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.

Breitbart [9/16/2025 8:42 AM, Neil Munro, 2608K] reports President Donald Trump’s deputies are granting Hungarians an easy, visa-free entry into the United States for vacations and business trips. "The United States and Hungary have a strong security partnership, and that commitment is reflected in the actions that Hungary has taken to meet the security standards of the Visa Waiver Program," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She added: “Like President Trump, Prime Minister Orbán is dedicated to keeping his borders secure and vetting who comes into his country. When nations secure their borders, they’re making the entire world a safer place – and they should be rewarded for doing so. Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Noem’s efforts, DHS is reinstituting integrity into our immigration system.” The grant by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem reverses the anti-Hungarian policy set in 2021 by President Joe Biden’s border chief, Ali Mayorkas. Breitbart [9/17/2025 5:13 AM, Staff, 2608K] reports Hungary was admitted to the Visa Waiver Program in November 2008, permitting citizens of the European nation to travel to the United States for up to 90 days, visa free. But the Biden administration twice imposed restrictions on Hungarian passport holders — once in 2021 and then in 2023 — after finding Budapest was not fulfilling its obligations under the Visa Waiver Program, specifically concerning national security. The Biden administration said Budapest had granted Hungarian citizenship to nearly 1 million people between 2011 and 2020 without adequate security measures. In a statement Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Hungary has adopted measures requested by the United States to address security vulnerabilities, resulting in the lifting of the restrictions. The change means Hungarian citizens will have expanded access to travel between the two countries, and will be able to apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization with a two-year validity period, instead of one, starting Sept. 30. CBS News [9/16/2025 12:46 PM, Nicole Sganga, Caitlin Yilek, and Olivia Gazis, 45245K] Video: HERE reports that the Biden administration in 2021 imposed restrictions on Hungarian passport holders born outside of Hungary and reduced the timeframe of authorized travel permitted under the Visa Waiver Program, citing a simplified naturalization policy backed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that extended citizenship to people born abroad who claimed Hungarian ancestry. Officials said at the time that nearly 1 million people were granted citizenship between 2011 and 2020 without adequate vetting. "We believe in the friendship between our nations, grounded in sovereignty, freedom, and mutual respect," Robert Palladino, the U.S. charge d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Budapest, said in a video statement. The Hungarian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [9/16/2025 9:30 AM, Zoltan Simon, 19085K]

CBS News [9/16/2025 12:39 PM, Adam Harrington, Lauren Victory, and Sara Tenenbaum, 45245K] Video: HERE reports U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in the Chicago area Tuesday morning amid increased immigration enforcement operations in the city, multiple sources told CBS News. The Department of Homeland Security launched what it dubbed "Operation Midway Blitz" last week. DHS earlier said the operation aimed to "target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois," a situation it blamed on the city and state’s sanctuary laws that prohibit local and state law enforcement from cooperating with ICE agents. The department said its mission would be carried out to honor Katie Abraham, a Chicago woman killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run crash in Urbana, Illinois, about 130 miles south of Chicago, earlier this year. The driver was an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. Noem left the Chicago area shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday, not long after posting video to X of immigration arrests made at night. The video Noem posted matched video posted to Facebook of an ICE raid in Elgin, Illinois, which is 42 miles northwest of Chicago. NewsMax [9/16/2025 11:51 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4779K] reports "We are indeed well on our way to ridding Chicago of violent illegal aliens," Noem said in a post on X from the city’s Franklin Park, where ICE agents this month shot and killed a Mexican national who had struck an officer while trying to flee a traffic stop. "Many Chicago residents are saying it’s about time," Noem added. The Department of Homeland Security said the effort is aimed at "criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois," blaming the surge on state and city sanctuary laws that restrict local police from cooperating with federal agents.

Reported similarly:
CBS Chicago [9/16/2025 6:32 PM, Sabrina Franza, Lauren Victory and Sara Tenenbaum, 45245K] Video: HERE

FOX News [9/16/2025 4:32 PM, Charles Creitz, Alexis McAdams, Michael Tobin, and Patrick McGovern, 40019K] reports that the Department of Homeland Security ramped up its Chicagoland operations Tuesday, as ICE’s Operation Midway Blitz was met by resources from Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino’s Operation At-Large utilized in Los Angeles in August. "Well, Chicago, we’ve arrived," Bovino said in captioning a video taken from vehicles rolling northbound on the Barack Obama Expressway (I-55) toward the Windy City. "Operation At-Large is here to continue the mission we started in Los Angeles—to make the city safer by targeting and arresting criminal illegal aliens," Bovino wrote. "We are already going hard this morning!!! Many arrests," he told Fox News. The AP [9/16/2025 5:33 PM, Christine Fernando and Sophia Tareen, 37974K] reports the Border Patrol agent who has broken norms leading an immigration crackdown in Los Angeles reached Chicago on Tuesday, potentially signaling a new, more aggressive phase to an enforcement surge announced last week in the nation’s third-largest city. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also in Chicago, saying Department of Homeland Security officers made multiple arrests early Tuesday. She posted videos of armed agents in camouflage military-style gear leading people in handcuffs from a residence. "Our work is only beginning," she said on X. For weeks, President Donald Trump has promised — with threats of apocalyptic force — that Chicago would see a surge in immigration enforcement and National Guard troops over the objections of local leaders and residents. Immigrant rights activists and Illinois lawmakers have noted a recent uptick in immigration enforcement agents as Trump targets Democratic strongholds. However, Trump has seesawed on sending a military deployment to Chicago. After saying he’d focus on other cities, Trump said Tuesday that Chicago would see a deployment soon. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat and frequent Trump critic who has objected to any federal intervention, dismissed the Republican president’s latest statements about Chicago. "It’s hard to believe anything he says," Pritzker told reporters. Brandon Lee, a spokesman for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said the arrests weren’t about keeping the community safe. "Secretary Noem’s Elgin photo-op put the cruelty of ICE on full display, forcibly removing people from their home and disrupting daily life for citizens and noncitizens alike," he said. Johnson and Pritzker have vowed to sue over a federal intervention. Noem said DHS would not back down. CBS Chicago [9/16/2025 5:45 PM, Chris Tye, 45245K] Video: HERE reports the Trump administration has launched a second immigration enforcement operation in the Chicago area, with a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection sweep that began on Tuesday. The dual operations are similar, but each with their own mission and their own personnel, neither of which includes local police agencies or federal troops. Both efforts involve federal agents arresting criminal and non-criminal immigrants in deportation sweeps. The immigration sweeps are both statewide efforts, not merely focused on Chicago and the suburbs. The first, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiative dubbed "Operation Midway Blitz," began earlier this month. The new initiative, dubbed "Operation At Large" was announced Tuesday on social media by Gregory Bovino, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection official who led controversial immigration enforcement raids in southern California this summer. U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) – whose 14th Congressional District includes several western and southwestern suburbs, including Aurora, Joliet, Naperville, and DeKalb – was briefed about "Operation Midway Blitz" on Monday by ICE leaders who shared precisely who they are looking for. "Anyone who has been arrested and booked, charged, or convicted, and then released by local law enforcement and is not a lawfully present U.S. person is eligible for their enforcement operation," she said. "So far they have told me that 250 people have been arrested.” Anyone found in the U.S. illegally – even non-criminals – can be taken in. Newly deputized agents on loan from other federal agencies are being used for Midway Blitz. "Officials from the Department of Justice; to include U.S. Marshals, DEA agents – Drug Enforcement Agency agents – and ATF," Underwood said.

The Washington Examiner [9/16/2025 4:06 PM, David Zimmermann, 1563K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reportedly arrested about 250 people in Chicago since the Department of Homeland Security launched "Operation Midway Blitz" earlier this month. The operation targets illegal immigrants with criminal records living in Chicago and Illinois. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL), who oversees the district that contains parts of the Chicago suburbs, disclosed that an estimated 250 people have been taken into custody since Sept. 6 based on ICE data she received. The congresswoman’s statement suggests the operation started that Saturday, two days before DHS publicly announced the initiative. In its Sept. 8 announcement of Operation Midway Blitz, DHS primarily focused on Chicago but mentioned that illegal immigrants in the entire state would be targeted. On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Chicago to witness law enforcement arresting illegal immigrants. Breitbart [9/16/2025 1:29 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2608K] reports that individuals who are detained and processed are transferred to detention centers in Indiana and Wisconsin," the congresswoman wrote. Unsurprisingly, Underwood decried the arrests and went on to post information informing illegal aliens about their "rights.” Underwood is far from the only Illinois official attacking ICE and President Trump’s immigration policies. Illinois State Sen. Karina Villa (D) was also recently seen harassing ICE agents as they performed their duties. "It’s very important that, as allies, we show up for each other," she says in video taken during her publicity stunt. "We are here to show our solidarity and our commitment to our people." Villa reportedly rushed out to confront ICE officers after she saw activists online reporting on ICE activity in her area, according to WBBM-TV. On Tuesday, Border Patrol El Centro Sector chief Gregory Bovino, who has been placed in charge of the federal immigration efforts in Chicago, posted a video noting that his operatives have committed to Chicago operations.

CBS News [9/16/2025 5:32 PM, Sabrina Franza, Lauren Victory, and Sara Tenenbaum, 45245K] Video: HERE two U.S. citizens were among five people arrested in an early morning ICE raid in Elgin, Illinois, Tuesday, an operation that was shared on social media by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Those two citizens were later released. A video shared on social media by a witness shows several people being led away in handcuffs by agents in military uniforms with tactical vehicles in the street. The witness took the video after hearing what she described as an explosion around 5:50 a.m. In the video, you can see armed officers shining flashlights at a door and into a window. Another neighbor said he heard a response from law enforcement from the air. "I was awakened at 20 to 6 by the drone of a helicopter flying overhead, circling the house, circling the neighborhood, spotlight on, right over the house," said neighbor Jim Andresen. "Very unusual in our usually quiet neighborhood.” A contractor called by a homeowner in the neighborhood to repair damage told CBS News Chicago that both the front and back doors of the home in question were busted in. Five people were arrested by immigration agents from a single home. Two of them have since been released, because they are U.S. citizens. One of those men said it was an incredibly scary morning to be arrested by immigration agents. He said they were asked at one point if they were citizens, and both men were on their way to work at the time so were able to produce their drivers licenses, and be released. He said the reason the other three people were detained remains unknown. Noem shared a video of the same raid, where she appeared to be present, and said in her social media post that the offenses include DUI, felony stalking and assault, but it was not clear whether the people shown in the video were related to any of those charges. Noem also spoke in her post about the ICE agent dragged during a fatal shooting in Franklin Park, Illinois, Friday over the same video of the Elgin raid, even though they are separate and unrelated incidents.

Reported similarly:
ABC 7 Chicago [9/16/2025 8:19 PM, Liz Nagy, Barb Markoff, Christine Tressel and Tom Jones] Video: HERE

The Chicago Tribune [9/16/2025 2:25 PM, Angie Leventis Lourgos, Jeremy Gorner, and Stacey Wescott, 5352K] reports that an Elgin man who was born in the United States said he was handcuffed, questioned and placed in a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol vehicle before dawn, part of a blitz of immigration enforcement activity reported in the Chicago area early Tuesday. Joe Botello, 37, recalled being jolted awake before 6 a.m. by his home shaking and the sounds of yelling upstairs on the main floor. He said masked and armed agents were calling out the name of another man in Spanish and had forcibly entered his house in the 900 block of Chippewa Drive, destroying a front door and glass patio door in the process. Federal authorities did not immediately return Tribune requests for comment on the incident. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared a video on social media of four men — including Botello — being handcuffed and taken away from the home. Noem also appears to hop on a truck at the end of the clip. Neither the video nor Noem’s message explain that Botello is a U.S. citizen and was later released. "I was on the ground in Chicago today to make clear we are not backing down," Noem wrote on X as she shared a video of herself in Elgin. "Just this morning, DHS took violent offenders off the streets with arrests for assault, DUI, and felony stalking. Our work is only beginning." But Gregory Bovino, an official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection who led immigration operations in Los Angeles this summer, posted on social media early Tuesday announcing that his agency had "arrived" in the Chicago area. The Chicago Sun Times [9/16/2025 9:49 PM, Cindy Hernandez and Adriana Cardona-Maguigad, 3400K] reports Joe Botello was startled awake early Tuesday morning when federal immigration agents broke through the door to his suburban Elgin home. Botello, 37, was led out of the home in the 900 block of Chippewa Drive in handcuffs. The entire street was blocked off by armed ICE agents wearing fatigues and using military vehicles. Neighbors were rattled as helicopters, bright lights and smoke bombs were used in the raid that ended with the arrest of Botello and his roommates. ICE agents busted through Botello’s front door just before 5:30 a.m., and he and his roommates were led out in handcuffs, placed into vehicles and questioned about their immigration status. “I told them I was a U.S. citizen, that my ID was in my wallet,” said Botello, who was born in Texas. Botello said he and one of his roommates were let go after they were questioned, but the other four were taken away. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for details on the arrests. Leading the action was U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who appeared to have joined agents in the operation. “President Trump has been clear: If politicians will not put the safety of their citizens first, this administration will. I was on the ground in Chicago today to make clear we are not backing down,” Noem said in a statement. “Just this morning, DHS took violent offenders off the streets with arrests for assault, DUI and felony stalking. Our work is only beginning.”

FOX News [9/16/2025 3:00 PM, Madison Colombo, 40019K] Video: HERE reports Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is calling for more "transparency" after an ICE officer was seriously injured during an encounter with an undocumented immigrant outside Chicago. The suspect was shot and killed after allegedly dragging the officer for a significant distance with his car. ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan pushed back on Pritzker’s comments, accusing Democrats of siding with illegal migrants over law enforcement. "They obviously continue to take the sides of these criminal illegal aliens who put our people in harm’s way," said Sheahan Tuesday on "Fox & Friends.” "Not just officers, it’s the people of Chicago, people of these communities that these Democrats and Governor Pritzker continue to choose to protect.” The Department of Homeland Security identified the suspect as Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez and said he resisted arrest and attempted to flee during a traffic stop. Sheahan said Villegas-Gonzalez, who entered the United States at an unknown date, had a record of reckless driving and a final order of removal. When officers tried to detain him, he allegedly drove toward them, striking and dragging one agent. The officer then opened fire. Villegas-Gonzalez was taken to a hospital where he later died. Sheahan said the ICE agent was put "in critical condition," but has since returned home. On Monday, Pritzker said he has requested more details about how the failed arrest unfolded, but has received few details. "We need more information. We’ve asked ICE for all of the information around it. They have given very little," he said. "ICE is unwilling to provide the transparency that I think the American public and the public here deserves.” Sheahan rejected the governor’s scrutiny. "It is under investigation and we’re [going to] continue to make sure we are transparent. The claims that we’re not is just false," she said.

Univision [9/16/2025 6:33 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports amid the growing deployment of federal forces in the state, Governor J.B. Pritzker raised his voice on Tuesday, September 16, demanding accountability to President Donald Trump’s government and criticizing the lack of coordination with state authorities on public security. The statements came after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem canceled a press conference in Chicago and left the state without answering key questions. "I have said from the beginning that the federal government is increasing the number of federal agents here to generate challenges, not to seriously collaborate in improving public safety," Pritzker said. In addition, this is added to the message today by posting from the commander of the U.S. Border Patrol Sector. U.S., Gregory K. Bovino, in which he confirmed the presence of the Border Patrol in Chicago. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday, September 8, a new operation in Chicago called "Midway Blitz," which is presented in honor of Katie Abraham, a victim of a car accident by an immigrant who took his life. The information provided by DHS in a statement indicates that the mission is to focus on the worst immigrant criminals in Chicago.

Chicago Tribune [9/16/2025 6:30 PM, Rick Pearson and Olivia Olander, 5352K] reports President Donald Trump again vowed to deploy the National Guard to Chicago "against" the opposition of Gov. JB Pritzker, prompting the Democratic governor on Tuesday to label the president’s latest comments a possible sign of "dementia" after a month of on-and-off threats by Trump to mobilize the military to the city. Citing his federalization of law enforcement and the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and his order Monday to mobilize the Guard and a federal task force to Memphis, Tennessee, backed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, Trump said, "Chicago is a death trap and I’m going to make it just like I did with D.C., just like I’ll do with Memphis." Pritzker said the Trump administration’s "Operation Midwest Blitz" mobilization of immigration enforcement that began a week ago was a pretext for presidential mobilization of the National Guard by sending U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on raids to "cause challenges and mayhem on the ground, and you’re seeing that." But a presidential mobilization of the National Guard to Chicago, overriding Pritzker’s authority as commander in chief of the Illinois Guard as well as state sovereignty, would likely set up a legal battle that the governor has already threatened.

