire. "In Memphis, DHS law enforcement is working hand in glove with Attorney General Bondi to enhance public safety, fight crime, and provide much-needed support to our law enforcement partners at the local, state, and federal level. The Trump administration WILL make America safe again.” Authorities arrested Honduran illegal immigrant Luis Alfredo Maldonado-Lopez, who was previously apprehended for fondling a child, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Also captured was Mexican Sureno 13 gang member Jose Eduardo Mena Perez, who was previously convicted of burglary, destroying evidence, unlawful carrying/possession of a weapon, and arrested for larceny, possession of narcotic equipment, assault, and aggravated assault with a weapon. He had been deported twice previously, according to DHS. The Trump administration has also pledged to send troops and more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to San Francisco. "We continue to have targeted operations in many, many cities, but also very focused on those where challenges are still remaining, such as Portland, Chicago, we’re in Memphis as well, we’re going to San Francisco at the direction of the president as well," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said at a press conference Monday. "We’re going to continue to make sure we’re focused not just on those cities that we hear about on the news, but also in cities like Sarasota that we make sure that law enforcement officers in every single community get the chance to continue to get these criminals off of their streets," she added.

CBS News [10/20/2025 8:24 AM, Madeline Montgomery, 39474K] reports some pastors in metro Atlanta say they’re witnessing something they’ve never seen before: fear is keeping people out of church. From Lithonia to Atlanta’s West End, pastors report a noticeable drop in attendance. They say undocumented churchgoers are skipping services, worried immigration agents could be waiting outside. It’s part of a growing national trend that faith leaders link to new immigration enforcement rules under the Trump administration. One man told CBS News Atlanta he hasn’t attended church for at least a month because he’s afraid ICE agents might show up. He said his pastor has even asked congregants not to meet in person for now. Across metro Atlanta, church leaders are getting creative to keep faith alive while keeping their members safe. A Lithonia pastor said he’s moved some services from the chapel to his living room. "Many of our people are scared," he said. "That’s why I invite them to my home, to sing, to praise God, to worship together with freedom.” The fear isn’t limited to Georgia. A pastor in Baltimore told CBS News he’s also noticed longtime congregants staying away. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons told CBS News that despite restrictions being lifted on immigration raids at churches, houses of worship are not a target.

DailySignal [10/20/2025 9:00 AM, Rebecca Downs, 549K] reports state representatives have been on a mission to combat illegal immigration in Ohio, and they’re not stopping any time soon. If anything, they’re ramping up their efforts with bills that have been introduced and passed this session. State Rep. Josh Williams, a Republican who represents Toledo, recently introduced HB26. According to the bill’s text, it would "require state and local authorities to cooperate with the federal government in the enforcement of immigration laws, to prescribe funding reductions for noncompliance, to name this act the Protecting Ohio Communities Act, and to declare an emergency." As Williams shared in an interview with Fox News, localities will lose their state funding if they refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement. Disagreement is not an excuse for noncompliance, the bill makes clear, laying out how it’s for the attorney general to investigate whether there is compliance. Williams also provided The Daily Signal with a statement on further motivation for his bill. "Ohio is taking a stand for law and order by ending dangerous sanctuary policies that put illegal immigrants ahead of American citizens," he shared. "The Protecting Ohio Communities Act ensures that local governments cooperate with, not obstruct, federal immigration enforcement. I’ll always stand with law enforcement, protect our communities, and put American families first." The bill "will require our law enforcement departments to cooperate with federal immigration efforts," the state representative explained during his interview with Fox News, as he also went after sanctuary cities in Ohio. Such cities would be defunded "if they have policies that restrict their agencies or employees from cooperating with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and other federal departments for the purposes of federal immigration enforcement in the state of Ohio.

AP [10/20/2025 3:42 PM, Ed White] reports a Michigan man facing possible deportation while dealing with life-threatening leukemia must be released from custody or at least be given a bond hearing in immigration court, a judge said. It’s a victory for Jose Contreras-Cervantes and seven other plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. If released on bond from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, they could return to their families while their cases wind through immigration court. The judge ordered bond hearings within seven days and wants a written update on Oct. 27. In response to the petition, the U.S. Justice Department defended the policy and also said the case should have been filed at an immigration appeals board, not federal court. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the department would appeal.

FOX News [10/20/2025 3:46 PM, Adam Sabes, 40621K] reports an illegal immigrant in Indiana was arrested after he allegedly caused a fatal semi-truck crash, according to officials. The Portage Police Department said Broko Stankovic was driving on U.S. Highway 20 in Indiana on Wednesday when traffic came to a stop due to a Ram Sprinter turning near Douglas Drive, but the suspect didn’t appear to slow down in his semi-truck, according to FOX 32. Officials said Stankovic attempted to make a hard evasive left turn when he entered opposite traffic and hit a Subaru Crosstrek. The semi-truck jackknifed as a result and hit the Ram Sprinter, which was pushed into a road sign. Police said the 54-year-old driver of the Subaru died at the scene. Officials said Stankovic possessed a suspended Illinois CDL, which was a family member’s, but didn’t have a valid CDL himself. His company wasn’t registered with the Department of Transportation, they added. Stankovic’s immigration status caused ICE to put a detainer on him as he was being taken to the Porter County Jail. He was charged with felony reckless homicide and felony criminal recklessness resulting in death.

Chicago Tribune [10/20/2025 12:05 PM, Richard Requena, 4829K] reports the Evanston City Council adopted a resolution that creates “ICE-free zones” in the north suburb, banning federal immigration officers from using city-owned property to carry out civil immigration enforcement efforts. The details of how the zones could be enforced, however, were not immediately clear. At its Oct. 13 meeting, the council established the immigration enforcement ban through a resolution — as opposed to an enforceable ordinance. The ban does not include penalties that could be enforced against federal authorities should they violate terms of the resolution. A spokesperson for the city did not respond to Pioneer Press questions that would further explain enforcement. According to the resolution, Evanston can “utilize physical barriers such as locked gates to limit access to City-owned and controlled parking lots, vacant lots, garages, or other other property” when and “where available and appropriate.” The resolution directs the city manager’s office to create signs proclaiming a property is “ICE-free” from civil immigration enforcement efforts, and to make the signs available free of charge to businesses, medical providers, nonprofit organizations and faith institutions that voluntarily request them from the city. “Landowners and leaseholders who post this signage do so at their own discretion and assume any legal risk associated therewith,” the resolution reads. In a memo from the city’s Chief Legislative Policy Advisor Liza Roberson-Young to the City Council, Roberson-Young wrote that Evanston’s “ICE-free zones” are influenced by Chicago’s “ICE-free zones.” In that case, federal immigration agents staged enforcement operation in parking lots owned by the city of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools, violating Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance. Evanston’s Welcoming City Ordinance already bans federal authorities from using Evanston resources to carry out civil immigration enforcement efforts, which are ones that aren’t criminal or approved by a judge.

Chicago Tribune [10/20/2025 6:00 AM, Rebecca Johnson, 4829K] reports owner Vanessa Aguirre-Ávalos was busy watching over a small group of young children at Luna y Cielo Play Café when she heard what sounded like a helicopter circling over the neighborhood. Concerned, she stepped outside to figure out what was going on. She watched as federal immigration agents passed by in trucks. Aguirre-Ávalos immediately blew the whistle hanging around her neck. "I was blowing the whistle several times. I don’t know if I was even using the right cadence," she said about the scene she witnessed last month, which devolved into the agents throwing smoke canisters into the street just steps away from Funston Elementary School and her Logan Square play space. "But it was my first reaction, just to get people to know what was happening." Aguirre-Ávalos said the small, inexpensive devices are useful in alerting neighbors to ICE activity, which is why she hands them out for free at her business. From coffee shops to bars to adult stores, businesses and other volunteers have handed out thousands of whistles across the city in solidarity. Hundreds have also assembled whistle kits at "Whistlemania" events. The kits include "Know Your Rights" information, whistles and a zine with instructions on how to use them. They have been passed out to businesses, schools, Little Free Libraries and more. Others have distributed "Hands Off Chicago" posters to hang in windows or carry during the large "No Kings" protests over the weekend.

Univision Chicago WGBO [10/20/2025 4:48 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports on Sunday, October 19, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents reported to police in the suburb of Bolingbrook that they were allegedly assaulted by two women while attempting to arrest a man. However, the women involved claim that they and their father were the ones attacked. According to the report, officers were attempting to arrest a 46-year-old man when two unidentified women approached and began hitting them in the head. The women and man then fled the scene on foot and entered a nearby residence. The officers refused medical attention, and local police confirmed that no arrests were made at the time. People who witnessed the operation offered another version of events and called the federal agents’ report a "lie."

