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.

CBS News [8/31/2025 1:46 PM, Kaia Hubbard, 45245K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that "we haven’t taken anything off the table" when asked about expanding immigration enforcement operations to cities throughout the U.S. "I think there’s a lot of cities that are dealing with crime and violence right now. And so, we haven’t taken anything off the table. We’ve been making sure that we have the resources and the equipment to go in," Noem said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” CBS News reported last week that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to expand its operations to Chicago in the coming days, mirroring the immigration arrest operation seen in Los Angeles earlier this year. Noem said Sunday that there’s been "ongoing operations with ICE in Chicago and throughout Illinois and other states, making sure that we’re upholding our laws." But she acknowledged that "we do intend to add more resources to those operations.” Though she wouldn’t disclose details of the operation for the security of the law enforcement on the ground, Noem said "we will continue to go after the worst of the worst across the country, like President Trump has told us to do.” The Trump administration has set its sights on a number of cities that limit local cooperation with federal immigration agents in recent months, bringing lawsuits against the so-called "sanctuary" jurisdictions and pursuing other means of intervention. Noem’s comments also come as the president has zeroed in on fighting crime in the nation’s major cities, beginning with an effort in Washington, D.C., in recent weeks while he teased broader efforts elsewhere. Earlier this month, Mr. Trump federalized the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department and deployed the National Guard to the district to assist law enforcement. While the president has unique authority over the D.C. National Guard because the district is controlled by the federal government, his deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles in June amid heated protests over immigration raids prompted a lawsuit from the California’s Democratic governor, who did not approve of the use of his state’s Guard forces. NBC News [8/31/2025 3:55 PM, Alexandra Marquez, 43603K] reports, asked about what an expansion of ICE operations would look like in Chicago and whether it would involve a mobilization of National Guard troops to assist with immigration raids and arrests, Noem demurred, saying, "That always is a prerogative of President [Donald] Trump and his decision. I won’t speak to the specifics of the operations that are planned in other cities.” Her remarks come one day after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order directing his city’s legal department to explore ways to counter a potential surge in federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to Illinois. During a press conference Saturday, Johnson warned that Chicago officials had "received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our cities see some type of militarized activity by the federal government.” Earlier this month, the Trump administration directed federal law enforcement officers, including those employed by ICE, to assist police in Washington, D.C., with crime-fighting operations. That surge of resources included thousands of National Guard troops who were deployed to the nation’s capital with the stated goal of lowering crime rates. Later in the Sunday interview, Noem was asked whether Boston would be one of the cities where the federal government would surge immigration enforcement agents. "There’s a lot of cities that are dealing with crime and violence right now, and so we haven’t taken anything off the table," she said, adding later: "I’d encourage every single big city — San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, whatever they are — if they want to help make their city safer, more prosperous, allow people the opportunity to walk in freedom like the people of Washington, D.C., are now ... they should call us.”

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The Washington Examiner [8/31/2025 6:04 PM, Asher Notheis, 1563K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed that cities in Republican-controlled states are also being evaluated for potential crime crackdowns, denying the administration’s actions are being done under "a political lens.” The Trump administration is looking to target crime in Chicago after taking similar action in Washington, D.C., this month. Noem said on Sunday that the administration isn’t taking "anything off the table" with other cities like Boston or San Francisco, and is ensuring it has the resources and equipment needed. The homeland security secretary also confirmed there are "absolutely" plans to enact a similar cleanup in Republican-led cities. NewsMax [8/31/2025 1:32 PM, Eric Mack, 4779K] reports "Every single city is evaluated for what we need to do there to make it safer.” Noem noted a plan is in the works. "So we’ve got operations that, again, I won’t talk about details on, but we absolutely are not looking through the viewpoint at anything we’re doing with a political lens," [Noem] said. "It is what can we do to make sure that we’re continuing to get up every day and to fight for the American citizen, and that they have the chance to go out there and pursue the American dream.” Nineteen mostly red states are targeted for the deployment of an estimated 1,700 guardsmen to aid in immigration enforcement and other crime fighting throughout the U.S., The Daily Mail reported last week. The forces will be used to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement and DHS, according to the report. The deployments are scheduled to run through at least mid-November, with Texas expected to host the largest presence. The states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. Troops will handle support roles such as case management, transportation, logistics, and clerical work while also helping deter crime. Notably, unlike Democratic-run cities and states, red states will be easier to work with, as Republican leadership is fine with the federal assistance. "There’s a lot of cities that are dealing with crime and violence right now, and so we haven’t taken anything off the table," Noem told CBS. "We’ve been making sure that we have the resources and the equipment to go in. We’ve been working to partner with every single agency that we can. We have hundreds and hundreds of agreements with local law enforcement, sheriffs, city administrators, and mayors across the country that want to solve problems.

The AP [8/31/2025 1:56 PM, Aamer Madhani, 27036K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday said that the Trump administration will soon expand immigration operations in Chicago, confirming plans for a stepped up presence of federal agents in the nation’s third-largest city as President Donald Trump continues to lash out at Illinois’ Democratic leadership. Noem’s comments come after the DHS last week requested limited logistical support from officials at the Naval Station Great Lakes to support the agency’s anticipated operations. The military installation is about 35 miles north of Chicago. "We’ve already had ongoing operations with ICE in Chicago... but we do intend to add more resources to those operations," Noem said during an appearance CBS News’ "Face the Nation.” Noem declined to provide further details about the planned surge of federal officers. It comes after the Trump administration deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to target crime, immigration and homelessness, and two months after it sent troops to Los Angeles. Trump lashed out against Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in a social media posting Saturday, warning him that he must straighten out Chicago’s crime problems quickly "or we’re coming." The Republican president has also been critical of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. The Chicago Tribune [9/1/2025 9:08 AM, Rick Pearson, 5352K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acknowledged Sunday a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Chicago in the coming days but stopped short of saying it will be accompanied by a National Guard deployment. Any military presence ultimately would be President Donald Trump’s call, Noem said, but Gov. JB Pritzker reiterated that such a move would be against federal law and warned it would be met in court “pretty quickly” by the state. “I’m saying we don’t want troops on the streets of American cities,” Pritzker said. “That’s un-American and, frankly, the president of the United States ought to know better. This one doesn’t seem to. He doesn’t seem to understand the Constitution or the laws.” Noem and Pritzker each appeared on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, though in separate interviews. Their appearance came as Chicago prepared for more intensive ICE enforcement, which could begin as soon as Friday, with agents based at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago. “We’ve already had ongoing operations with ICE in Chicago and throughout Illinois, and other states, making sure that we’re upholding our laws, but we do intend to add more resources to those operations,” Noem said. Asked if a surge in ICE operations was planned for other cities, she said she would not discuss specifics but said the efforts were not aimed at Democrat-led urban areas and could include cities in Republican states. “There’s a lot of cities that are dealing with crime and violence right now and so we haven’t taken anything off the table. We’ve been making sure that we have the resources and the equipment to go in,” Noem said. “I’d encourage every single big city, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, whatever they are, if they want to help make their cities safer … they should call us,” she said, citing declines in violent crime after Trump federalized law enforcement in Washington, D.C., and deployed National Guard troops. “Every single city is evaluated for what we need to do there to make it safer. So we’ve got operations that, again, I won’t talk about details on. But we absolutely are not looking through the viewpoint at anything we’re doing with a political lens,” she said. Noem, a former South Dakota governor, belittled Pritzker for not personally calling Trump and seeking federal intervention to address Chicago crime. “This seems like it’s more about Gov. Pritzker’s ego now, rather than actually protecting his people. If he had one murder in Chicago, he should be calling President Trump and saying, ‘What’s your ideas? What can we do?’” she said.

NewsMax [8/31/2025 1:50 PM, Eric Mack, 4779K] reports Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker, allowing his "ego" to govern, is leading a leftist crusade against President Donald Trump’s law-and-order crackdown, with deleterious results, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "For 13 consecutive years, Chicago had more murders than any other American city," Noem told CBS’ "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "In fact, just last year, in 2024, they had three times the amount of murders than LA did, five times more than New York City. "So he can talk about what a great job he’s doing as governor, but he’s failing those families who will no longer have their child with them, their mother or their father or their cousin, aunt, and uncle that are gone forever because of the violence that’s happening in Chicago.” Noem noted, as the former governor of deep-red South Dakota, she worked with the Biden administration and did not obstruct it like Democrats are vowing to do with Trump. "When I had disagreements with the Biden administration or challenges my people were facing, I called up the Biden administration," she continued. "I went and talked to them. I asked for meetings. I fought for my people. "This seems like it’s more about Gov. Pritzker’s ego, now, rather than actually protecting his people.” She urged Pritzker to ask for help instead of summarily rejecting it in the name of politics, Noem concluded. "If he has one murder in the city of Chicago, he should be calling President Trump and saying, what’s your ideas? What can we do?" Noem said. "They don’t even honor our detainers in Chicago. They don’t go out there and work with us to make sure we’re bringing people to justice. And instead, he goes on TV and he attacks me when we’re doing exactly what those people need. They need someone to help them get the dangerous criminals off their streets.”

New York Times [8/31/2025 2:12 PM, Maggie Haberman, 143795K] reports Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, defended the deployment of the National Guard in U.S. cities on Sunday, claiming that Los Angeles “wouldn’t be standing today” if President Trump had not deployed troops there to help quiet protests over federal immigration crackdowns. Ms. Noem made the comments on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” as the host Ed O’Keefe pressed her about upcoming plans to send federal forces into Chicago and other cities in Democratic-leaning states for law enforcement purposes. Mr. Trump on Monday directed the Defense Department to take a larger role in domestic law enforcement, including by “quelling civil disturbances.” The model for that move was the National Guard’s deployment in Los Angeles, where troops were sent in June during protests in the city. Los Angeles “wouldn’t be standing today if President Trump hadn’t taken action,” Ms. Noem said. “That city would have burned down if left to the devices of the mayor and the governor of that state.” She added that “so many of those homes and businesses that were in downtown L.A. and those areas were dealing with violence and riots.” The unrest in Los Angeles, which arose in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in the city, in some cases included fires and chunks of cement being thrown at officers. But it was mostly confined to a small area of the city. Mr. O’Keefe asked Ms. Noem about comments made by Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, who has been a focus of Mr. Trump’s ire. The president has repeatedly described Chicago as rife with crime and said publicly that Mr. Pritzker and others should ask the federal government to come in.

Breitbart [9/1/2025 1:35 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 2608K] reports that jobs are going back to American citizens — not foreigners — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Monday in her pointed Labor Day message. "This Labor Day, America works for Americans again," Noem said, noting that all new jobs gains have gone to U.S. citizens. Further, she pointed out that 2.5 million Americans are "back at work since January." "In comparison, 88% of jobs created during the same period under Biden went to foreign-born workers," she explained. "Meanwhile DHS reforms have saved taxpayers over $13.2 billion," she continued. "President Trump and I are putting the American worker FIRST. Happy Labor Day!" Indeed, Americans have witnessed quite the transformation in the last year, as the American economy has transitioned from former President Joe Biden’s economy built on migrant labor to President Donald Trump’s vision of prioritizing the American worker. As such, employment among native born Americans has exploded, as Breitbart News thoroughly documented: Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) told the same story, with all job gains going to native-born Americans rather than foreign workers. "The July jobs report shows that as illegal aliens continue to exit the labor force, more Americans are finding steady and gainful employment," DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said. "President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership is making America both safe and prosperous again."

Breitbart [9/1/2025 1:01 PM, Hannah Knudsen, 2608K] reports that "America belongs to Americans," the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declared over the weekend, highlighting that in the last 200 days alone, 1.6 million illegal aliens have left the country. "A good start, but the work continues," DHS said in a social media statement. "Secretary Noem joined President Trump for his 7th Cabinet meeting, as DHS works to protect our homeland and secure our future. The days of open borders and coddling criminals are OVER," the statement continued, sharing words from Deputy Assistant DHS Secretary Micah Bock, who pointed out that the work of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other agencies have resulted in a secure southern border, giving American families "a type of safety that they haven’t experienced in decades." Bock also pointed out that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week and is "being held for deportation." "This MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, and woman abusing illegal alien has no place in this country," he said. "His despicable actions are disqualifying in a nation that values the rule of law. Goodbye Kilmar and good riddance." Bock also pointed out that, under the leadership of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, DHS has "arrested and prosecuted hundreds of thousands of illegal alien criminals who once roamed our streets, targeted our citizens, and disrupted our way of life." "In under 200 days, 1.6 million illegal aliens have left our country, saving taxpayers billions of dollars and easing the strain on schools and hospitals, as well as opening jobs for hard working Americans," he said, declaring that the days of "open borders and coddling criminals are over."