Daily Caller [9/16/2025 6:34 PM, Mariane Angela, 985K] reports Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a sweeping executive order Tuesday that seeks to fortify protest protections in Chicago. The Trump administration launched "Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago and across Illinois, targeting illegal migrants shielded by sanctuary policies. The "Right to Protest" order, which expands the city’s Protecting Chicago Initiative, directs the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to uphold First Amendment rights in coordination with local activists—even if federal agencies attempt to intervene. "Chicago has long been a center of civic action, from the labor uprisings of the Haymarket era to the Civil Rights movement, and today is no different," said Mayor Brandon Johnson. "The City of Chicago has proven time and time again that we can safeguard demonstrations of any size while protecting First Amendment rights. With this Executive Order, we affirm that Chicago will remain a place where democracy and freedom reign. Today, we proclaim that all residents and visitors can peacefully assemble, petition their government, and speak freely in our city. This executive action is about being proactive so that we are prepared for any possible large-scale demonstration in response to the increasingly reckless federal government.” Under the new directive, if federal agencies interfere with lawful demonstrations, CPD must engage directly with organizers to develop alternative plans that still allow protestors to meet their goals. The plans will be required to comply with legal standards regarding time, place, and manner restrictions, while preserving public safety.

Chicago Tribune [9/16/2025 2:55 PM, Jake Sheridan, 5352K] reports that Mayor Brandon Johnson is directing police to work more closely with protesters clashing with federal authorities as President Donald Trump ramps up deportations in and around Chicago. Johnson signed an executive order Tuesday that orders Chicago police to "collaborate with protest organizers to develop a mutually acceptable alternative plan" when Trump-controlled law enforcement disrupts legal protest. The mayor argued his order will bolster free speech rights as tense confrontations between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and protesters spread, and get the city ready if federal authorities "trample on the constitution." But when reporters pressed him Tuesday about how the order will change the way Chicago police respond to federal agents cracking down on protests against deportations, Johnson offered no specifics. He simply reiterated that protesters in Chicago should be able to express their First Amendment rights, without saying whether police officers would seek to stop federal agents from removing protesters or using "less lethal" anti-crowd weapons like tear gas or rubber bullets against them. "If the federal government will not uphold this right, then the city of Chicago will," Johnson said during a news conference after the signing. "We are going to protect people’s rights to get together, peacefully assemble, and push back against this form of tyranny." The measure is yet another effort by Johnson to push back against Trump’s Chicago actions and carefully position himself as a Trump opponent.

FOX News [9/16/2025 12:30 PM, Lindsay Kornick Fox, 40019K] Video: HERE reports Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin condemned "Hacks" star Hannah Einbinder for denigrating Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at the Emmy Awards. While receiving her award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the HBO Max show on Sunday, Einbinder concluded her speech by saying, "F--- ICE and free Palestine!". In a statement to TMZ on Monday, McLaughlin blasted the remark, which was bleeped out during the CBS broadcast. "How ugly — such demonization is inspiring violence against our ICE law enforcement, who are facing a 1,000% increase in assaults against them," McLaughlin said. She added, "As this woman fans the flames of hatred, our brave law enforcement will continue enforcing the rule of law and protecting Americans." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [9/16/2025 11:54 AM, Jerome Hudson, 2608K]

AP [9/16/2025 4:44 PM, Leah Willingham, Michael Casey and Holly Ramer, 964K] reports immigrants are being detained while going to work, outside courthouses, and at store parking lots in Metro Boston as President Donald Trump targets so-called sanctuary cities in his effort to ramp up immigration enforcement. As families hole up in homes — afraid to leave and risk detainment — advocates are reporting an increased presence of unmarked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles sitting in parking lots and other public areas throughout immigrant communities, where agents appeared to target work vans. One man captured a video of three landscapers who were working on the Saugus Town Hall property being arrested after agents smashed their truck window. Just north of Boston, the city of Everett canceled its annual Hispanic Heritage Month festival after its mayor said it wouldn’t be right to “hold a celebration at a time when community members may not feel safe attending.” The actions have been praised by public officials like New Hampshire Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who signed legislation this year banning sanctuary city policies in her state, vowing not to let New Hampshire “go the way of Massachusetts.” ICE this summer began utilizing a New Hampshire airport about an hour from Boston to transport New England detainees. However, others argue that ICE’s presence in Massachusetts is doing more harm than good. “This is really increasing the fear in communities, which is already incredibly high,” said Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the Boston surge would focus on “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” living in Massachusetts. “Sanctuary policies like those pushed by Mayor Wu not only attract and harbor criminals but protect them at the peril of law-abiding American citizens,” she said in a press release early last week, which detailed the arrest of seven individuals by ICE, including a 38-year-old man from Guatemala who had previously been arrested on assault-related charges.

NewsMax [9/16/2025 9:45 PM, Jim Thomas, 4779K] reports acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said Tuesday on Newsmax that the U.S. government is fulfilling its duty by preventing drug cartels from delivering dangerous chemicals and narcotics into American communities. Lyons defended the government’s latest counter-narcotics efforts during an appearance on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," saying: "What I can tell you is the cartels are a serious problem, right from the Homeland Security investigative side of it. We are out there every day encountering these Venezuelan gangs tied to these cartels. So President [Donald] Trump has made it clear that these narco-terrorists are foreign terrorist organizations, and we’re treating it as such here in domestic law enforcement, partnering with the Coast Guard or other DHS entities like Customs and Border Protection.” "We’re making sure that these criminal actors don’t bring these poisons and dangerous chemicals to our neighborhoods," he added. Lyons’ comments came as Trump announced that U.S. military forces destroyed a second alleged Venezuelan drug vessel traveling in international waters. Trump said the strike, which killed three men, was part of a broader campaign targeting extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narco-terrorists. Lyons emphasized that Homeland Security Investigations is working aggressively against cartel operations. "They’re made up of the best special agents around," he said. "We just recently had a huge seizure, the largest law enforcement seizure in history, of fentanyl precursors that we stopped at sea — 24 tractor-trailers worth, over $1 billion worth of precursors that came from China, that was scheduled to go to the cartels. We’re out there stopping it every day.” When asked if Venezuela was a major source of the trafficking, Lyons noted that enforcement at the southern border has forced cartels to seek alternate routes. "We’re seeing a lot of it. Just because the Border Patrol has done such an incredible job of sealing the border, they’re having to find other ways to do it," he said. "We’re also seeing a huge amount coming from the Indo-Pacific region, seeing a lot coming from China, believe it or not, seeing a lot coming that Australia has to deal with coming from Fiji. They’re finding different ways to ship these precursors that are killing American citizens," Lyons said. He argued that previous administrations had failed to make progress on stemming fentanyl and drug trafficking. "I think that’s the one frustrating thing for us in law enforcement is we have so many elected officials that have run on trying to stop fentanyl and trying to stop these drugs from entering, but no one has done it until President Trump got there," Lyons said. "And now we’re actually taking it seriously and bringing the fight to them.”

Reuters [9/16/2025 1:50 PM, Staff, 45746K] reports that Drug trafficking organizations must be treated the way foreign terrorist organizations were treated after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday, pledging that the campaign against them will be a years-long mission. "We must treat them like the al Qaedas of the world," Patel said at a Senate hearing, a day after President Donald Trump said the U.S. military carried out a strike on a second Venezuelan boat in international waters. Trump said three men were killed in the strike and that the boat was carrying drugs, although he provided no evidence for that assertion. "The manhunt after 9/11 took some years and this is going to be a years-long mission," Patel said. The Trump administration also has provided scant information about a similar strike on September 2, despite demands from members of Congress that the government justify the action. It has alleged those onboard were members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and said 11 people were killed. The Venezuelan government has said none of the people killed in the first strike belonged to Tren de Aragua. The decision to blow up suspected drug vessels instead of seizing them and apprehending their crews is unusual and evokes memories of the U.S. fight against militant groups like al Qaeda. Critics said the action in international waters was the latest example of Trump testing the limit of the law as he expands the scope of presidential power. The U.S. Constitution requires that Congress, not the president, must declare war.

FOX News [9/16/2025 6:28 AM, Staff, 40019K] reports Oversight Project President Mike Howell joined ‘Fox & Friends First’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s message with the second strike as the administration continues its effort to reduce drug trafficking through U.S. borders. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [9/16/2025 6:10 PM, Isabel Vincent, 43962K] reports information leading to the Trump administration’s deadly military strikes against boats in the Caribbean — including one on Monday that left three "drug traffickers" dead — has been traced back to an unlikely source: One of Mexico’s most notorious cartel bosses, sources told The Post. Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, 77, the former co-head of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, made a deal with the government last month, agreeing to plead guilty to drug trafficking, plotting murders and torture in exchange for life in prison rather than the death penalty. The source of information about these boats is likely Zambada who, in addition to overseeing the production of cocaine and heroin, was in charge of international logistics for the Sinaloa cartel, including moving drugs to the US and coordinating with partners in Colombia and Venezuela, Almonte said. Zambada also may have ratted out some other high-level traffickers in the Sinaloa Cartel. On Tuesday, the Department of State announced a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Juan Jose Ponce Felix ("El Ruso") who now heads the Cartel.

Breitbart [9/16/2025 3:59 PM, Christian K. Caruzo, 2608K] reports Colombia’s far-left President Gustavo Petro and Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro on Monday once again condemned the United States’ drug enforcement efforts after the U.S. military struck down a second Venezuelan boat reportedly transporting drugs in Caribbean international waters. President Donald Trump announced in a Monday evening Truth Social post that U.S. military forces conducted a second "kinetic strike" against "positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility." President Trump detailed that the strike occurred "while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics" headed to the United States, killing three men on board the vessel. As part of these efforts, the U.S. Department of State announced on Monday that Trump submitted a Presidential Determination to Congress designating Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, and Venezuela as "having failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months" to adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements and to take the efforts required by the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act to fight drug trafficking. President Petro responded to both the latest military strike and President Trump’s determination during a ministerial cabinet meeting on Monday. Petro condemned the strike as "murder" and complained, "If there are Latin Americans here who grant the U.S. government the right to murder defenseless Latin Americans" they are "nothing more than cipayos," a pejorative regional term to describe someone at the service of "foreign interests."

Axios [9/16/2025 4:24 PM, Josephine Walker, 14595K] reports a federal judge said Monday evening that she could not prevent a group of migrants that the Trump administration deported to Ghana from being sent back to their home countries, despite their credible fears of torture. The ruling represents a win for the Trump administration as it seeks to ramp up removals through all possible avenues, including through third-party deportations, which send immigrants to countries they have no ties to. The plaintiffs are five citizens of Nigeria and Gambia who were granted deportation protections after a U.S. immigration judge found that they were likely to face persecution, torture or death if they were sent back to their home countries. The plaintiffs allege the U.S. is sidestepping immigration law by illegally facilitating their removals to their countries of origin. The Trump administration claims Ghana promised not to deport the migrants to places where they might face torture, but acknowledged in the court filing that it appears the country is walking back those commitments. The U.S. government asserts that it can’t prevent the migrants’ removals because the U.S. government "does not have the power to tell Ghana what to do." Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Axios in an emailed statement that the department was "pleased" to see Chutkan rule in its favor.

AP [9/16/2025 11:48 AM, Nicholas Riccardi, Chinedu Asadu and Edward Acquah, 37974K] reports authorities in Ghana pushed back Tuesday on claims that four African immigrants recently deported by the U.S. remain in Ghanaian detention, reiterating their assertion that all such migrants have been returned to their home countries. The government said Monday that all 14 of the deportees had been returned to their countries of origin in West Africa. On Tuesday, Ghana’s presidential spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu said in an interview with The Associated Press that 13 Nigerians were sent home on a bus and that one Gambian was sent home on a plane. Lawyers for four of the Nigerians said in U.S. court filings Monday and in interviews with the AP that the four were still being held in a facility in Ghana. The lawyers said the Nigerians faced persecution in their home country, but a judge rejected their request for a court order to return them to the U.S., though she expressed alarm over the deportations. The Ghanaian government spokesperson denied knowledge of such a facility. “None of them are staying in this country. Nobody is being held in any camp and nobody’s right has been abused,” Ofosu said of the deportees in a phone interview.

The Washington Post [9/16/2025 9:29 AM, Vivian Ho and Marianne LeVine, 29079K] reports a federal judge on Monday criticized what she described as the Trump administration’s “disregard” of due process in sending to Ghana five migrants who had been granted certain immigration protections, but she ruled that the court lacked the jurisdiction to halt their transfer to their countries of origin, where they could face torture and persecution. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan wrote in a ruling that she was “alarmed and dismayed” by these removals, stating that they “appear to be part of a pattern and widespread effort to evade the government’s legal obligations by doing indirectly what it cannot do directly.” However, Chutkan ruled that she could not stop the deportation of these migrants to their home countries because they are now in the custody of the Ghanian government and “this court cannot order the U.S. government to order a foreign government to take any action,” adding that the court’s “hands are tied.” One of the men was flown from Ghana to his home country of Gambia, despite saying he risked persecution because of his sexuality, and a U.S. court ruling that he should not be deported to Gambia, Chutkan wrote, adding that the man is now living in hiding. One other deportee is a citizen of Gambia, while the remaining three are citizens of Nigeria. Chutkan’s ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed Friday by the civil rights group Asian Americans Advancing Justice that alleged that the Trump administration sought to circumvent immigration law by sending to Ghana the five men, who had been granted certain deportation protections because they had proved to an immigration judge that they could face torture or persecution if they returned to their country of origin. The president of Ghana, John Mahama, confirmed last week that a group of 14 West Africans had arrived as part of President Donald Trump’s “third country” deportation policy, including the five plaintiffs. McLaughlin praised the ruling Tuesday. “DHS has had the law on its side on this from day one; the Supreme Court has agreed, and we are pleased to see Judge Chutkan rule accordingly,” she said in a statement, adding that the migrants deported to Ghana “received due process and had a final order of removal from an immigration judge.” Reuters [9/16/2025 11:56 AM, Ted Hesson, 45746K] reports Tricia McLaughlin, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, denied that the Trump administration had ignored immigration law by suddenly sending the migrants to Ghana. "All of these illegal aliens deported to Ghana received due process and had a final order of removal from an immigration judge," she said, adding that many had criminal convictions, including injury to a child, robbery, aggravated assault, and fraud.

AP [9/16/2025 6:42 PM, Gary Fields and Matt Brown, 37974K] reports the House passed legislation Tuesday that would overhaul how youth who commit crimes are prosecuted in the District of Columbia as congressional Republicans mobilized behind President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital. One of the bills, called the “DC Crimes Act,” would lower the age of a youth offender in the federal district from 24 to 18 and require that criminal sentencing be at least as long as the mandatory minimums for adults, overruling local D.C. policy. It would also require the D.C. attorney general to establish a public website that would publish statistics on youth criminal acts. The bill passed 240-179, with 30 Democrats joining Republicans in support. A second bill, the D.C. Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act passed by a narrower 225-203 margin, with eight Democrats backing the measure and one Republican — Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — voting against it. Massie was the lone Republican to oppose both bills. The debate over D.C.’s laws comes as the district’s self-governance is being challenged in ways never before seen since the passage of the Home Rule Act of 1973. Thousands of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers are patrolling the city’s streets, thanks to a now-lapsed emergency order from Trump. Republicans have cheered the intervention and criticized how the city is run. Still, the latest slate of D.C. legislation has an uncertain future in the Senate, where some Democratic support would be needed. Democrats have criticized Trump’s aggressive intervention in the city’s governance and affairs and have defended the ability of residents in the nation’s capital to govern themselves. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat, said Trump is “constantly attacking what Republicans used to call a small government and deciding to be the biggest government that you can find. It’s truly shameful.” Crockett added she believed the White House and House Republicans’ actions are “only a precursor, a precursor for everything that he wants to do in other minority-led cities.” Republicans have countered that the Constitution specifically excludes the federal district from statehood and have offered a range of reasons for why the Congress should exercise its authority to override the local government.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [9/16/2025 5:25 PM, Michael Gold, 153395K]
Wall Street Journal [9/16/2025 5:59 PM, Jasmine Li, 646K]

Axios [9/16/2025 3:04 PM, Chelsea Brasted, 14595K] reports President Trump’s proposal to send the National Guard to New Orleans is looking more possible after the Washington Post reported on leaked Pentagon documents outlining a plan to deploy of 1,000 troops in Louisiana. With a federal request, Gov. Jeff Landry, who said Tuesday he supports the idea, could quickly set the plan into motion. After deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C., in mid-August, Trump issued orders Monday to begin a deployment in Memphis, Tennessee. Trump said Chicago is "probably next," as well as St. Louis, Missouri, and "New Orleans, we want to get to, too," he added. Despite historically low NOPD staffing levels, the city has been celebrating a marked improvement in violent crime rates for months. Statewide data paints a more complicated picture. Louisiana’s statewide violent crime and homicide rates last year were among the highest in the nation, an Axios review of FBI data found. Landry hasn’t yet actually requested National Guard troops. Citing the leaked documents, the Washington Post says the Pentagon’s plan calls for a mobilization through Sept. 30, 2026.