CBS News [10/20/2025 9:27 PM, Steve Pickett, 39474K] reports some Dallas City Council members are responding after the city’s mayor questioned the Dallas police’s rejection of a $25 million federal offer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It started with a "no" from Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux. "No" to using Dallas police officers to find or detain suspected illegal immigration offenders by partnering with ICE agents in a federal task force operation. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has called for a review and challenged the police chief’s "no" to ICE, saying DPD could "use these funds to hire additional officers with no impact on the city’s budget.” In a written message to the city council committee chairs, Johnson added that DPD’s involvement might provide additional avenues for "keeping criminals off the streets.” "The mayor’s memo, his memo is a callous political stunt," said Dallas city council member Jaime Resendez, District 5. Resendez, along with three others, issued a collective statement saying the use of police officers as ICE task force members would be "a betrayal of trust to Dallas communities.” "The mayor’s memo is misguided and dangerous," Resendez said. "If the mayor truly wants to strengthen public safety and government efficiency, then he should be focused on proven solutions.” "We work alongside federal authorities to go after violent fugitives, drug traffickers and more," Comeaux said in a statement. "I want to be clear: we will not prevent any agency from conducting lawful activity in Dallas, but we will remain focused on our primary mission: responding to emergencies and continuing to fight violent crime in Dallas.” City council members could discuss this collectively. The next city council meeting is on Wednesday.

Chicago Tribune [10/20/2025 7:23 AM, Curtis Pashelka, 4829K] reports on a night meant to celebrate their commitment to the Bay Area’s Hispanic community, the San Jose Sharks inadvertently displayed what appeared to be a message supportive of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation efforts on SAP Center’s center-hung scoreboard during the team’s game Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. During the game’s first intermission, the scoreboard displayed a message that read, "SJ SHARKS FANS/LOVE ICE !!/GET ‘EM BOYZ !". Personalized messages sent in by fans to be displayed during games are typically supportive of the team or meant to wish someone a happy birthday or anniversary. The Sharks later issued a statement apologizing for the message, which was shared widely on social media. "During the first intermission of tonight’s game, an offensively worded message which had been externally submitted was inadvertently displayed on the in-arena scoreboard," the statement said. "Sharks Sports & Entertainment deeply regrets that this message, which does not meet our organization’s values, was not detected during our standard review process. "The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight, and we are actively working to determine the origin of the message."

CBS News [10/20/2025 8:43 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 39474K] reports that, in footage shared widely on social media last week, federal immigration agents were seen breaking into Gloria Magaña’s home Portland, Oregon, even though the person they were looking for does not live there. The agents forced their way into the home without showing a warrant, Magaña told CBS News. The raid occurred on Oct. 15. Magaña, a native of Mexico, said she got a call from her children, who told her the agents were shouting for someone named Israel, but nobody in their home goes by that name. She said she told her children to lock themselves inside a room. With guns drawn, agents broke open the room’s door. Magaña’s daughter took a video of the heavily-armed agents telling them to put their hands up as her daughter, a three-month-old baby, cried. One of the agents asked if any of the men inside the room were named Israel. Outside of the home, witnesses asked the federal officers for information. "Stop watching TikTok. We don’t have to identify ourselves to you," one agent was heard saying on video recorded by a witness. While federal officials have since admitted they were looking for someone else, agents still detained Magaña’s 20-year-old son and her partner, saying they were in the U.S. illegally. Magaña said neither has a criminal record. Federal records reviewed by CBS News also indicate the men do not have any criminal charges or convictions. ICE’s online detainee system indicated on Monday that Magaña’s son, Napoleon Magaña, was being held at the agency’s detention facility in Tacoma, Washington. Her partner, Arturo Garcia Cabrera, was transferred to the Adams County Correctional Center in Mississippi, the system showed. A senior Homeland Security official told CBS News the federal agents who entered Magaña’s home on Oct. 15 were looking for an individual with a criminal history who they say had evaded arrest and fled into the apartment complex. The target of the operation remains at large, the official said. "Two other aliens from Mexico were found inside the apartment and taken into ICE custody at the scene," the official said, adding that no federal agents were hurt during the incident.

New York Times [10/20/2025 9:01 AM, Anna Griffin, 153395K] reports with President Trump and Portland, Ore., locked in a fierce battle over immigration policies, the city’s leaders face increasing pressure from their progressive constituents to become more creative in the fight. So Portland leaders are trying the strategy they know best: land use. Oregon has one of the most complex sets of zoning and land use laws in the nation. Supporters of the policies say they encourage neighborhoods to be walkable and filled with independent businesses while also preserving vast open spaces and farmland. Critics say the rules have stymied housing construction and kept home prices high. But in the city’s fight against the Trump administration, those land-use rules may prove to be a not-so-secret weapon, in large part because the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland may be uniquely vulnerable to the codes. “This is so Oregon of us, so Portland of us,” said Elana Pirtle-Guiney, president of the Portland City Council, “to distill a huge federal policy issue that is also a moral issue that is also about the fundamental question of who we are as a country into a land-use problem.”

Daily Caller [10/20/2025 12:46 PM, Jason Hopkins, 835K] reports that Portland officials are weaponizing their city’s uniquely onerous zoning laws in their bid to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) crackdown against illegal migrant criminals. Under pressure from protesters and liberal constituents, Portland leaders are using zoning laws to disrupt federal immigration officials nestled within the high-rise South Waterfront district, according to the New York Times (NYT). The city sent a violation notice to the ICE building’s owner and may revoke the agency’s permit for the building altogether. The local fight is brewing as the Trump administration expands its nationwide crackdown on other major sanctuary cities that have large illegal migrant populations. "This is so Oregon of us, so Portland of us," said Elana Pirtle-Guiney, president of the Portland City Council, according to the NYT, "to distill a huge federal policy issue that is also a moral issue that is also about the fundamental question of who we are as a country into a land-use problem." Oregon has some of the most expansive zoning laws in the country, and clashes between Portland leaders and ICE date back years before the first Trump administration. When the agency began negotiations to rent a privately-owned building on the edge of South Waterfront, locals expressed concern over protests, armed officers and the possibility of dangerous criminals being released into the community, according to the NYT.

Blaze [10/20/2025 12:37 PM, Julio Rosas, 1442K] reports that the No Kings protest in Los Angeles on Saturday turned chaotic outside the federal building downtown after the Los Angeles Police Department prevented anti-ICE protesters from reaching the facility’s driveway. Frustrated with being unable to target federal agents and interfere with immigration operations, the crowd turned their ire toward LAPD officers. During one confrontation, one person stood in front of a police SUV while waving an upside-down American flag. The officer saw an opening to drive around the protester, and the protester briefly walked back into the SUV’s way before jumping back and falling to the ground as if injured, according to video. The moment was captured by independent journalist Anthony Cabassa while livestreaming on TikTok. Cabassa posted the video after several other clips were circulating online showing the aftermath of the incident, but not the incident itself. Cabassa was replying to an X account that claimed the protester had been "ran over." Cabassa’s video shows other protesters carrying the "injured" man to a car and claiming to want to take him to a hospital. Whether he ever arrived at a hospital is unclear, but if he did, according to Cabassa, he must not have been there long. "Although the young man who claimed to be struck was seen in video being put into a vehicle and presumably headed to the hospital, I saw him shortly after return to the protest appearing unharmed and continued to protest into the night despite the protest being called unlawful," Cabassa told Blaze News. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Breitbart [10/21/2025 1:54 AM, Neil Munro, 2416K] reports the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing the administration to block President Donald Trump’s emerging curbs on the H-1B outsourcing program. But the lawsuit is also part of a larger lobbying campaign to import many more foreign workers, renters, and consumers for the white-collar and blue-collar jobs and homes needed by Americans. The pro-migration campaign would sideline many Americans, further cut wages, push up housing prices, and also reduce pressure on companies to divert some of their profits towards improving productivity and research. "This year, there were over 470,000 petitions for [white-collar] visas under the H-1B program … many of them wish to stay here and contribute to our economy," the chamber’s top lobbyist, Neil Bradley, wrote on October 16. The annual limits ensure "these skilled workers are forced to take their talents elsewhere," he lamented, adding: Unfortunately, the Trump Administration’s recent decision to impose a $100,000 fee on all H-1B applicants moves us in the wrong direction by making it cost prohibitive for many businesses, especially small business and start-ups, to utilize the program. This is not only bad policy, it exceeds the authority the administration has in the law, which is why we filed a legal challenge to it. We are also calling on Congress to update other visa programs that don’t meet the needs of our current economy. Programs like H-2A designed for seasonal [manual] labor prohibit certain industries … from accessing visas due to their year-round need for a qualified workforce. Bradley also called for an amnesty, saying, "Policymakers must find a reasonable path forward for those [illegal migrant] individuals who have been contributing to our economy and our communities in some cases for decades now.” The chamber’s goals are included in the amnesty-and-cheap-labor "DIGNITY" bill now being pushed by pro-investor groups and Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL). The chamber’s leadership includes many companies that use H-1Bs, including Microsoft, IBM, Comcast, and Elevance Health, as well as the Indian-owned Wipro and Cognizant white-collar staffing firms. By subscribing, you agree to our terms of use & privacy policy. You will receive email marketing messages from Breitbart News Network to the email you provide. You may unsubscribe at any time. If enacted, the Salazar bill would reverse progress won by Trump’s zig-zag move towards a low-migration, high-productivity economy. Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. government impoverished many Americans by extracting vast human resources from poor countries to inflate the U.S. economy, housing market, auto sales, and the stock market. On October 16, the chamber filed its lawsuit against Trump’s decision to levy a $100,000 fee on a few of the H-1B white-collar workers. The lawsuit says: If implemented, that fee would inflict significant harm on American businesses, which would be forced to either dramatically increase their labor costs [such as wages] or hire fewer highly skilled [foreign] employees. The lawsuit includes several arguments that Trump’s agency is not allowed by Congress’s law to enforce his $100,000 charge.