The Hill [9/1/2025 2:06 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 6811K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused CBS News of selectively editing footage from her Sunday interview, cutting some of her remarks about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national who was mistakenly deported and returned to the U.S. to face separate charges. In a statement on Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security said CBS "deceptively" edited the secretary’s answers, cutting about four minutes from the nearly 17-minute interview when it aired on CBS News’s "Face the Nation.” "This morning, I joined CBS to report the facts about Kilmar Abrego Garcia," Noem said in a statement. "Instead, CBS shamefully edited the interview to whitewash the truth about this MS-13 gang member and the threat he poses to American public safety.” CBS News, however, maintains that the interview was edited to fit its allotted time slot in the hourlong broadcast and that the full interview was published online. "Secretary Noem’s ‘Face The Nation’ interview was edited for time and met all CBS News standards," a spokesperson for CBS News said in a statement to NewsNation partner The Hill. "The entire interview is publicly available on YouTube, and the full transcript was posted early Sunday morning at CBSNews.com.” Noem’s accusation is the latest example of the administration’s ongoing feud with CBS and its parent company, Paramount. In Noem’s Sunday interview, sections of her responses cut for the live broadcast include allegations against Abrego Garcia that have not been substantiated and which his lawyers deny. Those include allegations that the Maryland resident "was a known human smuggler, MS-13 gang member, an individual who was a wife beater, and someone who was so perverted that he solicited nude photos from minors and even his fellow human traffickers told him to knock it off," which Noem said in the section of the interview that DHS claims was removed from the live broadcast. The DHS statement includes other sections of the CBS interview that reportedly did not air live on Sunday morning.

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AP [9/1/2025 2:46 PM, Corey Williams, 2608K] reports that it’s tomato season and Lidia is harvesting on farms in California’s Central Valley. She is also anxious. Attention from U.S. Immigration Control and Enforcement could upend her life more than 23 years after she illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as a teenager. "The worry is they’ll pull you over when you’re driving and ask for your papers," said Lidia, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition that only her first name be used because of her fears of deportation. "We need to work. We need to feed our families and pay our rent." As parades and other events celebrating the contributions of workers in the U.S. are held Monday for the Labor Day holiday, experts say President Donald Trump’s stepped-up immigration policies are impacting the nation’s labor force. More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents. Immigrants make up almost 20% of the U.S. workforce and that data shows 45% of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants, according to Pew senior researcher Stephanie Kramer. About 30% of all construction workers are immigrants and 24% of service workers are immigrants, she added.

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FOX News [8/31/2025 6:48 PM, Jasmine Baehr, 40019K] reports a Biden-appointed federal judge abruptly blocked the Trump administration from flying out hundreds of illegal alien children over Labor Day weekend after immigrant advocacy groups rushed to court, claiming Trump was carrying out a mass deportation in the dead of night. The emergency order by U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan froze a pilot program the administration said would reunite nearly 700 kids with parents or guardians in Guatemala. By the time the judge intervened, charter buses had already rolled up to planes in Harlingen and El Paso and, in some cases, children were seated on board awaiting departure. Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign told the court, "These are not removals under the statute. These are repatriations. All of these children have parents or guardians in Guatemala who have requested their return.” Advocacy groups rejected that explanation, with the National Immigration Law Center’s (NILC) Efrén Olivares firing back that "it is a dark and dangerous moment when our government chooses to target orphaned 10-year-olds.” The lawsuit, LGML v. Noem, was filed just after 1 a.m. Sunday, accusing the Trump administration of skirting a 2008 law that immigrant-rights groups often cite to shield minors from removal. Named as defendants were Attorney General Pam Bondi, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The lead plaintiff was a 10-year-old girl identified only by her initials whose mother had died in Guatemala. Judge Sooknanan scolded the Trump administration over the timing, saying during the emergency hearing: "I have the government attempting to remove minor children from the country in the wee hours of the morning on a holiday weekend, which is surprising, but here we are.” CBS News [8/31/2025 10:05 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 45245K] reports that earlier Sunday, in the overnight hours, Sooknanan issued a temporary restraining order barring officials from sending a group of 10 migrant children between the ages of 10 and 17 to Guatemala, granting a request from attorneys who alleged the effort would skirt legal protections Congress established for these minors. She also scheduled a hearing in the afternoon to weigh the case’s next steps. But Sooknanan abruptly moved up the hearing earlier on Sunday, saying she had been alerted that some migrant children were already in the process of being deported. As that hearing got underway, Sooknanan announced she had just issued a broader temporary restraining order blocking any deportations of unaccompanied children from Guatemala and in U.S. custody who did not have a deportation order. She instructed Drew Ensign, the Justice Department lawyer representing the Trump administration, to quickly inform officials they had to halt their deportation plans. Ensign acknowledged deportation planes had been prepared to take off on Sunday, but said they were all "on the ground" and still on U.S. soil. He said he believed one plane had taken off earlier but had come back. At the request of Sooknanan, Ensign said he confirmed that the children on the planes would be deplaned and returned to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for caring for migrant minors who enter the U.S. without authorization and without their parents or legal guardians. The Justice Department said 76 unaccompanied children were slated to be sent to Guatemala on Sunday before the effort was blocked. Of those, 16 had been returned to HHS custody as of Sunday evening and the rest were expected to be in HHS care by 10:30 p.m. Sooknanan conceded her temporary restraining order, which is set to last 14 days, is "extraordinary" but justified it on the grounds that the government had decided to "execute a plan to remove these children" in the "wee hours" of a holiday weekend. In their lawsuit, lawyers for the group of Guatemalan children said the Trump administration had launched an effort to deport more than 600 migrant minors to Guatemala without allowing them to request humanitarian protection, even though U.S. law protects them from speedy deportations. They alleged the children could face abuse, neglect or persecution if returned to Guatemala.

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AP [9/1/2025 11:26 PM, Rebecca Santana and Sonia Perez D., 2608K] reports over Labor Day weekend, the Trump administration attempted to remove Guatemalan children who had come to the U.S. alone and were living in shelters or with foster care families in the U.S. Advocates who represent migrant children in court filed lawsuits across the country seeking to stop the government from removing the children, and on Sunday a federal judge stepped in to order that the kids at least temporarily stay in the U.S. The Trump administration has argued in court and on social media that they’re doing this to reunite the children with their families back home at the behest of the Guatemalan government and blamed advocates and the judge for stepping in. Advocates who sued said the children they represent have said they fear going home, and that the government, by operating in the dead of night and by bypassing immigration courts, is not following laws designed to protect migrant children.

NPR [8/31/2025 9:20 PM, Chiara Eisner, 34837K] reports after planes with Guatemalan children were loaded in the U.S., then prevented from taking off by a federal judge’s decision to temporarily halt the children’s removal, the Guatemalan government said on Aug. 31 that it was responsible for recently proposing to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that the unaccompanied Guatemalan minors be returned to their home country. In a statement published to the social media platform X on the evening of Aug. 31, the same day as the judge’s decision, the Guatemalan government indicated it wanted to prevent the children from staying in shelters and detention centers and that it supports coordinated action to reunify Guatemalan children with their families. The Guatemalan government has plans to identify the needs of each of the Guatemalan children and intends to include them in social programs in their home country, the government stated. All actions that have been taken in regards to the unaccompanied minors have taken the children’s human rights into account and have complied with due process, the government alleged. NPR asked the Guatemalan government how many children it had requested be returned from the U.S., and whether all of their parents have asked that the children be returned to Guatemala, as a U.S. attorney indicated in a hearing on Aug. 31. The Guatemalan government did not immediately respond and did not directly address those questions in its statement. The statement appears to contain a factual error. The Guatemalan government said it suggested the idea of sending back the unaccompanied minors to Noem while she was in the country in July. But Noem visited Guatemala on June 26, after making stops in Costa Rica, Honduras and Paraguay in a tour of Central America. During that visit, Noem and Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez signed agreements, including one to potentially allow people not originally from Guatemala to seek asylum in Guatemala instead of the U.S., despite the fact that U.S. law permits asylum seekers to remain as they comply with court proceedings relevant to their case. Noem was also pictured on June 26 watching people being deported from the U.S. while at La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, with U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Tobin Bradley. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NPR regarding whether Guatemala had suggested that the unaccompanied minors be returned to Guatemala while Noem was visiting the country in June.

Reuters [9/1/2025 1:50 PM, Sofia Menchu] reports Guatemala is ready and willing to receive some 150 unaccompanied minors per week of all ages from the United States, President Bernardo Arevalo said on Monday, a day after a U.S. federal judge halted the deportation of 10 Guatemalan children. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration said in a court filing on Monday that the 10 children, who had been boarded onto planes when the court responded to an emergency pre-dawn appeal, had since been returned to shelters run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Arevalo told journalists in Guatemala City that his government has been coordinating with the U.S. to receive the unaccompanied minors. Lawyers for the children, aged 10 to 17, argued in court filings that the deportations would be a "clear violation of the unambiguous protections that Congress has provided them as vulnerable children." They also said the children could face peril and abuse if they were returned to Guatemala. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s order halting deportation of the children applies for 14 days while the case is pending. It covers potentially hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan minors who have been in U.S. custody after crossing the southern border.

Univision [9/1/2025 1:28 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports the Guatemalan government said it is working to reunify migrant minors facing deportation proceedings in the United States, after a judge halted the expulsion of a group of Guatemalan children. In a statement issued Saturday following Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan’s decision to halt the deportation of a group of 14 Guatemalan minors, the Central American country’s government said it is "strengthening efforts" to achieve "family reunification" for the teenagers who were slated for expulsion. It is unclear when Guatemala began its efforts to reunite the minors with their families. In its statement, the government of President Bernardo Arévalo said that the "actions" to reunite immigrant minors with their families are part of an "initiative" proposed by Guatemala to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem during her recent visit to the country. However, in its statement, Guatemala also did not clarify whether the expulsion of the group the United States government is seeking to deport was requested by Guatemalan authorities or not. Following Judge Sooknanan’s decision, which halted the deportation of the group, who had already been taken to a Texas airport and put on planes for deportation, the teenagers were removed from the planes and returned to immigration shelters. Lawyers representing the minors had argued that the U.S. government was violating laws and putting their clients in potential danger.

CBS News [9/1/2025 4:33 PM, Staff, 45245K] Video HERE reports Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday said he "would constitutionally declare a republic in arms" if the South American country were attacked by forces that the United States government has deployed to the Caribbean. Maduro claimed eight U.S. military vessels "with 1,200 missiles" were targeting his country, calling them "the greatest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years," AFP reported. His comments during a news conference come as the U.S. government this week is set to boost its maritime force in the waters off Venezuela to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels. The U.S. has not signaled any planned land incursion by the thousands of personnel being deployed. Still, Maduro’s government has responded by deploying troops along its coast and border with neighboring Colombia, as well as by urging Venezuelans to enlist in a civilian militia. "In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defense of Venezuela," Maduro said of the deployment, which he characterized as "an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat." The U.S. Navy now has two Aegis guided-missile destroyers — the USS Gravely and the USS Jason Dunham — in the Caribbean, as well as the destroyer USS Sampson and the cruiser USS Lake Erie in the waters off Latin America. That military presence is set to expand. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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AP [9/1/2025 2:54 PM, Regina Garcia Cano and Juan Arraez, 37974K]

Reuters [9/1/2025 2:25 PM, Deisy Buitrago, 45746K] reports the United States is seeking a regime change in his country with a naval deployment in the Caribbean, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday in a rare press conference. Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have risen in recent weeks amid a large U.S. naval buildup in the Southern Caribbean and nearby waters, which U.S. officials say aims to address threats from Latin American drug cartels. U.S. President Donald Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration, part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the U.S. southern border. But Maduro, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and other officials have said the U.S. is threatening their country and the buildup is meant to justify an intervention against them. "They are seeking a regime change through military threat," Maduro told journalists, officials and uniformed military brass in Caracas, echoing comments last week by his government’s representative at the United Nations. "Venezuela is confronting the biggest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years," Maduro added. "A situation like this has never been seen.” His country is peaceful, Maduro added, but will not bow to threats. Venezuela’s military is "super prepared," he said. Venezuela’s government has scoffed at U.S. assertions that the country and its leadership are key to major international drug trafficking.