Daily Wire [9/16/2025 3:10 AM, Tim Pearce, 3184K] reports President Donald Trump on Monday signed a memo directing a crackdown on crime in Memphis, Tennessee, using a strategy similar to the one deployed in Washington, D.C. The memo establishes the Memphis Safe Task Force and directs the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to request control of the Tennessee National Guard from the governor. Trump’s Monday directive followed a request from Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee for help fighting crime in Memphis. "This task force will be a replica of our extraordinarily successful efforts here (in Washington, D.C.), and you’ll see it’s a lot of the same thing," Trump said in an Oval Office signing ceremony flanked by top Tennessee and federal law enforcement officials. "Now, we did send the FBI in about four months ago to work, and it brought some of the numbers down, and they did a great job, but we’re sending in the big force now." Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) credited FBI Director Kash Patel with the work done by his agency to drop crime in Memphis over the summer through "Operation Viper." "There have been over 500 arrests, there are over 100 indictments, and Memphis had the best stats they have had in years this past August, last month. It was the best August they have had, and it’s because of the work that’s been done," Blackburn said.

CBS News [9/16/2025 9:19 AM, Staff, 45245K] reports President Trump announced on Monday that he is sending federal law enforcement agents to Memphis as part of his latest effort to crack down on crime around the country. Mr. Trump also directed Tennessee’s governor to make National Guard troops available. Memphis police data shows there was a decrease in violent crime in the first nine months of this year. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Examiner [9/16/2025 6:37 PM, Staff, 1563K] reports as calls grow for President Donald Trump to send the National Guard to Denver, city and state officials are pushing back. Last week, the city and county of Denver joined an amicus brief filed in support of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lawsuit against Trump’s June deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles. That deployment was in response to mass protests and riots against immigration enforcement. Though over 4,000 troops were initially deployed, as of the end of July, Newsom reported that just a few hundred remained in the city. Since that first action, Trump also deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., to decrease crime and address illegal immigration. Denver joined 26 other local governments on the amicus brief, which argued that Trump "usurped" local law enforcement and government officials by deploying the National Guard despite their protests. The brief highlighted concerns that Trump will send the National Guard to other cities, which he has already discussed doing for Memphis and Chicago. "Worse still, this drastic and provocative executive action has quickly spiraled into further actual and threatened military deployments across the country," the brief warned. "Plans are underway to deploy the National Guard to police nineteen more states … Military policing shatters our nation’s bedrock history and tradition of preserving state and local control over the police power.” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston warned further deployments could lead to a "federal police state.” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser also announced Monday he has joined a multi-state amicus brief in support of another lawsuit challenging Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to D.C.

NPR [9/16/2025 8:26 AM, Alfie Pannell, 34837K] reports the United States has decertified Colombia as a drug control partner for the first time since 1997. In a memorandum to Congress, President Donald Trump accused Bogotá of "failing demonstrably to meet its drug control obligations." Despite the rebuke, the White House stopped short of imposing sanctions, granting Colombia a "national interest waiver" that preserves U.S. aid and security cooperation. The move ends months of anxiety in Colombia — where soaring cocaine production has stoked fears of sweeping U.S. sanctions — but nevertheless deals a symbolic blow to a country that has historically been one of Washington’s closest allies in the region.

Bloomberg [9/16/2025 5:36 PM, Matthew Bristow, 19085K] reports US President Donald Trump has “decertified” Colombia as a partner in its effort to combat the drug trade, relegating the longtime US ally to the same category as Venezuela, Bolivia, Afghanistan and Myanmar. The decision came amid the biggest cocaine boom in history, with most of the world’s soaring production originating in Colombia. Though the country will continue receiving US aid, the largely symbolic move further strains one of Washington’s closest security alliances in Latin America. Here’s what to know. Under the 1961 US Foreign Assistance Act, the presidency must identify countries that produce or traffic narcotics, then decide which of those should face sanctions for “failing demonstrably” to curb supply. Sanctions can include a 50% cut in US assistance and an automatic “no” vote on loans, credits and other assistance from international development banks, according to the Washington Office on Latin America, which monitors US policy toward the region. However, Colombia obtained a waiver to keep receiving US military and humanitarian support. Colombia has been among the biggest recipients of US aid this century, receiving about $14 billion, including military assistance to battle drug cartels and Marxist insurgents. In a Sept. 15 memorandum, Trump cited record cocaine production and Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “failed attempts to seek accommodations with narco-terrorist groups” in his decision. Since taking office in 2022, Petro has sought “total peace” through negotiations with guerrillas and the country’s private armies of drug traffickers. That has meant less emphasis on fighting the groups militarily and forcibly eradicating bushes of coca, the raw material used to make cocaine. That strategy has so far failed to reduce violence or curb the flow of cocaine, though talks with some groups are advanced. “The failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership,” Trump said in his statement. He added that he “will consider changing this designation if Colombia’s government takes more aggressive action to eradicate coca and reduce cocaine production and trafficking.”

AP [9/16/2025 2:58 PM, Manuel Rueda, 2356K] reports that Colombian president Gustavo Petro on Tuesday lashed out at the U.S. government after it added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in three decades. In a message on his X account, the leftist leader accused the United States of seeking to "participate" in Colombian politics and looking for a "puppet president" as the country prepares for presidential elections next year. "The Colombian people will reply if they want a puppet president… or a free and sovereign nation" Petro wrote, adding in another message that he would not let his nation "kneel" to U.S. interests and allow peasants who grow coca to get "beaten up." On Monday, the Trump administration designated Colombia as a country that is failing to meet its international commitments to fight drug trafficking and blamed the Colombian government for a lack of progress in the fight against the cocaine trade. On Tuesday, the charge d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Bogota, John McNamara, said that consular services, humanitarian projects and defense cooperation would not be affected by Colombia’s decertification. "We are going to do everything we can to fight with the Colombian people against the global threat" of drugs, McNamara told Colombian radio station Blu.

Breitbart [9/16/2025 2:30 PM, Staff, 2608K] reports that Colombia on Tuesday halted arms purchases from the United States, its biggest military partner, after Washington decertified the South American country as an anti-drugs ally for failing to halt cocaine trafficking. On Monday, President Donald Trump denounced his leftist Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro for not only failing to curb cocaine production, but overseeing its surge to "all-time records." Trump added that as a result he had "designated Colombia as having failed demonstrably to meet its drug control obligations." Reacting to the news, Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti told Blu Radio that "from this moment on…weapons will not be purchased from the United States." Trump’s decertification of longtime ally Colombia, the first in three decades, was seen as mainly symbolic. It was not expected to significantly affect the millions of dollars provided by Washington each year to Bogota to bolster its fight against drug cartels and left-wing guerrillas funded by cocaine trafficking. But it was seen as a stinging rebuke of Petro’s anti-drug efforts nonetheless. The former left-wing guerrilla hit back, saying that the Colombian military would end its dependence on "handouts" from the United States.

New York Times [9/16/2025 4:17 PM, Zach Montague, 143795K] reports more than two dozen children from Guatemala whom the Trump administration sought to deport earlier this month had been flagged as vulnerable to child abuse and human trafficking in a Health and Human Services Department database that tracks unaccompanied children, according to a whistle-blower complaint filed to Congress on Tuesday. The report, based on accounts of several unidentified federal employees familiar with the data, appeared to contradict a sworn statement made in a lawsuit over the children’s fate by Angie Salazar, a senior health official. She said the children had been properly screened and cleared for repatriation. It also came less than a week after the judge presiding over the case, Timothy J. Kelly, challenged lawyers from the Justice Department about the veracity of another of their central claims in the dispute: that the children’s parents had requested their return. Filed to Congress by the Government Accountability Project, a whistle-blower protection group, the report said at least 30 of the 327 children the government cleared for imminent removal had “indicators of being a victim of child abuse” in Guatemala, based on the government’s own findings. The Trump administration has said it was exercising an authority to reunify unaccompanied children with their parents abroad, claiming that it was acting at the behest of the children’s families and with the children’s well-being in mind. But the report on Tuesday was the second time that notion had been called into question.

Wall Street Journal [9/16/2025 5:46 PM, James Fanelli, Jack Morphet, and Joe Barrett, 646K] reports Utah prosecutors unveiled seven charges Tuesday against Tyler Robinson in the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a college campus last week and said they would seek the death penalty. The counts include aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, according to a 10-page charging document detailed by Jeff Gray, the county attorney in Utah County, Utah. The filing alleged a mountain of evidence pointing to Robinson: He confessed to the killing to his parents and a roommate—with whom he was in a romantic relationship—and his DNA was found on the trigger of the rifle used in the shooting. “The murder of Charlie Kirk is an American tragedy,” Gray said at a press conference. He said he was notifying the court that prosecutors would seek the death penalty. “I do not take this decision lightly and it is a decision I have made independently as county attorney based solely on the available evidence and circumstances and nature of the crime,” he added. Robinson made his first court appearance by video during a brief hearing Tuesday afternoon, days after a fast-moving manhunt ended when his family helped deliver him to the custody of law enforcement. Stoic and wearing a suicide-prevention smock, he nodded when told prosecutors would seek the death penalty. The judge ordered Robinson to remain in jail without bail.

Wall Street Journal [9/16/2025 9:35 PM, C. Ryan Barber, 646K] reports Utah County’s top prosecutor on Tuesday unveiled criminal charges against Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man accused of shooting the conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and said his office plans to seek the death penalty. Here is what to know about the charges and what happens next in the proceedings. Robinson faces a total of seven charges, including one for aggravated murder, which puts the death penalty on the table. Prosecutors also accused Robinson of felony discharge of a firearm. And they charged him with obstruction of justice and witness tampering in connection with alleged steps he took to conceal his rifle and to urge his roommate to delete text messages and to not cooperate with law enforcement. Prosecutors in Utah must prevail in two phases. First, they must convict the defendant. Then, they must convince the same jurors that the death penalty is warranted, in a proceeding designed to weigh aggravating factors against other mitigating circumstances that might instill some sympathy for the accused.

ABC News [9/16/2025 2:25 PM, Jon Haworth and Megan Forrester, 27036K] reports Tyler Robinson, who is accused of assassinating conservative influencer Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, has been formally charged with a slew of offenses, including aggravated murder, with prosecutors announcing the intent to seek the death penalty. Robinson, 22, has also been charged with felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced on Tuesday. Gray, who described Kirk’s death as "an American tragedy," said he does not "take this decision lightly" in regard to seeking the death penalty for Robinson. The suspected shooter will continue to be held without bail. Robinson is also scheduled to make his first court appearance on Tuesday. Robinson was arrested last week for felony discharge of a firearm, aggravated murder and obstruction of justice, according to probable cause documents and was booked into the Utah County Jail.

AP [9/16/2025 6:42 PM, David Fischer, 37974K] reports DNA sampled from a rifle, as well as multiple other items, found near where President Donald Trump was playing golf in South Florida last year matches that of a man accused of trying to assassinate Trump that day, an FBI analyst testified Tuesday. Tuesday was the fourth day of testimony in the trial of Ryan Routh, who prosecutors said spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club. Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had initially blocked off more than three weeks for trial at the Fort Pierce federal courthouse. But prosecutors have said they should be able to rest their case by Thursday, and Routh’s witnesses have been subpoenaed to appear by Friday. Prosecutors continued to call expert witnesses on Tuesday, according to local news outlets. A ballistics expert testified about two metal plates found mounted to the golf course fence, which would have been nearly impossible for handgun rounds to penetrate. Investigators believe Routh had planned to use the plates for cover. One analyst testified that Routh was a potential DNA contributor to more than two dozen items collected from the crime scene, including an SKS rifle. Another expert described how Routh’s Google and Facebook accounts were logged in to several phones recovered from his SUV and contained location data that tracked his movements over the weeks leading up to the attempted attack. Routh has indicated that he plans to call a firearms expert, as well as several character witnesses. He hasn’t said whether he plans to testify himself.

FOX News [9/16/2025 6:00 AM, Lindsay Kornick Fox, 40019K] Video: HERE reports Vice President JD Vance said there is "no unity" with radical leftists who cheered on Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination and attacked his family on Monday. Vance filled in for his "dear friend" on Kirk’s program "The Charlie Kirk Show" where he expressed his thoughts after Kirk was shot and killed during a campus event at Utah Valley University last week. Though he acknowledged receiving condolences from Democratic friends and former Senate colleagues, Vance was more disturbed at the number of people online who were seen justifying or even celebrating Kirk’s murder. He sympathized with several calls for political unity in the aftermath, but declared "real unity can be found only after climbing the mountain of truth" and acknowledging a problem of political violence growing on the far left. "There is no unity with people who scream at children over their parents’ politics," Vance said. "There is no unity with someone who lies about what Charlie Kirk said in order to excuse his murder. There is no unity with someone who harasses an innocent family the day after the father of that family lost a dear friend. There is no unity with the people who celebrate Charlie Kirk’s assassination." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [9/16/2025 10:27 AM, Lindsay Kornick Fox, 40019K] Video: HERE reports CBS News anchor John Dickerson said Monday that the motive behind the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk remains "elusive," despite reports about the alleged suspect’s leftist ideology. "Five days after Charlie Kirk’s murder, the shooter’s motive remains elusive," Dickerson said on "CBS Evening News Plus. " "No writings left behind. Vague, secondhand testimony, that uncertainty and the risk of drawing sweeping conclusions suggests the murder may share similarities with recent violence, not driven by an obvious political ideology. The FBI recently recognized a new category: nihilistic violent extremism.” Dickerson interviewed Matthew Kriner, director of the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism, who explained that nihilistic violent extremism is "driven by a lack of singular ideological framework" and carried out by individuals "who are fed up with the world [and] believe there’s no political solution."

Federalist [9/16/2025 7:34 AM, Kyle Shideler, 982K] reports on Sept. 10, conservative political icon Charlie Kirk was assassinated by Antifa, and there is currently a massive corporate media information operation struggling with all its might to prevent you from drawing that conclusion. Even before the 22-year-old alleged assassin was arrested, the contours of the shooter’s motives were being fiercely debated when Steven Crowder published what he reported to be an ATF document, which noted, "The spent cartridge was still chambered in addition to three unspent rounds at the top fed magazine. All cartridges have engraved wording on them, expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology." The spin machine went immediately to work, with CNN labelling the engravings as a "range of phrases related to cultural issues." It was later revealed that the phrases included, "Hey Fascist! Catch!" and, "O Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, ciao, ciao," lyrics from a popular Italian anti-fascist song. (While some have attempted to obfuscate the song’s origins, as of this writing, the extensive Wikipedia writeup of the song’s history is contained under the website’s "Anti-fascism" category.) Andy Ngo, who has long tracked Antifa, noted that the phrase "Bella Ciao" was included in the manifesto of Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club member Willem van Spronsen before his attack on an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington, in 2019. The fact that these anti-fascist references appear in popular video games is being used by mainstream Democrats and corporate media personalities to gaslight people into believing the attack on Charlie Kirk somehow wasn’t conducted by an Antifa supporter, even while actual Antifa and anarchist accounts seem to claim the shooter as one of their own.