Bloomberg Law News [10/20/2025 5:32 PM, Andrew Kreighbaum, 91K] reports recent international college graduates who are sponsored for H-1B status while in the US won’t be subject to a $100,000 fee imposed on the program, according to new guidance from the Trump administration. Foreign workers who request an amendment, change of status, or extension of stay within the US also won’t be subject to the fee, US Citizenship and Immigration Services said Monday. Current H-1B visa holders also won’t be prevented from leaving and entering the US, the agency said. USCIS also established an online portal to pay the $100,000 petition fee, which was issued in a surprise Sept. 19 White House proclamation. Businesses and immigration attorneys have also pressed the Trump administration for weeks to spell out how it would implement the fee. Although the administration quickly clarified that only new H-1B petitions would be affected, significant questions remained unclear, including how student visa holders would be affected and whether any industries or occupations would be exempted from the fee. The guidance posted Monday is the first time the administration has addressed those questions since the proclamation.

Federalist [10/20/2025 7:34 AM, Beth Brelje, 785K] reports Ian Andre Roberts, the illegal alien ineligible for employment in the U.S. but hired in Iowa as superintendent at the Des Moines School District, is a registered Maryland voter. By law, only U.S. citizens are allowed to register to vote in U.S. elections, but an election watchdog group, the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), looked into voter registration in states where Roberts previously lived and found he registered to vote as a Democrat twice, once in 2011 and again in 2016. It raises questions about how many other illegal aliens or otherwise ineligible people have successfully registered to vote. As AAF president Tom Jones told Fox 45, "We can’t rely on the honor system to hope that illegal aliens won’t lie to us." The only citizenship verification on the Maryland voter registration form is a tiny box next to the question "Are you a U.S. citizen?" where the applicant checks yes or no. Oddly, the documents AAF received from Prince George’s County Maryland concealed his answer. The Federalist asked the Prince George’s County election office why it redacted that information. It did not respond. The instructions tell applicants who answer "No" on the citizenship question to not complete the form, so we may assume Roberts lied and claimed to be a citizen since he completed the form, but as an illegal alien, Robert’s has a history of not following instructions. Because of the county’s redaction, we can’t be certain how he answered, so we can’t know if he lied or if he told the truth and the county overlooked it.

Breitbart [10/20/2025 3:43 PM, John Binder, 2416K] reports President Donald Trump’s reforms to the United States housing market are showing real impact as mortgage loan rate locks for migrants seeking Federal Housing Administration (FHA) have plummeted. In March, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ended FHA-insured mortgages for non-permanent residents living in the United States, such as H-1B visa holders, refugees, and asylees, as well as illegal aliens with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, among others. The goal of the Trump administration, partially spearheaded by Vice President JD Vance, is to shore up the housing market for Americans and those on green cards who are on track for naturalized U.S. citizenship. Recent data making the rounds on social media indicates a massive drop in the number of migrants seeking FHA mortgage loans as a result of the Trump reforms, a move that the White House hopes will bring down housing costs as competition for homes and apartments cools off.

Federalist [10/20/2025 2:27 PM, M.D. Kittle, 785K] reports that more than eight in 10 Americans support policies that would require documented proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in U.S. elections, according to a Gallup poll conducted just two weeks before the 2024 presidential election. But a well-funded campaign by leftist "voter rights" groups is lobbying hard to mute the voices of the 83 percent. The Election Assistance Commission’s comment period on a petition asking the agency to require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote is in its final hours. Comments are due by the end of Monday. Visit the federal rulemaking portal here to comment. In July, America First Legal Foundation submitted a petition asking the EAC to amend the federal voter registration form to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. The National Voter Registration Act requires states to "accept and use the mail voter registration form prescribed... for the registration of voters in elections for Federal office." The commission is empowered to "require... information... necessary to enable the appropriate State election official to assess the eligibility of the applicant and to administer voter registration and other parts of the election process." But leftist organizations like the League of Women Voters are rallying their troops to oppose the requested changes. Sources tracking comments in recent weeks tell The Federalist that liberal groups have ginned up a flood of comments opposed to the petition, some coming from dozens of foreign countries.

FOX News [10/21/2025 3:05 AM, Christina Shaw, 40621K] reports a Texas election review has identified thousands of illegal immigrants on the state’s voter rolls, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said Monday. Nelson said a crosscheck of state voter records found that more than 2,700 possible illegal immigrants were registered on the voter rolls, leading to an eligibility review across the 254 counties. The data came from a full comparison of Texas’s 18 million registered voters against federal citizenship records in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database, according to the Secretary of State’s office. "Only eligible United States citizens may participate in our elections," Nelson said. "The Trump Administration’s decision to give states free and direct access to this data set for the first time has been a game changer, and we appreciate the partnership with the federal government to verify the citizenship of those on our voter rolls and maintain accurate voter lists.” The investigation showed after running the SAVE crosscheck, that state officials could identify 2,724 potential noncitizens whose voter files have been sent to local counties to be further investigated. This process falls under Chapter 16 of the Texas Election Code, which requires counties to verify each voter’s eligibility and remove confirmed noncitizens from the rolls. Nelson said the review is part of an effort to maintain an accurate voter list and to safeguard election integrity ahead of the 2026 election cycle. "Everyone’s right to vote is sacred and must be protected," Nelson said. "We encourage counties to conduct rigorous investigations to determine if any voter is ineligible – just as they do with any other data set we provide.” Each flagged voter will receive a notice from their county registrar giving them 30 days to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. If a voter does not respond, their registration will be canceled, though it can be reinstated immediately once proof of citizenship is provided. Nelson’s statement said confirmed noncitizens who voted in previous Texas elections will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office for further review and potential prosecution. The announcement comes amid growing national scrutiny of voter rolls as several states – including Georgia, Arizona, and Florida – have conducted similar audits of voter eligibility. Republican Governor Greg Abbott said that since Senate Bill 1 was signed into law, Texas has removed more than one million ineligible or outdated registrations from the state’s voter rolls, calling the effort essential to safeguard Texans’ right to vote. "These reforms have led to the removal of over one million ineligible people from our voter rolls in the last three years, including noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who moved to another state," Abbott said. "The Secretary of State and county voter registrars have an ongoing legal requirement to review the voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, and refer any potential illegal voting to the Attorney General’s Office and local authorities for investigation and prosecution. Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated. We will continue to actively safeguard Texans’ sacred right to vote while also aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Univision [10/20/2025 4:44 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports Yariel Pérez is a Cuban with an I-220A who entered through the southern border in 2022. He has been granted asylum in court and is one of the driving forces behind an initiative that collected more than 50,000 signatures in just a few days in support of migrants seeking legal status in the United States. The idea is to get the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU ) to file a class-action lawsuit to help those who entered with I-220A change their legal status and obtain residency. The proponents of the petition drive assert that if the ACLU were to take up this case, it would be an important class-action lawsuit that would benefit more than just Cubans. The letter will be sent next week. It is estimated that there are currently more than 300,000 Cubans in the United States with the I-220A.

Free Beacon [10/20/2025 5:00 AM, Jessica Costescu, 411K] reports cartels have severely pumped the brakes on trafficking fentanyl into the United States, and experts say that’s thanks to the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown. Fentanyl seizures year-over-year at the southern border have been cut roughly in half almost every month since President Donald Trump took office, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. In June, it was only a 42 percent decrease, but there was a 70 percent drop in May. According to experts, the plunge isn’t because authorities are catching less fentanyl—it’s because cartels simply aren’t trafficking as much. They said a suite of interconnected Trump policies that enhanced border security and increased targeting of cartels by U.S. and Mexican agencies—under pressure from Trump—have forced the criminal organizations to scale back operations. "The statistics are a true reflection of the amount of drugs that are coming here," Center for Immigration Studies resident fellow in law and policy Andrew Arthur told the Washington Free Beacon. "Consequently, the quantity of drugs is dropping because the Trump administration has made it a priority. It has made the Mexican government make it a priority." "The cartels are deliberately tapering off on the amount of fentanyl they’re sending to the United States," he added. "The cartels are scared." The findings underscore a stark contrast with how former president Joe Biden handled border issues. The Biden administration’s permissive approach led to a crisis resulting in more than 8 million encounters at the southern border. According to Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, the Biden administration seized enough fentanyl to kill 14 billion people—but that only counts what was caught. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin credited the Trump administration’s multi-pronged strategy for the reduction in fentanyl trafficking. "President Trump has taken the gloves off in the war against the evil cartels and criminal terrorist gangs who smuggle deadly narcotics like fentanyl into our country. Under his and Secretary Noem’s leadership, we are taking the fight directly to drug smugglers everywhere they are found: whether that is at the border, within the United States, or even beyond," McLaughlin told the Free Beacon in a statement. She noted that the administration has "surged resources" across the border "to dramatically expand our capacity to crack down on this deadly trade."