CNN [9/1/2025 3:42 PM, Stefano Pozzebon, 662K] reports that the recent escalation of tensions between Washington and Caracas, which has led to the United States deploying at least seven warships to the southern Caribbean, can be traced back to a particular day. On August 7, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been facing formal drug trafficking charges from the Justice Department since 2020. Bondi declared that Maduro "is one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world and a threat to the national security" of the United States. Caracas has always denied these accusations, but within hours, more than 4,000 US military personnel were deployed to Caribbean waters. Days later, more ships, submarines and aerial intelligence units joined them. The rapid escalation of the crisis – just days after the Maduro government and the Trump administration celebrated a prisoner exchange and the resumption of Venezuelan oil exports through Chevron – has surprised many and opened rifts within the White House itself, where a faction opposed to Chavismo for ideological reasons is balanced by those who would prefer to avoid dangerous confrontations. "Donald Trump came to the White House as a president of peace, and the drumbeat from some sectors of the Venezuelan opposition and congressmen from South Florida doesn’t fit with the president’s message," a US government official with knowledge of Venezuela told CNN, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

Axios [9/1/2025 3:17 PM, Russell Contreras, 14595K] reports that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued a stern warning on Monday to the Trump administration that Mexico is willing to enter security agreements with the U.S. around immigration and fighting cartels, but "without subordination." Why it matters: Sheinbaum is facing pressure from President Trump amid his increasingly changing and erratic demands to battle drug cartels while holding the threat of tariffs over Mexico. The big picture: Sheinbaum’s first State of the Union, held on Monday, came after reports that Trump secretly ordered the Pentagon to explore military strikes on cartels inside Mexican territory — news that outraged Mexicans nationwide. Since Trump has taken office, Sheinbaum has earned praise for how she’s handled her U.S. counterpart as the neighbor to the north embarks on mass deportations and has demanded that Latin American nations help halt migration. Zoom in: Sheinbaum told the nation in her address that Mexico isn’t alone in responding to possible new tariffs established by the Trump administration. "Mexico is the country with the lowest average tariff percentage in the world, and we continue to work with the various state ministries of our neighboring country," she said. She said the two sides are close to a framework for the trade agreement, and Mexico will host Secretary of State Marco Rubio later this week.

Reuters [8/31/2025 1:16 PM, Ted Hesson, 45746K] reports a political standoff over U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to crack down on crime and illegal immigration in Chicago intensified on Sunday as a top administration official promised to deploy more federal officers and the Democratic governor of Illinois portrayed Trump as a threat to democracy. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation’ that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Chicago and other parts of the country would be bolstered, but declined to provide details. Noem said Trump would make any decision to deploy National Guard troops. On the same program, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said Trump wanted to deploy troops so that he could halt or manipulate U.S. midterm elections in 2026. "He’d like to stop the elections in 2026 or, frankly, take control of those elections," Pritzker said. "He’ll just claim that there’s some problem with an election, and then he’s got troops on the ground that can take control." White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson criticized Pritzker for not doing more to deal with crime. "Chicago’s residents would be much safer if Pritzker actually did his job and addressed his crime problem instead of trying to be a Resistance Lib hero," Jackson said in a statement. Trump and top officials have said in the past week that Chicago would soon be a target for the Republican president’s efforts to tackle crime and illegal immigration. Trump for years has criticized crime in Chicago, a Democratic stronghold, although city figures show most categories of violent crime have dropped this year.

Blaze [8/31/2025 1:00 PM, Joseph MacKinnon, 1559K] reports President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that he was federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and deploying the National Guard there in order to "re-establish law, order, and public safety.” While Democrats and other liberal pundits reflexively denounced Trump’s intervention, their critiques were premature. Since Trump took action, violent crime in D.C. reportedly is down 45%, and carjackings are down 87%. Having demonstrated just how quickly order can be restored with will and determination, Trump now is looking to help other crime-ridden cities across the country. But during a press conference last week, Democrat Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker criticized the president’s efforts to make cities safer, claiming what Trump is doing "is illegal, it is unconstitutional, it is un-American.” "Mr. President, do not come to Chicago," added Pritzker. "You are neither wanted here nor needed here.” But Trump noted in a Saturday evening Truth Social post, "Six people were killed, and 24 people were shot, in Chicago last weekend, and JB Pritzker, the weak and pathetic Governor of Illinois, just said that he doesn’t need help in preventing CRIME.”

CNN [9/1/2025 10:10 AM, Shania Shelton, 662K] reports that officials in Chicago are bracing for a major federal immigration enforcement operation that could begin as soon as this week, with the city’s mayor signing an order over the weekend aimed at resisting the Trump administration’s planned crackdown. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday such a move would be an "invasion" and that he has had no communication with the Trump administration about reported plans to send National Guard troops to Chicago. "No one in the administration – the president or anybody under him – has called anyone in my administration, or me. So, it’s clear that in secret they’re planning this – well, it’s an invasion with US troops, if they in fact do that," Pritzker said Sunday. The operation is expected to kick off in Chicago by this Friday and could involve agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and potentially be backed by guard forces in a peacekeeping role, according to multiple sources familiar with the planning. "We’ve already had ongoing operations with ICE in Chicago and throughout Illinois and other states, making sure that we’re upholding our laws, but we do intend to add more resources to those operations," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on CBS News’ "Face the Nation" on Sunday. Asked about expanding these operations beyond Chicago, Noem said that the Trump administration has "not taken anything off the table," and specifically named San Francisco and Boston in addition to Chicago. She suggested that Republican-led cities with crime problems were "absolutely" also being evaluated. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Axios [9/1/2025 5:23 PM, Justin Kaufmann, 14595K]

Breitbart [8/31/2025 5:20 PM, Staff, 2608K] reports US President Donald Trump’s ultimate aim in sending troops to American cities is to seize control of elections in 2026, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Sunday, calling such deployments "an invasion.” Trump — who has unleashed unprecedented military patrols in Los Angeles to curb protests against his immigrant deportation drive and to Washington to combat what he deems out-of-control crime — has said he’s also considering sending troops to Baltimore, Chicago and other cities. Democrat Pritzker said there had been no effort by the Trump administration to coordinate such plans with officials in Illinois, a Democratic stronghold. The other cities Republican Trump has threatened to send troops to are also controlled by his political rivals. "He’d like to stop the elections in 2026 or, frankly, take control of those elections. He’ll just claim that there’s some problem with an election, and then he’s got troops on the ground that can take control," Pritzker told CBS Sunday show "Face the Nation.” The governor said any deployment of troops against his state government’s wishes would be "an invasion with US troops, if they in fact do that.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier told the network she would be adding resources to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Illinois, but that any decision to send National Guard reservists or other troops was up to Trump. If troops are sent along with ICE, "they’ll be in court pretty quickly, because that is illegal," Pritzker said. Trump has been typically scathing in his dismissal of Pritzker’s previous criticism. "Six people were killed, and 24 people were shot, in Chicago last weekend, and JB Pritzker, the weak and pathetic Governor of Illinois, just said that he doesn’t need help in preventing CRIME," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

New York Post [8/31/2025 3:58 PM, Victor Nava, 43962K] reports Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker raised a wild conspiracy theory Sunday for why President Trump is considering deploying National Guard troops to Chicago and other blue cities plagued by crime. "He has other aims, other than fighting crime," Pritzker confidently stated, during an interview on CBS’s "Face the Nation.” "The other aims are that he’d like to stop the elections 2026 or, frankly, take control of those elections," the governor continued. "He’ll just claim that there’s some problem with an election, and then he’s got troops on the ground that can take control.” The White House dismissed Pritzker’s allegation. "It’s amazing the lengths this slob will go to in order to deflect from the terrible crime crisis that has been plaguing Chicago for years," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Post. Jackson noted that the city has racked up more murders than any other US city for 13 straight years and that more illegal firearms are recovered in Chicago than in New York City and LA combined. Chicago has also experienced a spate of violence — with 35 people shot over Labor Day weekend, including five killed, as of Saturday afternoon. Chicago had 573 murders in 2024, compared to 377 for New York City and 268 for Los Angeles. Chicago’s murder rate was about 22 killings per 100,000 people — compared with seven for LA and less than five for NYC. That’s still lower than some major cities — including Detroit (32), Washington, DC, (27) and Atlanta (25). "Chicago’s residents would be much safer if Pritzker actually did his job and addressed his crime problem instead of trying to be a Resistance Lib hero," she added. Pritzker’s unfounded claims come as Trump has strongly hinted that he may soon deploy the National Guard to the streets of Chicago, which he has described as a "killing field" and a "hellhole.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued that Pritzker appears to be more concerned with his pride than addressing crime in Chicago. "This seems like it’s more about Pritzker’s ego now rather than actually protecting his people," Noem said on "Face the Nation.” "If he has one murder in the City of Chicago, he should be calling President Trump and saying, ‘What’s your ideas? What can we do?’" the DHS chief added.

NewsNation [9/1/2025 12:25 PM, Tom Dempsey, 6811K] reports Mayor Brandon Johnson said a surge of federal agents was expected in Chicago by Friday, as President Donald Trump continues to threaten a federal crackdown in the nation’s third-largest city. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations will soon ramp up in the city. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Johnson have taken steps to prevent a potential deployment, as Trump and his team continue to lash out at the city’s Democratic leadership. Community organizers and advocacy groups gathered in Chicago on Labor Day to celebrate America’s workers as Trump’s advances on the city continued. The "Workers Over Billionaires" demonstration was organized by a coalition including the Chicago Federation of Labor and the Chicago Teachers Union. Johnson signed an executive order on Saturday in response to the Trump administration’s plans. The order reaffirms that Chicago police officers answer to the mayor, not the federal government, as the city’s so-called "sanctuary" policy bans police from working with federal agents on ICE operations, patrols or any other law enforcement activity. "National guard troops, any kind of troops, on the streets of an American city don’t belong unless there’s an insurrection, unless there is an emergency — there is not," Pritzker said. While Noem confirmed ICE would soon expand operations in Chicago, she said sending the National Guard alongside them is ultimately up to Trump.

NPR [8/31/2025 2:21 PM, Joe Hernandez, 34837K] reports Chicago’s mayor has limited how much his city’s police department can cooperate with federal immigration agents, in response to threats from the Trump administration to "ramp up" immigration enforcement operations in the city. On Saturday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order barring the city’s police department from collaborating with federal officers conducting civil immigration enforcement operations, and with U.S. military personnel on police patrols. Johnson, a Democrat, said Trump was acting outside "the bounds of the Constitution" by threatening to send more federal law enforcement officers or even the National Guard to Chicago against the wishes of state and local leaders. "We do not want to see tanks in our streets. We do not want to see families ripped apart," Johnson said. "We do not want grandmothers thrown into the back of unmarked vans. We don’t want to see homeless Chicagoans harassed or disappeared by federal agents.” President Trump, in a post on his social media site Truth Social on Saturday, criticized Illinois’ Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and suggested federal forces could be dispatched to the Midwest city to fight crime. "Six people were killed, and 24 people were shot, in Chicago last weekend, and JB Pritzker, the weak and pathetic Governor of Illinois, just said that he doesn’t need help in preventing CRIME," Trump wrote. "He is CRAZY!!! He better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming!". White House "border czar" Tom Homan said last week that there would be a "ramp-up" of immigration enforcement operations in Chicago and other cities, including New York and Los Angeles. "All these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] where we know public safety threats are being released every day into this country — especially in those cities — we’re going to address that," Homan told reporters. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that the government intends to "add more resources" to ongoing ICE operations in Chicago but did not disclose any details.

Chicago Tribune [9/1/2025 2:38 PM, Gregory Royal Pratt, 5352K] reports that as President Donald Trump mulls sending the National Guard to occupy Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson delivered a defiant message to the White House at a spirited Labor Day rally Monday. "No federal troops in the city of Chicago! No militarized force in the city of Chicago!" Johnson said in a short speech steps from the Haymarket memorial for the labor rally that was bombed in 1886. "We’re going to defend our democracy in the city of Chicago," Johnson added. "We’re going to protect the humanity of every single person in the city of Chicago." The mayor of America’s third-largest city spoke alongside a group of labor leaders as Trump administration officials have said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement blitz is set to take place in Chicago in coming days. The Republican president has criticized Washington D.C. and Chicago — Democratic bastions led by Black mayors — for out-of-control street crime, despite crime rates dropping in the two cities. Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of sending military into city streets for domestic purposes, which Johnson, Gov. JB Pritzker and legal experts have said is unconstitutional, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this weekend said it would be up to him whether National Guard troops are part of the Chicago operation.

Washington Post [8/31/2025 3:22 PM, Jake Spring, 29079K] reports Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) on Sunday said he is making every effort to stop President Donald Trump “from using the military to invade states,” as the administration threatens to deploy the National Guard to Chicago like it has done in D.C. and Los Angeles. The comments came after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) signed an executive order instructing police not to cooperate with troops or federal agents in the event of such a deployment. Johnson, surrounded by other city leaders, signed the order that also directs police not to wear masks and to use body cameras, while also launching a program to educate residents on how to prepare in the event they are detained by federal agents. Noem encouraged major cities — including San Francisco, Boston and Chicago — to work with the federal government to improve public safety.