AP [9/17/2025 12:09 AM, David Klepper, 4779K] reports Russia moved to amplify online conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s killing just hours after it happened, seeding social media with the frightening claim that America is slipping into civil war. Chinese and pro-Iranian groups also spread disinformation about the shooting, with those loyal to Iran’s interests backing antisemitic conspiracy theories while bots linked to Beijing claimed that Kirk’s death shows that the United States is violent, polarized and dysfunctional. America’s adversaries have long used fake social media accounts, online bots and disinformation to depict the U.S. as a dangerous country beset with extremism and gun violence. Kirk’s killing has provided another opportunity for those overseas eager to shape public understanding while inflaming political polarization. “Charlie Kirk’s Death and the Coming Civil War,” tweeted Russian ultranationalist Alexander Dugin, whose influence earned him the moniker “ Putin’s brain,” referring to Russia’s president. Pro-Russian bots blamed Democrats and predicted more violence. Russian state media published English-language articles with headlines claiming a conspiracy orchestrated by shadowy forces: “Was Charlie Kirk’s Killer a Pro?” Foreign disinformation makes up a tiny fraction of the overall online discussion about Kirk’s death, but it could undermine any efforts to heal political divisions or even spur further violence. “We’ve seen multiple Russian campaigns attempting to exploit” Kirk’s killing, said Joseph Bodnar, senior research manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. In many cases, the campaigns aren’t adding new claims but are recycling ones that emerged from American users. “They’re picking up domestic actors and amplifying them.” In each case, those spreading the disinformation have tailored it for their own ends. Chinese propaganda has focused on the violent nature of Kirk’s death, painting the U.S. as a nation of violent gun owners and political extremists. Russian voices have tried to tie Kirk’s death to U.S. support for Ukraine, even spreading a conspiracy theory that the Ukrainian government killed Kirk because of his criticism of that aid. Pro-Iranian groups took a different tack, claiming Israel was behind Kirk’s death and that the suspect was set up to take the fall. This conspiracy theory caught on with white supremacist groups in the U.S., showing how corrosive claims can easily spread online despite oceans and linguistic and cultural barriers.

Bloomberg [9/16/2025 10:29 AM, Staff, 19085K] reports House Republican lawmakers are considering adding roughly $32 million to a stopgap spending bill to augment security for members of Congress following the killing last week of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. The money would run through Nov. 21, when the spending bill expires, and would allow lawmakers to hire retired police officers for their own security, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters. The exact details are still being negotiated, Scalise added. Representative Lisa McClain, another member of House Republican leadership, said the money would allow lawmakers and Capitol Police to coordinate with local law enforcement when back home in their districts. “It’s a start,” she told reporters. Congressional leaders have security details but rank-and-file members do not. Lawmakers have temporarily received through a pilot program $20,000 to spend each year on private security but not all lawmakers have used those funds. The debate over the security funding has delayed the release of the short-term sending bill, which Congress must pass before an Oct. 1 shutdown deadline. Cole said he expects to release the bill text on Tuesday.

FOX News [9/16/2025 12:32 PM, Elizabeth Elkind and Alex Miller, 40019K] reports House Republicans have released a plan to avert a government shutdown at the end of this month, and it includes roughly $30 million in additional security funding for lawmakers. It comes days after Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week during a college campus speaking event in Utah. The measure is mostly a straightforward extension of current government funding levels, called a continuing resolution, or CR, in order to give House and Senate negotiators more time to reach a deal. It would extend through Nov. 21. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he wants to hold a House-wide vote on the measure Friday, after which it will be taken up by the Senate. President Donald Trump must sign the measure into law by Oct. 1, the beginning of fiscal year 2026, to avert a government shutdown. House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., earlier briefed lawmakers on member security options and plans for the funding increase during the House GOP’s weekly closed-door conference meeting. Two sources told Fox News Digital earlier on Tuesday that Steil proposed adding $30 million to a mutual aid fund between Capitol Police and local law enforcement for the duration of the CR, which House leadership sources confirmed would be included in the bill. "The proposed $30 million plus-up would be into the mutual aid bucket, one of the many programs available. The mutual aid bucket is a program where U.S. Capitol Police reimburses local law enforcement to provide security, traditionally, in a member’s district," Steil said when asked by reporters after the meeting. The legislation would also honor the Trump administration’s request for an additional $58 million in security funding for the judicial and executive branches. Another $1 billion would be included in Washington, D.C.’s annual budget, which is allotted by the federal government.

CNN [9/16/2025 6:34 PM, Annie Grayer, 23245K] reports House Republicans are discussing pumping tens of millions of dollars into security for lawmakers in the aftermath of the assassination of a prominent conservative activist, though some lawmakers say that is not enough in today’s rancorous political climate. In a closed-door conference meeting Tuesday, the GOP discussed attaching a proposal to increase security funding to $30 million to a stopgap government bill to fund the government, according to two people familiar with the matter. That funding would be in addition to the $58 million in security funding for the executive and judicial branches requested by the White House. But later in the day, a bipartisan group of lawmakers swarmed House Speaker Mike Johnson on the House floor, asserting they needed to do more. "The $30 million is a slap in the face," one of the lawmakers in the conversation told CNN. "That is laughable.” The killing of Charlie Kirk has again brought the issue of public officials’ security to the forefront as threats of violence against politicians are at an all-time high. Congressional lawmakers have been left to grapple with the growing difficulty of ensuring member safety with limited resources in an increasingly toxic political environment. "It’s basically extra support for being able to hire security people that you can bring around with you. And if we have to do more, we do more," House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole told CNN. Members, Cole said, would be able to decide how to use the funds to protect themselves, and it would last through the period of time funded by the short-term government funding bill. Among those in the group objecting to Johnson were GOP Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Lawler and Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Joyce Beatty. Both Democrats and Republicans in the animated conversation outlined why they felt that the $30 million proposal fell short and why Johnson, who has full-time security, does not understand the threat level many members face, multiple lawmakers participating in the conversation told CNN. "The collective belief is that it’s going to take someone getting shot and killed before they actually take it seriously," one lawmaker said, referring to House leadership.

Reuters [9/16/2025 5:40 PM, Bo Erickson, Nolan D. McCaskill and David Morgan, 45746K] reports the U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote this week on a stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown that will include $88 million to bolster security for federal officials following the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk. Republicans plan a vote by Friday on funds to run through November 21, House Republican leaders said on Tuesday, which would give Congress another seven weeks to agree on a plan to fund the government for the fiscal year that begins next month. The federal budget runs at about $7 trillion per year, though the debates in Congress focus on just about a quarter of that sum, with the lion’s share of spending on mandatory programs including Social Security and interest payments on the nation’s $37.5 trillion debt. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday argued his party, which leads the House, is proposing a "clean" continuing resolution, which would fund the government at current levels, with additional money for security. Kirk’s killing "initiated a number of uncomfortable but necessary conversations about important issues like the safety and security of our members and the responsibility of public service, and the need for political leaders to turn down the temperature and the violent rhetoric in America," Johnson said. The bill includes $30 million in funding for security for members of Congress, $30 million for the executive branch and $28 million for members of the Supreme Court. Democrats have also been calling for more security measures, but party leaders have not yet embraced this stopgap funding proposal, as the minority party leadership is urging bipartisan negotiations on government funding. Bipartisan support for funding the government is more crucial in the U.S. Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-seat majority and will need the support of at least seven Democrats to win the 60 votes needed to pass funding legislation. "They are doing exactly what Donald Trump wants," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said about Republicans’ tactics, "They say they want to vote on a partisan CR as soon as possible here in the Congress, but they have refused even to sit down at the table.”

New York Times [9/16/2025 4:45 PM, Mattathias Schwartz, 143795K] reports the federal courts continue to grapple with rising threats of violence against judges, according to one of the judiciary’s leaders. “It’s clearly a brave new world when it comes to security, judges included,” said Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, the chair of the executive committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Judge Sutton spoke Tuesday at a virtual press event that coincided with the conference’s biannual meeting in Washington. His public presentation was focused on the judiciary’s budget. Funding for judicial security has remained frozen for three fiscal years. New legislation proposed by House Republicans ahead of a potential government shutdown later this month would provide $58 million in additional money for the U.S. States Marshals Service and to protect the Supreme Court, as well as $30 million for lawmakers’ security. But it does not contain any new money specifically earmarked for the judiciary to spend on the protection of lower-court judges, who have faced a spate of rising threats. After steadily rising for several years, threats against judges spiked after Donald J. Trump returned to office. During a six-week period beginning in March, 162 judges received threats, according to data from the U.S. Marshals Service, more than twice as many as during the previous five months. That sudden rise in threats coincided with harsh and personalized criticism from the White House, directed against judges who ruled against the administration. Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday that the bureau now has 17 open investigations into threats against federal judges. The lack of new money means the judiciary won’t be able to update aging systems that provide physical security for judges at courthouses, said Judge Amy J. St. Eve, the chair of the conference’s budget committee. “Magnetometers, videos, special lock systems — all of that equipment is what suffers because we don’t have the money to pay for it,” she said. The annual gathering largely takes place behind closed doors. But people familiar with the session in March said one judge expressed worry that the White House could use its control of the marshals service to cut back on judicial security. That same scenario was raised in a congressional hearing before the March conference, where a judge suggested the conference would consider whether the judiciary should assume control of its own security.

Washington Examiner [9/16/2025 6:49 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 1563K] reports drones present an increasingly serious threat to the United States’s national security against both civilians at sporting events and law enforcement, according to drone experts who testified before Congress. Democrats and Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee were in rare agreement Tuesday afternoon during a hearing on malicious drones, that unmanned aircraft systems present a plethora of security and safety concerns for Americans. Lawmakers on the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance also agreed that the U.S. government, particularly Congress, must do more to develop "counter drone" technology or ways to safely take down dangerous drones. Sgt. Robert Dooley, Florida’s drone and counterdrone coordinator within the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, testified that drones "continue to proliferate across recreational, commercial, and malicious domains.” "The ability of public safety agencies to detect and mitigate unauthorized or threatening drones has become a national imperative," Dooley said. Subcommittee Chairman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) pointed to the nation’s land borders, where enemy drones flown by smugglers and cartels are used to spy on U.S. law enforcement and to move drugs across the international boundary. "U.S. Northern Command leadership reported that over 1,000 drones cross into U.S. airspace from the Mexican border each month, with [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] agents noting that in Texas along the Rio Grande Valley alone, over 10,000 drone incursions and 25,000 drone sightings occurred in 2024," Biggs said.

Washington Post [9/16/2025 6:36 AM, Andrew Jeong, 29079K] reports the South Korean government said it will look into whether human rights violations were committed against the 317 South Koreans who were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Georgia earlier this month. “We’ve expressed grave concerns to the U.S. government since this first happened,” Kang Yu-jung, a spokeswoman for the South Korean presidential office, said Monday, adding, “We plan to examine more closely whether there were issues related to our people’s rights or discomfort.” The move appears aimed at soothing an outraged South Korean public, analysts said, after ICE agents detained South Korean workers with shackles and chains on Sept. 4 while they were trying to build a joint Hyundai Motor Group-LG Energy Solution battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia. U.S. authorities have said that some of the South Koreans had entered the country illegally or were working under improper or expired visas. The office of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday declined to provide further details on the government’s probe or what actions it would take if human rights abuses were found.

NBC News [9/16/2025 8:54 AM, Dylan Butts, 43603K] reports the White House on Monday moved to limit the fallout of an immigration raid at a South Korean-owned battery plant in Georgia on Sept.4 — a move that angered the U.S. ally and sparked concerns regarding foreign investment in the U.S. The Georgia facility, operated by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution, saw 475 of its workers arrested on allegations that they were in the U.S. illegally, or without the proper work permits, with hundreds of detained South Koreans sent home Thursday. The raid was part of a broader deportation drive by the Trump administration, which the White House has described as central to fulfilling U.S. President Donald Trump’s election campaign promises. Stephen Miller, the White House’s deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser, has pushed for 3,000 arrests a day. Amid backlash and concerns over how the raid could disrupt efforts to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. — a move called reshoring or onshoring — Trump, in a post on Truth Social Monday, stressed that foreign workers are "welcome" in the country.

Bloomberg [9/16/2025 4:22 PM, Zoe Tillman, 19085K] reports a frantic four-day court fight over the fate of West African men deported to Ghana came to a head Monday night, with a US judge saying despite her frustration there was little she could do about individuals who had already been sent to foreign countries. The men allege US authorities told them that they would eventually be sent from Ghana to their home countries, where they feared persecution, torture or even death. Their lawyers said they weren’t told where they were going when they were put on planes and that some were put in straitjackets for hours. US immigration judges had previously said the deportees couldn’t be sent to those places. The men’s lawyers said Tuesday they believe the men are still in Ghana, but are concerned that they could be sent elsewhere at any time. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote that she was “alarmed and dismayed” by how the Trump administration had handled these deportations — particularly given the “dire consequences” the men faced if they were repatriated — but didn’t have the power to order the US government to direct a foreign country to take action. The court’s “hands are tied,” she said. The case underscores the rapid-fire pace and high human stakes at the center of legal action against President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies. Federal judges have struggled to nail down facts, questioned whether US officials are intentionally evading oversight and grappled with the limits of their authority once migrants are overseas. The Justice Department has said in court that it followed the law and recent Supreme Court holdings allowing the administration to deport migrants to so-called third countries if immigration courts have said they can’t be returned home. A government lawyer said the State Department had received “assurances” from Ghana that the men wouldn’t be sent to a place where they’d be tortured and argued there was no role for the US government to play once the men were in Ghana’s custody.

AP [9/16/2025 1:13 PM, Konstantin Toropin, 3790K] reports that some Democratic senators say they are deeply concerned that a Pentagon plan to allow military lawyers to work as temporary immigration judges will violate a ban on using service members for law enforcement and affect the military justice system. The letter, sent to the military services and provided to The Associated Press, comes two weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved sending up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary immigration judges. It is part of the steps the Trump administration has taken to use the military in broader ways than previously seen, particularly in its immigration crackdown, including sending the National Guard into American cities and deploying active duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. "These military officers would serve under the command and control of the Attorney General and would execute administrative determinations at the direction of the Attorney General," according to the letter signed by 12 Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee. It added that "these actions are inherently law enforcement actions that may not be performed by members of the armed forces." "We remain extremely disturbed about the impacts on readiness of using military personnel to perform what are traditionally Department of Justice functions," the letter says.

AP [9/16/2025 8:01 PM, Olga R. Rodriguez, 662K] reports the Trump administration is using civil rights laws to wage a campaign against the University of California in an attempt to curtail academic freedom and undermine free speech, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by faculty, staff, student organizations and every labor union representing UC workers. The lawsuit comes weeks after the Trump administration fined the University of California, Los Angeles $1.2 billion and froze research funding after accusing the school of allowing antisemitism on campus and other civil rights violations. It was the first public university to be targeted with a widespread funding freeze. The administration has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against elite private colleges, including Harvard, Brown and Columbia. According to the lawsuit, the Trump administration has made several demands in its proposed settlement offer to UCLA, including giving government access to faculty, student, and staff data, releasing admissions and hiring data, ending diversity scholarships, banning overnight demonstrations on university property and cooperating with immigration enforcement. The Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the office of the UC system’s president. Stett Holbrook, a spokesman for the University of California system, said that while the university is not involved in the lawsuit, it is part of numerous legal and advocacy efforts to restore and maintain funding. “Federal cuts to research funding threaten lifesaving biomedical research, hamper U.S. economic competitiveness and jeopardize the health of Americans who depend on the University’s cutting-edge medical science and innovation,” he said in a statement. The coalition that sued is led by the American Association of University Professors union, or AAUP, and represented by Democracy Forward, a legal group that has brought other lawsuits against the Trump administration over frozen federal funds. “The blunt cudgel the Trump administration has repeatedly employed in this attack on the independence of institutions of higher education has been the abrupt, unilateral, and unlawful termination of federal research funding on which those institutions and the public interest rely,” the lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco said. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has launched dozens of federal investigations also targeting K-12 school districts. University of California President James Milliken said on Monday that the federal government has also launched investigations and other actions against all of the UC’s 10 campuses, but he offered no details in a statement. “This represents one of the gravest threats to the University of California in our 157-year history,” he said, adding that the university system receives more than $17 billion each year in federal support, including nearly $10 billion in Medicare and Medicaid funding, and funding that goes toward research and student financial aid.

Wall Street Journal [9/16/2025 5:36 PM, Staff, 646K] reports prosecutors charged Tyler Robinson on Tuesday with aggravated murder, among other charges, and what’s striking is how overwhelming the evidence appears. The alleged killer of Charlie Kirk seems to have planned and carried out his murder with cold and unremorseful (if also naive) calculation. Prosecutors released a slew of text messages and other evidence that suggest the 22-year-old targeted Kirk, and after the fact admitted to his parents and roommate that he was the killer. In one text exchange, his roommate who was also his romantic partner asks Mr. Robinson why he had shot Kirk. “I had enough of his hatred,” Mr. Robinson replied. “Some hate can’t be negotiated out.” Mr. Robinson allegedly said he had been planning the assassination for a week and allegedly used his grandfather’s rifle. “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it,” Mr. Robinson allegedly wrote in a note left under a keyboard in his apartment. Prosecutors say Mr. Robinson’s mother “explained that over the last year or so, Robinson had become more political and had started to lean more to the left—becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented.” Charlie Kirk was a critic of the trans movement’s political activism, especially regarding attempts to mandate such policies as athletes born as men competing in women sports. All of this suggests a political motivation rooted in gradual radicalization. This makes the murder all of the more chilling because the evidence doesn’t suggest some psychological break that often afflicts young men of his age.