Washington Examiner [10/20/2025 8:00 AM, Mia Cathell, 1394K] reports when news broke about a transgender-anti-fascist death cult, dubbed “trantifa,” carrying out a cross-country killing spree, the story sounded too sensational to be true, fabricated fodder for the political Right. But the so-called Zizians are, in fact, a very real, violent crime cell comprised of revolutionary-left activists allegedly responsible for a string of slayings across several U.S. states, including the fatal shooting of a Border Patrol officer in Vermont, the stabbing death of a landlord in California, and the double murder of an elderly couple in Pennsylvania. The cohort’s unconscionable crimes have gone vastly underreported in the press, despite four Zizian-connected criminal cases gradually progressing through various courts toward trial. Of the legacy media outlets that did publish pieces on the murderous rampage, they took a rather sympathetic approach to their coverage, with Wired saying the Zizians are a ragtag team of gender-defying "idealists" initially "set out to save the world" and New York Times decidedly honoring their preferred pronouns. Are the Zizians simply a band of misunderstood misfits with homicidal tendencies? Is their fringe thinking truly to blame for the trail of bodies? The media entertains these questions, in an effort to intellectualize the ideologies underpinning the cult’s bloodlust. Stripped bare of the academic arguments, their beliefs are bestial and saturated in far-left philosophy.

CNN [10/21/2025 4:01 AM, Andy Rose, Bill Kirkos, and Andi Babineau, 18595K] reports Thursday was supposed to be a day of no surprises for Marimar Martinez, the woman who was shot after allegedly ramming the car of a Border Patrol agent she had been following. She was headed to a routine court hearing. But earlier that day, defense attorney Christopher Parente learned a piece of evidence that may be critical to the case was no longer in Chicago. “I was informed about two hours before the hearing that the agent’s vehicle was gone,” Parente told CNN. “Gone,” as it turned out, was more than 1,000 miles away. Department of Justice attorney Aaron Bond said in court the agent was told he could take it back to his home in Maine. Parente said he was concerned moving the vehicle so far away could leave it open to being altered, and his concern seemed justified in another hearing four days later. A government attorney said some repairs may have been “processed or at least approved,” but couldn’t say whether any work had actually been done. US District Judge Georgia Alexakis was “troubled by what I’m hearing in terms of the repair work in particular,” the Biden appointee said Monday. While the government has accounted for the missing SUV, Parente says there are more questions to answer when it comes to the where, the how and the why of the SUV’s long journey.

Houston Chronicle [10/20/2025 7:00 AM, Eric Dexheimer, 2983K] reports when a Dimmit County sheriff’s deputy attempted to pull over a heavy-duty pick-up truck he suspected of smuggling migrants across the nearby border, the driver bolted instead. The February 2024 chase outside of Carrizo Springs sped north along a small county road lined by ranches. When a tire-deflation strip placed by officers punctured the truck’s tires, the driver swung hard to the right. The truck crashed through a ranch gate, yanking 250 feet of 8-foot-high game fence away before escaping. Cost to repair and replace the fence and gate: $19,333. Four months later, in June 2024, a pick-up truck "hotly pursued" by U.S. Border Patrol agents and Texas Department of Public Safety officers peeled off a rural road in La Salle County, outside of Artesia Wells. After blasting through the ranch’s game fence, the truck punched through a set of double gates, sending them flying 15 feet, then backed up into another fence, taking out 40 feet.

NBC News [10/20/2025 9:12 AM, Rebecca Cohen, 34509K] reports the Federal Aviation Administration said late Sunday that air traffic control staffing issues were delaying travel at airports in Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta and Newark as a U.S. government shutdown hit its 19th day. By Monday morning, staffing issues at most of those airports seemed to have been resolved. A staffing trigger was in place in Philadelphia, which also affects traffic going into Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. It wasn’t immediately clear whether this staffing trigger affected flight times. As of early Monday, 846 flights within the United States had been delayed, according to FlightAware, but airports in Philadelphia and Newark did not top the list of delays. The FAA said Sunday night that numerous staffing triggers had been received for the evening shift, and flights could also be delayed in Las Vegas and Phoenix because of air traffic control absences. Neither airport had a staffing trigger listed Monday morning. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday morning appeared to address the issue on "Fox and Friends," noting that because of the government shutdown, air traffic controllers will not be paid, so a lot of them are seeking other work to "keep their families afloat." "I hope we don’t see more disruptions. But as this gets closer to payday, I think you could see more of that through the airspace," Duffy acknowledged. FlightAware said more than 7,600 flights had been delayed Sunday. Weather issues and a Formula 1 race in Austin, Texas, were also affecting flights. More than 20% of American Airlines and Southwest Airlines flights were delayed Sunday, according to FlightAware. USA Today [10/20/2025 11:53 AM, Zach Wichter, 67103K] reports that according to Cirium, an aviation data analytics company, more than 82% of flights departed on time in the U.S. in the first 17 days of the shutdown. Cirium’s press release said that is average to above-average performance for the national airspace. "I do not see any degradation in performance at the major airports below," Mike Arnot, a spokesperson for the company, said in the statement. "Any operational degradation is likely due to the recent Northeast weather; nothing that we would normally flag for reporters.” He added that flight cancellations also remain very low. Still, the FAA said numerous staffing triggers had been received for the evening shift on Sunday, and flights could also be delayed in Las Vegas and Phoenix because of air traffic control absences. FlightAware said more than 5,800 flights had been delayed on Sunday. Weather issues and a Formula 1 race in Austin were also impacting flights. More than 20% of American Airlines and Southwest Airlines flights were delayed on Sunday, according to FlightAware. Some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must work during the government shutdown, but are not being paid. The Washington Examiner [10/20/2025 5:50 PM, Samantha-Jo Roth, 1394K] reports that more than 23,000 flights were delayed earlier this month, with staffing problems responsible for over half of them, a sharp increase from the usual 5%, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. "As Secretary Duffy has said, there have been increase staffing shortages across the system. When that happens, the FAA slows traffic into some airports to ensure safe operations," an FAA spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. The shutdown battle has put air traffic control at the center of the political crossfire, with each party faulting the other while unions and airlines press for a quick end to the shutdown. Around 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees are reporting for duty without pay during the shutdown. Those controllers are expected to forgo their next scheduled paycheck on Oct. 28. The FAA is operating with roughly 3,500 fewer air traffic controllers than its staffing goal, and many employees were already working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks before the shutdown began. The Department of Transportation has kept air traffic control training programs running during the shutdown, a first in the agency’s history, but funding for those programs expires Oct. 31. Without an extension, hundreds of trainees could be sidelined, worsening an already critical staffing shortage.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [10/20/2025 10:19 AM, Lee Ann Anderson, 12595K]

CNN [10/20/2025 6:18 PM, Michelle Watson, 18595K] reports authorities arrested a man inside Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday after his family alerted police that he was armed and headed to the airport to “shoot it up.” The man, Billy Joe Cagle, was not armed when he was arrested but police found an “AR-15 assault rifle” in his vehicle parked outside, authorities said. He is facing charges of terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assaults, possession of firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by convicted felon, according to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, who called it a “tragedy averted.” The FBI said it is assisting in the investigation. Cagle’s family had alerted Cartersville police he was armed and he had said in a livestream on social media he was on his way to the airport, Schierbaum said. Cartersville police then notified the Atlanta Police Department. But what authorities did not know, according to Schierbaum, is Cagle was already at the airport, having arrived shortly before 9:30 a.m. at its south terminal. “He seemed to be very interested in the TSA check-in area, which you can see was heavily, heavily crowded,” the chief said, referring to surveillance camera images. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X she’s “thankful this individual was taken into custody by law enforcement before harming anyone.” CBS News [10/20/2025 4:57 PM, Dan Raby, 39474K] reports that the suspect, identified as 49-year-old Billy Joe Cagle, appeared at the airport shortly after 9 a.m. That morning, the Cartersville Police received a call from Cagle’s family reporting that he had said during a livestream that he was headed to the airport to "shoot it up," Atlanta Police Chief Darren Schierbaum said. Officers found Cagle’s Chevrolet truck parked outside the airport at the South Terminal. In the backseat, they discovered a Springfield AR-15 assault rifle and 27 rounds of ammunition, Schierbaum said. After receiving the alert with Cagle’s photo and description, two officers found him walking inside the South Terminal. Schierbaum said investigators believe he was scouting the area before he planned to return to his truck and collect his weapon. In body camera footage, Cagle told the officers that he had been dropped off at the airport and "was just here." Cagle is charged with terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a felon. FOX News [10/20/2025 5:02 PM, Greg Wehner, 40621K] reports that officers do not believe he was armed, Schierbaum said, adding that video showed him walking toward a crowded TSA checkpoint. During a safety sweep of the airport’s outer perimeter, officers found Cagle’s pickup. Inside, they allegedly discovered an AR-15 loaded with 27 rounds in the back seat. The weapon was cleared, and the scene declared safe. The chief said investigators will also seek to determine Cagle’s motive in the apparent averted mass shooting.