Yahoo News [9/1/2025 11:33 AM, Staff, 59943K] reports Governor J.B. Pritzker has voiced strong opposition to federal actions in Chicago, stating on CBS’ "Face the Nation" that the move would equate to a military invasion. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [9/1/2025 4:52 PM, Heather Schlitz and Renee Hickman, 45746K] reports
thousands of protesters packed the streets near downtown Chicago on Monday, singing, chanting and waving signs protesting U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to flood the city with National Guard troops and federal immigration agents. The march was one of roughly 1,000 "Workers over Billionaires" protests across the country on the U.S. Labor Day holiday. But Chicago’s demonstration had a decidedly more pointed tone as residents bristled against Trump’s promise to target Chicago next in a deployment similar to those under way in Los Angeles and Washington D.C., two other Democrat-run cities. Mayor Brandon Johnson, speaking to the crowd, vowed that Chicago would resist federal encroachment. "This is the city that will defend the country," he said, receiving loud cheers from protesters waving blue-striped Chicago flags. As the crowd wove through the city, some walking dogs and carrying children on their shoulders, diners sitting outside at local restaurants and cafes pumped their fists and cars honked in support. Organizers estimated 5,000 to 10,000 people were in attendance, though Reuters was not immediately able to verify the size with city officials. Protesters said they were concerned by Trump’s threat to send out the National Guard and additional ICE agents.

The Hill [9/1/2025 7:03 PM, Tara Suter, 12414K] reports thousands of people turned out in cities across the U.S. on Monday to protest President Trump and billionaires on Labor Day.
May Day Strong, a coalition of dozens of labor and advocacy groups, organized more than 1,000 protests and other events in more than 900 cities. The nationwide push, backed by the AFL-CIO, is dubbed "Workers over Billionaires." Organizers told The Hill they expected several hundred thousand people to attend the events across the country on Monday. Protesters took to the streets in large cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, while demonstrations extended to numerous other cities and states, from Washington, D.C., to San Diego, and pockets of Florida to Idaho. The protests are generally focused on what critics view as excessive influence among key American business leaders and corporations during the second Trump administration. "Labor and community are planning more than a barbecue on Labor Day this year because we have to stop the billionaire takeover. Billionaires are stealing from working families, destroying our democracy, and building private armies to attack our towns and cities," May Day Strong’s website reads.

The Hill [9/1/2025 4:57 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12414K] reports President Trump declared Washington, D.C., a "crime free zone" and pushed for other Democratic-run cities to work with his administration to bring down the crime rate in their areas. In a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump touted the "very popular" D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and urged other Democrats to follow her lead in welcoming federal support, which administration officials have teased might be coming to other cities. "Wow! Mayor Muriel Bowser of D.C. has become very popular because she worked with me and my great people in bringing CRIME down to virtually NOTHING in D.C.," Trump wrote in his post. Trump contrasted Bowser’s approach to that of other high-profile Democratic officials who have vocally criticized the deployment of federal troops, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. "Her statements and actions were positive, instead of others like Pritzker, Wes Moore, Newscum, and the 5% approval rated Mayor of Chicago, who spend all of their time trying to justify violent Crime, instead of working with us to completely ELIMINATE it, which we have done in Washington, D.C., NOW A CRIME FREE ZONE," Trump continued. He pushed other cities to seek a similar outcome. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday teased the possibility of federal law enforcement intervention in Chicago and other Democratic-run cities, following Trump’s crackdown on crime in D.C. Noem added her department plans to "add more resources" to its operations in Chicago when asked about forthcoming plans for the Windy City on CBS News’s "Face the Nation." "We’ve already had ongoing operations with ICE in Chicago and throughout Illinois and other states, making sure that we’re upholding our laws. But we do intend to add more resources to those operations," she said.

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [9/1/2025 11:26 PM, Staff, 2608K]

New York Times [9/1/2025 2:40 PM, David W. Chen, 153395K] reports when Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, dispatched his National Guard troops to Washington to support President Trump’s crackdown on crime, Democrats and other critics wondered why he didn’t keep them within state lines. Memphis, after all, has long been one of the most dangerous cities in the country, with a murder rate about twice as high as the nation’s capital, according to F.B.I. statistics. Nashville has a higher rate of violent crime than Washington as well. The same questions could be asked of other Republican governors like Greg Abbott in Texas, Mike DeWine in Ohio and Mike Kehoe in Missouri, since cities under their purview all have higher rates of violent crime than the nation’s capital. Yet no Republican governor has asked for federal intervention. The image of red-state governors mustering uniformed troops for duty in blue-state cities has left many Americans with the foreboding sense of a nation dangerously divided, perhaps even drifting toward open conflict. Mr. Trump denied statistical reality last week when he was asked whether he might send federal forces into high-crime cities in Republican-led states. “Sure,” he said, “but there aren’t that many.” There are that many: Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield, Mo.; Birmingham, Ala.; Cleveland, Dayton and Toledo, Ohio; Tulsa, Okla.; Memphis and Nashville; Houston; Little Rock, Ark.; Salt Lake City; and Shreveport, La., all have crime rates comparable to Washington’s, according to F.B.I. statistics. But the reality of Mr. Trump’s deployments in Washington has also not matched the stark “invasion” rhetoric of some Democrats, who have raised the specter of an uninvited occupying force in their cities. Indeed, Republican governors who have so far declined to ask the president for an intervention in their cities might be tempted to rethink that stance. The supplementary forces in Washington, provided by and funded by Mr. Trump, have had a noticeable impact, at least in the short term. Washington’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, has softened her tone on the deployment, crediting it for “more accountability” and a reduction in some crimes, particularly carjackings.

ABC News [9/1/2025 4:57 PM, Kevin Shalvey and Alexandra Hutzler, 27036K] reports that mid his federal takeover of Washington, President Trump on Monday praised Mayor Muriel Bowser for working with his team to bring crime down. He went on to slam Democratic leaders in other states who’ve resisted or pushed back on his administration’s efforts to the same in their cities. "Her statements and actions were positive, instead of others like Pritzker, Wes Moore, Newscum, and the 5% approval rated Mayor of Chicago, who spend all of their time trying to justify violent Crime, instead of working with us to completely ELIMINATE it, which we have done in Washington, D.C., NOW A CRIME FREE ZONE," Trump wrote on his social media platform. "Wouldn’t it be nice to say that about Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and even the Crime Drenched City of Baltimore??? It can happen, and it can happen FAST! Work with us!!!" Trump wrote, adding: "Congratulations to Mayor Muriel Bowser, but don’t go Woke on us. D.C. is a GIANT VICTORY that never has to end!!!"

Washington Examiner [9/1/2025 10:08 AM, Naomi Lim, 1563K] reports President Donald Trump is encouraging blue-state governors to invite the National Guard to their major cities to crack down on crime ahead of an expected, uninvited surge of federal law enforcement to the likes of Chicago this week. In a Monday morning Truth Social post, Trump wrote that District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has "become very popular because she worked with me and my great people in bringing CRIME down to virtually NOTHING in D.C." Trump was referring to Govs. JB Pritzker (D-IL), Wes Moore (D-MD), and Gavin Newsom (D-CA), in addition to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. But with Trump’s federalization of the California National Guard in June to respond to anti-immigration enforcement raid protests being challenged in court, the president has been increasing public pressure on the governors to accept his help. The Trump administration, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has confirmed reports that it has been preparing to surge federal law enforcement to Chicago.

NewsMax [9/1/2025 1:45 PM, Jim Mishler, 4779K] reports Democrat leaders have pushed back against President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., arguing that the move oversteps his authority. The Washington Times reported that legal scholars say the Insurrection Act of 1807 gives the president broad power to deploy troops under certain conditions. John Yoo, a law professor at UC Berkeley, explained that Trump invoked his authority to protect federal facilities and personnel, a rationale upheld previously by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Similarly, Daniel Pi of the University of New Hampshire noted that the act allows the Guard to be deployed if a governor requests it, if federal law is obstructed, or if constitutional rights are being denied. Without a governor’s request, the administration could argue that federal law is being obstructed. Detractors point to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which limits military involvement in domestic law enforcement. However, experts point out that the Insurrection Act creates exceptions, and that Trump already used it to send the Guard to Los Angeles during immigration protests. The administration has also cited Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which permits deployment in cases of invasion, rebellion, or when state forces cannot enforce the law. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have indicated the potential deployment of National Guard troops to several cities run by Democrat administrations if they don’t take a stronger approach to crime.

FOX News [9/1/2025 8:34 PM, Emma Bussey and Bill Melugin, 40019K] reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has blasted The New York Times for its reporting on a convicted Jamaican murderer who was deported by the Trump administration in July. The Times ran its headline as, “The Man Who’d Served His Time In U.S. Is Deported to an African Prison." The first sentence of the article explained how Orville Etoria had shot and killed a man in Brooklyn nearly 30 years ago. "DISGRACEFUL AND DISGUSTING! The failing @NYTimes is peddling another disgusting sob story for a criminal illegal alien. Orville Etoria was convicted of MURDER. It is absolutely revolting that the New York Times is actively defending convicted murderers over American citizens. DHS will continue enforcing the law at full speed—without apology," DHS responded in a post on X on Monday, accusing the publication of downplaying the seriousness of Etoria’s horrific 1996 crime. Etoria was sentenced to 25 years to life and given a deportation order in 2009. As well as murder, DHS has said Etoria’s criminal history included armed robbery, possession of a weapon, and forcible theft. This summer, the Trump administration ordered Etoria to be deported to Eswatini, a small southern African country where he’s not a citizen. "A safe third country deportation flight to Eswatini in Southern Africa has landed. This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X at the time. DHS said Jamaica and other countries refused to accept Eswatini, though Jamaican officials have since disputed that claim. "Orville Etoria, an illegal alien from Jamaica, is a convicted MURDERER… Sixteen years later this MURDERER is off our streets and OUT of our country. President Trump and Secretary Noem are using every tool available to get criminal illegal aliens out of American communities and out of our country," DHS said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

New York Times [9/1/2025 9:35 AM, John Eligon and Hamed Aleaziz, 143795K] reports after fatally shooting a man in the head in Brooklyn in 1996, Orville Etoria was convicted of murder and given a prison sentence of 25 years to life. During his incarceration, Mr. Etoria, a Jamaican citizen with legal residency in the United States, was ordered deported by an immigration judge. But upon his release in 2021, immigration officials allowed him to stay in America, provided he complete annual check-ins with the authorities. In July, Mr. Etoria became a target of Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown. He was among five men with criminal records deported to a prison in the kingdom of Eswatini, a southern African nation where none of the men hold citizenship. A Trump administration official called them “barbaric” and said that the men’s home countries had refused to accept them. In a statement to The New York Times, the Department of Homeland Security countered that Mr. Etoria should have been deported long ago. “Our message is clear: Criminals are not welcome in the United States,” the statement said. Mr. Etoria has not seen a lawyer since his arrival in Eswatini, his lawyers say, and family members say they have had little contact with him and are worried about his condition. Neither Eswatini nor the United States has explained why Mr. Etoria is being held despite completing his sentence in America and not being accused of any new crimes.

FOX News [8/31/2025 12:00 PM, Lindsay Kornick Fox, 40019K] reports Kim Kardashian expressed dismay on Thursday over the Trump administration’s ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, saying they’re targeting "people who have worked so hard to build our country.” The reality star was asked to comment on the raids at the DVF Awards in Venice, Italy, where she accepted the Leadership Award for her work with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition. "In the news you hear, ‘Oh, it’s about people who have committed these crimes and they’re trying to help out our country.’ But then you hear about all of the people who have worked so hard to build our country, and so many people that are such a part of our country getting affected," Kardashian said, according to Variety. "People I know. People my friends know.” Kardashian continued, "You want to believe that there’s a powerful message in protection, but then you see that it’s not really happening like that. It’s really tough, but I think that we have to do what we can to protect the people that have really supported and built our country.” In June, Kardashian made a similar comment in an Instagram story after mass ICE operations in Los Angeles, calling them "inhumane.” "Growing up in LA, I’ve seen how deeply immigrants are woven into the fabric of this city. They are our neighbors, friends, classmates, coworkers, and family. No matter where you fall politically, it’s clear that our communities thrive because of the contributions of immigrants. We can’t turn a blind eye when fear and injustice keep people from living their lives freely and safely," Kardashian wrote. "There HAS to be a BETTER way," she added. Assistant Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin fired back at Kardashian’s comment days later, posting rap sheets and mug shots of four illegal immigrants who were arrested in raids. "@KimKardashian, which one of these convicted child molesters, murderers, drug traffickers and rapists would you like to stay in the county? These are just a few of the convicted illegal criminals who have been picked up in the last 72 hours," McLaughlin wrote on X.