USA Today [9/16/2025 6:02 AM, Juan Diaz, 64151K] reports for my family, birthright citizenship is deeply personal. I, my parents and most of my siblings were born in Ecuador and were undocumented after we arrived in the United States. But my youngest sister, Stephanie, was born here and automatically gained citizenship under the 14th Amendment. Since then, every member of my family, including me, has gained legal status and succeeded. Stephanie is now attending school as a nursing student serving the elderly. As for me, I work at Children’s Defense Fund–New York, having dedicated my life to supporting immigrant families and first-generation children like my sister. It’s a path I chose because of my family’s experiences. We worry about the future if the current administration’s efforts to end birthright citizenship succeed. Will stories like those of my sister be erased? My family knows from experience the stigma that undocumented people in this country face and how it can impact hopes for college and future advancement. Because she was born here, Stephanie didn’t have to fear for her future after high school, as many undocumented children do. She knew she could go to college and pursue her goals. She experienced a certainty and comfort that undocumented children do not have. In my case, for over two decades, I lacked economic mobility opportunities, emotional well-being and most important: hope! Upon adjusting my immigration status 12 years ago at the age of 35, I enrolled in college. I am now a four-year doctoral student in social welfare at the City University of New York Graduate Center and an adjunct professor at the Hunter Silberman School of Social Work.

San Francisco Chronicle [9/16/2025 7:00 AM, George Retes, 3790K] reports on July 10, I headed to my security guard job at a Camarillo (Ventura County) cannabis farm, not knowing that it was being raided by federal officials looking for immigration violations. A 25-year-old American citizen, father of two and an Army veteran who served a tour in Iraq, it didn’t occur to me that I was in any danger. As I approached the farm, a protest was underway, with cars bumper-to-bumper, and people walking along the sides of the street. Eventually, I came to a line of masked agents blocking the way. As a contractor, if I don’t make it to my job site, I don’t get paid. I got out of my car and tried to explain that I was a U.S. citizen and an Army veteran just trying to get to my job. They didn’t care. The Supreme Court recently permitted immigration agents to renew their aggressive tactics in California. To me, it feels like the system isn’t working. By letting masked agents stop people based on how they look, talk or where they work, protection has become persecution. I’m concerned that the court didn’t have a full view of what is happening in our state. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in his opinion that: "If the person is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.” My story shows that isn’t true. It would have taken them two minutes to check my papers and confirm that I was a citizen. Instead, they arrested me because I was there.

Blaze [9/16/2025 3:55 PM, Candace Hathaway, 1559K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested several illegal aliens on Monday who were previously convicted of "violent and heinous" crimes, according to a press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News. The Department of Homeland Security highlighted the arrest of five illegal immigrants: Gustavo Guzman-Galindo, Jose Rolando Aguirre-Garcia, Raul Castaneda-Parada, Luis Gilberto Rodriguez-Villalobos, and Jason Nathaniel Lewis. "Despite vile rhetoric about our ICE law enforcement officers, they continue to risk their lives every single day to arrest murderers, pedophiles, drug traffickers, and other violent criminals," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "Our ICE officers are facing a more than 1,000% increase in assaults against them as they carry out operations to remove criminal illegal aliens from American neighborhoods. Our brave law enforcement will not be deterred from enforcing the law and getting heinous criminals out of our country." "ICE will continue to enforce U.S. immigration laws to ensure criminal illegal aliens are identified, arrested, and removed, safeguarding communities across the nation," the DHS press release read.

AP [9/16/2025 9:15 AM, Ryan J. Foley, 37974K] reports days after an assailant’s bullet tore through two of his limbs, Felipe de Jesus Hernandez Marcelo hobbled out of the hospital on crutches. Hernandez had nearly died in the early morning of June 21 when, police say, a troubled young man shot him during an attempted robbery in Muscatine, Iowa. A quick emergency response saved his life, but the shooting left the 28-year-old father wounded where a bullet traveled through his arm and leg. Police had seized the car Hernandez was driving when he was shot and the $462 cash it contained as evidence. A friend took him to the police station to ask for his belongings on June 24 — not knowing the visit could mark the last time he enjoyed freedom in the United States. Hernandez is one of a growing number of crime victims and relatives who have been arrested and indefinitely detained pending removal proceedings during the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. In January, Immigration and Customs Enforcement rescinded a policy that had shielded many victims from detention and removal. The number of people applying for visas that allow some victims and their families to remain in the country has plummeted since then. Others are being detained as they go through the lengthy application process. Of those detained, many have been declared ineligible for release under another ICE policy change. Critics say the outcome is not only cruel to victims and their families but is harming public safety by making those who are in the U.S. illegally unlikely to report crimes and cooperate with police. “This type of thing is now the new normal. This scenario is happening every day in every city,” said Dan Kowalski, a retired attorney who has been an expert on immigration law for decades. “Any contact with any level or kind of state or federal law enforcement, civil or criminal, puts you in danger of detention by ICE.” ICE didn’t return messages seeking comment. Its new policy cites an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which calls for the “ total and efficient enforcement " of immigration laws. The number of applications for U visas dropped by nearly half in the quarter that ended in March, which included the first 2 ½ months of the second Trump administration, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigration lawyer Bethany Hoffmann said victims are rightly concerned that an application could put them on the government’s radar. She said one of her clients, whose wife had been a kidnapping victim, was arrested by ICE when he showed up to an appointment to be fingerprinted as part of the U visa application process.

New York Times [9/16/2025 10:00 AM, Emma Goldberg, 153395K] reports Daniel Cortes De La Valle had been in immigration detention for more than seven months — sleeping in dirty cells, being mocked by guards for his weight and being denied his epilepsy medication — when, in July 2023, he tried to hang himself. “‘I can’t anymore,’” Mr. Cortes De La Valle, 35, recalls thinking. “‘I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s like a horror movie.’” Officers at the facility, the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, La., soon placed Mr. Cortes De La Valle on suicide watch. This meant solitary confinement, where he fought off biting ants and endured black mold on the wall and feces in his cell, according to a complaint he later filed against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the staff at the detention center. The lights, kept on 24 hours a day, aggravated his seizure condition. In November 2023 he voluntarily accepted deportation to Colombia. In his complaint against ICE officials, he said that he attempted suicide four times during his year at the Jena facility, including twice that July. Last year, the Department of Homeland Security found that ICE and its contractor had discriminated against him. Since January, the Trump administration has been pursuing its promised campaign to deport tens of thousands of immigrants. More than 60,000 people were in detention as of August, many of them in overcrowded facilities where some detainees sleep on bare floors, eat rotten food and often cannot access the medicines they need, according to immigration lawyers. Watching from Colombia, where he now lives, Mr. Cortes De La Valle reflects on what he would tell detainees: “Don’t give in to the dark place.” The Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, said that suicides in D.H.S. custody were “tragic and rare.” She added, “When there are signs of a detainee being at risk for suicide, staff abides by strict prevention and intervention protocol to ensure the detainee’s health and well-being is protected.”

New York Post [9/16/2025 10:15 PM, Victor Nava, 43962K] reports more than 150,000 "patriotic Americans" have applied to work at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help the agency carry out migrant deportation arrests, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Tuesday. "ICE has received more than 150,000 applications from patriotic Americans who want to defend the homeland by removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from the U.S.," Noem said in a statement. "We have already issued more than 18,000 tentative job offers," the DHS chief added. "Americans are answering their country’s call to serve and help remove murderers, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists, and gang members from our country.” The enormous interest from Americans in joining the agency comes after anti-ICE protests — that often turned violent — swept the nation this summer in response to Trump’s surge in deportations and criminal migrant arrests. ICE launched a massive recruitment push in late July after his Big Beautiful Bill granted the agency $75 billion in extra funding to carry out the commander in chief’s crackdown on illegal immigration — including $30 billion for arrest and deportation efforts and $45 billion to expand detention capabilities. As part of the hiring spree, some top recruits have been offered lucrative, six-figure salaries to join ICE, The Post previously reported. Signing bonus of up to $50,000, student loan repayment and forgiveness, enhanced retirement benefits and "administratively uncontrollable overtime" for Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) Deportation Officers have also been offered as incentives for prospective ICE agents. The agency has focused on bringing former federal law enforcement officers — many of whom quit en masse during the Biden administration — back into the fold. ICE issued an "urgent call" to former officers back in July under a recruitment campaign dubbed "Operation Return to Mission.” Last month, Noem also announced that ICE was ending the age cap for new hires, which barred the agency from bringing on employees over the age of 37 or 40 for certain posts. ICE has conducted large-scale enforcement operations in several major US cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, DC, as part of Trump’s directive on illegal immigration. DHS recently kicked off Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago to target criminal illegal migrants who "flocked" to the Windy City and state of Illinois "because they knew [Democratic] Governor [JB] Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets," the department announced last week.

NewsMax [9/16/2025 2:33 PM, Jim Mishler, 4779K] reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently has made tentative job offers to more than 18,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) applicants. This follows earlier ICE reports that more than 150,000 people have applied to work with the agency. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a release that "Americans are answering their country’s call to serve and help remove murderers, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists, and gang members from our country.” ICE describes a "robust package" of benefits and incentives that applicants may be eligible for when looking at a job involving federal law enforcement. First on that list is a signing bonus of up to $50,000. Others include everything from student loan repayment and forgiveness options to enhanced retirement benefits. The Trump administration is especially interested in hiring people who may have retired from an enforcement-related position. "Your experience and unwavering commitment are critically needed to secure our communities and uphold our laws." ICE has sharply increased its enforcement operations under President Donald Trump, emphasizing the removal of what DHS calls the "worst of the worst" illegal aliens. Across the country, agents have also targeted alleged MS-13 operatives, child sex offenders, and others described as public safety threats. The agency has also moved to expand its detention infrastructure — planning tens of billions in contracts, including tent facilities and private operators — to accommodate more detainees as daily arrest targets rise.

AP [9/16/2025 3:07 pm, Leah Willingham, Michael Casey and Holly Ramer, 1648K] reports immigrants are being detained while going to work, outside courthouses, and at store parking lots in Metro Boston as President Donald Trump targets so-called sanctuary cities in his effort to ramp up immigration enforcement. As families hole up in homes — afraid to leave and risk detainment — advocates are reporting an increased presence of unmarked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles sitting in parking lots and other public areas throughout immigrant communities, where agents appeared to target work vans. One man captured a video of three landscapers who were working on the Saugus Town Hall property being arrested after agents smashed their truck window. Just north of Boston, the city of Everett canceled its annual Hispanic Heritage Month festival after its mayor said it wouldn’t be right to "hold a celebration at a time when community members may not feel safe attending." The actions have been praised by public officials like New Hampshire Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who signed legislation this year banning sanctuary city policies in her state, vowing not to let New Hampshire "go the way of Massachusetts." ICE this summer began utilizing a New Hampshire airport about an hour from Boston to transport New England detainees. However, others argue that ICE’s presence in Massachusetts is doing more harm than good. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the Boston surge would focus on "the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens" living in Massachusetts. "Sanctuary policies like those pushed by Mayor Wu not only attract and harbor criminals but protect them at the peril of law-abiding American citizens," she said in a press release early last week, which detailed the arrest of seven individuals by ICE, including a 38-year-old man from Guatemala who had previously been arrested on assault-related charges.

AP [9/16/2025 7:06 AM, Staff, 37974K] reports immigrants are being detained going to work, outside courthouses and shelters for the unhoused in the greater Boston area as President Donald Trump’s administration targets so-called sanctuary cities. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [9/16/2025 3:04 PM, Staff, 37974K] Video: HERE reports hundreds of activists, immigrants and their supporters gathered outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office to protest President Donald Trump’s intensifying immigration enforcement in sanctuary cities like Boston.

NewsMax.com [9/16/2025 3:42 PM, Staff, 4779K] reports federal authorities announced Monday the dismantling of an MS-13 cell operating in Nashville, Tennessee, following a nine-month investigation that led to multiple arrests and drug seizures. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, agents executed a series of court-authorized search warrants across the Nashville metropolitan area earlier in the day. At least 17 alleged MS-13 members and associates were taken into custody across Tennessee, California, and Oklahoma. Authorities also seized marijuana, counterfeit pills, cocaine, THC vapes, liquid psilocybin, and several firearms, including assault rifles. The Nashville operation involved multiple agencies, including the Army Criminal Investigation Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the FBI; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; and local police and task forces.

CBS Miami [9/16/2025 2:55 PM, Julia Falcon, 45245K] reports an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was injured in Homestead on Monday when a driver slammed his car into the officer during a traffic stop, then sped off before being caught, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Thee officer was conducting a traffic stop in Homestead when the suspect, Henry Isaul Garcia, put his car in reverse, hitting the ICE agent in the leg and "nearly crushing him," a DHS press release said. After crashing into multiple ICE vehicles, the driver sped off into incoming traffic and collided with a black utility van. Garcia and three other men got out of the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot, DHS said. ICE officers responded to the scene and detained the men, who were all in the U.S. illegally, according to DHS. The men were taken to a local hospital for evaluation and have since been discharged and are in ICE custody. They face removal proceedings, DHS said.

Telemundo 51 [9/16/2025 11:54 AM, Briana Trujillo, 144K] reports that four men without legal permanent status were arrested after allegedly attempting to flee from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), striking an officer and causing an accident in Homestead on Sunday, authorities said. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that the incident began with a traffic stop, when one of the suspects, Henry Isaul Garcia, "put his car in reverse, striking an ICE officer in the leg, nearly crushing him." Garcia crashed into several ICE vehicles before exiting into "oncoming traffic" and eventually colliding with a black van at Northwest Second Avenue (NW) and Northwest Eighth Street, DHS and Homestead officials said. Garcia and three other men, identified as Ruben Sales Garcia, Marlon Gomez Hernandez, and Jorge Perez Martin, then got out of the car and tried to flee on foot, authorities said. ICE officers were eventually able to detain the men. "ICE officers responded to the scene of the vehicle accident, rendered aid, and detained the dangerous illegal aliens. All illegal aliens were transported to a local hospital for evaluation, released, and are now in ICE custody, pending removal proceedings," DHS said. The officer who was struck is in stable condition. According to DHS, all the men had entered the United States illegally. In its announcement, DHS pointed to lawmakers who "held webinars and provided resources and tips on how to openly challenge ICE." "The violence against our brave ICE law enforcement officers must end. This is the second incident in a week in which an officer was injured while arresting an illegal alien. This type of rhetoric is contributing to our ICE officers facing a more than 1,000% increase in assaults against them. It’s time to tone down the rhetoric," Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the press release.

Florida Voice [9/16/2025 12:34 PM, Amber Jo Cooper] reports a Florida Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was injured after an illegal alien allegedly tried to evade arrest, sparking a car chase that ended in a crash involving multiple vehicles, authorities said. Henry Isaul Garcia, an illegal alien from Guatemala, was arrested after allegedly trying to evade arrest during a traffic stop, according to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security. Garcia reportedly put his car in reverse and hit an ICE Officer, then sped into oncoming traffic and crashed into a black utility van. The suspects attempted to flee on foot and were arrested. Three additional illegal aliens were arrested with Garcia: Ruben Sales Garcia, Marlon Gomez Hernandez, and Jorge Perez Martin, the announcement said. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the violence against our ICE law enforcement “must come to an end.” “This is the second incident in a week where an officer was injured while arresting an illegal alien. This type of rhetoric is contributing to our ICE officers facing a more than 1,000% increase in assaults against them. It is time to tone down the rhetoric,” she said.

NBC News [9/17/2025 5:00 AM, Laura Strickler and Selina Guevara, 40019K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were involved in the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas González in Chicago last week were not wearing body cameras at the time, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official. In the wake of the shooting, immigration advocates, family members and local elected officials had called for ICE to release body camera footage as well as any photos. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, called for ICE to turn over any pictures or video from the fatal shooting and at a press event on Monday reacted to what he said was a lack of information about the incident, saying, “This is the most unusual situation I’ve seen in my entire lifetime, where we have no transparency and the federal government is not policing itself.” Villegas González, a 38-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico who was described by family as a “devoted father, cherished friend and kind soul,” was killed Friday morning in Franklin Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. According to ICE, officers pulled Villegas González over, but he resisted arrest and attempted to flee the scene. As his car moved forward, an ICE officer standing by the passenger side of Villegas-Gonzalez’s car was dragged, surveillance footage from a nearby business broadcast by CBS News shows. ICE says the officer feared for his life and discharged his weapon, killing Villegas González. ICE said the officer who was dragged was left with serious injuries but was in stable condition on Friday. ICE has also said he had a history of reckless driving; he had no criminal history, however.