Reported similarly:
NBC News [10/20/2025 5:51 PM, Tim Stelloh and Tangni Noriega, 34509K]
FOX News [10/20/2025 4:27 PM, Staff, 40621K] Video: HERE

CBS News [10/20/2025 11:41 AM, Dan Raby, 39474K] reports the Atlanta airport is warning travelers to be ready for delays going through security due to a shortage of Transportation Security Administration officers. Airport officials took to X to say longer-than-usual wait times may pop up at security checkpoints on Monday. According to the airport’s website, current wait times ranged from eight minutes at the North checkpoint to 11 minutes at the main international checkpoint. However, videos posted on social media showed lines stretched through the concourse early Monday morning. Traveler Cordarro Patrick said that he made it on his flight to Texas with two minutes to spare after waiting in the security line for two hours. "We encourage travelers to allow extra time for screening and appreciate their patience as we work with our partners to maintain safe and efficient operations," airport officials said in a statement. TSA shortages intensify as government shutdown continues.

Bloomberg Law [10/20/2025 5:22 PM, Alexis Waiss, 803K] reports the US Homeland Security Department unlawfully implemented compliance with anti-DEI requirements as part of its terms and conditions for local governments to receive emergency relief funding, a new lawsuit from several cities claims. The new conditions “compel grantees to abandon policies and programs that encourage diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility despite clear statutory and decisional law that many such programs are lawful,” Chicago, Boston, New York, Denver, and five other localities say in a Monday complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The suit is another effort by state and local officials to respond to the Trump administration tying the receipt of federal funds with compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders and policies. The department’s DEI requirements apply to multiple Federal Emergency Management Agency grant programs supporting the cities’ ability to mitigate and prevent natural disasters, terrorist attacks, mass shootings, and other complex emergencies, the Monday complaint says. The cities allege DHS and FEMA are violating separation of powers principles, taking action not authorized by Congress, and violating Congress’ authority over federal spending—all in violation of the US Constitution. The cities also allege violations of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Washington Post [10/21/2025 5:01 AM, Brady Dennis, Brianna Sacks, and Kevin Crowe, 32099K] reports Lynn Austin keeps running the numbers, and they don’t look good. Since Hurricane Helene devastated her community in western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, the county government has spent nearly $50 million on cleanup and recovery — while getting reimbursed only $4 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. On debris removal alone, Yancey County has racked up about $37 million in bills, with a lot more work still to do. The county’s budget for the entire fiscal year: also $37 million. It’s “a little tight,” Austin, the county manager, half-joked. More than a year after Helene, Yancey and other storm-battered counties across this region are still waiting for the federal government to make good on its promises to pay back millions upon millions of dollars that local officials have spent or allocated for recovery. The process has been agonizingly slow and unusually complicated, Austin and officials from other counties say. That delay has upended local budgets and hindered reconstruction. And while comparisons can be tricky, North Carolina officials don’t know how to reconcile that their state has received less than some of its neighbors in certain types of FEMA aid after Helene, even though the storm wrecked hundreds of roads and bridges in the Tar Heel State, crippled water systems and damaged or destroyed more than 73,000 homes. “The biggest issue right now is the fact we need more money,” said Matt Calabria, the head of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina. Recovering from a major disaster takes years at best, and navigating FEMA’s bureaucracy has always been arduous, but the Trump administration has instituted new layers of red tape that have made it even harder for communities, especially ones with small staffs and budgets, to recoup the unprecedented sums they have had to spend since Helene.

Washington Post [10/20/2025 5:34 PM, Jonathan Edwards and Dan Diamond, 24149K] reports that Demolition crews on Monday began tearing down part of the White House to build President Donald Trump’s long-desired ballroom despite his pledge that construction of the $250 million addition wouldn’t “interfere” with the existing building. Construction teams were demolishing a portion of the East Wing, with a backhoe ripping through the structure, according to a photo shared with The Washington Post and two people who witnessed the activity and spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it. A cluster of people, including members of the Secret Service, stood on the steps of the Treasury Department to watch the construction unfold, said one of the people. Sounds of construction were also audible on the White House campus, although the project was not easily visible to the public given fencing on the grounds. Trump acknowledged the project in remarks Monday afternoon in the White House’s East Room, gesturing to the wall behind him. “Right on the other side, you have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically,” the president said at an event honoring the Louisiana State University and Louisiana State University at Shreveport baseball teams. He subsequently posted on his Truth Social platform that the “much-needed project” had begun. “For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc.,” the president wrote. Trump has said the ballroom will seat up to 650 people, more than triple the capacity of the East Room.

Daily Caller [10/20/2025 10:03 AM, Harold Hutchison, 835K] reports FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Monday that FBI Director Kash Patel ordered an "immediate response" following Sunday’s discovery of a hunting stand near Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport. The hunting stand, which had a direct line of sight to Air Force One, was discovered Sunday before President Donald Trump’s arrival for a return flight to Washington, D.C., following a weekend at Mar-a-Lago. Bongino told "Fox and Friends" co-hosts Ainsley Earhardt, Lawrence Jones and Brian Kilmeade that the stand was found during a security sweep due to modifications made after recent assassinations and assassination attempts. "The Secret Service has had to make a lot of modifications, Lawrence, given that this tool was obviously used or attempted to use multiple times," Bongino said after Jones expressed concerns about snipers. "They’ve expanded their security perimeter."

FOX News [10/20/2025 11:30 AM, Taylor Penley, 40621K] Video: HERE reports the FBI is using all "forensic tools" at its disposal to probe a recently discovered hunting stand overlooking President Donald Trump’s Air Force One exit area at the Palm Beach International Airport, Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Monday. "[Secret Service was] very concerned," Bongino said, telling "Fox & Friends" the agency discovered the hunting stand during a security sweep. FBI Director Kash Patel ordered an "immediate response" once informed of the situation. "I believe we had our plane flown down there. This hunting stand was appropriately dismantled. It’s being flown to our lab," Bongino continued. "I believe it’s there right now, and all the forensic tools we have, from digital tools to biometric tools, are all going to be applied to try to find out who put this up there and why." Agents found the stand last Thursday, prior to Trump’s return to West Palm Beach. Patel previously told Fox News Digital that no individuals were located at the scene. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [10/20/2025 11:06 AM, Lauren Chadwick and Holmes Lybrand, 18595K] reports the US Secret Service found a "suspicious" hunting stand within sight of the Air Force One landing zone ahead of the president’s arrival in Florida over the weekend, FBI Director Kash Patel said, adding no one was at the stand. "Prior to the President’s return to West Palm Beach, USSS discovered what appeared to be an elevated hunting stand within sight line of the Air Force One landing zone," the FBI director told Fox News Digital, later confirming on social media that "the FBI is investigating" what Patel called a "suspicious stand" near the zone. One senior law enforcement official told CNN the hunting stand was found across from the airport. Based on the condition of the stand, the source said, it had been there for some time. Hunters regularly set up and leave stands like the one found by law enforcement to use again. These stands are often used by bow hunters – especially in dense, wooded areas – and can be used by individuals hunting with firearms as well. There is nothing to currently indicate the stand was built to target the president, the source said. The US Secret Service confirmed that teams identified "items of interest" near Palm Beach International Airport during advance security preparations ahead of President Donald Trump’s arrival. Breitbart [10/20/2025 12:11 PM, Staff, 2416K] reports that the FBI is leading the investigation into a tree stand found in an area where President Donald Trump’s government plane was parked, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement to NBC News. The Palm Beach airport is the closest major airport — less than 5 miles — to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. He traveled there for the weekend. "The U.S. Secret Service is working closely with the FBI and our law enforcement partners in Palm Beach County. During advance security preparations prior to the Palm Beach arrival, which included the use of technology and comprehensive physical sweeps, our teams identified items of interest near Palm Beach International Airport," the statement said. "There was no impact to any movements, and no individuals were present or involved at the location.” Agents haven’t connected the stand to any one person, FBI Director Kash Patel.