Breitbart [8/31/2025 7:15 PM, Alana Mastrangelo, 2608K] reports Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin says Kim Kardashian is doing the bidding of illegal alien criminals. "Ms. Kardashian is misinformed and detached from the very reality of the operations in Los Angeles she has decided to opine on," McLaughlin told TMZ. "These are the violent criminals who Homeland Security, under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, have removed from Los Angeles’s streets: murderers, rapists, gang members and child pedophiles," McLaughlin added. The Homeland Security top aide went on to ask, "Why does Ms. Kardashian continue to do the bidding of criminals at the expense of innocent Americans and brave law enforcement?". As Breitbart News reported, Kardashian attacked President Donald Trump’s nationwide illegal alien crackdown while attending Diane von Furstenberg’s DVF Awards in Venice, Italy, this week. "In the news you hear, ‘Oh, it’s about people who have committed these crimes and they’re trying to help out our country,’ but then you hear about all of the people who have worked so hard to build our country, and so many people that are such a part of our country getting affected," she said. "People I know. People my friends know.”

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [9/1/2025 8:35 PM, Michael Katz, 4779K]

NBC News [9/1/2025 7:00 AM, Daniella Silva and Gary Grumbach, 43603K]
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man who has become an international symbol of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March, then brought back to the U.S. months later only to face charges and new deportation efforts. The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that he is a member of the dangerous Salvadoran gang known as MS-13 and should not be allowed to stay here. In August, immigration officials said they intend to send him to Uganda. His family and attorneys deny that he has any gang connections and say he is being punished for fighting for his constitutional rights. They are seeking his release and to stop his deportation. Abrego, 30, has found himself in the middle of Trump’s crackdown on immigration as his legal battles highlight the new deportation policies the administration has sought to use. The Salvadoran father of three is currently enmeshed in several court cases. Most recently, he applied for asylum in immigration court after he was returned to the U.S. His lawyers have also filed a lawsuit to ensure his right to due process as his deportation case continues. That case is being heard by a federal judge in Maryland, Paula Xinis. Finally, he has a federal criminal case in Tennessee, where prosecutors have charged him with human trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty. Most recently, on Aug. 25, Abrego’s attorneys asked an immigration judge for protection from deportation amid threats by the Trump administration to send him to the African nation of Uganda, a country to which he has no ties. Abrego filed the case with Baltimore’s immigration court in the hopes of being granted asylum or a withholding of removal to Uganda, if an immigration judge determines there is a credible threat to his life if he is sent there. He applied for asylum when he first arrived in the U.S. but that request was denied in 2019 because Abrego had missed the one-year deadline to file. A judge, however, ruled that he specifically could not be deported to El Salvador because of credible threats he faced from gangs there. His attorneys argue that he’s now able to reapply for asylum because he exited the country — when he was deported — and re-entered, which started a new one-year clock. Abrego cannot be deported to El Salvador, but that still leaves the door open to being deported to some other country, a policy pursued by Trump. In August, the administration suggested sending him to Uganda, which has agreed to take in deportees from the U.S. if they have no criminal record and aren’t an unaccompanied minor.

Telemundo [9/1/2025 1:26 PM, Staff, 93K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio begins a three-day visit to Mexico and Ecuador on Tuesday, his second trip to Spanish-speaking countries since taking office, as Washington seeks to strengthen cooperation on security, migration, and trade. Rubio will meet with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday, a meeting scheduled to discuss strengthening the joint fight against criminal cartels, as well as progress on other areas of bilateral cooperation. Rubio’s visit will take place just two days after Sheinbaum presents her first state of the government report, in which data is expected to show the turnaround in the fight against drug trafficking at the start of her term. The so-called security agreement will be on the table, although both Washington and the Mexican president have indicated that no document will necessarily be signed, and that the basis for discussions will focus on progress within the four pillars of the framework agreed upon in February: mutual trust, shared responsibility, respect for respective sovereignties, and cooperation without subordination. Sheinbaum herself indicated last week that she would take advantage of the opportunity to inform Marco Rubio about everything Mexico is doing in various areas.

Breitbart [9/1/2025 3:48 PM, Neil Munro, 2608K] reports that many of the poor migrants drawn north by President Joe Biden’s welcoming policies are now self-migrating southwards through jungles filled with the bones of dead migrants, according to an article in Rolling Stone. The many migrant deaths were admitted by author Paola Ramos in a report from Panama: [Venezuelan migrant] Edinson is part of a growing trend of "reverse migration" emerging throughout the American continent. A year ago, this movement would have been unimaginable. In 2024, during the Joe Biden administration, more than 300,000 north-bound migrants traversed the Darién Gap. In October [2024], it took Edinson almost four days to cross the Darién Gap by foot, passing four corpses during the last stretch of the jungle: the emaciated remains of a mother and daughter who died hugging; a woman who looked like she’d just been shot in the head; the decomposed body of what appeared to be an elderly man; and many, many human bones and skulls lined the edges of the swampy, overgrown paths. "Almost all of them [migrants] have seen someone die or disappear," Ivan Aguilar, who works for Oxfam, a pro-migration aid group, told Rolling Stone. No one knows how many migrants died while trying to reach the porous border overseen by Biden and his pro-migration border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas. And no establishment media outlet wants to count the death toll because Mayorkas’s pro-migration policies killed thousands of migrants as he extracted workers, renters, and consumers from impoverished countries to feed "Bidenomics."

Breitbart [8/31/2025 9:52 AM, Bob Price, 2608K] reports effective September 1, those engaged in human trafficking in Texas will face up to 99 years in prison if convicted. Earlier this month, Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 2306 and SB 1212 into law, making human trafficking a first-degree felony and denying parole to those convicted in some circumstances. "I thank all the survivors of human trafficking for stepping up and telling their stories, sharing their insight, and talking about what needs to be done to help their lives," said Governor Abbott during a signing ceremony on the steps of the Governor’s Mansion. "We want to ensure that we do all we can so that human traffickers never walk the streets of Texas again.” Senate Bill 1212 amended the state’s human trafficking laws, increasing the penalty range from a second-degree felony with a punishment range of two to 20 years to a first-degree felony with a punishment of up to 99 years in prison. House Bill 2306 amends the law, denying parole to those convicted of human trafficking of children and the disabled. This measure "ensures that those traffickers will serve every single day of their prison sentence behind bars, no parole for the worst of the worst," Abbott emphasized. "The Governor was joined by First Lady Cecilia Abbott, Senators Joan Huffman and Tan Parker; Representatives Daniel Alders, David Cook, Paul Dyson, Helen Kerwin, Marc LaHood, Terri Leo-Wilson, John Lujan, Shelly Luther, Joanne Schofner, and Denise Villalobos; and anti-human trafficking advocates," the governor’s office reported.

CBS’ Face The Nation [8/31/2025 11:43 AM, Staff, 4515K] reports CBS News reported last week that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning to expand its operations to Chicago in the coming days, mirroring the immigration arrest operation seen in Los Angeles earlier this year. Noem said Sunday that there’s been "ongoing operations with ICE in Chicago and throughout Illinois and other states, making sure that we’re upholding our laws." But she acknowledged that "we do intend to add more resources to those operations." Though she wouldn’t disclose details of the operation for the security of the law enforcement on the ground, Noem said "we will continue to go after the worst of the worst across the country, like President Trump has told us to do." The Trump administration has set its sights on a number of cities that limit local cooperation with federal immigration agents in recent months, bringing lawsuits against the so-called "sanctuary" jurisdictions and pursuing other means of intervention. Noem’s comments also come as the president has zeroed in on fighting crime in the nation’s major cities, beginning with an effort in Washington, D.C., in recent weeks while he teased broader efforts elsewhere.

CBS’ Face The Nation [8/31/2025 11:43 AM, Staff, 4515K] reports Secretary Noem says, " I would encourage every single big city, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, whatever they are, if they want to help make their city safer, more prosperous, allow people the opportunity to walk in freedom, like the people of Washington, D.C. are now, and enjoying going out to eat at night and not having to worry if they’re going to be a victim of a carjacking or a robbery, they should call us." Noem has mentioned there are a bunch of cities in Democratic controlled states with Democratic mayors. And there have been a lot of questions asked about that focus. There are Republican cities with major crime issues as well, and we haven’t heard about plans to deploy, say, to Dallas or to Oklahoma City, or to cities in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi that have considerable crime rates, in some cases higher, percentage-wise, than those other cities than mentioned. "Every single city is evaluated for what we need to do there to make it safer. So we’ve got operations that, again, I won’t talk about details on, but we absolutely are not looking through the viewpoint at anything we’re doing with a political lens." Noem stated.

CBS’ Face The Nation [8/31/2025 11:43 AM, Staff, 4515K] reports that Gov. JB Pritzker says "We hope that they don’t send any troops along with ICE, and if they do, they’ll be in court pretty quickly, because that is illegal. Posse Comitatus does not allow U.S. troops into U.S. cities to do- you know, to fight crime, to be involved in law enforcement. That’s not their job." If they’re doing federal immigration work, a judge might say, if they’re protecting those federal agents, that’s okay. Will Pritzker stay in court forever? "National Guard troops- any kind of troops on the streets of an American city don’t belong unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency. There is not." Pritzker states. Pritzker is asked if he’s been briefed by anyone in the administration about these plans? "No one in the administration, the President, or anybody under him, has called anyone in my administration or- and me, have not called the city of Chicago or anyone else. So it’s clear that, in secret, they’re planning this- well, it’s an invasion with U.S. troops, if they, in fact, do that. The other thing is, you know, they ought to be coordinating with local law enforcement. They ought to let us know when they’re coming, where they’re coming, if it’s ICE or if it’s ATF or whoever it is. But, they don’t want to do that either and I must say, it’s disruptive, it’s dangerous. It tends to inflame passions on the ground when they don’t let us know what their plans are, and when we can’t coordinate with them." Pritzker states.

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [8/31/2025 12:42 PM, Staff, 452K] reports Minneapolis Police Department says Friday that authorities have been in contact with the shooter’s parents. What are they telling them? What is being learned from the parents? White House Senior Director for Counterterrorism, Sebastian Gorka takes us through the details. Director Gorka says that it would not be responsible of him to reveal what is happening in an ongoing investigation but he did say this, "We have to put this incident into the broader context of what we have witnessed in just the last few years, more than half-a-dozen attacks of a similar variety involving individuals who are confused about their gender, to put it mildly. And then, as you mentioned at the top of your monologue, we have the videos, we have the statements from the dead shooter that were clearly anti-Christian. Just as with the transgender attack on the Nashville Christian school in which more children were killed, there is an ideological connection to multiple of these attacks, where innocent children, especially Christians and Catholics, are targeted. And that is very, very disturbing." When looking at the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, looking at 172 mass attacks in the U.S. between 2016 and 2020, 96 percent were non- trans men. Director Gorka had this to say "You are using data based upon the predominant gun violence, which is gang-on-gang violence with zero ideological content. If you remove all of that, the gang violence on the streets of Chicago, L.A., Detroit, then you come down to a much smaller data set. So it’s like those who say gun violence in America causes so many deaths and then fail to note that the majority of the stats they are using refer to also suicides by gun, which, of course, is not what we are talking about here today. So let’s concentrate on mass shootings at schools, specifically Christian or Catholic schools. Then the data set is wholly different. So don’t conflate different data sets just to make a political point. There was an ideological content to this attack. That’s what terrorism is. It’s not because somebody didn’t get the drug deal they wanted. It is an ideological message, whether it was anti-Israel, as in this case, whether it targeted President Trump in its rhetoric, as we saw on one of the magazines written by the perpetrator on that YouTube video, or whether we saw the fact that it was anti-Christian and targeting children. That has nothing to do with gang violence. Let’s not mix the two things up."

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [8/31/2025 12:42 PM, Staff, 452K] reports in regards to the Minnesota trans mass shooter Director Gorka says that declining mental health wasn’t that didn’t go unseen, "That doesn’t happen overnight. Somebody saw that degradation. Somebody saw those mental issues and said nothing. That’s what we have to prevent. The early warning signals must be addressed if children’s lives are to be saved." he comments. DHS cut funding to the Minnesota Department of Safety and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office in July that is the kind of funding that’s used to assess and manage mass violence threats. Was that a mistake and should it be reinstated? "The same state of Minnesota that actually enacted gun-free zones that we know this killer actually favored in his manifesto, in his videos. He studied the Aurora shooters’ policy of looking for sites where individuals were not allowed to legally carry and protect themselves. So I’d start not with the policies coming out of a Department of Homeland Security that gets the threat. I was with Governor Noem just a few days ago. And I concentrate on those municipalities and those governors like Tim Walz, who do what? Disarm honest citizens who could protect lives and save lives. Let’s start there." Gorka states.

ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos [8/31/2025 10:54 AM, Staff, 1824K] reports GOP Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer said Sunday that Minnesota laws should have prevented the suspect from purchasing a gun that allowed them to kill two children and wound more than a dozen other people in a shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Emmer’s home state. Emmer said the shooter "never should have had access or been able to possess a firearm based on what little we already know," adding that somebody who knew the shooter had to have known about Minnesota’s so-called "red flag" law. "What that’s all about is, it’s usually used by a parent or, a law enforcement officer to go to the court and get an order that this individual, because of their emotional state, the mental, challenges that they have, the mental illness, cannot, should not, possess a firearm because they be a danger to themselves and or others," Emmer said.

ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos [8/31/2025 10:54 AM, Staff, 1824K] reports Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore defended his rhetoric against President Donald Trump over crime in his home city of Baltimore amid an escalating feud between the two leaders. "I have no interest in fighting with the president, but I have an interest in fighting for my communities and fighting for our people," Moore told ABC News’ "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz in an interview that aired Sunday. Earlier this month, Trump offered to send the National Guard into other cities across the country after his law enforcement surge into Washington, D.C., calling Baltimore "so far gone." Moore responded by formally inviting the president to join him and Baltimore officials on a public safety walk. Baltimore, like most of the U.S., has seen a drop in crime and homicides in recent years, but remains one of the country’s most violent cities. It had the fifth-highest rate of violent crime and fourth-highest murder rate per capita in cities with at least 100,000 people last year, according to recent FBI data. While Moore acknowledged there is still "work to do there," he touted the progress the state has made and called out the president’s comments.

FOX News Sunday [8/31/2025 11:43 AM, Staff] reports U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro discusses the Trump administration’s crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., on ‘Fox News Sunday.’

FOX News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo [8/31/2025 11:43 AM, Staff] reports Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., discusses the Trump administration’s D.C. crime crackdown and potential efforts to expand the operation to other American cities on ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’

Washington Examiner [8/31/2025 2:59 PM, Staff, 1563K] reports Border czar Tom Homan told reporters that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations will expand after Labor Day in sanctuary cities nationwide, including Seattle, Wash., and Portland, Ore. "You’re going to see a ramp up of operations in New York. You’re going to see a ramp up of operations continue in L.A. and, you know, Portland, Seattle," Homan told reporters gathered near the White House. "I mean, all these sanctuary cities refuse to work with ICE … we’re going to address that.” Homan said some other states are complying and working with ICE. "We don’t have that problem in Texas and Florida, where all the sheriffs are working with us and they’re actually holding people for us and letting us know when someone’s being released," he said. "So, we’re going to take the assets we have and move them to problem areas like sanctuary cities, where we know for a fact they’re releasing public safety threat illegal aliens to the streets every day. That’s where we need to send the majority of the resources, and that’s where they’re going.” Homan was in Portland on Aug. 21 to meet with ICE personnel. After the visit, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson reaffirmed the city’s sanctuary status and said city employees, including police officers, will not assist in ICE operations. "I was in San Diego and Portland in the last week meeting with the men and women of ICE to understand the hate that’s being pushed against them and letting them know the President has their six," Homan said. "I have their six.”

Univision [9/1/2025 9:46 PM, Staff, 4932K] reports a 29-year-old Venezuelan man was detained on August 30 by ICE in northwest Washington, DC, after being caught in a police chase that ended in a traffic accident. The family of Óscar David Colmenares Gómez alleges that federal immigration agents used excessive force during the operation, despite the fact that the man has active immigration protection in the United States. Videos recorded by residents show the moment when Colmenares, who was riding a motorcycle, was struck by a vehicle during the chase. Witnesses claim that agents used a Taser on him before he fell to the ground and was arrested. "In the chase there were many cars. They threw electricity at the motorcycle, like a spark of candle. At one point a car hit him and he, out of fear, left the motorcycle and ran," said Yodanni León, a friend of the arrested man. Colmenares was handcuffed and taken to an ambulance, while neighbors in the area called for immediate medical attention. In images recorded by witnesses, several people can be heard shouting that the young man has asylum and TPS (Temporary Protected Status). According to his relatives, Colmenares resides in New York and periodically travels to the District of Columbia for work purposes. They say that he has a work permit valid for five years, granted by both his asylum status and TPS, in addition to having his motorcycle duly registered. Jonathan Colmenares, brother of the young man, expressed his concern: "We feel pain, sadness and impotence because we are good people, with a desire to work and do things well". Noticias Univision was present during a phone call between the detainee and his relatives this Monday. "They have told me that if I don’t sign, I could be here for many months until the judge passes sentence," Colmenares said during the conversation. Immigration specialists point out that evading authorities can aggravate any legal process, even if the person has documents in order. "Evasion is a crime that can generate more charges," warned Elisa Ruano, an immigration attorney. "I never recommend running away. If one has nothing to fear, he or she should cooperate with the authorities." Immigration and Customs Enforcement has officially registered Colmenares Gómez’s detention. For the moment, he is not facing formal criminal charges, although he remains in custody while his legal status is determined. The case has generated outrage among some sectors of the immigrant community, who consider that it was a disproportionate use of force, especially against a person who, according to documents presented by the family, has legal status in the country. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Washington Post [9/2/2025 5:00 AM, Robert Klemko, 32099K] reports Christian Osborne has been itching to serve his country since he was discharged from the Marines after refusing the coronavirus vaccine. He thinks Americans have a naive view of illegal immigration and wants to be part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. “Every country for its entire existence has always had borders. We’re the only country who says, ‘Come on in,’” said Osborne, 24. “There needs to be a control on who can come in, to make sure you’re not some psycho.” So last week he shuffled into a Texas arena typically reserved for Counter-Strike and “League of Legends” video game competitions to attend a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement career expo and make the case for why he should become one of 10,000 new officers the agency intends to hire this year. So far, the Department of Homeland Security said it has received more than 130,000 applications, and if the hiring fair in this community wedged between Dallas and Fort Worth offers any indication, plenty of people are eager to sign up. Despite polls showing that growing numbers of Americans disapprove of Trump’s aggressive tactics and images of masked ICE agents whisking immigrants off the streets, 3,000 applicants showed up to submit résumés at last week’s career expo, drawn in part by the president’s call to serve and the promise of a signing bonus of up to $50,000 for top recruits. Competing alongside Osborne for one of the spots was a great-grandson of Mexican immigrants, a former professional MMA fighter and a lanky community college student from Tennessee who drove 12 hours to make his case to ICE recruiters. Kole Wunschel, 18, passed a dozen protesters who taunted him and his father as they made their way into Esports Stadium. “America was built by immigrants,” read one woman’s sign. Another yelled, “Why are you signing up for the Gestapo?” But that’s not how Wunschel saw it. The agency was promising to make tentative job offers on the spot, and Wunschel was so set on getting hired that he was prepared to drop out of college.

NewsMax [9/1/2025 3:49 PM, Michael Katz, 4779K] reports a Los Angeles City Council member has accused Home Depot of cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts in the city since the agency began sweeping operations there in June. The allegations by first-term Democrat Ysabel Jurado came a day after eight people were arrested Thursday during an immigration raid at a Home Depot in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, KABC-TV reported, citing a statement from the Department of Homeland Security. The operation occurred near the Central American Resource Center, or CARECEN, Day Labor Center next to the store. That area has been the target of at least three immigration raids in the past several months. Jurado, whose parents are illegal immigrants from the Philippines, according to her website, also opposes a plan by Home Depot to open a store in Eagle Rock, which is in her district, covering parts of central and eastern Los Angeles. "When your name is associated with terror and you refuse to speak, you are complicit," Jurado, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, said in a statement posted on her Instagram account. "Home Depot has chosen power and profit over the working people who sustain it. "That’s why I unequivocally oppose the Home Depot coming to Eagle Rock Plaza, a mall that has long been a gathering place for the Filipino community in Los Angeles. I will not allow violence to take root in our neighborhoods. Our communities deserve safety, dignity and businesses that fight for the people, not against them." KABC reported that DHS said in its statement that three of those arrested "had extensive rap sheets for crimes including visa overstay, possession of a controlled substance and grand theft." One person also had a final order of deportation from an immigration judge. Home Depot plans to demolish a Macy’s department store at Eagle Rock Plaza to make space for its new location, The Eastsider of Los Angeles reported.

Telemundo52 [9/2/2025 12:38 AM, Alexander Zapata and Elizabeth Chavolla, 93K] reports a young migrant couple has had a difficult time after the husband was arrested by immigration and his wife was left with their month-old baby without help. Today, both are out of the United States after being deported. It all started at the end of May, when Leonardo attended his immigration court for a pending asylum case. However, he ended up arrested. Today he, his wife and their daughter, who was born in the United States, are in Venezuela. "It is a very traumatic process, really, thinking that you are doing things right, and suddenly without any justifiable reason they do to you what they did to us, particularly to him, it was really traumatic and painful," said Aneisa Escalante, who decided to self-deport. Everything took place in an immigration court in Santa Ana. "She was given time. The judge did manage to give her time to kind of stay in the country, she gave her another court date, but the prosecutor in my case did not want to do it," said Leonardo, who was deported. Leonardo claims he had no criminal record, and had a work permit for his pending asylum process. On his way out, immigration agents were waiting to detain him. After his arrest, he was taken to the Los Angeles detention center. A long process of 82 days began for him, where he also went through a detention center in Victorville and finally another one in Port Isabel, Texas. While this was happening, Aneisa was also struggling to survive. Alone, with a newborn baby and no job, as she was dedicated to taking care of her. Despite the adversity, she remained positive. "What I had in my head was, this is temporary, this is going to pass and we have to move forward," Escalante said. But time passed, her husband was still detained and already in deportation proceedings, and with few resources and no job, she made the decision to self-deport. "What I did was to send a motion to the court asking for voluntary departure, explaining several reasons," Escalante said. However, it was denied. He was asked to wait for a court date. "I came. I bought a ticket, grabbed my girl and left the country," Escalante said. After her departure, her husband followed. After more than two months in detention, he was put on a plane to Honduras and finally to his native Venezuela. For now, the family is grateful that, despite the obstacles they have faced, they are united. They look to the future with optimism. "This makes you stronger, you know. This gives you more strength to move forward, that you don’t have to stop because of what happens to you, you have to learn from things and move forward. I take that with me," she said. The couple assures that they are getting ready to embark on a new course to another country where they hope to have better luck than the one they had to live in the United States.

Univision [9/2/2025 3:27 AM, Staff, 4932K] reports it has been a week since the Garnet fire, which was caused by lightning, and although more than 1,400 people are fighting the flames, they have only managed to contain 12% of the fire. Authorities indicate that the weather and the steep and rocky terrain make the work more difficult. Jay Tracy, Fresno firefighter, explains what infrastructure is threatened by the fire. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Wall Street Journal [9/1/2025 1:25 PM, Sabrina Siddiqui, 646K] reports the Trump administration has suspended visa approvals for nearly all Palestinian passport holders, the latest in a series of steps to bar Palestinians from entering the United States. The directive stems from an Aug. 18 cable, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, instructing consular officers to refuse “all otherwise eligible Palestinian Authority passport holders” using that passport to apply for a nonimmigrant visa “effective immediately.” The internal message, which was sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates from State Department headquarters in Washington, stated that the action was “to ensure that such applications have undergone necessary vetting and screening protocols to ensure the applicant’s identity and eligibility for a visa under U.S. law.” The new policy, which was first reported by the New York Times, doesn’t affect Palestinians who have already obtained visas or dual-nationality Palestinians using a different passport to apply. But cracking down on nonimmigrant visas would affect a swath of visitors, since they typically include those traveling for business, tourism and medical treatment, as well as students, professors and people visiting family in the U.S. Asked about the new measures, the State Department said the Trump administration “is taking concrete steps in compliance with U.S. law and our national security” with respect to visa restrictions on Palestinian passport holders. “Every visa decision is a national security decision, and the State Department is vetting and adjudicating visa decisions for [Palestinian Authority] passport holders accordingly,” the press office said. The move follows other actions taken by the Trump administration to clamp down on Palestinian visas to the U.S. amid the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [8/31/2025 4:45 PM, Edward Wong, Adam Rasgon, Natan Odenheimer and Hamed Aleaziz, 143795K]
Breitbart [9/1/2025 5:23 PM, Jasmyn Jordan, 2608K]
The Hill [9/1/2025 3:18 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12414K]
CNN [8/31/2025 9:03 PM, Jennifer Hansler, 662K]
Daily Caller [9/1/2025 2:37 PM, Jaryn Crouson, 985K]
NewsMax [9/1/2025 8:23 PM, Michael Katz, 4779K]

Axios [9/2/2025 5:00 AM, Barak Ravid, 13599K] reports Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to reconsider the decision to bar Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the UN General Assembly, arguing it was made on false pretenses, according to a copy of the letter seen by Axios. The Trump administration’s decision sets up a major diplomatic showdown at the UN, where several western countries will announce they’re recognizing a Palestinian state at a gathering Palestinian leaders won’t even be allowed to attend. On Friday, the State Department said it would deny or revoke visas for around 80 Palestinian officials to visit the UN’s annual gathering in late September, among them Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "The decision to revoke the visas of the Palestinian delegation — despite these clear commitments, reforms, and assurances — sends the wrong signal at a time when the entire region looks to the United States for leadership and fairness. It risks silencing the Palestinian voice at the UN, precisely when constructive engagement is most needed to build momentum for peace," al-Sheikh wrote.