Chicago Tribune [9/16/2025 9:46 PM, Adriana Pérez, 5352K] reports that, on their youngest son’s 10th birthday, federal immigration agents detained a couple who immigrated from Mexico and have lived in Cicero for 18 years, family and lawyers said Tuesday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Moises Enciso Trejo, 41, and Constantina Ramírez Meraz, 43, during a traffic stop Sunday at Cicero Avenue and Pershing Road on the Chicago-Cicero border. They had been driving with one of their four children, their eldest son, to his university to drop off school materials and later meet the rest of the family in church. "The children are heartbroken and devastated by these arrests," said Shelby Vcelka, managing partner at Victory Law Office, which is representing the Enciso-Ramírez family. "They are deeply concerned about the well-being of their parents and want them to come home." The son, 22, was also detained but released two hours later, according to Vcelka. Citizenship requests for the eldest son and a daughter, 19, under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are currently pending approval, the family said. A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately return a request for comment. Viral videos shared on social media showed the daughter and two underage siblings - both U.S. citizens, according to the family - on the scene as well. Lawyers later clarified that the three of them had not been in the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop, but rather showed up shortly afterward when they received a call with "the unthinkable news" about the arrests, Vcelka said. According to a family statement, the ICE agents pressured the younger siblings, 12 and 10, with questions and, without verifying her age, they handed the car keys to the older sister, leaving her and the children with two abandoned vehicles on the side of the road. "Their 10-year-old son watched helplessly as his parents were taken away on his birthday - a day meant for joy, not fear," the statement reads. "Moises Enciso and Constantina Ramírez do not have a criminal background. They are beloved parents and valuable members of the community." A search of court records for Cook and collar counties did not turn up any criminal history for anyone with matching birthdays named Enciso Trejo and Ramírez Meraz. Family said that Ramírez, the mother, works at a local restaurant, and that Enciso, the father, is a construction worker known to be friendly and outgoing among neighbors. He was anxiously waiting to reunite with his mother, who was going to visit from Mexico for the first time in two decades, this coming Sunday - plans that, like his son’s birthday celebration, were also put on hold when Enciso was taken into custody. "The uncertainty and fear of not knowing when their parents will be released has been agonizing," the family statement said. According to lawyers, the children are currently under the care of relatives. "Our office will pursue every available option to fight for Moises and Constantina’s release and to protect their rights under the law," Vcelka said.

Univision [9/16/2025 10:17 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports that, due to recent ICE raids in West Chicago, some undocumented parents are choosing not to send their children to school for fear of being detained while their children are studying. In response to this situation, schools in the city have implemented a new protocol to reassure parents and ensure student attendance. Here’s what it entails. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [9/16/2025 6:00 AM, Douglas MacMillan, Samuel Oakford, N. Kirkpatrick, and Aaron Schaffer, 29079K] reports when the first immigrants arrived at their new detention quarters at a Texas military base this summer, they were marched onto an active construction site. Dust swirled and excavators hummed as contractors raced to build the tent encampment, where development had begun just two weeks earlier and would go on for months. Locked up in the unfinished facility, migrants were subjected to conditions that violated at least 60 federal standards for immigrant detention, the detention oversight unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement found earlier this month in a contractually required inspection. The detention center at Fort Bliss, called Camp East Montana, failed to properly monitor and treat some detainees’ medical conditions, lacked basic procedures for keeping guards and detainees safe and for weeks did not provide many of them a way to contact lawyers, learn about their cases or file complaints, according to a copy of the inspection report obtained by The Washington Post. The ICE inspection report, which is not public and has not been previously reported, raises significant new concerns about the safety of workers and detainees at one of the Trump Administration’s marquee immigration projects. Expected to hold up to 2,700 migrants at a time this month and as many as 5,000 by the end of the year, officials have publicly described Camp East Montana as the prototype for a new breed of large-scale holding facilities that will help ICE achieve its goal of doubling the nation’s detention capacity by the end of the year. “There is no way that this facility should be operating with their current numbers, let alone expanding,” said Michelle Brané, the former head of the federal Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman under President Joe Biden, after reviewing a copy of the report provided by The Post. She called it among the most concerning detention center audits she had ever seen and said the violations “will directly affect safety in very serious ways.”

Telemundo 48 El Paso [9/16/2025 3:49 PM, Claudia Moreno, 6K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that 64-year-old Hector Rodolfo De La Torre was taken into custody and released his official photograph. According to court records, he faces criminal charges dating back to 1985 related to injuries to a child. A man known for selling burritos and sodas in downtown El Paso for more than a decade. The news went viral on social media, where neighbors and regular customers expressed their dismay and support for the street vendor. His record includes serious crimes, which led to his arrest. He is currently being held at the El Paso Processing Center, a facility that houses detained immigrants awaiting trial or deportation. De La Torre has a court hearing scheduled for October 21, 2025, where the legal outcome of his case will be determined. Meanwhile, his situation has sparked a debate in the community about social reintegration, ICE’s role in old cases, and the impact of these actions on people who have lived in the region for years without recent incidents.

Axios [9/16/2025 8:20 AM, Mitchell Byars, 14595K] reports until June, Boulder police shared license plate data with a national network accessed by U.S. Border Patrol and other ICE-linked agencies, according to records newly reviewed by the Boulder Reporting Lab. As license plate reading systems have spread in Boulder County and beyond, they have sparked concerns about mass surveillance and invasion of privacy, particularly in connection with immigration enforcement. The Boulder Reporting Lab newly reported that up until June, the city’s data was searchable via Flock’s national network, something Boulder police have also publicly acknowledged. Boulder resident Will Freeman, founder of the advocacy group Deflock, brought up the issue with City Council in January, prompting a line of inquiry between council members and the police department about the sharing policy. Boulder police on their website said they now block non-Colorado agencies from using the lookup feature. The department also instituted a feature that blocks data searches "for reasons that violate Colorado law and/or department’s internal policies and commitment to the Boulder community, such as searches for reasons relating to immigration."

Boulder police have since added a list of the Colorado agencies that have access to their Flock data.

FOX News [9/16/2025 6:17 PM, Emma Bussey, 40019K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) blasted open border policies after a four-time deportee was convicted of murdering a Tacoma auto dealer. A Pierce County jury in Washington state found Jerry Espana-Davila guilty on July 30 of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder (to merge at sentencing) and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. ICE confirmed that Mexican national Espana-Davila entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown date and was deported four times. His criminal record reportedly dates back to 2000, including charges of DUI, negligent driving and multiple assaults. Washington’s sanctuary policies shield illegal immigrants from ICE, effectively making the state a haven for them. "Jerry Espana-Davila illegally entered the country at an unknown date and time. He’s been removed FOUR times — once in 2005, twice in 2007 and once in 2010," an ICE spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "Open border policies allowed this criminal illegal alien to repeatedly illegally enter our country and terrorize American citizens.” Already barred from possessing firearms because of a prior felony conviction, Espana-Davila was still able to obtain a weapon. According to Pierce County prosecutors, Espana-Davila stalked his latest victim, the 45-year-old auto dealer, before gunning him down Feb. 19, 2024.

New York Times [9/16/2025 8:20 AM, Paul Sonne and Milana Mazaeva, 153395K] reports Artyom Vovchenko had been conscripted into the Russian military, escaped in opposition to the war in Ukraine and ultimately made it to the United States, a country he hoped would offer him asylum and a new life. But last month, he found himself on a layover at the airport in Cairo, frantically trying to avoid boarding a flight to Moscow. The United States was deporting him alongside dozens of other Russians after rejecting his pleas. As the Egyptian authorities boarded the final people onto the deportation flight, Mr. Vovchenko, 26, loitered in the restroom, possibly hoping he could resist, abscond or somehow be forgotten. He had no such luck. Egyptian guards pulled him out of the bathroom and roughed him up, leaving him with an injury on his forehead. They marched him onto the flight and to the back of the cabin, tying him to a middle seat. The plane soon began gliding toward Moscow. Mr. Vovchenko cried for much of the flight. He knew what would come next. Mr. Vovchenko’s plight represents a new reality for Russians who are struggling to persuade American judges to allow them to stay in the United States on account of their political or religious views. As President Trump accelerates deportations, some are being sent back to Russia, despite facing imprisonment or worse at home.

CNN [9/16/2025 5:15 PM, Jennifer Hansler, 23245K] reports the State Department has "most certainly been denying visas" to people "celebrating" the murder of Charlie Kirk, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. The top US diplomat’s comments come amid broader threats by the Trump administration to punish alleged "hate speech" after the killing of the president’s ally last week. The moves have raised questions about whether they are legal under the First Amendment’s freedom of speech protections. The administration has already been aggressive in its policies to revoke and deny visas, blocking students tied to protests against the war in Gaza, most individuals holding a Palestinian Authority passport, and members of the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said last week he had directed consular officials, who are involved in adjudicating visas, to "take appropriate action" against people "praising, rationalizing, or making light of" Kirk’s death. He instructed the consular officials to monitor the comments on social media claiming to identify such individuals. Rubio, in remarks before departing Israel Tuesday morning local time, claimed that the policy "isn’t just about Charlie Kirk.” "If you’re a foreigner and you’re out there celebrating the assassination of someone who was speaking somewhere, I mean, we don’t want you in the country," he said. "Why would we want to give a visa to someone who think it’s good that someone was murdered in the public square? That’s just common sense to me," he continued. Rubio did not provide details of how many visas had been denied, how the State Department decided they were "celebrating" Kirk’s death, or the authority that was used to block them.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [9/16/2025 10:04 AM, Max Rego, 12414K]
Daily Caller [9/16/2025 1:51 PM, Derek Vanbuskirk, 985K]

Reuters [9/16/2025 10:43 AM, Staff, 20690K] reports the United States has fully restored Hungary’s status in its visa waiver program after the Hungarian government took steps to address security vulnerabilities, the Trump administration said on Tuesday. The decision is one of the first tangible signs of improved relations between the U.S. and Hungarian governments under President Donald Trump’s administration. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long been a Trump ally. The Visa Waiver Program permits citizens from about 40 countries to travel to the United States for stays of up to 90 days without a visa. In 2021, the U.S. Homeland Security Department revoked already-issued electronic approvals of all Hungarian passport holders born outside of Hungary and continued to deny new applications to Hungarian applicants born outside of Hungary. In August 2023, the Biden Administration reduced the validity period for Hungarian travelers from two years to one year, while also limiting electronic approvals to a single use. "Now that the government of Hungary has taken action requested by the U.S. government to address security vulnerabilities, the restrictions imposed by the previous administration have been lifted," DHS said on Tuesday.

Telemundo51 [9/16/2025 5:04 PM, Arly Alfaro, 144K] reports many Nicaraguans and Hondurans who were protected by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for years now face not only the expiration of this program, but also the suspension of their Social Security benefits, a situation that profoundly affects retirees who depend on these incomes. Edgardo Gómez, retired for six years, described with concern how a few days ago he received a letter from the Social Security Administration notifying him that he would no longer receive his benefits. These benefits, which were his main source of income since she stopped working, are now suspended due to the loss of legal immigration status following the cancellation of TPS. Their situation is similar to that of other Hondurans who worked and lived in the United States for years under TPS protection and are now facing the same difficulties.

Telemundo Washington DC [9/16/2025 5:07 PM, Eduardo Orbea, 46K] reports the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has a significant backlog in adjudicating cases, from permanent residency to citizenship and work permits. The total number of pending applications at the agency is approximately 11.3 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, representing a record for the agency. This crisis includes 34,000 "unopened cases," meaning applications that have not even been entered into the processing system. This means that each request has a significant delay, depending on the type of case.

Washington Examiner [9/16/2025 6:15 PM, Ross O’Keefe, 1563K] reports a Maryland court granted a Justice Department motion to denaturalize convicted sex offender Jorge Antonio Graciano Lara. The court ruled that Graciano Lara "lacked the requisite good moral character to naturalize due to his crimes" and lied on immigration papers. Graciano Lara previously pleaded guilty in Maryland state court to having vaginal intercourse with a minor and has a prior September 2017 conviction for second-degree rape. He had sexual intercourse with the victim several times over a four-year period, the Department of Justice said. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner that the DOJ will continue trying to denaturalize criminals. "American citizenship is a sacred privilege that this monster should never have obtained," Bondi said. "This Department of Justice will continue working to denaturalize criminals like these who lie about their past actions to take advantage of our immigration system.” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division added that "sex offenders who try to naturalize by hiding their unlawful acts from immigration officials must learn that if the United States finds out, the government will come after their citizenship.” The case was part of Operation Prison Lookout, a plan to denaturalize criminals. The DOJ said in a June memo that it would prioritize denaturalizing criminals to prevent them from receiving the continued benefits of U.S. naturalization.

Reported similarly:
Telemundo [9/16/2025 5:42 PM, Staff, 2782K]

Stars and Stripes [9/16/2025 3:45 PM, Staff, 1100K] reports Customs and Border Protection was formally welcomed Friday to Fort Anderson-Pinn-Hill in Bowling Green, Va., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the agency’s new training facility on the installation. The CBP’s Special Response Team is taking over as the full-time tenant of the facility, which until now had been used to train various military units and once hosted the Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Group before it inactivated in 2021, according to an Army news release. The immigration agency’s SRT specializes in high-risk situations and unique detention operations, but until Friday, the release said, it did not have a dedicated training facility. “This will undoubtably enhance CBP’s and the Department of War’s commitment to national security through the development of special operations,” said the SRT’s commander, Kevin Green, according to the release.

Breitbart [9/16/2025 9:28 PM, Staff, 2608K] reports U.S. border agents say they recently uncovered more than a half-million dollars in heroin near Laredo at America’s southern border. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said Tuesday that CBP officers on Sunday at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge seized more than $557,000 worth in heroin concealed inside a vehicle at the Laredo Port of Entry in Texas. “Our frontline CBP officers continue to apply their inspection skills together with the latest technology, and that combination yielded this significant hard narcotics interception,” said Port Director Alberto Flores. A 63-year-old unidentified male Mexican citizen driving a 2008 Chrysler Voyager was referred for a second look by border officials. It was then that a canine unit uncovered 12 packages of the illicit drug, which had a total weight just a little more than 29 pounds. Experts say the find had an estimated street value of about $557,200. Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested the unnamed driver, and CBP officers in Laredo then took the narcotics for testing and impounded the vehicle. Meanwhile, a criminal investigation is underway. “Seizures like these exemplify our steadfast commitment to CBP’s border security mission,” Flores of the Laredo Port added Tuesday in a statement.

Axios [9/16/2025 9:20 AM, Melissa Santos, 14595K] reports like a lot of Canadians, Jorge Aranda stopped coming to the United States this year. "I don’t want to pretend that everything’s OK," he tells Axios. Many international travelers say they’re put off by tariffs, the Trump administration’s anti-foreigner rhetoric and aggressive immigration enforcement, leading to a tourism slump that’s dragging on local economies, Axios’ Emily Peck reports. The change has been evident along Washington state’s border with Canada. In August, personal vehicle crossings from the Vancouver, B.C., area into northwest Washington state were down 39% year over year, according to the Whatcom Council of Governments. That followed a 28% year-over-year decline in July, per the group’s analysis of Washington state and B.C. transportation agency data. Many Canadians, like Aranda, are offended by the president’s talk of making their country the 51st state. "I thought we were friends, and you’re talking about annexing us?" the 48-year-old said. Some potential travelers are also concerned about reports of tourists being detained by ICE. "We understand the reports of Canadian travelers adjusting their plans due to the current political situation," Michelle McKenzie, marketing director for State of Washington Tourism, said in a written statement shared with Axios. "We want to emphasize that Washington remains a welcoming destination for all travelers from Canada and beyond." Canadians are also steering clear of other U.S. states. All told, visits from our northern neighbors to the U.S. are down 25% year to date, according to travel research firm Tourism Economics. Overall, the U.S. could see 8.2% fewer international arrivals in 2025, with overseas visits forecasted to be well below 2019 levels, the firm said.