NewsNation [10/20/2025 12:49 PM, Ed Gallek and Peggy Gallek, 8017K] reports that a teen girl charged in Cuyahoga County juvenile court with a count of disorderly conduct after she allegedly posted a short video online that some viewed as a potential threat to President Donald Trump. Police told the I-Team the juvenile posted a short video online, with a hip-hop song about President Trump playing in the background. Across the screen was the caption, "dt you next." Police say the post was deleted a short time after it was made. The post was made the day conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered. Rocky River police released body camera video of an officer speaking to the teen’s mother about the post. "So obviously it would be considered a general threat on the president," the officer told the girl’s mother. "It is what it is. Especially with what happened today, it is what it is.". The teen’s mother told police she had not seen the video. She said she had seen another post. "She put Charlie Kirk had been shot and then above it, she wrote, ‘making progress,’" the mother said. "That’s what I saw.". Rocky River investigated the matter and called the Secret Service. The mother said her daughter is a "very good kid." She said her daughter has very strong views. Cuyahoga County prosecutors said the teen had no prior record and her case has been sent to a diversion program. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

ABC News [10/20/2025 12:00 PM, Luke Barr, 30493K] reports the United States Coast Guard is deploying more resources to the U.S. southern border on the Rio Grande River, according to the agency. The surge operation, known as "Operation River Wall," will add more boats on a 260-mile stretch of the river in southeastern Texas that makes up part of the U.S.-Mexico border to ensure operational control of the border, according to USCG. "U.S. Coast Guard is the best in the world at tactical boat operations and maritime interdiction at sea, along our coasts, and in riverine environments," said Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard. "Through Operation River Wall, the Coast Guard is controlling the U.S. southern border along the Rio Grande River in eastern Texas." The move, according to the Coast Guard, also puts more tactical teams and other resources in the area to combat any drug smuggling that occurs. Univision [10/20/2025 7:22 PM, Staff, 5004K] reports that as part of this operation, "the Coast Guard is deploying additional response vessels, shallow-draft vessels, command and control assets, and tactical teams" to support the objectives of national security authorities, according to a USCG statement. The mobilization area covers approximately 260 miles and includes Cameron and Hidalgo counties, up to the mouth of the river, the statement said. The operation comes at a time when border crossings have fallen to their lowest levels in recent history. In July 2025, approximately 4,600 illegal crossings were detected, representing a 91.8% drop compared to July 2024. The USCG coordinates the operation alongside the Border Patrol and Northern Command under the supervision of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), reinforcing the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering through the southern border. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [10/20/2025 3:22 PM, Jim Mishler, 4109K] r

FOX Weather [10/20/2025 12:39 PM, Steven Yablonski, 3739K] reports that officials in Oregon said a person was killed Sunday afternoon after they became trapped in a strong current and was pulled out to sea. According to information provided by North Lincoln Fire Rescue, crews responded to reports of a person needing to be rescued from the water near the mouth of Siletz Bay in Lincoln City around 3:40 p.m. local time. Officials said crews arrived at the scene within minutes, and two jet skis were launched to begin searching for the missing person. The U.S. Coast Guard also responded, using two lifeboats and a helicopter to aid in the mission. The Lincoln City Police Department also supported search efforts from the beach, deploying a drone to help look for the unidentified victim. Officials said that, despite extensive and rapid search efforts by all responding agencies, the person was located and declared dead at the scene. North Lincoln Fire Rescue offered its condolences to the family and loved ones affected by the incident and urged everyone to use extreme caution around the ocean. They said that sneaker waves can "strike without warning" and could knock people off their feet and drag them into the cold waters of the Pacific. "Never turn your back on the ocean," officials said. "If the sand is wet, that means water has already reached that point. And if someone is swept out, do not go in after them. Call 911 immediately and keep eyes on them from shore."

The AP [10/20/2025 4:25 PM, Kelvin Chan, 31753K] reports a problem with Amazon’s cloud computing service disrupted internet use around the world Monday, taking down a broad range of online services, including social media, gaming, food delivery, streaming and financial platforms. The disruption and the ensuing exasperation it caused served as the latest reminder that 21st century society is increasingly dependent on just a handful of companies for much of its internet technology, which seems to work reliably until it suddenly breaks down. About three hours after the outage began, Amazon Web Services said it was starting to recover, although problems lingered for some users. AWS provides behind-the-scenes cloud computing infrastructure to some of the world’s biggest organizations. Its customers include government departments, universities and businesses, including The Associated Press. Cybersecurity expert Mike Chapple said “a slow and bumpy recovery process” is “entirely normal.” As engineers roll out fixes across the cloud computing infrastructure, the process could trigger smaller disruptions, he said. “It’s similar to what happens after a large-scale power outage: While a city’s power is coming back online, neighborhoods may see intermittent glitches as crews finish the repairs,” said Chapple, an information technology professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. Breitbart [10/20/2025 8:39 AM, Lucas Nolan, 2416K] reports that the issue, which began shortly after midnight Pacific Daylight Time in AWS’ primary US-East-1 region, was attributed to Domain Name System (DNS) problems with DynamoDB, a critical database service that underpins many other AWS applications. The outage affected a wide range of well-known companies and services, including Amazon, Disney+, Lyft, the McDonald’s app, New York Times, Reddit, Ring, Robinhood, Snapchat, T-Mobile, United Airlines, Venmo, and Verizon. Government websites in the United Kingdom, such as Gov.uk and HM Revenue and Customs, also experienced issues, as reported by the website Downdetector. Lloyds Banking Group confirmed that some of its services were affected by the outage, while social media users reported disruptions to popular cloud-based games like Roblox and Fortnite. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase stated that many of its users were unable to access the service due to the AWS outage. Graphic design tool Canva and generative AI search tool Perplexity also reported functionality issues related to the underlying cloud provider. AWS cited an "operational issue" affecting "multiple services" and worked on "multiple parallel paths to accelerate recovery." By 6:35 a.m. ET, the company announced that the issue had been "fully mitigated," with most AWS service operations returning to normal. However, some requests continued to be throttled as the company worked towards a full resolution. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the world’s dependence on a small number of major cloud service providers, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. When a significant outage occurs, it can have far-reaching consequences, impacting businesses and consumers alike.

Reported similarly:
CBS News [10/20/2025 2:47 PM, Staff, 39474K]

Reuters [10/20/2025 7:59 PM, Greg Bensinger, Shubham Kalia and Deborah Mary Sophia, 2494K] reports Amazon.com said on Monday that a cloud computing unit at its data center in northern Virginia had largely contained fallout from a widespread internet outage that caused global turmoil among thousands of sites, including some of the web’s most popular apps like Snapchat and Reddit. Amazon said it had addressed the underlying issue and was close to a resolution, but some users were still complaining of lingering difficulties using services such as digital wallet Venmo and video calling site Zoom. The disruption knocked workers from London to Tokyo offline and halted others from conducting normal everyday tasks like paying hairdressers or changing their airline tickets. It was the largest internet disruption since last year’s CrowdStrike malfunction hobbled technology systems in hospitals, banks and airports, highlighting the vulnerability of the world’s interconnected technologies. It was at least the third time in five years that AWS’s northern Virginia cluster, known as US-EAST-1, contributed to a major internet meltdown. Amazon did not address a request for more clarity about why that particular data center keeps being impacted, instead pointing to an online statement that said the matter had been "fully mitigated." The problems stemmed from what is known as the Domain Name System, or DNS, which prevented applications from finding the correct address for AWS’s DynamoDB API, a cloud database relied upon to store user information and other critical data. After hours of disruptions, many applications were gradually coming back online in the afternoon in the U.S. But AWS acknowledged that elevated errors were still affecting several services. There were "tons of broken internal services still now as individual resolution and repair occurring," read language from an internal problem ticket describing the outage and reviewed by Reuters. Lambda, one of AWS’s computing services, was experiencing errors due to issues with an internal subsystem, AWS had said earlier. "We are taking steps to recover this internal Lambda system," it said.

Government Executive [10/20/2025 5:28 PM, Edward Graham and David DiMolfetta, 652K] reports a group of House Democrats is asking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to explain why the Department of Homeland Security reassigned many of its cybersecurity staff to roles focused on Trump-era immigration and deportation work, as well as how those shifts impact U.S. cyberdefenses. The Monday letter — led by Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., and also signed by Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., Eugene Vindman, D-Va., and Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, along with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C. — argues that DHS violated the Antideficiency Act when it reassigned those Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency staff to roles within Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Protective Service and Customs and Border Protection. The Antideficiency Act prohibits agencies from spending or obligating funding without congressional approval during a government shutdown. Amid the ongoing lapse in federal funding, the moves “raise serious concerns” about the Trump administration’s motives, the lawmakers say in the missive, which was first viewed by Nextgov/FCW. “It is difficult to understand how defending the nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure could be viewed as inconsistent with the president’s stated goal of protecting the homeland,” the letter says. It also argues recent termination notices issued to staff in CISA’s Stakeholder Engagement and Infrastructure Divisions are “the very teams responsible for coordinating with public and private partners to identify, mitigate and prevent cyberattacks.” The lawmakers urge Noem “to immediately reclassify DHS personnel transferred away from CISA back into cyber defense roles.”