FOX News [8/31/2025 1:40 PM, Ashley J. DiMella, 40019K] reports the Trump administration continues to take a harder stance on foreign visitors with a "visa integrity fee" to be implemented on Oct. 1. The fee would charge non-immigrant travelers visiting the U.S. $250 due at the time visas are issued and was enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Countries such as Mexico, China, and Brazil will take on the most heat, with the cost for non-visa waiver countries now nearing $442, per the U.S. Travel Association. The largest numbers of international visitors in May were from Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and Brazil, according to the International Inbound Travel Association. Gabe Rizzi, global travel management company Altour president, told Reuters that "any friction we add to the traveler experience is going to cut travel volumes by some amount.” "As the summer ends, this will become a more pressing issue, and we’ll have to factor the fees into travel budgets and documentation," Rizzi added. Overseas visitors to the U.S. dropped 3.1% in July from the same time last year, according to Reuters. The new fee comes as the U.S. prepares to host America250 events, the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup matches.

The Nation [9/1/2025 6:00 AM, Lexi Lonas Cochran, 6811K] reports international students looking to study in the U.S. are getting very mixed signals from the Trump administration. Days after President Trump said it is "very important" to have Chinese students at American schools, prompting backlash from his MAGA base, his administration proposed a rule change capping a foreign student’s stay to four years to complete a degree and requiring special approval to stay longer. "For too long, past Administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the U.S. virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing untold amount of taxpayer dollars, and disadvantaging U.S. citizens," a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said in the release. But hundreds of thousands of foreign students in the U.S. are graduate students, with a Ph.D. program taking as long as eight years in some cases. Experts worry the new approval won’t be a smooth process would disrupt international students’ studies, causing them to seek universities in other countries despite the president looking for more students to come to the U.S. Trump had already made sweeping student visa crackdowns a key part of his immigration policies, with the State Department announcing in August that more than 6,000 such visas had been revoked since he returned to office. Foreign students are also dealing with new screening procedures than have many scrubbing their social media in fear. And now, in order to stay in the U.S. for a longer degree, they would have to apply to reauthorization through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

DailySignal [9/1/2025 9:00 AM, Simon Hankinson, 668K] reports reports of Chinese nationals admitted to the U.S. on visas and then spying or stealing sensitive information for China are all too common. But perhaps more shocking is the fact that some Chinese nationals are able to enter U.S. territory without any visas at all. How? The answer can be found in a special program that allows Chinese to travel without a U.S. visa. The Visa Waiver Program provides 90-day visa-free travel to the United States for certain stable, prosperous countries that have good relations with the U.S. and whose citizens have very low rates of visa abuse. To be in the Visa Waiver Program, countries must share criminal records of their citizens with U.S. authorities to ensure that any applicants with adverse records are properly vetted and refused entry if necessary. Countries with high overstay rates—such as Chad or India—are eons away from qualifying for such a program. Countries that are hostile to the United States, that routinely spy on our military facilities, and that steal our technology—like China— are impossible to imagine getting the privilege. So why are Chinese citizens now allowed to get into the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands without a visa and the scrutiny that goes with it? The CNMI is a U.S. territory, and as of 1986, its natives are U.S. citizens. One of the islands (Saipan) was the site of a bloody battle against the Japanese and remains the site of sensitive U.S. military bases. But it’s open to Chinese nationals without visas. The U.S. implements a host of programs similar to the Visa Waiver Program for Canadians, Caribbean islands, and Pacific-island states. One is the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program, which lets foreigners from selected countries travel there—but not to the mainland U.S.—without a visa.

Daily Caller [8/31/2025 2:10 PM, Staff, 985K] reports President Donald Trump told the Daily Caller that allowing Chinese students to study in the United States is the "right thing to do" because it’s good to get along with other countries. The Daily Caller interviewed Trump on Friday for an hour. Speaking on why he is allowing Chinese students to still study in America, the president told the Caller that it is "very insulting" to tell another country that their students can’t come here. Trump added that it would cause "lesser universities" to suffer, and told Daily Caller White House Correspondent Reagan Reese that he didn’t want to see Ivy League universities fail. [Editorial note: consult interview at source link]

FOXNews [8/31/2025 7:33 PM, Staff, 40019K] Video: HERE reports National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez discusses the Trump administration’s immigration blitzes, the surge in violence against immigration enforcement and federal judges stymying Trump immigration policies on ‘The Big Weekend Show.’

Breitbart [9/1/2025 9:33 PM, Bob Price, 2608K] reports Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agents teamed up with police in Stafford, Texas, to raid a suspected illegal marijuana warehouse last week. During the raid, agents arrested 18 illegal aliens who were working illegally in the warehouse. "You can run, but you can’t hide, even if it’s in the ceiling!," DEA Houston officials wrote in a post on social media. "18 undocumented individuals arrested after #DEA Houston uncovered a significant illegal marijuana warehouse with several undocumented individuals working inside. We worked jointly with @Stafford_PD on this case." Stafford Police Department officials provided additional details on the raid that took place in the 4000 block of Greenbriar, located just southwest of Houston. Among the 18 illegal aliens arrested during the raid, were Mexicans, Hondurans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans. The raid led to the seizure of approximately 1,200 pounds of illegal marijuana, officials stated. "Criminal activity will be strongly enforced in Stafford, and we remain committed to protecting our community," said Chief Richard S. Ramirez in a post on Facebook. "We thank our local, state, and federal partners for their assistance in this operation." In addition to the DEA agents and Stafford police officers, other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies teamed up to successfully take down the illicit operation. These include the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Missouri City Police Department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the Rosenberg Police Department, ICE Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Border Patrol.

CNN [8/31/2025 10:33 AM, Karina Tsui, 662K] reports just days after two crew workers helping battle Washington’s largest wildfire were arrested by Border Patrol, Washington Rep. Emily Randall — who represents the district where the men are being held — was denied entry to the facility, calling the situation "disgusting" in an interview with CNN affiliate KOMO. "This would have been my fourth visit yesterday to the ICE facility in Tacoma, there in my district," Randall told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield on Sunday. "I had done two previous announced visits and one previous unannounced visit, which is the statutory authority of Congress, the oversight body of ICE and Homeland Security.” The statute prevents the Department of Homeland Security from using its funding to stop certain people, like members of Congress, from entering facilities where immigrants are held, if they are there to do oversight, but Randall was denied entry on Saturday. In a statement to CNN on Sunday, a DHS official said, "Rep. Randall did not follow proper protocol to schedule her visit of an ICE detention facility. This was nothing more than a political stunt to get media, clicks, and 15 minutes of fame. As ICE law enforcement have seen a surge in assaults, disruptions, and obstructions to enforcement — including by Member of Congress themselves — any requests to tour processing centers and field offices must be approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security.” One of the two men arrested, his attorney said, had been waiting for a response to a U-visa application for seven years, which protects victims of serious crimes who assist federal investigators. "Firstly, it’s illegal to detain people who have applied for victim-based immigration benefits, as one of the individuals who was detained did," Washington state Rep. Shaun Scott told CNN. "Secondly, it’s also illegal, according to the federal government’s own policies, to conduct immigration enforcement at locations where emergency responses are happening," he added. The Department of Homeland Security told CNN on Friday the "firefighting response remained uninterrupted the entire time" and that the two arrested crew workers had been cutting logs into firewood.

New York Post [9/1/2025 10:43 AM, Ben Cost, 43962K] reports they’re being treated like fake IDs. The Maine Secretary of State’s office confirmed that some Real IDs issued by the state have been rejected at various Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints. "A tiny fraction of Maine REAL IDs could not be read by the TSA bar code readers," an official with Maine’s Department of the Secretary of State told the Sun. The organization assured the public that the problem "appears to be sporadic" and rare and that none of the "very few" impacted parties had "experienced a disruption in their travel.” The Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) officials collaborated with the TSA to get to the bottom of said issue, which has persisted for several months. They found that the glitch was due to one of the state’s instant-issue printing machines, which has fortunately now been fixed. New Hampshire REAL IDs experienced similar issues in May, local news station WGME reported. Meanwhile, "the TSA suggested the customers contact BMV (Bureau of Motor Vehicles) when they returned from their trip for a replacement," the official told the told the Sun Journal. They are reportedly replacing them for free. It’s yet unclear how many licenses are affected. The BMV is relying on people to self-report problems so they can receive replacements.

New York Post [9/1/2025 10:07 PM, Shane Galvin, 43962K] reports a New York City woman locked up for making deranged social media posts threatening to kill President Trump was quietly released by an Obama-appointed judge last week. Chief US District Judge James Boasberg released Nathalie Rose Jones, a 50-year-old Big Apple resident, under electronic monitoring on Aug. 27 and ordered she see a psychiatrist once back home, court documents revealed. The surprise release comes just days after US Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya denied Jones bond over the persistent threats on Trump’s life she issued over social media earlier this month.

AP [9/2/2025 12:03 AM, David Fischer, 27036K] reports a man charged with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump last year in South Florida is set to represent himself during a pretrial conference on Tuesday, as final preparations are made for trial. Barring any delays, jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in Fort Pierce federal court for the case against Ryan Routh. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signed off on Routh’s request to represent himself in July but said court-appointed attorneys need to remain as standby counsel. The trial will begin nearly a year after prosecutors say a U.S. Secret Service agent thwarted Routh’s attempt to shoot Trump as he played golf. Routh, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations. Prosecutors have said Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club. A Secret Service agent spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Officials said Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot. Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who prosecutors said informed officers that he saw a person fleeing. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested, and the witnesses confirmed it was the person he had seen, prosecutors have said. In addition to the federal charges, Routh also has pleaded not guilty to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.

NewsMax [9/1/2025 11:18 AM, Staff, 4779K] reports two former U.S. Secret Service agents, Tim Miller and Barry Donadio, told Newsmax on Monday that President Donald Trump’s decision to rescind the Secret Service detail assigned to former Vice President Kamala Harris is "a great move" for the "undermanned" agency. The White House last week issued a memorandum, effective Sept. 1, to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, stating: "You are hereby authorized to discontinue any security-related procedures previously authorized by Executive Memorandum, beyond those required by law, for the following individual effective September 1, 2025: Former Vice President Kamala D. Harris.” Former vice presidents are required by law to receive Secret Service protection for six months after they leave office. Former President Joe Biden, before he left office, issued an order extending Harris’ protective detail. Miller said on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America" that "This is absolutely consistent with protocols in the past.” He said, "I would remind you, too, that under Kamala Harris’, you know, threat posture, her detail was in significantly enhanced, which means the cost, the associated costs with that skyrocketed. So I think President Trump is doing exactly what he should do.” Miller continued: "Let’s face it, Kamala’s threat picture now is nothing like it was when she was on the campaign. And I would remind your viewers, the Secret Service is still understaffed. They’re trying to do what they need to do with limited resources. So if you pull up a full detail from Kamala and put it where it needs to be, it’s a great move.”

New York Post [8/31/2025 10:33 PM, Caitlin McCormack, 43962K] reports a Texas man was arrested last Wednesday after he allegedly threatened to decapitate a staffer of President Trump and later kill their entire family over a series of chilling voicemail messages. Thomas Austria Crouse, of Austin, was cuffed after he was traced to a series of jarring voicemails left to an unidentified Trump staffer on Aug. 25, the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas announced. Crouse allegedly told the staffer — whose name was not released by the attorney’s office — that he would find them and chop off their head before slaughtering their family, according to the press release. The specific references to the staffer’s employment and the "violent nature" of the call quickly spurred an FBI investigation. Crouse was identified as the caller in less than a day. He agreed to stop leaving the threatening voicemails during an interview with federal agents on Aug. 26, the prosecutors said. He apparently pivoted mere hours later, though, and allegedly left five more voicemails telling the staffer to kill themself. Crouse was arrested on Aug. 27, putting a swift end to the disturbing three-day saga. The current criminal complaint against him includes rough charges for transmitting an interstate communication containing a threat to injure the person. If convicted, Crouse could face up to five years in prison. The FBI, US Secret Service, and Capitol Police are still investigating the case.