AP [9/16/2025 5:33 PM, Christine Fernando and Sophia Tareen, 1648K] reports the Border Patrol agent who has broken norms leading an immigration crackdown in Los Angeles reached Chicago on Tuesday, potentially signaling a new, more aggressive phase to an enforcement surge announced last week in the nation’s third-largest city. “Well, Chicago, we’ve arrived!” Gregory Bovino said in an X post that included a stylized video of Customs and Border Protection vehicles driving into the city along with agents walking in slow motion amid picturesque downtown shots. “Operation At Large is here to continue the mission we started in Los Angeles.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also in Chicago, saying Department of Homeland Security officers made multiple arrests early Tuesday. She posted videos of armed agents in camouflage military-style gear leading people in handcuffs from a residence. “Our work is only beginning,” she said on X. For weeks, President Donald Trump has promised — with threats of apocalyptic force — that Chicago would see a surge in immigration enforcement and National Guard troops over the objections of local leaders and residents. Immigrant rights activists and Illinois lawmakers have noted a recent uptick in immigration enforcement agents as Trump targets Democratic strongholds. However, Trump has seesawed on sending a military deployment to Chicago. After saying he’d focus on other cities, Trump said Tuesday that Chicago would see a deployment soon. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat and frequent Trump critic who has objected to any federal intervention, dismissed the Republican president’s latest statements about Chicago. “It’s hard to believe anything he says,” Pritzker told reporters. Officials did not answer questions about the focus or size of immigration enforcement in Chicago. Neither did a spokesman for a military base outside Chicago that has agreed to provide limited logistical support to federal agents. “Teams have spread across Chicago to go after targets,” Bovino told The Associated Press. He said Noem observed a 5:30 a.m. raid that resulted in five arrests. They included one U.S. citizen, Chicago news outlets reported. Joe Botello, 37 said he was briefly detained after telling agents who showed up at his Elgin home early Tuesday he was a U.S. citizen and had identification, according to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. Brandon Lee, a spokesman for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said the arrests weren’t about keeping the community safe. “Secretary Noem’s Elgin photo-op put the cruelty of ICE on full display, forcibly removing people from their home and disrupting daily life for citizens and noncitizens alike,” he said.

Breitbart [9/16/2025 1:02 PM, John Casaretti, 2608K] reports that over a thousand, and possibly many thousands, of suspected terrorists entered the United States from 2021 to 2024 under the Biden open border policies. Aviation remains a preferred, high reward target for those plotting an attack, and since September 11, 2001, Federal Air Marshals have been tasked with countering this imminent threat. With a $700-800 million-dollar yearly budget, the American public has invested upwards of $18 billion over the past 22 years for the Federal Air Marshal Service to provide inflight security, identify threats to aviation, and generally harden the aviation target. Sadly, we did not get what we paid for. Under Transportation Security Administration (TSA) mismanagement, the Air Marshal Service is only a shadow of what it should be. TSA policies have diluted Air Marshal readiness and eroded their vital antiterrorism mission. TSA decisions have taken Air Marshals out of the air and airports, sacrificing their critical law enforcement mission to support TSA initiatives. Pulling resources away from the single law enforcement organization charged with protecting our nation’s aviation domain is an error that cannot continue. There is a way forward, and it begins with getting the Air Marshals out of TSA.

Bloomberg [9/17/2025 3:33 AM, Julie Johnsson, 19085K] reports a Spirit Airlines Inc. passenger jet got a little too close for comfort with a Boeing Co. 747 jumbo ferrying US President Donald Trump to London on Tuesday as the aircraft traveled through New York’s famously congested skies. Air Force One and Spirit Flight 1300, an Airbus SE A321 jet bound from Fort Lauderdale to Boston, were heading over Long Island when an air traffic controller noticed their altitudes were similar and flight paths converging. He tried to alert the Spirit pilots to change their course. While the aircraft remained miles apart and were never in danger of exceeding safety thresholds, the encounter attracted attention on social media both for the famous presidential aircraft — and the increasingly testy radio reprimands by the New York-based controller. Trump arrived in the London late Tuesday for a state visit that includes a meeting with King Charles at Windsor Castle and expected plans by US companies to spend tens of billions of dollars on technology infrastructure in the UK. The encounter with the Spirit jet was first posted first by the @JonNYC account on the Bluesky media app. The audio was shared by @thenewarea51 on X. Bloomberg News wasn’t able to verify the audio with the original air traffic control recording. “Pay attention, Spirit 1300, turn 20 degrees right,” the controller repeated after the airline crew didn’t respond to his initial message. “Spirit 1300, turn 20 degrees RIGHT NOW.” Raising his voice again, the controller commanded: “Spirit Wings 1300 turn 20 degrees RIGHT. IMMEDIATELY.” Finally the Spirit pilots acknowledged the routing change. “Spirit 1300, traffic’s off your left wing by 6 miles, or 8 miles. 747. I’m sure you can see who it is,” the controller said, referring to the dusty blue Air Force One aircraft. “I’ll keep an eye out for him, he’s white and blue.” And the New York controller had one final admonishment to the Spirit crew: “Pay attention! Get off the iPad!”

The Hill [9/16/2025 11:15 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12414K] reports President Trump and Vice President Vance will deliver remarks this Sunday at the memorial service for the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA announced Tuesday. Trump and Vance, who previously confirmed they would be attending the memorial, will be joined by a slate of other high-profile figures announced as speakers at the massive gathering. Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, will deliver remarks at the memorial. Other speakers from the Trump administration include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and White House Office of Presidential Personnel Director Sergio Gor. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., are also slated to give remarks. The event website says more names will be announced. The memorial will take place at State Farm Stadium, where the Arizona Cardinals football team plays and which can hold more than 63,000 people. Event admission is on a first-come, first-served basis and is dependent on stadium capacity, according to the event page, where the public is encouraged to register ahead of time for the event. Doors to Sunday’s event will open at 8 a.m. local time, and the program is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. local time. The dress code is listed as "Sunday Best- Red, White, or Blue.” Kirk was shot and killed last Wednesday while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Late Thursday, authorities arrested a 22-year-old Utah resident, Tyler Robinson, on suspicion of murdering Kirk. Utah is seeking the death penalty against Robinson, unveiling seven charges Tuesday, including one of aggravated murder. Trump told reporters Sunday that he will attend Kirk’s memorial. The conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder was a close ally of the administration. "A very sad weekend. We lost a great person," Trump said. "I’ll be going on early Sunday morning. We’re going to Arizona, taking some people with us, on Air Force One.” The president also said on Thursday that he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Axios [9/16/2025 1:22 PM, Sam Sabin, 14595K] reports that all eyes are on the government’s short-term federal funding deal as efforts to renew a decade-old cyber threat information-sharing program have hit major roadblocks. Why it matters: The law underpins cyber threat coordination between the federal government and the private sector by providing liability protections for companies sharing threat intelligence with the government. Lawmakers and cybersecurity companies fear a last-minute legislative push to completely overhaul the program will delay reauthorization and cause it to expire on Sept. 30. Driving the news: Senate Homeland Security Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is drafting a bill that would renew the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 for two years. The bill is slated for consideration in the committee on Thursday. According to draft language first reported by Politico and also obtained by Axios, the bill would remove liability protections for companies if their security incidents are found to have violated their own user agreements and privacy policies. The draft also removes the explicit protections that exempt shared threat intelligence from FOIA laws. Companies would also be required to notify customers within 30 days if their personal data was included in these shared threat indicators. State of play: With exactly two weeks until the law expires, Paul has yet to formally introduce his bill. His office did not respond to a request for comment. Zoom in: Industry stakeholders are in an uproar over the last-minute changes — especially after House Republicans and a bipartisan pair of senators already introduced bills that would renew the program with few changes.

CyberScoop [9/16/2025 3:30 PM, Tim Starks] reports FBI cyber division cuts under President Donald Trump will reduce personnel there by half, a top Democratic senator warned Tuesday, while FBI Director Kash Patel countered that arrests and convictions have risen under the Trump administration. A contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing dominated by clashes over political violence, Patel’s leadership and accusations about the politicization of the bureau nonetheless saw senators probing the FBI’s performance on cybersecurity. “My office received information that cuts to the bureau’s cyber division will cut personnel by half despite the ever-increasing threat posed by adverse foreign actors,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the panel. The Trump administration has proposed a $500 million cut for the FBI in fiscal 2026. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said that as the FBI has shifted personnel toward immigration and politically motivated investigations like the Tesla task force, it has undercut other missions. “It has an impact on other priorities, like nation-state threats and ransomware investigations,” he said. Padilla was one of several Senate Democrats, like Cory Booker of New Jersey and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, who said the FBI’s cyber mission was suffering because its personnel were being directed elsewhere. Patel told Hirono that the FBI’s cyber branch was one of the bureau’s “most impressive” units, and that it had made 409 arrests, a 42% increase compared to the same period last year, and garnered 169 convictions. As Padilla questioned him about the FBI’s mission to protect against election interference and the Justice Department ending the Foreign Influence Task Force, Patel answered that the FBI did not “in any way divert or reallocate resources from that critical mission set.” He said it was still working on it through its cyber programs, which had seen a “40, 50, 60%” increase in arrests in cyber threat cases involving critical infrastructure and interference with elections.

US News & World Report [9/16/2025 2:05 PM, A.J. Vicens, 20690K] reports that Microsoft Inc said on Tuesday that it seized nearly 340 websites tied to a rapidly growing Nigerian-based service that allowed users to carry out phishing operations that stole at least 5,000 Microsoft user credentials. Microsoft obtained an order from the U.S. District Court in Manhattan earlier this month to seize domains associated with Raccoon0365, the subscription service that allowed users to carry out massive phishing campaigns, which sometimes involved thousands of emails at a time, according to Steven Masada, assistant general counsel for Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit. Raccoon0365’s service, which operates through a private Telegram channel with more than 850 subscribers, enables users to impersonate trusted brands and get targets to enter Microsoft login credentials on phony Microsoft login pages, Masada said in a blog posted on Microsoft’s website. The service has generated for its small group of operators at least $100,000 in cryptocurrency payments since launching in July 2024, Masada said in the blog. Microsoft said the seizure of the websites occurred over a period of days earlier this month. Microsoft identified Nigeria-based Joshua Ogundipe as the leader and main operator of Raccoon0365. Ogundipe did not immediately respond to an email request for comment sent to the email address identified by Microsoft in its court filing.

CyberScoop [9/16/2025 2:30 PM, Matt Kapko] reports Apple’s latest operating systems for its most popular devices — iPhones, iPads and Macs — include patches for multiple vulnerabilities, but the company didn’t issue any warnings about active exploitation. Apple patched 27 defects with the release of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 and 77 vulnerabilities with the release of macOS 26, including some bugs that affected software across all three devices. Apple’s new operating systems, which are now numbered for the year of their release, were published Monday as the company prepares to ship new iPhones later this week. Users that don’t want to upgrade to the latest versions, which adopt a translucent design style Apple dubs “liquid glass,” can patch the most serious vulnerabilities by updating to iOS 18.7 and iPad 18.7 or macOS 15.7. Most Apple devices released in 2019 or earlier are not supported by the latest operating systems. None of the vulnerabilities Apple disclosed this week appear to be under active attack, Dustin Childs, head of threat awareness at Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative, told CyberScoop.

CyberScoop [9/16/2025 5:25 PM, Greg Otto] reports a man who pleaded guilty in 2023 for charges related to his work as founder and operator of the notorious BreachForums website was resentenced Tuesday to three years in prison after having his initial sentence overturned in January. Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, 22, operated BreachForums — once regarded as the largest English-language cybercrime marketplace — under the alias “Pompompurin.” The forum allowed users to purchase, sell, and exchange hacked or stolen data and other illicit materials, including child sexual abuse material, federal authorities said. Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty in July 2023 to conspiracy to commit access device fraud, solicitation concerning fraudulent access devices, and possession of child sexual abuse material. Prosecutors from the Eastern District of Virginia originally sought nearly 16 years of imprisonment for the defendant. However, Fitzpatrick was initially given a sentence of 17 days — time served — along with 20 years of supervised release. Court records reveal that the lenient sentence considered mitigating circumstances, including Fitzpatrick’s autism diagnosis and his youth. The sentencing memo noted that even while legal proceedings were ongoing, Fitzpatrick violated the court’s terms by using a VPN to access online chatrooms via Discord. In those environments, he challenged the legitimacy of his guilty plea, expressed regret over not contesting the charges, and made statements trivializing the sale of sensitive data to foreign interests. Reaction to these post-plea actions was swift from prosecutors, who appealed the sentence. U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, writing the opinion to vacate the original sentence, described Fitzpatrick’s behavior as demonstrating “a lack of remorse,” noting that the district court “never addressed the seriousness of his crimes or explained how its sentence fulfilled” the legal requirements.

CBS News [9/17/2025 2:14 AM, Kati Weis, 45245K] reports an international cybercrime group is claiming responsibility for hacking the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office and holding its tech system for ransom. Hackers breached the office’s system about three weeks ago, according to a source close to the sheriff’s office, and Louisiana and New Orleans cybersecurity specialists have been in the city trying to resolve the problem. The source tells CBS News the office and state are refusing to pay the ransom. There was no word on how much the group is demanding. In a post on the dark web obtained by the CBS News Confirmed team the group, called Qilin, says it carried out the ransomware attack. According to screenshots from the group’s post, Qilin hackers have obtained contracts, inmate intake documents and expense information. The information posted so far doesn’t appear to be sensitive, and the OSPO stresses that no jail security operations have been impacted. The CBS News Confirmed team found the total volume of the alleged hack is 842 gigabytes — enough to hold 42,000 average-sized 20mb pdfs. The sheriff’s office says the attack has affected its "DocketMaster" system, which manages inmate transfers to and from jail for court appearances and manages inmate releases on bail. One woman in New Orleans, who didn’t want her name published, told CBS New Orleans affiliate WWL-TV she was frustrated after her husband wasn’t released from jail last week even though she paid his bond. "I have two sons, four and six (years old). They miss their dad," she said. "I did everything on my end to ensure that he comes home, so I feel like once everything is paid, everything is done, it shouldn’t be no hold up." OPSO officials say they’re using a manual workaround of the DocketMaster system outage. "Out of an abundance of caution and to ensure continuity of service, OPSO has developed a temporary workaround," a spokesperson wrote in a news release Monday. "Anyone needing information normally accessed through DocketMaster should call Jail Communications at (504) 202-9386 for assistance." The source close to the sheriff’s office said the attack stems from malware it got from another law enforcement agency via email. The FBI warned of increasing malware attacks in March after a media company was attacked in a similar fashion. According to a cybersecurity firm called Recorded Future — cyberattacks exposing vulnerabilities are up 16% this year over last and the majority involve malware. And an FBI report says about 5.5% of ransomware incidents in 2023 involved government infrastructure. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Blaze [9/16/2025 9:45 AM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1559K] reports President Donald Trump signaled on Monday that Antifa militants might soon find themselves designated as domestic terrorists. When asked about such a designation in the wake of his friend Charlie Kirk’s assassination by a coward whose ammunition was reportedly engraved with Antifa slogans, the president said, "It’s something I would do, yeah." "I would do that 100% — and others also, by the way," continued Trump. "But Antifa is terrible." Trump indicated that Attorney General Pam Bondi would likely need to get the ball rolling on the designation and noted that they have been discussing possibly bringing racketeering charges against liberal groups that back similar stripes of leftist extremists. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller made clear in his Monday conversation with Vice President JD Vance on "The Charlie Kirk Show" that "we are going to channel all of the anger that we have over the organized campaign that led to this assassination to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks.” "We are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people," added Miller.

Washington Post [9/16/2025 10:13 AM, Shayna Jacobs, 29079K] reports Luigi Mangione will not go on trial for state terrorism charges in connection with the ambush-style killing late last year of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge in Manhattan ruled Tuesday. New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro said the evidence presented to the grand jury doesn’t support charges of murder in the first and second degrees under the state’s terrorism statute. Mangione will still face a trial on murder in the second degree and other related counts but he no longer faces the possibility of life in prison without parole. In a 12-page decision, Carro wrote that there was not sufficient proof that Mangione intended to terrorize a population. The judge described the potential for fear as too broad to meet the legal definition of terrorism, acknowledging that the term is hard to define. Carro wrote that “every murder has the potential to induce some degree of fear,” noting that “a random murder in the subway will cause riders to feel fearful about riding the subway.” The judge rejected the theories posed by prosecutors that Mangione intended to intimidate the public or a group of people and that he aimed to pressure an arm of the government. “While there is no doubt that the crime at issue here is not ordinary ‘street crime,’ it does not follow that all non-street crimes were meant to be included within the reach of the terrorism statute,” the decision says.