Homeland Preparedness News [10/20/2025 7:40 AM, Melina Druga] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently issued an emergency directive after identifying a significant cyber threat targeting federal networks utilizing certain F5 devices and software. F5 disclosed that a nation-state threat actor had long-term persistent access to, and exfiltrated files from, the company’s BIG-IP development environment and engineering knowledge management platforms. The cyber threat actor exploited vulnerabilities in F5’s products to gain unauthorized access to embedded credentials and Application Programming Interface keys. Under the directive, all agencies must apply the latest vendor-provided update for at-risk F5 virtual and physical devices and downloaded software. “Despite the government shutdown and the lapse of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, CISA remains steadfast in its commitment to protect our federal networks from nation-state adversaries,” CISA Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala said. “The alarming ease with which these vulnerabilities can be exploited by malicious actors demands immediate and decisive action from all federal agencies. These same risks extend to any organization using this technology, potentially leading to a catastrophic compromise of critical information systems. We emphatically urge all entities to implement the actions outlined in this emergency directive without delay.”

CyberScoop [10/20/2025 9:20 AM, Cynthia Brumfield] reports on April 16, less than a month after nonprofit R&D organization MITRE celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Common Vulnerability and Exposures (CVE) effort, the program narrowly escaped a sudden demise when a last-minute, 11-month contract extension averted a shutdown. That near-miss put vulnerability experts and cybersecurity defenders on edge, most of whom still fear that this essential mechanism for detecting, tracking, and remediating software vulnerabilities could suddenly disappear overnight. Now, “we’re still in the fragmented, visionary-picking-up-the-pieces phase here after the bomb was dropped in April, and this was the second year in a row, given that there was a bit of a funding crisis on the NVD” in 2024, Brian Fox, co-founder and CTO of Sonatype, told CyberScoop. In early 2024, funding for a national vulnerability database, or NVD, maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), dried up, and the organization stopped providing critical metadata for many vulnerabilities that organizations need to fix, an information shortage that has yet to be fully rectified. At stake is the future reliability and trustworthiness of a system that serves as the backbone for global software security. The CVE program is not just a technical database; it is the world’s linchpin for coordinating how vulnerabilities are tracked, disclosed, and ultimately patched. Any disruption or uncertainty in the CVE program risks slowing down information sharing among defenders, undermining incident response, and granting attackers the upper hand. Control over the program therefore carries enormous influence — whichever organization is responsible will help set priorities, shape disclosure policies, and determine whether the system remains open, neutral, and effective, or slides into fragmentation, delay and confusion that could put crucial technology at risk.

Bloomberg [10/20/2025 4:06 PM, Erik Larson, 18207K] reports small businesses challenging many of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs urged the US Supreme Court to affirm lower court rulings that the import levies amount to a massive illegal tax on American companies. Trump usurped the power of Congress to tax when he issued levies in February and April under an emergency law that was never intended to be used to impose duties, one of the companies, Learning Resources Inc., said in a brief Monday. The justices are set to hear arguments Nov. 5 in the high-stakes case. “In the months since, he has raised and lowered, paused and resumed, and threatened and unthreatened tariffs at will, for a grab bag of reasons,” Learning Resources said. “By the government’s own account, those actions amount to an over $3 trillion tax increase on Americans over the next decade.” The justices are set to determine if Trump legally issued the tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that gives the president a panoply of financial tools to address national security, foreign policy and economic emergencies. The US trade court ruled against Trump in a decision that was upheld by a federal appeals court. Trump says his tariffs are authorized legally under the law, known as IEEPA, because a key provision of the statute says the president can “regulate” the “importation” of property to address an emergency. The justices on Sept. 9 agreed to hear the case on an unusually aggressive schedule that suggests the court will try to resolve the case quickly. The tariffs remain in place for now, even though the federal appeals court ruled that the president exceeded his authority by imposing them. The challenged taxes include Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs, which impose levies of 10%-50% on most US imports depending on the country they come from. Trump justified the levies under IEEPA by declaring US trade deficits to be a national emergency. The appeal also covers tariffs Trump imposed on Canada, Mexico and China for allegedly failing to stem the flow of migrants and fentanyl trafficking. Trump said the situation at the borders also constituted a national emergency under IEEPA.

AP [10/20/2025 5:57 PM, Matthew Daly, 19051K] reports that the federal agency tasked with overseeing the U.S. nuclear stockpile has begun furloughing employees as part of the ongoing federal government shutdown, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday. In a visit to Nevada, Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing 1,400 federal workers as part of the shutdown, which began Oct. 1. Nearly 400 federal workers will remain on the job, along with thousands of NNSA contractors, the Energy Department said. The NNSA, a semi-autonomous branch of the Energy Department, also works to secure nuclear materials around the world. “Tough day today,″ Wright said in Las Vegas before a scheduled visit to the Nevada National Security Site in Mercury, Nevada. “We’re working hard to protect everyone’s jobs and keep our national stockpile secure,” Wright said. The furloughs do not pose an immediate threat to national security, Wright said, adding: “We have emergency employees and the current nuclear stockpile is safe.” President Donald Trump’s Republican administration fired hundreds of NNSA employees earlier this year, before reversing course amid criticism the action could jeopardize national security. Similar criticism emerged Monday after Wright’s announcement. Wright said the disruption would affect employees and their families and will delay testing of commercial reactors, including some small modular reactors that the Trump administration has pushed as a cheaper alternative to costly nuclear plants that can take years or even decades to bring online.

FOX News [10/20/2025 6:00 AM, Diana Stancy Fox, 40621K] Video: HERE reports President Donald Trump said he believes Venezuela is "feeling heat" amid his administration’s war against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, which has taken out at least two vessels in just the past week. Although Trump has said the strikes are intended to curb the influx of drugs into the United States, experts and some lawmakers contend that they serve another purpose: to exert pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro so he’s ousted from power. "The Trump administration is likely attempting to force Maduro to voluntarily leave office through a series of diplomatic moves, and now military action and the threat thereof," Brandan Buck, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, said in an email to Fox News Digital Thursday. "Whether this constitutes a ‘regime change’ or something else is a question of semantics.” The Trump administration repeatedly has said it does not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state, but instead, a leader of a drug cartel. In August, the Trump administration upped the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, labeling him "one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world.” So far, the Trump administration has been tight-lipped when asked about Maduro, and Trump declined to answer Wednesday when asked if the CIA had the authority to "take out" Maduro. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [10/20/2025 11:52 PM, Brady Knox, 1394K] reports Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said President Donald Trump would set the conditions regarding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to "take him down.” Tensions with Venezuela have reached new heights over the past several weeks, with the United States conducting lethal strikes on boats the U.S. says were trafficking drugs from Venezuela in the Caribbean and rhetoric denouncing Maduro reaching a fever pitch. In a Monday appearance on Fox News’s Hannity, one of the most outspoken hawks in Congress hinted at possible regime change. Graham began by questioning the legitimacy of the Maduro government. "Venezuela is a narcoterrorism state run by Maduro, who’s had associations with Iran. He steals from his own people. It is a staging area to bring drugs into this country," Graham said, praising Trump’s unilateral decision to target drug trafficking boats. "We’re going to the next step. We’re just not going to blow up the boat. We’re going after the people who load the boat and the country that provides safe haven to their narcoterrorists who run the drug cartels," he added. "Donald Trump is going to take Maduro down. And everybody’s talked about how bad Maduro is. He’s going down. He’s a narcoterrorist, drug dealer, illegitimate president, and Trump is going to set the conditions that take him down," Graham said. The South Carolina Republican has long called for the overthrow of Maduro, but his rhetoric on Monday appeared to be speaking for Trump. Host Sean Hannity explained that the senator had previously brought up the possibility of installing Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado as president, something he raised with Trump. Trump began publicly taunting Maduro last week, corroborating reports that Maduro had approached the U.S. with several offers to lessen tensions. "He has offered everything. He’s offered everything, you’re right. You know why? Because he doesn’t want to f*** around with the United States," the president said live on television.

CBS News [10/20/2025 10:08 AM, Emmet Lyons, 39474K] reports President Trump reiterated his call on Sunday for an immediate halt to the three-and-a-half-year full-scale war in Ukraine, saying the battle lines should be frozen where they currently stand, with Russia’s invading forces occupying most of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected the idea of forfeiting the Donbas, or any other occupied ground, to Moscow in the years since Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. "Let it be cut the way it is. It’s cut up right now. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia. You leave it the way it is right now," Mr. Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One, apparently referring specifically to the Donbas region. "They can negotiate something later on down the line. But I said cut and stop at the battle line. Go home. Stop fighting, stop killing people.” The Donbas is a culturally and economically significant region, where many people speak Russian and have sympathies with Moscow. It is home to much of Ukraine’s heavy industry and mining, accounting for about 16% of the country’s GDP before the war started, according to The Associated Press. His remarks came two days after Mr. Trump met in person with Zelenskyy at the White House, which was a day after he spoke on the phone for two hours with Putin.