ABC News [9/1/2025 7:46 PM, Doc Louallen, 27036K] reports an 8-year-old boy was bitten by a shark while snorkeling off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, on Labor Day, officials said. The incident occurred around 3:24 p.m. on Monday, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in Facebook post. The victim was airlifted by Trauma Star to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Officials notified the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about the incident. The boy’s current condition has not yet been released.

HS Today [9/1/2025 10:42 PM, Matt Seldon, 38K] reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has welcomed Brian Bonacci as its new Chief of Staff. The announcement was made on social media, with Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala administering the oath. Bonacci brings more than three decades of experience in government IT, strategy, and partnerships to the role. He began his federal service at the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Internal Revenue Service before moving into leadership positions across the private sector. His career includes senior roles at Verizon, SAIC, Unisys, Level 3 Communications, Infinera, Equinix, and ScienceLogic, where he guided federal partnerships, business development, and government relations. Most recently, Bonacci served as founder and president of gScale Consulting, where he advised federal agencies on strategy, planning, and transformation initiatives. He also spent time as Senior Vice President of Growth and Strategy at RIVA Solutions, leading business development, marketing, and capture management.

Daily Caller [9/1/2025 11:29 AM, Wallace White, 985K] reports that Latin America’s most cartel-plagued nations are freaking out over President Donald Trump’s crackdown against cartels. Trump authorized the U.S. military to target Latin American cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in early August, while the U.S. military followed up by deploying assets to the southern Caribbean sea to curtail cartel activity. In reaction, Mexico and Venezuela have been scrambling to put together a cohesive response to the effort, with Mexico trying their best to placate Trump while Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro made thinly veiled threats against America. "The Trump Administration is committed to protecting our homeland from the threat posed by foreign cartels," a senior State Department official told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "Secretary Rubio will continue to advance an America First foreign policy agenda that prioritizes keeping our country and the American people safe." Secretary Rubio, in a post on X, added that the administration is using "every tool to protect the safety and prosperity of the American people" from these organizations. The Trump Administration will use every tool to protect the safety and prosperity of the American people. @StateDept is designating eight cartels and transnational organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.”

NPR [9/1/2025 5:18 PM, Jack Jenkins, 34837K] reports should churches have active shooter drills or armed ushers? Those are some of the measures under consideration after a shooting at a church in Minneapolis on Aug. 27. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [8/31/2025 3:20 AM, Ernesto Londoño, 330K] reports an assailant leaves piles of evidence that investigators scrutinize. But law enforcement officials are often left with more questions than answers as they seek to determine a motive. Officials in Minneapolis were bracing for that outcome as they examined the writings and social media posts of the person they say opened fire through the window of a church packed with schoolchildren on Wednesday, killing two. Robin Westman, 23, carried out the attack and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the authorities said. The attacker left behind a lengthy suicide note, journal entries and scribbling on the weapons used in the ambush at the Church of the Annunciation, which is affiliated with an adjacent Catholic school. The content includes disparaging messages about President Trump, Christians, Black people, Hispanic people, Jews and Israel. The sprawling nature of the assailant’s rantings and grievances led government officials and other observers to zero in on single pieces of information in the immediate aftermath of the attack, which also injured 16 children and three adult parishioners. Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, characterized the incident as a “hate crime targeting Catholics.” Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, drew attention to a message threatening violence toward the president and to the shooter’s gender identity. According to court records, when Ms. Westman was 17, she filed a petition to legally change her name to Robin, noting that she identified as female. But the only clear finding so far, law enforcement officials said, was that the attacker had come to idolize mass shooters, particularly those who have killed children.

New York Post [8/31/2025 12:15 PM, Victor Nava, 43962K] reports Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) accused White House official Sebastian Gorka on Sunday of wanting "to deflect from the reality" of the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting by pointing out gunman Robin Westman’s transgender identity. Gorka, who serves as President Trump’s deputy assistant and senior director for counterterrorism, argued on CNN’s "State of the Union" that Westman had a clear "ideological" motive for targeting the Annunciation Catholic School earlier this week — where two students were killed and more than a dozen other children and adults were injured while they prayed at Mass. "That’s what terrorism is," Gorka said of the mass shooting, noting that Westman’s twisted manifesto included antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric and the phrase "kill Donald Trump" was scrawled on one of the shooter’s gun magazines. The White House official argued that the massacre perpetrated by Westman, who confessed he was "‘tired of being trans," is part of a disturbing trend of mass shootings committed by people struggling with their gender identity. "In just a couple of years, we have seen seven mass shootings involving people of transgender nature or who are confused in their gender identity," Gorka claimed. "That is inordinately high.” "It’s not about the sexual proclivities of the individual. It’s the fact that nobody seems to notice a very disturbing pattern towards violence," he later added.

FOX News [8/31/2025 4:00 PM, Marc Tamasco, 40019K] reports Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., appeared on CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday where she called for "getting rid of assault weapons" in the wake of a fatal shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis. "It is important for us to make sure that we are offering a slew of solutions," Omar told CNN anchor Brianna Keilar. "One is to make sure that we are getting rid of assault weapons in our community.” She also emphasized the need for Congress to address mental health resources, noting it must be part of broader efforts following the tragedy. Federal authorities confirmed the suspected shooter, Robin Westman—also known as Robert Westman—killed two schoolchildren and injured 17 others during a Catholic Mass at Annunciation Catholic School on Wednesday morning. Westman is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. When asked on CNN by Brianna Keilar whether it is realistic that Congress could pass an assault weapons ban—pointing out that such efforts failed even under President Barack Obama with a filibuster‑proof Senate majority—Omar responded that this moment should transcend partisan divides and focus instead on protecting children. Omar shared that her youngest child now fears an assailant entering her school, "taking her life or the life of her friends and classmates.” Regarding comments by White House adviser Sebastian Gorka, who was on CNN shortly before Oma, about the shooter’s transgender identity, Omar said it was "really unfortunate." She criticized his focus on the shooter’s transgender identity as a distraction, saying it was "really unfortunate that we have people like him speaking on this.” Omar also claimed the Department of Homeland Security has taken away resources from communities to help make them safe and accused them of deflecting blame towards state governments.

CNN [9/1/2025 7:30 AM, Fredreka Schouten, 662K] reports that the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to obtain personal information about tens of millions of voters across the country, including seeking sensitive data such as partial Social Security numbers. The push, overseen by the Department of Justice, comes as President Donald Trump asserts a larger federal role in elections ahead of next year’s midterms, which are set to determine which party controls Congress during his last two years in the White House. In recent weeks, state election officials have received letters from Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, seeking unredacted copies of states’ voter registration databases. The information includes voters’ names, birthdates, addresses, and driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of their Social Security numbers. The agency has told states that the information is necessary to ensure compliance with a federal law that requires states to maintain accurate voter registration rolls. But some state officials who have received the missives argue that the Justice Department is overstepping its authority, given that states, and not the federal government, run elections and carry out voter-roll maintenance. Election officers in several states are refusing to comply with the demands, citing the need to guard voters’ privacy. "We’re going to fight as far as we have to against this," Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, told CNN in an interview. "I’m not going to give up the personal identifying information of my voters. It’s just not going to happen." State officials such as Fontes say they already have procedures in place to review the accuracy of their voting lists on a rolling basis.

Reuters [9/1/2025 6:32 PM, Staff, 45746K] reports Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday they launched a missile towards the Israeli-owned tanker Scarlet Ray near Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port city of Yanbu in a rare attack off the Saudi coast. The Liberia-flagged vessel’s Singapore-based manager, Eastern Pacific Shipping, owned by Israeli magnate Idan Ofer, said the chemical tanker was undamaged and under the command of its captain. "We are aware of security reports alleging that our managed vessel Scarlet Ray was the target of a suspected Houthi attack," Eastern Pacific said in a statement on Monday, adding that all crew members were safe and accounted for. Britain’s maritime agency UKMTO said on Sunday it had received a report of an incident from a captain who witnessed "a splash in close proximity to their vessel from an unknown projectile and heard a loud bang" 40 nautical miles southwest of Yanbu. UKMTO did not identify the party responsible, but said authorities were investigating.

NewsMax [9/1/2025 1:35 PM, Eric Mack, 4779K] reports Iraq’s National Intelligence Service announced Monday in an X post that it has dismantled a major international financing network linked to the Islamic State. The network, responsible for smuggling operatives across borders and funding terrorist activities, was tracked and shut down in multiple West African countries. The agency said the operation, overseen by the Supreme Judicial Council, followed months of monitoring communications between the network and ISIS affiliates inside and outside Iraq. Officials noted the arrests aimed to disrupt plots targeting European countries and Iraq’s interests abroad. The operation builds on a 2023 raid in Kirkuk that targeted another ISIS-linked financing cell. The intelligence service pledged to continue pursuing remaining elements of the group to safeguard Iraq’s national security. The National Intelligence Service, through a cross-border effort under the supervision of the Supreme Judicial Council, has succeeded in apprehending a major financing network for the terrorist ISIS entity, responsible for smuggling terrorists between several countries on behalf of the entity. This operation comes as a continuation of an operation carried out by the National Intelligence Service in 2023 in Kirkuk Governorate, which targeted one of the networks affiliated with the terrorist entity responsible for financing its cells.

NBC News [9/2/2025 4:05 AM, Jennifer Jett and Janis Mackey Frayer, 43603K] reports China’s military is getting stronger, and it wants the world to know it. The world’s largest active military, with more than 2 million personnel, is holding one of its biggest parades ever on Wednesday, a highly choreographed "Victory Day" spectacle to mark the 80th anniversary of Imperial Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II. The grand occasion in Beijing will showcase not just China’s growing ability to rival the United States in any future conflict, but support from some of the world’s most heavily sanctioned nations in a display of unity against the West. Thousands of troops will march through Tiananmen Square, where they will be reviewed by Chinese President Xi Jinping as heads of government and state from 26 other countries look on. Topping the guest list are Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has pressed on with his war against Ukraine despite a U.S. peace push, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in a rare departure from his isolated, nuclear-armed state. Leaders from the United States and other Western governments have declined to attend the parade, partly because of the presence of Putin.

Washington Post [9/2/2025 1:00 AM, Christian Shepherd, 29079K] reports Chinese leader Xi Jinping will preside over a muscular display of military strength this week, parading advanced hypersonic missiles, underwater drones and armored vehicles through downtown Beijing to celebrate the 80th anniversary of what’s known here as its victory in the “War Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.” With Russian President Vladimir Putin and more than 20 other aligned heads of state in attendance, Xi — China’s most powerful leader in decades — will be hoping to send a pointed message about China’s combat readiness and his ambitions to match the military might of the United States by the middle of the century. But despite this week’s show of strength, there are signs that Xi is unhappy with progress toward his military goals. Over the past two years, at least two dozen senior military officials and defense industry executives have disappeared from public view or been removed from office. This is part of a sweeping and ongoing effort to stamp out endemic and persistent corruption, which could erode the armed forces’ ability to take control of Taiwan and achieve Xi’s overall goals. “If military leaders are corrupt or politically unreliable, that inherently leads to problems of readiness,” said Lyle Morris, an expert on the Chinese military at the Asia Society Policy Institute, a think tank based in New York. But it is also about political control: Xi is reminding the top brass to stay loyal to him and the mission he considers key to his legacy, according to former U.S. officials and experts on Chinese politics. Xi has made modernizing the People’s Liberation Army a top priority, building the world’s largest navy by number of ships and more than quadrupling China’s arsenal of nuclear warheads. He has escalated threats to seize Taiwan, the island democracy Beijing claims as its territory, and ordered the military to be prepared for a potential invasion by 2027, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Only when Taiwan is brought under Beijing’s rule can China achieve “national rejuvenation,” Xi, who is expected to begin a norm-busting fourth term in 2027, has said. It is all part of his “China dream” to rival the U.S. for global hegemony. “The strong army dream is part and parcel of the China dream — you cannot have one without the other,” said Joel Wuthnow, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the U.S. National Defense University. That is especially true now, as Xi perceives a deteriorating security environment and intensifying competition with the U.S., Wuthnow said. Given there is little to no indication of any threats to Xi’s grip on power, the crackdown is striking because of its scale, the seniority of officials targeted and because it is taking place more than a decade into Xi’s rule. Analysts say the sweeping reshuffle, rather than being a sign of weakness, demonstrates Xi’s degree of control and might signal that his priorities are shifting to focus on the next stage of military reforms. “Ultimately, this is about making the PLA a competent, world-class fighting force,” said Daniel Mattingly, a China-focused associate professor of political science at Yale University.

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