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Reuters [9/16/2025 5:14 PM, Luc Cohen, 45746K]
FOX News [9/16/2025 11:34 AM, Staff, 40019K]
Washington Examiner [9/16/2025 3:45 PM, Emily Hallas, 1563K]

New York Times [9/16/2025 6:03 PM, Rylee Kirk, 143795K] reports a former midshipman who posted a social media threat that prompted concerns about a potential active shooter and resulted in two injuries at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland last week is facing a criminal charge, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. The former midshipman, Jackson Fleming, 23, of Chesterton, Ind., is charged with one count of transmitting a threat in interstate communication, prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Indiana said on Tuesday. Mr. Fleming attended the academy from June 30, 2021, to Jan. 5, 2024, Cmdr. Ashley Hockycko said. Amid the initial chaos and confusion caused by the online threat and ensuing emergency response last Thursday, a midshipman mistook a law enforcement officer for the shooter and struck him in the head with a parade rifle, military officials said. The law enforcement officer then fired at the midshipman, wounding him in the arm, they also said. Both were treated at a hospital and released, the officials said. The false threat against the campus was made on a social media platform, but prosecutors did not say what platform it was posted on. It caused the campus to go into lockdown and provoked a flood of misinformation on social media. At the end of the day, no active shooter was believed to have been present on the campus, where about 4,400 midshipmen are enrolled. The threat was traced to a laptop belonging to a midshipman who left the academy early last year and was confirmed to be in his parents’ house in the Midwest, officials said. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office declined to comment further. A lawyer for Mr. Fleming, Jonathan S. Bedi, said in an email statement that he was confident that “when the complete facts emerge,” Mr. Fleming “will be vindicated.” The charge that Mr. Fleming faces carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Emails shared with The New York Times on the day of the threat showed that an academy midshipman standing watch had warned students to “Get inside” and lock their doors. About 20 minutes later, Capt. David S. Forman, a school official, said in an email to midshipmen that there were no confirmed reports of gunfire.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [9/16/2025 4:13 PM, Katie Shepherd, 29079K]
Washington Examiner [9/16/2025 5:38 PM, David Zimmermann, 1563K]

NewsMax [9/16/2025 10:53 PM, Jim Thomas, 4779K] reports an Indiana man has been charged in federal court with making a threat that led to a lockdown and shooting at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland last week, the New York Post reported. Jackson Fleming, 23, of Chesterton, Indiana, was arrested Friday and charged with one count of transmitting a threat in interstate communication, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana said Tuesday. Prosecutors allege Fleming used a social media application to issue a threat directed at the academy, which led to an emergency response. The threat prompted a lockdown on Thursday as authorities investigated what was initially believed to be a report of a gunman on campus. During the confusion, a midshipman mistook members of the security team for a threat and was shot in the shoulder. The academy confirmed that the wounded midshipman was released from the hospital on Friday. A member of the naval security force also sustained minor injuries and was treated and released. In a statement to the Post, the academy said there was "no active shooter threat, however one person was injured while Naval Security Forces were clearing the building.” Fleming’s attorney, Jonathan Bodi, pushed back strongly against the charge. "We intend to fight these charges in court vigorously," Bodi said in an email. "No one, including Jack, should be judged by a mere accusation from the government. We are prepared to mount the strongest possible defense, and I am confident that when the complete facts emerge, Jack will be vindicated.”

FOX News [9/16/2025 11:32 AM, Pilar Arias, 40019K] Video: HERE reports a 16-year-old Colorado high school student, accused of shooting two classmates before taking his own life, had shown an interest in past mass shootings like Columbine and shared neo-Nazi views online, according to reports. The FBI was tipped off about Desmond Holly’s online activity in July, the agency confirmed to Fox News Digital, although his identity was not known at the time. "We continued to work this assessment investigation to identify the name and location of the user up and until September 10, 2025," an FBI statement said. "During the assessment investigation, the identity of the account user remained unknown, and thus there was no probable cause for arrest or additional law enforcement action at the federal level." The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Center on Extremism said it looked into Holly’s online activity. Holly shot himself following Wednesday’s shooting at Evergreen High School in Jefferson County. It is still unclear how he selected his victims. The county was also the scene of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre that left 14 people dead. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office previously said Holly was radicalized by an unspecified "extremist network" but released no details, according to The Associated Press. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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NewsNation [9/16/2025 7:57 AM, Heather Willard, 6811K]

NBC News [9/16/2025 10:44 PM, Dennis Romero, 43603K] reports the 16-year-old behind last week’s Colorado high school shooting fired off about 20 rounds, mostly inside the school, during an attack that injured two fellow students, authorities said Tuesday. The attacker fatally shot himself as authorities confronted him outside Evergreen High School, but not before he was able to shoot one of the victims on a nearby street corner, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said in a pair of statements. The attack was reported by multiple callers not long after noon on Wednesday at the campus roughly 30 miles west of Denver, it said. The gunfire spanned an estimated 9 minutes, the sheriff’s office said, with the shooter firing most of the rounds inside the school. "Shots were fired in several locations inside the school," it said. "One student was injured inside and another injured outside the school." The sheriff’s office credited school employees for putting active shooter training to work quickly. "While deputies responded quickly, the actions taken by teachers, staff, and students inside the school undoubtedly saved lives," the sheriff’s office said. "They relied on the safety protocols and lockdown procedures they have practiced, and those immediate actions made a critical difference." The shooter was identified as Desmond Holly. The sheriff’s office said Tuesday it has confirmed he was the sole attacker that day. The office said last week the shooter had been "radicalized by an extremist network" but offered no further details. The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism said over the weekend that the attacker "expressed neo-Nazi views" online and that his TikTok accounts "were filled with white supremacist symbolism." Two hours before the shooting, the ADL said, he posted a photo of a revolver and ammunition on X, as well as images of a ballistic vest, gas mask and "other gear" on TikTok. It said he spent "substantial amounts of time" in online spaces focused on extremist ideologies and violence. The FBI said it looked into activity associated with the shooter, who the bureau said spoke online of planning a mass shooting, in July, but at the time could not identify the person and thus could not take action. One of the two teenagers injured in the attack has been released by hospital staff, sheriff’s officials said. The other was in serious condition at the start of the week, it said.

Reuters [9/16/2025 10:51 AM, David Shepardson, 45746K] reports the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday it will consider industry requests to impose tariffs on additional imported auto parts in the coming weeks on national security grounds. In May, Trump imposed 25% auto tariffs on more than $460 billion worth of imports of vehicles and auto parts annually, but has since struck deals to reduce those tariffs on some countries. The department said Monday domestic producers of automobiles or automobile parts, or any industry association can ask for tariffs on additional parts to be imposed that have national security impacts. "The automotive industry is in a state of rapid development for various technologies, including in the areas of alternative propulsion systems, autonomous driving capabilities, and other advanced technologies," the department said, adding the industry needs "the opportunity to identify new and emerging automotive products with importance for defense applications."

FOX News [9/16/2025 6:08 PM, Staff, 40019K] reports Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, revealed Tuesday that the FBI’s election-related investigation into President Donald Trump, launched in 2022, swept in dozens of Republican entities, including the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. Speaking during a hearing focused on oversight of the FBI, Grassley said the investigation, which the bureau called "Arctic Frost," was partisan in nature and that its expansive scope was evidence of that. "In other words, Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump," Grassley said. "It was a vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and Department of Justice prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.” Since January, Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have been publishing records related to Arctic Frost, the investigation launched during FBI Director Chris Wray’s tenure that served as the basis for former special counsel Jack Smith to bring criminal charges against Trump related to the 2020 election. Grassley unveiled a new set of documents during his opening statement on Tuesday that showed numerous Republican-affiliated organizations and people were targeted with subpoenas during Arctic Frost. Some targets on the list were well known, such as Sidney Powell, who made controversial allegations about the 2020 election, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. But the basis for targeting other groups, like Kirk’s group and the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), was less clear.

Reported similarly:
New York Post [9/16/2025 6:39 PM, Josh Christenson, 43962K]

AP [9/16/2025 4:23 PM, Eric Tucker, 964K] reports that FBI Director Kash Patel clashed with skeptical Democrats at a contentious Senate oversight hearing Tuesday, defending his record amid criticism that he has politicized the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency and pursued retribution against perceived adversaries of President Donald Trump. The appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee represented the first oversight hearing of Patel’s young but tumultuous tenure and provided a high-stakes platform for him to try to demonstrate that he is the right person for the job at a time of internal upheaval and mounting concerns about political violence inside the United States, a threat laid bare by last week’s killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a college campus in Utah. The hearing broke along starkly partisan lines. Republicans rallied support for Patel even as Democrats said he had debased the integrity of the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency. Patel, for his part, accused Democrats of grandstanding for cameras and looking to score political points in a series of testy shouting matches that punctuated more sedate testimony about the criminal and national security threats facing the U.S. Patel sought to keep the focus on what he said was a series of accomplishments in fighting violent crime, protecting children from abuse and disrupting the flow of fentanyl. He similarly touted the FBI’s work in arresting within 33 hours the man suspected in Kirk’s assassination, but also faced questions over confusion he caused soon after the killing when he posted on social media that “the subject” was in custody. That person was later released after investigators determined he had no connection. Democrats repeatedly tried to steer the hearing back to the turmoil inside the FBI, including a purge of experienced agents and supervisors that they said was a troubling about-face from his confirmation hearing pledge in January that he would not look “backwards” or seek retaliation as director.

ABC News [9/16/2025 5:11 AM, Jon Haworth, 27036K] reports a 67-year-old South Dakota man has been sent to prison for over 10 years after being convicted of attempting to disclose classified information on U.S. Air Force systems to the Russian government, officials said. The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Monday that John Murray Rowe from Lead, South Dakota, was sentenced to 126 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine for attempted espionage.Rowe was charged by indictment in December 2021 and pleaded guilty in April of last year to one count of attempted delivery of national defense information to a foreign government, and three counts of willful communication of national defense information.

NewsMax [9/16/2025 6:38 PM, Staff, 4779K] reports President Donald Trump arrived in Britain on Tuesday for an unprecedented second state visit, with the U.K. government rolling out a royal red carpet welcome to win over the leader. "A lot of things here warm my heart," the 79-year-old Republican told reporters after he arrived with first lady Melania Trump. "It’s a very special place.” King Charles III will host Trump at Windsor Castle for a banquet and carriage ride on Wednesday, before Trump meets Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his country residence on Thursday. In a sign of the pomp and pageantry to come, a guard of honor greeted the Trumps as they stepped off Air Force One at Stansted Airport near London. Trump then expressed his admiration for the British monarch. "He’s been a friend of mine for a long time, and everyone respects him, and they love him," Trump said as he arrived by helicopter at Winfield House, the U.S. ambassador’s residence in London, where he will spend the night. "Tomorrow’s going to be a very big day.” Trump is the first U.S. president to be invited for two state visits, after previously being hosted by Queen Elizabeth II during his last term in office in 2019. The British government has been unapologetic about its efforts to get on the right side of Trump, whose mother was Scottish and who owns a number of golf courses in the U.K. But the British public will be kept far away from Trump, with the visit taking place entirely behind closed doors and heavy security.

FOX News [9/16/2025 11:02 AM, Staff, 40019K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could meet next week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. The meeting comes as NATO is seeing increasing pressure to more aggressively counter Russia by enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine as Poland looks to prevent more Russian drones from entering its airspace. "President Trump [has had] multiple calls with Putin, multiple meetings with Zelenskyy, including probably next week again in New York," Rubio told reporters from Israel moments before he departed for Qatar. "He’s trying to do everything possible to bring [the war] to an end.” "We’ve been working closely with our partners in Europe on security guarantees, because that’s going to be necessary in any negotiated settlement," he added. "And he’s going to keep trying. If peace is possible, he wants to achieve it.” Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, on Monday called on NATO allies to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine to better protect not only Ukrainians from Russia’s constant aerial bombardments, but neighboring NATO allies that share borders with the war-torn nation. "We as NATO and the EU could be capable of doing this, but it is not a decision that Poland can make alone," Sikorski told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine. "It can only be made with its allies.” The move is unlikely to be approved by NATO, which has previously refused to enforce a no-fly zone after the U.S., under President Joe Biden, turned down the request first made by Zelenskyy in 2022. "If Ukraine were to ask us to shoot them down over its territory, that would be advantageous for us. If you ask me personally, we should consider it," Sikorski said.

New York Times [9/16/2025 7:14 AM, Michael Crowley, 153395K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Tuesday that “time is running out” for a negotiated end to the war in Gaza. He spoke minutes before departing Israel for Qatar, and just as Israel was launching a military assault on the Gazan capital that it says is meant to end Hamas’ hold on the city. It is unclear if Mr. Rubio knew at the time that the full offensive had begun, but Israel has been signaling for weeks that it would start soon. “We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks,” to reach a deal that would stop the fighting and free hostages held by Hamas, Mr. Rubio told reporters in Israel. “It’s a key moment.” Mr. Rubio’s Middle East trip came amid a diplomatic storm around the new Israeli offensive, which had already drawn sharp criticism from major European and Arab states while still in the planning stages. On Tuesday, he also had to reckon with Qatar’s reaction to a Sept. 9 Israeli airstrike that had targeted Hamas officials in that country. He met Tuesday with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who has accused Israel of “sabotaging” the cease-fire and hostage-release negotiations with Hamas in Doha. An official readout of Mr. Rubio’s meeting from a State Department spokesman made no mention either of Israel’s strike or the Gaza City offensive. Mr. Rubio “reaffirmed the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Qatar, and thanked Qatar for its efforts to end the war in Gaza and bring all hostages home,” the spokesman, Tommy Pigott, said. “The Secretary reiterated America’s strong support for Qatar’s security and sovereignty, and discussed our shared commitment to a safer, more stable region.” There was no immediate statement from the Qatari government about the meeting.

CBS News [9/16/2025 4:33 PM, Caitlin Yilek, 45245K] reports that for a fourth time, President Trump has pushed back enforcing a bipartisan law that would effectively ban TikTok over the video-sharing app’s failure to cut ties with ByteDance, its China-based parent company. The president signed an executive order Tuesday extending the pause on enforcing the law until at least Dec. 16. The move comes on the heels of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s announcement Monday that U.S. and Chinese negotiators had agreed to "a framework" to resolve a dispute over TikTok’s ownership. Mr. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are planning to speak Friday "to firm everything up," as Mr. Trump put it Tuesday morning. The law, which was upheld by the Supreme Court, took effect a day before Mr. Trump’s inauguration in January. Members of Congress and national security officials have for years warned that TikTok could serve as a vehicle for China to spy on Americans, collect vast amounts of their data or serve them propaganda. During his first term, Mr. Trump tried unsuccessfully to ban the app, citing the potential security risks. The Chinese Embassy in Washington responded on Tuesday morning that China will "firmly defend its national interests, the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, and will carry out technology export approvals according to relevant laws and regulations.” The statement added that the Chinese government "also fully respects the will of enterprises and supports them in conducting business negotiations on an equal footing in accordance with market principles."

AP [9/16/2025 10:56 PM, Staff, 20690K] reports China’s coast guard accused a Philippine ship of deliberately ramming one of its vessels on Tuesday near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. The Philippines denied it, saying China’s forces used powerful water cannons that damaged its ship and injured a crew member. A Chinese coast guard statement said more than 10 Philippine government ships coming from various directions entered the waters around the shoal, which is called Huangyan island in Chinese. It said it deployed water cannons against the vessels. The encounter came six days after China announced it was designating part of Scarborough Shoal as a national nature reserve. The Philippine government, which calls the shoal Bajo de Masinloc, filed a diplomatic protest. China and the Philippines have clashed repeatedly around outcroppings in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. The two countries are among several that have competing claims to territory in the waters, which are of strategic importance and home to valuable fishing grounds. The Philippine coast guard said two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Filipino fisheries vessel, the BRP Datu Gumbay Piang, with powerful water cannons for nearly 30 minutes "resulting in significant damage," including in the captain’s cabin and the bridge. A glass window was shattered and injured a personnel while the deluge of water caused a short circuit that affected electrical outlets and five outdoor air-conditioning units, it said. A Chinese navy warship also broadcast a radio notice "announcing live-fire exercises" at the shoal which caused panic among Filipino fishermen, said the Philippine coast guard. The Philippine coast guard and fisheries ships were deployed to the shoal on Tuesday to provide fuel, water, ice and other aid to more than 35 fishing boats in the area. Several friendly countries have backed the Philippines on the nature reserve. A statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Chinese action "yet another coercive move to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors.” The U.K. and Australia also expressed concern, and the Canadian Embassy in the Philippines said it opposed attempts to use environmental protection as a way to take control over the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

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