The Hill [10/20/2025 10:31 AM, Max Rego, 12595K] reports that President Trump denied discussing Ukraine surrendering the eastern region to Russia during a closed-door meeting Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following reports of a tense White House encounter in which Trump pushed Moscow’s maximalist demands. "No, we never discussed it. We think that what they should do is just stop at the lines where they are, the battle lines," Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One. Multiple reports earlier Sunday said the president urged Zelensky to cede the Donbas region during a tense meeting Friday at the White House. As of August, Russia occupied roughly 88 percent of the eastern region, according to Reuters. Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly has made full control of the Donbas a key condition to ending the war; it’s a nonstarter for Ukraine, which views withdrawal from its heavily fortified front lines in the east as opening the rest of the country to Russian aggression. Prior to meeting with Zelensky, Trump spoke via phone with Putin on Thursday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump called the conversation with Putin "productive" and said they agreed to meet in Budapest, Hungary. A date for the meeting has not been set. According to the Financial Times, Trump told Zelensky on Friday that "if [Putin] wants it, he will destroy you" and at one point tossed aside Ukraine’s maps of the battlefield, saying, "This red line, I don’t even know where this is. I’ve never been there."

Reuters [10/20/2025 11:11 AM, Guy Faulconbridge, 36480K] reports that Russian lawmakers said on Monday they had drafted a law mandating life imprisonment for anyone involving minors in sabotage and lowering the age threshold for criminal responsibility for such crimes to 14 years old. Since it sent military forces into Ukraine in 2022, Russia has crafted a series of laws which give state security agencies extensive powers to detain those accused of misrepresenting the war or opposing the state. Vasily Piskaryov, chairman of the lower house of parliament’s security committee, said a bill introduced into the lower house of parliament on Monday and backed by 419 out of 450 deputies would increase the security of the state. The bill will "increase the inevitability of punishment for those who try to undermine the foundations of our state," Piskaryov said. "It will more toughly punish those who involve children in terrorism and sabotage, up to life imprisonment," he said, adding that the age threshold would be reduced to 14 years old. Piskaryov said the law was needed because sabotage posed a threat to the Russian state. He accused the secret services of Ukraine and NATO members of stepping up subversive attacks on Russia including by involving minors in sabotage. He gave no specific examples but cited data from prosecutors which said that there were 204 subversive crimes registered in 2024, but 174 in just the first half of 2025 alone. NATO and Ukrainian authorities did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Kyiv has in the past accused Russia of involving Ukrainian minors in attempts to destroy Ukrainian infrastructure during the war.

The AP [10/20/2025 12:53 PM, Josef Federman and Samy Magdy, 31753K] reports Gaza’s fragile ceasefire faced its first major test Sunday as Israeli forces launched a wave of deadly strikes, saying Hamas terrorists had killed two soldiers, and an Israeli security official said the transfer of aid into the territory was halted. The military later said it resumed enforcing the ceasefire, and the official confirmed that aid deliveries would resume Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to discuss the issue with the media. A little over a week has passed since the start of the U.S.-proposed ceasefire aimed at ending two years of war. U.S. President Donald Trump said the ceasefire remained in place and "we want to make sure it’s going to be very peaceful.” He told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that Hamas has been "quite rambunctious" and "they’ve been doing some shooting." He suggested that the violence might be the fault of "rebels" within the organization rather than its leadership. "It’s going to be handled toughly but properly," he said. Trump did not say whether he thought the Israeli strikes were justified, saying "it’s under review." Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that he may visit Israel in the coming days. "We’re trying to figure it out," he told reporters, saying the administration wants to "go and check on how things are going." Regarding the ceasefire, he said that "there’s going to be fits and starts." Breitbart [10/20/2025 8:21 AM, Staff, 2416K] reports that the Israeli military said it struck dozens of targets through Sunday evening in retaliation for Hamas’ alleged "anti-tank missile and gunfire" that killed two soldiers in Rafah. Sources from hospitals in Gaza told the BBC that at least 44 people had been killed. Aid deliveries were suspended. Hamas denied all knowledge of the attack in Rafah and reiterated its commitment to the cease-fire. It accused Israel of violations, warning that the attacks were jeopardizing the truce. Israel Defense Forces announced late Sunday that the operation was over and that it was resuming "enforcement of the cease-fire" and would permit aid to begin to flow again Monday, but warned that any violation of it would be met with a "firm response." This was the worst setback since the deal came into force Oct. 10 came as Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner were due to arrive in Israel on Monday to shore up the cease-fire and move the process forward. They were due to be joined by Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday. The three were expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials. The Hill [10/20/2025 7:01 AM, Jared Gans, 12595K] reports that last week’s exchange of the remaining living hostages being held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel went off smoothly, with both sides meeting the agreed-upon deadlines. Israel also promptly withdrew its soldiers from much of Gaza, and badly needed food, water, medicine and other forms of aid started flowing into the territory. But tensions have only escalated since then. Israel has demanded that Hamas immediately turn over the remaining bodies of deceased hostages still in Gaza. Hamas had warned ahead of last week’s deadline that it would take time to track down all the remaining bodies. Hamas has turned over 12 of the 28 bodies left in the Gaza Strip. Israel has said the Rafah border crossing, which connects Gaza with Egypt and has been closed since May 2024, will remain closed “until further notice,” until all the remains are returned. Hamas has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to keep the border closed a violation of the ceasefire terms. But tensions escalated further on Sunday when Israel launched a series of airstrikes on southern Gaza after it said Hamas militants opened fire on its troops, violating the ceasefire. Israel later said two of its soldiers were killed. The strikes were carried out on what Israel said were dozens of Hamas targets. Palestinian health officials, who don’t distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, said at least 29 Palestinians were killed across Gaza in the strikes.

AP [10/20/2025 5:11 PM, Sam Mednick, Samy Magdy, and Wafaa Shurafa, 31753K] reports two of U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys traveled to Israel on Monday to shore up the ceasefire in Gaza, a day after deadly violence gave the fragile deal its first major test. The truce appeared on track as Israel received the remains of another hostage in Gaza, and Israel allowed aid deliveries to resume to the devastated territory. United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric did not say how much aid was getting in. Israel on Sunday had threatened to halt shipments of humanitarian aid, and its forces killed dozens of Palestinians in strikes across Gaza after accusing Hamas militants of killing two soldiers. Israel later said it resumed enforcing the ceasefire. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about developments in the region. U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the second lady, Usha Vance, are scheduled to visit Tuesday and meet with Netanyahu, the prime minister said in a speech. Netanyahu also warned Hamas that any attacks against Israeli forces would be met with “a very heavy price.” Asked about maintaining the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Trump said the U.S. will give the situation a “little chance” in hopes that there will be less violence. He put the blame on Hamas and said the militant group must behave or face consequences. “They have to be good, and if they’re not good they’ll be eradicated,” he said.

AP [10/20/2025 9:39 AM, Qassim Abdul-Zahra, 852K] reports Iraq ‘s prime minister said Monday that a small contingent of U.S. military advisers will remain in the country for now to coordinate with U.S. forces in neighboring Syria combating the Islamic State group. Washington and Baghdad agreed last year to wind down a U.S.-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq by this September, with U.S. forces departing some bases where they have been stationed. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told journalists in Baghdad that U.S. military advisers and support personnel are now stationed at the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, a base adjacent to the Baghdad airport, and the al-Harir air base in northern Iraq. Al-Sudani noted that the agreement originally stipulated a full pullout of U.S. forces from Ain al-Asad by September, but that “developments in Syria” since then required maintaining a “small unit” of between 250 and 350 advisers and security personnel at the base. He said they would work to support counter-IS surveillance and coordination with the al-Tanf base in Syria. He added that other U.S. sites are witnessing “gradual reductions” in personnel and operations. After the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December, fears arose in Iraq of an IS resurgence taking advantage of the ensuing security vacuum and weapons abandoned by the former Syrian army. Al-Sudani maintained that the extremist group, which seized wide swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria a decade ago, “no longer poses a significant threat inside Iraq.”

CyberScoop [10/20/2025 1:20 PM, Matt Kapko] reports China’s Ministry of State Security accused the National Security Agency of conducting a yearslong attack on China’s national timekeeping infrastructure to steal sensitive data and infiltrate the service for potential sabotage. The NSA gained initial access to China’s National Time Service Center systems in April 2023 by using credentials lifted from employees’ mobile devices that were taken over via an exploited vulnerability a year prior, China’s MSS said Sunday in a translated statement on WeChat. The alleged conflict between foreign intelligence services shows how China and the United States are locked in a fierce battle for any digital advantage or leverage point that benefits their national security and geopolitical interests. “NSA does not confirm nor deny allegations in the media regarding its operations,” the NSA said in a statement via email. “Our core focus is countering foreign malign activities persistently targeting American interests, and we will continue to defend against adversaries wishing to threaten us.” China’s MSS said it “obtained irrefutable evidence” of the attack, adding that it “shattered” the U.S. plot to steal secrets, infiltrate systems and commit sabotage by disrupting the attack chain and implementing additional security measures. The NSA is accused of using 42 tools to conduct a “high-intensity cyberattack against multiple internal National Time Service Center network systems” from August 2023 to June 2024. China also accused the NSA of attempting to infiltrate the service’s ground-based timing system.

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